Newcomers ... Please introduce yourself!

[niki]

hey..young and at your ideal weight........what could be better?......you're going to love this program...you're going to feel better and you're going to love what it does to your body.....get ready to start shrinking.......
  read the book....check the boards...EAT UNTIL FULL...you're not on a diet.....keep portable snacks handy NEVER BE HUNGRY..............and i have one more word for you.....BEANS.............niki

[EnJae]

Hey Everyone;

I don't know if this is the appropriate place to post after an intro. Someone can redirect me if necessary.

I have been on board for a day and a half.  I have gotten through chapter 3 of the book today. I have read a lot of posts. 

I've had 2 qts. of water.
Had grapes and then popcorn late this morning. Wasn't hungry again until 4pm; ate beans and a bison steak. Went to supper at 7pm w/foster-father and ate a bowl of beans with onions. (Usually eat 3 beef tacos, beans, rice, chips and sweet tea for supper on Tuesdays.)
Then I went to the store and bought ground turkey, eggs, yogurt, apples, bananas, peaches and watermelon. I may eat an apple tonight if I get the munchies.  I feel ready for tomorrow.

Thx for "listening";
NJ

[niki]

hi nj...that all looks good...just remember that the yogurt is supposed to be a once in a while kind of a thing.......
  now...FULL SPEED AHEAD...niki

[EnJae]

Well, I fell off the feed-wagon just now.  From about 10pm on I kept thinking about the coke I usually have at bedtime. (Many Texans use 'coke' as a generic term for sodas.)
I ignored the longing and ate a banana. I popped another bag of popcorn. Tried a sip of milk (because that's what I drank at bedtime as a kid.) Drank another pint of water.
But at 2am I got up and drank a Dr. Pepper. I just couldn't sleep without it.
I'll try more fruit on Wednesday. And I'll  also follow through on the suggestion in the book about switching slowly from regular to diet and then from caffeinated to uncaffeinated.

Feeling disappointed that I caved so quickly...
EnJae

[niki]

no..don't sweat it..........just start eating loads of the sweetest fruits and that'll take care of that craving for sugar......and make a point of never being hungry....keep snacks around....i just looked to see wether you're one of  the people that doesn't like beans...i don't think you are...eat all the beans you want until you're full...they REALLY contribute to that feeling of fullness.....and what they are actually doing is stabilizing your blood sugars to get rid of the cravings.......they REALLY work...........for me,beans are what keep me going......and there are SO many recipes here.......cold beans..hot beans.....................
  ALWAYS remember that ANOTHER great thing about let's do lunch is that it's SO easy to jump right back on......so don't knock yourself out............just get back on track...........niki   

[PattyCakes]

We're human Enjae. This is the easiest lifestlye change I've ever made that when I fall off the wagon, I can jump right back on. Don't beat yourself up.

Patty

[nyKath]

Hi NJ! Advising with only the best intentions here. The veg head (me!) thinks you could use some greens and salads in that diet of yours. They're filling, bulky, low calorie, provide roughage, and pack in lots of nutrition. Add some salad and/or raw or cooked veggies to your plan at least once a day, please! Veggies and a low calorie/low sugar dip, sauteed spinach or eggplant, broccoli stir fry, or just some regular salad made with different lettuces, etc. Yum! And do you normally drink all that water? You really only need to drink if you're thirsty. Research shows that when people fill up water instead of food, it may fill you up for a while, but it doesn't stay with you and certainly doesn't kill any cravings you have. Drink if you're thirsty, but don't make yourself drink to fill a hungry belly when there's plenty of acceptable food out there to do it for you. All the fruit that you're taking in is full of water, too, so you don't need any additional water unless your body is screaming for it. Wishing you success in the weeks ahead! ...nyKath

[EnJae]

Good morning everyone;

I just woke up so I haven't started eating anything yet. But I have plenty of fruit with which to begin my day.

Niki - Yes, I realized that about the yogurt. Thought I'd better include it some so that I don't miss milk so much. I can't stand skim milk and I have been drinking a lot of whole, organic milk since my mother died. So adding a spoonful of non-fat, organic greek yogurt to a smoothie this morning seems like a good idea to me. And yes I LOVE beans. Could eat 'em every day. lol Perfect eating plan for me. Thank you...

