"What's Dragging You Down?" Challenge

[wrenchhands]

I enjoy the occasional black and mild on the weekend, along with a dr pepper or two. I also will generally eat sweets and the like if they are around.

If anything, my not eating enough is dragging me down.

[AD69]

DaveT - I'm with you on that. Have you tried vacumn stoppers - they work like a cork, but you can pump the air out of the bottle, so it stays fresher for longer, so you don't NEED to drink the whole bottle!

Alcohol too is my vice - I have the odd treat here and there, but generally I reckon I'm in the 90/10 limit, but alcohol is where I fall down.

My wife and I try not to drink during the week, but then Friday - Sunday we can drink what we like. We try to be good - drinking gin and low cal tonic or wine. Occasionally cider, and every so often beer, but rarely.

And as we are parents, we don't go out on big benders like we used to, so the amount consumed must be way less than in my early 20s.

[Rugger]

When I'm training, the problem with my diet is that I don't eat enough fast food.

Seriously, gotta have those calories.

[MrWalk]

Alcohol for me too. Before I got a hold of myself I had gotten to where I was drinking a ton. I mostly work from home and had put a mini fridge in my office and kept it stocked with beer and OJ (for mixing).

Now I only have a few beers or a mixed drink or two (usually Vodka + OJ) per week now - and not every week. But, there's no going completely without. Fortunately, I think a little is better than none.

"Milk is for babies. When you grow up you have to drink beer."
Arnold Schwarzenegger

(I don't agree, but I like it. And he was no fat slob when he said that.)

[pagangoddess]

When I'm training, the problem with my diet is that I don't eat enough fast food.

Seriously, gotta have those calories.

How about this. One has 830 calories. And there's bacon on it.

[AD69]

Rugger: Some ideas here: http://thisiswhyyourefat.com/

[markg]

I think what's dragging me down is that I eat what my family eats (for evening meals mainly). We have a limited budget for groceries and we all have to eat dinner together. I use this, subconsciously until now, as an excuse not to go to the trouble of cleaning up my diet. I am trying to gain, so just eat 5/6 times a day and hope this is enough. I suspect the junk that is included in my diet will be helping me get extra calories (ala Rugger) and I have been gaining weight slowly and steadily, which is my other justification for my own actions.

Maybe I'll clean up when I start cutting the fat once I reach my weight goal....

The junk I do eat is frozen oven chips, fish fingers, Batchelors Pasta n Sauce, cheap flapjack.....other than that, mostly clean but nowhere near enough veggies.

[Cleave]

Alcohol is a biggie for me too but one step at a time. Right now I'm focusing on salt. I just have a bad habit of salting everything, often even before I taste it. Yesterday was good. I avoided any excess salt. For dinner I had a chicken breast and broccoli. I baked the chicken with a few spices and avoided the urge to add seasoning that included additional salt.

As for you guys wanting to give up alcohol I completely understand. I have a kegerator in my basement so i can go draw a beer anytime I want. When I first started dieting and I went low-carb I gave up beer for about 2 months and drank Jack and water and red wine. I did not drink near as much as when I drank beer and it really helped me curb my consumption. Also, in another thread someone mentioned when they go out they would drink a hearty more expensive beer like a Guinness or a Sam Adams and they would actually drink less and spend less because they were more filling. It's worth a try.

Cleave

Here's my home bar complete with Miller Lite on Tap.

[pagangoddess]

Rugger: Some ideas here: http://thisiswhyyourefat.com/

That was just gross.

[AD69]

Markg,

I don't think oven chips and fish fingers are too bad - I eat those too - and as they are oven cooked, much better than fried. The fishfingers are good source of protein/omega 3 on a budget.

You can make pasta sauces for a fraction of the price of a ready-made jar, so you could always swap that. Supermarket generic pasta is also very cheap, and you can always buy wholemeal pasta too.

You can also get frozen veg, and steam it - frozen veg actually retains most of the goodness, as its frozen at site, can be better than fresh which may have been picked ages ago and shipped to the UK.

You can clean up your meals without too much tweaking.

[DaveT]

DaveT - I'm with you on that. Have you tried vacumn stoppers - they work like a cork, but you can pump the air out of the bottle, so it stays fresher for longer, so you don't NEED to drink the whole bottle!

I have vacuum stoppers, but my problem is that I'll only drink wine on a Friday night, so even with them they don't keep for a week particularly well. I could have a glass during the week, but I know once I've had one, I'll probably want another and then I'll be opening more bottles. It's easier just to not drink anything Sun-Thu. I have reduced my drinking to 3/4 of the bottle by 'reluctantly' giving my gf a glass!

[AD69]

Dave, I think that despite the calorie intake of having a bottle in an evening, as you are not drinking for 70% of the week, its better than a lot of people.

[markg]

Markg,

I don't think oven chips and fish fingers are too bad - I eat those too - and as they are oven cooked, much better than fried. The fishfingers are good source of protein/omega 3 on a budget.

You can make pasta sauces for a fraction of the price of a ready-made jar, so you could always swap that. Supermarket generic pasta is also very cheap, and you can always buy wholemeal pasta too.

You can also get frozen veg, and steam it - frozen veg actually retains most of the goodness, as its frozen at site, can be better than fresh which may have been picked ages ago and shipped to the UK.

You can clean up your meals without too much tweaking.

Thanks AD69, I feel better about it now. I realised it perhaps wasn't as bad as I thought when I got it all down in writing here. The thread has helped me already! I had some frozen broccoli tonight (was a bit hard on the teeth ) with beef burgers and oven chips and gravy. Yum! Will be getting some more frozen spinach soon - I recommend adding a spoonful of mint sauce to the pan about a minute before it's finished boiling in the pan...deeee-licious.

[Cleave]

Still doing well on the salt. Chicken again for dinner last night. I put a whole chicken in the croc pot with just some rosemary and sauteed squash and onions in a little olive oil.

[pagangoddess]

Still doing well on the salt. Chicken again for dinner last night. I put a whole chicken in the croc pot with just some rosemary and sauteed squash and onions in a little olive oil.

That sounds good. I need to use my crock pot more often.

I'm 7 days into my no junk challenge and suprisingly it's not as bad as I thought it would be. I'm not doing as well as I would have liked but I'm happy with the results so far. I've stayed away from my triggers, chocolate and diet coke.