Quickly Falling Into The Slim-Fast Trap

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I find that I'm quickly falling into the trap of Dark Chocolate Slim-Fast powder. I logically tell myself that it's because of the heat and the morning coffee that I'm drinking is an appetite supressant. My tender heart tells me that my mum wants me to have a trim body and proper hair, like Ray Davies of the Kinks had in 1965. It hurts my stomach when I eat in the warmer months, because those warmer months are hot, in Western British Columbia. What should I do?

Not sure what the question is.
My opinion on Slim Fast is, it's a gimmick like all other weight loss products.
I live in the USA where weight loss is big business. Also total bull if you ask me.
Unless you have some specific medical or metabolic problem, you don't need any special products or equipment to lose weight. Eat fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and exercise (say, by walking instead of driving or taking the bus), and you'll be healthy. Some people are naturally extra small, and that's OK, but others are naturally bigger. I'm not saying anyone is naturally obese, just that there is some normal, healthy variation.
Anytime you eat food made by a corporation you are taking a risk. The greater the processing, the greater the risk.
Your mom is right to want you not to suffer the discrimnation aimed at fat people, but fat phobia can sometimes backfire and lead to weight gain, it did for me.

I'll send you over to a favorite site of mine, World's Healthiest Foods:
http://www.whfoods.org/

There is more information there than just about anywhere else on good foods. There are recipes. There is discussion on organic things and what is in season.

I love love love the section that has the individual foods listed! The vitamins and minerals, and history and how packed with nutrition each mentioned thing is.

For instance, when the doctor wanted to put me on a cholesterol medicine, I said NO, let me try to lower it myself naturally. I used that site for information on foods. My favorite breakfast became oatmeal with nuts, honey, and soy milk. That can be eaten hot or cold. Add in some raisins, cinnamon. It was more like a dessert than a breakfast.

Salads are excellent for summer meals. So much IS in season. This is the section that lists the World's Healthiest Foods:
http://www.whfoods.org/foodstoc.php

Scroll down to read WHY those items are considered to be the World's Healthiest Foods. Here are the categories:
1. The World's Healthiest Foods are the Most Nutrient Dense
2. The World's Healthiest Foods are Whole Foods
3. The World's Healthiest Foods are Familiar Foods
4. The World's Healthiest Foods are Readily Available
5. The World's Healthiest Foods are Affordable
6. The World's Healthiest Foods Taste Good

The other important part in lowering the cholesterol was exercise. But I have back problems, and nerve pain. So, I put myself to work picking up/cleaning up at the park across the street. Some days it was maybe 5 minutes of extra exercise. Some days I felt pretty good, and would bend, squat, lift, walk, etc, for an hour. Every day.

Because I generally dislike exercising just for exercise. I like it to have a purpose. Household chores are a real workout. Maybe do more window cleaning. Uh, vacuuming. Wall washing. Remember to switch back and forth with your hands, so both arms get an equal workout.

Remember also there is a "set-weight" theory that most of us will not be able to fight our genetics. There's a point at which we won't lose any more weight without literally dropping our body into starvation/survival mode. And a point at which we probably won't gain anymore weight either.

I figured with my back pain and reduction in movement would have me ending up being one of those poor dear hearts that get stuck in a wheelchair at 300 pounds or something. Nope. My top weight is 160 or so. That's doing absolutely nothing, when my pain is really bad and I'm just too depressed to consider thinking about food or health and cream pie becomes an acceptable meal.

My low is 105, before I hurt my back, and did aerobics, weight lifting, and a sit-ups while working and attending college. I was a busy bee. The muscles were strong and the body craved healthy foods for good fuel.

You don't have to crash diet and you aren't establishing GOOD HABITS. People who crash diet usually gain it all back. Because they did not learn proper eating, and as soon as the weight is lost (mostly water), they go back to the same unhealthy eating habits. Like pie for dinner.

I thank the two of you for imformng me. I've bookmarked all the pages that you've posted. I've bookmarked the links and I won'tbe drinking any more of those shakes.

If you ever want to skip a meal, try a more traditional drink like ovaltine. It will be better on your stomach and isn't meant to replace eating. It's a good snack and I give it to my son.
Most people need to eat a good breakfast, it provides a good nutritional basis and can suppress the urge for snacking and/or eating too much lunch. I'm the opposite and require very little in the morning. A standard "American" breakfast (2 eggs, potatoes, meat, cheese) will get me hungry all the ding dong day. I'll binge. I don't know why. For me, if I hold off eating til lunch, I have a good chance at eating healthy.

Telling you this because everyone is different and you need to do what is good for you! Liquid diets aren't healthy and not sustainable.

What should you do? Listen to more of the Kinks,
no question.

Rebel, you're in Western B.C.?

And what everyone said, Cockney. I'm a big gal, and I don't care any more for the most part. I'm also of an age that I don't care what anyone else thinks.

