[ledom]

Laura, I bought the new fall issue of Vegetarian Times yesterday. There are a couple of great looking recipes for vegetable side dishes and one for kale and potatoes that I hope to be trying soon.

I went ahead and ordered some of the Beverly International products. I am so pleased w/ their protein powder called Muscle Provider in chocolate flavor. I haven't been much of one for shakes, but it is so chocolatey, really tasty. Reviews on the quality of the protein are very good too. On the Kashi bars, very yummy. The only problem is that I started having a problem with them in the house, actually all bars. They were tempting me too much so they have been banned for the time being.

Brit good luck as you return to school. Are you in a dorm or will you have access to a kitchen so you can prepare meals for yourself? I watch my daughter struggle w/ the challenges of eating right w/ only a small fridge and a microwave at her disposal plus the temptaion of cafeteria food. I know it is hard.

Did shoulders (about 20 minutes) and 20 minutes of the treadmill this a.m. I tried something new on the tread - speed as opposed to a higher incline for the cardio effect. I think I'll do this for a while just to change things up a bit.

[LKTS]

Ledom, thanks for the feedback on the Kashi bars. I'll have to try a few if I see them in a store. I often like the recipes in Vegetarian Times and I think it's a nice magazine.

Today is a running day although it may be after dinner depending on DH's schedule. I've had such trouble sticking to my schedule that I may have to forget about the 5k next month and look for another one later in the fall. I have a walk/hike/run scheduled for Sunday with a friend in a local park which I'm really looking forward to.

[BfL_Cat]

Hello everyone - just thought I'd pop in from lurking and say "Hi!".

About the frozen dinners - just look for at the nutrition label for those which have about equal grams of protein and carbs in them. You'll be surprised to find there aren't many that fit that criteria, although maybe with this whole national "low-carb" craze, they've wised up about that.

LC Chicken Marsala, Glazed Chicken, Oven Roasted Beef, Salisbury Steak, Roasted Turkey & Veggies, and Three Cheese Chicken are some that fit the bill - I just looked up the nutritional values on their website. However, several of these only have about 15gms of protein in them (the average women has around 20-25g per meal), so be aware that you'll probably still be hungry after eating one of these!

About bars - I've gotten back into the bar habit for meal 4 lately, but it's because I've been fighting chocolate cravings lately, and I figure if the bar can satisfy that, then it's better than the vending machine alternative. However, I know they aren't the best nutritionally, and hope to wean myself back off them.

Hope you all are having a great weekend! Ledom, glad to hear you enjoyed your trip. When does school start?
Cindy

[Jennifer 3FC]

The only frozen dinners I personally have seen that fit the requirements are the Chicken/Beef stir fry packages. I think it is made by Birds Eye. 15 carbs/protein for each serving, but the servings are small so I eat 1.5 servings, which gives me about 22 g per serving.

I've been eating some really boring stuff! I HAVE to start cooking from the EFL book before I go out of my mind. Maybe I should just bring it to the grocery store with me, then I'll be sure to get the right ingredients.

[ledom]

Good morning- Cindy and Jennifer, good to hear from you two. Cindy, I started back to work on Friday. Classes start on Wed. I think I am ready.

Jennifer I have often thought of taking my cookbook along to the store. Good luck figuring out some interesting food. I eat a lot of the same things over and over, but w/in those things I do have to rotate or I start to get really tired of the food.

I had a good weight loss week last week, I am going down the scale slowly but surely. I am trying to keep my nose to the grindstone about getting every workout in and the food clean. Sat. is my official free day and I take full benefit of it. Along about Wed. I start thinking about what I want to have and by Sun. morning I am ready to get back on program. It all seems to be working.

Hope everyone has a super week.

[brittyboo07]

Hey all!!!

Ok so i have to say my first week well it basically sucked lmao. I didnt stick with anything that much. So i have to get on track. I know that the first two weeks are the worst when your getting into a new routine like this and if i can have a great two weeks then it shouldnt be to hard after that. So Im gonna get back up and start over. I had a great first day and the rest of the week just seemed to go down hill.

I have to start getting up early for school anyway so it once i get used to that it shouldnt be that big of a deal. By the way i dont live on campus so i have access to my kitchen and can cook what i need. Its just finding the time right now!

Ok so I see that i should be having 20-25grams of protein per meal and i will look at those from LC that you saw Cindy i only plan on using this for lunch maybe two days during the week because it makes it more simple for work. Also if there arent enough grams of protein then i can always add something. But i wont be having them over two days just because while they might be healthier than somethings i know they still arent the most healthy. Im gonna go look up the Healthy Choice web page and see what i can find. Also im gonna look and see if i can find some kind of bar that i might be able to eat for snack time also i didnt make it to the GNC store this weekend to get anything to try so ill see what i can find at walmart.


Ledom you said classes start this week are you a teacher? Thats what my major is Elem. Education. I start back a week from monday! Im actually ready for it. Well i have some things i need to finish up talk with you all tomorrow.

Brittnye

[LKTS]

Well, I planned my meals for this next week and went shopping today, so I'm feeling pretty good with that. I'm really just starting with the 'one protein food, one carb food' idea and not calculating exact grams of everything yet. I figure I'll get into a routine and then start analyzing and perfecting things later!

