Diet Confusion

Ever hear of muscle confusion? It is a term my personal trainer (one of them) used. He said that our bodies are so adept at adapting to what we are doing that they get used to it and we stop getting as good a result. This results in plateaus, where even though we are doing everything the same as before, we are not getting as good a result. Dr. Wright and I were talking a couple of weeks ago (when I was having the blood sugar problem) about "diet confusion." According to research done by Dana Thornock (among many others) when the body feels stressed, it goes into "fat storing mode." This is why it is possible for people to eat under 1000 calories per day and still gain weight. Anyway, since you already know that I EAT all the time, (I once had a boyfriend jokingly tell me that no one would marry me because they couldn't afford to feed me! And on my mission I was known as "the sister who eats- I wasn't fat then, so I didn't care if that was how people knew me) and you know that I am a cheater (but I don't cheat every day) I thought I would talk a little bit about confusing your body with a different amount of calories periodically. Here is how I did it:

So on my cheater day, I ate double the food that is allowed on this diet, and (of course) the pumpkin muffins (I think I had 4). I estimate that was about 2000 calories for the day. Dana Thornock believes that for the body not to go into starvation fat storing mode, you have to hit that 2000 calories. She taught people to up their calories to 2500-4000 depending on your body type (like the larger the frame, more muscle etc. needs more calories) then when your body is comfortable at that caloric intake, drastically reduce calories to access the fat stores. But, because the body is so adaptable, she taught to bump the calories up on the weekend to be sure that your body doesn't adapt to the lower amount. Since the hcg program that I am on has the additional variable of the hcg releasing fat stores, we seem to be able to skip the part of getting the calories up for a long period of time (although, Dr. Simeons did say to eat normally for a week if you have been cutting calories significantly, then binge for 3 days before starting the 500 calorie protocol) and just go straight to the cutting calories. However, on days when I cheat (up to the 2000 calorie line) I can expect to gain a pound or a pound and a half. But then when I go back on the reduction, my body is still burning and hasn't adapted back down, so I lose rapidly. I lost 4 pounds today. I am OK with the small gain, and feel like my body is "taking a breath" or "changing gears" to continue the burn.

For now, this is still very experimental, and not according to the approved plan at all, but I want to find the balance in my life so that when I am done with this, I have good habits and delicious recipes to be able to maintain my new fabulous look.

So today, I took a family favorite recipe and adapted it to the diet. Now I am using more veggies in this recipe than are recommended, but I figure when I am too hungry, if I put some more veggies in my mouth, it is better than grains or dessert!!

The family recipe is called Meatloaf Italiano, and I got it from the book "How to Dry Foods by Deanna DeLong. The filling is delicious, made with ground beef, mushrooms, peppers, onions and etc. (she does it with dried veggies, since that is what her book is about- I use fresh and canned if I have them) and then it is baked in a bread crust that is braided around it and sprinkled with sesame seeds. The original recipe calls for cheese, but I leave it out more often than not, because the filling tastes so good to me without all the extra fat and calories (although, it is parmesan and mozzerella, so it is not so bad to add either). Anyway, here is what I did to modify it:

Stuffed Peppers (serves 2)
2 bell peppers, hollowed out and boiled till crisp-tender
7 oz extra super lean (7%) ground beef
1 small yellow onion
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 large can mushrooms, chopped (these are good filler, that is why I use so many)
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp oregano
1 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp worcestershire
1 8 oz can tomato sauce

While peppers are boiling, cook the ground beef with onion, and garlic. Add the rest of the ingredients, and cook until thick-ish (about 10 min or so) you could probably add corn starch if you wanted to hurry it up. The peppers take about 10-15 minutes to boil anyway.

Grease a bread pan and place the boiled peppers there. Fill with the filling, then bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes. Delightful!

PS
You can reach Dr. Wright at the Murray Health Clinic by telephone at 262-4228

Ups and Downs

Wow! The time is really flying by. It is Wednesday already and I was trying to write by MONDAY at the latest- *smile* Oh well, better late than never, right? But I know you are all wanting to know what is happening!!

