I’m hungry all the time, therefore I must be on a diet.
A 1700-calorie, lowfat diet to be precise. With good nutrition. I’ve used this formula twice before, and once dropped forty pounds with it.
Another element is that I try to burn at least 500 calories per day in exercise, which means I’m really scraping by on 1200 calories per day.
Excess weight is melting away, not surprisingly.
But I’m hungry all the time. Or, if not hungry, I have cravings.
Normally I am indifferent, if not actually hostile, to fast food. But in my current state, when I pass by a Burger King I think longingly of grilled meat patties and french fries. The sight of a Pizza Hut is accompanied by the sound of angel voices. And the local burrito stand causes me to salivate— actually it causes me to salivate even when I’m not on a diet, which is certainly a part of my problem.
But I resolutely keep my eyes front and my attention focused on the carrots or the handful of grapes I allow myself as a snack.
Finishing a novel, working on the Mystery Project, and dieting— all at the same time. Damn, I am a disciplined creature.
You have my heartfelt sympathies. The cravings for fast food do eventually pass, but it takes a very, very long time.
What I hate most is the first couple of weeks when your body keeps saying “food, give me real food!” and “What’s this stuff? This isn’t food!”
That, too, passes. I can send you a nice recipe for black beans. You’ll have to decide whether it goes on a tortilla or whole grain rice…
Oz
Walter – I’ve had rather god result with Weight Watchers, which done right, is not supposed to leave you feeling deprived. You have to put up with the motivational flavor of the meetings and with the sales pitch for Weight Watchers products which is done smoothly and well but which the leaders are forced to include. (I’ll bet they have a quota, too, poor things). However – if I can endure them, anyone can except maybe Diogenes.
Pat
The diet I’m doing is one recommended by the US Government for diabetics— back in the 1920s.
It’s the one that Jenny Craig uses, and I believe Weight Watchers as well.
If you can do without the weekly motivational talks (and sales pitches), it works quite well.
The diet allows me enough food so that I’m rarely physically hungry, but the cravings for fat never cease. Not even after six months, as I once discovered.
Recipes are welcome, but beans =and= rice? A leetle carb-heavy, no?
well there are carbs and there are carbs. Your decision whether to have it over salad instead. It’s a WW recipe, modified just a smidge.
Actually, the WW Core diet is not their regular fare. What I send in recipes would be from that. Beans are not in the “carb” category, whole grain rice is allowed one serving a day. It’s complicated, but basically you eat to be satisfied from low-fat and low-sugar foods (as opposed to carbs). It’s disgustingly healthy. And you still need to eat balanced with protein, milk, veggies, etc.
But I’ll send you a couple of recipes.
Oz
Great! Thanks!
I have a recipe for a vegetable-heavy pasta sauce that has been well received. I serve it over whole wheat pasta. Essentially – and you need a jumbo cooker for this – with a lid
You saute an eggplant (cut up and peeled, of course), a bell pepper of each color, an onion, and garlic to taste in olive oil. (Healthy oil – if you’re lacking fat, try that.) Add a 28-oz can each of crushed and diced tomatoes, with basil and oregano to taste, and then I add a can of mushroom stems and pieces, drained, stir, cover, and simmer.
I had it from a friend who had it from her mother who was very traditional Italian.
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