Whole Foods Lifestyle - Daily Menus - Week of 4/23

Ahh, bright and early on a new week...don't we all just LOVE Monday mornings? :p

I have been on a mini vacation the past few days--spent Wednesday night through Friday night at my sister's in Va Beach, then had a birthday celebration for my fiance and his cousin at Dave and Buster's on Saturday, then has a PartyLite party to attend yesterday, plus our air conditioning broke, and even with 3 fans going, it was freakishly hot in our apartment, so we extended Jeff's birthday celebration to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner last night. So now, back down to business...

As I sit here trying to keep my eyes propped open, I'm thinking here's my plan for the day:

pbj sandwich (natural peanut butter, strawberry spread, and whole-grain sugar-free bread)
glass of skim milk
orange and/or tangerine (someone at work gave me a tangerine on Wednesday--I'll have it if it's still good)
Cheesecake Factory leftovers
turkey burgers w/bacon and Swiss on wheat buns
100-calorie ice cream barRight now, all I want to do is go back to bed, but I will try to at least get in a quick walk at lunchtime or something. I need to get my butt up and moving again.

I have as always started my day out well, and am planning for success for the rest of day.

Food plan for today
* Protein shake(chocolate) before gym
* hard boiled egg, oatmeal with br. sugar
* turkey touredo(basically turkey with bacon wrapped around it),and green salad/ with balsalmic dressing
* granny smith apple with peanut butter
* roast beef with cooked veggie, maybe some brown rice
* maybe an almonds and orange or fruit before 7pm.
Did only a partial workout(cardio only) and hope to get back to gym later fro LBW.
Have a great day!:D

B - Organic Buck wheat cereal, lactose free milk, flax seeds, raisins
L - Thai veggie soup. One piece of bread with butter
D - Spelt spaghetti, locally produced sausage. Zucchini and cucumber. Ketchup.

I have a hard time getting in my fruit everyday, I have to work on that.

Monday

B - 2 Kashi waffles, 1 with natural peanut butter, 1 with cherry butter

S - 1/2 package of strawberries

L - comfort food - grilled cheese/tomato sandwich on whole grain and 8 oz tomato soup

S - tangelo

S - cut up veggies

D - stir fry - ginger, onions, garlic, carrots, sh.itake mushrooms, orange peppers, broccoli, spinach with black bean sauce, over brown rice

Glory - have to tell you I made that leek/chickpea/spinach soup on Sat and it was soooo good! I used fresh spinach, and while I put in a leek, I think an onion would do just as well. We had it for dinner Sat night, and I had it for lunch today, and will for a couple other days this week. I let it cook for several hours so it's almost stew thickness. Oh ya, had a few left over green beans, so they went in too.

B: oatmeal w/1% milk, .5 oz raisins, 1 oz walnuts, ww toast
S: scone - whoops....
L: Glory's soup, 1/2 turkey wrap (ww tortilla), small apple
S: Cottage cheese w/raspberries
D: salmon patty, brown rice, veggie

Breakfast~ 2 ww sourdough pancakes (leftover from weekend), 1T maple syrup (maybe not so good, but yummy), 1/2 cup low-fat plain yogurt, & 1 sm mandarin orange
Lunch~ 2 black bean enchiladas (made with ww tortillas and homemade sauce)
Snack~ Dark chocolate (TOM coming...)
Dinner~ The plan is lentil-barley stew, but I'm so tired today so I'm not sure (it takes 90 mins to make)

I'm looking at this thinking, "wow I'm eating bad today." Yikes! I'll make sure I do better tomorrow.

Breakfast~ Uncle Sam cereal with blueberries and soymilk
Snack~ ww tortilla with pb and banana
Lunch~ Smoke salmon sandwhich on whole rye bread with avocado and sprouts, plus 2 small mandarin oranges
Snack~ Apple and light cheddar cheese
Dinner~ Lentil-Barley Stew and low-fat coleslaw (I didn't make the stew last night, but I'm going to make it tonight regardless of how tired I am!)

