Who needs white flour when there are so many alternatives!

This is about food, not exercise.

"Eat about 1,600 calories a day, filling up on whole grains, fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and healthy monounsaturated fats."
That is from a gadzillion sites, it is the way to lose.
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Lately I am aware that people can vehemently resent anyone telling them what or how to eat, so please read this and take whatever you think can help you, my motive is to help. Why I feel compelled and so passionate about it is a mystery to me because I am so aware of that resentment.

OK here goes:

Make a treat a completely different food source than white flour, it will build your self esteem even more than help with weight loss. Every time you do THE BEST for yourself you feel better in every way. If you want cookies, get whole grain or sprouted-grain cookies sweetened with raisin or dates or even maple syrup, but no snack treat should be over 100 calories. Crazy for chocolate, it can be good for you, eat 70% or more dark chocolate even if it has some sugar content, organic chocolate will at least have organic sugar (no chemicals).Remember the 100 calorie Rule

There are TONS of the most amazing and delicious whole grain and sprouted grain breads out there, make sure you can find the calorie count on the bread. Whole grain Brown Rice pasta comes in every shape and size and I found brands that never get mushy or starchy. Eat Buckwheat, Quinoa, Red and Brown whole grain Rice. Eat Oatmeal, Ezekiel cereals, 12 whole grain cereals, just think 100% whole grain instead of white flour. Also use lactose free milk (no one who is over weight needs lactose sugar which is also mucous forming) Try sugar free natural Almond Milk for cereal.

Nuts and seeds are very high calorie, you could have a giant piece of fish instead of 6 nuts..but walnuts are so good for you, use low fat dressing and toss walnuts into your salad, I chop organic(so tender) RED cabbage into my salads for extra crunch. I toss leftover salad into vegan bouillon broth, chop green onion and if I want it to be hearty add some beans or brown rice, sesame oil, hot chilies (a seasoning example) for an instant soup with lunch or dinner. Leave out the starch and just toss any veggies you have in the fridge then puree it for a thick soup snack with about 50 calories for 2 CUPS and HEALTHY HEALTHY HEALTHY... and.....delicious if seasoned the way you love it. How about two cups of pureed (non starchy)veggie soup with a slice of whole grain bread with 1-TSP natural nut butter and either fruit or unsweetened jam it's under 200C, what a perfect snack at 10 am or 4 pm.

I buy eggwhites at Costco, I get 3 cartons there for the price of one at regular supermarkets...eggwhite omelets are the best thing in the world and 0-mg cholesterol. One white is 15 calories, 1 large whole egg is about 70, you can have 4 eggwhites for 60C. Toss/fill them with anything and everything you can dream off.

I also make pizzas out of the 12 whole grain tortillas right in the toaster oven. I eat potatoes, not often, but they are a whole food filled with nourishment, I like red skinned and eat the skin...it slows down the starch from turning to quickly to sugar...and...anything colored RED or darker is full of antioxidants.

I could go on and on and on. If you saw my FAVORITE list on Sparkpeople it looks like half a supermarket. OH and I try to eat Grapefruit at least 3 times a week, it has AWESOME cholesterol lowering properties.

Anyway, I do feel bad being so pushy about white flour and sugar, I know even the healthiest eat it...but I can guarantee you they do not have MY weight problem, I spent over 20 years not eating it and stayed nice and thin, I only added a wee bit to my diet and gained all that weight...I KNOW I CAN'T EAT EVEN A DROP. I also know that people who have trouble losing and are food USERS need to give up every drop of food that converts too quickly too sugar in their body.

Please keep in mind, I am not perfect, but it's not because I deliberately tell myself it's OK to eat this, it's because I am slipping and not caring about myself at that moment, I just have the BIG LIGHT flashing in my head that says EAT IT, WHO CARES and I CAN JUST RETURN TO NOT EATING IT TOMORROW.

If you take anything from this post..try to just take this: Avoid foods that convert to sugar too quickly, they are depressives because your blood sugar will rise quickly and drop quickly leaving you tired and feeling low. They are addicting, you like the feeling when your blood sugar is UP so you will want to eat more of it. And if you are overweight it will continue to be stored as FAT, please help your liver, it does not need to store more fat on your body.

Also remember once you know the truth about food and your body, everything you do that you are aware is not good for you is one more spike in your self worth.

"THE SCALE"

I gained over 60 pounds by not weighing myself for about a 7 year period. I did not gain it quickly, it was so gradual, possibly under 1 pound per month. So now I weigh everyday, every morning, I allow for a 1-to-3 pound fluctuation and get very excited when the scale goes to a new low. Lost 50 pounds this way.

I cannot trust myself to not gain gradually. When you gain only 1 pound a month it can take 2 years before you change your clothing size especially if you are like me and like stretchy clothes.

Yes not losing can affect me emotionally, but that is also part of my healing process...to not focus on my body size or weight, to focus on eating properly. So even though I am often disappointed if I'm up that 3lbs I take it the right way...and realize that I ate too much salt, had too many stupid snacks and LEARN what I'm doing wrong.

I realize that being in denial about why the scale is not moving downward is a big enemy of my changing my way of eating for life. I've made that scale my good friend, who is honest and keeps me aware.

Time for new friends or no friends?

YEP!!! Losing weight is isolating. We have to put so much focus everyday, every hour on re-programming ourselves so if we can prevent outside forces from interfering with that focus we sure do avoid people.

I've recently noticed that I don't like the people in my life that much since I've been changing. I also find I took too much comfort in other people's problems so now it seems I am best friends with a bunch of whiners and complainers. Oh I am the first to want to rescue someone but.. it seems these people do NOTHING else but complain to me about every little thing!!!

Having said that, I do know that I MUST get out and create some new friends, people who are like me, not the way I was. People who have changed themselves and know the hardship of losing weight and mostly those who bravely want to face a new life as a normal sized person.

I will never be cured of my eating disorder, I see that now that I've been fighting with food for over 40 years. Yes I managed to keep my weight off for over 20years but then at the rate of about 8 pounds a year I managed to gain 60+ pounds...still unbelievable to me how that happened, but it did.
I also became more and more reclusive, was embarrassed by the way I looked and didn't feel I fit in. I also didn't want to hang out with overweight people because it was also too horrible to know I was just like them and the one thing I have learned is the overweight people are a million times more critical of body size than thin people. Oh thin people are critical, but not as much as those of us that need to lose.

The catch in all this is we need to be social, we need to get into life and interact with people. We need to enjoy and dance and sing and mostly have a ball with our delicious sense of humor!!! Sure we can laugh and whoop it up here on our computers but what happens in our other world?

We are in a war with our old selves and even when we win the next day is a new battle. Every day we need to sharpen our weight loss tools, hone our skills and go forward into battle with that slippery slope that can slide us right back to where we just do not want to be. So not only do we have to be alert when we are alone we also need to be on guard of the "social life" that is full of the food and people that will make us lose the battle.

It's now time to clean house of the people who are really no good for me. This will be tough! If I was an addict I couldn't spend every day with people who are doing drugs right in front of me...the same goes for these Emotional Wrecks in my life. I am going for emotional good health and will have to leave a few people behind so that I can survive. I am not selfish, I just need to let go of the comfort I have knowing that these people NEED me as long as I listen to them whine. Who knows maybe I will be doing them a favor.

I am going to try to rebuild a new social life and have lots of ideas how to do it.