My food diary...

[JohnHuff]

After gaining a lot of weight last year and finding I had HBP, I went on a diet and exercised. After losing about 20lbs I kinda went off it due to the pressure of everyday life. I started dieting and working out again recently and found out about keeping a food diary which is basically just writing down everything you eat every day.

I started with just a list of food for each meal and the calorific content of each item. I just Googled to find out how many calories for each item. I found that quantifying each item really helped as it let me know how caloric each item was. I was also shamed into not eating certain things (like one and a half bars of KitKat) as I knew it would look bad in my diary and simply laziness as I didn't want to enter another item into my diary for a finished meal. And of course a sense of satisfaction when I had a low calorie day.

Even better, I found out about www.myfitnesspal.com which is basically the same thing except online. Better than my diary, it gave me estimates of sodium, fat, etc. for each item and let me set daily, weekly and long term goals, and it can be accessed from smart devices, etc.

By making me keep track of what I eat, it makes me more aware of what I eat. Anyone wanting to try something new should give this a look!

Cheers,
Dr. Sir. John

 

[addy1]

I put my honey on the plate diabetic feeding plan. It has worked great so far, he is dropping weight and says he has never eaten so much food. His blood sugars are dropping too.

I will look into that website might help us tighten up even more.

 

[JohnHuff]

I put my honey on the plate diabetic feeding plan.

Thanks for mentioning this. I'm gonna check into this for sure.

 

[addy1]

You divide a plate, one quarter carbs, one quarter protein, one half veggies salads.

Here is a link to how to set up the plate

http://www.diabetes.org/food-and-fitness/food/planning-meals/create-your-plate/

He gets three meals a day and two to three snacks, just watching amounts or carbs, proteins etc.

We are still in the learning stages of what to do, but I must admit he is totally dedicated to changing everything we need to change to get better readings.

 

[j.w]

Yep when I was doing weight watchers I would write down all that I ate for each meal. Then we went on a camping trip and I didn't do it anymore. But while I kept track I was losing weight and when I didn't keep track the weight crept back. Whatever diet one chooses to do if you don't follow the rules it won't work.

 

[JohnHuff]

Egads, I just got back from Ikea. I had the Saithe fish (480C) but I couldn't help eating some of my family's chicken tenders, fries, meatballs and dessert. And their coffee is absolutely the best.

 

[Dave 54]

Having gained one hell of alot of weight John, I hit 22.5 stone due to my disability leg wise I've so far dieted down to 19 stones and dropping having bad legs doesnt lend to exercise so weve done this as addy is suggesting but with an added factor .
What is it I here you say lol, whats that magic solution ???
Easy we also downsized our plates , since then its dropped off and still is


Dave

 

[JohnHuff]

Dave, do water exercises. I have bad knees on both legs from playing soccer every day when I was a kid. I have very loose ligaments on both knees. Either do swimming or walking in water. I joined a local gym that has a pool. Best decision I ever made.

 

[Dave 54]

John suggestion noted my friend

Dave

 

[addy1]

Dave we are using cheap small plates all the monster nice ones are packed away. It makes it look like you are eating more than you are, mind games with your own mind lol

We eat slow too, let the mind catch up with the stomach, or the stomach catch up with the mind........

 

[JohnHuff]

My target caloric intake is 1700 per day but I'm satisfied if I do about 2000. I think the best thing about the food diary so far is that it lets me know how many calories each type of food is and what I should avoid. For example, I'm now horrified with any single food that is 700c or more and there is a lot of them. Definitely, I'm more aware of what I'm eating.

 

[Catfishnut]

You folks are going to hate me once I tell you about my diet and weight problem.

Before I go to bed, I stop at the truck stop and eat a large chicken fried steak smothered in sausage gravy, two or three pancakes with maple syrup and six strips of bacon and two eggs over hard.

When I wake up in the morning, which for me is around noon, I eat two or three chicken breasts or a 1/3 pound of roast beef with about a cup of mashed potatos and gravy, veggies and 100% whole, vitamin D milk.

Near six pm I eat a 14-16 ounce ribeye steak, a baked potato smothered in sour cream and salt and pepper and a lettuce salad smothered with chunky blue cheese dressing. And, if I am not at work, I drink a tall draft beer or two with my meal and may order a side of jumbo shrimp and coctail sauce.

