Food Snubbing: Corn and Potatoes

I want to apologize for taking so long to get to the next subject in my "Food Snubbing" blog series. Aside from my regular life of mother, wife, grandma, personal trainer, and homemaker, we've been dealing with the way-to-long installing of counters and back splash in a rather gi-normous kitchen (had no sink or counters in there for a week!), painting of said kitchen, plumbing emergencies, massive hail storm that required lots of insurance people and repairs, and trying to find a MIA ex-husband to get him to sign off so that my husband can adopt my teenage daughter. (After 5 years of virtually no contact, a small miracle occurred: He was located and signed the papers! Relieved is not an adequate enough word.)

Here is a picture of the beautiful daughter who is in the process of getting, finally, after 10 years, adopted by her REAL Daddy, the man who has raised her since she was 6:

And here is a picture of part of our newly countered, tiled, and sinked kitchen. I am SO enjoying it! (And yes- I am bragging a little. After the process taking 5 weeks, I feel entitled to show it off!)

At any rate, much of the above is still in the process of being worked out, but there is at least a bit of a respite for me to handle the next Food Snubbing Topic: Corn and Potatoes.

I'm not really sure that the snubbing of corn is all that common. I just heard someone at a Weight Watchers meeting once say that the reason Americans are so overweight is because we eat corn. Huh? My thought was that it probably has more to do with super-sized portions and eating too much processed foods than the sole introduction of corn into our diets.

I've also heard that corn is for animal consumption, not people consumption. Er...... How many plants do animals and people both eat? Yeah.... That one falls apart pretty quickly for me.

Besides: Wasn't it the Indians who introduced corn to us? Didn't they eat it? Weren't they pretty darned healthy?

Now, let's move on to potatoes. Actually, it's not all potatoes that have a bad rap. Sweet potatoes are looked at as the Holy Grail in the potato world. White potatoes are generally seen as too high in starchy, quick-digesting carbs. Well, yes... but this is starch the way God intended it to be. We've found time and time again that when we eat stuff the way God grew it, not the way man modified it to be, it's good for us.

Also, you know how many famines potatoes saw people through? Talk to the Irish.

So my short answer on potatoes and corn? As long as they are minimally processed, I'm eatin' 'em.

The trouble with both, I believe, happens when we start to mess with them: Same problems I listed about white flour waaaaaaaaay back when I did the wheat blog. We smash 'em up and mix 'em with things like white flour or sugar or shortening (or all!), and then fry them (with corn, this is called a hushpuppy), which makes them fatty and super-high-glycemic, and NOW you have a problem on your hands.

Ever had fresh corn on the cob? Or a potato baked to perfection with just a little salt sprinkled on it? Yum-o! But when you add butter and sour cream and bacon bits and cheese and... well..... you get the point..... When you do all of these things.... heck!..... you can no longer taste the food you used as a base to pile all this junk on. Just put the goo in a bowl to eat it, and save the poor, unsuspecting, perfectly healthy potato or corn from being guilty by association.

One thing I do want to point out about both of these foods, though (as well as peas), is that the body treats them more as a starch than a veggie. So if you have potatoes or corn with your grilled chicken, you need to add at least one more veggie to your plate for a truly nutritionally balanced meal. And potatoes or corn AND a roll? THAT truly is high-carb. Just sayin'.

So, minimally mess with them: Bake, boil until JUST done, steam, shuck, and grill. Then count them as a starch and not a veggie, and you can enjoy without guilt.

Respect Your Limitations

I so admire the people who can keep weight off without logging food.  How much more convenient life must be without having to write it all down!  But I'm not one of them. 

Rarely can I let junk food in the house.  It's just to hard for me to keep my mitts (and tongue) off of it.

I've had people question and challenge me on both of these issues.  In years gone by I have let others bully me into bringing foods that were not in my best interest into my home when I knew I wasn't strong enough to resist them.  I've also felt ashamed that I planned to log my food even after I lost my weight, despite knowing it would help me to maintain, because someone told me that wasn't a realistic way to live.

But not anymore:  These are two limitations I've had to acknowledge and respect about myself.

I have a friend who does what is necessary to keep her body fat at a healthy level when she pays a trainer/coach to help her.  It's something she has to work into her budget to stay successful.  She's not weaker than anyone else.  Quite the opposite: She is strong enough to recognize and respect her own unique needs and then implement them.

