Advice please...X Post from "What R U Eating/Doing Today?"

Ugh....not sure what has happened over the last 2 weeks, but I have ofificially gained 6 pounds!  I am not sure if it is water weight, or what (just finishing my TOTM), but whatever it is, I am a little miffed and more than a little sad about this.  The only new thing I have added to my diet has been that P28 bread. Hmmmmm......  Just in case, I put the rest in the freezer and am vowing to be extra diligent about recording every little thing I put in my mouth.  Admittedly, I can think of a few minor things I've snacked on in the evenings beyond what I have planned for the day.  How that equals 6 pounds, I'm not sure. The only other thing I can think of is that I was a pretty avid runner and have been sick with pneumonia, so I  haven't been able to run for the past 5 weeks.  I'm mostly sad because I had finally made it into the 170's and was soooo proud, but now I am back into the 180's (which I know isn't too shabby either :) Scream if anything in my eating plan jumps out at you. I'm a bit worried.

B-  Starbucks skinny peppermint mocha (cal= 130, fat= 1.5, protein= 12, carb= 17)

S- mini tuna kit (cal= 160, fat= 5, protein= 14, carb= 14)

L- Weigh****cher's Salisbury Steak meal (cal= 260, fat= 6, protein= 17, carb= 25)

S- Liberte Greek Yogurt (cal= 80, fat= 0, protein= 8, carb= 12)

D- I am not sure (probably the chicken chilli I've made, but will avoid the beans because I am already at 91 carbs for the day :(

S- banana (cal= 90, fat= 0.3, protein= 1, carb= 23)


Totals=      720 calories
                    12.8 fat
                     52 protein (not including dinner, my clinic aims for 60 grm/day)
                     91 carbs (here in lies the problem I think, but nothing except the crackers  in my tuna kit are from grains.  Almost all the rest are from dairy and fruit sources.  Also I am a year out and aprox. 30 pounds from goal.  How far beyond your personal daily limit is this?  Advice needed!!!)

Okay here goes.  I have noticed your menu for the last little bit often contains ready made food like your WW dinner today.  There is very little protein in those and usually more of the carby stuff plus tons of sodium.  The tuna kit is probably really high in sodium as well.  Sodium = water weight.  I'd also lose the banana as they are much higher in carbs than other fruits.

A lot of those frozen dinner type things are just portion controlled but not necessarily accurately portion controlled for those of us with WLS. 

I agree.  I should probably lay off the frozen meals which some weeks I have 2 times a week (no more), and other times, I don't have at all.  It's the busy life syndrome I guess, but it is not a good excuse.  In my defense though, I do only eat the protein and some veg., not any of the carb.   In fact, the meal that I took today has 25 carbs, but I didn't eat any of the potatoes or carrots.  Just the meat and a few green beans, so my carb count was actually probably less.  I dodn;t consider the sodium, but should. 

Good sound advice, thanks.  Guilty as charged now that you lay it all out 

I think I have reached that point in my journey where my body is much more sensitive, as I reach closer to goal.  Before the weight would melt off like a burning candle, and now I will have to watch and readjust. 

 Hi Marny,


Sorry you are having a hard time with the scale. I think it's probably a combination of things. I know with me at my TOTM things normally go up, also, the carbs and being sick probably aren't helping. Instread of the P28 bread, with 10 net carbs a slice, have you tried super awesome bread with 1 net carb a slice? It's not bad. The other carbs, like you said are mostly coming from fruits and veggies and I believe, although I wasn't told specifically, that fruits and veggies are good for you, even if they contain some carbs, I think it's more refrain from the processed carbs, breads, pastas, etc. The few crackers in the tuna kit shouldn't be too awful. 

I think focus on upping your protein, your body needs it regualrly, but especially if you're healing still from being sick. I hope things get better for you, and remember, even though this is a major disappointment, our body can fluctuate day by day by up to like five pounds, just from water and salt balances. 

Good luck and stick with it!
 

