Need help losing weight
Good advice.
I gained weight over a couple of months over the holidays over which time my scale had broken and I'd gotten on a pretty serious popcorn fix. Once I got a new scale, I started focusing on diet. The first thing I did was start tracking what I was eating on myfitnesspal. After getting a baseline and seeing that I wasn't loosing weight but was indeed still gaining, I started cutting carbs - but not enough. So, cut them a lot more. (I am a carb junky.) I had been eating greek yogurt as a snack during the day at work. Usually I just had one but sometimes I would get on a kick and have more than one. I had to say bye bye to the greek yogurts bc they just had too many carbs in them. Finally, in an effort to crack down on both carbs and cals (I started becoming concerned that my fat malabsorption had reverted to a higher absorption rate), I switched out my food-lunch with a protein drink. I was already doing a protein drink for breakfast.
So, to sum - yep, I am putting the lunch protein drink aside in an effort to raise my overall cals. I worked out a plan to start next week that has carbs at 36 grams, fat at 148 and protein at 180. This brings my absorbed cals up to 836 (2,334 cals pre-malabsorption). So, just as you were saying, I'm going to focus on food-food in the hopes of increasing absorbed cals and I've also increased my target protein goal. Major fingers crossed that this plan has me feeling good plus loosing weight!!! :D
Here's a breakdown of what I'm planning:
What reason did you choose for using egg protein over whey?
I'd use cream in the shake instead of milk (cuts out sugar and adds fat). I'd cut out the tofu too but that's because I think soy is the devil ;) If I were in your shoes, honestly, I'd do a fat fast for a few days (check out Dana Carpenders book Fat Fast). I'd get back to zero basically and then focus on protein and fat. I'd do 2-3 protein shakes a day made with cream, I'd also stick with animal sources for protein instead of soy because it's not a complete protein. The cheese consumption is fine as are the veggies. I'd ditch the fruit of any kind. It's pure sugar.
Also, you might be over-thinking this whole process. Are you eating this menu because it's what satisfies you or because it's what you think you're supposed to be eating? I mean, I'm all for healthy eating but the normie rules don't really apply the same way.
Just my .02 ..
HW ~ SW ~ CW
310 - 291 - 150
What reason did you choose for using egg protein over whey?
I'd use cream in the shake instead of milk (cuts out sugar and adds fat). I'd cut out the tofu too but that's because I think soy is the devil ;) If I were in your shoes, honestly, I'd do a fat fast for a few days (check out Dana Carpenders book Fat Fast). I'd get back to zero basically and then focus on protein and fat. I'd do 2-3 protein shakes a day made with cream, I'd also stick with animal sources for protein instead of soy because it's not a complete protein. The cheese consumption is fine as are the veggies. I'd ditch the fruit of any kind. It's pure sugar.
Also, you might be over-thinking this whole process. Are you eating this menu because it's what satisfies you or because it's what you think you're supposed to be eating? I mean, I'm all for healthy eating but the normie rules don't really apply the same way.
Just my .02 ..
I have a sensitivity to casein (milk protein) in that it causes congestion in my lungs. I'm able to get away with eating A Lot more dairy than I could before the surgery -- and I suspect that is because of the malabsorbed protein. So, I use egg white protein. In addition, I am anti-artificial sweeteners. All of the egg white proteins I've seen have been sweetened with stevia. That's a biggie for me, very important.
I have tried using heavy cream in my coffee and I just don't like it. So, sticking with whole milk helps me remain compliant with that process and I've been literally measuring the amount of milk since it is heavy with carbs.
I know what you mean calling tofu the devil. I stayed away from it for a long time but recently incorporated it back in, but I do so with concerns about the estrogen addition it brings. I added it in because it's a nice change from my go-to food protein -- chicken. But, tofu does come with some carbs that could be utilized with a few more veggies, so dropping tofu back out will be something I will keep in mind as a possibility.
What do you mean by going "back to zero." You lost me there. Are you saying that I should take my fats down to zero?