Another person I know has to to to Weight Watchers meetings and weigh-in on a weekly basis in order to not gain her weight back.

Some do best avoiding restaurants; others can't stay home because they eat out of boredom.  Some do best if they plan their meals ahead, while others will rebel and overeat if their foods are strictly dictated:  They do better with a little (or a lot) more give in their eating plan.  Still others do better if they avoid things like white flour or sugar all together, while there are those who find success when they can indulge a little from time to time.

Your picture of success will not look like that of anyone else.  This is a good thing and as it should be.  You have to be true to your personality and respect your own limitations.  Maybe these boundaries will change with time.  Maybe they won't.  But for lasting success in the weight loss and fitness game, you are going to have to be honest and true with yourself about what works for you. 

If someone else doesn't like it? Well....... Let them eat cake........

Or not......

Video Blog Link: Quick, healthy foods for at work and in the car.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3245by7ijLo

A few things I forgot to mention:

- Beef Jerky. As long as sodium is not an issue for you and you ensure it is very low fat this can be a great source of protein that stays good for a long time.

- Cut-up veggies. Either cut them yourself and put in the sandwich bags, or get the single-serving size in the produce section of the store. I LOVE the sugar snap peas!

- Holy Guacamole individual servings, also sold in the produce section. This makes a great dip for the veggies and gives you healthy fats.

- And my "Car kit"- A trio of foods that hold up well without refrigeration for a long time. I try to keep this in my vehicle all the time. It includes:
* Ready-made protein drink
* A protein bar
* Beef jerky.

Please let me know what you think!

Video Blog Link: A Word About Maintenance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfQpfe6ZOfo
maintenance 

A Surprising Supplement Rescource

Could you use another source for your protein-rich dietary supplements?  You might want to consider bariatric product suppliers.  They have become my surprising source for protein-rich supplements to aid in my quest to be leaner and more muscular.

Bariatric patients (who have had either gastric by-pass or lap-band surgery) have stomachs that have been surgically altered to hold very little food.  One of their primary concerns is getting enough protein.  They have to pack as much of it as possible into a very small stomach space.  Bariatric foods accomplish this.  So it follows that these protein-rich foods can also be very handy for weight lifters and people looking to raise their dietary protein levels.

Now don't get me wrong:  These supplements aren't cheap.  But most of us who buy protein bars and powders have come to accept the expense. 

There is a protein powder sold by our local bariatric doctor called Nectar.   It's made by the Syntrax company.  Per scoop Nectar is 100 calories, all of them from protein.   No carbs.  No fat.  Just protein.  And it comes in a dizzying array of flavors!  (I love the peach.)

Bariatric places also tend to stock protein bars that are less garbage and more good for you, because they are interested in keeping their patients as healthy as possible.  Generally these bars will have not only about equal amounts of carbs as protein, but also some fiber in them, which really helps with feeling full.  For bariatric patients these are meal replacements.  (Remember- their stomachs hold next to nothing!)  For the rest of us, they are between-meal snacks.  But they taste good (you aren't going to get an obese person who ate exactly what they liked getting that way to eat food that tastes like crap), and give a good balance of nutrients.

Don't be afraid to walk into your local bariatric doctor and ask if they sell powders and bars.  They won't mind having you for a client!  This is one avenue of revenue for them and they are happy to sell their products to the general public. 

Another thing I like about purchasing from our local bariatric doctor's office is that they have samples of the protein flavors.  So I can try out a single serving for $2, instead of spending $32 on an entire tub of powder I may not like the flavor of.

If you don't have a bariatric doctor nearby who sells supplements you can also order online.  Here is a site that I use:  http://www.dietdirect.com/wonderslim-crispy-protein-diet-bars.html.  Not only do I like the bars in the link (I've mentioned these a couple of times in my blogs), but they also sell the Nectar Protein powder.  And a lot of other stuff, too! They offer a surprising amount of vitamins and various tablet supplements, as well. Take a poke around to see!  (Although I would NOT recommend their entree mixes- Not only are they highly processed, but I don't think they taste all that great.)  If you order more than $49 you get free shipping, and check out the "discounts and coupons" tags on the left bar, under "Wonderslim", to see if you qualify for any discounts or special offers.

I know this isn't a practical resource for everyone, but thought it might be something some of my wonderful readers might like to know about.

Video Blog: Printed Rescources I Use!

Click here for a link to my video blog where I talk about the printed rescources I use to help me in my fitness journey!

