I am transforming my diet and it's not so bad after all!

[RoughCollie]

I have heart problems, so I am not supposed to be eating food that is high in fat -- and as an old-fashioned Southern cook, that is a tad difficult to do.

So I joined Weight Watchers Online and my first day was yesterday.

I ate 1.5 cups of broccoli, just plain. I ate 1/2 c. of brown rice, just plain. I ate green peas, just plain, instead of creamed. I ate skinless, boneless chicken breast just plain -- no gravy. I survived this and it was actually good! Honestly, I could not believe food could be good fixed this way. Similarly, the dog could not believe I would not share my meager portions with him.

I did have to keep stopping myself from automatically reaching for the butter, flour, whole milk and cheese when I was cooking, though.

And of course I ate more than that -- all of it healthy. :001_rolleyes:

Tomorrow I am going to try oatmeal for the first time in my life. I planned on it for today, but sadly, it's not breakfast time any more so it will have to wait.

I figure it this way -- it's not going to kill me to eat healthily so I am just gonna do it. But as soon as I lose 40 lbs. I am having me some biscuits and gravy and fried eggs to celebrate.

[JudoMom]

:thumbup:

It was a shock to me when I realized veggies are good, even without all the butter and fat. I'm from TN, and my mom cooks green beans in bacon grease :ohmy:.

[JennifersLost]

I've been amazed how much weight you can lose just by eating half a plate of salad at every meal. The trick is to use Salad Spritzers for your dressing - you can drench a salad and still maybe get 30 calories, compared to hundreds of calories for regular dressing.

All those greens are sooooo good for you, plus you fill up and eat less of the other stuff. I always eat my salad first and then my sandwich or meat or whatever else I'm having as my "dessert".

[JudoMom]

I've been amazed how much weight you can lose just by eating half a plate of salad at every meal. The trick is to use Salad Spritzers for your dressing - you can drench a salad and still maybe get 30 calories, compared to hundreds of calories for regular dressing.

All those greens are sooooo good for you, plus you fill up and eat less of the other stuff. I always eat my salad first and then my sandwich or meat or whatever else I'm having as my "dessert".

regular dressing, put it on the side and dip your fork in it and then pick up your salad. All the taste with a fraction of the calories :001_smile:.

[Plaid Dad]

:hurray: Good for you! Keep up the excellent work! :hurray:

[Ohio12]

junk food, but now that I eat healthy I FEEL so much better. Now if I eat too much sugar or heavy foods I feel sick and sluggish.

[shell in SC]

Well, I just got back from the dr. and my blood pressure was SKY HIGH and my reflux is acting up and is currently not responding to any drugs. So I'm on a bland, low fat, low sugar diet. . .I'm not a happy camper right now! I LOVE FOOD, I'm going to miss chocolate and ice cream and southern cooking.

[Carol in Cal.]

"In the Kitchen with Rosie"--written by Oprah Winfrey's private, low fat, gourmet cook, this has a Southern cooking 'feel' to it. Very healthy, and the food tastes like it's loaded with all the bad stuff.

"Quick, Light, and Healthy" from Sunset--'normal' low fat food.


I should really get back to doing this. I had to for a while because of gall bladdar problems, and my cholesterol was, in my doctor's words, practically nonexistant.

[Jenstet]

I have been trying to change my diet too. I have become really fat. I have been eating salads and it really isn't that bad. When I have tried to lose weight in the past I felt like I needed to exercise and when I didn't have time or the kids became sick I felt like the whole diet was a wash. This time I am not exercising AT ALL and just eating much better. I have lost 10 pounds in the past 2 weeks. very motivating.

I have a friend who does weight watchers online. She likes it and I would never have known she even needed it. I only knew her thin so she has stuck with it a while. Are you finding that your family is eating better as well?

[RoughCollie]

Yes! Even though it is only day 2, they are cleaning their plates. These plain meals are a lot faster to fix, that's for sure. No one has complained about the lack of fat, sauces and gravies either. In fact, they don't seem to notice it. It is so weird to see them wolf down brown rice & veggies fixed without butter. I have to bite my tongue not to marvel out loud.

