Keeping Calories in the Black

Eating is part physiology and part psychology .  Sometimes we eat more than we think we do, and sometimes we think we eat less than we do.  Our perception can really play tricks on us.   Our eyes are bigger than our stomachs.  Our habits are mindless at times.  Before we know it, we eat 100 calories of honey roasted peanuts, 150-calorie beverage, “just a couple of bites” of somebody’s double fudge brownies with icing  then be “STARVING” for supper and think all we had for lunch was a salad.   It’s easy to overeat when we are not paying attention. 

One of my favorite girls EVER had a major misconception of her eating habits.  She was morbidly obese, had had three heart attacks.  THREE!   The girl was a nutritional train wreck, but she was my buddy.  At first she told me she never ate anything except one meal a day that consisted of a small portion of grilled chicken and some steamed vegetables.  Later she gave me a special gift…. A favorite quote:     “It’s nothin’ for me to eat a box of Little Debbies in one sittin'.” She told me.    

Calories can really sneak up on us if we don’t pay attention to what we are doing.   One thing that really helps to keep an eye on the ol’ eating plan is to keep a food diary of everything we taste, lick, chew, etc.   It’s not a rule.  It’s not a law.  It’s not a punishment.  It’s a tool.  It’s a tool to help us stay on track.  I don’t know about you, but when I’m hiking down an unfamiliar path, the markers nailed to the trees bring comfort as they remind me I’m still where I’m want to be.  Ahhhh….restful instead of stressful! 

I made a ledger sort of like a check book.  I calculated the calories I need to promote a gradual and safe weight loss.  I need 1200 calories to stay on my chosen path.  The food diary doesn’t have to be anything fancy.  It could just be a list of foods and the calories.  The important thing is that you try to eat close to the calories you need everyday.    Because I'm sort of a food nerd, I note the time, amount of the food item, calories, protein, fiber, carbs, and then the calorie balance from 1200 calories.

Here is an example of a day and how I analyzed it so I could make changes to my eating that would make life "easier" on my path the next day:

1200 calories minus:

coffee with chocolate milk  =  1005 calories to go….

½ cup pintos and a salad with light raspberry vinaigrette. = 585 calories to go…

coffee with light cream = 510 calories to go…

1 container of raisin bran with skim milk and 6 oz coffee = 307 calories to go…         
AND IT’S STILL NOT SUPPER TIME YET!!!!!!

What’s a girl to do?  At first reminiscence, I would think I haven’t eaten much in this day.  The truth is, I spent 175 calories just on the sissy in my coffee.  The “light” salad dressing still had 100 calories in one pack.  The cheese, ham, and egg I added to my salad really packed on the calories. 

How did I end this caloric day in the black?  With a plan!  I put in a request for some steamed veggies to add to Leftovers Night.   I ate a plate full of vegetables and then the carrots and beef from the beef stew.   I went to bed a decent time.  Sometimes at night I feel hungry again when my body demands energy when all I need is sleep.

Tomorrow is a new day, a new breakfast, and a new ledger with plenty of calories in my account to keep me in the black. 

Dietary Team Wins

I'm so proud of my girls!  Some that work in the dietary department with me have happened on a weight loss journey of their own losing as much as fifty pounds!  As if this isn't impressive enough, they have been so wise on their journey.  When we get too "greedy" with the amount of weight we want to lose quickly, wisdom from the team says, "Down Two Pounds."   We are reminded that slow and steady wins the weight loss race.  Before we know it, fifty pounds are permanently and safely gone.   They have a scale in the office that we weigh on.  It makes it more fun to walk out this journey  with  buddies.  It's tough stuff working dietary.  They not only have to be culinary and sanitation experts,  but they have to be quick and accurate with nutrition and diets.  It makes my heart merry to see them apply their nutritional knowledge in their own lives.  Well done, Ladies!  Thanks for being an example to us all!

Have Your Cake and Eat It Too

 I visited my child's kindergarten class along with several other parents and overheard a conversation between two thin ladies about weight loss.  One had recently lost a bunch of weight.  Although she looked great and felt better, she fussed about how boring eating healthfully was for her.  The other mom confessed she had gained ten pounds because motherhood makes her feel like she deserves snack cakes everyday and had no plans of going back to her former way of eating.  They laughed as they admitted how life tastes better with junk food.

I actually enjoyed their conversation, but it really made me think.  There is no reason why people cannot enjoy food and health at the same time.  There are plenty of examples of friends I know who eat heavenly, feel great, and look amazing.  Dieting is not about deprivation.  It can't be.   I have enjoyed exploring different foods and recipes to pack my meals with nutrition. Weight loss becomes effortless and permanent when it is enjoyable.   I'm excited to learn more, and try knew foods.  It's like a puzzle to see how I can fit tasty foods from each food groups in one day.  Health does not have to be boring.  Some of the best recipes I've had were packed full of nutrition.  With just a little ingenuity, taste and health can come together to make weight loss seem effortless.

I’ve been experimenting! 

