If you are like me and have tried to diet and failed, you’ve already observed that you can literally burn more calories than you take in and still gain weight. It’s a mathematical impossibility that is biologically doable. But why? How? I’m not a scientist so I’m just speculating, but I think one of the things that happens when we eat less, is that our bodies’ pipelines slow down.
I’m guessing that the nutritional value published on the side of all our products is only an average. If the food stays in the body longer, the body can absorb more nutrients. If it passes through quickly, the body has a relatively short opportunity to absorb the contents. There’s also the whole microbiome thing.
So, I eat Mission Carb balance whole wheat small tortillas with everything. Each tortilla is about a day’s worth of fiber.
For my standard breakfast, I usually order 2 egg white delight McMuffins at McDonald’s both with extra egg and Canadian bacon and no cheese. I’m not opposed to cheese, but I throw the muffin away and usually the cheese is clinging to the muffin, so no reason to pay for it. I put the egg whites and Canadian bacon in a Mission Carb whole wheat tortilla as a wrap.
For lunch, I usually eat 3 to 4 cups of salad. Often I find I don’t need dressing if the salad is a good combination of things like avocado to moisten it up and make it tasty. But avocado has fat, you say? I don’t actually worry about fat. or carbs. or salt. or calories. I find that I actually don’t tend to consume much that is bad if I’m focusing on getting the specific items I want which is fiber and protein. I’m especially fond of the toasted sesame organic salad from Mom’s Market. I eat one entire bag at a sitting.
For protein, I tend toward liquids. I’m fond of Premier Protein shakes and clear. These make it easy to max out on protein and they do tend to minimize any hunger or desire for food. Sometimes I splurge on a protein bar, including premier protein bars. I buy the drinks and bars from Amazon because my schedule is too crazy. I used to buy the mission carb tortillas from Amazon too, but they stopped carrying them. Pity.
Then, the microbiome. I don’t really understand microbiome because again, I’m not a scientist. I read with interest the book The Secret Life of Fat, also a lot of Noom articles try to help members understand the importance of a good gut. I think the good gut goes back to the original idea that it’s not just how many calories you eat, but how much your body is absorbing. When the book The Secret Life of Fat was published, the PhD who wrote it speculated that fecal transplants would help people lose weight in the future. It’s not longer speculation, poop transplants are now a thing. Sounds pretty yucky, but what I understand generally is that a broad variety of foods can help improve the biome as does having pets. Keeping this in mind, I add small snacks to my day like 3 blueberries from my daughter’s snack, an olives-to-go pouch or raw carrots. I try to eat a banana, a pear, some strawberries each week. One day, I bought a box of raspberries at Mom’s Market because my daughter loves them. Once I started, I couldn’t stop eating them. I was super surprised and happy when I entered them into http://www.MyFitnessPal.com because, “One cup of raspberries contains a mere 64 calories and packs in a whopping 8 grams of fiber.” I went back and bought 3 more boxes. Raspberries are delish and really good for ya.
Also for the microbiome, fermented foods are good. kimchee. sauerkraut, which is awesome because I love dogs and kraut. yogurt. kefir. I also love seeds like chia seeds and flaxseeds. I sprinkle them in the kefir or yogurt.
But basically I fill up on high fiber tortillas, fat free Taco Bell refried beans, egg white delights and protein products. Then, when there’s no much space left, I eat a little something just to boost microbiome.
The pounds keep coming off, but that’s really the high quality sleep with technology biofeedback. It’s not as much about an exercise to calorie balance. But I think folks fighting with the scale already knew that.
I went out for a fitness walk and got caught in one of those crazy downpours. When I posted the photo on FB, my friends congratulated me on the weight loss. That wasn’t the point of the post but it was nice.
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