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  #16   ^
Old Mon, Dec-07-09, 10:53
Nancy LC's Avatar
Nancy LC Nancy LC is offline
Experimenter
Posts: 25,830
 
Plan: DDF
Stats: 202/185.4/179 Female 67
BF:
Progress: 72%
Location: San Diego, CA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gypsybyrd
I recall reading something, I don't recall where, a few years back about boredom with foods on low-carb plans. The author pretty much took a different view: think back to when you ate high-carb. Think about how much (i.e., little) variety you had in those meals. Chances are, you ate the same things, week after week, with very little variety and change. If you want something else, you are free to eat it.

I think I wrote that. Re-wrote it awhile back in my blog.

I got to thinking how varied and delicious low carb food is, why would I feel boredom, it didn't make any sense. Then I realized it wasn't that at all, it was another feeling and I was mislabeling it. I think we do that all the time, at least we do according to "Stumbling on Happiness", good book by the way.

I think it also gets conflated with that kind of anorexic feeling you get when you're in deep ketosis and nothing low carb sounds appealing. The fix is to eat more veggies, have a little low carb fruit, to reduce the ketosis by a little. Your appetite will come back and food looks much more interesting when you have an appetite.

I bet those who say they're getting bored would find that boredom vanishes if they only had a short eating window daily. IF made food magical. It was like the most delicious sauce imaginable.

Last edited by Nancy LC : Mon, Dec-07-09 at 10:59.
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  #17   ^
Old Mon, Dec-07-09, 20:30
ProfGumby's Avatar
ProfGumby ProfGumby is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 2,927
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 361/285.0/240.0 Male 5'11"
BF:Shake Hands w/Beef
Progress: 63%
Location: In Da U.P. eh? Menominee
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Lot's of great ideas in the thread and already on the website here. All I can add was the introduction of Shiritaki noodles to my WOE. A welcome and occasional treat for me but they break any monotony...and make a fantastic addition to any home made soup!
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  #18   ^
Old Tue, Dec-08-09, 11:52
Kristine's Avatar
Kristine Kristine is offline
Forum Moderator
Posts: 25,553
 
Plan: Primal/P:E
Stats: 171/146/150 Female 5'7"
BF:
Progress: 119%
Location: Southern Ontario, Canada
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Excellent thread.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NancyLC
I know I have plenty of foods I like, but they're not the foods I'm presently craving. If you asked me previously to identify what the source of my discontent is, I'd say "I'm bored with these foods". But on further reflection, I know that isn't right. (...) Come the snacking hour (between bed time and dinner time) that restlessness sends me scurrying to the pantry looking for forbidden eats. That is not boredom... it is cravings.
Quoted for truth!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gypsybyrd
So, now you've shifted to a different eating plan, one that prohibits certain foods. You fix meals and, surprise, you gravitate toward the same recipes/menus week after week. Except now, you realize, your plan prohibits you from eating other things. So you decide you are "bored" when in reality, you just want something you'd already made a conscious decision to do without.
This, too!

There's a statement that someone made on this forum years ago on this topic, and it stuck with me. It was an "aha" moment: Food should not have the capacity to bore you. Now, that doesn't mean that you shouldn't enjoy your food. I'm a hedonist when it comes to food! But it means pretty much what Nancy andGypsybyrd said: you have to do a bit of soul searching and dig around the word "boredom".

For me, the misnamed boredom feels like grass-is-greener syndrome. Sometimes I get bored of having to take care of my yard: but when I was in an apartment, I was bored of not having a yard. Know what I mean? "You can have anything you want, but you can't have everything you want." Similarly, we can get bored about the food limits we've placed on ourselves.

Boredom requires a little creativity to remedy. I could complain that an hour commute on a train is "boring", or I could use that valuable time to do something productive or relaxing.

Backing off the deep thoughts... Here are my tips for avoiding boredom:
  • learn to cook, and start out with the simplest, fastest, easiest things. Learn how to cook a steak well. I can cook a steak, open a can of green beans or mushroom pieces, nuke 'em, and slap some butter on the whole mess in ten minutes. Delish and simple. Save the more complicated, time-consuming recipes for when you're genuinely in the mood to cook.
  • I cook for one, for the most part - my SO is a veggie. So my freezer and Gladware are my best friends. I've got about six different entrees I could nuke from my freezer, plus fully-cooked burgers and gluten-free weenies. I've also got raw steaks and pork chops, plain frozen cooked chicken, cooked bacon, several types of broth, frozen and canned veggies, and all kinds of spices and oils I can turn into a quick meal if I have more time. The big reason for all of this variety: I can have what I'm in the mood for, and it's 100% on-plan.
  • If you don't already, learn to love foods of ethnicities other than your own. Again: the theme is variety.
  • Similarly, stay caught up on grocery shopping and keep a fully-stocked pantry.
  • If you're disorganized like I am, literally make a list of your favorite meal ideas. Sometimes I just plain forget about my faves!
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  #19   ^
Old Tue, Dec-08-09, 16:29
rightnow's Avatar
rightnow rightnow is offline
Every moment is NOW.
Posts: 23,064
 
Plan: LC (ketogenic)
Stats: 520/381/280 Female 66 inches
BF: Why yes it is.
Progress: 58%
Location: Ozarks USA
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I am never bored with LC food.

