...but okay, I'm on my daughter's GF diet because I am still nursing her. I've been doing this diet for over a year now, and it really stinks because I KNOW what it is to eat a good piece (or three) of garlic bread, an occasional donut (ahem) or a pan of muffins. :)
So, I'm not horrendously overweight...about 155 right now, and I get plenty of exercise, but here's why I'm not losing...
...every night, I sit down with a bowl full of peanut butter covered in chocolate syrup. I've never actually scooped it out with a tbsp. so I don't know exactly how many servings of PB I am eating, but I'm guessing around 3-4, which is 600-800 calories, plus the chocolate syrup. EVERY night. I eat a very healthy lunch and a very healthy supper, in general, so I don't feel guilty about it, but I know it's why I'm not losing weight.
It isn't so much just the taste, but the texture, the fullness, the satisfaction of eating this particular snack. It's like I've become addicted to it, honestly. It's cheap, and I can't afford GF treats for myself (only for my daughter) so I'm kind've stuck...
Anyone have any suggestions on another gluten free snack that might satisfy as much but be WAY healthier?
Thanks...now everyone knows my dark secret... :)
Sorry....gf is gluten free, meaning no wheat, barley, rye, oats, or any number of processed ingredients made from those things. Think...nothing with flour, and nothing that's an easy overly processed food.
Mix 1 T peanut butter with 2T lowfat vanilla yogart. You can use a tsp of chocolate syrup or so with it. Or a tsp of nutella swirled in it.
You did not mention breakfast and snacks. You might be amazed what a difference a good breakfast and healthful mid morning and afternoon snacks could make..
I am a personal trainer and I rarely see a food log where someone eats enough fruits and vegetables. They also usually don't consume enough calories at meal and snack time.
I've been making smoothies that are so filling and yummy! Frozen blueberries, a banana, 2 scoops of canned pumpkin, 1 small scoop of peanut butter, a dash of pumpkin pie spice, and enough almond milk to blend it all together (the kind on the shelf-non refrigerated Central Market brand from HEB). It's so yummy and very filling :)
Try apple slices with a small amount of peanut butter. Skip the chocolate syrup. Or just limit yourself to a few mini Reese's PB cups. Or try Reece's Pieces mixed with popcorn. The apples and popcorn (if not heavily buttered or salted) will do a great job of making you feel full.
ETA: I am guessing that GF is gluten-free.
I can't help you but I want to add that last night I ate an entire box of Nature's Own Mint cookies (they are like girl scout thin mints but 100 times better) all by myself while I laid on the couch watching tv.
There - now you know my dark secret - you aren't so bad! :-)
Good luck finding an alternative - I'm clueless about GF foods...
I'm not sure of the gluten free yogurts, but you may want to give that a try! I get yogurt and add a little brown sugar to it. It's a great healthy snack and as a dancer and dance teacher; I try (try being the key word!) to eat well. I do eat a big breakfast, eggs with sausage or bacon and a cup of tea or cranberry juice every morning. Its important you are eating well and big meals. I hope you fill yourself up at dinner time! Good way not to eat late at night! Oh and eat a lot of veggies at dinner time...always fills me up. I like to have chicken or a meat, pasta or sweet potato and tons of veggies. I am never hungry if I eat well at dinner!
Good luck!
PS My dark secret is soda....I love coke (soda)...:)
How about a chopped up banana drizzled with choc syrup. My kids love that.
Can you indulge yourself earlier in the day?
That way you have hours to burn off the calories, rather than going to sleep and they just get stored on your hips.
And just once, use a real measuring spoon, a real Tablespoon measurement and measure out your '3-4' servings so you can remind yourself what a serving really looks like. Then try to stay within or a little less than that size.
And finally, truly enjoy your snack. I know how delicious that combo is...it's also my favorite go-to afternoon snack...but I would be worried about my waistline if I ate it too late at night.
GL!
Sorry... what is GF?
My 13 year old son was diagnosed with the gluten allergy not too long ago so we have been trying lots of GF snacks. Popcorn and most potato chips are naturally GF. Trader Joe's has a listing of all their foods that are GF. You can borrow the ist when you shop or have them print one out for you. WHole Foods also flags their GF products but they re more expensive. Most of our local regular grocery stores now have GF sections.
Try the Chewy Bars. Yes they look like bars of soap but they aren't bad tasting. They have some cookies that are like those regular layered wafer ones that taste good. Annie's Gone Cracker's is a good tasting brand.
I've also learned to bake with GF flour. I buy the Bob's Red Mill GF flour blend and substitute 1:1 into any of my regular recipes or use in a GF recipe. You'll need to get Xanthan Gum to add to the flour. This does gluten's job.
I have a great GF recipe for apple cider donuts that my kids love. They're baked in a pan with donut shapes, kinda like a muffin tin. We've also made good GF pizza crust and pie crust. Look online. There's a lot more people cooking and eating GF then you'd think. And they all blog about it.
