Honestly, the changes I’ve made to my diet aren’t novel. I guess when your eating habits involve a diet heavy in carbs, sugar, and rich casseroles and eating until you want to barf, there really is no where to go but up.
The irony is that I like healthy food. But I like junk too. Let’s face it, junk is generally cheaper and easier to come by. And junk doesn’t require planning. AND junk doesn’t require thinking. Or reading labels. And it tastes so good.
But it’s a fickle love affair. Because while junk whispers sweet nothings in my ear and makes tantalizing promises of true love and destiny, it has a way of leaving me never quite satisfied, and I keep finding myself going back for more and more and more until I look and feel like, well… junk.
I know that portion size is key, but my will power to control my portion sizes flies out the window once I get a taste of carbs and sugar. So I’m learning that staying away from them is almost easier than trying to have just a small portion. Not to say that I have been staying completely away from them, but rather, I’m severely limiting the times they are an option.
The hardest time of day for me is from 4PM and on. Once the kids get home from school, I get an insatiable urge to snack. If I give in to the snack attack, by dinner time I’m no longer hungry, but I eat anyway because I usually have spent anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes preparing a yummy meal. By the time dinner is over, I feel like a beached whale. Even when I don’t overeat extravagantly, lately I find that I feel painfully bloated and stuffed to the point that I have to lay down until it passes. You can imagine how well that goes over with my family.
I’m not sure if there is a specific food group that is causing this or if my body just isn’t able to handle the same amount of food that it used to, but whatever the reason, I decided to start my quest to feel and look better by revamping dinner.
Basically, dinner is a no-carb zone. This is pretty easy to do in the summertime. If I can keep it up through the winter, that will be the true test. I’ve been avoiding dinners that involve simple carbs, like pasta meals or casseroles. I can still enjoy cooking and trying out new recipes; I just focus on meat and vegetable recipes and discard the rich, gooey pasta recipes that I usually choose. Just this past week I tried this and this and this, and they were all fantastic. So there IS life without carbs! 
I haven’t been serving a starchy side dish with dinner, and I certainly haven’t been serving bread or rolls. I resolutely walk past the dinner rolls and french breads at the grocery store. That’s hard work. I love my bread. But it just cannot be part of my daily routine anymore.
I’ve been going to the farm market almost daily for fresh veggies, and I try to cook them so they are flavorful and delicious. I do a lot of steaming and roasting, and I don’t skimp on salt or butter. I’m blessed with low cholesterol and low blood pressure, so I allow myself those small luxuries.
When I make hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill, I take mine without the bun. And I am NOT buying chips anymore. That old Lay’s commercial — “You can’t eat just one!” is SO true. I’ve decided that my family can get used to having a vegetable with their burgers. This is a meal we have once or twice a week in the summer, so this has required some adjustment on my part, but it’s worth it to feel better.
I’ve only been doing this for about a week, so I’m sure I’ll find other familiar meals I’ll have to alter or eliminate, but I think that about covers dinner.
As for breakfast, I’ve resorted to an old stand-by, Thomas’ Light Multi-Grain English Muffins. These babies have 100 calories and 8 grams of fiber, and I love them toasted and slathered with butter and honey. I can eat the same thing for breakfast for months without tiring of it. On the rare occasion when I find myself at Starbucks for breakfast, I opt for one of the less-sugary goodies, usually a blueberry scone. And I share it with my daughter so I’m not tempted to eat the whole thing. I realize that’s stretching the rules a little bit, but I find that breakfast is the best time of day to cheat a little.
Lunch is easy. I usually have lunch meat from the deli with a bunch of fresh lettuce (again, from the local farm stand) on a half a high-fiber sandwich roll. I’ve been buying these Multi-Grain Sandwich Thins by Arnold for a while now, but I just started eating my sandwich “open face” on just one half of the roll. I use mustard instead of mayo so there’s no guilt there.
When I’m out for lunch, I look no further than the salad menu. This is difficult for me as I’m such a sandwich lover, but it’s pretty hard to find a low-carb sandwich option at a restaurant so instead of tempting myself with all the sandwich possibilities, I try to keep my blinders on. I realize salads can be extremely high in fat, but they don’t make me feel icky when I’m done.