I am, however, bored out of my mind with "limits" and "having to cook." I don't think there is any resolution for that particular set of problems!

PJ
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  #20   ^
Old Tue, Dec-08-09, 16:36
Nancy LC's Avatar
Nancy LC Nancy LC is offline
Experimenter
Posts: 25,830
 
Plan: DDF
Stats: 202/185.4/179 Female 67
BF:
Progress: 72%
Location: San Diego, CA
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Well for limits... we all have limits all over our life. I limit the amount of alcohol I drink especially when I'm going to be driving. I know there are consequences to drinking too much. I have limits on all kinds of things in life. I obey speed limits. I have a ton of limits on who I have sex with. Food is just another!

Limits is just part of choosing how we conduct our lives and what consequences we want to have or avoid. I think it's only a problem if you make it one. For instance, if I grossed about driving 65 miles an hour every time I got on the freeway I could probably make myself really unhappy about it. So I just choose not to dwell on it. I send my mind down more pleasant paths.

Cooking, I'm lucky in that I usually enjoy it. But even so, I don't want to spend tons of time doing it so I've worked out ways to cut down on the amount of time I have to spend doing it.
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  #21   ^
Old Tue, Dec-08-09, 20:59
cnmLisa's Avatar
cnmLisa cnmLisa is offline
Every day is day one
Posts: 7,776
 
Plan: AtkinsMaintenance/IF
Stats: 185/145/155 Female 5'5
BF:
Progress: 133%
Location: Oregon Coast
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nancy LC
Well for limits... we all have limits all over our life.

Limits is just part of choosing how we conduct our lives and what consequences we want to have or avoid

Cooking, I'm lucky in that I usually enjoy it. But even so, I don't want to spend tons of time doing it so I've worked out ways to cut down on the amount of time I have to spend doing it.


Yeppers!. It's all about the consequnces that have to paid. Whether it's the choices in "life" or the food we choose to put in our mouths.

Jeez, I hope I've learned that lesson. I don't want to be here doing a 4th re-do. 3 is one to many.

My rule of thumb is that if it isn't a stew or crock potter--it needs to be 30 minutes or less.

You guys have me so inspired I pulled out my South Beach cookbook. I haven't looked at it in ages--maybe there is some little tidbit in there that I could add to my 5 1/2 (that's the 5 1/2 meals that I eat all the time. I think I need 7 )
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  #22   ^
Old Tue, Dec-08-09, 22:04
Gypsybyrd's Avatar
Gypsybyrd Gypsybyrd is offline
Posts: 7,035
 
Plan: Keto IMO Atkins 72 Induct
Stats: 283/229/180 Female 5'3"
BF:mini goal 250, 225
Progress: 52%
Location: St. Pete, Florida
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Thank you Lisa!

And Nancy, I do read your blog so maybe that is where I saw it. I think it was 1-2 years ago that I read it. Whenever, wherever, it was obviously memorable! Thank you.
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  #23   ^
Old Tue, Dec-08-09, 22:10
zanjabil's Avatar
zanjabil zanjabil is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 120
 
Plan: Mostly meat
Stats: 215/193/150 Female 63in
BF:
Progress: 34%
Location: DC
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My advice to the "bored" is to cook culturally, pick a country and chose a different flavor every day, every other day, or week...whatever works best for you and yours. Just try different seasonings. Shop in different markets. Search online for different recipes. Just think outside of the box and be creative, don't be afraid to try new flavor combinations.
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  #24   ^
Old Tue, Dec-08-09, 23:21
cnmLisa's Avatar
cnmLisa cnmLisa is offline
Every day is day one
Posts: 7,776
 
Plan: AtkinsMaintenance/IF
Stats: 185/145/155 Female 5'5
BF:
Progress: 133%
Location: Oregon Coast
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OK--I'm a dufus..... Nancy.....you have a blog???!!!!

OK--2 SB recipes I found....

