I just realized today that my "healthy" diet is not helping me one bit to lose weight!! I started to input my food into FitDay and was shocked to see that by the end of the day I'm consuming almost 3,000 calories! You read it right...3,000 calories in one day!! It doesn't help when drinking a cup of tea (evap milk and sugar, of course) adds 250 calories. 300 for my sandwich and 200 for the granola added to my yogurt. Kriminey!
I should just eat Whataburger every day. I'd get the same calories and it would sure as **** taste better.
Drag. Back to the drawing board. Any suggestions (other than "cut out the tea, dufus!") would be double plus appreciated!
It can be a rude awakening to realize that the "healthy" diet we follow is to blame for our weight!
I don't know what you eat (other than the sweetened milky tea) but for me, eating a whole foods diet that is natural and as minimally processed as possible works for me. I know that even on the days I eat too many calories, I am getting important nutrition and disease fighting components that fast food would not give me.
What do you usually eat? Maybe we can help you make a few changes
What helped me a lot is getting portion control down. Go, and actually eat ONE portion of what you`re eating. Measure it, weight it, whatever. With ONE portion, you can keep calories down.
That, and the one portion thing will really start to make you eat filling foods like oatmeal or broccoli that have few calories and lots of benefits.
First steps are always wobbly, but you can definitely do this!
I had a realization like this once upon a time, but like I heard a nutritionist say.. it doesnt matter if you eat 50 oranges, if you eat 50 of anything you are going to gain weight. I noticed that I had a double fiber bread and it had nuts and grains in it, it was very dense and good for you right? When I started calorie counting I noticed ONE SLICE had 180 CALS!!!!!! So I switched to Natures Own 100% Whole Wheat ( has no HFC's) and its 50 cal a slice yay! But I have ran into this.. now I try to find the best food for my calorie "buck"
Try counting calories BEFORE you eat them. Plan your menus ahead , takes a few minutes to plan a full days menu. Stay within your calorie allowamce, 3000 is too many.
I do looooooove sweetened milky tea. mmMmmMmMmMMMmMmMm
Let's see....
7am - Myoplex shake, prepared with water - 280cal today I made it with whole milk that added 281cal...yeesh
10am - Oatmeal - 250cal - I could cut my portion here easily
Sweetened milky tea - 250cal - bye~bye, sweetened milky tea!
1pm - Turkey and cheese sandwich on wheat - 330cal - I could cut out cheese and mayo and use natural non-processed turkey
Baby Carrots and Tomatoe slices - 60cal
4pm - fruity snack for work out - 80cal
8pm - Dinner is usually something not too terribly bad but nowhere near "good"
I do drink a ton of water which should count for something. *sigh*
When I started on this journey I read every label and measured everything. Only one I can help you with is the granola. I found a great tasting granola that I add to my yogurt and the granola is only 70 calories a serving. I remember standing in the cereal aisle almost ready to throw all the boxes off the shelf -- huge calorie count for something that is supposed to be so healthy.
I do eat a lot but find unless I really really splurge I can keep my calories well under 2000 a day.
I guess adding splenda to your tea is also out?? I know I add two tsps of brown sugar to my oatmeal in the morning -- but its not a huge calorie hit.
If you want to share one days menu maybe we can spot some more areas that can be exchanged. Ok I see you have put in a menu. Definitely get rid of the cheese -- amazing how those calories add up. Dump the mayo switch to mustard. Actually getting rid of bread altogether from my diet helped immensely -- I am a huge bread addict.
Also do you have to eat at 8pm -- I am no expert but eating so late isn't good for us when we are trying to lose weight. I do my best to stop eating at 7:30 especially something like dinner. One thing I added to my (almost) daily menu is a ceasar salad -- I know it sounds calorie laden but I make it with some basalmic vinegar, lowest cal ceasar dressing, count out the croutons and a huge mass of romaine lettuce. So extremely filling and when its all said and done just 200 calories. I find 3 oz of meat (max we need at dinner) 1/3 c of brown rice and the salad fills me completely.
I agree with what the others mentioned. Cut out the processed foods and things like packaged "diet" foods except for occasionally...don't make them a staple. Also, one thing that really helped me was switching to completely whole grains. I started reading labels at that point. Whole wheat bread (100%), whole wheat pasta (or even better...spaghetti squash), brown rice, etc.... Those things made a world of difference. Play around with it and see what works for you.
(Hint - granola is typically very high calorie because it does usually have brown sugar and/or honey. However, it is very healthy and filling so eating it as part of a low calorie plan isn't out of the question.)
One thing I did when I started was read the Fitday's of the successful people on here...they gave me ideas of things I could eat and still be satisfied. It helps a TON when you start to realize there is a great variety of good food out there. Another thing I did was "retrain" my taste buds. I convinced myself I liked things that I never really liked before (asparagus, sweet potatoes, squash, mushrooms, and spinach to name a few).
Don't fret! You have time to get this right. The weight will come off!
