With Vince’s heart issues and need to lose weight, I’m trying to put healthier meals on the table. I’ve said, at least since last year, when we did the Omada diets, that it’s not so much what I cook, as it is the other things that are causing us to gain weight. I walk a lot so I feel like I get a fair amount of exercise. I need to do more zumba type exercising. Vince doesn’t exercise a lot. Vince is a junk food eater. He will eat the grossest stuff . . after holidays when all the candy is marked down . . he loves buying and eating all that. I’m not so much of a junk food eater but it’s the Dr. Pepper for me. There’s not a lot of stuff I eat that isn’t homemade. I will not buy a frozen cake and eat that. I will bake a cake but the funny thing is that I’ll only eat it the first day. After it’s “left over”, I don’t want it. I guess I don’t like it that much. When I make a whole cake, I will give at least half of it to someone else. For a while now I’ve been having two Dr. Peppers per day. Believe it or not, that’s way less than I’d prefer to have. Just doing that, I can lose all the weight I need to lose . . slowly. When I cut back on Dr. Pepper, I easily lose five pounds the first week and can consistently lose two pounds per week after that, so long as I continue to eat reasonably healthy meals.
Vince has pretty serious acid reflux and I don’t know if it’s true but he says that if he gets hungry it’s worse. Well . . how on earth do you lose weight if you think you can’t get a little bit hungry. I’ve been saying that we do not eat a bite after 5 p.m. but he says he cannot go to bed with an empty stomach so he eats something about 7.Sometimes I feel like I’m beating my head against the wall when it comes to healthy eating around here. In his defense, he has been eating fairly healthy.
For breakfast we’ve been having oatmeal mostly. I’ll fix ham or turkey bacon if he wants meat but I’m fine with oatmeal and fruit. Yesterday for lunch, we had salad with a bit of chicken breast. I took one chicken breast, seasoned it a bit and browned it in a bit of olive oil and we had a bowl of fruit. We had lunch about 2:00. I had made refrigerator oatmeal, with milk, yogurt, a little honey and fruit, and we each had one of those abot 4:30.
The refrigerator oatmeal is kinda like dessert but it’s fairly healthy.
That was it for me. Steel cut oats with apples and cinnamon in the morning. Salad, with half a chicken breast and fruit at lunch, refrigerator oatmeal in the evening, two Dr. Peppers and lots of water! This is much easier for me than it is for Vince and even though we both need to lose weight, I feel like right now, getting his weight down is critical.
Paula says
I have acid reflux and while I definitely feel better when I’m eating. That’s deceptive. It isn’t the full stomach, it’s that your mind is taken off of the discomfort by the action of eating. Vince would be much better off if he’d stop eating after dinner so hwhat less food in his stomach when he reclines in that favorite chair of his, and when he lies down in bed.
Judee says
When I removed grains from my diet, my acid reflux went away. Yes it’s very hard as a bread lover (and other things made with flour), but I want to treat me well and stay healthy. An elimination diet may be a good strategy.
Cheri Bergeron says
The rheumatologist recommended I try the Whole 30 diet and the book, It Starts with Food. I started the program on last Memorial day and finally completed after Labor Day. Discovered that non-gluten grains were the issue, especially corn! It was painful but definetely worth it for me.
Donna says
When I eliminated grains, legumes and Diet coke I lost 18 pounds. My acid reflux stopped, my sugar went down and triglycerides dropped dramatically. The first 2 months were HARD but after that I don’t even want those things anymore. I eat a lot of protein to keep from getting hungry.
Liz says
I’m currently doing the Whole 30 elimination diet – no alcohol, dairy, sugars, grains or legumes for 30 days. It helped that I started weaning myself off the no-nos for a few months before I went off everything. I did not go nuts and I am not craving anything. And, my skin & joint pain have improved during the short time, so something in those food groups bother me. BTW, after 30 days, you start adding the foods back in , waiting few days between each introduction to watch for symptoms.
