I Can't Seem To Eat Enough!

[Guest Sybil]

Hi everyone. I have an awful, awful habit of writing bloated posts - okay, well, it's pretty much anything I write, from essays to e-mails - that contain excessive details really only fit for manuals or fictional writing; in other words, I'm really sorry for the proverbial reader's digest and miniature tangets - I try to tone it down as best I can. There's sorta a consolidated list at the bottom of the post for the help/advice that I am looking (read: begging!) for, though, for anyone who very understandably does not want to subject themselves to my word gravity. And my romance with parenthesis.

Okay, so: for most of my life, I was overweight and I really struggled to eat appropriately and healthily. I think that my poor eating habits were a cause of eating very terrible foods - and in large portions, very few times per day - moreso than eating too much of them. A bit more recently, my appreciation for food has really plummeted and I do not have much of an appetite. When this first happened to me, I thought it was a great thing - I thought I was going to lose tons of weight! Well, I did lose a fair amount, but not all that I would like to. I am definitely healthy and capable, but I am not fully satisfied with my figure; my friends and doctor do the whole eye-rolling thing whenever this comes up rather than simply trying to be sympathetic that I'm a tad unhappy with it all, if that helps paint a picture.

Anyhow, my weight loss eventually slowed down because I really was not eating enough. My body has learned to throw my metabolism into a crawl (even though I tend to nibble throughout the day) and just ended up storing a lot of my intake as fat, thereby restoring what fat my body is sponging up to sustain itself. It would be really cheap and easy for me to just eat a few candy bars or some ice cream or something to fill in the rest of my daily calories, but I really do prefer to eat healthy foods. I also have a hereditary cholesterol problem and should be avoiding anything unhealthy or excessively processed. Another major issue is that I cannot go spending much money on easily accessible, highly healthy or specialized foods (like nutrient bars or soy products, for example) and I do not have very much time or very much patience for meal cooking - at least, not for myself; I love to cook or prepare meals for friends or my mom. This makes raw and simple foods considerably appealing to me, good examples being grapes, vegetable juice, or a slice of bread. I tried to bump the calories by eating lots of Cheerios and other carbs - or fruits/fruit juices high in calories, such as bananas or cranberry juice - but then I realized that I was taking in too many sugars each day or unbalancing my carbs vs. my protein, both of which of course promote fat storage. Finally, vegetables have such tiny calories per serving and I feel like I am absolutely forcing myself to eat them without my appetite. It is very unenjoyable for me to keep forcing myself to eat when I do not want to and am constantly distracted by trying to manage my life, especially when the food quantity is enormous for lack of calories per volume.

I am on a few medications (and one of them tends to encourage appetite loss, go figure) and I suspect to be going on HRT within the next few months (finally, thank goodness). Because I will be on a considerable amount of medications, I would really like to be as healthy as I possibly can so that my body will have less of a tendency to end up exhausted dealing with everything. Additionally, my ability to sleep (to fall asleep, particularly) and my concentration have been suffering dramatically because my body is frequently famished, but I have no appetite or patience to prepare food. I want to exercise, too, but I don't for fear that my nutrition simply would not be able keep up - I could absolutely see myself eating an extra bowl of cereal and some fruit to help cover exercise, but I really want a healthy and stable diet just to cover my energy needs first.

Non-scary length version summary of issues:

- I have very little financing. My food would very preferably be cheap and easily accessible. / I'm a college student in her early 20s and trying hard to save up for transition procedures, too.

- I really need to avoid poor food choices. / I do not feel drawn to eating any particular food, so my desire to avoid is completely a health concern (genetic cholesterol issue). I won't be eating a handful of potato chips just to round out my calories.

- I would really like my food's preparation to be very simple; the less cooking and ingredient combining, the better. / Lack of appetite makes me apathetic to tastiness; cooking for myself ends up feeling like a chore if not just to sterilize. I lose a lot of morale to eat when this happens.

- I need to find a way to balance carbohydrates and proteins (2:1 ratio) while taking in minimal sugars and fats. / This is to promote leanness for overall health and to help me shed the last remaining extra pounds that I have.

- I struggle to eat too much food in one meal, so generally I avoid foods that are far too low in calories (like broccoli). / I have a great vitamin supplement that I take every day, so I think it helps out with my lack of vegetables. I still do try to eat some throughout the week.