Patty- thank you for the encouragement.

nyKath- Yes, I was told recently by my non-medical 'doctor' that I need to add  fresh fruits and vegetables to my plate. I'll get the hang of it. And yes I usually drink that much water.  I am in Texas, it is HOT right now, and I live in a house that stays on the warm side. I drink from 2 - 4 quarts of water a day. Don't think about it much; just grab my gallon-sized, glass jug for a sip whenever I am thirsty. Thank you for your advice and kind wish for success.

Love and blessings to all;
EnJae

[niki]

hey,in that case,IF IT'S GREEK,IT'S GOOD....that's what greeks say(well,they say other stuff too...but,we won't get into that)
  i just wanted to mention that up front because sometimes people start eating something like that and leave the "occassional" word out of their memory.....there are a lot of smoothie recipes for you to check out that don't have yogurt in them...if i drank smoothies,one of the first ones i would try would be the apple pie one.............
  see,there's another thing that works for me...i don't like milk...my youngest child is 26 and pregnant with him was probably the last time i drank milk.........my brother,my father,my children....ALL MILK DRINKERS........
  oh my gosh,of course drink water.......ESPECIALLY this time of year..........i retain a lot of fluid and so therefore,i am rarely thirsty......if i didn't make a conscious effort to drink,that would not be a good thing...2 quarts of water is 8 cups of water.....that's definitely not fluid overload.....no one would ever want to risk drinking so much water that they would be washing away their electrolytes(we need our electrolytes)....but that's WAY MORE than we're talking about here...........DRINK WATER.....someone posted on the subject of water that i thought was very good.....i'm going to look for it later...it flushes toxins and undesirable substances from our bodies............and with that,i'm going to resolve AGAIN to drink more water.........sincerely,niki

[EnJae]

I just threw together a fruit shake and it is BITTER! Tell me what I did wrong:

1 egg (no shell),
1 tablespoon non-fat yogurt,
1 banana (no peel),
1 apple (no stem, quartered),
1  orange (quartered),
a litle water

I turned my Vita-Mix on and dropped in one item at a time.


[This note is being added months after this post was first made --- I learned to PEEL the orange first! lol I had thrown in a whole orange, peel, seeds and all; that's why it was so bitter.]

[BigBen]

New here.  I saw Mary S on TV a few weeks ago cooking and I finally got my book.  So wish me luck!  I'm not much of a cook but I think I can cook the chickpea soup it looked easy.

[niki]

hey ben...glad you got the book and you're on the road to success.........there are loads of things that you can make that are not difficult....and this will be a great way to become MORE of a cook as you shrink yourself down to the size you were intended to be.....welcome to our boards.....................niki

[nyKath]

Hey again, Enjae! You're used to drinking a lot of sweet stuff aren't you? (if I have you mixed up with someone else, I apologize!) But if that is you, the taste of a not-too-sweet smoothie can take some getting used to. You need a very ripe banana and an orange that's really juicy if you want to keep that combination. Some additional apple or orange or pineapple juice would help the tast a bit, too. Personally, I like frozen fruit to toss in and thicken up the mix, so if you added some frozen mango chunks or frozen dark cherries (fab!), that should also do a lot for the sweetness. Dole serves both of those fruits in bags, along with pineapple.  They're wonderful in a smoothie! And don't forget blueberries or raspberries or kiwi or plums....mmmmm....Maybe throw in some cinnamon, too, or nutmeg, or apple pie spice. Yum! And definitely check the smoothie recipes here to see what others have put in theirs to make them extra tasty. You can fit a LOT of stuff in a smoothie, so have at it and enjoy! ...nyKath

[EnJae]

nyKath;

Thank you!  Yes I have been a sugar fiend my whole life I reckon. lol
I bought special Cokes and Dr.Peppers with real sugar in instead of just corn syrup. I ate sugar straight out of the sugar bowl. So I reckon it may take awhile for normal food to taste normal to me.
And that fruit drink with the whole orange in was the first thing I consumed after the sugary DP at 2am. I probably should have gone sweeter.

Today I had the fruit drink I described earlier. At lunch I ate a huge salad with a variety of luttuces, carrots and canned (rinsed) pinto beans. Supper was a can of corn mixed with a can of beans. Just now I ate popcorn and a handful of grapes.

