30 Apr
TWLC3 Week 3
This last week in the Facebook group I talked about my struggles to feed T1 while resisting the temptation to eat things that are going to inhibit my weight loss.
Argh! Having a baby really messes with my intake for the day. Not only do I have to feed him all sorts of things that I can’t/don’t want to eat myself (bread mainly) but I’m constantly fighting this mindset that I need to finish off his plate or else it will ‘go to waste”. I really hate food waste, and try to throw away as little as possible, and I am always eating whatever he doesn’t eat. I give him one of those Baybel cheese round things and he just wants to peel it open and throw the cheese on the ground, so I eat the cheese. I give him a banana and he just wants to peel it and take one bite, so I finish the banana. I’m treating myself like we used to treat our dogs, feeding myself the leftovers after dinner!
One thing that I realized wasn’t clear after reading the replies on the thread is that T1 isn’t a picky eater (quite the opposite actually, he’s the least picky toddler I’ve ever seen), he’s just two. He likes opening a banana because it’s fun, and peeling wax off a piece of cheese is more exciting than actually eating it (I think I wouldn’t be so overweight if that were my problem!). The suggestions on the thread were so helpful that I wanted to share them here in case others are struggling with the same thing!
- Chew a piece of gum when I am feeding him
- When he opens a banana and eats just a bite, put the rest in the freezer for spinach smoothies. When he throws the cheese on the ground without eating it, grab it and put it in a baggie in the fridge so he can finish it the next day. Leftover piece of bread that’s largely untouched? Make breadcrumbs with it!
- Give him something super messy along with the rest of his food. Yogurt, sauce, cup of water. He will make a mess as he eats and everything on the tray will then be unappetizing. There’ll be no more temptation to snack on his leftover soggy bread covered in yogurt and peas.
- Start composting (I hope to start doing this in California!)
Feeding him exactly what I eat all the time just isn’t feasible (kids and husbands need rice/potatoes/beans/bread/etc, which are things I’m trying to severely limit). I think some of these strategies are the key to kicking my nasty snacking-on-leftovers-like-the-family-dog habit for good.
Best nutrition choice of the last week:
It’s time to start keeping mixed greens stocked in the house at all times. I love this salad with my homemade poppyseed dressing, goat cheese, and mixed nuts.
Worst nutrition choice of the last week:
I made lemon poppyseed pancakes with white flour, accompanied by powdered sugar filled whipped cream and agave sweetened strawberries for T1 Day on Saturday. My original goal was to eat one or two and then have a spinach shake but then we started eating and it was so good…
Also:
I'm a farm-raised almost-crunchy stroller-pushing picture-taking lifestyle-blog-writing gastronomy-obsessed divine-seeking thrift-store-combing cheese-inhaling pavement-pounding laughter-sprinkling lover of individuality and taking chances.
I know you might disagree with me, but I think you will have much better LONG TERM weight loss success if you figure out the source of your food issues. If you did that you might lose the weight a lot more slowly, but it will stay off for good.
Severely limiting your intake will result in weight loss for sure, but then what? What happens when the challenge is over? Do you have a plan in place on how you will maintain your weight after? It doesn’t seem realistic to expect yourself to never eat some of T1′s leftovers or to be able to avoid grains when you clearly love them. I’d love to hear what your post challenge plan is.
andrea Reply:
April 30th, 2012 at 10:43 am
this.
Jenna Reply:
April 30th, 2012 at 10:44 am
Gary Tabues in Why We Get Fat (and Good Calories Bad Calories) argues that some people are just more sensitive to carbs than others. For them, low carbohydrate is a way of life.
I likely will be able to eat a bit more in able to maintain (because maintaining is easier than losing) but I suspect this will be a way of life for me.
Hannah Reply:
April 30th, 2012 at 9:28 pm
Jenna, I am the same as you. I have a really similar shape to you, albeit taller, and I gain weight in droves if I as much as look at a carbohydrate. I also thought I had thyroid issues - my doctor still thinks it isn’t showing up in tests. Between that and my gluten and dairy sensitivity - low carb is a way of life for me.
As for people needing grains…I think it is fooey. But I live in a house with someone who needs a restricted diet as much as I do, so it is a bit easier to feed everyone with the same thing.
I think that it helps to change how you think of food waste. John always wants to buy the biggest package because it’s the “best deal” even if it’s junk food. I tell him - there is no point in paying someone more to have more weight to lose.