Tonight we had chicken, 1.5 c. broccoli, and a roll. There were plenty of chicken and rolls for the menfolk, plus milk.

Now, today was different than usual in that I took the boys to BK after school, because we had to wait an hour (which turned into 2 hours) for DD to get out of play practice. The boys were starving because it had been a whole 2 hours since lunch, and ate unhealthily, but they are also skinny and eat everything in sight anyway. They were making fun of me because I had to read the entire menu since I haven't been to BK in years. Sure enough, there was only *one* healthy offering -- a salad -- which I ate for lunch.

I swear, BK has to be the most unhealthy place to eat on the planet.



Are you finding that your family is eating better as well?

[RoughCollie]

That's exactly how I felt -- shocked. I quit using bacon grease for cooking green beans when I realized I was cooking the beans way to long that way for them to have any nutritional value (if they have much to begin with). But I did add plenty of butter, and either almonds or dried cranberries --- the butter is what sent the dish into no-no land.



:thumbup:

It was a shock to me when I realized veggies are good, even without all the butter and fat. I'm from TN, and my mom cooks green beans in bacon grease :ohmy:.

[RoughCollie]

Thank you for telling me about this. I don't like salad dressing, but DD does and she will be thrilled if I get her some Salad Spritzers.

IThe trick is to use Salad Spritzers for your dressing - you can drench a salad and still maybe get 30 calories, compared to hundreds of calories for regular dressing.

[RoughCollie]

Thanks. I'll give DD that tip. She loves salad dressing -- sometimes I think she eats more dressing than salad.

regular dressing, put it on the side and dip your fork in it and then pick up your salad. All the taste with a fraction of the calories :001_smile:.

[Barb F. PA in AZ]

Hooray for you! I remember your first post asking for help and I'm happy it isn't painful. Do you like tomatoes? Have you tried them with chopped, fresh basil? To die for :tongue_smilie:

[abbeyej]

...when I realized I was cooking the beans way to long that way for them to have any nutritional value (if they have much to begin with)...

They do. :) Lots of nutrition in fresh green beans! :) Today we had ours blanched and tossed with cut up clementines (sweet seedless tangerines). Not overcooked, no added fat, but a combo of interesting flavors and lots of nutrients with almost no calories. :)

[RoughCollie]

Oh, my. High blood pressure is nothing to mess with.

I love food, too. I love to look at it, read about it, cook it, eat it, feed it to other people.

Lucky for me I'm not a big chocolate or ice-cream eater. I must be in a tiny minority because everyone else I know loves those foods.

Well, I just got back from the dr. and my blood pressure was SKY HIGH and my reflux is acting up and is currently not responding to any drugs. So I'm on a bland, low fat, low sugar diet. . .I'm not a happy camper right now! I LOVE FOOD, I'm going to miss chocolate and ice cream and southern cooking.

[RoughCollie]

I have those books. I'm going to stick with plain food for now. After awhile, I'll liven things up, so thanks for the suggestion. I'll dig out the books and put them in my "active" cookbook shelf.

"In the Kitchen with Rosie"--written by Oprah Winfrey's private, low fat, gourmet cook, this has a Southern cooking 'feel' to it. Very healthy, and the food tastes like it's loaded with all the bad stuff.

"Quick, Light, and Healthy" from Sunset--'normal' low fat food.


I should really get back to doing this. I had to for a while because of gall bladdar problems, and my cholesterol was, in my doctor's words, practically nonexistant.

[RoughCollie]

Well, I bought some fresh basil yesterday. Now I know what to do with it. Thanks for the suggestion.

Hooray for you! I remember your first post asking for help and I'm happy it isn't painful. Do you like tomatoes? Have you tried them with chopped, fresh basil? To die for :tongue_smilie:

[RoughCollie]

I never thought of using clementines ... I'm going to try it. I wonder if mandarin oranges would taste good, too.

They do. :) Lots of nutrition in fresh green beans! :) Today we had ours blanched and tossed with cut up clementines (sweet seedless tangerines). Not overcooked, no added fat, but a combo of interesting flavors and lots of nutrients with almost no calories. :)