I'm hoping the sweetness of the grapes will knock the longing for a bedtime coke. And I have decided to try an earlier bedtime.
Goodnight and blessing to you;
NJ

[nyKath]

Hi Enjae! Yes the sweetness of the grapes and any other lucious sweet fruits that appeal will definitely take away your desire for something as sweet as regular soda. And after a while, you won't even need the same quantities of those fruits to satisfy you any more as less of them will fill you up and taste so very good. Eating the frozen grapes and cherries when I was having chocolate cravings during the day (and night) has put the kabosh on that right away. This chocoholic can hardly believe it! I still have my occasional piece of very dark chocolate, but that's only 'cause my hormones still kick wickedly and I choose to give in at those times. Otherwise, chocolate isn't even part of my daily routine anymore. Now That's a miracle! (I used to have 3-candy bar lunches, and then eat food on top of those..) Hang in there and tweak your plan to accommodate your changing tastes - and hopefully - your changing waist! You can do it! ...nyKath

[tcasola]

EnJae,

It the LDL book, Roger Troy addressed the soda (coke) craving (see page 72-73). Quick synopsis: He states what you are probably craving is the caffeine and/or refined sugar.

As nyKathy stated: If it's the sugar you crave, R.T. suggests eating sweet fruits (grapes, watermelon, pineapple, etc). If it's the caffeine, try tea or coffee.

R.T. also suggests for 1 week drinking 3/4 regular soda and 1/4 diet soda, the following week it's 1/2 and 1/2, the 3rd week 1/4 to 3/4, and the final week all diet. When you find yourself drinking all diet soda, do the same method with regular diet and caffeine free diet.

After reading your post, I wanted to test this to see how it tasted before I suggested it.

This morning I decided to add soda to my smoothie. I did one 12 oz can of soda (caffeine-free diet) mixed with 10 oz of pineapple juice, I added frozen cantaloupe, banana, and watermelon. Blended it up (with the cover tightly on) - and it came out tasting like a Coke Slurpee.

You may want to try making this type of smoothie before bedtime. Each time you make it, use less soda and more fruit (frozen or juice) until you finally don’t need the soda.

I hope this was helpful.

As for Big Ben (and everyone else I missed) - welcome to the LDL family !!

God Bless you all !!

[niki]

nj........is that everything you ate?....where is your protein?....i've told people here many times that they don't have to eat meat....you could make an omelet or just egg whites...soybeans...or a bean soup with a combination of beans...
  protein is VERY important for our bodies to function properly..............niki 

[niki]

personally,i would just overload on the sweetest fruit and make sure i ate until really full of the allowable foods so that i'm never hungry.......before ldl,i ate loads of sweets and alternated between coke and snapple......once i got through my 3rd day on let's do lunch, i was fine.......
  as far as caffeine goes,i used to drink a couple of mugs in the morning...i weaned myself off that right before  starting let's do lunch.....
  i don't remember reading in the book the suggestion that you should mix soda with sugar in it with soda with artificial sweetener in it(that is what you mean,tom,isn't it?)...i had read years ago that when you do that,the sugar enhances the amount of artificial sweetener and it's as if you're consuming even more than you are of the artificial sweetener...the time frame of this memory is more than 10 years and i believe this was written about aspartame.............
  so if i were you,i would fall back on roger's main recommendation regarding this subject......eat the sweetest fruit until you're absolutely full and you'll be fine....................niki   

[grammylaurie]

Hi Everyone, I myself am still a newbie. Today is the start of week 2. What I have found REALLY the best for me is a XL smoothie for breakfast.  I mix 2 frozen bananas, 2 fresh peaches, 2 handfuls of frozen blueberries, 1 handful of fresh cherries, 1 can of frozen Dole pineapple, some watermelon, and orange juice.  I just blend this up and it makes about a quart jar full of smoothie for me to drink on my 20-25 minute ride to work. I also get a regular glass full to put in the fridge so it is the 1st thing that I see when I get home and am hungry. I drink that while I fix dinner. This smoothie really keeps me going most days till lunch(12:30) If I do need something I have raisins in my desk. Plus I bring some lima beans/corn mixture for a quick snack. I drink iced tea (no sweeteners). If I had to give up sugar from my sweet tea then I am just going to get used to it with nothing in it.  I would have to get use to the sweetener so why not plain. I hope this smoothie will fill you up as well as it does me.  I find that the more I put into it the better it is for filling me up.  Have a GREAT day! Laurie