My intention is to have a generalized daily diet totaling ~1,500 calories which I gradually consume throughout the day. For anyone who is interested in helping me, I do appreciate any individual food suggestions, but my dilemma really lies in finding a simplified/cheap/accessible meal plan. My weekly allowance for food floats around $25. My lifestyle is fairly sedentary, so I only need to eat enough to stay afloat on most days. I do eat 300-500 more calories on days that I exercise, depending on how long and how much.

Oh, one more thing! I did discover (er, kinda - I mean, it's not like we just met) peanut butter - it's been pretty helpful in shoveling in some calories for me without too much extra time or effort spent eating, especially since it offers some natural fats that I realize I need to pay some attention to. I can't abuse it much more, though. I'm already relying on 3 tablespoons a day to to help ferry me to the 1,000 calorie mark. I would love to find more foods that are similar, but toned down a bit in the fat department. I don't have much more leeway there.

I suspect that a lot of people can really relate to my grave concerns about my health and my need to address it appropriately, as well as the unabashedly lurking incentive to remain very healthy throughout transition (and beyond, of course - I'd be dropping the biggest lie ever if I said I didn't want to look great, too), so I am hopeful that someone can help. I have spent tons of time doing research and have tried really, really hard to figure this all out for myself and make a generally balanced diet, but I cannot seem to figure out a plan that I can be practical with. It has been really difficult for me to find appropriate advice or forums on the internet; typically, the information I find is oriented more toward overeating than undereating. If anyone thinks that they could help me build a nutrition plan around my needs, I would be ever-so-grateful.

Thank you very, very much for taking the time to read this and look over my situation - please take care!

[Guest]

Hi Sybil,

Oh geez, what meds reduce appetite? There's a long line waiting for it!

It's really hard to buy finger food that's worth anything. You can get quite a few carbs from veggies, esp carrots and other sweet veggies. There are cut-up packages in the stores that can be eaten as salads and as finger foods. Of course, peanut butter is terrific on celery and other veggies / fruits. My fav is apple and peanut butter. But get the peanut butter that's just raw peanuts. otherwise they substitute high chlolesterol oils for peanut oil as well as add unneccesary sugar. Dairy products are a good source of protein - if you can tolerate it. Low-sugar yogurt is probably the best (watch out for sugar - most of it is saturated).

And if you can exercise while upping your protein intake, you'll add muscle weight instead of just storing fat.

There's probably more - hopefully others will have good ideas. I'm in the process of overhauling my diet, and have dropped a bunch of weight by taking out all of the sugar. I've been able to use one of those scales that measures water, fat, and solid weight. I was carrying about 20 pounds of extra water just from too much sugar. Have lost only 5 lbs of fat but didn't have much to lose. I know you're trying to gain weight, not lose, but adding healthy pounds is better than water and fat!

Best of luck! Kat

[Guest Sybil]

Thanks for answering, Kathleen!

What medication reduces my appetite:

The medication that suppresses my appetite is a mixture of amphetamine salts (Adderall IR). I take it because I have had a lifelong struggle with a very menacing case of ADD (not ADHD!). It helps, but my psychiatrist still needs to help me refine my doses to suit me. It is the main medication that causes me concern, as Adderall raises your blood pressure and heart rate slightly while active. Some time ago, some physicians used to prescribe it for weight loss, but they found that this was a very inappropriate thing to do as a lot of people tend to become irresponsible with a loss of appetite. I am trying very hard not to be one of those people, even if I was prescribed the medication for another reason. I would share my daily dose, but I think that the forums discourage sharing medication dosages - I understand that this is as an aversion to encouraging self-medicated HRT, but I would rather not be wrong.

Peanut Butter:

I really appreciate the advice on the peanut butter! I was aiming for organic peanut butter, which I think is not much more expensive, but this week I only managed to get the regular kind. I think this is okay for now, but I need to look harder in the future (it genuinely wasn't for a lack of trying - it was just bad luck).

Dairy:

I do tolerate dairy well, but I try to limit myself to milk for my cereal. My physician also recommended that I avoid most dairy products. I will look into the sugar-free yogurt, that's a very good idea, I just hope it's inexpensive.

On vegetables and fruits, where I really seem to struggle:

I don't seem to do well with pre-packaged/frozen foods. I take them out to thaw or to get ready to boil, and then I get distracted by a job search or researching something and completely forget that they're there.

[Guest Miss_Construe]

I really hope you find your appetite and funding for your tummy soon.

I usually look for 'natural' BP as opposed to organic (just no sugar added, also no salt) and for me that works. I also like to enjoy a bowl of oatmeal with a scoop of chocolate protein powder mixed in on occasion.