Video Blog: Organizational Tools I Have Used in my Quest for Fitness

Here is a link to my very first video blog.  It's pretty self-explanatory! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKSEWgllqDs

If You Are Confused About Insulin and Fat Storage, Read This!!!

The past few years there has been quite a lot of hype about insulin and how it affects fat storage. It's super-confusing, but I think I've managed to whittle it down to something both understandable and practical for the every day person.

Here goes...... (Er, this isn't going to be real technical, so if you are into splitting hairs or are going to suggest I should have included more information, you may just want to skip this blog.)

Anyhow......

Carbohydrates make your blood sugar go up. Your body doesn't like this (high blood sugar is dangerous), so it sends out a storage hormone we call insulin to bring it back down. (BTW- the pancreas is what produces insulin, so that's why you hear so much about the pancreas when people talk about blood sugar.)

Insulin turns the carbs into glycogen and stores the glycogen in different parts of the body, namely the muscles and liver. BUT it also turns any excess glycogen that doesn't fit into the muscles and liver into fat and stores them in your fat cells. If there aren't enough fat cells to hold the fat that has been made, the body has to do something with it, so it makes more fat cells to store it in. And who wants more fat cells?

Okay, now lets add in one more thing Insulin does: It keeps another chemical, called hormone-sensitive lipase, from doing it's job properly. And that job is releasing fat from your fat tissues to be used as energy.

Sooooo..... when you eat a ton of fast-burning carbs (generally the kind that don't have much fiber in them), not only are you promoting fat storage because the muscles and liver can only hold so much, but you are also KEEPING the fat you do have from being burned off as energy. This is the main reason why low-carb diets work so well for weight loss.

Having said all of this, you don't need to run from carbs like they are the enemy. Slow-digesting carbs- like oatmeal, whole-grain breads (the real whole-grain stuff, not the kind that has white flour in it, too) and starchy vegetables- are just that: Slow digesting. They release the carbs slowly into your body so that you don't have an excess all at one time to be stored as fat.

Also, when you exercise heavily the body uses up the glycogen in your muscles very quickly. So you need to eat carbs to replace them so that you have power to not only get through your workout, but also through your day.

If you are anything like me, you are asking "So why do people go low-carb when they are exercising heavily?" The reason for that is another big, long technical explanation, but I'm gonna give the very-condensed-but-not-very-scientific answer: The body will turn fat into glycogen and burn it when your muscles and liver run out of it. And the process of turning the fat into glycogen burns calories in and of itself, so it's kinda like you are getting a little calorie-burning bonus when this happens.

The thing with this is that you want to be very careful: When I have gone too low-carb I have wound up with all sorts of not-so pleasant side effects, the scariest of which is that I started to lose my long-distance vision. It was to a point where I was beginning to question whether I should drive at night because depth perception was thrown off. Other interesting side effects for me were running out of steam very quickly, getting confused easily, feeling mentally "fuzzy", headaches, becoming incredibly irritable (my daughter thought this was the worst side effect- She'd of rather I be blind than a wench), tripping over things, falling down frequently when doing cardio (Once I fell off a bench when doing step-ups, making quite a racket. People were rushing from all of the gym to help me- embarrassing!), and general lack of coordination. Clearly, super-low carb (under about 100g a day) for me is not healthy. I think different people have different thresholds, but if you are experiencing things like this while on a low-carb eating plan, I'd suggest adding a little whole-grain, fruit, or starchy veggie into every meal. Non-starchy veggies ARE a carb source, but they are not a very condensed form of carbs and would take so much of them that you would no longer be practicing portion control, which I believe to be a key factor in losing weight and getting fit.

And as a final and fairly unrelated note, if you are working with a coach who is helping you with your eating and experience any of these symptoms, TELL THEM! Any responsible coach will alter your diet and get you out of the too-low-danger-zone. If they don't, dump them immediately and find someone else to help you. Your health is not worth having a super-svelte appearance.

Stop The Blame Game!

If you are one of these people who is always blaming someone else for your current less-than-satisfactory physical condition, it's time to give it a rest.

The fact is that I've never seen one person successfully reach their weight loss goals blaming someone else for them being overweight and out of shape.  I suspect this has something to do with the fact that when you start pointing the finger at yourself, all your excuses go out the window.

Look, I know I sound harsh.  But I have the right to say these things because I know of which I speak:  I used to be a blamer. 

