Hi, My name is Totoro and I am a carb junkie.

totoro

Mom? What's a difficult child?
Yes, I admit it. OK I can blame it on having Bipolar Disorder, but what good does that do me? I can blame it on being on Mood Stabilizers, same thing...
but I have been a carb and sugar junkie since being in the womb. I know all of the answers and the steps to take... but any secret steps... new ideas?
When the feces hits the wind displacer, I just gravitate towards the CARBS...
It calls my name.
With K being such a mess, the move, all of it. I have lost control... I have slipped. I had lost 18 pounds, I gained back 5.
I am one of those types that can feel every pound sneak back on, it depresses me.
Which makes me feel worse, which you know, CARBS.
I have been trying to walk Clemey more. We are starting a whole new approach to eating and diet once we move. Part of the reason we are not starting it now is K, she is unstable enough, we do not want to add any more change.
i just need to keep the baguette out of my mouth, stay away from the croissant... No scones.
Stop making cupcakes with the girls.:whiteflag:
I know none of you would understand.:tongue:;)
 

1905

Well-Known Member
Don't feel bad. You need a plan! You love carbs so that's great- you can plan your entire day and give yourself some carbs as a reward. A small reward. It's harder to be succesful if you have to go entirely without, so add it into your diet. The main thing is the planning. You can do this, start now for what you plan to eat tommorow. Think about how good it feels to go to bed knowing you stuck to it, and know that we're all somewhere dieting too. I'm here in NJ hungry too, but I had 4 starbusts today, and I'm still doing well on the diet.-Alyssa
 

trinityroyal

Well-Known Member
Oh Toto. That's a hard battle.
First of all, sending big giant {{{{{HUGS}}}}

I think we all succumb to the carb thing because carbs are like a hug from inside. They make you feel warm and comforted and safe.

BUT...they also make you feel bloated, and help the weight creep on.

I find that I crave carbs most when I am exhausted, because they give me a sugar lift when I haven't been getting enough sleep and let me stay awake that extra few minutes, until the next blood sugar dip, when I need more carbs...

And there, in a nutshell, is the problem.

Can you find a way to have healthy low-carb snacks throughout the day? That will help to regulate your blood sugar so you don't feel the need to load up on carbs.

I try to replace bread-like carbs with vegetable-like carbs as well...seems to do less damage to the waistline. So, instead of a big slice of bread, I have a bowl of steamed corn, or edamame or carrots or peas. Some vegetable with a very high carb and fibre content, which fills me up, gives me lots of energy and does the same things for my body that bread does, with none of the downside.

(I know...when you want bread and you're eating beans it just doesn't feel the same, but I don't think my body notices the difference. And I eat WAY more often, so I don't get as depleted)

Sorry...I'm rambling. Just got back from week 1 of the giant road trip and fell asleep on the bed fully clothed. Just woke up and my brain is still foggy. If this doesn't make any sense at all, please let me know and I will try to be clearer.

Trinity
 

totoro

Mom? What's a difficult child?
I do understand!!! That is what I usually, used to do... but now/lately I have been having the edamame and the bread and the dessert!
I am just having a hard time cutting things out.
Tired would be hitting it on the head.
What is even harder is, K has had a medication change that is making her a raving food maniac. husband has been sort of Depressed... so he keeps saying, "I don't know why I just keep feeling like eating and eating"
We are all just eating machines!!!
Maybe this move will snap us out of our stupor... I am going to start working on it before then though! I have to.
4 starbursts! Oh my, that is being very good. I am impressed.
 

Wiped Out

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Toto,
I think it's hard when we have lots of stress to not be an emotional eater-at least I know that is how it is for me. I work for ww and know all about healthy eating but there are times it just goes out the door.

The planning part is a good idea because you can't eat what you don't have in the house. O.k. that usually works but then sometimes I eat more of what I don't need-yikes I'm not being very helpful here.

A few things that usually help me stay in control, Fiber One Bars-especially the chocolate-they are delicious and packed with 9 grams of fiber. If I eat more than one it is so uncomfortable that I don't overeat with them.

Also, it's a really good idea to have a few almonds or nuts a day. I buy a combination of dried cranberries, cashews, and almonds. They are in small packets so I don't over eat and really are satisfying when I'm really hungry.

Are you able to get any "me" time? If so take a walk or do an exercise video. A workout sometimes helps me to keep on track.

Hugs, I know it's hard.
 

KateM

Member
Oh Toto.



"I find that I crave carbs most when I am exhausted, because they give me a sugar lift when I haven't been getting enough sleep and let me stay awake that extra few minutes, until the next blood sugar dip, when I need more carbs...