I think, too, that your remedies sound good. Though I wouldn’t worry about eating a banana. I mean, I know calories in<calories out, but I think it's better to "fill up" on fruits/veggies and not restrict those.
As far as cheese…have you thought about not buying the Babybel? I get them for lunch all the time - they are good (though a little salty for me). But maybe if you get cheeses that aren't single serving, like feta or goat, it'd be harder to snack on them.
Good luck!
Jenna Reply:
April 30th, 2012 at 10:53 am
Haha, we stopped buying the Baybel altogether. They are so convenient for on the go, but he was throwing tantrums demanding to have them all day every day. So now they don’t exist in our house anymore!
Re food waste - my mom used to always say to us “if you put food in your body that you don’t want or need that’s wasting it too. Better to put it in the trash”
That really helped put it in perspective to me. i hate wasting food but eating something that I don’t want or need is wasting it AND being unkind to my body.
3I’m curious as to why you think you are “so overweight”. Do you still see yourself as the person you were at BYU? How much weight do you want to lose so you will no longer be “so overweight”? Is your goal to be healthy and strong, or just skinny like you were in your wedding photos?
Jenna Reply:
April 30th, 2012 at 2:00 pm
I still have a dangerous amount of abdominal fat. I’ll consider myself a normal weight when I have eliminated that.
Andrea Reply:
April 30th, 2012 at 10:52 pm
I think I’m super fat but I have a 29″ waist. Should I not think I’m fat even though I’m technically overweight for my height (5’4″)? I’m seriously asking.
I have been following your blog for over a year and I feel that you have made huge strides! Post baby tummy fat (even yrs later) is a constant complaint from my patients. One thing that has really helped me with weight loss is to drink a glass of ice water before eating a meal and then I make flavored ice trays and use them as snacks. They are tasty and zero calories. Another thing that has helped me is to do something make it difficult for myself to get to the ‘trouble’ foods. For example I love chocolate so it’s kept in a a zip lock Baggie in a box at the bitten of my pantry. That way I have to work to get to it, but mostly I forget it there!
You we doing great! You look great!
5wow, troll out in full force today. i had an epic fail week last week. too much snacking while giving the kids at work their snack, virtually no exercise. i think it all stems from being low on water all day, which gave me a headache, which left me unable to work out. i’ll try chewing gum when i give my kids snack and also focus on getting all my water in at work, so i can workout when i get home.
6I just took my daughter off formula and onto whole milk, so she’s at the eating a full meal every two hours stage right now while she adjusts to the milk. We also have been carb free for a little over a month now, so it’s even more difficult since they’re eating food you really can’t have.
In terms of waste, I didn’t like the idea of giving them something messy. It’ll stop me from eating it but also from saving it. I think it just comes down to self control and not eating it. It feels stupid to put one tiny piece of cheese back in the fridge but whatever. They’ll eat it later.
I’ve found, especially now off carbs, you really need to be snacking to keep your metabolism stable. So instead of trying not to eat when I feed the baby, I prep my own snacks too and we eat together. I’ll snack on celery sticks, or drink white tea. White tea is awesome because it burns fat cells. Having it hot, or iced, or blended with milk as a smoothie means you can eat while you feed the baby while keeping your metabolism steady and not have to feel guilty. And really if you have celery sticks every two hours that’s totally fine.
Jenna Reply:
April 30th, 2012 at 7:21 pm
I like the idea of thinking of tea as a snack. I’ve never thought of it that way before.
Hannah Reply:
April 30th, 2012 at 9:29 pm
I do this. I make a pot of tea and have it there all the time…it replaces that boredom and makes you pee a lot. I get all sorts of Celestial Seasonings ones and drink heaps of it
I’ve been working ony diet too and it is so hard. I mess up a lot and then give up for a day at a time.
8I also have a hard time with waste. It helped to be told that it is waste either way (if you don’t need it). It’s better garbage in the trash than garbage in my belly (and hips and arteries etc).
How come the TWLC3 spreadsheet has changed? I was #18 throughout and now my number on the spreadsheet is varied. I thought people were only supposed to change there own entries!?! Can you please fix. Thanks.
Jenna Reply:
May 1st, 2012 at 9:06 pm
It’s been rearranged so it sorts alphabetically (this makes it easier for me to sort through and figure out who has been logging in weekly). That should be the only change!
Shelley Reply:
May 1st, 2012 at 9:29 pm
Thanks for the reply. That make sense. I just logged in and automatically went to the 18th row and found out it changed and my name now is not on the same numbered row throughout, which makes sense since not everyone filled out each page.