My favorite person to blame was my husband.  I'll still say to this day that the man is hard on a diet.  He's not trying to be.  Truly.  But focusing on eating as a prime source of entertainment and bringing goodies into the house "for the kids" does NOT help keep me in a mindset to maintain my goals.  However, it is ME who allowed myself to eat garbage once I was tempted with the yummy foods he exposed me to.  I had options:  Ask to go to restaurants that have guilt-free foods I can eat; Saying no to junk at the movie (even if he IS holding that delicious-smelling popcorn right next to me); Telling him to please take the kids away from the house to eat the goodies RIGHT NOW;  Removing myself from the house until the tempting foods were eaten..... I'm sure there were other solutions, but the fact is that it's me who was to blame, not him.  After all, I am the one who lives in my body.

I know people who are so busy blaming others as an excuse for their current condition that they are almost obsessed with it...... Mired down in the depressed state of victim,....... looking for sympathy from anyone who will listen as to their woeful tale of why being so fat and out of shape is not their fault.........

I think they feel like if enough people say "It's Okay- You can't help the way you are", they will suddenly feel accepted and the world will be Okay with them being overweight and out of shape, and somehow that will make them happy.

If this is you........, Guess what?  Even if everyone were to pat you on the head and tell you what you want so desperately to hear, you would still look in the mirror and see exactly what you saw five minutes before they told you that. And would that image make you happy?

Didn't think so.

A lot of folks like to blame their upbringing.  Okay, so I will give it to many of you that you were brought up in homes with very few good food choices and forced to clean your plate.  I see a lot of kids whose overweight condition I do indeed blame on the parents.  How can kids eat right if they aren't given right food choices?  If you are feeding your kids garbage, it's time to accept the blame for where they are and start feeding them healthy foods, even if you don't like healthy foods yourself.  Suck it up and set the example.

HOWEVER, if you are an adult who is out of shape and still blaming your parents, it's time to grow up and assume the responsibility for the way you look. Even if they locked you in a closet and fed you nothing but Twinkies your entire upbringing, NOW you are able to make you own choices.  NOW you can reverse what they have done.  NOW is the time to change your habits.  Besides, how long is it that you have you been out from under your parents jurisdiction?

Sorry- The Mommy Excuse just doesn't hold water.

The fact is that in order to maintain a body that is too big, you have to eat too much food.  I don't care how you got that body: To maintain it you have to be eating enough food to sustain it.  Make every excuse you want, but that's a fact no one can dispute.  Well, you could.... but you'd look pretty stupid to the rest of the world if you did.

Unless you lay claim to your own health, you will never own a healthy body.  That's just the way it is.  As long as you are deflecting the responsibility for your current state on someone besides you, you are nowhere near obtaining the healthy body you deserve to have.  YOU have all of the power in this.  YOU made choices that got you where you are today, whether you became unhealthy on your own or entered into adulthood that way.  And only YOU can get yourself out of it.

How?  Start with accepting.  Phrases like "I am the one who is responsible for being here."  "My dissatisfaction with my body is because of me, not anyone else." "Sure, other people may not have been supportive, but I make the choices that keep me here."

Believe it. Let it sink in.  Feel it.

And then?  Cast it away.  Forgive yourself.  Move forward, making better choices.  (I blogged about that here: http://itallmakesadifference.blogspot.com/2010/04/love-yourself-in-your-current-condition.html)

And enjoy life.  You have gone way too far being miserable. It's time to forgive everyone, including yourself (read the above blog link), and live life out from under the cloud of blame.  When you do that, you are ready to take care of yourself the way you deserve.

Protein Pancakes I Actually Don't Mind Eating!

After trying many recipes for protein pancakes and finding nothing I considered short of gag-inducing, I came up with my own recipe in sheer desperation of wanting a different way to combine my traditional oatmeal-and-eggs breakfast.

The two key differences in my protein pancakes is that I cook the oatmeal first, and I add baking powder. I think this helps the texture a great deal.

I will be the first to tell you that I am not a purist when it comes to clean eating. It's probably because I am lazy. At any rate, if this recipe does not measure up to someone's clean-eating standards, I apologize in advance, but making a super "clean" recipe wasn't my goal: Making a quick high-protein low-fat thing I cooked in a pan like a pancake and could put sugar-free syrup on was.

One more note before I share the recipe: While I love them and they take care of my pancake cravings, this is NOT going to taste like anything like the fluffy white pancakes you get at IHOP.  They are a different kind of pancake altogether.