My goal is to be as healthy as I can be. I also eat as much organic as I can, and limit my carbs, and eat more veggies and fruit, and my protein is quality, and exercise.

As much as I don't like Oprah, she did have a show on diet realities, and what one should reasonably expect to lose. A pound a week, though slow, is reasonable, and combined with exercise and good eating and sticking to it, adds up over a year. The trick is not to get discouraged, really maintain good portion control and an exercise plan, whatever that is, and not to take the scale too seriously if you don't lose one week.

Do you have a doc? Maybe she or he can refer you to a nutritionist to come up with a food plan, so you know what you can eat and lose weight. Just a thought.

And avoid those diet drinks, and bars, and such. A friend of mine said a wonderful thing to me last week when we were walking--that I was fine the size I was, and if I lost weight because I wanted to she would support that, because she knew I was doing it in a healthy manner, but she loved me no matter my size.

You're working at it, Cockney, and I understand the feelings because I've done the same thing, over and over. You'll do it, but the most important thing is to love yourself first, and do it out of love and compassion. And you are a loveable person just as you are, no matter what others think. Even family.

Take care.

Metta, Rjaye.

(Not just listen to the Kinks-dance!)

Just thinking about cutting back on portion sizes to lose wight makes me hungry. Literally. I was thinking about doing it this week, so what did I do instead? I made a cheesecake and have already eaten half of it myself. Dieting doesn't work, you need to change your lifestyle in order to lose weight and keep it off. My lifestyle is mostly good, my problems that I had 2 babies in the last 3.5 years and don't exercise enough. My diet is good. I would stay away from artificial foods, like Slim-Fast, and even Ovaltine (ever read the ingredients? Artificial this artificial that. Maybe better than a lot of crap you could be eating/drinking, but still not ideal. I make my own choclate syrup from sugar, water and cocoa--it's VERY easy and make my kids chocolate milk w/ that.) I know I'm repeating what others have said, but stop buying processed convenience foods and start buying good whole foods. More fresh veggies--go to your local farmer's market if you have one. THey're outside, which is GREAT. Crowds of people don't bother me nearly as much if I'm outside, not sure if that's typical for aspies. For meals, 1/2 of your plate should be filled with vegetable, 1/4 w/ your carb (switch to brown rice, whole baked potato w/ skin, etc, instead of the old white bread or whatever) and 1/4 should be your protein source, whether meat or beans, etc. Eat a big salad for lunch every day. Put little meat chunks (like chunks of lunch meat or leftover chicken, etc) or beans or seeds on it (I love sunflower seens on salad) and/or cheese for protein. If you need a snack, eat some fresh fruit, or maybe a few crackers w/ peanut, sunflower, or other nut/seed butter. When you do want to treat yourself, there's nothing wrong w/ that, but make healthy choices. In the mood for chocolate? Don't eat a cake, instead buy a bar of good dark chocolate (my favorite is Green and Black's--excellent British organic chocolate. I can get it at the grocery store or at natural food stores here in the states. I usually get the Maya Gold, which is an orange spice flavor.) And don't eat the whole bar. Break off one square and gobble it up, then break off a second square and let it melt slowly on your tongue. Ahhhh, very satisfying. If you absolutely need cake, go ahead and buy/make it and eat a piece or 2. THen cut it up into serving sizes and freeze the rest so that the next time you NEED cake (don't we all sometimes? ) you can just defrost a piece and don't have to feel like it's a waste if you don't eat it all before it goes bad. It's in the freezer, it won't go bad. Cakes almost always freeze well.

As for me? I got a new bike w/ a kiddie trailer so I can bike around instead of driving everywhere. THe trailer has just the right amount of room for me to pick up our weekly vegetable order at the farmer's market or to go to the grocery store, which I prefer to do several times a week for a few things instead of one big long trip. Only problem is my almost 8 year old aspie can't ride a bike yet and he's too big for the trailer. I've been going w/ my little ones while he's at school, but now school's out and I'm not comfortable leaving home alone so much.

Maybe we should start a support group for people who want to lose weight. We can post how well we're doing, and we can also post when we mess up so we can see that everyone messes up and cheats once in a while. We can also post menus and recipes, which I know I would find helpfull since I can never figure out what I want to make for dinner and my family is no help to me with that.

Vegetables and fruit are carbs. Bread, rice, potatoes, etc. are just starchy carbs.

I have nothing to do with the food since dh does that. Left to me we'd both starve and I wouldn't notice he had until I tripped over him. I honestly don't know why we can't live on space food sticks and food has never appealed to me at all. Actually, it grosses me out and I won't eat it if I touch it to prepare it (not to mention I usually cut and burn myself). I guess preparing it would ensure I never ate anythign since whenever I have I chuck it straight into the trash.

