I am just starting to really change things. Whenever I tried to lose weight before, I always ached for whatever it was that I made the rest of my family to eat. One of my problems is I really, truly love food. All kinds & tastes. So, the fact that I was actually full never stopped me from having seconds on something delicious. None of my immediate family seems to have the huge portion control issue I have. Right now I have to cook for them, but much of the time I find I need something lower calorie - seriously, I'd rather eat more of something lower calorie than try to survive on a very small square of lasagna
Anyway, this was often times my downfall. Clearing the table I would think "Just one bite isn't going to hurt." (which NEVER ends up just one bite) Or I would put the leftovers in the fridge only to think about them sitting there until I felt compelled to eat them - using the excuse that the food would go to waste, when it was actually going to "waist" Well, when you are a food lover and do that sort of thing enough times, you are right back to your old ways in no time.
Weight loss & healthy lifestyle is such a MIND GAME for me. Simple revelation today - I have no idea why it has escaped me for so long. It is this: Make whatever you are eating just as appetizing and delicious as what you make the rest of the family. Experiment with spices & low cal ingredients and savor every single mouthful of that food! Even if it seems a bit mediocre (or would be better with this or that high calorie/fat ingredient), tell yourself over and over as you are eating that it is completely yummy and delicious. Find the "delicious" in that food and concentrate on it. By the time you have to clean the table, you are not hungry and neither is your mind. As a food lover, I have to satisfy my MIND, not just my body.
I also have to stop thinking that the way I was eating before was "normal". It was not - obviously I was way out of control. The way I eat now is much more close to "normal".
I hear ya- now I make MUCH less food than I used to and don't feel compelled to eat the small bit of leftovers- now the leftovers are so small that I just toss them. A few spoonfuls of mashed potatoes, a few french fries, etc. Stuff I won't eat but the family still wants.
I also try to make healthier versions of the same food so I can enjoy it with them. Like sloppy joes on wheat buns with ground turkey or chicken
"Make whatever you are eating just as appetizing and delicious as what you make the rest of the family. Experiment with spices & low cal ingredients and savor every single mouthful of that food!"
Even better yet make it so damn yummy they want you to make your food for them and you can stop making the overly tempting stuff they love... or find ways to alter the recipes of their favorites so you can eat it too!
I think I'm even more of a foodie now that I'm eating healthier. I've always been one to prefer "real" food over fast food, but the advantage of fast food is... well, that it's fast.
Even so, now my idea of "indulgence" is a lot different than it once was. Cheesecake was my ultimate "indulgence" food. Now my ultimate indulgence food is lychees (at about $6 per pound).
I've always imagined that it would be wonderful to live (permanently) at a fancy weight loss spa. With a gourment chef on staff to create amazing healthy, low-calorie meals, and all sorts of fun activities to make exercise exciting and fun. Even taking classes in nutrition, cooking, exercise....
Finally I decided that if I couldn't go to the spa, I could bring the spa to me.
Because my budget is quite limited, I have to be more creative than if I had the money to go to the spas, but the paradigm shift or "mind games," has been key.
Today hubby and I went to the farmers' market. I've always loved farmers' markets, but it's even more fun now when I see it as a small adventure, and don't worry about sometimes spending a bit more than I would at the grocery store. I can't go "hog-wild" with the budget, but I can afford to pay a little more for foods when I'm getting more in return.
I used to think that honeycrisp apples were "too expensive," but I stopped looking at them as "$3 a lb for apples, are they crazy!?" When I compared the cost (about $1 per apple) to other indulgences, the cost seemed pretty cheap. I've certainly bought $1 chocolate bars or $1 bags of chips, so suddenly $1 for a truly awesome apple is worth more to me than a mediocre $1 candy bar.
I'm really lucky to live in an area where the farmers' market produce is actually very competitive with grocery store prices. Some things are cheaper (onions, lettuce, cilantro, mint, snap peas) and some things are about the same or more expensive but of higher quality, and some things aren't even available in the standard groceries.
Going to the farmers' markets in our area is multi-cultural enough to be an adventure, just in itself. I've learned so much about foods I never knew existed (or didn't know were edible). Today I bought pea tendrils. Only $1 for a huge bundle. Pea tendrils are a fancy name for the leaves and shoots of young pea plants (snow peas, snap peas, or garden peas). In fact, the Hmong vendor didn't call them pea tendrils, she called them pea leaves. There are not only leaves, but long curly stems (google and you'll find pictures, they're very pretty). They can be used like any spinachey type vegetable. I love them stir-fried. These are popular, and very expensive in some fancy (especially french, from what I hear) restaurants.
I also bought Ranier cherries. Ranier and Queen Anne cherries (yellow with a red blush) are one of my favorite fruits (displaced from #1 position, by lychee
fruit).
