Food compliant, but not time compliant, ie am I doing this right??

[Runninginclover]

Ok people,

 

I have remained faithful to the food lists, and I'm still struggling on day 11.  My problems seems to be that I can't tell if I'm hungry.  Maybe because in my earlier carb-fueled state I ate every 4 or so hours because my stomach was empty and growling? Maybe this has to do with increased fat intake---I rarely get that same "growl-ly empty stomach" feeling, but I do feel shaky and short tempered (not a trait that helps when teaching High School or being a parent).

 

So I'm compliant (or attempting to be) on the foods that I'm eating, but I'm eating more often than is recommended.  My mornings are typically pretty good but in the evening I'm exhausted. I know many people have done well with this program, but  haven't seen it yet and my walls are crumbling. And for full disclosure( because apparently we can talk about this here) I am constipated......And frustrated...and I just want a bowl of yogurt and some homemade granola...(whining, sorry)

I know that you will ask for a food list, so here goes.

 

yesterday

 

6:30 am m1:2 eggs with green beans and broccoli (about 1 1/2 cups) in olive oil with 1/2 tomato and some onions. coffee with about 2T of coconut milk

 

 m2, noon: ground beef and pork, about 2 palms, with a little no-sugar spaghetti sauce 1 cup green beans, baby carrots 5-6, Frozen blackberries and strawberries with sprinkle of coconut shreds and  chopped cashews (2-3 nuts)

 

m3  about 4:30 (because I was hosting a wine tasting at my place later and wanted to eat compliant foods instead of being tempted by the cheese tray) 1 palm of roasted pork, salsa, 1/2 an avocado, baby carrots.

 

and then...snacking the rest of the night. 2 handfuls of olives, some carrots maybe 5 or 6 and 3 small dates.

 

I usually do a mini meal  around 4pm, sometimes cashews and raisins at my desk, apples and almond butter, carrots and guac

 

 

This morn. coffee with coconut milk, 2 eggs, a half of potato with salsa, all fried together. a whole grapefruit

Lunch that I packed. Tuna in compliant mayo a heap, 2 T? spinach and baby carrots. an apple and almond butter.

 

Tell me what you think!  Thanks in advance for your expertise!

--Clover

 

 

 

 

 

[SugarcubeOD]

Hey there!

 

Good for you for getting this far and thanks for listing out your meals!

 

Eggs, when the sole source of protein are as many as you can hold in your hand... that's around 3-4 minimum for most people.  Often adding more eggs (I can actually hold six) doesn't make you fuller longer, so many people add in another protein like a sausage patty or some leftover meat from the night before.

 

You don't have added fat in your meals (or when you do, it's not a lot).  Cooking fat is generally not counted as much of it stays in the pan.  Your breakfast yesterday would have been more rounded out with another egg, and a half an avocado.

 

For vegetables, it looks like you're getting nice variety but you might want to eat closer to the higher end of the template for veg... that's 3 cups per meal... 5 baby carrots is not a lot... On yesterday's M2, you may have seen better results if you replaced those frozen fruits and nuts/coconut combo with more vegetables.  

 

If you need to eat a mini meal or even a fourth meal due to the way your day is structured, definitely go ahead and do that.  Instead of the dates in your night snack yesterday, you could have put a hardboiled egg or a salmon cake in there and then eaten all of that together (instead of noshing through the evening).

 

The other thing is that some people report that fruit in the first meal leads to cravings and hunger throughout the day, so you may want to consider moving that serving of fruit to the end of the day... that grapefruit would be amazing sectioned up into a salad at M3.

 

If you can, take that lunch today and add more vegetables instead of the apple and almond butter.  If it's too late for that today, fashion M3 per the template (linked below) and then do the same for all your meals tomorrow... don't let fruit and nut butter push vegetables and more balanced fats off your plate!

 

I hope that helps!

 

Edit: I missed the constipation problem... ditch the nuts... they're a common culprit for that... and make sure you're drinking enough plain clear water... 1/2oz for every pound of body weight, so if you weigh 150pounds, you're at 75oz of water through out the day... EVERY day...

[laura_juggles]

Just starting off, unless you have super tiny hands, add an extra egg or some other protein in your meal 1. When eggs are eaten as a protein, you should be eating as many as you can hold in your palm without feeling like you're going to drop them. That'll be at least 3 unless you have really small hands. 

 

If you're not feeling hungry, why are you having a mini meal around 4? Are the things you listed what you eat as your mini meal? If they are, there's no protein in there at all. 

 

(SugarCube and I were typing at the same time!  )

[Runninginclover]

Thanks Ladies--Typing out my list did actually help me see a couple of the things that you pointed out, especially that second veg.  I'll add that third egg and will brown some sausage tonight to make mornings easier. 

 

Fats--I apparently need to go back and read my book, does coconut milk count as a fat?

 

As to the 4pm snack.  My stomach isn't talking to me, the shaky/foggy grouchy is killing me. To be honest, I think that it is partially because I have a 20 minute lunch break, like today, I didn't even get through all my carrots or even start on my apple, and it's also a large part of my life's routine that I need to consciously reconsider.  I come home from work, pull things out to start dinner, start my kids on their homework/chores, watch Castle for a little while and have a snack. I'll work on asking myself if I'm actually hungry and then add a protein to my choices.  I'm also leaning toward a food journal to watch this.

 

Should I ignore the shaky feeling?  Is it my new "hunger sense" or is this part of the program that I need to power through until we eat as a family around 6-6:30? 

 

I do appreciate this--I was rollin' down the slope towards "this isn't working, give me a cookie"

[ladyshanny]

A cookie won't help.  

 

Shaky is not your new hunger sense, it's more than likely your body catching up with you from not eating enough.  Try to pack a lunch that you can get through in 20 minutes or less, eating a full meal at mealtime is really important.  Consider packing protein and cooked veggies, sometimes easier to get through than raw ones.  

 

If you are regularly eating your lunch at noon and dinner as late as 6:30, you probably do need a snack at around 4-ish at least until you get used to composing meals to the template and until your body makes the switch to using fat as fuel.  I used to have a snack at 3:45 every day until I realized that I can easily make it from noon until 6pm when we eat.  I'm hungry and ready to eat by that time but I'm not shaky, angry, tired or yearning to murder anyone.  It will come with time.

 

Until then, have a mini meal of protein and fat and you'll feel better.