Well, we ended up hitting Dairy Queen last night, but other than that, it was a good day for me. Today's plan:

pbj sandwich
glass of skim milk
oatmeal
burrito bowl
chicken breast tenderloins in honey dijon marinade w/bacon and Swiss cheese, served over rice (or maybe on wheat buns as sandwiches...we shall see)
brownies (I baked a pan of brownies for the office and have been pretty good so far--only had 2. I made sure to put them FAR from my desk since last time I kept a treat at my desk for everyone, I ended up eating half, if not more :devil: )

Tuesday

B - 2 Kashi waffles, 1 with apriocot jam, 1 with cherry butter

S - 1/2 package of strawberries, 1 low fat string cheese

L - big salad - dark greens, turkey, dried cranberries, walnuts, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, beets, red pepper strips, whatever else looks good on the salad bar, low fat ginger vinaigrette dressing

S - tangelo

S - tall non fat sugar free latte

S - cut up veggies

D - stir fry - ginger, onions, garlic, carrots, sh.itake mushrooms, orange peppers, broccoli, spinach, tomato with black bean sauce, over brown rice

Hey WaterRat, glad you liked the soup! it is definitely one of my favorites :)

B - 1/2 cup Kashi Go lean mixed with 1/2 cup Fiber one and 1/2 cup skim milk
S- baby carrots and some grapes
L - 3 cups cooked cauliflower and 1 Morning Star Farms Chick Pattie
S- sliced apple sprinkled with cinnamon
D - Spaghetti squash with sauteed onions, red pepper, portabello mushrooms and some marinara sauce.
S - if need be and lately it IS needed - 60 calorie fat free/sugar free ice cream. I just found these and they're pretty good.

RR - I just watch your ticker with amazement, down to 165 already. I still want to see pics!!!!

Breakfast~ 3/4c Uncle Sam Cereal, 1 cup sliced strawberries, 1/2c soy milk
Snack~ 1c sugar snap peas & 3/4oz of light cheddar
Lunch~ leftover Lentil-Barley stew
Snack~ large banana
Dinner~ TBD

Wednesday

B - 2 Kashi waffles, 1 with natural peanut butter, 1 with cherry butter

S - package of blackberries

L - *edit* I was going to get a salad but everything on the bar looked blah blah blah. I ended up getting a cup of lentil soup and half a turkey sandwich on whole grain with spicy mustard, lettuce, tomato and onion

S - tangelo

S - tall non fat sugar free latte

S - cut up veggies

D - the last of the stir fry - ginger, onions, garlic, carrots, sh.itake mushrooms, orange peppers, broccoli, spinach, tomato with black bean sauce, over brown rice

Wednesday
B-1egg, 1pc ww toast, 2 slices turkey ham
S-banana, tea
L-refried beans, sprinkle of cheese, salsa, 1 corn tortilla
S-yogurt, strawberries, sprinkle of Kashi 'grapenuts'
D-ww pasta e/ peas, carrots, onion, garlic and sparing parm cheese
S-baked apple

Oh, golly, can I keep it together today. It's been a hard week so far.

B: 1.5 scrambled eggs (3 total - split with DH) with asparagus; 1/2 ww eng muffin, lf cream cheese

S: ff latte

L: large spinach salad (tomato, avocado, black beans, ff dressing) apple

S: cottage cheese with raspberries

D: Out with GFs to Mexican - chicken enchilada salad

Dinner ended up being an omelet (one egg + 2 whites) with broccoli, mushrooms, avocado, and salsa. With whole grain bread (toasted~dry) on the side.

Yesterday = disaster. On to Thursday :dizzy:

fresh strawberries, fat free chocolate milk
oatmeal
pbj sandwich
100 calorie pack of mini carrot cake muffin thingies
pasta (either whole wheat or Barilla Plus) w/tomato sauceThis is an interesting menu today because I was running late this morning and ended up leaving home without breakfast OR lunch. Knowing that going out for lunch would be a disaster, I stopped at a grocery store on my way in and got a loaf of my bread (whole wheat, sugar free, 50 cals per slice, no artificial preservatives, colors, or flavors), a jar of sodium free natural peanut butter, a jar of all natural strawberry fruit spread, a 12 ounce container of cleaned up whole strawberries from the produce section (the cream cheese dip on the shelf right next to it looked amazing, but I ran away quickly :devil: ), a small bottle of chocolate milk, and a box of Hostess 100 calorie carrot cake packs. I know the last 2 items are not the best ever, but I also know it could have been much worse. I'm going to try to pawn some of the carrot cakes off on others so I don't end up eating the whole box (6 packs = 600 calories).

Ooh, on second glance at the ingredients, I may try to pawn off ALL of the carrot cakes on others (I expected to see the sugar and enriched white flour high in the ingredients, but they also contain partially hydrogenated oils AND HFCS plus "animal shortening" and regular corn syrup--I see about 10 different terms for "sugar" :dizzy: ). I really don't need them anyway--the chocolate milk and strawberries are plenty of sweets for my morning (I'm going to keep telling myself this...).

