From: npm@dale.cts.com (Nancy Milligan)
Newsgroups: alt.support.diet
Subject: Progress report
Date: 10 Oct 92 21:31:32 GMT
Organization: Titan Linkabit
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL5

I wrote a while ago and mentioned that I had gained 5 pounds on a 26 mile
hike.  Well, that 5 pounds (plus about 8 pounds earlier) was enough to get 
me back to my own program of changing my eating habits permentently (barring 
occassional variations due to just being a human being).

My computer has actually been a big help to me since I've been on maintenance.
I got the 'Diet Analyst' software, and I like it better than many others I've
seen.  It shows me various nutrients in the food I consume, the fat, calories,
carbs, protein, a bunch of vitamins and minerals.  

So, after much reading and listening, I've decided to become a semi-
vegetarian.  I'm working on changing my mentality from consuming meat
at least once a day, to maybe a couple times a week or less.  Usually 
only when I eat out.  It's taken me a couple of months to re-program
my brain.  It's amazing how deeply seated our food programming is.  Makes
sense though, we've usually been eating the same foods since we were 
weened.

At first I had a hard time eating enough fiber to satisfy my computer
program.  But I found some really high-fiber foods that are good to eat for
breakfast.   Trader Joe's has a cake called "Nature Cake" that I consume
like a breakfast bar.  It's got dried fruits, grains, seeds, and fruit
juices in it.  Only 3g fat and it has 21 grams of fiber in each cake.

I also sometimes have cooked Kashi for breakfast.  I eat about 5 ounces
of that and add some sweet dried currents, or dates, cinnamon and a
tsp of brown sugar.  It's smells divine and it tastes really good.

The high fiber took some getting used to, but now I find that my appetite
has dwindled some, probably because my tummy is always full of fiberous 
things, and I don't seem to have the sugary cravings I used to have.

Anyway, I've managed to lose the 5 I gained on the hike and I'm just
going for the real long haul to lose the rest.  I'll know I'm there when
I can get back into my "litle pants" I wore last fall.

One thing I should share with y'all.  Sometimes (who am I kidding?  Most
of the time!) when I come home from work I'm too busy/lazy to cook
much.  So I eat a potato.  Boy, I love potatos.  I slather them up in
Butter Buds and fat-free sour cream.  The other way I like potatos
is sliced up in wedges and baked on a cookie sheet until brown.  I
spray them first with some buttery-Pam and sprinkle with seasoning salt.
And potatos make my computer program happy because they've got lots
of magnesium (which I can never seem to consume the RDA's amount) and
fiber.  Anyone have any other potato ideas?

I've also started eating lots of spinach salads because my computer
program says spinach is wonderful stuff with loads of vitamins and
fiber.  Since I was growing my own tomatos this summer I would
dress it up with tomatos, a small bit of feta cheese, maybe some
currents, and some low-fat italian dressing.  Yum!  Goes good
with the potatos.

Oh yeah, and my daily sin is still Non-Fat Frozen Yogurt from a 
variety of outlets.  Sometimes during a stressful work day I don't
take my lunch break until 3:00 p.m. (I acutally eat while I'm working)
so then I cruise to the beach and have a frozen yogurt and an iced
coffee and sit in the sun.  

All in all, this has been a very good experience and I think I
can hold onto this pattern as a life-long sort of thing.

S'long for now!
--
Nancy P. Milligan 				npm@dale.cts.com
Titan Linkabit					cts!dale!npm
3033 Science Park Road
San Diego, CA 92121
Newsgroups: alt.support.diet