And there, in a nutshell, is the problem."

I can totally relate to this! Half of my wt problem is related to working the night shift and getting little sleep during the day.

The other half is emotional eating. I tend to eat peanut butter by the spoonful when I'm stressed about difficult child!

I second Sharon's recommendation of the Fiber one bars -- they are delicious and satisfying! They come in a variety of flavors ( chocolate is my favorite, too) and give your sweet tooth something healthy to munch on.

Also, finding a non-food way to relieve stress really helps, too.

Good luck, Totoro! This is a challenge I face ,too.
 

Marguerite

Active Member
I've found tat for me, I have to go totally cold turkey and eliminate ALL the nasties. If I allow one small potato chip, for example, I will keep going. It's easier to refuse it all.

But it's almost impossible, in practical terms, to do this and still eat especially when you're out and about.

So I set some rules, like a priority scale of what to avoid first, etc.

The problems are multiple - carbs in general get used as fuel and any excess is turned into sugar, which then gets turned into fat. Depending on your body and how well it's functioning, the process of all this can be laying down sugar and/or fat in very unhealthy ways, which was happening to me - I was eating a low fat diet (had been for over 12 years) but instead, as is almost inevitable with a low-fat diet, sugar was creeping in instead and my body was turning all this into fat and storing it in my liver, which then began to suffocate and strangle itself. An overloaded liver then can't metabolise toxins properly, which meant more weight was going on. And so on.

Something else to keep in mind - we burn more energy earlier in the day, so a carb-loaded breakfast is tolerable, while a carb-loaded evening meal is not. Similarly, if you're going to reward yourself keep it either very small, or save it for the next morning.

And another thing which can help you - when you eat carbs, your body begins the digestion process in your mouth. Good bacteria plus your own body enzymes immediately begin to break down the carbs into glucose. You then, after about ten minutes or more, get a sour taste in your mouth. For a lot of us, this is almost a signal to get rid of it with something else sweet. Rinsing out with water just won't do it. But if you KNOW it's due to the carbs you just had, it might be easier to avoid it. Also, once you really reduce your carbs you really notice the sour taste when you Do have carbs, and you become even more eager to avoid it.

Before you really go on a diet, do this test - get a piece of bread and chew it. Don't swallow (not just yet). Keep chewing. You will soon notice tat it starts to taste sweet - this is your saliva breaking the carbs down to glucose - it happens that fast. OK, you can swallow now. Point is made.

So, for my sliding scale of what to avoid, in which order:

1) Cut out as much fat as you can, but watch out for the hidden sugars in low-fat processed food.

2) Cut out all sugars. This includes natural sources of sugar such as honey (which has just as many calories per gram as sugar).

3) Now cut out all simple carbs (the ones our bodies can too readily convert to glucose). This means eliminate potato, sweet potato, anything made with white flour or white rice. And pasta.
You can be a bit lax with this one, allow a tiny amount but not too often. It depends on how much you want to cut back.

4) Limit fruit to one serve per day. This can be in the form of frozen fruit or frozen fruit juice. I use a frozen fruit juice as an alternate form of dessert.

Now to what you CAN have - unlimited vegetables. A lump of lean protein, the size of the palm of your hand, for lunch and dinner. Wholegrain carbs (such as brown rice, polenta or other form of corn product other than popcorn, wholegrain bread). Not wholegrain pasta, because it can't be made with only wholegrain flour, it has to have a fair bit of white flour in it.

To drink - low-joule soft drinks, water. Avoid alcoholic drinks, avoid any drinks with sugar. Keep milk to a minimum, although skim milk is OK (unsweetened). Drink plenty of fluids.

But you want something sweet? I allow artificial sweeteners. OK, harsh chemicals (by some people's reckoning). But have you tried isomalt?

You can't have too much of it, because it doesn't get metabolised at all so as it proceeds through your digestive system it takes a certain amount of water with it. In your GI tract, this has the effect of causing things to be a little 'loose'. The more of this you eat, the looser, until you feel like you have a massive belly-ache. But if you can try just a few sweets made with isomalt, they taste exactly like real sweets because to your tastebuds, they ARE real sugar.

Scientifically, isomalt is sugar (sucrose), but the molecule is a mirror image. Literally. If you held up a model of the molecule to a mirror, the image in the mirror would be the one for sucrose.
Because it's a mirror image, it is biologically inert. Chemically it 'reads' as sugar (to our tastebuds, for example) but if we only had this to eat, we would starve.
Ants don't recognise it.
It behaves exactly like sugar in so many ways, but being biologically inert means that when you eat a sweet made with isomalt - no sour aftertaste!

