Losing my diet virginity, one cabbage-leaf at a time.

[pure_doxyk]

So, I’m on my very first ever actual calorie-restriction diet.  This is Day Two.

I’ve had more fun.

However, I probably also never have actually eaten this healthily, if health can be measured in quantities of raw vegetables.

Anybody could know why I did it, I imagine…three years of regular, increasingly athletic exercise, and I’m in the best shape

Comments

[atdt1991]

Very impressive!

I DO get a pretty huge craving for meat. Also, I am not a fan of most vegetables - celery yes, raw carrots yes, romaine yes. Cabbage, brussels sprouts, broccoli or anything with a bitterness to it? NO. Onions, beets? No.

I wish I were different in that way, because it would be much easier both on me and people who cook for me, but no matter how many times I experiment, it's still no no no.

Peppers are a possible turning point for me, though. I've had some amazing cooked, spiced peppers at my favorite middle eastern place, Green Cedar, and I think I could be "turned".

I've always heard that a 2,000 calorie diet is normal for a person of average fitness - it seems to me that 1,000 is pretty severe, but I am not so in touch with my food intake that I could say for sure.

Lucy lost 40 lbs with Weight Watchers, and she was pretty vigilant about it.

I know food (and, lately, inactivity) is my bear - I don't know whether that will change, to be honest, before Lucy and I move in together.

[pure_doxyk]

2,000 is normal for an average man; 1,800 for an average woman. Short puny women like me usually come in around 1,600, though I'm not sure what my martial-arts habit might add to that. 1,200 is considered a "medium" diet for a woman and a severe diet for a (bigger) guy; 1K is a medium-severe diet for a woman and a severe one for a man; sometimes women who are very overweight get put on an 800-cal-a-day diet (eek

food ideas

[sweetsongstress]

I make this very botched, but somehow tasty low-calorie adaptation of (the already low-calorie) tandoori chicken with boneless skinless chicken breasts. I marinate them in a mix of plain low-fat yogurt, juice squeezed from one lemon, a little bit of curry powder, cumin, and paprika overnight. Then I bake them (usually 4 at a time) at 400 degrees for an hour. I know technically you can do it at a lower temperature for less time, but I'm paranoid about having even slightly undercooked chicken, so your mileage may vary.

Cool thing about b/l s/l chicken breasts is that you can be satisfied with even half of it if you have it with rice, veggies, etc. :)

Also--not sure how you feel about cottage cheese, but it's great mixed with Italian dressing and put on celery. Fuck non-fat dressings, they taste horrible and aren't satisfying, that's how I feel.

I think it's cool you're trying this too... even if you aren't heavy, eating low-calorie for long periods of time helps with longevity. (well, so says the tests on rats)

Re: food ideas

[pure_doxyk]

My dad is lucky if he remembers to eat one good meal a day, and he's the most disgustingly healthy 60-year-old I know, so yeah, if calorie-restriction does extend life, he'll be my first real example!

Me, however, I'm carrying between 30 and 50 pounds around that I don't need, that's making finding clothes that fit and look good inordinately difficult, and well, that's just irritating the hell out of me. So if all this does is make me live longer, I'm going to be *pissed*. ;)

Thanks for the recipe! It sounds really good, and we love middle-eastern food, so we're definitely trying it. Thanks!

(Thankfully for me, I like very light dressings, or just salt, on most vegetables. Lucky, eh?)

Also, hope yours is going well too! You haven't updated on it, which could mean anything, but I've been thinking about you and hoping for the best.

Celery,
PD

Re: food ideas

[sweetsongstress]

Well, I only stuck to the 800-cal a day thing rigidly for a week. I was pretty miserable and starving all the time. Since then I decided to not really count EXACT calories, but estimate around 1200 (which I'm sure I mess up on a lot), and follow guidelines for glycemic weight loss. So far... in about 3 weeks, I have lost somewhere between 8 and 10 lbs. My weight fluctuates a LOT during the day.

I'm seeing a doctor in about 10 days to get some more individualized help. Thinking about going back to 800 calories though, because I need the suffering a little bit.

Re: food ideas

[pure_doxyk]

Well...I don't know what purpose the suffering itself has as far as weight-loss, unless it's to get through the other side of it so that you can maintain a lighter diet without suffering for it. (Much like going through days or weeks of sleep-dep so you can get used to a restricted sleeping schedule like Uberman.) One thing that kept me away from diets for so long WAS the fact that there seems to be an element, stated or just understood, in most diets that the dieter deserves to feel bad about needing to diet. And it's not that I don't; it's that I already blame myself and think about how I don't like my body *too much*; I don't need any program or shit adding onto that