Cali Sweden's Diary

[irish molly]

I used to use it for a while to check cals just to double check I was on track as I was making up my own GL plan. I don't really bother now.
Great about your not feeling hungry. You don't have to clear your plate. Eat slowly and once you start to feel full then stop eating. After all, according to the GL gurus, if we eat the right combinations of food then we won't eat too much or feel hungry! So Cali, you have it sussed today!! Keep doing what you're doing cos it works.

 

[CaliSweden]

Thanks Molly!

So we really don't need to worry or track calories then? Is there a certain amount of calories we should be eating or not going over? I haven't read anything about that yet in the GL Diet Bible. Have you read anything about that?

Do you keep to the 40 GL a day that Patrick Holford says to? I haven't bothered counting the GL amount yet, as I'm still reading the book. Though I've incorporated flaxseeds(I had at home from LCHF diet) and bought pumpkin seeds into my foods.

I do MFP to see about how much I eat a day, since I have never counted calories before, and like you just making up my own GL plan. I'm surprised at how many times I'm under their minimum of 1200 calories a day, and that's with me working out.

 

[irish molly]

I did it pretty much as you are doing. I familiarised myself with the best low GL choices and which foods it was best to avoid.
Rather than start counting GL values per Holford or rely on traffic light system I watched the overall calorie intake for a few weeks. After all, even too much of the low GL foods will add too many cals. With counting cals it can be easy to start saving for naughty treats or just eating extra to come up to mfp recommended daily intake.
My advice would be to use mfp till you are comfortable visualising correct proportions of foods. Then rely on instinct. You had a perfect day today where, because your protein carb combos were good, your appetite was naturally suppressed. We can be afraid to trust the concept of GL because we are so used to WW, SW, Atkins etc which have very strict regimes, phases etc.
Keep doing what you're doing Cali, cos it is working for you.

 

[ruth frances]

well done on the 1.8pounds Cali !! That is amazing, so don't beat yourself up about it not being 2 pounds! I think a lot of people start by loosing 2-3Ibs a week in the first couple of weeks, but then it generally tails off to 0.5-1Ib a week, so you are doing fantastically!

 

[Plumfoodie]

Cali, I found this article about calories that you might find interesting as it explains the whole minimum-1200-calories thing:

Why Is 1200 Calories a Day Important When Dieting

I am a little bit obsessed with MFP at the moment! I log everything and usually will log it before I eat it just to make sure it doesn't mess up the rest of my day. When I get closer to target (in the dim and distant future, heh) then I will try to slacken off a little bit but I have found for me personally (mostly because of my health) that the best way to lose does seem to be keeping to the right amount of calories. When I did Slimming World before I had no idea how many or few I was having and my losses were very erratic and slooooow. So I'll stick with the tracking for now.

 

[CaliSweden]

I'm addicted to MFP right now. I've been tracking calories like a crazy woman for the past two weeks. It's kinda become an obssesion >_< My guy drank a sugary coffee drink today that he got from the store. The little thing had 250 calories, I almost s*a* a brick, the only thing I thought was "omg that's almost my breakfast amount of calories." I can't believe I used to drink those things years ago.

I'm going to read that article you posted

I agree Molly, I need to visiualize the foods, to see how much is what. Especially as I'm copying you in the dieting, and not following the recipes to the teeth. I'm using them more as inspirations and guidelines

Thank you Ruth

 

[CaliSweden]

Ok I read the article you posted Plum. Thank you for posting it So it's good to eat the 1,200 calories a day so we don't go into starvation mode which makes us not lose weight as easy.

Though according to MFP we're supposed to eat the calories we burned. But there's no way I want to eat 400-900 calories more than 1200, just because I have too. If I'm not hungry do I have to eat those burned calories to make the net 1,200??? Gosh it's a bit confusing, or am I just that ditsy >_<

 

[Plumfoodie]

It is confusing and since I can't do a lot of exercise I can only share with you what I have gleaned from reading other forums. I have seen a lot of advice both in Weight Watchers and MFP forums to people who are exercising a lot and not losing as much as they think they should be, stating that you should eat your exercise calories (or points in WW) and that losses can eventually slow down if you don't (because it effectively puts you under the 1200 calories that your body is wanting all for itself each day I think - ie if you've eaten 1200 but burned off 400 then your body only has 800 to be getting on with).

Is it that the quantity of food is too much or is it just the idea of the calories? As if it's the quantity of food maybe you could go for some more nutrient/calorie dense foods, if that makes sense?

At the end of the day we are all individuals and have to find what works best for us.

 

[CaliSweden]

Food wise it wasn't the best of days for me, but it wasn't the worst either. Exercise wise it could have been better, but then again not everyday needs to be full workout day either. Went for a walk today, but it started raining, so I took a short walk instead of the usual walk. I didn't do yoga today, since I decided to give myself a little break, and also there was painting that needed to be done still.

Lunch was 50/50, had a piece of frozen battered British style fish, so that was a naughty. Dinner in itself wasn't the best. Had a sausage wrap, the wrap was a whole wheat small tortilla. Needless to say I was hungry a couple of hours later, so I had to take a snack. The lesson I'm learning so far is that wheat products make me hungrier faster. Even if it's wholewheat with fiber etc, it doesn't last nowhere as long as quinoa, oats, beans, and lentils.

Tomorrow's food is going to be much better as I already know what I'm going to cook. We're going to make Korean food tomorrow. So tonight I need to make daikon kimichi.

Breakfast: Oat porridge with fiber, with strawberries, cinnamon, flaxseeds, sunflower seeds and milk.