Some time ago I posted a REAL chocolate gravy recipe and said, “Because every food should fit.” Every food CAN fit and I will always believe that. But some things only work themselves into the meal plan every once in a while. What is totally awesome is adding nutrition to tasty foods so they can fit more often. Sure the sugar-free alternative may taste a little differently, but this is a way you can have your cake and eat more of it more often.   

It started as a desire to create some recipes using a bulking fiber. I bought some glucomannon powder at the health-food store. ½ teaspoon has 2 grams of fiber, but this stuff GROWS! ½ teaspoon turned 1 cup of thin liquid into a saucy pudding consistency. Whoa!  Fiber promotes regularity, weight loss, increases blood sugar control, AND lowers cholesterol. Holla!   I had read about Glucomannon, but when I tried it in a suggested recipe, I felt like I was eating Vaseline. Who wants health to taste like torture? “Not I” said the dietitian. I decided to do a little experimenting. 
 

I made some chocolate gravy replacing ¼ cup flour with ½ teaspoon of glucommanon which now made the recipe gluten free. I replaced half the sugar with Stevia so the calories of the recipe were cut in more than half. In one version, I used coconut milk instead of regular skim milk just to see what it would do. I could taste the difference, but all in all it was a good. The version with coconut milk was rich and dense like it would be a wonderful replacement for chocolate sauce in a dessert. I haven’t tried it with 100% stevia instead of sugar, but I want to.  I've got to adjust the family taste buds gradually so they accept the new flavors. 
 

Altering The Recipe…

The regular recipe: 1 cup sugar. ¼ cups flour. 3 tablespoons cocoa. 2 cups milk. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat and serve. Six servings at 185 calories per serving.

Replacing the flour with ½ teaspoon of glucomannon and half of the sugar with Stevia. Six servings at 105 calories and 24 grams of carbohydrate.

Replacing the milk with coconut milk decreased the carbohydrates even more to 20 gram per servings.

Replacing the sugar and adding the fiber and fat from coconut milk will slow digestion helping to regulate blood sugar and preventing that quick rise and fall of glucose/insulin.

The Healthy Perspective

I was slicing some wonderful leftover pork roast my mom sent home with us and plating fresh garden vegetables when a feeling of gratitude swallowed me whole. So thankful for food, nourishment, and what family dinners represent! 

 

Many times I have placed all the social aspects of food in a negative light. Everybody knows there is more to eating than just nutrition. Food was often the annoying guest we have to invite to the party. It became a hurdle. Just something else I have to struggle through to reach my goal. Just another opportunity to mess up. “Let’s just take it one meal at a time.” I begrudgingly said as if it was some necessary evil.

Just as with everything else in life, there are two perspectives. I was looking at social eating through a lens of negativity, a perspective of lack and difficulty. I have taken food for granted many times. I have misused and abused it. I’m not an unhealthy weight because food is bad. I’m at an unhealthy weight because my relationship with food has been unhealthy. I actually happen to like healthy foods. I like variety. I like feeling satisfied but not stuffed. I want a healthy relationship with food and it starts with the proper perspective. ALL healthy relationships are simply about love and enjoyment. In the moments it took me to plate up a tasty, well-balanced, and nutritious meal for my family, those dark shades began to fall off, and a new light was shed.

How fun is food? All the flavors! Fun traditions and memories associated with eating! All the people I like to hang with and enjoy life together! Funniest family moments around the table. Going out to eat and ordering something new or something familiar. Browsing at the Farmer’s Market. Independence Day Queen Burger. Movie popcorn. There is just something so fun, familiar, easy and restful about food. Everybody is always in the kitchen. It’s great to love to eat! It’s fine to be excited about planning the food for that party, that ballgame, or even your next snack. There aren’t “bad” foods. I have struggled with food instead of just enjoying it. Food and life were created to be enjoyed. To abuse something lovely is to miss out. How wonderful is it that our bodies were made for taking nourishment breaks? When we see three squares a day through a perspective of abundance, it makes health happen. 

 

Having a healthy relationship with food is another great lesson to learn from my three little professors. Those three boys are GOOD at eating. (Some better than others.) They generally like a variety of foods. They get excited about mealtime. They have foods they like to eat at different people’s house and they get excited about eating it when they get there. Even our quiet little Jack who does not like attention used to get so excited about food that he would actually make up songs about food in the grocery store. Unloading the groceries at home was as grand as Christmas morning! Jack even takes social eating to a new level. He needs a flavor associated with every single wonderful thing we do. My Boys Enjoy Food! But you know what? They are at healthy weights. They refuse sweets as much as they accept them. When they are full, they quit eating. When they want a little more, they ask for a little more, “But dust a wittle bit! Dat’s enough!” 

 

This attitude of gratitude is more than just a rehearsed prayer before dining.  It’s a real, live, emotional fruit from seeing things in the real light. So thankful to experience the abundance of good food with the people I love most in our favorite places together. So thankful for the freedom to befriend and enjoy food. So very thankful that health flourishes in presence of light.

Let’s let health happen.