Eating meats, fish, veggies & fruit with select fats (avocado, nuts, olive oil) can be very filling. In fact, an avocado for breakfast fills me up for a long time. I have to remember to have lunch!
Good luck in adjusting the diet – it can be hard, but worth it in the long run.
Cheri Bergeron says
Hang in there, I have RA and have noticed the difference. Completed the diet last Labor Day and when I feel bad, I just go back to eating what I did for the first 30 days for a week and I fell better. Giving up all sugar was the most difficult challenge.
maggie says
as a diabetic, I think the diet Dr pepper tastes really good and no calories
Judy Laquidara says
No artificial sweetener for me !
Terri Schanz says
I quit drinking Diet Pepsi about 4 years ago. Only drink carbonated drinks rarely now. It’s water, maybe flavored with some lemon, watermelon or other fruit, and of course, my morning coffee. All that carbonation is really bad for your teeth, among other things.
Joanne says
Exercise is as important as diet. Take a walk down the road — most days. You can’t really count all the moving and walking you do everyday — it needs to be besides the normal stuff.
Judy Laquidara says
Down the road with the 75 mph speed limit? No, thanks. I wear my fitness tracker and get in 10,000 steps per day. I think every step counts, no matter if it’s routine or not.
Sherrill Pecere says
I’m like V as far as a junk food eater (I have candy a lot) AND I mostly eat out since it’s just me and I don’t like to cook for 1. I was just online looking at Nutrisystem as my SIL had very good luck with that and it would work better for me since it’s meals you’re buying. I like to drop some weight and get more exercise before going to Europe in June!!
Joyce says
Our health insurance puts money in our HSA (health savings account) for walking. We can earn up to $3/day. The acronym is FIT: Frequency, Intensity and Tenacity. Frequency is to get up and walk 500 steps in 5 minutes 6 times per day. There has to be at least 1 hour between each time you walk. Intensity is to walk 3000 steps in 30 minutes. (500 steps of it can count as one of the 500 in 5), and Tenacity is to walk 10,000 steps per day. The Intensity walk is the hardest. 3000 steps in 30 minutes is a fairly fast pace for me. I normally get all 3 on weekdays, but on weekends I usually just get the intensity and tenacity parts. I’m up doing things pretty much all day, but I don’t generally do 500 steps in 5 minutes. (Today I’ve gone 14,470 steps, but I only have managed to get 2 of the 500 in 5). I need to lose about 55 pounds. I stress eat though, and crave all the sweet things…I can’t seem to find the will to give up the junk. :(. I understand how hard it is to lose.
Teri says
I’m going to have to try that refrigerator oatmeal; it looks yummy!
Joyce in Oregon says
I’ve had both knees replaced in the last 10 months and being on medications has really bothered my stomach. My go-to is 1-1/2 to 2 graham crackers in the evening… not enough to kick up nighttime acid reflux, but enough food to absorb my stomach acid created by the medicine. Hope that helps!
Dorothy Matheson says
Each regular Dr Pepper has 7 teaspoons of sugar in it!
Nelle Coursey says
Pat and I have VERY bad acid acid re-flux. Our doctor told us to keep our heads higher than our toes when we sleep and do not eat anything at least 2 hours before we go to bed. I know you use butter and that is good to lose weight. A lot of the diets I have seen lately say you should eat at least one egg for breakfast, maybe 2. But you should not eat fried, you should have poached or boiled.
Lean meats, fish, and chicken have replaced steaks at our house. If we have anything with hamburger, it is the 90% lean kind. We still don’t eat like we should, but you are right, losing the weight will help. Check with your insurance and see if it will pay for Cardiac Rehab. You may not believe this, but the one at the hospital is very good. It is funny how some parts of that hospital have great services with good people running them. And the rest of the hospital is the pits! I would not hesitate to recommend the heart rehab or the Walker Cancer Center to anyone who asks. I don’t know how we have kept the good doctors at the cancer center, but they are outstanding!
cassews says
Whatever remedy you find that works for you all … go for it ..