I'm going to post yesterday's food for your perusal. I haven't gathered up everything I'd like to have in my kitchen, but it's coming.

I made my whey shake with coffee and sf chocolate syrup
snack- yogurt with all bran
supper- salmon, very green salad and ff cotage cheese
snack- a fluffy biscuit (oops)
snack- baby carrots and cheerios

Now that I've typed that out, I see a few lackings.

Thursday

B - 2 Kashi waffles, 1 with natural peanut butter, 1 with cherry butter

S - 1/2 big package of strawberries, dipped into low fat organic maple yogurt

L - salad bar from downstairs - dark greens, grilled chicken, almonds, cranberries, cherry tomatoes, beets, carrots, red pepper strips, chickpeas

S - tangelo

S - cut up veggies

D - home made pasta sauce - tomatoes, mushrooms, morning star farms veggie crumbles, basil, red cooking wine, onions, garlic, served over whole wheat pasta

Thursday Menu :) :)

Breakie-
1 egg
1 potato
1 link turkey sausage
Milk

snack-
handful of cahews



Lunch-
Homemade chicken chili
2 mini WW pita


Dinner-
Big ceasar salad (romaine, spinach, carrots)
2 eggs
1 slice WW bread
1 pear


Water:2 liters!!! Yeah!!!

Breakfast~ 1c low-fat Greek yogurt, 1/4c pumpkin puree, 1t brown sugar, 1/2t cinnamon, & 6T of Uncle Sam Cereal (all mix together)
Snack~ small ww tortilla, 1/2T natural peanut butter, & 1/2 banana
Lunch~ Sandwich on whole rye bread (avocado, mustard, sprouts, & mushrooms) & low-fat coleslaw
Snack~ light string cheese & 3 small mandarin oranges
Dinner~ ww pizza & salad
Snack~ 2 small squares of dark chocolate

Man, I don't know what is wrong with me, but I'd better figure it out soon. I have such good intentions, but then it's just binge after binge after binge to the point where I don't even feel sick, but that my stomach actually hurts.

Anyway, can't do anything about it now but keep trying, so here's my attempted menu for today:

smoothie (frozen banana, natural peanut butter, vanilla protein powder, skim milk)
Kashi oatmeal
tortilla w/guacamole (don't have my other burrito ingredients prepared, but want to use up that guac before it goes bad!)
pbj sandwich
dinner is TBD, as I'm meeting a friend out at Glory Days (her pick)--no nutritional info on their website, but a handful of entree salads to choose from

Hey Jilly - where are you getting the binge food? Is it possible to get it away from you? Here are some anti-binge tricks that worked for me:

1. Brush your teeth when you feel the cravings come on, personally, I can't stand to eat with toothpaste mouth
2. Put gum in your mouth
3. Call somebody, friend/mom, just get chatting
4. Leave the house (or go to the house, if that's safer)
5. Come post here
6. Look at before pictures, look at goal clothing
7. Force yourself to write down the calorie count of whatever you are holding before you take a bite
8. Tell yourself, if you eat it, you'll have to be accountable and write down everything you ate (sometimes, just knowing I have to write it down will stop me from eating it)
9. Confuse the craving - if you crave something sweet, eat a pickle
10. Try to fill the craving with low cal stuff, huge bag of carrots with fat free ranch dip

I have definitely been there! Your menu is very "carby" (aside from the protein powder and a little protein in the peanut butter), I know you arent a big vegetable fan, but what about stuff like hard boiled eggs or low fat string cheese or low fat cottage cheese, turkey or tuna sandwich instead of peanut butter sandwich? I am very sensitive to carbs and they can trigger binges in me (where I just want more and more). For me, there is something about peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, they are SO GOOD TO ME. If I eat one, I usually think another would be good.

Friday
*update* Well, I forgot my strawberries and orange on the counter this morning. Luckily, I had left some veggies in the frig at work, so at least I had those. Updated with what I did eat.

B - 2 Kashi waffles, 1 with natural peanut butter, 1 with cherry butter

S - Fruit cup from downstairs - mandarin oranges, raspberries, apple slices, walnuts (pretty good)

L - big salad - dark greens, turkey, dried cranberries, steamed broccoli, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, beets, red pepper strips, whatever else looks good on the salad bar, low fat ginger vinaigrette dressing

S - banana

S - cut up veggies

D - dinner at a nice restaurant with a friend who is celebrating her condo purchase. There will probably be wine and dessert, not to mention something fabulous for dinner. Will try to resist the siren call of the bread basket. Weekly planned treat meal!

