I read about all the weight loss successes and I realized that I have been a BFC devotee for over a year and a half. I'm embarassed to say I've only lost a few pounds. I don't even feel worthy to be blogging about something that I'm not actually succeeding at. Most of you have lost 30, 40, 50 pounds in a much shorter time. That being said, I have noticed so many benefits over the time that I have been eating whole grain carbs and very little sugar. I follow this plan because it makes sense to me, and I feel better. My skin looks better, I don't have wild food cravings, elimination is more regular, and I have more energy. I know sugar had an addictive hold on me, and I really feel that I've broken free. I can look at cakes, cookies and candy, and not start salivating and thinking I have to have that. It's liberating to realize that food doesn't have the control on me it once had. Have I been perfect...hell no!Have I had bad days? Most definitely. However those bad days most always involved carbs and being over my limit, not sugar. I read about the little slips and falls that everyone else has, but the losses eventually come and I wonder what are you doing that I'm not? I go down alittle, then up alittle. Two steps forward, three steps back. I'm basically maintaining with very small drops here and there. My endocrinologist says this is a common among her thyroid patients, and it has been very hard to get my blood levels regulated. My medication seems to change every few months, and she just added another. So this may be a contributing factor, but it has to be more than that. I know we've talked about the wine and eating out. Both things can be hard to manage. Yet Kay eats out alot, and Dawn has her wine and they have had success. What do I have to do that I'm not doing?
I know that with my lifestyle, the eating out is not going to end. My husband and I both work late hours and it's easier to stop and get something rather than mess up the whole kitchen and clean up late at night. When we do eat out, it's usually at a local place, not a fast food place. I don't get pasta, I push away the bread or tell them not to even bring it, and make pretty good choices in my opinion. I'm hoping once I get the new girls trained, I will be home more often and start to cook more. I do love to cook. I also know that I drink too much wine. That's another thing that's not going to change...giving up the wine I mean. So I have to figure out how to make it work in my daily diet. I think the calories of this do count, even though Jorge says not to count calories. I love my daily two glasses of wine. Is it sometimes more? Yes, often it is. We go out with friends alot, and have lots of get togethers with family and friends. So on the weekends, it can be more. But there have been many weeks that I have had a loss and I've still had the wine.
What about portions? We've all talked about that, and we are not supposed to count calories and we're supposed to eat until satisfied, I know I take in too many calories and I've always had a problem with portion control. I like to track on fatsecret, so you can't help but see the calories that they recommend fo you and also what you take in every day. Am I eating too large a handful of nuts, too big a piece of cheese, too many almond flour pancakes??? Well yes I am...especially the latter. Let me explain as I sit here with a full belly and lots of regret.
I got up this morning, and said.... I am going to succeed at this plan...... I am going to tell my blogging friends that I feel unworthy to even be talking about the BFC because I'm all talk and no action....I am going back to the gym on a more regular basis.....I am going to take the time to make a recipe that I have been putting off...and I will keep tracking and keep on following the BFC plan that I really do believe in. So I got up, hit the gym, did a good 30 min cardio on the elliptical, another 30 minutes of free weights, some stretching, lots of water, and home I went. I walked the dogs around the block, fed them and then it was time to feed me. I went to Rosalie's blog and decided to make the almond flour pancakes. I printed out all her recipes to have handy and set about to make the pancakes. So at the end of the blog, I see that the whole recipe has 4 sugars and 24 carbs. I make the batch and it makes about 5 pancakes. Five big, fluffy, golden pancakes. Wow, I think, this is alot of food for a s/c count of 4/2. So I plate them up, add a pat of 'I Can't Believe It's Not Butter', and some Josephs sugar free syrup. They were delicious! Slightly dryer than regular pancakes, but really good. I'm thinking as my belly is getting full, that I can't eat all of this. I'm getting full. So on I go, right past this feeling, because it's been so long since I've had real pancakes, and these taste so good, and wow, how can I be so lucky to be able eat all of this. Isn't the BFC great I think? So here it comes. I go to put this recipe in the my fitness pal tracker, because it will calculate your recipe counts. Here's what it says:| Ingredients | Calories | Carbs | Sugar | Fiber | Protein | Fat | |
| Bob's Red Mill - Finely Ground Almond Meal/Flour, 112 g | 640 | 24 | 4 | 12 | 24 | 56 |  |
| Generic - Egg, Large, 2 egg * | 140 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 14 | |
| Blue Diamond Almond Breeze - Unsweetened, Original, Almond Milk 40 Cal/1cup, 0.25 cup | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Olive Oil - Olive Oil, Extra Virgin , 30 ml or 1 TBSP | 240 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | |
| Truvia - Sugar Substitute, 1 packet | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Add Ingredient |
| Total: | 1030 | 28 | 4 | 12 | 37 | 99 | |
| 1030 | 28 | 4 | 12 | 37 | 99 |
1030 CALORIES!!!! Unbelievable!!! Do you see the calorie count? I might as well went to Denny's and had a Grand Slam breakfast. I am so full right now. When these pancakes came off the griddle, I looked at these pancakes and said to myself, Pattie you don't need all of that. But the little voice in my head answered,, well, it's only 4/2 and you're under the 5/2 that meals are supposed to be at. Damn that little voice in my head!