I do looooooove sweetened milky tea. mmMmmMmMmMMMmMmMm
Let's see....
7am - Myoplex shake, prepared with water - 280cal today I made it with whole milk that added 281cal...yeesh
10am - Oatmeal - 250cal - I could cut my portion here easily
Sweetened milky tea - 250cal - bye~bye, sweetened milky tea!
1pm - Turkey and cheese sandwich on wheat - 330cal - I could cut out cheese and mayo and use natural non-processed turkey
Baby Carrots and Tomatoe slices - 60cal
4pm - fruity snack for work out - 80cal
8pm - Dinner is usually something not too terribly bad but nowhere near "good"
I do drink a ton of water which should count for something. *sigh*
You posted while I was typing my previous....just wanted to add a couple of things...
I don't know what a Myoplex shake is...but a Slimfast Optima shake (Cappucinno Delight is really good) is 190 calories and VERY filling.
My oatmeal is only 150 cals per serving...are you having the instant "sugary" kind or are you eating extra portions? This might be a good place to start. Making your own oatmeal is really quick and can be just as good with brown sugar and cinnamon. 2 tsp brown sugar is only 30 cals. Another thing I LOVE is to slice an apple into the bottom of my oatmeal pot, add cinnamon and brown sugar (or Splenda) and a touch of water. Cook until apples are completely tender and then add the water for the oatmeal. Bring to boil. Add oatmeal and cook until finished. YUMMY and FILLING for 270 calories.
No suggestions on the tea....unless it would be Splenda and Evaporated Skim?
Try turkey on a 50 cal La Tortilla Factory whole wheat wrap instead of bread. Maybe instead of mayo and cheese you could use one wedge of the Laughing Cow Light Swiss? Would give you the creamy of the mayo and the cheesy of the cheese for only 35 cals.
I'm not seeing any vegetables to speak of. This is something I had to WORK at as anyone who ever read the "are you committed" thread can attest. I had a VERY hard time making myself eat them. But they are EXCELLENT at filling you up, healthy, have fiber benefits, and are low cal (depending on preparation). I now regularly eat many vegetables during the day. I'll saute mushrooms (is that a veggie) onions, green pepper, and maybe squash to put in a wrap with egg or egg white for breakfast. I'll roast asparagus and have it with sweet potato fries for lunch sometimes with a veggie burger patty (love the Spicy Black Bean variety) but sometimes just with tomato slices or cottage cheese. Dinner is generally an altered version of everything I used to make. Tonight we're having loaded potatoes...mine will be prepared with Laughing Cow wedge and sauteed spinach and garlic.
I know I am wordy but I feel your pain and just wanted to offer some encouragement (I hope) and some tips.
Keep trying, you'll find what you love and what you can make work for you.
Last edited by royalsfan1; 05-17-2007 at 04:44 PM.
jayjay55~ Who knew granola was so fattening? This irritates me to no end. My uncle and his wife, who have always been thin, eat granola every day for breakfast. HA! This reminds me of when we were kids and thin we had these tiny glass parfait bowls that we used for jello and such (still much too big for a single serving). When my aunt and uncle came to visit they used those for cereal bowls. We laughed so hard. "Those aren't cereal bowls." To which they responded, "They should be." Guess who's still trim and guess who's got fat? DoH!
royalsfan1 ~ That's a great idea reading the FitDay's of successful people. I'm just starting to read labels and am horrified at some of the crap I eat...not to mention feed my family. I could cry. You're such a peach. Thanks for the encouragement.
SoulBliss~ I'm Southern. I like it fried. Throw the whole lot of it in a pastry shell and fry the bugger. I don't care what it is.
Most nights we eat grilled or baked chicken with a salad (homemade ranch dressing, of course!) and roasted new potatoes. Then there are the salisbury steak, mashed potato and corn-baked-in-butter nights with rolls.
For the record...I never wondered HOW I got to Chunksville...I just wondered WHEN and WHY?
I'm assuming that you're buying this granola? If you make it at home you will have control over what goes into it. You can get by with lots less oil/sweetner, and avoid all the preservatives the commercial brands have (not to mention HFCS!) But no matter how you cut it, granola is a calorie dense food.
As for the tea, how about moving to skim milk and splenda? You don't have to do it "cold turkey" but maybe switch first to NF evaporated milk, then switch the sugar over to splenda (depending on how much sugar we're talking here - a tsp of sugar is only like 18 cals). I drink a fair amount of tea with milk, but only a couple of TBSP of skim and no sweetner.
Adding lots of fruits and veggies will help cut down your calories, and fill you up too. Check out the Whole Foods Lifestyle thread for more ideas about this. You can eat healthy and lose weight.
My Healthy Diet is keeping me FAT!!
It doesn't help when drinking a cup of tea (evap milk and sugar, of course) adds 250 calories. 300 for my sandwich and 200 for the granola added to my yogurt. Kriminey! 