Another thing my partner and I try to do is make meals on one day and freeze them in single serving containers so we can just heat them up and eat them. We make our own health bars and other finger foods on our cooking day as well.

Health magazines may have some good suggestions. A friend of mine is always researching recipes from health sites that seem to be easy.

Another thing that we do here is we try to eat around five times a day so we do not have to stuff ourselves in a single sitting.

I really hope this helps

[JenniferB]

Hi Sybil

I am sorry you are having so much trouble eating a proper diet. $25 is not a lot to work with, especially when almost all the healthier foods cost a little more.

As far as peanut butter goes I totally agree with Kathleen in that the store bought brands are not healthy at all. My favorite peanut butter is the kind where you grind the peanuts in the store and sold by the pound, meaning you can buy as much as you want. I don't know what health food grocery stores you have in your area, but some of the stores to look for are Trader Joe's, Sprouts, Whole Foods, Sunflower, etc...

I don't count calories myself and count my portions by the fist method. As a rule a closed fist is the portion of protein or carbohydrate to use. One protein and one carbohydrate for each meal. Plus make sure there is a little fat included. I eat 5 smaller meals a day using this method. If I get a little hungry I eat celery with a little raw peanut butter.

A really good book on nutrition foods is by Jonny Bowden. 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth. What's cool about the book is how Dr Bowden goes into detail on what each type of food does for the body.

Good Luck in trying to balance your diet. I will be cheering for you.

SusanB

[Guest Elizabeth K]

Fava Beans with a little Chanti...

WAIT - Hannibal Lector!

nevermind...

Seriously - high protein and relatively low cost. roasted peanuts! And you burn calories taking them out of the shell, and you have to eat them slower giving your stomach a chance to know when you are full.

Lizzy

[Guest Sybil]

Again, my post is going to be enormous. I'm sorry in advance!

Thank you much for the replies. They were helpful and encouraging, especially in regards to the peanut butter (I was really up in the air about peanut butter, because it has so many fats). I will not be able to pursue very natural peanut butter for a while, as there are not many health stores around. However, I will be buying organic peanut butter at the grocery. I am concerned about the consumption of processed foods, but also realize that this is a temporary solution. When I am much more financially independent in the future, I will be able to append more meticulosity to my nutrition.

I did manage to come up with a diet plan that works very well for me, and I am happy to share it in hopes that it might benefit others. I spent a very large portion of my day yesterday to create it. Please do note that I am not recommending that anyone else follow this diet, nor do I endorse eating exactly the same food every day. It is very difficult to get everything you need from eating the same meals on a daily basis; you would have to, for example, eat thousands of very carefully planned calories and exercise vigorously to offset the surplus. This diet is based on my personal daily calorie needs, which were tallied using my level of activity, height and weight. I am providing this for reference and ideas, and because I have asked others for help and felt that it would be unfair or discourteous not to provide them with what I decided upon for a solution. With keeping that in mind, I really hope that this is beneficial to the reader:

Breakfast, 267 calories (8AM):

1 cup of Cheerios

1 cup of skim milk

1 apple

Snack #1, 105 calories (11AM):

1 banana

Lunch, 398 calories (12PM):

2 tablespoons of organic peanut butter

3 slices of wheat bread

Snack #2, 112 calories (3PM):

4 stalks of celery

1 cup of skim milk

Dinner, 617 calories (6PM):

1 chicken breast (no skin, no salt, grilled without oil/butter/etc.)

1 potato (boiled, with skin)

1 cup broccoli (boiled)

Total Calories: 1,498.

Notes on specific meals:

1. Lunch: I realize that there are 3 slices of bread here, and that that is a teeny bit strange for making a sandwich. It can either be taken to go for some munching on the run, or it can be moved back to breakfast.

2. Snack #2: This is a lot of celery to eat and may not be for everyone. I chose it to help with maintaining potassium. A good substitute that offers a little more calories and a bit less potassium is an orange.

3. Dinner: If work, hobbies or a social life tends to cloud the evenings, it might be easier to swap out the chicken breast for an additional potato. I thought of taking the third slice of bread and stuffing it with deli chicken/turkey for on-the-go situations, but deli tends to be loaded with sodium.

Other notes, addressing meal synergy or overall nutrition:

1. Breakfast really should be the biggest meal. Moving in the extra slice of bread from lunch, or the boiled potato from dinner, may help make a better foundation for your day. Breakfast also tends to be the easiest meal to spend time preparing for, so long as we get up at responsible times.