Good luck.
How tall are you? I only ask that because you seem to love this snack and I commend you for your commitment to your daughter. If you are over 5'4, I would not worry about your weight.
What about a frozen fruit bar or small bowl or sorbet? On a different note, I noticed in one of your posts about your daughter not sleeping more than 2 hrs. at a time each night. You may want to try to cut this pb/choc. treat out for awhile just to see if it affects her sleeping. She may be reacting to it thru your breastmilk.
Limit yourself. Since you do seem to be addicted to pb and chocolate change to something that you'd have a better chance of controlling. Perhaps have 1 Reeses Peanut butter cups or some other candy bar. It's easier to limit the amount. Have a piece of gf pie or a gf cup cake. Perhaps it would be worth the little bit extra in cost to help you eat less calories. Remind yourself of your goal: to lose weight.
My daughter is on a gluten free diet and does treat herself with sweets.
Your eating probably 1000 calories or close to it... thats half of what the average diet is supposed to have calorie wise. If you were not breastfeeding still you'd probably weigh more. Maybe trying halving it and eating it with a baby spoon?
Can you break up your indulgence into three small portions? Then have 2 as snacks and 1 as after dinner dessert? That way you wouldn't be depriving yourself?
GL
M
Not sure if they would be healthier, but how about tootsie rolls?
You can get the little midgies, and it is amazing how easily one or two satisfies my sweet tooth!
(They say they are processed in a facility that does not use peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, or gluten.... it says that right on the bag!)
I can't imagine beating yourself up so much over this. Just take one less spoonful of it and eat much slower. Lick the spoon, savor each bite, take longer to eat it.
So many people fail their diets because they do deprive themselves of little pleasures. Life is so short to begin with so why stop something you really like to just have a lighter weight. Just cut down a tiny bit each week until you are eating an amount you can live with then enjoy.
Greek Honey Yogurt tastes like cheesecake
Potato Vodka ;)
Tomato w/ quite a bit of pepper, fresh basil, mozerella. Instead of crackers, toothpicks
THE SAME THING YOU'RE ALREADY EATING... but in a shot glass. Limiting portion size, and use a babyspoon (or dessert spoon, or crab fork, whatever) to eat it, so it lasts longer.
Would you be interested in trail mix? I mix Emerald Nuts peanuts with sea salt, a bar of Lindt 70% dark chocolate and a bunch of dried cranberries. A bowl of that usually lasts a few days for me.
I also drink sparkling water with lemon in it and think I'm getting a treat.
Do you use potato starch flour? I have a bunch that my friend gave me and I'm pretty sure it's gluten free. Let me know if you want me to pop it in the mail for you. I have no idea what to do with it!
You have to try Shakeology. It is gluten free and it is Awesome!! It is the healthiest thing you can put in your body and it can help you lose weight, increase energy, lower cholesterol, aid in digestion, and have more regularity. Plus, it tastes GREAT! I love, love, love the chocolate flavor. Check it out at http://www.myshakeology.com/leannasmith I eat 5 times per day 1500 to 1700 calorie total, and I have lost 14 lbs in the last two months. I have shakeology once every day as 1 of my 5 meals.
Great................ now I want a bowl of PB with chocolate on it. LOL! Sorry, no ideas. GF is sooooo hard AND expensive! Good luck though! :)
A friend of mine with Celiacs swears by the chocolate chip gluten free cookies at Whole Foods. Not necessarily healthy, but if you can stop at 2, then better! Also, I love frozen yogurt - both the ice cream style and just freezing Yoplait (especially the lemon, strawberry and orange flavors). Either one would take your calorie and fat count way down.
Not sure if turkey is gluten free but I would think yes. I heard somewhere that cold shaved turkey is an excellent filler to keep in your fridge if you are trying to 'diet'. Its suppose to be one of those things where if you find yourself dipping into anything to snack on after dinner (which you say you do every night) then it fills you up and helps to prevent you from eating empty calories before bed
Good Luck
Have you considered doing the same thing, but less. or pairing it with a banana or something else low cal to pump the volume while reducing the calories?
Darn, that does sound good.
PB is addicting. Check out Elana's Pantry cookbook and website. She has great gluten free recipes. I really enjoy her pumpkin bars. She uses almond flour so it is healthier. The flour is pricey but you can make them and freeze them that way you can eat only one at a time. Also I use any gluten free flour I have in the Hershey's Brownie recipe. You can get it off their website. This is another recipe you can freeze and really not that expensive to make. Also bananas and PB sprinkled with a few dark chocolate chips. It would be more filling and healthier.
How about if you put that peanut butter on celery and add some raisins on top. The peanut butter isn't bad for you but like everything else, you need to limit what you eat of it.