[ledom]

Britt good luck on getting on track. I think what you say is very true about one good day leading to another. That has been my experience as well as vice versa, one bad day can lead to another. If you can muscle through at first, it does get easier. Yes, I teach in the art department of a small southern liberal arts university. I love it. My DD attends the same school and yesterday I was helping her move. I saw some of my students from last year moving in as well, the school year has begun. I didn't feel old until my D became a student where I teach!

Laura, great job getting prepared. On one of these boards I read a slogan that has been my mantra lately, "When you fail to plan, you plan to fail." The beauty of BFL is that you don't have to count calories, grams, etc. I don't generally, every once in a while I record in fitday to get an idea of how I am doing, but when you figure out your serving sizes, BFL is like dieting on cruise control.

[brittyboo07]

Morning all!!!

Im sitting here waitin for the phone guy so i thought i would just hop on and say hi. Im sure im gonna have plenty of time they gave me a time of 8-12 that they would be here.

Ledom that is so cool that you teach in the art department. I myself am not really an art person as far as me doing it lol i would rather look at somthing someone else did lol. Anywho i have decided to pick one thing to really work on this week out of the things i need the most work on and if i have a great week with that then i will get a reward I have decided to work on water first. So if i drink my daily suggested amount of water for the whole week i think i will buy myself some clothing item since school starts next week.

Anyway i got some things at the grocery store last night and plan to have a great day im fixing to get myself a glass of water also.

LKTS i totally agree with how your approaching this. It is something to get used to thats for sure making sure you have a protein and carb at each meal even snacks. So just take it day by day and then really jump into it.

I hope that everyone is doing great and ill talk to everyone later.

Brittnye

[LKTS]

Ledom and Brittnye, thanks for the comments. So far I am feeling a lot more lively and less tired, so I think that the protein is really making a difference. No big weight loss as yet, but I haven't been POP for a whole week yet either...

[BellaNordica]

Hello everybody! I basically just joined the site to get a bit of a community feeling when it comes to EFL.

I just ran across it last weekend and this week has been my first. Now, I was doing something very similar but which involved constant calorie counting which is just not for me! The number adding was driving me nuts!

Well, I ordered the book from Amazon.com and it would take another week for it to get here...in the meanwhile I don't want to lose the motivation, plus, I don't really have a lot of info apart from the general guidelines I found on the official EFL page. Guess that's why I'm here.

I am a recently turned 30 female, 154 now, going towards 130, the longterm goal is 14% BMI and a sixpack
We'll see...

[LKTS]

Welcome, Bella! I know that there's a lot of info on the official BFL website as well as other sites, so I'm sure you can get a good idea until you get the book.

My NSV for the day: I woke up tired and cranky due to a late night and being awakened by the trash truck, which reminded me I forgot to put out the trash! Instead of hitting Starbucks and not bringing any food to work, I got dressed, went downstairs, and made my breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner. Since I have a night class about 25 miles away after work, I won't be home till late so if I hadn't gotten everything together I would have had to resort to junk food. So I'm pretty proud of myself.

[BellaNordica]

Laura, good job! I'd be proud of myself too!

It's nearly 9 pm here in Spain and I still got my last cottage cheese meal to go before I go to bed, sadly the latter also means that I have to wait another for 2 hours! I don't know if it's me, but I have been outrageously hungry this week, really really hope it's normal...

A small question, is there any daily fruit limitation? Also, how big is a CC portion? Unfortunately you can only get a 4% cc here in this country so I'm really not sure how it affects the portion size...

And hey, remember that garbage tomorrow

[LKTS]

Bella, it always takes me a long time to adjust when I decrease my food intake (unfortunately not so much the other way! ) So I'm not surprised you're hungry, although if it's really bad maybe you're not eating enough.

I don't think there's a limit on fruit, just that you need to count it as a carb due to the sugar. I usually go for 1/2-3/4 c of CC as a serving, but that's just based on my 'fist' estimation.

Unfortunately the trash only gets picked up once a week, and it was recycling week too, which is only every two weeks, so there'll be some extra stuff in the garage until the next time!

[brittyboo07]

Afternoon Girls!!

First things first welcome Bella you will fit in just fine here! I have fruit every day. Its one thing that i love to eat and i missed when i was on a low carb diet. So i was so excited that i was able to have fruit. Right now im on an apple kick lol. I usually have my fruit as a snack with cheese normally so that i get my protein in. Its really important to make sure you eat all your meals so that you dont feel as hungry and i usually get hungry every 3 hrs or so now since i eat 6 meals a day well actually 5 most of the time i tend to not have the last meal.

Laura~
LOL about the trash but hey it happens right. Also thats great you made your meals for the day i know all about not having the time but we do it anyway huh lol.

Now an update on me for this week....
Well my "friend, aunt flow, time of the month" whatever you want to call it arrived this week so as you can imagine that is trying to mess with my first week. Now i tend to gain a pound or two during this time so im not gonna even weigh myself since that will be off. But im trying to stay on plan as much as possible food wise. I wont be getting my reward for the week cause well my water intake is really bad this week. My exercise is also a little off this week i havent done my weights but i did do my cardio yesterday on the treadmill so i will try my best to do my weights tonight when i get home. I have to make myself get my act together and get on this program 100% im really into it mentally i just have to make myself do it physically lol if that makes sense.

Well i have a few things to finish up here at the office talk with you girls later. Everyone have a great night!

Brittnye