The Pros and Cons of 100 Calorie Packaging

100 calorie packs have their place.  But if your choice happens to be a food trigger, eating a 100 calorie pack will likely lead to a binge and you eating multiple 100 calorie packs.

The best use, imo, of 100 calorie packs is to meet a need using a non-triger food.

Say you have a sweet tooth, need a sweet treat daily mid-afternoon.  Here's where your 100 calorie non-trigger food can do a world of good.

I almost always desire something sweet after lunch.  Enter the Hostess Cupcake 100 calorie pack.  Three miniature Hostess cakes plus a cup of Earl Grey with splash of skim milk. Totally satisfying.

 Because Hostess cupcakes are not a trigger food for me I am not tempted to eat beyond one pack.  As a plus the Hostess 100 calorie packs have a good bit of fiber--4 grams--which is a benefit to stave off hunger.

100 calorie packs can be your friend or a foe.  Choose wisely.

The Enemy: Hunger

One of the biggest foes in the battle of the bulge is hunger.

You can't be on the defensive.  If you wait until you're hungry it's too late.

You must go on the offense.  You must eat before you are hungry.

Doing that will allow you to eat less and not be as tempted to overeat because a thing tastes good. 

You may need to eat a snack between meals to prevent getting hungry.  Doing so would be an offensive move.

Another offensive tactic to keep hunger at bay is to eat protein and fiber at each meal and snack.

It doesn't have to be complicated.  Yogurt or milk plus high fiber cereal.  Cottage cheese plus an apple.  An egg salad or tuna sandwich on whole grain bread and some carrot sticks.  A granola bar with protein and fiber added.

See--that's simple, doable...and believe me it works.  The protein and fiber take longer to digest.  Your stomach doesn't empty so quickly and the blood sugar rise, which affects appetite and hunger, is slower and lower.

Find the lowest calorie high fiber protein combination and see what a difference it makes overall.

Under My Feet.

The scale moved downward again today, enough so that I can report another pound lost, totaling 12 pounds lost.

I'm very pleased with this progress.  The last time I lost weight--13 pounds total--it took me two years.  It was a real struggle.  Why the weight is moving now I'm not sure.  Maybe it's the B vitamins from the nutritional yeast I consume daily? Or the addition of iodine via the sea vegetables I mix in with my sea salt? Or the reduction of fat overall due to some fat free substitutes?  I doubt it's the fiber though the fiber does help me stay full--it's a real aid to prevent overeating and being satisfied with smaller amounts of food.

Speaking of fiber--yesterday after lunch I got hungry for a snack.  Wanting a low calorie very filling snack and having some coleslaw mix (the bagged kind) on hand gave me the brilliant (not) idea of having some raw cabbage instead of fruit or a Fiber One bar (which I was out of).  I mixed about 2 cups of the slaw mix with some very low fat mayonnaise, a little yogurt, lots of garlic and onion powder, and some salt and pepper--all tossed together.  I must say it tasted really good.  So--take this away--eat cabbage for a mid-
afternoon snack.  It'll fill you up but won't fill you out.

We had taco salad for supper last night and I threw in a handful of slaw mix (unadorned) with my salad--it supplied extra chew and crunch, was way more filling and added very few calories.  Plus, cabbage is a one of those eat often healthy foods.  I omitted the cheese on my taco salad but I swear-- those cabbage shreds did look like shredded Monterrey jack cheese.  It's pretty easy to fool yourself like that especially when your taco salad is loaded up with other stuff--tomatoes, onion, corn, pinto beans, cooked ground turkey, low fat sour cream and low fat dressing.

The past couple of nights I have been hungry when I've gone to bed so I must be eating under my caloric need--which is good and creates that deficit necessary to lose weight.  Most days I eat around 1350 calories give or take.  Last time I dieted (to lose the 13 pounds) I was allowing myself to eat 1600 calories a day.  I really didn't think an additional 250 calorie deficit would make that much difference but evidently it does--coupled with reducing total fat intake by using some fat-free products.  Mind, I do eat some good fat daily but small amounts.  Nut butters, olive oil and avocado are some of my good fat sources, as well as nuts themselves...of late it's walnuts and almond slices, usually eaten in my yogurt and oatmeal.

So, that's all for now.  I hope I can keep this up--the loss part that is.  My way of eating I intend to do 'forever'.  Whether I will continue to lose weight remains to be seen.  Theoretically I should, but real life and theory don't always coincide, do they.

No One Can Eat Just One

That was the line from the Lay's potato chip commercial. And I've found it to be true. In fact I've found it to be true about many foods.

