…OK by way of background information in 2019 through dieting I lost a significant amount of excess weight. More importantly have kept it off.
Very generally though, going forward there is an angle to eating less food, a lot less food, that I’m not finding much information on. Specifically with a greatly reduced food intake, visits to the restroom shall we say are not necessarily as frequent. This is “normal” and also varies, depending on activity level.
It sort of looks to me the problem is a matter of bulk, or fiber. Even though I’m eating a sensible diet with good mix if nutrient ratios, it still tends to “stack up” over the course of several days. A feeling of bloated or constipation.
There’s also some sort of osmotic pressure in the gut, something going on with regularity. Glucose or carbs actually seem to help, albeit these are the exact type of foods I want to restrict when watching calories. Now, related to the frequency, there is something also to be said about the epicness. “When The Levee Breaks” is not just a Led Zeppelin cover.
I think maybe popcorn might be a good way to introduce bulk. But I have a tendency to want to add a lot of stuff to it, like butter and salt. I like brown rice too, but now that I think about it, suffers a similar risk.
I remember vaguely “rice cakes” were popular. Styrofoam blocks of unflavored, weightless puffed rice. A buddy of mine brought a huge stack of them on a long backpacking trip. Meh.
What can we fill up on with Zero or low cal, to fill up volume or bulk as part of an overall strategy to increase frequency? Ideally it should taste good and cost nothing. Raw carrot tastes good. Celery? Oatmeal also suffers from “mission creep”.
Well, this fails on the “cost nothing” front, but when I’m on low-calorie, low-volume diets, this stuff definitely adds the bulk needed to take a dump almost every day.
I usually mix it with another drink I use, so I’m not sure what it would taste like straight-up, but it’s worth taking a look at. But check the label closely, there’s both sugar and sugar-free products.
It’s that time, eh? I finally reached the Metamucil demographic? Hm. I used to buy 6 packs of Ensure for my aging parents, that’s not too bad. Costs a fortune.
There’s gotta be a hippie co-op DIY version for Metamucil? Sawdust maybe? Is this where I sign up for Medicaire and get a subscription?
Whole grains aren’t digested/absorbed as quickly as refined ones, which helps avoid glycemic spikes, and the fiber in them helps things along.
Vegetables like spinach, chard, kale, etc. have a lot of fiber for the calories (also a lot of vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals) and will likewise help things along.
I don’t know if it is available in the U.S., but psyllium, the active ingredient in Metamucil, works really well by itself, too. If you can buy it in bulk, it is quite cheap.
You’ll get there eventually. Whole grains and leafy vegetables may be the healthiest approach but Metamucil and similar products will get the job done. Also easier to manage meals, convenient when traveling too.
Well large amounts of carbs used to take that role in bulk or fiber. Bread, and pasta, pizza.
I still eat those things now and then, though nothing at all in quantity or frequency. So it is very uncomfortable to feel “bloated” even though I lost 70 pounds. Exercise helps, but it doesn’t obviate the need for bulk.
Potatoes are probably right out, too. Don’t they have a glycemic score on par with chocolate or something?
Add in beans. And brown or even better red or black/purple rice. Sweet potatoes with skin are fairly high fiber. More than your common tater …
Fruits in particular berries, pears, peaches, plums.
If you’re going to go with a Metamucil spiked drink then add some chia seeds too. High fiber and healthy fats. Some kefir adds in some probiotics that can help overall gut health too.
Chia seed has an awful lot of fiber. Taste isn’t awesome, but if you mix 2-3 tablespoons in with a single serving of yogurt, together they make a mixture with good texture and flavor.
I’ve also been putting ground chia seed on my breakfast cereal. I top my cereal with frozen blueberries, and it’s a similar situation: the sweetness of the berries combined with the blandness of the chia seed seems to work well together.
Chia seeds absorb a lot of water. When moistened, they have a peculiar tendency to clump together unless you mix them promptly with the moistening agent. At least one person has gotten into trouble by pouring dry chia seed directly into their mouth and then trying to swallow it. Don’t do that; wet it thoroughly with water/yogurt/milk/whatever before putting it in your mouth.
