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thistlechaserI've only had sour cream maybe twice in my life, but eating plain Greek yogurt reminds me of that. GAH. It's so sour! Way past tangy. And it's so ickythick. I bought some granola to put into it (which pushes the calories and sugar up to the same as a non-plain kind), but that hardly helps. I don't think sour cream is meant to be eaten plain by the spoonful!
If I had been smarter, I would have packed a backup breakfast. At least I have two apples today instead of just one! (I forgot I didn't eat Friday's.)
Breakfast should not be this hard.
...you know, checking Google, those packets of instant oatmeal are really a lot better than yogurt. About 130 calories, 9g sugar. This plain yogurt has 100/7g, but with the granola would be a lot higher and I can still hardly eat it. I know![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
tersa makes her own oatmeal, but I think that's a little beyond me. But the packets? Those I can handle. *ponders*
Ha ha, I'm glad no one can see me. Every time I take a little bite of the yogurt I must be making such a face. It's so incredibly sour! Gah!
Life was so much easier and better when I paid no attention to this stuff...
Edit: Okay, I have to admit the plain stuff is growing on me. It's still really, really sour, but maybe my mouth is adjusting to it? I can even eat little bits of it with no granola. It's not enjoyable, but it is really thick and creamy. It really is like eating straight sour cream.
If I had been smarter, I would have packed a backup breakfast. At least I have two apples today instead of just one! (I forgot I didn't eat Friday's.)
Breakfast should not be this hard.
...you know, checking Google, those packets of instant oatmeal are really a lot better than yogurt. About 130 calories, 9g sugar. This plain yogurt has 100/7g, but with the granola would be a lot higher and I can still hardly eat it. I know
tersa makes her own oatmeal, but I think that's a little beyond me. But the packets? Those I can handle. *ponders*Ha ha, I'm glad no one can see me. Every time I take a little bite of the yogurt I must be making such a face. It's so incredibly sour! Gah!
Life was so much easier and better when I paid no attention to this stuff...
Edit: Okay, I have to admit the plain stuff is growing on me. It's still really, really sour, but maybe my mouth is adjusting to it? I can even eat little bits of it with no granola. It's not enjoyable, but it is really thick and creamy. It really is like eating straight sour cream.
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Date: 2011-01-31 05:28 pm (UTC)You could also make the plain stuff more palatable with a spoonful of lowfat jam. The homemade full-sugar jam I make is only 25 calories to a tablespoon, which I don't think is too bad.
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Date: 2011-01-31 05:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-31 05:51 pm (UTC)As crazy as it sounds, it seems like you aren't really going well with this whole Greek yogurt thing. Perhaps it's the whole Greek yogurt part?
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Date: 2011-01-31 06:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-31 08:03 pm (UTC)Just remember not to fall into the "acquired taste" trap.
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Date: 2011-01-31 08:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-31 09:23 pm (UTC)Guy1: Man you should try this caviar it's great!
Guy2: Screw that, that shit is nasty.
Guy1: You only had it once, it's an acquired taste.
Guy2: Kiss my ass man.
Guy1: Why the hell would I do that?!
Guy2: It's an acquired taste.
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Date: 2011-01-31 10:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-31 10:11 pm (UTC)Sorry the plain/granola thing isn't working for you, I feel responsible ^^;;. Maybe one reason I like plain Greek yogurt is because I've always randomly loved sour cream. Yes, even on it's own.
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Date: 2011-01-31 11:08 pm (UTC)That would explain it! It tasted just like sour cream to me.
Not your fault at all! :) I'm going to finish up what I have now, then figure out where to go from there.
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Date: 2011-01-31 06:02 pm (UTC)(the more for me!)
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Date: 2011-01-31 06:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-31 06:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-31 08:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-31 08:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-31 07:55 pm (UTC)Okay, I have to admit the plain stuff is growing on me. It's still really, really sour, but maybe my mouth is adjusting to it?
This is almost definitely it. If you're not used to eating something with a particular flavor or consistency, there's obviously a good chance you won't like it; repeated exposure acclimates you to those traits and makes 'em seem less strange, so it's easier for you to experience it for what it is without the kneejerk 'this is weird and wrong and not what I expected' response. Habituation!
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Date: 2011-01-31 08:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-01 04:10 am (UTC)I'm on a new diet, for the last two months. At some point I will post about my experience and will probably use the title "Re-learning How To Feed Myself" or something along those lines.
