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CIRCA: Biscuits and Gravy

Started 9 months ago by Halyn
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Halyn
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Two weeks into a lifestyle change involving diet and exercise and I have the most powerful urge you can imagine for a plate of biscuits and gravy with two over-easy eggs from Circa. Just how important is a healthy body weight, anyway...? How badly do I really want to wear skinny jeans?
Someone please tell me the B&G are not available on the dinner menu!

Posted 9 months ago #
JanS
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not on the dinner menu. But...a question...do you equate "healthy" with "skinny"?

Posted 9 months ago #
JanS
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oops..double post :)

Posted 9 months ago #
velo_nut
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Can you be healthy and fat?

Posted 9 months ago #
Halyn
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Jan, yes and no...I am definitely overweight--I'm not trying to ditch five or ten "vanity pounds." I'm changing things up primarily to avoid the diabetes and high blood pressure that haunts my family tree, but I'd be lying if I said that the thought of looking really good in a snug pair of jeans isn't providing some incentive! I am of the short, stocky, muscular variety of female, and would never be skinny no matter what. So I don't equate skinny with healthy...but I do equate skinnIER with healthy! :)
Thank goodness they're not on the dinner menu...by the time weekend brunch rolls around, maybe I'll have the craving under control.

Or maybe I'll decide I deserve a splurge meal! ;)

Posted 9 months ago #
JoB
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velo-nut
skinny is not always the best indicator of health.

Posted 9 months ago #
velo_nut
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I agree with you. That's not what I said though.

Skinny is sometimes just as bad as fat. It's the over all wellness of the body, not the size that determines health

Posted 9 months ago #
lucky chick
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But fat is pretty darn bad on the health scale. Up there with smoking. Would be nice to be an overall healthier society, given the current political issues with healthcare costs. [sorry, but my company's insurance costs just went up AGAIN because of the health histories of some people I work with who don't take care of their bodies.)

Posted 9 months ago #
shed22
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I'm 35, fit, healthy, a heavy smoker and drinker, and biscuits and gravy sound delicious.

Posted 9 months ago #
JoB
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lucky chick...

morbid obesity is pretty bad on the health scale.
what most people label fat isn't.

i take very good care of my body
and i am still overweight

i have a really hard time losing weight.
i've been on a mostly liquid diet for over a week now at barely sustainable caloric levels due to some intestinal issues..
and haven't lost a pound :(

but that's not nearly the health risk of a family history of heart disease, breast cancer and diabetes...
oops.. i left out Hodgkin lymphoma and alcoholism (not mine.. family history).

it's high time we stopped beating up on ourselves and everyone else because they carry a few extra pounds.

it's not the occasional serving of biscuits and gravy that will get you in the end.

Posted 9 months ago #
velo_nut
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Smack heads are skinny, overeaters are fat... Idiots smoke. Try and be in between

Posted 9 months ago #
dawsonct
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In the morning, eat like a king.
At lunch, eat like a prince.
At dinner, eat like a pauper.
Get regular excercise and vary your diet.
Eat more by weight in fruits and vegetables than you do meats and processed grains.
---
No, I DON'T follow these principles, personally, it just always sounded like common sense to me.
---
As a cook I too often survive on a breakfast of coffee and a banana, get to work, dump a bunch of projects on my counter, SWEAR I'm going to grab a quick bite after I'm through with this, that, or the other task. Then, at the end of the night, shove something into a bag or box to eat when I get home.
I wouldn't recommend my diet to anyone.

Posted 9 months ago #
lucky chick
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At least it's easy to figure out how to lose or gain weight:
calories in - calories expended (about 1200 + exercise) = weight gain/loss (at 3600 cals/lb).

It's just most people underestimate what they take in and overestimate what they burn. Write down everything you eat for a week and find out.

I hope the person who wanted biscuits and gravy got them, despite the change of subject :)!

Posted 9 months ago #
sbre
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Back to the biscuits & gravy.....dam* that sounds good.

Now I won't rest until I've consumed a few pounds of 'em, if Circa no longer serves that delicious plate of controversial delight, who knows who in our area does?

Biscuits & gravy, biscuits & gravy, biscuits & gravy....................

Posted 9 months ago #
Franci
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You can get biscuits and gravy at Meanders.

Posted 9 months ago #
jissy
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You can get them at the Chelan cafe, too. I think also Alki Cafe has them on the menu.

Posted 9 months ago #
Halyn
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sbre- Circa does still serve them-they're on the weekend brunch menu, and they are awesome. Don't tell my southern grandmother, but they are nearly as good as hers!

Since my mid-twenties or so, I've struggled with weight. I managed to be fairly healthy despite carrying an extra twenty something pounds most of that time, because I worked at a very active job. Since I literally spent nine or ten hours moving, usually at a high rate of speed, the fact that I still ate like a college student didn't really hurt me too much. But then I hit thirty-five, got promoted into an office (aka sedentary) position, and picked up a 45 minute commute. I didn't change my diet to accommodate the reduction in activity, and suddenly thirty extra pounds moved in. I know it didn't happen overnight, but it sure felt like it did! So now I get up at 5 a.m. every weekday, hit the treadmill and do some calisthenics. Two to three times a week I also add in an evening treadmill workout or sometimes an outdoor walk/jog. On the weekends I either get in one treadmill workout or I go shoot hoops with my husband. The hard part is always the food. I like food a lot. I've cut back to a level that keeps me at my current weight. Next week I start reducing calories by about 500 a day, aiming for a one pound loss per week.