Thanks for the tips, Glory. I'm not really very carb sensitive, so I don't worry about all that very much, and my peanut butter is so *blah* (it's the natural, salt-free kind, plus I pour the oil that sits at the top down the drain--I don't even like it enough to eat it out of the jar without additional ingredients). And here I planned for a tortilla with guacamole and didn't even remember to bring it to work with me!

Anyway, I know it's all a mental thing--I get the food for binges because I specifically seek it out. I make no attempts to avoid it--I hit Wendy's on my way home from work (even though it physically means turning in a different direction than my usual way home from work, so I'm literally going out of my way to get it), I buy boxes of snack cakes when I stop at the grocery store for something healthy, etc. It's not even cravings, really--just an insatiable desire to EAT. Even if I choose healthier foods, I just completely gorge myself. I made Barilla Plus pasta last night and had a very small serving and didn't want any more (there is a ton left over), yet this morning, I had to talk myself out of hitting the McD's breakfast value menu (actually, all I wanted really was their greasy sausage patties with cheese-could live fine without the hash browns or English muffin/bagel).

Hmm...maybe that's the key. Maybe I don't need to focus on avoiding carbs, but rather on avoiding greasier/fattier foods. I think that's what I'm really after--the fast food (always the burgers, never the fries), the cheesecake, the melted cheese on everything, etc. You know, when we go out for breakfast, I NEVER order pancakes or waffles or anything, but I do seek out eggs smothered in cheese and sausage. Out for dinner, I'm fine without fries or potatoes with my dinner as long as I can have that big burger with bacon and cheese and mayo (and maybe some fried onion straws :devil: ).

Thanks for making me think :)

I too have been there Jilly. I spent most of my 20's there and all of my 30's and a couple of years into my 40's there.

How about you try the write it you bite it rule? And really, really stick to it. Right down every little bite that you eat and next to it a calorie count. The good and the bad. Forget Fitday, just a simple notebook. It's a start.

I also know for me when I first started this new lifestyle, I knew I was going to be craving things and wanting to eat - well just because. I started a simple, simple journal. I listed all the reasons why I wanted to lose the weight, really, really specific. Health reasons, seeing my kids get married reasons, playing with unborn grandchildren reasons, clothing. fitness level. I also made a list of what the weight was holding me back from and how getting it off would help me. I wrote in there my future hopes and dreams and goals. Whenever I felt the urge to eat no matter how often, I would go read this journal and add in more stuff. It was so helpful to me in the beginning. I still head back to it. I also keep my weekly weigh-ins in there. When I started getting some compliments I wrote the really good ones in there as well. I would even write down how I felt when I got the compliments. I wanted to remember just how good it felt for when the hard times come and I want to eat - well just because. It has become so very valuable to me.

Breakfast~ 3/4c Uncle Sam Cereal, 2T raisins, 1/2c soy milk, & coffee
Snack~ 2 rye crackers with 1oz lite chevre & 1 small mandarin orange
Lunch~ Black bean burrito (ww tortilla, salsa, no cheese) & salad with carrots
Snack~ Banana
Dinner~ New recipe for Caribbean rice and beans (pintos, brown rice, tomatoes, lime juice, & cloves plus a few other ingredients I'm forgetting) & steamed broccoli

I think I'll post here sometimes...Hope I'm welcome. I try to eat whole foods!

B: Cream of wheat with lactaid skim milk

L: A pear and a Flatout wrap with turkey, cucumbers, tomatoes, pineapple, lettuce, and cranberry honey mustard

D: Low carb/low cal wrap with chicken, salsa, pepper and onion veggie mix, and fajita seasoning; also, an orange

Not sure what tomorrow will bring. Breakfast and lunch will likely be the same. Dinner might be a teriyaki shrimp wrap and sweet potato oven fries -- I've been into that meal lately.

Saturday
B: 3/4c cottage cheese w/1T almonds, 1/2 mango, coffee w/milk
S: guacamole, cucumbers
L: medium Quizno's sub, salad w/dressing
S: 4 oz turkey, 2 pickles
D: chicken strips (unbreaded), salad w/dressing, chips, salsa, 2 glasses of wine
E: 4 miles on bike

Sunday
B: 1/2 cucumber, 1/4c salsa-guac, 1 pc peanut butter toast, 2c coffee w/milk
D: 1/3-lb burger w/cheese, onions, bun from Fuddrucker's ... side of vegetables