My condition prevents me from dieting. I get

[Floyd R. Turbo]

hungry!

[True Dough]

1. Keep gnawing on your fingernails

Low-calorie snack.

[50 Shades Of Blue]

2. Well, I'm on the seafood diet.

I "sea" food... I eat it!

[dameatball]

3. Dieting doesn't mean not eating, despite what your stomach is telling you. Stomachs are tricky and

have an agenda.

[forgotmylogin]

5. Agreed. Starving yourself is never healthy.

I lost 60 pounds on Nutrisystem a decade ago which has you avoid complex carbs and all you do the entire day is eat. If you're not eating, you're planning a meal or getting ready to plan one. Six times a day - I would literally get to the end of the night and not even be in the mood to eat my last snack, even if it was a chocolate cookie. (You have to eat all the food because they very strategically pack vitamins and fiber and protein and nutrition you need into everything, including desserts.)

I am currently on the ketogenic diet which is extremely low-carb and I've already lost 30 pounds this year. Many keto-ers choose to employ intermittent fasting where you eat all your food inside an 8-hour window each day. I find my appetite flatlines and I can easily go hours and hours without eating. That's counterintuitive to most healthy diets that want your metabolism running the whole day (eat immediately when you wake up!), but keto utilizes a different body process wherein the absence of high carbohydrates in the standard American diet, your body learns better to use fat as fuel, including your own body fat. It's a little more complicated, but that's the gist.

[smirkymonkey]

7. I started Keto and did really well for a month, but then I just got really bored with it

and started (periodically, at work) eating carbs again. I still don't have them at home, but the amazing thing is that all my inflammatory pain went away - knees, low back, shoulders, neck, upper back, stomach, headaches, etc. I was completely pain free after a week on Keto.

I want to start up again just because I felt so much better and less tired, but I think I need to get a little more creative with my meals. I ate mostly salads and just got really sick of them.

[forgotmylogin]

8. I am lucky in that I don't get frustrated mostly eating similar meals over and over.

I also was shocked how much better I felt after 1-2 days on Keto off of most carbs and I suppose my body must have been exhausted producing so much insulin, and it's likely I am (was?) pre-diabetic. The ketogenic diet is anti-inflammatory and often used by doctors for that, and to treat epilepsy and seizures, I think? The first or second day, even without having yet lost weight, I "felt" smaller and less bloated...like immediately. That was worth not eating bread and finding new ways to snack.

Just salads though? I kind of cycle between three proteins and the vegetables aren't the problem since I default to broccoli (though I eat a whole bunch of different stuff), but strategies to simplify food preparation and satisfy family members who complain about "chicken, again?" is my current struggle.

What all were you eating? Maybe I can suggest some alternate food options or possibly some resources that will help you? I know it's really hard since you lose the easy option to slap something on a sandwich or just add potato or rice or pasta to it.

[smirkymonkey]

9. My problem is that I get very frustrated by repetition and eating the same types of

things over and over. I like variety. I was eating a lot of salads, cheese wrapped in romaine lettuce, cheese rolled up w/ sliced turkey or ham, celery w/ organic peanut or almond butter, homemade chicken salad (I really liked that), celery w/ cream cheese, the occasional burger w/ no bun. I live alone, so I didn't want to cook these big meals because I knew I would just get sick of them and throw them out, so most of my food was of the non-cooked variety. Also, I love to cook but hate cleaning up and I just moved into a new apt. w/ a kitchen the size of a postage stamp. It used to just be so easy to make a sandwich. I do love soups when the weather is cold, but I miss having legumes as well.

I would love to eat salads w/ seafood, but I can't afford to eat seafood very often. Maybe a few times a month.

I think I need to come up with a good smoothie recipe w/ coconut oil, ground flax seeds, avocado, some greens and low carb berries or something.

[forgotmylogin]

10. Some suggestions:

I'll see your smoothie and raise you bulletproof coffee: Strong coffee with a squirt of splenda, 1 tbsp heavy cream, 1 tbsp good butter, 1 tbsp virgin coconut oil, dash salt, blended well. If I drink that in the morning, I'm not hungry until 2pm.

I'm with you on the small meals. I buy bulk chicken thighs and breasts and pork chops and separate them in ziplock bags of two thighs or chops or one chicken breast (that filets into two servings) so I can keep just enough defrosted and cook them quickly. I always check for steaks at the grocery store which are "Manager special" reduced since they are close to expiring and cook them immediately. Two appliances that I can not live without:

A good panini grill. A "Foreman grill" is okay, but I have a Cuisinart Griddler with adjustable temperature and removable plates that go in the dishwasher. The plates reverse to alternate the grill side and the flat side. Boneless meat like split chicken breast filets and boneless pork chops cook in less than ten minutes; five of that is heating up (it cooks both sides at the same time). The flat side is also great for bacon, especially if you only want a few slices. You put the bacon on cold, turn it on, the top plate cooks both sides, pressing it, preventing spatters, and the grease drains into the grease tray so you can reserve it or pitch it. It also does quick grilled sandwiches for your non-keto family, heats up tortillas, and can grill potato slices and asparagus and portobello mushrooms. It works anywhere you can plug it in. Bagged hamburger patties cook from frozen in 5-6 minutes and are great with a fried egg and/or sauteed mushrooms on top. You can press rounds of ground italian sausage between the flat plates, cook them crispy, then paint them with a little spaghetti sauce and top with parmesan and melted mozzarella - they taste just like pizza rolls.

