JackieSpahr's Journal, 09 Jan 18

Murderously slow. Spell check - aaaak.  

Looking at your past journals Jackie you seem to have some of the same weaknesses that I do, and to have been taught that fat is BAD.🙅🏻‍♀️I can tell you in my body from losing the last 100 some pounds that that theory is bunk! 🤷🏻‍♀️Sugar is what is pretty much too much for most of us to handle. I’m lucky I seem to be able to use sweeteners with no noticeable adverse effects, unlike some. I have a massive sweet tooth and have learned to substitute low or no sugar or naturally sweetened options for things I love that would make me feel deprived, and I learned to increase my water and fats. When doctors lecture you about cutting them, they don’t tell you that your brain needs good fats to process information. 🤦🏻‍♀️Luckily the medical community is starting to wake up, but there are still a few hold outs. I hold off breakfast for many hours since it’s not necessary to eat in the morning until you are hungry. Your body releases energy stores upon waking. I then most mornings have a cold protein smoothie with Hershey’s cocoa powder in it. (No carbs, 1 g protein 10 cal per T) it replaces ice cream with vanilla protein powder, cocoa, stevia, vanilla, plain greek yogurt and various other healthy additions I sneak in past myself. Or I cook up pumpkin or butternut squash w/apple and walnut custard crustless pies and have a piece of of one of them. Lunch is pretty much the same, or a protein bar sometimes or cheese and meat with lettuce wraps. Dinner is a fuller meal with 2 or 3 oz of meat, maybe salad, veggies, something like that or soup. And I have to have a snack to take nighttime meds so it’s back to another smoothie that’s been premade in the freezer or cheese and a half serving of crackers or something similar. This is about 1300 cal most days on average. Some days more, some less. 🤷🏻‍♀️It’s doable Jackie! I started my push about the same time you did. And while I had bariatric surgery, I still had and have to solve all the problems of habit that make losing weight so fricken hard! We CAN do it! I firmly believe that! And I firmly believe that we can get to where we want to be and keep it off. We just need to find the way that works for our body. I think we’ve all become so used to listening to experts and commercials we’ve just stopped listening to the common sense of our own bodies. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Sorry for the long post. But you sounded so discouraged that it hit a nerve. Good luck 😉 

Smprowett. I can't thank you enough. What you say makes so much sense. What protein powder do you use? Doesn't yogurt have considerable carbs? 

I have weaned myself slowly over the last 3 years from the lowfat sugar filled flavoured yogurts with very little redeeming value to using whole milk or lowfat PLAIN greek yogurt and then I can use it to substitute as sour cream in recipes as well. And bonus! I have absolutely NO desire to eat it as! LOL 😝 But ice cream was a major weakness of mine, and smoothies! I use the Purely Inspired Brand of Protein powder in the French Vanilla so I can mix it with anything. I despise most of the manufacturers ‘flavours’ 🤭 The only one I can stomach is the packaged premier chocolate that is in their own bottles.Those I drink REALLY cold. I use the purely inspired vegetable protein powder in the vanilla and I doctor the crap out of it! LOL For the purely inspired; to a blender add 1 cup almond or almond/coconut milk, 1 Scoop powder, 1 t vanilla extract w/ no sugar, 1/4 t salt(I use Himalyan), I add 1 packet each of saccharine, sucrose, and stevia (buying brands with no added dextrose so there are no added carbs. This still effects insulin index, but not glycemic index so it satisfies sweet tooth but may cause cravings down the line in the digestive process in some people like fructose does when you eat fruit without the carb hit. It’s a risk with sweeteners. In the past I’ve also just used a small container of sugarred lowfat yogurt, but it reduces the protein and raises the carbs. I’ve also cooked and used mashed carrots and sweet potatoes in small amounts and they give a nice thickening with the added sweet. These can be cooked and mashed ahead, skin and all, and frozen in baggies in the quantities you will use in your cookbook recipe here. Then just pop it frozen into the blender! You can do the same with the small containers of yogurt.) When I don’t add sweet veggies I add 1/4 banana that I keep in my freezer in cut up little pieces. I also add a packet of unflavoured gelatin or a scoop of collagen for the protein. I add 1/2 cup of the greek yogurt and 1/4 cup of a suitably flavored cold unsweetened tea. Then I add 1T brewer’s yeast. (Sometimes I stick in vit c packets or kale or other stuff I’m hiding! 😆) If I was just having Vanilla I would fill the blender to the top with ice and blend and split into 3 portions. 2 are capped and frozen for later. I just use old yogurt tubs. This is the Base Vanilla so it tastes edible to me. 🙄 None of the ones I tried on the market could I stand! For Chocolate add 1 T Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa , it costs more, but it’s got a more intense taste. (The flavor of tea for this is Celestial Seasonings Roobois & Madagascar Vanilla Tea) For NY Cheesecake add 1/4 cup yogurt, 1/4 t salt, 1 oz cream cheese and Roobois Tea. (Tea depends on final flavor! It helps give it a boost with no carbs!) For Licorice use vanilla base, NY Cheesecake, Stash Licorice Spice Tea, and 1/4 t anise flavoring. For any fruit flavors you can use the vanilla base and 1/4 cup of the fresh or frozen fruit. To make chocolate add the cocoa. To make peanut butter add 1 T fresh ground peanuts WinCo does this. And double the chocolate. For mocha almond use cold brewed coffee instead of tea and 1 T ground almond butter with 1 T chocolate use the almond milk! I’m sorry this is such a long post, but I didn’t want you to think I was recommending ANY protein powder straight! Most of the stuff tastes nasty in my opinion! 🤮 I hope this helps! Sondra 🙋🏻