So if you want to get some breath mints, etc look for isomalt ones.

But limit yourself to no more than three every few hours, until you know how much your body can tolerate.

This way you can diet, still get your taste of sweet things, and be healthy.

Oh, one last thing - chocolate is good for you, in moderation. But it has to be GOOD chocolate (like dark chocolate made with cocoa butter, not cheap compounded stuff made with copha). So I buy a block of really good dark chocolate (currently it's a brand with crushed coffee beans mixed in as well) and allow myself ONE square of chocolate a day. That way the coffee beans in it prevent the sour after-taste from the sugar (also the bitterness of the dark chocolate). And if you still get an aftertaste you don't want, such an isomalt sweet.

WHen you follow tihs diet and begin to read labels looking for the hidden carbs and sugars, you will realise just how much secret carbs they shove at us when we are away from home. Even allegedly healthy fast food has hidden carbs. Maybe it's sugar in the salad dressing. Maybe it's hidden rice noodles inside the wraps. Or extra layers of wrapping.

The only healthy takeaway fast food is sushi. And even that is based on white rice!

Good luck!

Marg
 

totoro

Mom? What's a difficult child?
Marg~ Thanks
That is basically how we eat. We do not eat processed foods. I will fix the girls an organic frozen tofu corn dog or mini pizzas once inawhile. But husband and I very rarely ever eat processed foods.
No soda. Soda water. I do drink wine...
My problem is Bread and desserts. SUGAR... I will buy wheat bread. But I just eat too much. It is my consumption amount. I know I should be eating less than 1200 calories a day. I have a slow metabolism.
And fruit... I am a huge fruit lover.
We eat a lot of grains, legumes, tofu, tempah I love sushi, I know the white rice. I have cut that down.
I eat wheat pasta.
My diet is pretty good some changes need to be made, we have a couple of jars of walnuts and almonds out.
I had coffee, necterine and banana for breakfast... usually with granola, no sugar granola. But I know I should have an egg white and veg.
WAAAA!!! I don't want that.
 

1905

Well-Known Member
Totoro!
I think everything you're is great, just make sure you're in the 1200 calorie limit. It seems like you are eating healthy. I would never want an egg white, and you shouldn't if you don't want one. Stick to the calorie limit and you'll be right on track!!!!!

I have a friend and she has a donut for breakfast every day. She is losing weight because that's part of her 1200 calories. It's what helps her to stay successful,plan out your day's worth of eating ahead of time, have that bread, but a piece. I also have flavored hot tea with equal, it fills me up, when I feel like I may go off the deep end and eat.

PS- A whole bottle of wine only has around 500 calories!
 

Marguerite

Active Member
What's wrong with whole egg? It's good protein, it's healthy. OK, there is some cholesterol in whole egg, but that's only because it's animal source. And there's not enough to worry about. Whole egg is low GI, which is good.

If you've cut back to 1200 calories or less, then you probably need to take supplements because a dietician would have a fit. I got referred to a dietician, to help me lose weight - and she told me to eat more! She insisted I had to increase my bread intake to four (admittedly, wholegrain) slices of bread a day. I gained weight.
So I cut back on the amount, DID continue eating grain bread instead of white bread, ate less fruit and more vegetables and did find I at least maintained my weight.

Currently I'm on 1000 calories a day. I do it by cutting back as I previously described, plus cutting back in overall quantity.

UpAllNight, a donut for breakfast every day could well be within the calorie allowance, but it includes a lot of 'empty' calories, leaving a lot less room for food which is also nutritious. If it's a glazed or iced donut, it will be giving her a fast sugar hit (bad for her, it teaches the pancreas to pour out massive amounts of insulin, which then gobbles up all the sugar and more besides, making you feel flat and desperately hungry by morning tea time) but little else. It is high in fat (fried) with nothing else to it but the carbs. No vitamins, no protein. One Krispy Kreme donut has between 150 (small, 3" diameter) and 300 calories (medium) (info from Krispy Kreme website). That means there are between 900 and 1050 calories left for the rest of the day. You still have to pack into that now smaller calorie amount, an entire day's good nutrition. All the iron; all the folate; all the Vitamin C plus all the other vitamins; all the calcium; all the protein; all the EFAs.

If you try to go TOO low-fat, you can find the GI is higher and this leads your body to get used to fast carb hits and make you suffer when you don't eat lots of carbs. So the aim is to eat low-fat, moderate to low carbs and a bit higher in protein.

