Hello all

I noticed that there are alot of red people out there!!!! and we are ahving issues with getting all our food in!!!!!!!!
I just wanted to post a letter the COD gave to me the other day to help me out with getting all my food in...thought it might help us all

Danette

- you are doing fantastic! you are still averaging 2 pounds per week! awsome job!

- If you would like the scale to move a little faster here are some hints:

1. Make breakfast your largest meal, Then lunch, a small supper. The concept is eat like a KING for breakfast, PRINCE for lunch, A PAUPER at supper. This way you have all day to burn the calories taken in.

2. Increase water intake from 8 glasses to 10. This helps your metabolism.

3. Having fruit servings before 4 PM daily helps as well because you burn the sugars & carbs brfore you go to bed.

4. not eating 2 hours before bed each night

5 Eat breakfast within 1 hour of waking

These are just a couple of suggestions.

so with that letter I am getting all my food in....I get all my fruit ready the night before and put it in the container so I can get it all in before 4...I have a full protein size for breakfast with a starch and fruit...If you think of it ...even if you have another protein size for lunch you still have a half for supper and with the increased size of protein on red it's still alot of food

I really think that we save it thinking weare going to need it...That we may starve lol if we don't save it...but in reality we are cheating ourselves by leaving it all for the night and the body CAN NOT burn this amout of food off while we sleep and it will store it as fat

To be honest I am having trouble getting so much in for breakfast but it is getting easier...baby steps will get us there!!!!!!!

I have this very same problem. I hoard the food just in case I starve to death at night. I end every night with a ton of food left and end up making myself sick trying to eat it all, even doing just the small stuff like V8 and juice. You would think that I would have it figured out by now that I'll survive.

Hi. I'm not on red, but I started that way. And, yes, like most of you, I would horde the food for nightime because I had convinced myself that I needed to eat between dinner and bedtime. The biggest way to turn this around was to trust the program and my counselors and plan my meals. All the stuff Danette listed is what I was told. You think that if you do it, what happens when I'm hungry at night? Well the answer to that is that if you save one thing, maybe a lite, you won't be hungry. We are all so used to hording "Points" and other exchanges for at night that we starved ourselves during the day. You will see that if you trust the program, and eat regularly throughout the day, that you aren't starving at night time like you were on other programs. It takes a bit of re-programming, a little planning, and a lot of trust, but it works. I plan my meals once a week and write it in my diary, then pack my lunch box w/breakfast, lunch and snacks based on that. I know I need to come home with an empty lunch box. Then I have a yummy dinner waiting.

This is good common sense. My mother always told me this was the way to eat, of course we NEVER ate breakfast. As much as I'd love to follow it the meds still make this impossible for me. I don't know if it was intentional or just a nice side effect for type II overeaters but whatever the case I cannot eat much after I take my shot. I can eat a normal amount around noon once it calms down. I then take another shot around 6 pm but that's ok since it's better to not eat much for dinner anyway. I have to try to get it all in between noon and 6 pm.

Shannon - Are you on red or red1? And are you doing lites or not? Just curious because I may have some ideas.

Red - no lites

i used to be on red and always made it a point to only save 2 veggies and a protein for dinner and a lite for after dinner.
i also made an effort to get my starches in with breakfast and lunch and my fruit before 2pm. it's worked out for me for the most part. and my body's gotten used to it too...and when i don't have a chance to pre-plan and i end up with 1.5 protein, 2 veggies, a starch, fat and lite..that's when i felt so sick at the end of the night from eating all that food in one meal...
that's why i try to always make it a point to eat everything but a protein and a few veggies and my bar that way that's my dinner and sweet snack.. and then i'm done for the night and my tummy is satisfied but not overly stuffed.

OK... so you take your insuling when you wake up and again in the evening, right? How does this look to you?

B - Biscotti (S,Fr) It's light, yet has a little something in it to ease the tummy. Can also use a cereal bar. (Check the Nonni's biscotti or NutriGrain bars and they may be close)

Mid-Morning Snack - String cheese (1/2P) (Light and easy)

L - P,S,V,V,Fr (Sounds like a lot, but think of it this way: Protein/Starch - Could be a tuna sandwich (w/a fat), turkey sandwich, frozen meal, lean pocket, slim fast, etc. V,V could be a salad and six baby carrots, or 1c of cooked veggies (steam in microwave). Add a fruit for dessert)

Mid-afternoon Snack - Your third fruit

D - P,S,V,V (The veggies can be sauteed veggies in lite butter (your fat) or sauteed in low sodium chicken broth, or a big salad, or a small salad and one hot veggie)

S - Dairy (or get this in the afternoon, or put cheese on whatever you are having for dinner. How about a small baked potato w/ 1/2c cooked broccoli and 2oz rf cheese?)