Nancy Anne's Oatmeal Protein Pancakes:

First, cook 1/3 C oats in just enough water to make them really thick.

Next, spray a pan with non-stick spray and heat on Medium-high. (My burner goes from 1-10 and I put it on an 8.)  OR you can spray a griddle and heat it to 400.

While the pan or griddle is heating, mix into the cooked oats:
- 1 scoop vanilla protein powder (I always use Beverly International's UMP.  Just seems to cook up the best without that weird taste protein powders can get when you cook with them)
- 1 egg white (This would be about 3T liquid egg white)
- 1 Tablespoon ground flaxseed (optional)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, or to taste (optional)
- Small splash of vanilla extract
-  Pinch of salt

Mix well, then stir in just enough water to make it pancake batter consistency.

By now your pan should be good and hot. Pour about 1/3 of the above mixture into the pan. It should spread out by itself, but if it doesn't push it around until it's a round shape. Cook until the edges look dry, then flip and brown a little on the other side. (At this point it is mostly done, so no need to leave it sitting as long on the second side. You are just trying to make it un-gooey.)

Plate the pancake, and, if your pan is not non-stick, take it off the heat, spray with non-stick spray again, and repeat two more times. (If you spray it on the heat your spray will scorch and make the pancake taste not-as-good, never mind make the pan more difficult to clean.) If it's non-stick there's no need to re-spray and can just pour more batter in there.

If you are using a griddle, just make 3 pancakes.

When you are done, you will have three Oatmeal Protein Pancakes- it's a good sized plate of food! You can top with whatever you want. I use sugar-free syrup heated in the microwave and sometimes Smart-Balance light margarine.  

Here's a pic of my finished product:

Let me know what you think!

All Oil Counts!

This is gonna be a real quick blog, and one that most of you probably don't need, thank goodness!  But I thought it was worth a mention, because occasionally I have heard people say that don't feel they need to count the oil that they cook food in, such as for a stir fry, on top of the stove.  They seem to think it either evaporates or the calories go away some other way.  This is simply not true!  Those calories soak right into your food and are what keeps it from sticking to the pan!  Then it goes right into your body.

Also, I've run across more than one person who take copious amounts (I'm talking tablespoons) of coconut oil a day, thinking it will somehow magically make them thinner.  Some even eat it right off of the spoon.  They don't count the calories, then wonder why they are not losing weight.  At 120 calories a tablespoon, these calories can add up very quickly and absolutely stall your weight loss.  Just because a fat is a "good fat" does not mean it's good for you if you eat too much.  You really CAN have too much of a good thing!

Count your oil in your daily foods!

My Daily Supplements

I think anyone who has considered taking supplements to help boost their potential with weight loss, in the weight room, or both will agree that there are so many choices out there it's confusing and overwhelming.  This one area I will admit I am not extremely knowledgeable about.  But I have managed to learn a little and pick out what I believe to be the best and most effective supplements for my needs.  What you need may different, but this might help someone to get an idea of how to go about selecting supplements.

I take three different "stacks" (combos of supplements), timed morning, afternoon, and before bed:

1. With breakfast (for maximum absorption) I take-
- A multi-vitamin. I don't take any one brand- I just try to find a well-rounded one.  Truth be told, right now I am taking children's gummy vitamins.  So shoot me.  My diet is good enough that I don't feel I have to get picky about this one.
- A calcium/magnesium/D supplement.  The one I take has about 30% daily recommended amount of calcium and 50% recommended daily amount of D per pill (not per dose- a dose is 2, and I only take one at a time).  I take the calcium because more often than not I don't get two servings of dairy in daily.  The magnesium is for max absorption of the calcium.  And the D is because I have a past history of depression that I have noted is a lot better when I am in the sun frequently.  I thought this might be related to vitamin D, and sure enough, when I started taking D my depression was a lot easier to manage.  If I didn't get magnesium or D with the calcium pills, I would take them as a separate supplement along with it.
- An Omega fatty acids pill.  The one I take has all 3 Omegas in it (3, 6, and 9).  There is enough scientific evidence behind this one that I believe it is worth the expense.  Plus, I swear my eyesight is better when I am taking it.  On days I eat fish I skip this supplement.