My biggest challenge is dessert, of course. And with summertime approaching and all those fresh berries calling my name at the farm market, I’m dying to make cobblers and pies and shortcakes and crisps. But instead, I’ve forced myself to see the delicious, HEALTHY berries as The Dessert, rather than the inspiration for dessert. It’s amazing how freeing it is to buy a quart of strawberries and just EAT them without having to decide on which dessert recipe to use. 
See that? Glass half full. Bet you didn’t know I could do that.
I’m trying to keep junkie snacks out of the house, at least the ones that appeal to me. So far the kids haven’t complained. MUCH. As long as I keep fruit and Popsicles around, they don’t seem to mind.
The one setback I’ve had so far was Saturday night at a family party. Social events are the WORST for me — especially those events where there is food sitting out for hours on end, calling to me as I pass by, beckoning from across the room when I try to avoid them. I started out sticking with the low-carb options, but then I started picking at my daughter’s mac-and-cheese (homemade! DIVINE!) and by the time the desserts rolled out, I gave in and had one two three. Well, they were small. ANY-WHO. The good news is, I ate slowly enough that I never did feel sick or overly full, and that in and of itself is a triumph. And also. I didn’t allow my lapse to sabotage my resolve to keep going, and that’s the most important thing.
As I said, nothing I’m doing is particularly innovative. I’m simply avoiding simple carbs and sugars as much as possible and increasing my consumption of complex carbs and fruits and veggies. Meal planning is key. And sticking with it is the real challenge. At the moment, the energy and accomplishment I feel from doing the Shred almost every day is keeping me motivated, but it’s only been a week and a half. I really want to make these changes permanent, so any ideas or encouragment you have for me is appreciated!
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Your eating preferences sound a lot like mine. Well, I’m not a huge bread-lover, but the fact is, I LOVE to eat healthy — lots of veggies — but it’s so much harder than junk. And yes, I love junk too.
Good job!
My sister has a Hungry Girl cookbook that I flipped through this week. I really like it because the basic premise seems to be low-cal, tasty things for girls who love food. Plus the recipes are generally for one or two servings, so you don’t make huge batches and then eat too much. There’s a website with loads of the recipes (hungry-girl.com) and each one gives the calories, fat content, sodium, fiber, carbs, sugar, protein, and WW points value. There’s even low-cal mojitos and margaritas! I think it’s a great resource for trying to eat low-cal.
It’s funny I have been thinking about how to cut down on carbs at dinner. We love potatoes, mashed, baked, etc.. I was wondering how it would go over with my family. I know we would feel a lot better without it. I need some ideas for cooking veggies though. Mine are always so bland! Thanks for the inspiration, I’m going to give this a try!
You are doing a great job, Jo-Lynne! It is ok to enjoy treats occasionally, but you do feel so much better when concentrating on the fresh fruits and veggies. And the exercise certainly doesn’t hurt!
I have no advice, only encouragement. If you think this is what’s best for you, then keep going! Hang in there and you’ll feel so much better in the long run. Carbs are not necessarily evil–it’s just that a LOT of carbs are evil. Someday you’ll train yourself to just eat a little.
Good luck!
Just a suggestion for the munchies before dinner. If you can grab anything other than a bread item, at least it’s a safer bet. You could either eat a couple slices of cheese (1 oz.) or grab a yogurt. (I personally like the 4 oz. packs of Light & Fit yogurt.) Even some grapes or other quick fruit would do.
It sounds like everything else you’re doing is good, especially eliminating the breads from your dinner. For me, that’s the easiest meal to do it.
Great ideas! I’m with you on breakfast, and those English muffins sound like a great addition to my routine. A family gathering would be my downfall as well, but hey – you gotta live, right?!
Late night is hard for me too. Once the Mr. gets home, I want to sit, eat and talk. Emphasis on the eating.
You know what I love that gives me a little protien and adds to my morning toast? Laughing cow cheese wedges. SO yummy and low in cals/points/fat!
Wow, that sounds great! In fact it sounds exactly like I want to be doing with my family. Perhaps I’ll use this post as inspiration. I hope that you post again with progress and more delicious recipes!