An air-fryer. I resisted this for the longest time till my dad bought an extra-large one and forced it on me. I used to have a deep fryer which is a maintenance and cleaning nightmare. The air-fryer is great for roasting broccoli and cauliflower without heating up the oven in the summer (frozen to roasted in 6-7 min). My first few months of keto I lived on bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs I coated with baking powder and seasonings I roasted in the oven (thighs are cheap, and you'd swear they were fried with this method). That took an hour, but the air-fryer can do 2-4 thighs in 20 minutes; 1/3rd of the time. You can do bacon in there also, and heat up frozen fries and other snacks easily for non-ketoers.

I'm in St. Louis so pork steak is a big thing. I get mini boneless ones and bake two in a dish with a lid in the oven with dry-rub bbq seasoning. If you crock-pot a small pork or beef roast on a weekend, you have dinner, then can portion the leftovers into single servings in freezer bags and keep them for use in the future.

I know I should eat seafood, but it's kind of a pain. I try to eat a can of sardines (I found a specific brand I like that are much more tasty and palatable, and packed in olive oil) once a week. Right out of the can. Sardines are the safest seafood since they are the bottom of the food chain and don't accumulate as much mercury as other fish can.

I used to hate cabbage (my parents always boiled the hell out of it and it smelled awful), but I've learned to love it cut in wedges and roasted in the oven painted with butter and garlic and lemon juice and salt and pepper. You can wrap meat in roasted cabbage leaves and it's like a spring roll.

I eat tons of eggs, all ways, fried in butter, boiled, scrambled with cheese and butter, with frozen leftover broccoli dust from the freezer bags I'd otherwise throw away, mushrooms, over butter & coconut oil sauteed spinach leaves. They're a good complement to the sardines.

Taco bowls: make the seasoned ground beef and eat it over greens with no shell and all your keto-friendly taco toppings (cheese, sour cream, salsa). I have an amazing low-carb tortilla recipe I can direct you to made with egg whites and coconut flour and baking powder. The low-carb tortillas also can make baked enchiladas or even substitute as pasta layers if you want to bake it with tomato sauce and meat and sausage and cheese and mushrooms as lasagna.

Snacks: Pork rinds are go-to chip subsittutes, I dip them in sour cream, or a little of the lowest carb hummus I can find. Pumpkin seeds replaced popcorn. 1/4 cup of the kind with the edible hulls are my movie snack, eaten one by one. Hulled pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds are great over salads or in vanilla yogurt (the "Two Good" brand has only 3g carb per cup and the seeds add tasty salt and crunch like granola.) I also occasionally eat two squares of 90-95% cocoa Lindt dark chocolate and drag it through a little natural peanut butter as a dessert. I have bought expensive cheese crisps until I learned to make my own with a mini-muffin pan - just a little shredded parmesan in the bottom of the cups crisps in an oven in less than ten minutes.

Quick keto bread: 3 tablespoons almond flour, 1 tbsp oil or melted butter, 1 egg, 1/2 tsp baking powder + a shake of salt and any other seasonings. Mix in a plastic or ceramic bowl and microwave 90 seconds. Let cool, and you have a muffin you can toast or have an occasional sandwich, grilled cheese or hamburger with a bun. I have a square tupperware that makes this bread-shaped and sized. I split it and put it in the toaster. (Be aware this is high calorie and an occasional thing if your goal is weight loss.)

Quest Frozen Pizza from Target - 1/2 of a small pizza is 6g net carb, so you *can* eat the whole thing if you're careful with your carbs for the day. Also has a ton of protein and fiber, a nice occasional splurge since I've never gotten good at making fathead pizza crust.

You can make decadent casseroles with chicken broccoli and cheese and butter and sour cream and cream cheese that would be too high-fat for people on normal diets. Get a small ceramic or pyrex oven-safe baking dish and you won't have leftovers.

Frozen meatballs and sausage are easily heated up in the microwave and make a quick breakfast with your eggs.

https://jenniferbanz.com/
http://friendlyketorecipes.com/
https://www.ketoconnect.net/
https://www.purewow.com/food/single-serve-ketogenic-dinner-recipes
https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/keto/recipes/meals/quick
https://joyfilledeats.com/easy-keto-meals/

Favorites:
https://jenniferbanz.com/crispy-chicken-thighs
https://www.ketoconnect.net/low-carb-tortillas/

[smirkymonkey]

11. Wow! You really have this Keto thing down!

I will try some of your suggestions! I don't drink coffee anymore because it really bothers my stomach, but I will try the other things. I'm not much of a snacker either, but I find that it helps to snack a little to keep me from being so hungry at mealtimes.

Thanks again for all your great ideas!