I've always believed that "diets" don't really work, because if I modify my habits for some few weeks and lose weight, then go back to doing what I was doing, I'll gain it back. I believe that the only "diet" that really works is the one I will have for the rest of my life. So, picking something I can not just live with, but love, would be important.
The diet I've been on for the last two months is probably not the one I will have for the rest of my life, but honestly, I like it better than what I was doing before, so after I'm done with this, I think I want to end up with something not too much different.
As diets go, this one is not much different from a number of other things I've seen out there, but one thing I noticed is that there's no gimmick or special "trick" to it... the author just basically says "Here are the foods you should be eating." Simple.
One of the pleasant side-effects of this has been, that I am no longer stressing out about "what should I eat?!" I actually *know* what I will be eating for the next several days, and it's pretty much already made. It's all bought from Safeway, pretty much, and stuff I've either made for myself or can just eat straight. But, remarkably little of it is prepared food... the thing with the most ingredients is probably the wheat bread.
Now, here's what made me think about writing to you... Breakfast is easy now. Easy peasy. Basically, my options for breakfast are the same as any other meal. Sometimes I like morning kind of stuff, like cottage cheese and fruit, but if I feel like eggs and rice, or lunch meat and wheat bread, or tofu and yogurt, it's cool. Sometimes I even have spaghetti in the morning. Once I've bought the things on my list and done a little cooking (usually on the weekend) then I have tons of options and can mix and match. Next weekend I'll be running low and I'll shop and cook again.
Here is the basic "recipe" for this diet.
1. Eat six times a day. Every time you eat, have a serving of carb and a serving of protein. Add veggies with some of these.
2. A "serving" is about as big as your fist. Yes, that means if you have bigger hands, you probably will eat more. :)
3. After doing this 6 times a day for 6 days, have a free day. Eat whatever the frak you want, all day. This is actually important for letting off steam. I call it the "six steps forward, one step back" rule.
4. Carb list looks like this: Brown rice, wheat bread, pasta, yogurt, fruit, oatmeal, beans, corn.
5. Protein list looks like: lean meats, tuna, tofu, cottage cheese, egg whites.
6. Veggies are almost any vegetable that isn't starchy (peas and corn are counted as carb)
So lately my habit has been to make a pot of brown rice, pot of spaghetti, or 5 lbs of baked potatoes, or any two of the above, sometime over the weekend. Then, I'll put them in sandwich bags so I can easily grab 1 potato or 1 cup of rice. Along with that I've been buying the cheap kind of lunchmeats (safeway brand or whatever) so I can easily grab 2 slices of either ham or turkey to go with my rice. I haven't quite got my tofu or eggs strategy together, so I'll have those but pretty rarely. I take a third or so of all the food with me to work and stick it in the fridge there. Usually before lunch I will have already eaten twice (second breakfast! :)
Anyway, that's enough for now, I'll write more later if it's interesting... but I wanted to take some moments to share my recent "breakfast" thoughts in case it is helpful...
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Date: 2011-02-01 04:51 pm (UTC)Totally agreed with that whole paragraph. I don't diet anymore. I try to change my lifestyle. I can't look at it as a short term thing (do it three months and then go back to my non-diet ways), because then the weight will just come right back.
A "serving" is about as big as your fist. Yes, that means if you have bigger hands, you probably will eat more. :)
Ha! That makes sense though. Men would generally have bigger hands and do need more calories.
Yes, this is all very interesting! Did it come from a book?
It sounds wacky, but I really have a hard time with the 'eating six times a day' thing. If left on my own, I tend more towards one, maybe two big meals. (I know smaller/more often is better!) However, with it all pre-planned like this, it'd be easier to do the more frequent little meals...
Thanks for writing all this up!
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Date: 2011-02-02 05:09 am (UTC)It is called "Body For Life". It was recommended to me by a friend and so far I have been pretty happy with the advice, though I am taking a somewhat cautious approach compared to what the book recommends.
For one thing, exercise is a key part of the plan, but I've decided to pretty much totally skip that part, at least for now. Right now I'm fat enough that exercise hurts me, mostly my knees. It's a great idea, and I like the way it is laid out as a "You decide what's the right level of effort for you" kind of approach. I do want to exercise, but I don't want to go crazy and injure my knee again. I'd rather just go for a 20-30 min walk a few times a week -- even that makes me a little scared.