So what to do? I'm pretty full right now and hopefully will be right through lunch. I have to shake it off. When you know better you do better. No sense fretting about it. I feel better spilling it all out, and you all have been the best support system. I am in this for the long haul. I've done some reevaluation and I'm going to tweak things a bit. I have to take this one day at a time and recommit daily. I know I need to get control over the stress in my life, to slow down a bit and not let the busyness of my days stop me from planning and tracking and exercising. Last night my husband and went out for sushi. We had wine with dinner, but when we got home I made us both a cup of the decaf chocolate mint tea to sip while we watched some tv. It was nice and we both agreed we didn't miss that glass of wine we usually have when we watch tv.
So I'm still going to blog and hang out with you my dear friends. I've confessed my faults, weaknesses and shortcomings. Whether I lost weight or not, I know I eat better and feel better and I am healthier following the BFC, so I'm going to keep on keeping on ( a la Sherri!) Thanks for listening! Hugs to you all from me!
Thought for the day: If it seems to good to be true.....it probably is!
Pattie, I'm so sorry you are feeling sad and frustrated. I totally hear you when it comes to wine! I love my wine and as long as I have 2 children, I will need my wine :) It probably is the calories that are to blame, but look at the sugar issues and all of the other successes you have accomplished on the BFC. I know that you want weight loss to be one of those successes, but maybe once things calm down at the office with the new help, you can cook more and eat out less. I dont trust restaurants because I've read they add a lot of extras to foods (fat, salt, sugar etc) to make it taste even better. It tastes great, but adds a ton of calories. I can almost guarantee that the gain today is from water weight. Isn't it fun being a woman?! AND now that you know how many calories the pancakes have and how full they made you, maybe next time you will know that 2 or 3 will fill you up and be less calories. It's a learning curve I guess.
ReplyDeleteI chew a lot of gum and drink a lot of tea (with 0 calories) when I get the munchies (which is a lot). Just thought I'd share a few things that work for me :)
Carey
Hi Pattie,
ReplyDeleteI think I know just how you are feeling. A few blogs ago I was feeling a very similar way. It seemed everyone was eating more than me, or straying off the BFC and STILL losing while I was being so strict and hardly losing anything! I also started wondering if calories had anything to do with it, or it was because I'd gone thru menopause or my age or something! I even thought about switching to some other diet and researched the Paleo diet and the Thrive diet (both similar to BFC). But then I decided that I was SO used to eating this way and because I didn't feel deprived and the weight is coming off just way slow, that I would just stick with it. I used to eat a lot of nuts in the daytime as a snack to get me thru to the next meal but then I started looking at how many calories were in them (a lot!) and cut them WAY down. I think the almond flour may be a little too high in calories for those of us not in maintenance, even though calories aren't supposed to matter. The only other thing I do is I try not to cheat AT ALL. I always try to find a BFC alternative for what I want. The coconut cookies and bread help a lot when I get the munchies. I go out to dinner or lunch a couple times a week and I used to get some kind of salad with grilled chicken on top, but then I realized that also was pretty high in calories because of the dressing and everything. I still do get salads once in awhile, but now I started choosing a small steak with grilled or roasted vegetables or steamed broccoli. I never eat carbs at a restaurant. I'll sometimes substitute sauteed mushrooms for the potato or rice that's on the menu. I have wine every once in awhile and when I do I sometimes have more than 2 or 3 glasses - so I guess that is a little cheat I do sometimes. I did switch to a Cabernet Sauvignon which is way drier than the sweet wines I used to drink (I wish I knew more about wines like you do!) My big treat every day is my coffee and cream after dinner and one or two squares of 86% chocolate! If I'm hungry after that it's just water for me. It is hard when you feel like you're trying so hard and doing all the right things and it just doesn't seem fair that the weight is falling off! Maybe if you started blogging your daily food it would help! Have you noticed your clothes getting smaller even if pounds are not coming off? The scale is not everything!! Hang in there Pattie! You are such a nice person and I know it's all going to click for you soon! You are always sending hugs to everyone and now I'm sending a big one to you!!