I also bought kohlrabi (a bit like a mild turnip or rutebaga) and baby red and orange carrots. The red carrots are almost purple, and are a bit sweeter than orange carrots. They were so young, I washed them, but left on the peels. I had some of the carrots and kohlrabi raw with a bit of ranch salad dressing as a dip.
I also bought cilantro and mint ($1 a bundle). Haven't decided what to use them for, but the smell reminded me of my favorite spring rolls at a local thai restaurant (not deep fried, but raw veggies and sliced cooked meat wrapped in a paper thin soft rice wrapper - they also usually contain noodles, but I ask for bean sprouts instead).
Oriental, latin, and other ethnic groceries are also wonderful spots for the adventure of world-travel without the cost.
I am a food-adventure addict. I'd rather have a bad food experience than a boring one. On one hand, it's an impulse I need to learn to control, and on the other I can use it to my advantage for choosing healthy foods.
I also bought cilantro and mint ($1 a bundle). Haven't decided what to use them for, but the smell reminded me of my favorite spring rolls at a local thai restaurant (not deep fried, but raw veggies and sliced cooked meat wrapped in a paper thin soft rice wrapper - they also usually contain noodles, but I ask for bean sprouts instead).
I eat these once a week they are my FAVORITE spring rolls! So much better than the deep fried stuff and less calories too I'd wager
I can't even imagine dollar-wise the money that I've spent on junk food, and for what, I really don't know.
It's well worth it to get the good foods we love, and to take the time to make our "healthier" meals more interesting and enjoyable. I believe that in the long run, for me anyways, these things will help keep me on track. Eating dull boring food is a surefire way to start looking elsewhere !
Today at lunch, hubby wondered what was in the lunch I made, and commented that it didn't taste "diet". I said "that's the idea !".
I'm on day 3 of "starting again" and am determined this time to do it. I hate being this age, and be in this shape, and be missing out on my life. So if it means keeping my fridge stocked with good, healthy foods, then so be it.
I've got to admit that I really don't eat diet food. I've certainly lightened food that I enjoy, and I definitely count calories. However, we're having company this weekend and I'll be serving them my diet food (apricot ginger chicken, brown rice, veggies, mixed berry/yogurt sorbet), and they'll never know.
kaplods - awesome market you have there. We have a very small farmers market in a town near me that is open on thursdays. I might have to go and check it out again soon. Usually around here, though, it's mostly sweet corn & honey - two things I can't have much of these days. There are a few other things though, like green beans & tomatos. I would love to find some of the things you mentioned!
ruby2sday - I don't even want to calculate what I spent on junk. I could have probably bought a house by now !
beerab - the spring rolls sound soooo good - do you have a recipe for them?
I've got to admit that I really don't eat diet food. I've certainly lightened food that I enjoy, and I definitely count calories. However, we're having company this weekend and I'll be serving them my diet food (apricot ginger chicken, brown rice, veggies, mixed berry/yogurt sorbet), and they'll never know.
Sounds like my kind of diet food. How about that mixed berry/yogurt sorbet do you make that or buy it?
I make it actually. Years ago I canned up what I called 'sorbet mixes'. They were basically:
2 cups fruit (your choice)
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup water
1Tb lemon juice
1 tsp tapioca (maybe 2, I forget)
Soften the tapioca in 1 cup of warm water. Add in the other ingredients and bring to a boil. Simmer until the fruit is soft. Let mixture cool and blend until smooth. This makes about 3 cups (if it's low you can top it up with water).
(this is where I canned it into canning jars and sterilized them - without the alcohol)
That's the base, and if you freeze it as is it does tend to get a touch hard, so I started adding a bit of whatever fruit liqueur I have around the place. Of course when I came across it a while back when cleaning out the crawlspace I decided it was perhaps a little too high calorie and such.
So... I take 4 cups of the base (that's the size the jars are) a little water to clean out the jar, 2Tb liqueur and add 1-1/2 cups of yogurt to it. Now, if you like yogurt you could probably just leave it that way, or add even more yogurt. I really don't like yogurt so I usually mix in a cup of a homemade fruit jam (lower sugar, but only slightly). I freeze it in a container, stirring it every couple of hours until frozen. With the alcohol in it the mixture won't freeze solid, but stirring it while it freezes does make the texture better.
It makes about 6 or 7 cups, and I count a small serving as about 140 cals (depends on the fruit mixture). When I dish it out to company I use a slightly bigger dish, but when I take it myself it's into a small glass dish and definitely takes about 14 servings to use it up.
Yum, kind of want some tonight now, but I still have fresh cherries to eat so I'll wait until the weekend.
Small food lovers revelation, yet so huge to me
Well, when you are a food lover and do that sort of thing enough times, you are right back to your old ways in no time. 