It's like me with my one square of chocolate (max) - knowing I can have it, stops me from going frantic because the diet says I mustn't.
Sometimes I find I'm hungry and get into the "I must scavenge round the house to find SOMETHING to eat..." mood, but a big drink of my Nescaf frappe fixes that. It's (calorie-wise) not much more than water with a dash of skim milk. I just happen to add a heaped spoon of instant decaf coffee and two sweeteners to 500 ml really cold water (and splash of skim). I shake it up until it goes frothy and drink it with a straw, knowing that when we were in Greece, this cost between 500 and 800 Drachmas a serve. It feels like I'm treating myself when in fact I'm filling myself with healthy water (tasting very unhealthy).

With your wheat bread (I presume you mean wholegrain?) - what are you putting on it? Instead of using dairy spread or similar, try spreading it with mayonnaise, or pesto sauce (yes, I know they have oil in them - a little is OK) or low-fat cream cheese. You will use less fat than if you used dairy spread, plus you add flavour and texture, plus SOME fat on the bread stops the juices of, say, tomato from soaking in and making it go soggy.
A family favourite here is a salad sandwich (tomato, lettuce, a very thin slice of onion, maybe shredded carrot) spread first with home-made basil pesto. You HAVE to use the pesto sparingly because the flavour is so strong.

I might eat a sandwich made from a single slice of bread, cut in half. If I still want more, I can then make a different half-sandwich, so I feel like I've eaten a wide variety.

Another big diet tip (connected to Australia's favourite/most recommended diet, the CSIRO total wellbeing diet) is to make sure you eat, over a day, at least 15 different plant products. If you can, make sure they are fresh and in season. Making your own vegetable soup is a good way to reach your quota. It's also a good way to make your minimal number of calories give you optimum nutrition.

If you use flavour as a way to cut back, it can really work. Too often the diet food tastes bland and so you feel like you haven't eaten. But a couple of mouthfuls of something strongly flavoured can often satisfy more effectively. This means you could be eating fewer calories overall, AND still enjoying your food.

We bought fish this afternoon, from the fish market. There are two ways we could prepare it -
1) husband likes to pan-fry the fillet, unfloured, in a small sizzle of butter (non-stick pan). There is so little butter that it adds very little in calories. But it does add a little flavour.

2) I like to put the fish fillet on a large sheet of foil, add a thin slice or two of ginger root, a couple of thin slices of onion, a splash of soy sauce, a splash of mirin (rice wine - or sherry), a few drops of sesame oil and carefully wrap it up so the foil makes a sealed parcel with seams arranged so it won't leak. I then bake it in the oven so it self-steams in the oven.

My way has stronger flavours and is also lower in fat. But on my diet, both are acceptable.

I didn't like the range of breakfast cereals on offer, so I made my own muesli. No added sugar, but I do allow natural fruit sugars (in moderation) from raisins. My muesli is based on brown rice (puffed as well as rolled) because my body can't tolerate oats. I also find the stuff is so filling, I can only eat a small amount. But it keeps me going until lunchtime, when I have a protein meal with salad and/or vegetables. Or soup, maybe, made by cooking meat and vegetables (such as a stew) and watering down a small amount for a dieter's meal. Still very satisfying and loaded with vitamins and protein.

Marg
 

LittleDudesMom

Well-Known Member
Be proud you stood up here!!

You've gotten some good suggestions about how to limit your carbs. I'm a carb lover as well. I find a way to get some of my favorites in my point limit daily!!!! There is a way to have your cake and eat it too!!!!!!!!!!!

Sharon
 
Totoro,

The others have given you excellent advice. I'm glad that you've confessed here. Not only does it take courage, but also, I think it shows that you're ready to make some healthy changes...

I make sure I eat healthy meals and snacks daily. However, I find that if I give up everything I love, I end up eating large quantities of food that just don't "do it" for me. As a result, I'll end up eating many more calories than I would have if I just had a serving of whatever I was craving to begin with.

I think every person is unique and has to do what works for him/her. For me, I use Sharon (LDM)'s method of "having your cake and eating it too." When I'm craving something that isn't healthy, I plan it into my daily food choices.

I don't buy "junk" food that I can't stay away from. I'm one of those persons who doesn't believe in "willpower." If I know my favorite "junk" food is in the kitchen, and if I'm in one of those "moods" to eat emotionally, I'll definitely go for it. So, I'm a mean mom - I buy sweets for my kids that I know I won't demolish.