Thank you for sharing so honestly, I think we all have felt the same way as you do in your blog today at one point. Some of us loose on the scales quickly, well others don't. Slow & steady! You mention all the other areas you feel the difference, I think that is important. I too, lose so slow, I have even been counting calories along with the fast track & still it's so so slow!! I saw a few people today, who haven't seen me in a few months, & they told me, I lost so much!(It really hasn't been,maybe 5-7 lbs) We are on a journey, we all have to get there at our on pace. You sound like you are headed in the right direction, you see things you can change to be more proactive, that's half the battle right there! Bravo for you, for your honesty, & commitment, you will get there! On the Fast Track I notice I can go three weeks with no loss & 4lbs loss the next, it will come hang in there & thanks for blogging!
ReplyDeletePatty, thanks for being so honest. I know I have been in the same boat as you. I lost in the beginning and now I stay around the same weight or down a pound and back up. I also have thyroid disease and my doctor told me that it will be harder to lose but it can be done. She told me less calories and more exercise....of course. I know getting older and getting closer to menopause that does not help the situation either. I see other people eat a lot more then me and can lose weight and I can eat a little bit and not lose. So we just have to hang in there and if we feel better eating this way then we should not worry so much about the weight. I try not to weigh so much because it puts me in a funk. I am glad you share your blogs with us and you are not a failure.
ReplyDeleteHello my friend, I really do understand everything you said. I know I am one of the few and have gotten to where I want to be now.
ReplyDeleteI know you are really busy, but please call me tomorrow. I know I can help. Lots of Love :-)
(remember I am in California)
Pattie-We are all here for you and totally understand. As you recall, I had a very similar post this week and you were SO encouraging for me. I completely agree with Beth. Even though we only count carbs & sugar, I think we need to watch those calories too. I am very good at maintaining but I also need to make some changes to start losing.
ReplyDeleteSusan
You are not a failure!! What you listed about not having the cravings and such is a big huge success! That's what keeps me on this way of eating over anything else, no matter that the weight isn't coming off. I wanted to mention that I haven't lost a ton of weight on the BFC, either, only about 15 pounds. The rest came off by counting calories. I've had the same thing happen with the meal being under 5/2 and having an obscene amount of cals. They really do matter to some extent.
ReplyDeleteHey girl!!!
ReplyDeleteI totally understand what you have been feeling as many of us are echoing the same sentiment...."been there, done that"! You ABSOLUTELY are NOT a failure!! I really hate that word, and believe me, I have felt that way too, but as I was reading your post, you mentioned all the positive things that you have done over the past year & how good it has made you feel. Now THAT is not failure my friend! THAT is success! Even if the scale isnt being kind to you, there are many other ways to measure success, so remember that. You are pushing the bread basket away , you are eating lower sugar & carbs, you arent eating alot of pasta & you dont eat fast food anymore. Look at all of those positive lifestyle changes you have made! Have you taken your measurements? I have found that when I have felt at a standstill with my weight, I pull out my tape measure or look at pictures of myself that I have taken along my journey & recognize & appreciate myself for the effort I have put forth. I find those NON SCALE things to be very motivating & really help me to re focus & re motivate. So my dear, take your right hand & place it on your left shoulder & take your left hand & place it on your right shoulder & give yourself a big squeeze! Love yourself for the beautiful & kind person that you are! We are all a work in progress & if we didnt have all the little bumps in the road it would be a pretty boring journey, dont you think?
Hang in there & know that we are all here for you to sound off to. I believe that failure is when we quit, and you most certainly havent done that! The best is yet to come...hang in there for the win! You can do ANYTHING you set your mind to doing so remember your "why" (why you want to lose weight) & ALWAYS "keep on keepin on"!!! :)YOU CAN DO THIS!!!!
Love & hugs to you!!
Sherri