Thursday, September 1, 2011

Ticker Update: 118 Pounds Lost...A different ME is revealed when hubby is out of town...and I Resolve To Never to Eat Modern Wheat Again

Tanita-san: 181.0

That makes 118 pounds off. Ticker reflects this as of...a minute or so ago. :)  I am eager to cross that barrier to the 170s...so eager.

Food has been so easy this week. Hubby is out of town --boohooo--so I only have to worry about MY food. Which means...heck, easy-peasy. I do whatever is minimal, and I only go into the kitchen when hungry. This means I barely hit the kitchen. Yay!  I don't lose 2 pounds in five days unless I'm eating less. So, yeah, I'm eating less. But it's cause I'm following my natural rhythm: Only go into the kitchen when I'm hungry or just before I think I'm about to get hungry (preventative meal-making).

When hubby returns, I have to be regular with cooking, make extra for his lunches/snacks. It makes me think of food more, have to eat more on a schedule. That means more eating.

I want to win the PowerBall and never have to cook again. I'll be 125 pounds that way. hahahahahhahaha!!!!!

joking, half-way. ; )

I remember when I was morbidly obese and hubby went on trips. I saw that as "Woo-hoo, let's order delivery like mad" time. Order a pizza with the toppings MY way, no compromise. Order lasagna and meatballs. Order Chinese binge-feasts.

Now, I'm a different gal. I didn't order delivery once. I fixed all my meals. They were focused on protein, veggies, fruit, nuts, good fats,  with one deviation last night. I had a small portion of some leftover rice n beans, topped with salsa, alongside my home-made quickie-chicken-picatta and wilted spinach. Honeydew for dessert.

I actually could have not eaten at all on Tuesday--really had no appetite--but I always worry that if I go too long without, I'll get TOO hungry and set up a bingey thing. So, while I'll do intermittent short fasts (17 to 21 hours), I won't go longer. I guess I don't trust the binge-monster in me completely, even if I feel like a transformed person. Better safe than sorry.

I finished WHEAT BELLY, reviewed it at Amazon, and it firmed up my resolve from a few months back not to eat wheat/gluten. Hubby is on board, so it makes shopping/meals easier knowing he supports this. I know he's seen how it's done me good, and he sees how it's done him good, and why go back? His coworkers are frequently asking him what he's doing, cause they see he eats A LOT of food and has gotten radically slimmer. I think they see his three tupperware cooler of two-lunches and assorted snacks and wonder how he is so sleek, when he wasn't so sleek before. hahahah.

ETA for JoBee:
People become dependent on bread/wraps/crackers/pasta because it's simple/easy/no brain. To ditch the wheat--stop thinking of any food as a lunch food or a breakfast food. Any food is okay any time. Chicken for breakfast. Eggs for dinner. Veggies for breakfast. Steak for a snack.


For hubby, to simplify, I cook extra at dinner. A lot extra. And then I can use extras for the next couple days. And right after supper, I might make scrambled eggs with ham or cheese or both and he nukes it for breakfast with fruit.


Breakfast: have eggs any way you like with veggies. Add fruit if you're not insulin resistant/diabetic. Or can't live without it. hah. Have leftover dinner food. Have any protein with any veggie and some healthy fats. My fave is veggie omelettes, usually with some cheese (feta, cheddar, swiss). I almost always have fruit.  But I've had leftover chicken with spinach for breakfast. Hubby has had leftover buffalo chicken (I make it at home, no breading) for breakfast. He has turkey and cheese. He has leftover burger. As long as there's protein and some plant item, it's good.  I cook his stuff in EVOO, butter/ghee, or coconut oil.


Lunch: I have to fix him two lunches, cause he gets too think since ditching gluten and most sugar. Here is one day's packed lunches/snacks:

 Here's one "lunch set": There's grilled chicken with chopped carrots and diced celery over romaine; carnitas pork with rice and mozzarella cheese, applesauce, cashews; snacks include hummus/carrots, Larabar, dark chocolate square. He took his usual banana/apple in his workbag.