You can take this with a grain of salt if you like, as I'm not yet in the weight loss phase, but I've commonly heard the limit of 50 carbs/day when losing mentioned again and again. Many people find that they merely maintain in the 50-100 carb range and have to get below 50 to stay in ketosis and lose. Personally, I'd ditch the fruit for a protein treat and trade the mocha for a no carb tea instead to start. Surely you can find a lunch with fewer carbs than a prepackaged WW meal - a boiled egg and rolled up sandwich meat with cream or sliced cheese for example has lots of protein. I'd also up your protein, 60g is a minimum and when you start running again you need significantly more when exercising. Make sure you're getting lots of lots of water too to avoid retaining it.

Thanks Pat, for your advice.  I do agree that the frozen meal is a bomb.  However, I don't actually eat that much carb I've realized (it's potatoes and carrots).  I just eat the meat.  But, as Tracey mentioned, it is probably not worth the protein if I am going to feed myself full of salt.  I'm not sure that lunchmeat would be too much different though.  When I run, I add atleast 1 protein drink into the mix, and that adds and extra 24 grams into my diet, above and beyond the 60 I get on a regular day. 

You can get lower sodium meats, if you're concerned about sodium. Water retention though is often a result of the body hanging onto water because it's not getting enough, rather than just too much sodium. I'd be surprised though based on the relatively small amount you're eating if your sodium levels are 'high'. The newest studies on salt say that a 'moderate' intake is better for your heart than either very low or very high amounts. A study that just came out last week defined moderate as anything from 3000-6000mg of sodium a day (which would previously have been considered 'high') and found those people had the best heart health. They did stress though that it's better to get your sodium from sea salt (which is actually full of minerals) rather than refined salt as used in prepackaged foods. Anyway, I digress...

I just answered you on the other thread as I didn't notice this one.

Here was my view :)  Now I must go see what the others had to say to see if I'm out in left field, lol.

Post Date: 11/29/11 12:26 pm
Hey Marny,

I'm no expert, but you did ask for advice, so here's my $.02.

Replace the banana with maybe a piece of cheese or a meat roll up of some sort.  Yes, they are good for you, but 23 carbs is pretty high in the weightloss phase.  The cheese or meat rollup substitution would likely put your protein over 60.  I'm not too fond of prepackaged meals, although in a pinch I'm sure you made a good choice, but 25 carbs also sounds pretty high there.  Are there potatoes making up that number (what I would expect with a Salisbury Steak kind of meal), if so, maybe sub in a small salad or a few crisp veggies?  I'm also surprised at the carbs in your mocha, is that from the milk or protein powder?  If so, its a good choice but still high for a coffee.

Last but not least, 720 calories seems pretty low for this stage of the game, to me.   I think that was more like $2 worth, lol!

Thanks for the advice.  I was surprised at the calories as well, but remember that I still have to have dinner of some sort, so that will likely add more calories.  I agree, the bananna wasn't a good choice, but it was all there was in the fruit bowl this morning.  I huess sometimes you just think "Fruit-healthy", and maybe it is, but I have never until this point worried about my carb count, and I guess as I get closer to goal, I will just have to.  The WW meal, did include potatoes, carrots and green beans, but I never eat that stuff except a few beans.  I only ever eat the meat.  It is just a quick choice to grad, but I guess I really need to get my butt in gear and pre-make some things to be able to grab for work. 


PS....don't know that I'm willing to give up my peppermint mocha though (carbs or no carbs) haha.

Here's my take on the latte for breakfast thing.  If you enjoy it and it keeps you full, it's only 130 calories so keep having it.  Many mornings I just had a latte as I really wasn't in the mood for anything else and it kept me full.  You just have to remember to get a bit more protein in you the rest of the day which you did at your other meals other than the banana snack.  

I"m not a fan of lunch meats either and don't see the attraction to them other than they are quick and easy.  I get the whole busy life as my ex and I split when my son was only 6 so I was a single mom working outside the house up to 60 hours per week back then and it was tough but I managed most of the time.  Weekends were for cooking and freezing and I got my son involved so it wasn't cutting into our time together on weekends.  I did stuff at night once he was in bed too.

Another thing you mentioned is that you were exercising until you got sick and your body is probably saying WTF.  I exercised hard faithfully every day until I injured myself and I tell you that my body was saying WTF for sure.  I didn't change what I ate and I was probably under eating at 1000 calories per day but my body needed the exercise or I'd gain.  Hopefully once your illness is over and you can get back to exercising, you will see changes.  I'd not stress over the weight gain as you know logically it's impossible to gain that much fat  in a week.