In the afternoon (with lunch, if I remember) I take:
- Another Omega Fatty Acid pill
- An Iron pill, because I have a low iron level.  I keep the iron pill far away from calcium intake, either in diet or supplement, because calcium inhibits Iron absorption.

Before bed I take:
- Another calcium/magnesium/D pill.  This is a great time to take it because cal/mag has been proven to help with sleep.
- A glucosamine pill, because I have arthritis in a knee and it's supposed to help with joints.

In addition to these, on days I work out I take an L-Glutamine pill with my breakfast stack.  I guess it's best to get L-glutamine in powder form immediately following working out, but since I have a bunch of them in pill form and I know pills take a while to break down and get into the system, I take them with breakfast, reasoning it will reach my muscles by the time I am done lifting. My reasoning is NOT based on science, though; just simply on what I think, so I could be dead wrong with this one. But I don't want to waste the pills, so until they are gone this is what I will be doing.  After that I don't think I will take Glutamine at all anymore.

And right after I am done working out I have 5g of BCAA (branched chain amino acid) powder in protein powder that I put in my gym bag and add water to after lifting so I can drink it while I am walking out of the gym.  Since starting this I swear I am not as sore after my workouts.  I think they are also supposed to help aid in weight loss, but I'm not quite sure how.  I use the Modern brand and the recommended dosage is 10g, but since I am a 150-lb woman I just take 5g (single scoop).  This helps to stretch the container.  A word of warning about flavoring with BCAA powder- make sure it has some!  I got the plain the first time and my goodness, it was bitter!  I had to add a packet of stevia to my protein powder/BCAA concoction to make it palatable enough to swallow.  The flavor seems to help mask quite a lot of the bitterness.

Okay- so there you have my stacks and my reasons for them.   I used to take more, but this is what I've brought it down to and I believe benefits me the most.

What I Eat Over the Course of a Day

I'm always amazed at the number of people who ask me what it is I eat and drink in the course of a day.  This is a really hard question for me to answer, because I don't eat the same things all the time, but here are some general guidelines I try to follow:

1. I always have at least one serving of complex carbs.  This is usually 1/2 C of dry oatmeal, cooked, about an hour or so before I workout.  Often I'll have more servings of complex carbs than this throughout the day, though.

2. I usually eat oatmeal or some kind of whole grain cereal and a lean protein (Most often an egg with 3/4 cup of egg whites) for breakfast.

3. I eat before I workout.  When I don't I find myself short on both strength and endurance.  This meal is usually the above breakfast.

4.  On the way home from the gym I have a whey protein shake and a piece of fruit (usually a banana).

5.  I try to eat at least one salad a day, either for lunch or dinner.  My favorite is some kind of a southwestern salad so that I get some carbs from the corn.  It always has a source of protein (usually shrimp or chicken breast), and I ask them to leave off any chips or croutons and go easy on the cheese.  If the meat is grilled on a griddle I ask them to go easy on the butter.  I get whatever dressing I like (usually creamy), but order it on the side and fork-dip for the non-flavorful bites.  Very little is gone by the time the salad is finished.

6.  I usually have two afternoon snacks, because it's a very hungry time of day for me.  Almost always one is a small protein bar (I make sure it's really a PROTEIN bar with about the same grams of protein as carbs and low fat- otherwise I consider it a carb bar).  If it's a big one (over 300 calories) I cut it in half.  The other snack is usually low-fat string cheese and lean beef jerky OR a scoop of protein powder mixed into Greek yogurt.

7. I try to limit my fruits to 2 servings a day (I consider a banana 2 servings), and have at least 3 servings of veggies.  More is better on the veggies.

8.  The meal that is not a salad is usually a lean source of red meat (I have low iron), a whole-grain carb like brown rice, OR a baked sweet or regular potato, and a LOT of non-starchy veggies.

9. I don't drink my calories (unless it is a protein shake).

10. I drink at least a gallon of water a day (read my blog on The Importance of Water to see why).

11. If I drink anything in addition to the water, it is unsweetened tea.  Sometimes I'll put a little Stevia or Splenda in it, but I've learned to usually drink it unsweetened.  I just don't think the additional stuff does my body any good.

12.  Before bed I have a scoop of Casein powder mixed with cold water into a pudding.

If you were counting, that's seven feedings on most days.  I am always eating!  :-) 

I'll blog about supplements next blog, but that's what I ingest as a general rule most days, whether losing or maintaining.   When I am in maintenance mode my portion sizes get larger.  I hope this helps someone!