Anyway! I have big problems with starch and sugar. I get an intense sugar high and a crash in two hours that results in a headache and three days in bed. My body couldn't care less if it's a baked potato or a Hershey bar, it has the same reaction. The other thing is that I'll immediately put on four pounds even if it's whole grain. I guess it could be that gluten intolerance or whatever it is because I read that people who have often become type II diabetics and that's exactly the effect it has on me. I also have two brothers with that already, so I'm not eating anything that effects me that way regardless of how many people stand on a stack of bibles and swear it's good for you. It isn't good for me and it makes me feel like death, so I don't eat it.

That was quite the switch for dh who loves all of that and can eat it non-stop with no effects. He hates colorful veggies and most fruit. So needless to say he really had to adjust when he started living with me. He changed what he gave to me after he saw me get ill from it over and over. I can basically eat all the meat, vegetables (except starchy ones) and fruit I want without any bad effects. So, that's what I do. For me it's just been finding my own rhythm when it comes to food.

Actually, vegetables have mostly fiber, not carbs. They are mostly water and fiber, and packed with vitamins, which is why they're so good for you. I'm talking about "real" vegetables like brocolli, lettuce, greens, etc, not "shouldn't be considered vegetables" like potatoes, corn (which is a grain, not a vegetable), carrots, and other starchy "vegetables." peas are legumes, so not really veggies, imo, but green beans are b/c the pod is mostly fiber and the "beans" are so small. Beans are high in carbohydrates, but they're also high in protein.

The reason you sugar crash w/ a baked potato is b/c potatoes have the same glycemic index as table sugar. They are not complex carbs, but they're still good for you if you eat the skin, which contains most of the nutrients.

Fruit may contain a lot of sugar, but it also has a lot of fiber and vitamins, which most carbs lack. Bananas and avocadoes are exceptions in the fiber dept, but they're still good for you.

If you have problems w/ hypoglycemia, you should always make sure to eat something w/ protein every time you eat something high in sugars, whether simple or complex. The carbs will cause the initial sugar high, but the longer lasting protein will keep you from crashing. I'm hypoglycemic myself.

I think you better look up the meaning of carbs. Most starchy carbs are also full of fiber. Fiber has nothing to do with whether they are carbs or not. It's carb content that determines how they are classified.


Carbs from the Diabetes Association


And I did not say I was hypoglycemic.

By the way, I always eat protein and did when I ate starch. Same effect. I'm not eating it like I said I wasn't. I don't care what anyone has to say on the subject. It makes me feel bad, so it goes. That simple. I don't need it and I don't eat it. Easy.

Fiber is a form of carbohydrate, so it's counted in the nutrition facts under carbs, but that doesn't mean if works the same as sugars/saccharides, which most people mean when they talk about carbs. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietary_fiber
Broccoli, my favorite vegetable is low in saccharides, high in fiber. http://discworld.atuin.net/lpc/links/ca ... ition.html But when I say carbs, I mean saccharides. Fiber doesn't convert to sugars in your body like other carbs, fiber moves right on through your digestive tract, some of it stays in there for a while and ferments. Foods that are high in fiber may be considered high in carbs according to the Diabetes Association or whoever, but it's not a kind of carb that is converted to energy by your body, so I don't include it as a carb in my diet. It's fiber, which is separate. I'm very surprised the pamphlet you pointed me towrds didn't make that difference clear, but like most public or government agencies, they assume their audience is incredibly stupid (and maybe they're not far off) and oversimplify everything.

I am a chemist by the way, I probably know a little more about carbohydrates than the average person.

Also, you said "I have big problems with starch and sugar. I get an intense sugar high and a crash in two hours that results in a headache and three days in bed." That really does sound like hypoglycemia, except for the in bed for 3 days thing. Hypoglycemia means low blood sugar. Having low blood sugar doesn't necessarily mean you're diabetic. I've always passed glucose tests, fasting and non-fasting, but that doesn't mean I don't have a problem w/ blood sugar drops from eating the wrong foods or not eating often enough. Sorry if I assumed you were having sugar crashes if you weren't.

Hey Zanne, I was getting the kids ready for bed and thinking about your problem w/ carbs. It's such a weird thing, isn't it? I mean you probably don't know anyone else w/ the same problem (except maybe a family member perhaps?) I was thinking about how much that sucks and wondering what the heck could cause something like that and I remembered a thread on another board talking about the connection between metabolic disorders and kids on the spectrum (it was a parents forum for parents of kids on the spectrum.) Apparently, metabolic diseases are more common for people on the spectrum than or the general population (like so many other crappy things, eh?) Anyway, might not be your problem, and even if it is, you've learned to self treat by avoiding problem foods. I do think there are enzymes available to help w/ metabolization in some cases. Might be interesting to look into. Here's a site that lists a bunch of them. It's been a while since I looked at it, but I think if you click on the names, it gives you decriptions. http://healthlibrary.stanford.edu/resou ... lic_m.html Many of them cause severe symptoms, but there are also several that can cause milder symptoms and people can live with them their whole lives w/ few symptoms.

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