The above includes food from meals (leftovers). Grilled spicy chicken over yellow rice with a spinach mozzarella salad side; cheeseburger (sans bun) with asparagus (cooked in EVOO) with real mashed potatoes on the side (butter, cream); Snacks: Beanitos and salsa, cottage cheese with cantaloupe and strawberries, and there's dark chocolate under the bag of Beanitos. On top of this, he took an apple, a banana, and a bag of peanuts.


I stress that *I* can't eat like this. We tried totally grain free, and he dropped 5 pounds a week and was heading toward seriously UNDERweight. I added rice and taters back for him. I have them maybe 2x a week. I have metabolic issues he doesn't. But he has lost about 60 pounds from his highest weight.

I find salads are easiest: chopped cheese and turkey or chicken or ham or leftover steak or chicken or pork on top of greens with some veggies he'll eat (diced celery, broccoli slaw, shredded carrots). He's not got a big veggie vocabulary, but I do my best. :) He often has hummus with carrot sticks. I love using the Sabra single serve ones. Perfect for a snack. I also buy him Larabars (raw, gluten-free), which he enjoys. I can't eat them (too carby), but it helps him keep weight on these days. :D Cheese and nuts with crudite veggies and fruit can make a perfect no-cook meal. Breakfast can be non-sweetened yogurt with berries and nuts.

Just focus on protein/veggies as the spotlight, then add nuts, cheese, fruit (in moderation for those sensitive to sugars/carbs), seeds as accents, lots of nice spices. The starches that are safe and a allowed in our home--tubers, rice. For the non-carb-sensitive, gluten-free oats can be used. Use legumes if you aren't sensitive to them and they are properly soaked (although it's not Primal/Paleo, it's up to you. Dr. Davis gives the okay to moderate portions t keep glucose under control).

If you have any suspicion you might be wheat or gluten sensitive, if you have diabetes or insulin resistance (like moi), if you have a belly (ie, fat one), if you get cravings for wheat/gluteny products (that is, when you do your uncontrolled snacking, is is made of wheat or gluten-containing products, like crackers, pretzels, pizza, wraps, cookies, etc--or are you night snacking on roast chicken and spinach or honeydew and Manchego cheese?), if you have autoimmune conditions, or if you have low HDL/high triglycerides and dangerous small LDL that's HIGH--read the book.

The September 5th Woman's World magazine (your supermarket has it), gives a quickie overview and sample eating plan. But I recommend the book as he shows why wheat has been altered from its ancestral type. How it's not even the wheat eaten a couple generations ago. Different beast.

I'll eat ancestral wheat, should I come across bread made from it. I won't eat modern rejiggered/engineered wheat with its scary properties.

I don't need it, anyway. There's no nutrient in wheat that I can't get from the whole foods I eat, and in better form :) And I bet you don't need it, either. You might desperately want it. You just might be addicted to it. (And yes, he addresses that in the book, and if you have a loved one with schizophrenia or autism, you do want to read about the experiments in these areas with regard to wheat.) But that's all the more reason to assess your dependency on this not-benign grain and staple food.

So, that's my book recommendation for the week. WHEAT BELLY by Dr. Davis.

If you read it and try the program, really give it a good shot of at least 30 days,  let me know how it goes for you.

Have a great Thursday, eat well, move well..be well.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congrats on the weight loss!

I know that this sounds melodramatic, but giving up wheat will change a person's life. (For the better.) For those who doubt, try giving it up for 30 days. If you don't feel and look better, then you can always go back to eating it, right?

Floriana said...

WOW, Princess, 118 lbs is fantastic! Congrats!

Strangely, I don't mind cooking. I am not crazy about it and don't care to try complicated recipes or learn many new tricks, but I am always up for fixing a quick meal or precooking food for a week in advance.

How wonderful that you changed so much and came to the point of not desiring to binge when you are home alone. It's a biggie.

You are an inspiration, Princess. Thanks for sharing your story and your knowledge :)

JoBee said...

Can I ask you to let us know what type of lunches you pack that are wheat free?