Snack: 1 piece dark chocolate

Lunch: 1 piece battered British style fish, with ruccola & spinach salad with tomatoes, lots of lemon juice, and quinoa.

Dinner: Sausage with lots of saurkraut and tomatoes, wrapped in whole wheat fiber small tortilla.

Snack: 1 piece dark chocolate. Dinner didn't last long so I had to take a snack tonight of cottage cheese and yoghurt mix, with pumpkin seeds, cinnamon and a knäckebröd.

Exercise: 20 minutes walk, and 60 minutes painting the house.

 

[CaliSweden]

Hmmmmm, so I should be eating the calories I burn. It's not the calories that bug me. It's just that I eat when I'm hungry with this diet, and I seem to be doing fine with that. But the calories aren't alot throughout the day. You can see my diarylog on MFP.

I would eat the calories no problem if I was hungry. But since I should eat those calories. Should I eat something like peanut butter where it has alot of calories in a small amount???

 

[irish molly]

I appreciate the argument about eTing extra cals. You are doing fine as you are at present so I think you should continue as you are. You can always review if your losses stall for more than a couple of weeks.

 

[Plumfoodie]

Mmm, daikon kimchi sounds great! It is really hard to find daikon radishes out where I live (we're a bit rural) but when we go to a city with an Asian market I usually pick one up.

Your food doesn't sound all that bad today. I know what you mean about the wheat, though, I'm ok with some things like wholemeal pasta but other wheat foods make me starving. I am learning to try to get out of the 'must be 100% wholemeal' mindset that I got into on Slimming World and instead trying to find alternatives (still made with wholemeal flour) that also have oats, seeds, grains etc in them. I have a few homemade bread recipes I want to try out and if any are good I'll post them.

I think regarding the exercise calories you'll have to see over a bit of time what works best for you, see how things go and adjust if you start seeing a slowdown.

 

[Plumfoodie]

(this was another really interesting MFP thread I found on the subject of exercise calories: Am I supposed to eat my 'exercise calories' | MyFitnessPal.com - I'll shut up now! LOL!)

 

[CaliSweden]

I'm a bummed out right now. My guy says he can tell I'm being sour. I was so pumped and excited to make some kimchi daikon, everything's all ready to go. I peel and cut the daikon, and behold, it's got black lines all through it. I don't know what it is, but I've seen it in the daikons here a couple of times. Back home I've never ever run into daikon with these black lines in them, so I threw it out. Buying daikon here is very hit and miss, about 2/3 times I have to throw away the daikon. I live in a rural area too, so when I can get my hands on things, I'm super happy. Just not cool when the quality is blah.

Ok breathe, wax on wax off, count to ten. Hehehe. Okay sorry, about the little negative vibes there. Now on to happier ones.

I guess I'll see how my body feels with eating a little more say for snacks or for meals. But as long as I lose 1-2 lbs a week I'll be very happy. Hopefully closer to 2 lbs a week would be really nice I'll keep monitoring my calories and weight progress. Or I can try to see what happens if I eat most the calories back and see if I lose more weight.

 

[Plumfoodie]

Aw sorry for your daikon disappointment. I get bummed about stuff like that too, usually making an alternative plan cheers me up a bit! I'm looking forward to reading about your Korean food tomorrow!

 

[irish molly]

(this was another really interesting MFP thread I found on the subject of exercise calories: Am I supposed to eat my 'exercise calories' | MyFitnessPal.com - I'll shut up now! LOL!)

I read the follow on article there and it makes a lot of sense. I take from it that we need a certain deficit of cals to achieve a sustainable loss of a couple of pounds per week. Increasing that deficit may give short term better losses but will ultimately make our bodies feel starved and become protective of it's energy stores.
So Cali, your plan to increase your food a little when you have a lot of exercise is good. Did you calculate your cals on mfp including your level of exercise? If so, then stick with its recommendations.
So far, what you are doing is giving you the results you want.

 

[CaliSweden]

Ok I will try to eat more then. Not sure if I can eat all the calories up, like they want me too. But I will try, hopefully I will lose more weight

I haven't had the chance to read the article yet. Will have to do it today

 

[Plumfoodie]

Good luck Cali, I'm sure you'll get on great. I think everything is fine tuning anyway as guidelines are just that - guidelines. We all have to figure out what works best for us.

 

[CaliSweden]

Yes I agree. Everyone's body is very different in how it burns and stores calories. Just reading things on this forum or on mfp, it's interesting to see how somethings work for one, but it doesn't work for others. I guess we all have to find that perfect fat burning zone

But so far with GL it seems just way too easy of eat foods, not be hungry and lose weight. That old mental block of "wow, my stomach is full, but I can lose weight" thing is still something to get used to. The fact that I can basically enjoy meals that I always love, with just a small substitution is awesome too. Not like with low carbing and having to try to make things that we miss, but it doesn't taste anything near that food.

Oh btw, yesterday at the store, my guy found some Harris tea Red Pomelo, it's with rooibos, pineapple, lemon and pomelo. It was really good. Nice to see rooibos tea with flavors

 

[Plumfoodie]

Ooh, yum, that tea sounds great. I'm big into the redbush tea varieties, at the moment I have earl grey, chai, and vanilla redbush as well as a redbush/honeybush mix I drink at bedtime which helps me sleep. I also like that I can count it towards my water intake.

And it's great that you are enjoying GI/GL so much. I think because it is so 'normal' with just some swaps or minor reductions I am a lot more likely to carry on until and after I reach my goal weight, unlike a lot of other diets.