I was able to find some info on the Fat Fast. What I read was that it was a 3 - 5 day fast in which a person would take in 1000 calories a day (1000 absorbed calories since we aren't necessarily talking about someone who has had a DS) and would get in 90% of those calories as fat. I'm assuming the other 10% is as proteins? Do you know how many carbs you can have during the fast? I am intrigued. But it also blows my mind as to how a DS'er would manage to make 90% of the calories absorption be from fat. Wow! That would be challenging! Suggestions? I am curious to try it for a weekend.
Given that I'm in desperation mode (not full blown desperation but I am definitely "gotta fix this" mode), I'd say you're right about the fruit. I can apply those carbs to veggies.
As to the menu -- the chicken thighs are a staple protein for me but I get tired of them. I've taken a break from them for two or three weeks now so I think I'm ready to get my chicken groove back on. I am trying to fit in some veggies in an attempt to be healthier. Heavy protein protein protein feels gross after awhile. I want something fresh in my system.
Thank you for your help! Everyone is giving great things to think about!!!
Uhm, where is your actual food at breakfast - piece of cheese, cottage cheese, an egg - you have to put something in your stomach to tell your metabolism you are awake and get it ready to burn fuel. I would ditch the orange for now as it is pure sugar - you would be better off with berries.
You seem to be eating most of your actual food at dinner. I am no expert by any stretch of the imagination but I suspect your body is hanging on to what it can in case its the start of a famine. Try spreading out the actual food throughout your day so that you never go more than a few hours without something in your tummy.
Hang in there. It will come off again
That's how I feel about it. It works for my schedule, it's over 200 calories (pre-malabsorption) and the liquids help my stomach manage my morning vitamins. It is a hugely staple meal for me. I can't see myself giving it up. I do sometimes get a piece of cheese between 8 and 9am but sometimes I put off eating until 10am. So, the real food starts coming in fairly early in the day.
Thank you for your words of encouragement!
Most of the food is actually being taken in during the day. The "lunch" has more cals than the dinner plus there are the AM snacks in there was the "lunch". And, there's no way I could eat all of that food at one time. It's definitely spread out throughout the day. I am fortunate enough to be able to eat at my desk at work as often as I want and, pre-diet push, I was eating at least every two hours. My blood sugar seems to drop if I don't have something ever two to three hours, so I eat pretty often -- usually a thing of string cheese.
I am probably going to drop the wedge of orange. I had not considered berries. It does make sense from a lower sugar stand point. I think I'm going to let go of the fruit for now and apply those carbs to veggies for the moment. And, that will protect against an instant sugar rush, which would very likely be a trigger for me to eat more sugar.
I would Love to know just how much I'm absorbing of things. When money will allow, I'd like to get one of those poo analysis done where they tell you just what you're absorbing. (I think they can do that, right?)
60 grams of protein? -- Oh wow, I've never heard one DS'er say they did okay at 60 grams of protein. At this point, I think that would have my mouth falling open. As for me, my protein absorption runs low. It's been about 9 months since I've been tested though, so my protein absorption may have improved. I had to increase my protein twice to get my lab protein up and then at 180 grams of protein a day I think my protein went on the high side so I cut it down to 120 or 130 g but then started not feeling good at that level. But, I feel pretty good at 140 and often go over up toward 150.
As to why I have so much protein built into the plan I've laid out above, it's in an attempt to increase the overall cals absorbed for the day while keeping carbs low and not having to eat soooo much fat to get the calories up. We absorb (presumably) more cals from a gram of protein than a gram of fat. Otherwise, if I'm keeping carbs low and protein more moderate, unless I'm eating scads of fat, the cals absorbed would be quite low, starvation calorie levels low.
Back to the issue of super absorbers. Since my previous labs indicated my protein tended to run low, I'm guessing I'm not a super absorber. And, everything I've read about fat absorption has indicated that that aspect of our malabsorption doesn't tend to modify over time -- that it tends to remain around 20%. Regardless of this, I do have the what-if fear of what if I now absorb most of the fat I'm taking in. I'll give the low carb diet another go but increase my guestimated absorbed calories in hopes it will help and that I won't have that sensation of my body is being starved. I could give it a go for a few weeks, see how it goes and if I'm gaining it will be back to the drawing board. If I'm not losing, I'll try lowering my carbs further to see if I can trigger the wt loss to start.