2. While I did feel that substituting an orange for celery could be a good idea, it is really important to watch out for daily sugar intake, even from natural sugars. The sugars in the diet table that I have created are almost exclusively natural (the wheat bread being an exception, and the organic peanut butter to a lesser degree), so a somewhat high intake is okay. However, it could really hurt oral hygiene regardless - it might be wise to carry around some mouthwash (it is easy to get in a mini-bottle - or refill into a mini-bottle after you get your first one) for after lunch time, and making sure to brush right after dinner.

3. I tried very hard to create my diet with a pH balance in mind. As someone who takes medication, I somewhat understand the body's need to tend towards being alkaline; not only does medication tend to be metabolized too quickly if your body is too acidic, but it is easier for bacteria, fungus, viruses and other parasitic organisms to thrive in a more acidic environment. This does not mean that the body should be fully alkaline; it is important to have somewhat of a balance.

4. I also designed this diet around having a good balance of protein/fats/carbohydrates: it is currently 17.6% fat, 27.5% protein, and 54.9% carbohydrates. With that in mind, I feel that it is very important to try and eat the chicken at dinner time if at all possible, as opposed to skipping it in favor of more accessible carbohydrates. If someone has a cheap, on-the-go, low sodium and low cholesterol protein alternative, please do share!

5. In the end, I opted not to take a dietary supplement. More recent research shows that you can easily overdose on some vitamins and nutrients, such as vitamin A (which can encourage bone loss in the long run) and iron. Iron is especially a concern, as it builds up in your liver over time (where nutrients are stored for use) and can lead to heart disease. The keyword in regards to vitamin/nutrient overdose is easily - there are vitamins that are very difficult to consume too much of, despite going over the daily recommended. One such example is vitamin C.

5. The calories I provided are approximations/general references. This comes into play mostly with food that sees some typical and notable variation in size, such as fruits, vegetables and cuts of meat. In this particular diet, I expect the potato, apple and banana to see a lot of day-do-day variation for me. I also think it is important not to worry too much if I eat too many large or too many small bananas in a given week.

6. These are the following nutritional elements I took into consideration with this diet, not counting protein/carbohydrates/fats. Negative elements were kept as low as possible, while positive elements were kept as close to the 100% daily recommended (scaled to my caloric intake) as possible:

- "negative" elements: cholesterol, sodium, sugar.

- "positive" elements: vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, iron, and potassium.

7. I adjusted my times slightly in order to facilitate my medication. My medication functions best when I take it 2 hours after having eaten and/or 1 hour before having eaten. I intend to take my medication at 10AM and 2PM on most days.

8. I tried to pick food or create alternatives that were easy to put in a plastic bag for mobile consumption. We tend to lead fairly busy or distracted lives, so I felt that choosing foods around this was crucial to a successful diet.

Thanks for surviving my post. I really hope that it was helpful or interesting! Please take care,

-Sybil

[Guest]

Hy Sybil,

I'm on the search for a granola recipe that is lower in sugar (or doesn't have any at all). The commercial granolas are atrocious, but even a cereal like Cheerios can has a fair amount of sugar, too. It's been a long time since I've looked at the label - am I wrong?

Other than that, I'd be happy to eat the same diet you've laid out.

Kat

[Guest Sybil]

The Cheerios are a point of contention for me, too. I do realize that they have a lot of sugar in them. My main issue with removing them is that they provide so many calories for their size as well as being a great source of nutrients - it is also so very easy to prepare them. I would love a sugar-free alternative, too, if I could find one.

[JenniferB]

Hey Sybil,

WOW

I see this is extremely important to you by the amount of time and effort you are putting into your diet. And mostly I think you have been well with the food you suggested.

However there are a couple things you might think about.

1. The wheat bread. That is if you are talking about the very inexpensive enriched wheat bread. If it is that is about as processed of a food you can eat. All the nutritional elements are taken out of the bread and then a few of them are put back in and they call it enriched. The very inexpensive bread is really not any better than eating sugar. I would suggest you cut the amount of bread you eat and buy a higher quality bread, like multi-grain, flaxseed, or oat bread. You can usually find a higher quality multi-grain bread in the $2.50-$3.50 range.

2. I would not boil the broccoli. I would steam it instead. If you don't have a steamer, you can use something like this. Steamer. There are different kinds of steamer inserts out there. I just wanted to show you one that is inexpensive. Make sure it's the right one for the pan you are using.