The first is one I used to eat all the time, it's a chicken breast stuffed with Stouffers creamed spinach with a dijon mustard wine sauce. I used to make this all the time and had forgotten about it. (Probably one of the few things I might eat that's already prepared )

The second is an espresso custard--I'll change it up a bit--use heavy cream or 1/2 & `1/2 because the thought of 2% milk just gives me the heeebie jeeebies (notice more heebie and more jeebie with 3 e's)

The other one that looked promising was the coconut chicken.

Progress not perfection.

Lisa
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  #25   ^
Old Wed, Dec-09-09, 08:22
krystalr's Avatar
krystalr krystalr is offline
Induction ≠ Atkins
Posts: 5,886
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 270/164/180 Female 69 inches
BF:28%
Progress: 118%
Location: Frisco, TX
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Last night, I made chicken alfredo with spinach. It was SO good.

2 8oz chicken breasts
8oz heavy cream
1oz cream cheese
3.5-4oz shredded parmesan cheese
2 cups fresh spinach

Cube the chicken and cook over medium heat until done in a non stick skillet. I used about 1.5 tbsb of olive oil and 1tbsp of butter to cook it in. Salt and pepper to taste. I added in about a tsp of garlic paste (it comes in a tube and I did not measure...put a bit, and then a bit more).

Once the chicken is done, remove from the pan and set aside.

Lower to low heat (I set mine at 2.5). Add cream cheese to the warm pan, and pour in the heavy cream. Slowly combine. Once the cream cheese is almost melted, add in your parmesan cheese. I used a dash of garlic salt to finish it off. Add in the spinach and chicken, and cook until spinach wilts (just a few minutes!)

This made WAY too much sauce, and would likely suit 4 pieces of chicken better. Or for 2, simply half the recipe for the sauce

I added the ingredients into my P.L.A.N, and it came out to (for the recipe as stated) 12.9g carbs, 184.08g protein, 179.5g fat, 1.32g fiber....so just over 6 carbs per serving (with a lot of the sauce left in the pan!)

Here is a photo

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  #26   ^
Old Wed, Dec-09-09, 09:21
Nancy LC's Avatar
Nancy LC Nancy LC is offline
Experimenter
Posts: 25,830
 
Plan: DDF
Stats: 202/185.4/179 Female 67
BF:
Progress: 72%
Location: San Diego, CA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by zanjabil
My advice to the "bored" is to cook culturally, pick a country and chose a different flavor every day, every other day, or week...whatever works best for you and yours. Just try different seasonings. Shop in different markets. Search online for different recipes. Just think outside of the box and be creative, don't be afraid to try new flavor combinations.

I love that advice! I make a point of doing this from time to time. Bought a wonderful Thai cookbook with easy recipes and learned how to cook Thai food. I'd like to learn Mexican recipes next. I should, I live just miles from the border!
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  #27   ^
Old Wed, Dec-09-09, 09:28
Nancy LC's Avatar
Nancy LC Nancy LC is offline
Experimenter
Posts: 25,830
 
Plan: DDF
Stats: 202/185.4/179 Female 67
BF:
Progress: 72%
Location: San Diego, CA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cnmLisa
OK--I'm a dufus..... Nancy.....you have a blog???!!!!

Aw, I love you anyway! It's the thing in my signature "Nancy's Time Friendly Cooking Blog". I call it "Mostly Paleo".
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  #28   ^
Old Wed, Dec-09-09, 09:34
Nancy LC's Avatar
Nancy LC Nancy LC is offline
Experimenter
Posts: 25,830
 
Plan: DDF
Stats: 202/185.4/179 Female 67
BF:
Progress: 72%
Location: San Diego, CA
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Hey, I found that old thread with the Stumbling on Happiness stuff: http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=376793
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  #29   ^
Old Wed, Dec-09-09, 10:33
GlendaRC's Avatar
GlendaRC GlendaRC is offline
Posts: 8,787
 
Plan: Atkins maintenance
Stats: 170/120/130 Female 65 inches & shrinking
BF:
Progress: 125%
Location: Victoria, BC Canada
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Krystalr - that looks and sounds delicious! I sure wish DH would eat cheese - I'd love to try it but I refuse to cook two separate meals.
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  #30   ^
Old Wed, Dec-09-09, 10:55
krystalr's Avatar
krystalr krystalr is offline
Induction ≠ Atkins
Posts: 5,886
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 270/164/180 Female 69 inches
BF:28%
Progress: 118%
Location: Frisco, TX
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Quote:
Originally Posted by glendarc
Krystalr - that looks and sounds delicious! I sure wish DH would eat cheese - I'd love to try it but I refuse to cook two separate meals.


Mine wouldn't eat it. He got boring grilled chicken, and my friend and I had that. That's as close as I was going to "cooking" for him. If I didn't have to grill up a batch of chicken for my salads, he would've been on his own!
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