This may be a silly question, but that's my one problem is lunch. I always find wraps, sandwiches, pita's they work the best. But then again, I think I'm like addicted to gluten. I love it, I crave it. But I'd love to just do it for 30 days straight.

Sharilee said...

Wow! I totally get the husband thing, too. It's way more challenging to cook for different people and try to meet everyone's needs than just to focus on being healthy for yourself. (But still, husbands are great, LOL!)

That is a fantastic achievement. Wow, to be at the 170's again sounds so wonderful. Way to go!

Princess Dieter aka Mir said...

JOBEE: I edited the post to answer your question. The truth is, you'll probably add more variety to your diet if you're not always relying on bread and wraps. :D ENjoy.

Thanks, everyone. I feel great and am ridiculously proud of myself getting this far. I keep on it!

Empty Nester said...

WOW! 118! AWESOME!

I don't crave when I eat whole grains, but regular pasta and white bread- oh yes. Those give me cravings for MORE which is why I no longer eat any of that stuff. I've just tried brown rice pasta- have you read anything bad about that?

Princess Dieter aka Mir said...

I just recently purchased brown rice pasta for hubby. It's probably still too glucose-spiking for ME. I think obese/fat folks should avoid too many glucose spiking foods, moderate them. So, I'd rather have fruit than pasta. It's sugary, but 18 to 20 carbs in a cup o ffruit is different than 40 or more in a half cup of some grain items.

Rice is not a toxic grain. (I do wonder how much of the leanness of Asians is due to relying more on rice than wheat/gluten foods in their traditional cuisines.) If you don't have Insulin resistance/diabetes or get cravings from glucose spikes (which I do), then go for it. Keep the other items in the menu lower-starch/carb (veggies, olive oil, cheese, meat).

I do think you might want to look into AGEs. Without gluten, a high starch/sugar food can still cause damage and AGE you. Me, I hate aging, and if I can cut down on looking older, I'm for it. I'm 51 and did enough damage to myself in the last 25 years of my life. I want to minimize it now. :)

Later....and thanks...

Rachel Schofield - Virtual Interior Decorator & Home Stager said...

I've read about the connection of gluten and dairy to several disorders and it's frightening! (Apparently the proteins in gluten and dairy are nearly identical?) I know too much gluten (think fresh, white bread) can turn me into a zombie. I just get kind of a glazed look on my face and become absolutely brain numb. Not healthy!

Anonymous said...

When I accidentally cut out gluten last year, I thought a miracle happened. Really.

In a week, my world changed. And in a month,-the hideous shingles-like skin condition that I had had for SEVEN years went away. (Later, it flared up again after a gluten binge-fest & was diagnosed as dermatitis herpetiformis--otherwise known as the gluten rash)

When I insist that I'm making this whole gluten thing up and indulge--like August--I gain 6 pounds overnight from ascites and CHF, my scalp breaks out in sores that look like cigarette burns, my joints become so painful...well, lots happens.

I just decided earlier today that I have to accept my label of "gluten-intolerant" and do what I need to do to achieve and maintain health. Which is to avoid gluten like the plague!

Thanks for this post--I need to read this stuff to fight off the denial. :} I'll be adding "Wheat Belly" to my Kindle.

And CONGRATULATIONS on the weight loss.

Deb

Karla said...

I hardly eat any wheat, but in reading Wheat Belly got me thinking. i checked labels like crazy at the store today and to stay away from wheat you have to be very careful

I am not done with the book, but what about oats? As in oatmeal?

118 pounds!!! OMG Princess you are thee ROCK STAR!!!!

Food Freak said...

You sound happy and lively today, my dear. More so than usual, I mean. Your weight loss is magnificent!

Sometime, when you're in the mood, could you dedicate part of a post to what Pilates is, how you discovered it, how long a session you do it, how often, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. LOL.

Lisa Sargese said...

Ah! You have learned a great truth about food! Yep, eggs and fruit are a wonderful breaky according to my new nutritionist. GMO grains, not so much. The inflammation just drains away when we avoid certain things. God bless you on your journey, Princess!