Healthy Habits 6/26 - YouLookFab Forum

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Healthy Habits 6/26

shedev

Veteran

Hello YLF peeps. I got sidelined a bit in my training with a muscle strain. Ended up with 2 sessions. I did a great job with portion control and lost 1.7 lbs. Down 4 total since I began logging with myfitnesspal. There's a lot of snark on their forums (hangry commenters) but there are some good people too.

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18 replies

Latest reply was from Jenn

BrieN

Veteran

Hoping your muscle strain is improving and that the hangry masses back away from their keyboards until after they've had a nice meal.

Stress levels are extremely high right now chez moi but I am responding with increased activity and reaching out to local friends instead of sequestering myself with a sleeve of Girl Scout cookies so that's progress...

Sal

Veteran

Well done Shedev. I have used my fitness pal to give me a bit of an idea where I am going right/wrong. BrieN - take care. I do find walking in nature therapeutic if I can fit it in when I am stressed.

I had a good week last week but was a little too kind to myself in the weekend with some leftovers that I had around the house.

On last weeks thread there was talk about healthy food choices. I wanted to share some of the meals I enjoy that are sustaining and healthy. I will talk breakfasts today. I like some carbohydrates at breakfast but I am trying to include protein as well, and not add sugar except in fresh fruit. I love dried fruit but realised I was eating too much of it.

- Home made bircher muesli with oats, chia seeds, grated apple, handful of nuts (almond or pistachio) soaked in milk or coconut milk and served with natural yoghurt

- Porridge/oatmeal served with banana, nuts and seeds.

- Banana Buckwheat pancakes (for weekend brunch), this is the recipe I used. http://bonniedelicious.com/hom.....t-pancakes

- Omelette with spinach and bacon and tomato.

I would love some lunch ideas too

anne

Veteran

Well done Shedev - the summer of wearing gear has evidently started and is producing results!

BrieN - well done for reaching out to friends

Sally - I know what you mean with leftovers!

I like porridge for breakfast too, though recently with the cold weather and hungry time of the month, I'll been eating 2 breakfasts - one porridge, another with berries and cottage cheese. I also like buckwheat pancakes (though not banana) though I don't make them often - in fact I made quite a few pikelets with white flour of late, to use up sour milk.

My standard packed lunch includes a small hard boiled egg for morning tea, then some roast pumpkin and/or sweet potato and some cherry tomatoes and a tin of tuna. I'm trying to increase the vegie component - today I filled a 400ml container and had some chickpeas, and roast cauli and broccoli as well (or I'll add leftover veg)

Barbara Diane

Veteran

The stopping eating at 9 has worked. I only have water and tonight I walked into the kitchen and was about to look for something to eat when the part of the brain that's on track said-It's after 9, you're not having anything. So easy. I was surprised to realize I was in the kitchen scouting for food without conscious thought.

Also, I have gotten to bed about an hour earlier than my max.
I have swum a few times this past week, and an easy walk, neither of which was part of my plan. Continuing on the same path this week.

Anonymous

Hi Shedev, sorry about the muscle strain. Hopefully it won't be long before you can be up to full speed again. Great job on the portion control and healthy eating.

I did really well last week. I walked a lot and also did a weight workout and a morning of gardening. I ate healthily too. Lots of veg and moderate fruit with more protein and less bread. I discovered I have more energy when I eat egg on wholemeal toast for breakfast rather than cereal, but time doesn't always allow me to make it in the mornings.

Sally, one lunch that I rather like is a plate of roast veg (sweet potato, red onion, cauliflower florets, red pepper). I chop up chunks of the veg, coat in a little olive oil and season with whatever takes my fancy (oregano, garlic powder, pepper). And then I cook for about 35 mins. I often eat a chicken drumstick with it.

Style Fan

Veteran

My week went very well. I went to Yoga 6 days. I did the stairs once. I would have liked to have done them more but the heat stopped me. I do go down them in the morning with Sophie for her morning walk but I don't count that time.
We eat fairly well. Lots of vegetables, tofu, some dairy products, fruit, fish and whole wheat bread. I try to keep my bread intake down.

RobinF

Veteran

Had to chuckle about the "hangry" commenters on MyFitnessPal. And Sally the muesli sounds yummy.

I did really well until the weekend. We had a wedding to go to on Saturday and my BIL staying with us for the weekend so did more eating out than usual and it is really hard for me to maintain low Weight Watcher points at restaurants. I did do my walk Sunday evening and that felt good.

Back on track today and hoping I didn't do too much damage.

citygirldc

(website)

Veteran

Hi shedev. I'm on MFP too and have select friends and groups that I interact with. I never go into the forum because they just get nasty/hangry at times.

I've been doing StrongLifts with some cardio the past year but more consistently in the past 9 weeks. Unfortunately, I've sustained a slight shoulder/rotator cuff injury which has hindered my workouts soI'll have to lay off the arm exercises this week. Focus this week: cardio and possibly hit classes minus the arms.

Laura (rhubarbgirl)

(website)

Veteran

I did another 7-miler on Saturday, in about 15 minutes shorter than last week's 7 miles. Pleased with that, and how my shins felt. Funny though that now I'm in a good routine with my long mileage days, I'm traveling to my parents' 50th and then going to a month-long seminar, so I won't be back with the training group until mid-August. Hopefully I can get back into the swing of things without too much pain, and keep up with some of the mileage on my own in the meantime.