But Jack LaLanne said this:

If one apple is good, you wouldn’t eat 100.

That got me to thinking. I've had some delicious apples in my time. Same with other fruit. At most I might eat a second one, but never more that that. I certainly wouldn't eat 100 apples.

But I sure could eat a 100 chips, or nuts, or pieces of chocolate.

Jack gave me something to think about. Every time I'm tempted to want more of some tasty food I remember what Jack said.

Also--I really do wonder if there are things added to our processed foods to make us want to eat more, which result in having to buy more of it more often (hence the company makes more money off of us). While nuts are natural I'm only tempted to overeat them when they have been processed, as in roasting and salting and added oils. What else might they add to those processed nuts under the heading of spices? Raw nuts just aren't that compelling to overeat are they?

Next time you're pigging out on something think about what Jack said about the apple.

By the way--if you didn't watch the video I posted yesterday you missed out. Don't be mislead by the screen shot. Jack did not advocate eating much meat, and then only broiled, grilled or baked. If you watched you'll know it was skim milk for breakfast, no butter on your toast, and a big raw salad at lunch and supper. And guess what oil he said to use on that salad?..uh huh...olive oil.  Pretty much what he said to do back in the 1950's is what we are hearing today from the experts.

Back in the day Jack was considered a nut (Did you know he was a doctor of chiropractic? I didn't until I read his website.) But Jack knew what he was talking about. I bet he felt like a fish swimming upstream in his prime. Thanks Jack. You are the man, and a lovely one to boot.

Protein Helps

Just a quick update to let you know that eating more protein during the day has eliminated my need to snack at night. I feel proud, but it really has nothing to do with will power or me resisting temptation. I'm less hungry when I get adequate protein which also results in me eating less of the insulin raising foods that increase the appetite. I've been checking the scale and my weight is moving down. Also my clothes fit more loosely--the bloat is gone.

I want to interject to those of you who do Weight Watchers--who tells you that there are no forbidden foods--the reason many of the foods are no points or very low points is because they want to lead you to eating the foods that are lower glycemic, lower fat, lower calorie and higher in protein because those foods don't increase the appetite. They also promote fat burning (fat becomes the energy source) in your body.

So, you see, there is a method to their 'madness' of using points instead of calories. The points system along with the healthy eating habits they teach lead you to eating foods that will help you be most successful. Still though I prefer to follow my own plan and believe in the long term I will have more success.

It has been hard though for me to eat--as in chew-- enough animal sourced protein. I have to work hard to get in 60 grams--which seems to be the ideal minimum number for me, though according to other sources I should be getting more.

I've had to supplement my food with some protein shakes (whey based--I'm not supposed to use soy--oncologist orders) to reach that 60 gram goal. To stay in my calorie range I keep it plain.

To a cup of cold water and a couple of ice cubes I add the protein powder, some vanilla, and some sweetener. I can add some instant decaf coffee and some unsweetened cocoa powder too for a mocha shake, but it does require using more sweetener..and even calorie free sweeteners set off my sweet tooth.

Now--the trick is for me to not get slack and quit tracking my protein intake. After a few days it's too easy to slip back into the old ways, thinking I've got things under control, ignoring the knowledge I have and not using it to my aid.

Another Reason to Eat Multiple Small Meals

We smoothly said along with the "diet" and then vacation rolls around. Or a special event. Or the holidays.

Purposefully we decide to allow ourselves some indulgences during those special days, figuring we might gain a pound or two or three, but we are not concerned. We fully intend to go right back to the weight loss food level and shed any gain and continue in our weight loss efforts.

But we get home, full of good intentions to eat less food. But...it's *so* *hard*. Aside from the obvious, why?

Well, from my reading I understand that our bodies come to expect things physiologically. Meaning that if today I eat 1000 calories for lunch, tomorrow my body will be expecting 1000 calories once again for lunch. Chemical processes beyond my control will work to make that happen. Hence, the battle. My body "demanding" a 1000 calories while I'm desiring to limit my lunch to half or less that amount.

So--I'm thinking--wouldn't it be a smart strategy to eat several smaller "meals" over the course of a day? Instead of consuming 400-500 calories at one sitting for my breakfast, eat 200-250 calories, and then mid morning have another 200-250, getting my body used to not expecting more than 250 calories per meal. This eating several small meals has been touted as a method of keeping the metabolism stoked as well.

If this is true science, then it's no wonder we find it so hard to return to pre-vacation/holiday eating levels. We are fighting nature.