Anyway, that long tangent was basically meant to explain that I agree with the idea that an occasional plate of biscuits and gravy does not make one fat. I think if you are eating healthy and limiting your portions 80-90 percent of the time, you'll be ok. My problem is that my healthy number is more like 50 percent. Until I get it where it belongs, no Circa for me! :)

Posted 9 months ago #
JoB
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lucky chick..

when the calories expended drop below those needed to sustain life because of illness... what happens?

the equation isn't quite as simple as it looks.
both physical limitations and endocrine disorders can throw a mighty wrench into the best of plans.

and then there is that pesky genetic set point that some people spend a lifetime battling.

I agree that it is easy to overestimate what you do and to underestimate what you eat..
but the assumption that "most people" walking around carrying those extra pounds do so is a dangerous assumption that leads a lot of people to eating disorders.

i was skinny as a rail..
until i wasn't

Posted 9 months ago #
lucky chick
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Halyn-
You CAN do it! And once you do, you'll feel great. And that plate of biscuits will be there for you after you reach your goal. You'll still have to be careful, but there will be room for a treat now and then!
So hang in there, one day at a time (as they say), watch the weight roll off, and know that the same foods you love will always be there, so maybe you don't need them right now.
Hope that helps - dieting is HARD.

Posted 9 months ago #
JoB
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latest research shows that your lifestyle change is likely to be more effective and long-lasting if you treat yourself once in a while.

deprivation is the number one cause of yo yo dieting.

like anything else.. you need to learn new treat habits if you want your current diet to transition into lifetime habits.

that said.. i don't eat biscuits and gravy

but i did really enjoy the flan that provided protein after my gazpacho at lunch yesterday...
shared.. but still sinfully delicious.

Posted 9 months ago #
Bostonman
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If you just listen to your body it will tell you many times if you need to make changes. Can you walk up a flight of stairs without going out of breathe? Do you drink enough water? Is your blood pressure low or high? High cholesteral? All of things are signs you need to make some changes in your lifestyle.

Personally, I don't smoke, rarely drink, work out 3 or so days a week, eat healthy and kickbox. Yet I am still 220 at 5'11. But I can climb the 5 floors of my building downtown and not be out of breathe at all. If I listen to the charts and graphs I should weigh about 170.

Sometimes the simple things make a big difference. When you go to safeway park in the back, same with the mall. Walk up the stairs instead of taking the elevator. My wife lost 20 pounds since the baby by just being active during the day (playing with the kids, taking them to the park) and she is now back to her college weight and wearing a size 4. Its the simple things that make a difference.

Listen to your body.

Posted 9 months ago #
velo_nut
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on the other end of that scale, I'm 6'1", 36 years old and during race season I weigh 148 pounds, max HR of 208 and resting at 42.

I should be dead.

Some would say my stats arent healthy. I obviously don't LOOK healthy in the middle of summer!

Winter brings the pudge back on and I'll be around 160-165, sometime tipping 170.

Biscuits and gravy? I devour them. Side biscuits and gravy along with the Suzie-Q at Easy Street. Yummers!

Posted 9 months ago #
lucky chick
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Velo, I may have to kill you if you keep it up. I have to constantly watch what I eat (except for the once-a-month molasses pancakes at Alki Cafe - talk about YUMMERS...) even though I train 13 out of 14 days (same as you, race training). Maybe Halyn would like to help me plan your demise...

(5'5, 43yo, 120-126 lbs, MHR 180, RHR 45 - how can your max and RHR be so far apart? What's your LT?)

Posted 9 months ago #
lucky chick
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NOTE: ANY IMPLIED THREAT OF VIOLENCE AGAINST THE HYPERFIT RACER POSTERS IS FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY. POST IS FAIR-TRADE, ORGANIC, CARBON-NEUTRAL, AND MANUFACTURED OF 99% RECYCLED ELECTRONS, AT LEAST 50% OF WHICH ARE POST-CONSUMER ELECTIONS. NO ELECTRONS WERE HARMED IN THE PRODUCTION OF THIS POST.

Posted 9 months ago #
Sue
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Meanders has biscuits and gravy, as Franci mentioned. I've only had her vegetarian version of them (using a vegan sausage) and loved it, but I hear everyone rave about the "real meat" version too.

Posted 9 months ago #
Halyn
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So, if anyone was at Circa the weekend before last and noticed a not very skinny blonde woman eating biscuits and gravy and looking REALLY happy about it, that was me. It was the first splurge meal I've had in about four weeks and I loved it. I got right back on track afterward, and have only missed one day of exercise...the morning after my dog died, I was just too exhausted from not sleeping to get up at 5 a.m. I'm happy to report that I am 8.3 pounds closer to my goal weight, despite my B&G indulgence. :)

Posted 8 months ago #
Irukandji
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Halyn - next time you're up for a splurge, just find one of us to split an order with you. That, and a salad (pr plate of sweet potato fries) would be the psych relief to get thru another week of classes and good choices!

@lucky chick: I heart you.

Posted 8 months ago #
anonyme
Member Profile

Dawsonct has the right idea. I think any "diet" that strictly prohibits certain foods is ridiculous. I've never been fat, although I could stand to lose 10 lbs. At 60 years old and doing manual labor for a living, I'm not doing too badly.

FYI: Seattle University has an awesome cafeteria that serves a la carte breakfast in the morning - including biscuits and gravy. The great thing is that you can adjust the proportion any way you like. I prefer a single biscuit absolutely smothered with gravy. I once ordered B&G at the diner on Wallingford. They brought out two biscuits with some gravy smeared on the top of each as if it were jam. Totally unacceptable! It's reassuring to hear there are lots of B&G addicts out there.

Posted 8 months ago #