So here goes-- I have lost 15.4 pounds since I started. I am really starting to feel the difference- On Sunday, I got up to get ready for church, and I thought "I wonder...." of course you KNOW what I am wondering because you also have in your closet clothes that you won't put into storage or give to charity because that would be an admission that what you have gained is permanent!! I also have those clothes in my closet, and one of them is a beautiful suit that I have not worn in 2 years, maybe more. I refuse to take it out of my closet because it is so beautiful, and because I don't want to know that it doesn't fit, so I simply "choose" to wear something else every week. But this week, I am really wondering.... can I get the button done up? I gingerly reach for it and step into it slowly sliding it over my hips. I reach behind-- it buttons! Wow! I fumble with the zipper and enlist my husband's help. It zips! I am happy and amazed- but still don't dare sit down. I take it off and wear something else, including a sweater that used to be too tight.

Later in the day, I realize that I am REALLY hungry- I feel grumpy and angry that I am so hungry. I am short with my kids (who for some reason are exceptionally hyper-- can you say HALLOWEEN CANDY?!?!) When I went to bed, I reflected on the day. I start to wonder... I have read Dana Thornock's works about Eating to be lean, and her theory that when our bodies are restricted from calories for a period of time, weight loss slows because our bodies think we are starving, so they adapt to the new caloric intake and start to maintain at that level. I wonder if this increase in hunger is a call from my body to be sure that we are not actually starving before it adjusts to the new level. I drift off to sleep wondering about it.

Some of you may know, and many of you probably don't, that I have a sleep disorder- sleep-eating. I know, I know as if that is a real disorder, but seriously, I have for YEARS woken up in the night and gone out to the kitchen, eat whatever I can find and go back to bed. I am awake enough to remember it when I wake up in the morning and wonder why my mouth tastes so disgusting, but not awake enough to comprehend what I am actually doing. Since being on HCG, I have only had 2 incidents of sleep eating. This is unheard of because it has always been calorically related-- like if I get enough calories during the day, I will not get up and eat, but if I am low (like go to bed even slightly hungry) I will almost assuredly be up eating. And the worst part of it is that I have no discrimination at that point! So whatever I can find, is what I eat. As you can imagine, my dieting efforts have been frustrating and fruitless.

So Sunday night, after being hungry all day, I got up and started eating. Now to my credit, I thought I was awake, and that I was making some good choices. I ate a breadstick, some cottage cheese, and some chicken. My husband heard me out of bed, and he came out to talk to me. He asked me what I was doing. I woke up, and couldn't remember what I had been doing. It started coming together for me, and I realized that the chicken I had cooked for the kids was frozen when I started cooking it, so I did not take the skin off. Oh, I took it off before I served it, but the chicken I am sure had a lot more fat in it than if I had skinned it first.

I woke up the Monday morning and weighed. I had gained one half pound. I started thinking about things, and decided not to stress about not having lost that day. I spoke with Doctor Wright about it, and we agreed that I would try to take a day each week (probably Sunday) to eat double the calories that I am currently eating. It is still only about 1000 calories, so it is possible that I will still lose weight, but even if all I do is reset my body to think that there is still enough food, and I am not going to starve to death, then it will just be like changing gears, and then I go on losing.

Tuesday morning I got up and had lost 2.5 pounds. Wednesday I had lost another 1 pound bringing the total up to 15.5!

Soooo... I am still going the right direction!

I promised some additional recipes- and here they are:

Bison "tacos"
3.5 oz ground bison
Onions
Taco Seasoning
Romaine Lettuce
Tomatoes

Cook the bison with just a few slices of onion for flavor. Add the taco seasoning to taste. Place bison on a romaine lettuce leaf . Add chopped tomatoes (a handful, of course). Roll up the lettuce leaf-- Delicious!

Stir Fry
You could do this with beef or chicken. I did it with chicken.

3.5 oz chicken, cut into bite size pieces
1 Bell Pepper
2 T Braggs liquid amino acids

Stir fry the chicken (add a couple slices of onion for flavor) Add 1 T of Braggs to keep the chicken from sticking. Cut up the bell pepper , and add to the pan. Cook and stir, add the rest of the Braggs and cook until peppers are as done as you like them.

The other great thing about this recipe is how BIG your serving looks! So wonderfully satisfying.

We are trying Cabbage Rolls tonight-- I will let you know how it goes.