Recipes? Thought I'd share and ask......

I try to stay away from the mock or real sweets. Now that I'm on maintenance I will occasionally have a sweet treat. I figure the mock sweets have about the same calories as the real thing and usually don't taste as good. When I'm in the mood for something sweet I stop by the bakery and buy 1 cupcake, or 1 donut stick, etc. Baking and having it in the house is a recipe for disaster for me. If it were in the house I'd eat it on a daily basis until it was gone. I find the more boring my everyday menu is the less tempted I am to over eat. Food is fuel nowdays for me, rather than for the pleasure of eating. I am conscious of the fact that I need to fuel my body with healthy food rather than wasted calories like sweets.

Pat, I'm clearly following in your footsteps! I am however a "flavor addict" And find that I use much more spice nowadays Experimenting with curry blends, and such... Italian, Mexican, Asian, Moroccan, etc... I guess that is replacing the butter and cream of my past! Best Wishes- Dx

I agree about the mock sweets, I watch my calories and really don't think they are worth the calories it takes away from something else really good and good for me that I could be eating, like my protein and veggies, which will keep me satisfied for much longer than some fake sweet (or some protein shake for that matter.) I would much rather get my protein from a good 4 oz serving of tilapia, shrimp or chicken, nicely seasoned, than to drink the same amount of protein in a nasty shake. I know for early post-oppers, they are good, but I just really don't think I could drink them for the rest of my life when you can get the real stuff from your food. If I get a craving for sweets, I will eat a small amount. I ate one chocolate covered pecan today and yesterday, my husband and I were watching Barefoot Contessa on Food Network and she make a lemon meringue tart that looked so good. So needless to say, I made one and ate a small piece last night, but it was so rich, I wish I hadn't, it made me a little sick for a while, but it was really good! All that said, I have found that, at least for me, that the sugar free treats can be a bad, bad way to add more calories to my totals, which I watch like a hawk, and they are just not worth it to me. However, let me say that even when I was so big, I was not a big sweet eater (give me real food any day), so it has never been top on my priority eating list, I could more or less do without them for the most part all the time. Angie - below goal

Angie - Do you mind sharing what you typically eat in a day? I'm trying to get back on track, eliminate the white (bad) carbs (kind of like South Beach) but cooking each weeknight isn't going to do it for me after a long day's work. So I'm going to start asking poeple who are obviously successful what they are doing. Do you mind sharing? Betsy

You didn't ask me but I thought I'd let you know how I handle cooking. I live alone and cooking is not high on my list of enjoyable experiences. I've lost 220 lbs and reached my surgeons goal, which makes me feel successful. I cook two meats twice a week and put the meat into plastic containers divided into three meal portions. I leave one container (3 protein portions) in the refrigerator and freeze the rest until I need them. At mealtime I microwave the meat with A-1, bar-b-que sauce, catsup, Heines, etc, add a veggie or salad. Once all the containers are empty I cook more meat. I usually try to cook a low fat (chicken, fish, shrimp) and higher fat (pork loin chop, sirloin steak) meat at the same time to keep the fat intake as low as possible. Hamburger doesn't microwave easily so if I want hamburger I stop and buy an Angus low carb burger. It's all very basic food but fits my surgeons food plan of dense protein first, followed by veggie. I find the more boring the food the less tempted I am to keep eating. Best of luck in getting back on track.