3. The potato is high glycemic, but you didn't give any indication you are a diabetic so I guess it's ok.

4. Did you say you were going to swap out the chicken breast for two potatoes? If that's the case I would not do that. For one the chicken breast is very healthy. Also you don't want to take away one protein and add another carbohydrate.

5. A protein you might want to consider on the go is Whey Protein. It's a dairy product in powder form high in nutrition that only has to be mixed with water and you are on your way. The cost can be a little expensive, but it goes a long way.

6. If you are concerned about sodium, you might try some Mrs Dash spice blends instead. As a matter of fact Mrs Dash can flavor up a lot of your food.

7. The last thing is I agree with you about vitamins. You should know everything about them before taking them and chances are you get plenty of iron in your diet already. Although I don't know completely your circumstances.

I am happy you are trying to make yourself more healthy. Keep it up!

Susan

[Sally]

Sybil,

I am going to keep it short, you have gotten a lot of advice from people who have their weight under a great deal better control than I have mine, so this is the one important point:

Once you start on HRT you will tend to retain potassium - do not substitute two potatoes for a chicken breast - they are a major source of potassium and chicken is not - bananas are also very high in potassium as is orange juice, balance them in your diet and you will be fine.

I have lost 36 pounds and 32 of those were after starting HRT - it can be done.

Love ya,

Sally

[Guest Sybil]

SusanB,

1. Thanks! That is some really wonderful advice. I was buying multi-grain bread for a while, but I have a chipped molar and the seeds getting stuck in it were driving me nuts! I do take good care of my teeth but I will not be able to afford a dentist for quite some time. I guess I really should stick it out. I do have many of the same concerns as you do about the wheat bread, the sugar in particular. Is the oat bread maybe a little gentler on chewing?

2. Thank you for the tip on the broccoli. I think my mum might have a steamer that I could use.

3. My doctor says I am not diabetic and not at any real risk for it. With that said, I would still like to be careful. I am not a person who really likes to test limits, especially when it comes to health.

4 & 5. You are also bringing up a good point about the chicken - I was really worried about using two potatoes because I really do not like to unbalance carbs & protein. I think I should look into the Whey Protein - chicken breast is also pretty expensive. It might be comparable in cost per serving and it is really much easier to store. Do you think it would be okay to swap over to the Whey Protein if I can afford it?

6. I really do not mind the lack of sodium in my food. I have actually been pretty happy with it because it has been helping me to turn away from food as a source of pleasure - I have more or less been associating meals with curbing hunger or to keep from getting hungry, which is its own reward. Not eating for 3+ days is an AWFUL feeling! The experience of prolonged hunger (I do not consider myself anorexic - I just have a hard time remembering to eat or having the patience for it) has done wonders to keep me in line. I think I will still look into Ms. Dash, though. I would not put it past myself to get bored with my food or want to make it a bit more flavorful some times.

7. I am really happy that you agree on this point. I was somewhat conflicted about it, feeling that I may be ignoring "lesser" nutrients too much. I did learn that only a handful of nutrients are essential to basic survival and needs, though, so that puts my mind at ease as well. And yes, I absolutely do have enough iron in my diet. My current diet and the multivitamin I was taking were doubling my daily iron needs - this was a gigantic red flag for me and a real trigger for my reading up on nutrients. On that note of iron, I would really like to point out that it is often recommended to aid in hair loss/baldness. This is where I found encouragement to read it (I have plenty of hair, I was just terrified of losing any). I think this topic is of particular concern to women in our community and that it would be beneficial to have a heightened awareness of iron and its effects on the body.

Thank you again; your encouragement is really helpful!

----------

Sally,

I had never heard this before, but I am very glad that you took the time to inform me. I will definitely be sure to take extra precautions with my potassium from here on in.

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I do have a question in regards to exercise. Keeping my body both healthy and resilient is very important to me. While a proper diet may keep you healthy and curb quite a bit of risk for disease and complications, a strong body will of course further those boundaries as well as add quite a few more benefits, such as more lifestyle options, an even healthier look, and a large likelihood to contribute to overall happiness .. yikes, I must really sound like an infomercial right now.

Anyhow, walking/jogging/running is definitely my preferred form of exercise, though I appreciate softer muscle exercises like push-ups, crunches and squats as well for muscle tone. Doing any of these for long enough (I like anywhere from 45 - 120 minutes) burns quite a few calories, anywhere from 175 - 600 for me, depending on time spent and how much running vs. walking I want to do. I am having a hard time finding a good food to add to my diet to offset these calorie deficits. I am trying to avoid sugar, sodium, and cholesterol while also keeping my nutrients in balance. I think that going for a source of protein would be better than a source of carbohydrates for the extra energy, but I am not sure. I have read a good amount of material suggesting not to ingest too much protein, too. Maybe I should consider the whey protein for exercise as well? Does anyone have any thoughts to share on the subject?