Great way to incorporate some healthy eating habits, I know snacking after work is my worst time also. I am also doing the shred, but I really need to start focusing more on my food intake.
Thanks for the great tips- and the inspiration! I’m going to try this!
My goodness…I feel your pain. I think I let myself go this winter, and I couldn’t figure out about a month ago why all my shorts from last summer were TOO TIGHT. I mean…so tight that I couldn’t bring the two sides around my belly. I’ve made some changes too–like substituting Special K cereal (love the fruit and yogurt or chocolatey delight one) or Kashi Go Lean cereal for my usual ooey gooey cheesy eggs lol. And a half a sandwich on whole wheat or rye with fruit for lunch, etc. A great snack (one I just enjoyed) around this late afternoon hour is a handful of nuts/trail mix. The protein fills you up so you can make it til dinner.
Great ideas. I say that because I am doing many of the same things and they are working for me too!
Keep it up!
Portion size is not a problem for me but willpower and my sweet tooth are! If there are sweets in the house I have to have just one or three. Yikes!
You sound like you are doing things in a very reasonable way. Not making yourself crazy by never eating bread or whatnot, but really being mindful of what you eat. I think it is great that you indulged in some desserts, but didn’t let that knock you off course for good. That is pretty much how I approach my eating. I try to keep it reasonable, but don’t go crazy if I indulge. Although, lately, there’s been a little too much indulging.
Lay’s chips are my absolute downfall, I cannot buy them. These are all great changes you are making. I think I might join you in cutting the carbs at supper.
I’m trying to make those healthy changes for our family too. The thing that calls my name the loudest when I walk by in the grocery aisle…white flour tortillas. It takes every ounce of strength to bypass them for the wheat high-fiber wraps that took their place.
Good luck! I’m trying to cut back on portion sizes myself and eat a little healthier. It’s a hard row to hoe. I’ve actually had to stop buying all sweets because it’s the one things I can’t control (well….I *don’t* control LOL).
Good for you!
I remember the conversation we had while we were shopping on Main Street at WDW…the one where we both complained about our saggy muffin tops.
Well, since then, I’ve changed some habits too. Instead of just walking the two miles, I’ve taken to jogging them. And now I’ve added strength training as well and I can see such a big difference in my body. That alone encourages me to keep at it.
As for the weight, I had managed to sneak up about 7 pounds past my comfortable number. So for three or four weeks I restricted my calories (not carbs necessarily, just counted calories) and I fairly easily took off those seven pounds. Now I’m back to eating my regular stuff (no more counting!) including dessert every night. Lucky for me the work-outs keep me right at my happy number and Gilad (Fit TV) and Jillian and the jogging keep my muscles toned. I feel better (not to mention look a lot better too!)
Keep at it girl. Once you start physically seeing the change (muscle definition and stuff) I think that will be motivation enough.
I’m a little behind on my favorite blogs. I just commented on an earlier post that I wanted to hear more about your diet changes. I can see that you weren’t waiting for my approval to proceed. These sound like things I could do. I think eating in moderation is easier for me than being disciplined enough to exercise regularly. Any tips on that? I’m going to feel like such a doofus if you discuss that in a post I haven’t read yet.
Whimzie, I’m not sure which is worse – moderation or exercise. But right now I’m doing both and barely staying in my jeans, so I don’t dare ditch one or the other.
Good for you in sticking with it! It’s so hard to make dietary changes, especially at first. I think in order to stay with it long term you should allow yourself a cheat meal. Like every Sunday dinner you can have pasta. That way if you’re having a craving, you just have to say, “OK, I can wait until Sunday.”
Is there a farmer’s market in your area? I’d love to be able to walk or bike to one, but the closest one is about 10-15 minutes away. Not terribly far, but not terribly close either. Especially when you have a 3-month-old baby who is not a fan of the car.
Yes, Stephanie, I’m so blessed. There are farms all around us and a farm market 5 min away. Often in the summer, they are JUST bringing veggies in from the field and putting them directly on shelves while I’m shopping. It’s amazing. I go there 4-5 times a week.