Food has been meh, I've been so busy with packing and finishing up things that I've not prioritized it. Am going to make a point to pack all my vitamins, fiber, healthy snacks etc. for when I'm out of town.

Carter, if you read this, I'd love to see your list of safe/natural cosmetics and toiletries sometime. There are so many things to possibly avoid that it gets overwhelming pretty quick.

shedev

Veteran

You guys are truly inspirational. One of my fallback meals is a fried egg with salsa mixed in on gluten free whole grain bread. I've also been eating a lot of oatmeal for breakfast. Right now with food, I've really been just watching my portion sizes but not changing the things I eat. One of the changes I'll be making soon is to lower my sugar intake.

MsMaven

Veteran

It is encouraging to see how well you are doing. I had a good week with exercise, but not so great with eating. A client gave DH a bag full of pastries from Greenlee's bakery--used to be best in town and where we always got the kids' birthday cakes--and I couldn't let them go to waste. I am reminded that no matter what I could eat in the past and burn off, I have a different body now.

From now on I intend to read labels and read them carefully. I was shocked to read that my Skinny Cow treats are full of sugar--3 different kinds of sucrose: sugar, corn syrup, and sweetened condensed skim milk. No wonder each one has 160 calories, and by the way, they don't satisfy my hunger.

Well, July 1 is a new start for the last half of the year, so a good time for a personal restart. With the hot weather here I should be able to do better with fresh fruits and vegetables.

RobinF

Veteran

I was surprised at the Skinny Cow treats also, not too skinny. Although it is nice that it is a controlled portion size as opposed to a bowl of ice cream.

Jenn

(website)

Veteran

I have been really frustrated over the past several months, as the scale has stopped moving at all, regardless of how much/little I work at it. I've finally admitted that I'm better off accepting the effects of PCOS on my metabolism and worrying about the things I do have control over.

I read research recently that there are four healthy habits that are better predictors of health/mortality than BMI, and when all four are implemented, it turns out weight doesn't make a huge difference in outcomes. The four habits are:

1. No smoking
2. Moderate alcohol consumption (this is less than 1 drink/day for women)
3. 5 daily servings of fruits/vegetables
4. 150 minutes moderate activity per week

I'm fine on the first two habits, so I'm working on tracking the last two, shifting my light exercise towards moderate and upping fruit/vegetable intake.

This morning, I made a week's worth of steel-cut oatmeal with fresh fruit for breakfasts. Just looking at this photo makes me feel good about myself.

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Sal

Veteran

Jenn, how do you make your oatmeal? Is this hot or soaked? It looks yummy!

I am never sure of the difference between steel cut oats and rolled oats (and then we have wholegrain oats too here).

I make either porridge (rolled oats cooked with water, although some do with milk of some sort) served hot with fruit.

Or bircher muesli (soak oats overnight with grated apple and milk) and then add fruits. Served cold.

It sounds like most of us are on track in our own way.

Di - I had that very lunch on Monday (leftovers). Nice on a cold wet day. Today I had a tuna, tomato and cheese toasted sandwich.

anne

Veteran

Sally - here's a comparision and here. I use rolled oats, because there the only ones that I know about that are available in wheat free forms. My mum buys them for us and they are pretty expensive I think!

I always make with 1/3 of the cooking liquid milk, and usually milk on top as well. I never think about fruit on top! (not at the point of acutally cooking it anyway) Wow Jenn - your photo could be in a magzine!

Sally - toasted sandwiches appear often at our house tooo, usually for weekend lunch. On Sunday I tried a new combination I really liked - cheddar cheese, dijon mustard, roasted garlic, spring onion and coriander. I'm not saying it was healthy but it was yummy!

My new health resolution from yesterday is for our whole family to not eat white rice, except if we have visitors. I find it just too hard not to overeat, plus DH cooks heaps so we often have leftovers, and one of my snack downfalls is rice with milk and sugar! We've had white rice the last 3 nights, so there's lots of room for improvement there.

Sal

Veteran

Thanks Anne. Steel cut oats are harder to come by here so I use rolled oats - good to know the health benefits are similar.

If I make porridge I put banana or berries, nuts and seeds on top as I am trying not to add brown sugar. I used to use raisins. And actually a small amount of brown sugar would be fine

Toasted sandwiches are delicious. I don't think they are the very best option but I also think they can be a nutritious and filling lunch - and for kids they are a wonderful option. I try to only have them once a week.

anne

Veteran

I just add cinnamon instead of sugar, but I think I'd find it harder if I didn't cook with some milk. My kids are keen on the brown sugar with theirs though. (And so am I, but like you I try not to have it!)

I think your sandwich was better than mine with the tuna and tomato.

Jenn

(website)

Veteran

Sally, I use the steel cut oats mostly because I like the texture better. I do cook them (in water), rather than just doing the cold refrigerator soak (which I've tried, but don't like as much) and then reheat in the microwave. I also sweeten mine with a little honey, and sometimes pour a tablespoon of cream over the top in the morning. In addition to the fruit, some of the containers have chia seeds, almonds, or cacao nibs.