As a vet and am close to or have reached goal already, how many of you find yourself making mistakes and unintentionally eati g certain things? Unintentionally may mean too large a portion or the wrong foods despite best intentions and planning. Does being a vet cure us from unintentional eating? No for most I am sure. Not a very deep survey question, but it would be interesting to see the spectrum of answers. You would think being a vet means you have these issues under control.

My answer is about once a week I will get the carb cravings and give in to some unintended carb snack. Not anything to derail from, but gives me pause to consider the trigger. For me, I think it is because body needs the glucose (energy) even though daily calories are pretty high. Weight still goes down. It really only hits me about once a week on the weekend (sunday) and usually mid afternoon. It is more of a "gee, can't you just not do that" response even though it does not lead to any weight related concerns.

Although I'm at goal and am able to maintain, I still eat more junk than I should. My main concern is that it will be an issue later on down the line.

Lynda

As a vet and am close to or have reached goal already' date=' how many of you find yourself making mistakes and unintentionally eati g certain things? Unintentionally may mean too large a portion or the wrong foods despite best intentions and planning. Does being a vet cure us from unintentional eating? No for most I am sure. Not a very deep survey question, but it would be interesting to see the spectrum of answers. You would think being a vet means you have these issues under control. My answer is about once a week I will get the carb cravings and give in to some unintended carb snack. Not anything to derail from, but gives me pause to consider the trigger. For me, I think it is because body needs the glucose (energy) even though daily calories are pretty high. Weight still goes down. It really only hits me about once a week on the weekend (sunday) and usually mid afternoon. It is more of a "gee, can't you just not do that" response even though it does not lead to any weight related concerns.[/quote']

Fiddle, don't you think it's your body needing the carbs because of how active you are with your fitness regimen? I would think you need the carbs. Good ones, though. But I def have days that my body craves carbs too.

If I have been really strenuous or very conscious of what I'm eating for several days my body really WANTS and I think, personally, needs some carbs. I've also found that if I allow myself some I usually kickstart weightless too! Not that I'm trying to lose much more. Another five pounds or so

Georgia, you are probably right. I do load up on carbs now every day with oat meal. How many carbs do you think is in 1/2 cup steel oats? I usually have 1/2 cup mixed with protein 2x a day (morning and afternoon). Other carbs comes from 1-2 ounces of veggies with lunch and dinner meal. Most of my calories comes from protein of some sort from protein powder to lean meat like chicken, but these do not have carbs.

Georgia' date=' you are probably right. I do load up on carbs now every day with oat meal. How many carbs do you think is in 1/2 cup steel oats? I usually have 1/2 cup mixed with Protein 2x a day (morning and afternoon). Other carbs comes from 1-2 ounces of veggies with lunch and dinner meal. Most of my calories comes from protein of some sort from protein powder to lean meat like chicken, but these do not have carbs.[/quote']

According to stats, a cup of steel cut oats had about 103 carbs so 1/2 about 50 plus what your protein powder has. Since I have no background or research, how much does an athlete need to perform at peak levels regarding "carbing up"? I really would think that you expend so many calories, nutrients etc in your program that you would def need to increase your carbs significantly to continue to feel healthy. Just a thought.

I do not share these expectations of perfection. I would go so far as to say that I sometimes intend to eat food this is not ideal "diet food" but what i don't do is go off the rails and eat bad for long stretches. I guess that I have been working for awhile to sort of eat a little bit normally, listening to my body and all that. I am doing the 5:2 as well but on normal eating days, I let myself have a little something if it is what I really want. I find that if I stay too low carb day after day I simply can't work out, do my horse stuff or ride my bike etc. When I feel drained and i feel hungry, I eat and generally add in healthy carbs like whole grains or something then. That is not daily, but perhaps weekly?

I avoid trigger foods though - the last really serious derailment i had is when i was on vacation. My son bought a small container of ben and Jerry ice cream and when he was done with it he handed it to me for a bite. I finished the whole thing and then felt horrible for hours... physically, not due to guilt.

You would think being a vet means you have these issues under control.

According to stats' date=' a cup of steel cut oats had about 103 carbs so 1/2 about 50 plus what your Protein powder has. Since I have no background or research, how much does an athlete need to perform at peak levels regarding "carbing up"? I really would think that you expend so many calories, nutrients etc in your program that you would def need to increase your carbs significantly to continue to feel healthy. Just a thought.[/quote']

Yeah, agree. I definitely am not feeling the energy sometimes at the end of a week. I will try introducing some more good carbs (quinoa, more oats, some fibrous fruit, etc). And my body did throw a little titty fit this last weekend and was threatening me with a cold(lots of sneezing and general desire to just sleep in bed). It never materialized, but it is definitely a warning to increase sustenance and rest in the middle of the week. No more cross fit 6 days in a row for me!!

I am not perfect and I don't follow an all protein low carb diet. I get in my protein in and water most days but I do eat junk in moderation. Sometimes more than I should. I keep my calories low but I pretty much eat normally. I feel weird on this site sometimes because everyone is super-healthy. Example is today's consumption breakfast, muller Greek yogurt, snack honey nut Cheerios, lunch was salad w/chicken breast, oil and vinaigrette and a chocolate chip cookie, dinner tillapia and broccoli. Snack premier protein shake and if I want fruit before I go to bed and maybe some nuts. If I want some junk I'll have it. I just watch my calories and try to make mostly decent choices. Oh if I am really low on calories I 'll have graham crackers and peanut butter. Yum.

Sigh.... I am having to come to terms (AGAIN!) with the realization that I'm simply not one of those people who can eat junk in moderation. The combination of old habits of food as comfort, plus the physiological impact of eating carbs (I'm sensitive to them, so eating sugar / carbs makes me want more ... a LOT more) is a deadly combination. It's as if the pre-op me has returned, and she's kicking my a$$. Honestly, I think this is a battle I'll be fighting forever. The good news is, when I can dredge up the motivation to fight the cravings and urges, at least I'm not fighting raging hunger too. Head hunger yes. Honest physical hunger, no ... not if I'm eating well.