Somewhere between 9 pm and midnight I may eat a plate of lasagna or a bowl of spaghetti with meat sauce and garlic bread or maybe several slices of pizza instead.

I drink heavy beer, no pop, lots of Iced Tea in the summer, no potato chips, no donuts, no candy, no pop. Lots of extreme HOT Sauce and hot peppers.

I weigh 140 to 145 pounds (depending upon the season - winter vs summer respectively) and now I am starting to lose weight. Do I have a tapeworm?

I am NOT kidding you. My co-workers look at me like I am a freak and they ask me often... "Are you really going to eat ALL OF THAT?" And I do...

I stop in at Burger King and order two Double Whoppers with cheese and a Large Fry. I am hungry again in about four hours, but I haven't gained any weight.

My diet is expensive as heck and I've been this way all my life, approaching 50 years now and it is still the same, but I seem to be losing more weight recently and have to eat more to stay fit, or at least not blow away in the wind! I also only sleep four to six hours maximum per day. I just naturally wake up when I have had enough rest. It is like I just take a power nap and I am off and running again. I don't use any drugs at all (over the counter, prescription or illegal ones). I never get headaches and haven't been sick other than a sniffle for the past 30 years, except for west nile virus back in August of 2005. I don't take aspirin or any antibiotics and I don't go to the doctor if I can avoid it.

I should weigh 400 lbs or better and be bed ridden with cancer and all sorts of cardiovascular troubles, but I am not. When they test us at work for our health screening, everything comes out as the epitomy of health, my triglycerides and my blood sugar levels and my LDL and HDL cholesterol levels, all perfect! My BP is a little high as it generally runs 132 over 84. But that is not too terrible either.

I guess I am either going to drop dead someday or the wind is ging to cary me off into obilivion!

Gordy

 

[j.w]

Yes I hate you Gordy. I am on a diet right now of fluids for 1 week cuz of Diverticulitis attack. No big deal but just want to keep it at bay. I have been eating nothing but water, broth and watered down juice and am losing a few pounds but this morning I weighed and lost nothing. I had a grand total of 120 calories yesterday! So basically I can eat nothing and not lose weight? You can eat everything and lose...................why would I not hate you,lol! What weight were or are your parents? You may just have a really fast metabolism.................you lucky brat

 

[addy1]

wow gordy................you must spend darn big bucks on food, like feeding a family of 5 every day! if not more

 

[Catfishnut]

It is expensive, at least I think so. I estimate that on average I spend $22 to $28 a day on food just for myself. I do eat a lot of meat products (beef, venison, pork, turkey and chicken) as well as fish, shrimp, crayfish, calamari and turtle. But, I do not eat any candy, cakes, pies, donuts, snack or junk foods and I don't drink pop. Actually, if I eat two or three glazed donuts, I will feel nauseously sick as if I am going to pass out or vomit, so I avoid all sugary things. Except Hershey's chocolate bars, I can eat quite a few of them for some reason.

(I supply the venison, turkey, fish, crayfish and turtles on my own, so those come virtually free. But, I pay for the Beef, pork, chicken, calamari and shrimp.)

One thing that is probably even more unique about my diet (or rather my "eating habits") is that I eat TONS of jalepeno, chili, habenero and cayenne peppers as well as lots of onions. I can sit down and eat a whole jar of pickled hot peppers or eat an onion like an apple. Umm Umm Umm.... Yummy!

One of my brothers is the same way. He eats the same types of foods in the same quantities and he is just as skinny as I. It is either a genetically inherited, mutant metabolism or our diets (the types of food we eat) are very low in the bad fats and bad cholesterols, etc. which cause you to gain weight from fats. I wonder if it has anything to do with the protein content and the high energy content of the foods my brother and I eat. Maybe it is because of this our bodies do not automatically store up reserves of fat for later energy consumption and therefore we remain skinny?

Isn't there some diet out there called a protein diet? Where you only consume foods high in protein and no starchy foods?

One other item about my cooking. When I fry cook any foods in oils or what-not, I use either lard or olive oil or peanut oil. No vegatable oils (i.e. corn oil). You might think that lard would be the worst thing to cook in, but look it up sometime. It is actually one of the better things you can use. The fats in the lard do not absorb into the foods as easily as an oil such as corn oil does. It is more healthy for you.

Gordy