Anyway, those are my basic suggestions for breaking it down. I know you have medical issues that make it more difficult for you, but maybe this will help a bit?

That actually sounds very manageable. Not sure about the veggies at lunch but if I just did some cucumbers and a tomato maybe I could handle that. I don't care for salad much but I can get it done with taco meat. Cheese sticks are easy and light. and I like the biscotti thing. Not sure about wasting a starch but if it will take a fruit I'm game. Lunch does sound like a heck of a lot of food but maybe if I do a lean cuisine instead of healthy choice I can get more down. Those healthy choice meals give you a lot of food. I'm sure I could manage a lean pocket with more veggies.

Good ideas Cassi - lemme try to do this tomorrow and see what happens.

One more question - I made the chicken last night for Debs asian chicken wraps but was home so late I didn't get to eat them so I stored them in the fridge. Now I'm afraid they're gonna be really dry . You are supposed to serve them in lettuce wraps with beans sprouts and lime wedges on the side. I was just wondering if there might be some sort of sauce I could add just in case they are too dry. I don't know if the lime would do the trick or not.

You could bring a tablespoon of teriyaki (low sodium) with you to drizzle if needed? (1C) But they shouldn't be dry if you cover them with plastic when you heat it up. And the lime wedges add a little moisture too.

And if you don't like the idea of burning a starch in the morning, you could make a smoothie with a fruit and try 4oz milk and 4oz yogurt w/a packet of Splenda and 2-4 ice cubes. (D,Fr) Sip with a straw on your way to work. You can sip it as slowly as you need to and you don't burn a starch.

Sharon, if you have a fat, vegetable oil undries anything.


As for being on Red, I find it's best if I do six-eight mini meals a day. I just can't eat that much in one sitting so it works out something like this on a week day. (Ignore the anti-social work hours it has it's pluses )

5:30 am: S, 1/2 P or a D
6:30 am: F
8:00 am: LA Biscotti or Cereal Bar (F,S)
10:30 am: Lite, 1/2 P or a D
1:00 pm: P, 2-3 veggies
3:00 pm: F/S or Lite, D
6:00 pm: P, 2-3 Veggies
7:30 pm: F/S


Granted I'm at the end of stabilization at this point, so cramming in all that food can take tons of planning. I've tried days where I've done 3 square meals and it's been a disaster. Now I pretty much follow a set formula, I simply work in the 2 fats where they seem to make the most sense. Today it was butter on a Special K Waffle. Some days it's cream cheese on saltines.

I know I need something sweet after dinner, so I simply allott for it each night. By only leaving a fruit and a starch I know I'm following plan but tweaking it to my habits.

Shannon

When I posted this I was thinking of you!!!!!! I have read alot about you having issues with gettting the food in...Thanks cassi for giving your input to shannon ...lets get the scale moving for you because I know you are really trying I came from a person who didn't eat...sometimes at night I would almost cry at the thought of all the food i had to eat and didn't eat them all...and i know those weeks I didn't loose as much as I would have liked to see...Keep up the great work and keep us laughing I love your humor

To all others who are having this issue remember we are not going to starve that is the fact about this plan that we have to get our mind around

GGGGGGGGGGGOOOOOOOOOOOOOO REDS
and go the pounds will go

Well I managed to get everything in but 1/2 a protein yesterday! WOOHOO. I'm STILL full. The chicken I just made into a stirfry and my oh my was it delicious. Deb the spices in that chicken were yummy! I added more chili sauce to make it spicier. My DS loved it!

Doing a stirfry I managed to get in all three veggies that i had left. For dessert I did a smoothie. I have found the stoneyfield? yogurt is not good for smoothies. It tastes delicious but it sorta congeals for some reason. The other yogurts stay smooth. I'm not sure what the deal is but it freaks me out. I did a good thing and made my smoothie last night and stuck it in the freezer so I could have it for breakfast today then promptly left the house without it! Sheesh. I have my menu all prepared so we'll see if I can get it all in today. If what you said is correct about when they move you down a plan (220) I should be moving soon. I hope so.

and thanks Danette, laughing gets me thru the day....I have an 18 year old : )