Actual whole foods with fiber are a good way to go if you have the time/money/inclination. The whole thing with high-fiber foods is that they tend to be bulky and fill you up. The suggestions above are great - green leafy vegetables don’t have a lot of calories, either.
In addition to Metamucil, which is psyllium fiber, there’s Benefiber, which is wheat dextrin. I add two teaspoons to my coffee in the morning and another two in water with dinner if I’m not getting enough fiber. Neither one is terribly expensive if you get the generic. Start slowly if you don’t want unpleasant effects, and - this is essential - drink plenty of fluids.
I buy fiber capsules, and swallow them with a glass or two of water. They cost more than plain metamucil (or similar) but I found the texture of a drink with added psyllium powder to be really unpleasant, and hard to get down. My typical breakfast is a bowl of cereal with milk, some fiber capsules, 12 ounces of water, and then either a pot of tea or a mug of coffee.
Green leafy vegetables add almost no calories, if you are willing to eat them without a lot of added fat. (hmm, maybe not.) Beans and lentils have plenty of calories, but they also can be the basis of a satisfying and delicious meal, and yes, they come with a lot of fiber.
I’ve faced similar issues. When not dieting my peristalsis is dutiful and efficient, but much less so when I’m taking in 900 calories per day.
My current strategy is always having a batch of legume soup in the fridge (lentil, split pea, black bean) and eating it atop vegetables once or twice a day. If I want more protein I’ll cook the legumes with greek yogurt or pureed tofu — and add ham or bacon. Mushrooms can up the fiber content.
Tastes good. Low calorie. Very cheap. Can be easily adjusted for protein, and fat content. It always has a decent fiber level, and your choice of vegetables can raise that as required.
Broccoli is my go-to natural fiber and general cleaner-out. Just blanched, not cooked, still very crunchy. Add a cup to your nightly salad and you will go good to go. At least that’s how it works for me. Do not take if you are going out for the evening.
Also, some people who are mildly lactose intolerant find a glass of milk works as a laxative, and keeps things moving. This doesn’t work for people who are extremely lactose intolerant, not for those who can totally suggest lactose. But it works for a lot of older adults.
And, yes, the best bulky fibrous foods are (in my estimation) whole fruits and vegetables. Other good sources include steel cut (as opposed to instant) oatmeal, and also nuts/legumes.
The key, I believe, is to combine those with proteins so that you get a complete meal, and therefore end up more full than if you just snack only on carbs.
Something I should have been doing along. There must be a rule of thumb or RDA for fiber - although it’s confusing when I’m eating less than the “US RDA 2000”. I need to pay more attention to that, and find something that is better than potatoes. I recently read that if potato dishes are refrigerated (leftovers basically) undergo a bit of a phase change and don’t nuke the blood sugar so badly.?
Small, healthy portions of anything seem to slow the entire … assembly line down. I tend to instinctively overeat after a few weeks of this.
I used to drink a lot of Milk. Keep my fridge at about 34 or so, and I could get 5 gallons to last about a month. Then I penciled it out. 300 calories a cup! A tall glass of ice cold milk, chips, and a sandwich can be knocked back as a snack. It’s about 900 calories. Oops.
I don’t buy Milk very much any longer, because it would probably go bad before I used it, do use a lot of nonfat dry milk, or NIDO, and evaporated Milk. I figure drinking calories generally though is a no-no. Cheddar and hard cheeses seem to be good source of calcium.
The link between calorie reduction and weight loss is surprisingly complex. Popcorn is a healthy food and would be reasonable to try - even with mild to moderate amounts of butter. Salt isn’t a problem for most people in good health if they can easily drink lots of fluids.
If looking to save money, most South Asian grocery stores sell isabgol, the Hindu name for psyllium, very cheaply (though you might need to add flavouring and stomach that gummy texture). Eating more beans and vegetables also makes sense.