Remember, today is the first day of the rest of your life - YOU CAN DO THIS!!! Thinking of you... WFEN
 

Shari

IsItFridayYet?
Toto - I recently discovered a low-cal bread from Sara Lee, I think. It has only 35 calories and I'm thinking like 6 carbs per slice - so you can have 2 slices of this bread per one slice of normal wheat bread. It really has been my saving grace.

The other thing that helps me is to actually keep a list of what I eat thru the day and the rough calorie and carb content. For some reason, seeing it in black and white makes it easier to not overeat.
 
N

Nomad

Guest
I think I found something...will try to post the exact name asap.
It is a candy type bar at Walgreens. It is for diabetics.
It was chocolate with peanuts.
130 calories, no sugar, 11 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber, 3 grams of fat.
I had it and it filled me up big time AND it satisfied my sweet craving! This might be a good thing to keep...one or two at a time...in the house if you FREAK OUT and have to have something when stressed.
It could also be used for breakfast when rushing out the door and you can't make something (not for every day).
Will try to find the name of it later...but might be good to look for these diabetic type things in a pinch.
Shari...would like to hear the name of the bread from Sara Lee!!!
 

Shari

IsItFridayYet?
Nomad, I think its called Delightful. It comes in wheat, white, and whole grain, that I've seen, and I actually think either the white or whole grain has less calories than the wheat...
My local Schnucks grocery store has a spin-off of it that is very similar...35-45 calories per slice (depending on which kind), 2-4g protein, around 9g carbs, 2-3g fiber, and about a gram of fat.
 

Fran

Former desparate mom
Totoro, if I had to do it over again my board name would be Cookie Eater. They are my guilty pleasure and indulgence.
I offer no suggestion. I still gravitate to Pepperidge Farms mint Brussells when I want to indulge myself. I just don't have them every day or even every week. When I have them I enjoy them. 3 seems to be the magic number. If I make a plan with what it is I want and how many, I seem to do better at controlling myself.
 

Marguerite

Active Member
That candy bar sounds wonderful, but I haven't seen anything like it here. The best I have found are the isomalt fruit candies I've been sucking all day.

As I said before, isomalt tastes wonderfully like sugar. Taste-wise, there is no difference. But because it is inert to the body, it goes straight through. And because it is a chemical (like salt, or like sugar) it also drags water with it by osmosis. Have you ever cut open an aubergine (eggplant) and cut out the flesh, then salted it? You know how this draws the water out of it? Well, isomalt (or sugar, or salt) in the gut does the same thing - it draws water with it. Only REAL sugar, or salt gets absorbed by the body and used, hence taking the water into the body with it.

So in a nutshell - ANY diabetic sweet that you try, PLEASE check what is in it before you over-indulge.

I LOVE isomalt, because it tastes so much like real sugar. But I've learnt how much I can eat before I get problems with diarrhoea.

There is a warning on the packets, but it's often in fine print.

And I'm going to keep my eyes peeled for that chocolate bar, just in case we do have them here after all!

Marg
 

Christy

New Member
I gave up most carbs and it did wonders for me. I lost 90 lbs. I had excellent control over my type II diabetes. My PCOS symptoms were less severe and my cycle was regular for a change. I was full of energy and exercised regualrly. And then, life got hard. My mom was diagnosis'd with cancer and I traveled several times a week out of state to visit her at the hospital and then hospice. Lots of fast food and cafeteria food and at first, I tried to keep to my way of eating but it was dificult. My mom was dying and I didn't want to worry about finding a salad or something suitable. I ate what was available. My appetitie for carbs that I had supressed with my strict eating plan began to emerge again and with everything else going on, I gave into it. I ate to feel better. Now it is 7 months later, my mom's death is still hard on me but I am geting through it. What I can't seem to do is get back on track with my eating and exercise. First I stopped weighing myself, then I stopped checking my blood sugar, I don't exercise, and I crave sweets all the time. I snack all day long and binge in the evenings. Eating has once again become a form of relaxation for me and it's killing me. I've gainned all but 30 lbs of what I lost, nothing fits, my blood sugar is no longer in good control, and yet I keep eating. I looked into the lap band procedure just this morning and when I saw all the possible side effects and the way you have to chew things so carefully, what happens when you eat too much, etc... I told myself, I have to try this one more time with diet and exercise first. So here goes, I am going to cut out the bad carbs, force myself to exercise, stop snacking and binging. Why don't I believe myself?

Just wanted to share my story and say that I truly underastand the power carb addition has over a person. Good luck working through it. I hope we will be successful in overcoming this!
Christy
 

amazeofgrace

A maze of Grace - that about sums it up
as previously stated....
Coke is my drug of choice, full sugar, full caffeine
I too am a carb junkie
 
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