If you click around on the amazon page you can see some important pages in the book (one of them being the all important food lists).
Now that I think about it, perhaps the diet they suggest is tuned to work along with the exercise they suggest, and maybe I'm getting too much carbs, if I'm not working out. *shrug* Ah well, it's pretty easy to follow, so far, has a free day, and it's a damn sight better than what I was doing before.
Finally, I do notice that I'm eating less at a sitting, even on my free day. Sometimes on my free day, I still decide to just have lunchmeat and a potato for breakfast, because I've got in the habit, and because, well, it's what the fridge is full of :) If I sometimes want more food, that's what the veggies are for.
Anyway, good luck to you... I'll keep you posted...
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Date: 2011-02-02 05:30 am (UTC)I actually do that with all the exercise I do now (various dancing mostly, all on DVD not live classes), I just do as much as I can. The instructor might be jumping around like a monkey, but if I just want to slide my feet back and forth, so be it! So long as my heart rate increases, it's all good. I did almost like walking for exercise, but I got plantar fasciitis (idiot me thought it would be good if I ran up and down stairs for exercise a couple times a day...) and that pretty much killed my ability to walk enough for it to count as exercise.
I'd rather just go for a 20-30 min walk a few times a week
I think that's the best way to do it, especially for men. I shoot for 30 minutes five times a week, but I generally end up at 20-25 three to four times. (Men have it luckier when it comes to exercise for weight loss, they can get away with it less often than women.)
Now that I think about it, perhaps the diet they suggest is tuned to work along with the exercise they suggest, and maybe I'm getting too much carbs, if I'm not working out. *shrug* Ah well, it's pretty easy to follow, so far, has a free day, and it's a damn sight better than what I was doing before.
As far as I know (I'm far from an expert!) just by doing the six small meals you've already made a big improvement. Unless a book were written for bodybuilders, I'm not sure how much a diet in it would vary by the amount of exercise you do.
And yeah, if you were anything like me, it sounds a lot better! I stress and worry about breakfast, then by the time lunch rolls around I'm ready to eat my desk and have a non-diety meal. Sounds like you're avoiding that well!
I meant to ask you, on your rice and potato and such, do you get to put stuff on it?
Finally, I do notice that I'm eating less at a sitting, even on my free day.
Stomachs shrink surprisingly fast! When I had my kidney stone, I didn't want to eat for maybe a week, week and a half. By the time I was recovered, I found that half of my usual meal was filling! Unfortunately that only lasted a week or so, sure would have been handy if I could have stuck to that new sized meal.
Anyway, good luck to you... I'll keep you posted..
You too! I look forward to reading about it!
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Date: 2011-02-02 06:29 am (UTC)I sometimes have small amount of dressing with my salad or veggies. Actually my favorite salad dressing is mayo+soy sauce, sometimes with a dash of chili oil or sesame oil, I like that better than ranch actually.
I've noticed that food seems to taste a bit different... I can actually eat a baked potato and it tastes like potato, and it's pretty much fine by itself... same with wheat bread. Crazy! I can even eat a baked potato cold, if i'm in a hurry :) Sometimes my potato wants a little lawry's season salt but usually garlic salt and pepper are my go-to condiments. (Haven't got rid of cheese completely but have cut most, or at least I save it for my day off)
I used to drink decaf coffee with 3 splendas and 2-3 nondairy creamer... more and more lately I've been going with hot tea and one splenda, when I'm at work.
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Date: 2011-02-02 05:01 pm (UTC)Yeah. My mother (a nurse) said our tastes adjust really quickly. She's always wanting me to eat less salt (mmmm salty things) and said if I totally stopped using it and eating it, then when I used a little bit it would taste like a lot.
I noticed it with Diet Coke, too. I used to live on the stuff, literally drank it from morning to night, never drank anything else. When I got my first kidney stone, I had to switch to water. At first I thought it tasted bland, flat, boring, but now somehow water tastes good to me and Diet Coke tastes all chemically.
I did wonder if you were eating the baked potato hot or cold! :)
I'm probably getting more salt than would be ideal, but I also think that cutting most processed food cuts more sodium than I am shaking on.
I'd bet that, too. The processed stuff can have tons of it.
Actually my favorite salad dressing is mayo+soy sauce, sometimes with a dash of chili oil or sesame oil, I like that better than ranch actually.
I consider myself lucky that I'm not a ranch person. I know people who use it on everything and dip everything into it!