[Ludi]

I seem to be constantly hungry, often practically starving, but am gaining weight. Basically a lacto-ovo vegetarian diet, but I don't think I'm eating the proper balance of foods. I'm especially weak in the breakfast department, will often only eat toast and coffee, and in the mornings I do a great deal of what I call "toting" - lifting, carrying, digging, building, etc, and then get really faint with hunger, with stomach ache, weakness, just feel bad, which makes it hard for me to accomplish much the rest of the day (like, for instance, actually go to work for money). I feel bad a lot of the time and suspect it's diet. And I'm about 15 -20 lbs over my ideal weight. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/images/smilies/thumbsdown.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title=":down:"><br><br><br><br>
Can anyone recommend a good book or (preferably) website for how to improve diet for maximum health and minimum fatness?<br><br><br><br>
Someone else posted a thread like this awhile ago but I've lost track of it, so pardon if this has all been covered elsewhere before and maybe someone can direct me to that thread or threads...<br><br><br><br><br><br>
oops, realised this should be in the Dietary forum....

 

[frogguruami]

Oatmeal is a good breakfast food. You can make some baked oatmeal and store in the fridge so you can grab and go.<br><br><br><br>
I would recommend looking at your fat intake. Be sure you are getting enough. A lack of fat is really bad and you will be hungry without it.<br><br><br><br>
Also if you aren't getting enough calories then you wont lose weight because your body will be starving and holding on to every last bit of food it gets.<br><br><br><br>
I would recommend making sure your diet is balanced and healthy instead worring about weight loss. Concentrate on whole grains, varied selection of protein sources and varied fruit and veggie selection each day. I like to follow the "Eat the Rainbow" guidelines for produce. It is a little simplistic but it is still a good guideline to follow. Try to get a produce selection from every color of the rainbow each day.

 

[synergy]

'Becoming Vegetarian' by Brenda Davis and Vesanto Melina is the best vegetarian nutrition book I have ever read. It's interesting, easy to read and will give you all of the information you need. I highly recommend this book.

 

[Ludi]

Thank you both. Thank you synergy, I'll make sure I get a copy.

 

[Gita]

I tend to think that people who gain weight and do not seem to eat a lot are accidentially not counting some source of calories that they do not see, like drinks, toppings, condiments, and so on. For example, counting the pankake mix but not the syrup or the butter, or creamer and sugar in coffee, or oil in a stir-fry. A person can consume several hundred "invisible" calories per day without noticing. Snacks from a vending machine can also be "forgotten" in the calorie count.<br><br><br><br>
I also don't think that toast and coffee is enough. I am one of those people who believe that the meals you have during the day when you are active should contain more energy and also more nutrients than the one you have when you get home and are ready to go to sleep. Breakfast and lunch should be large meals containing the most calories, and dinner should be late (like 7 pm), and contain less calories. I know it takes a while to prepare a substantial meal but the alternative is feeling ill. I like to make a big pot of stew or beans or something tastey, and then nuke it or re-heat it in the morning.<br><br><br><br>
The best books I've found are those that actually deal with understanding how the body works. The best I've read is called "Fat: Fighting the Obesity Epidemic" by Robert Pool, Oxford University Press ISBN 0-19-511853-7<br><br>
This book gives you the reason behind a lot of facts, and how energy is allocated, the discovery of "fat genes" and "set points."

 

[gaya]

Ludi,<br><br>
don't eat toast in the morning! stay away from starch. If you are going to eat oat meal make sure it's real oats and not that instant stuff. Increasing your fat intake will help as others have stated because it causes saiety (sp?). throw in some olive oil into your meals. imo, a bit of scrambled tofu with olive oil and spinich is a great a great breakfast food. No juice either! do a google search for low glycemic foods. good luck!

 

[Virtue23]

I second having oatmeal in the morning! I LOVE the stuff! <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/images/smilies/lick.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title=":lick:"><br><br><br><br>
Definitely go for steel cut oats, and you can doctor it up by cooking it in soymilk, adding fruit and/or maple syrup. This usually keeps me going strong for a good 3-4 hrs. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/images/smilies/thumbsup.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title=":up:">

 

[bethanie]

I have a friend who swore by a fruit and nut breakfast....Berries or fresh fruits and a serving of a substantial nut, such as walnuts, almonds or pecans. Fat content in the nuts give you a source of fat calories that is very healthy, and fresh fruit of course is full of good things. He rides his bike to work daily, seven miles or so, and he felt that breakfast really helped get him going.<br><br><br><br>
Other things that help I think...not just three meals. Three very healthy meals and a few snacks. You may have that midmorning/midafternoon tiredness, and a quick peice of fruit or a few carrots can get you back where you need to be. It would seem like you'd just be consuming more food this way, but if you are consuming only good foods (shoot for 50% raw), you'll notice a difference right away in how you are feeling.<br><br><br><br>
Another thing to consider is caffeine. Caffeine will give you a quick morning buzz and then drop you sometime midmorning. I guess I am second or thirding the suggestion that you not do the toast and coffee breakfast anymore. If you are doing a lot of outdoor work, you really need to be fueling yourself better than you are.<br><br><br><br>
I think that making small changes (more raw food for instance, more natural snacks...smaller meals with more snacking), will bring about a difference at least in the way you feel pretty quickly.<br><br><br><br>
I've rambled enough. I have to go finish shelling some pecans from our tree outside (they've been sitting in a big bowl in the kitchen since I got them off the ground this winter).<br><br><br><br>
B

 

[Ludi]

Thank you so much for these suggestions! I'm going to try to switch things around and have dinner leftovers or something more dinner-like for breakfast. I'm just so frugal with food, when there are leftovers, I think "I can't eat that now, I have to save it for dinner" but I realise I need to stop this and allow myself more.