----------

Finally, there is something that I would really love to share with anyone trying to maintain proper nutrition: there is one element in dieting that rises above all the others for me; sleep - a poor sleep schedule can kill your diet! Sleep is an essential part of maintaining my diet, and not just because it is not such a great idea to eat too soon before bed, or that randomizing the largest break in consumption for the day will confuse metabolism. While I realize that every person is different, I still want to share as I have great difficulty imagining how most people in this situation would not be similarly affected.

I have had a struggle with proper sleep for the greater part of my life, that being some time from my mid-teens until now (24; yes, I know, I am really still just a kid). My sleep schedule slowly creeps into later hours if I do not wake up and go to bed at precisely the same time every day. At the moment, for example, my sleep schedule is horribly, horribly out of balance: I am falling asleep at 5-6AM and waking up at 12-2PM. Why? Because I was obsessing over my future and staying up through all hours of the night to try and find solutions and shortcuts on the internet. As a result, I also had a stress meltdown and ended up sobbing my way to sleep a few nights ago, refusing to get out of bed the next day until the evening; this pushed my sleep schedule even further along the hour track, as I could not get to sleep at the same time the next day. This has been a persistent cycle for me and there have been so many reasons that I have stayed up late, many of them inconsequential to my overall life and ultimately very irresponsible (like watching a TV show).

With my sleep cycle completely out of rhythm, I do not know when I should eat. I do not know what to expect in terms of when I will sleep again, and I cannot line up my meals with activities that I have planned. I sleep through breakfast hours and feel starved when I wake up. I end up eating dinner at all hours of the morning, often very shortly before I go to bed. I skip meals because they interfere with my medication and I have a hard time fitting them in. My out-of-control, directionless sleep tends to snowball in its time frame and exaggerate all of these problems, too. In short, my routine becomes a disaster and my diet is the very first victim in line. More than anything, maintaining a solid sleeping schedule keeps my diet in line because time is really what steers my eating habits. Even a slight disturbance in a sleep schedule, such as one or two hours, can cause someone to skip breakfast in a morning rush or eat dinner too close to bedtime.

The reason I wanted to share is because I think that many other people face the same problem but do not realize it, thinking there is "just something" very wrong with their ability to sleep. From what I have read and have had others share with me, a common outlook is that "real" sleep woes constitute not being able to sleep at all, but this is not the case, and is a belief likely snatched up by the desire to avoid the steep demands of proper sleep hygiene. Plenty of people are cursed with the inability to sleep whenever they would like to and need to pay a lot of respect to what the body needs. What this means to me is that it is not okay to stay out late, push for just another hour to finish watching a series episode, save work or homework for the last minute and cut some hours of sleep to compensate, and especially not to pull an all-nighter. There have been plenty of times where I have convinced myself "just one night won't muddle up the whole thing" and it definitely, definitely has, as much as I thought or believed that it would not have at the time. This is especially a problem where there is a previous or subsequent night that really DOES demand staying out/up late: a medical emergency, a very close friend's wedding, someone who sorely needs your help, parenting responsibilities, etc. - these things will happen, and I think it's best to save proverbial sick days (or nights) for such situations to minimize schedule impact. In the end, I consider sleep a greater part of my dietary discipline than my diet itself. Just some food for thought!

[Guest Sybil]

Sally,

I meant to include this in my last post, but I'm really happy for you and your weight loss. That's really great to hear!

[JenniferB]

SusanB,

1. Thanks! That is some really wonderful advice. I was buying multi-grain bread for a while, but I have a chipped molar and the seeds getting stuck in it were driving me nuts! I do take good care of my teeth but I will not be able to afford a dentist for quite some time. I guess I really should stick it out. I do have many of the same concerns as you do about the wheat bread, the sugar in particular. Is the oat bread maybe a little gentler on chewing?

Oat bread would probably be too expensive for your budget right now anyway. I eat multi-grain bread myself, although not that often. And yes all the multi-grain breads I've eaten have had seeds.

2. Thank you for the tip on the broccoli. I think my mum might have a steamer that I could use.

3. My doctor says I am not diabetic and not at any real risk for it. With that said, I would still like to be careful. I am not a person who really likes to test limits, especially when it comes to health.