[Skittles]

12. I really just wish people would eat everything in moderation

track their calories and INCREASE THEIR ACTIVITY

these fad diets come and go but nothing beats just plain sense

[smirkymonkey]

13. I agree with you in a way. I think moderation is the best policy, but the one thing I

discovered by trying Keto for a few months (no complex carbs - no sugar, no wheat, rice, potatoes, baked goods, processed foods, starchy vegetables, legumes, etc.) was that all the inflammation in my body went away. What I thought was just arthritis or stress related muscle tension was completely gone.

I had no more knee, back, shoulder, neck or stomach pain and no more frequent tension headaches. I also didn't feel tired and foggy headed. I used to want to nap in the middle of the day, but I had a lot more energy and was more alert. I think the sugar and especially the wheat/gluten was very inflammatory, so I really think I need to limit that to very special occasions only when I eventually go back to a more moderate diet.

I just learned that something that I was eating was causing me a lot of physical problems, so it might make sense for me to cut them out or limit them to rare instances.

[Skittles]

14. I just cannot imagine limiting myself that much

I think people just go from eating too much of something to eating none of it, way too often

[forgotmylogin]

16. I understand what you mean, but it makes sense.

I don't believe the human body evolved to process such high levels of carbohydrate that are prevalent in the modern standard American diet. If you think about it, flour and sugar require the most agricultural harvesting, processing, and manufacturing and compress an much higher amount of carb into a small bite of a product that doesn't fill you up and is easy to gorge. Bread and pasta and sweets are staples that we don't have to personally work to attain, accomplished nowadays by machinery of our own invention.

Sugar and carbohydrate are loaded into packaged foods that don't even really need them to increase bulk. Snacks are unnecessarily sweet in most cases. After six months of not eating sugar and baked goods, everything tastes sweeter. I bit into a raw mini red bell pepper once and was shocked that it tasted like an apple.

If you think about natural foods that contain carbohydrates - vegetables and fruits - most of them also contain bulk and fiber that prevent you from eating too much. When was the last time you ate more than one raw apple at a time? The highest amount of natural carbohydrate is in potatoes, legumes, and beans, which require long cooking or gathering processes to make into a meal that we often get to skip. And who really wants to eat more than one good-sized potato (if it's not fried and salted as a chip or french fries)?

[Skittles]

17. oh wow that is strange

I ate two apples just a short while ago! A green one and a red one. I do that quite often - I love sweets and junk food but I do eat a lot of fruit, sometimes seven or eight different kinds in one day. And I weigh what I did in high school.

[forgotmylogin]

18. That's great. Not everyone has good body genetics and habits.

Diabetes also runs in my family.

I suppose two apples isn't a stretch, but would you gorge yourself on 3 or 4 of them?

An average apple has about 25g carb. A small box of raisins has 34. A potato has 37. 12oz of soda has 39. A bagel has 48. A restaurant serving of fries has 63. It's easy to spike your glucose multiple times daily without even realizing it. When you're young and healthy, that's fine, but your body has to vacuum up all that extra glucose every time you eat it. On keto, the goal is to eat less than 20-25g of carb per day. Your body only needs so much energy, the rest is processed by insulin and stored as fat - in addition to any other fat and calories you eat on top of your bagel or with your soda. If you keep slamming your body's insulin-producing response every day for years, it's gonna wear out or give up eventually. It makes sense why diabetes has emerged as the norm rather than the exception and there are diabetes drug commercials using Classic Rock tunes as their earworms.

If you're an Olympic athlete training 8-12 hours per day, no problem. If you have a desk job, it's gonna catch up with you.

I'm not saying don't eat carbs, I'm just saying that maybe the food industry doesn't always give us correct information so they can sell us more products loaded with corn and corn syrup. And then the drug companies can charge us for medication to combat the effects when we can't eat the way we used to.

[Skittles]

19. for breakfast I had bacon, eggs and Good 'n Plenty

my food habits are, er, very strange indeed

[forgotmylogin]

20. That is a rather odd combination!

Bacon and eggs are perfectly keto on their own though!

(Right now I'm finishing up the scraped-off sausage mushroom and cheese topping from leftover pizza that was delivered earlier!)

[forgotmylogin]

21. This guy explains it pretty well:

Sugar is not good if you have insulin resistance.

[Skittles]

22. and people can become insulin resistant when moderation is not part of their food habits

I know, most of my family is either diabetic or heading that way

[forgotmylogin]

23. Right, so your "eat in moderation" point isn't at all wrong.

I'm just saying that the information we're given needs an update. Having a standard food pyramid that applies across the board though is no longer completely valid. Many people believe the image that the base of the pyramid - the largest category of food you should eat - is grain and cereal. That's due to decades of pushing what we produce in America. The pyramid should more than likely be more of a square - or a circle divided in equal quarters.

Plus, again, packaged processed foods and fast food, which is what most people eat by default, is loaded with unnecessary sugar and carbohydrates and often labeled as "lowfat" or "healthy" and the majority of people don't question, contributing to the current diabetes epidemic.

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. You are on a roll today, I see.

thanks for the

[Wounded Bear]

6. That's a rather poor bun...

[LisaL]

15. I suffer from the exact same affliction.