When I "vacate" my diet for special times I imagine I eat around 3000 calories per day. In the future instead of consuming it "1000 calories x 3 meals", I'm going to stretch those calories out and eat them in allotments of 500 calories per meal instead, hoping that once I return home it will be easier to reduce to the weight loss level.

In the meantime I'm testing this out at home. I'm continuing my 1600 calorie per day allowance but eating several smaller meals instead of 3 larger ones. I've noted that when following intuitive eating, and checking my calorie intake at the end of a day, I am intuitively eating right around 1600 calories a day. So maybe there is something to this idea of our body expecting a repeat from the previous pattern.

Oatmeal Cheese Danish

I tend to eat oatmeal quite often for breakfast. My favorite way is banana cooked with the oatmeal (in the microwave) and a spoonful of peanut butter on top.

Now that it's fall I'm looking to spice things up with a bit of cinnamon and such. Here's what I tried today and was pleasantly surprised.

1/3 cup dry oats
1/4 cup cottage cheese
about a 1/2 cup water--adjust
for thickness.

Nuke this for 2-2.25 minutes. If it's cooked to your liking, add some sweetener, then stir to blend. Now sprinkle the top with some cinnamon. Drizzle with 2-3 teaspoons of International Delight Vanilla Spiced Rum coffee creamer.

This truly did remind me of the flavors of a cheese danish.

Today I went to the gym where I live and rode the recumbent bike for 50 minutes and used the weight lifting pulley...did about 3 sets of 10 each using 40 pounds. I hadn't used this equipment before because I was unsure of how it worked, but a neighbor showed me--so I think I'll be going there more often since I can't walk or do squats.

It seems there is always a way to figure out how to do what needs doing if we are willing to adjust.

Lately, too, I've been noticing that I'm using my brain more and connecting the dots to prevent overeating before it happens.

For instance today I thought I was hungry. But instead of grabbing food I paused, and questioned myself. I realized, because I took time and trouble, that it was only mouth hunger. I examined myself and determined that I was likely bored. So I changed my activity (reading blogs) by getting up and moving around, doing some housework. Just the change of activity refocused my brain and the boredom ceased and the hunger was gone.

I was able to wait until lunch time to eat. Score one for me.

This brain stuff is key to real change. All my life I've pretty much responded to my hunger by eating something, never questioning the validity of it. If I were on a diet I'd grab something low-cal--but even then I was eating when I shouldn't be eating, and reinforcing a negative behavior.

So, onward and upward, marching toward the goal.

Perplexed About Hunger

Lately I haven't been hungry which is none to common to me. It's gotten me to thinking and asking "why".

Perhaps it's the time of the year? Summer is almost over and fall is around the corner, a time when things are winding down. The light is waning and the days are shorter

Or maybe it's hormonal? I've lost 15 pounds of fat, and I've read belly fat releases a hormone that triggers hunger.

Is it the new relationship to food that I'm developing? The Intuitive Eating approach is to not restrict any type of food. Since no food is forbidden the previously "bad" foods are less desirable from an emotional standpoint. And since a lot of my eating is emotional, not stemming from true physical hunger, that could figure into it.

It's a good thing that I'm not hungry all the time--but the "dilemma"...if you can call it that...hahaha...is how should I respond to it??? Wait until I get hungry and then eat a meal? I tried that the other day and at 1:30 pm I was still not hungry for lunch but ate anyway because I doubted I could go until supper time without eating and was afraid I'd "spoil" my supper if I found myself ravenous and eating at 4 pm. (Why didn't I just skip the meal all together???)

In the morning I wake up not hungry and am inclined to skip breakfast. But that knowledge that I "should" eat breakfast is rattling around in my head. The statistic that people who skip breakfast are fat--that they overeat later in the day--you've heard it...that knowledge screams at me. But all those years I wasn't fat I never ate breakfast. And the rare times I did I was starving well before lunch.

And then there's the "knowledge" that it's important to eat so that the metabolism stays revved up. So if I'm not hungry and I don't eat, am I sabotaging my weight loss effort?

So many questions and very few clear, certain answers.

What I believe I'm learning is that I need to listen to my body. It's hard, this listening to my body. I've ignored it for so long that I barely know it. I've been a dictator, ignoring the needs of my body, doing what I decided was seemly. Like staying up late to do things I felt I must instead of going to bed for sleep. Or skimping on fresh fruit--which I enjoy--because canned fruit is cheaper--which I don't enjoy.

I imagine this season will pass. For now it is to my benefit-- it's certainly easier to eat less food when you're not hungry--so I'll try and make the most of it. But I won't be too surprised if I wake up tomorrow starving.