4 & 5. You are also bringing up a good point about the chicken - I was really worried about using two potatoes because I really do not like to unbalance carbs & protein. I think I should look into the Whey Protein - chicken breast is also pretty expensive. It might be comparable in cost per serving and it is really much easier to store. Do you think it would be okay to swap over to the Whey Protein if I can afford it?

Whey Protein is a little expensive, especially if you purchase it from one of the nutritional outlet stores in the mall. The other thing about Whey Protein is that it doesn't taste particular well. It comes in three flavors and they all taste watered down. Still it is packed with nutrients and one glass is a full protein option. When it comes to food quality is always better than quantity.

6. I really do not mind the lack of sodium in my food. I have actually been pretty happy with it because it has been helping me to turn away from food as a source of pleasure - I have more or less been associating meals with curbing hunger or to keep from getting hungry, which is its own reward. Not eating for 3+ days is an AWFUL feeling! The experience of prolonged hunger (I do not consider myself anorexic - I just have a hard time remembering to eat or having the patience for it) has done wonders to keep me in line. I think I will still look into Ms. Dash, though. I would not put it past myself to get bored with my food or want to make it a bit more flavorful some times.

This is not healthy. You have to make sure you eat close to the right times. When the body feels like it's starving it changes into a desperation mode and will start breaking down muscle (not fat) to feed itself.

7. I am really happy that you agree on this point. I was somewhat conflicted about it, feeling that I may be ignoring "lesser" nutrients too much. I did learn that only a handful of nutrients are essential to basic survival and needs, though, so that puts my mind at ease as well. And yes, I absolutely do have enough iron in my diet. My current diet and the multivitamin I was taking were doubling my daily iron needs - this was a gigantic red flag for me and a real trigger for my reading up on nutrients. On that note of iron, I would really like to point out that it is often recommended to aid in hair loss/baldness. This is where I found encouragement to read it (I have plenty of hair, I was just terrified of losing any). I think this topic is of particular concern to women in our community and that it would be beneficial to have a heightened awareness of iron and its effects on the body.

Just recently I got on a vitamin kick and started reading everything I could find about vitamins. Like I usually do, I went overboard and was on 10-15 different vitamins when I started. Although since I read up on doses, I never overdosed on anything. Although it can become expensive, so I cut back to what I thought I needed. One important vitamin that one should consider to take on a daily bases is Omega 3 fish oil, especially if fish isn't part of the diet. Another vitamin I take is Niacin. I actually take a fairly large dose (1500mg) nightly. It took me about 2 months to get to that level. Niacin is a B vitamin that is one of the best supplements you can take for cholesterol. It's worth reading up on. Know that B vitamins all work in unison. If you take a lot more of one, the less benefit you will receive from the other vitamins. Understand how to balance B vitamins. By the way the other B vitamin I'm taking right now is Biotin. It makes your hair grow quicker, good for hair loss, and good for your nails.

Thank you again; your encouragement is really helpful!

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Sally,

I had never heard this before, but I am very glad that you took the time to inform me. I will definitely be sure to take extra precautions with my potassium from here on in.

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I do have a question in regards to exercise. Keeping my body both healthy and resilient is very important to me. While a proper diet may keep you healthy and curb quite a bit of risk for disease and complications, a strong body will of course further those boundaries as well as add quite a few more benefits, such as more lifestyle options, an even healthier look, and a large likelihood to contribute to overall happiness .. yikes, I must really sound like an infomercial right now.

Anyhow, walking/jogging/running is definitely my preferred form of exercise, though I appreciate softer muscle exercises like push-ups, crunches and squats as well for muscle tone. Doing any of these for long enough (I like anywhere from 45 - 120 minutes) burns quite a few calories, anywhere from 175 - 600 for me, depending on time spent and how much running vs. walking I want to do. I am having a hard time finding a good food to add to my diet to offset these calorie deficits. I am trying to avoid sugar, sodium, and cholesterol while also keeping my nutrients in balance. I think that going for a source of protein would be better than a source of carbohydrates for the extra energy, but I am not sure. I have read a good amount of material suggesting not to ingest too much protein, too. Maybe I should consider the whey protein for exercise as well? Does anyone have any thoughts to share on the subject?

Whey Protein is not bad for exercising. Proteins help your muscles grow. But it's not going to give you energy. Carbs give you energy. The carb that many serious athletes eat before working out is a banana. You might try that. Jogging or running are better than walking for cardio, obviously. I hope you have a really good pair of running shoes. Your knees can take a beating every time you run and a pair of quality shoes really makes a difference. I went into a New Balance store to not only measure my foot, but the pronation of your foot. Pronation is the amount of arch that's in your feet and quality shoes will compensate for that.

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Finally, there is something that I would really love to share with anyone trying to maintain proper nutrition: there is one element in dieting that rises above all the others for me; sleep - a poor sleep schedule can kill your diet! Sleep is an essential part of maintaining my diet, and not just because it is not such a great idea to eat too soon before bed, or that randomizing the largest break in consumption for the day will confuse metabolism. While I realize that every person is different, I still want to share as I have great difficulty imagining how most people in this situation would not be similarly affected.

I have had a struggle with proper sleep for the greater part of my life, that being some time from my mid-teens until now (24; yes, I know, I am really still just a kid). My sleep schedule slowly creeps into later hours if I do not wake up and go to bed at precisely the same time every day. At the moment, for example, my sleep schedule is horribly, horribly out of balance: I am falling asleep at 5-6AM and waking up at 12-2PM. Why? Because I was obsessing over my future and staying up through all hours of the night to try and find solutions and shortcuts on the internet. As a result, I also had a stress meltdown and ended up sobbing my way to sleep a few nights ago, refusing to get out of bed the next day until the evening; this pushed my sleep schedule even further along the hour track, as I could not get to sleep at the same time the next day. This has been a persistent cycle for me and there have been so many reasons that I have stayed up late, many of them inconsequential to my overall life and ultimately very irresponsible (like watching a TV show).

With my sleep cycle completely out of rhythm, I do not know when I should eat. I do not know what to expect in terms of when I will sleep again, and I cannot line up my meals with activities that I have planned. I sleep through breakfast hours and feel starved when I wake up. I end up eating dinner at all hours of the morning, often very shortly before I go to bed. I skip meals because they interfere with my medication and I have a hard time fitting them in. My out-of-control, directionless sleep tends to snowball in its time frame and exaggerate all of these problems, too. In short, my routine becomes a disaster and my diet is the very first victim in line. More than anything, maintaining a solid sleeping schedule keeps my diet in line because time is really what steers my eating habits. Even a slight disturbance in a sleep schedule, such as one or two hours, can cause someone to skip breakfast in a morning rush or eat dinner too close to bedtime.

The reason I wanted to share is because I think that many other people face the same problem but do not realize it, thinking there is "just something" very wrong with their ability to sleep. From what I have read and have had others share with me, a common outlook is that "real" sleep woes constitute not being able to sleep at all, but this is not the case, and is a belief likely snatched up by the desire to avoid the steep demands of proper sleep hygiene. Plenty of people are cursed with the inability to sleep whenever they would like to and need to pay a lot of respect to what the body needs. What this means to me is that it is not okay to stay out late, push for just another hour to finish watching a series episode, save work or homework for the last minute and cut some hours of sleep to compensate, and especially not to pull an all-nighter. There have been plenty of times where I have convinced myself "just one night won't muddle up the whole thing" and it definitely, definitely has, as much as I thought or believed that it would not have at the time. This is especially a problem where there is a previous or subsequent night that really DOES demand staying out/up late: a medical emergency, a very close friend's wedding, someone who sorely needs your help, parenting responsibilities, etc. - these things will happen, and I think it's best to save proverbial sick days (or nights) for such situations to minimize schedule impact. In the end, I consider sleep a greater part of my dietary discipline than my diet itself. Just some food for thought!

There are nights I lose sleep too. So I definitely know where you are coming from there.

One last thing, I'm off to complete a profile now. Now that I actually realize I can make one. I've only been a member for about a week and still learning the ropes.

Susan

[Guest Sybil]

Thank you again for your reply. I do realize that my long dips in eating poorly are terrible for me. My experience with them has been a big motivator for me to eat better and I have been working on it a fair amount. I am getting better at eating more often.

I am not sure what the prices for whey protein in other areas are, but I found a 5lb supply at Rite Aid for $30. It has 69 servings, and 2 servings give me a very similar nutritional benefit to a serving of chicken breast. At ~34 sets of 2 servings a container, that's about .88 each - so much cheaper than chicken breast! I usually pay about $1.45 per serving of chicken. I also would prefer to drink some bland, watered down shake than put all the effort into cutting up and munching on a chicken breast (not to mention preparing). Your advice has really been a blessing for me.

I will also try to look into those vitamins, I just hope they're inexpensive.

-Sybil