My current dinner habit okay?
 

I'm loving the Smart Ones Fettucini Alfredo w/broccoli and it contains 240 calories. I've had it for dinner every night the past week but now I'm thinking that I shouldn't be eating that much pasta if i want to lose weight? Or does the fact that the calories are low counter the fact that I'm eating carbs?

Thx

as long as you are burning more calories than you are taking in its fine

Seems kind of low for dinner- do you supplement a salad on the side or something? It's only 41 grams of carbs, not too bad as it is.

I generally eat the Fettucini and then eat like an apple or grapes for dessert an hour later.

For breakfast I either have Special K or Cheerios with skim milk and an apple and then for lunch I've been having a toasted wheat english muffin with low fat cream cheese and jelly. Plus lots of water throughout the day.

I dont see a problem with eating that for dinner but i do think that maybe you should add a salad with your dinner. Sounds like it wouldnt hurt if you consumed a few more calories throughout the day. But like nitenurse said its calories in vs calories out just make sure you are eating enough. Not eating enough imo is just as bad as eating too much. Good Luck.

This is overall what is important. Having it for dinner isnt the problem, but overall your day is low in calories, high in refined carbohydrates and nearly devoid of vegetables. Weight loss aside, it just isnt very healthy for a day in day out kind of thing. But I am only seeing about 900 calories here.

Just sounds like very low protein for your whole day. If you start to notice that you are hungrier I would add in lean protein.

900 calories of processed cereals, muffins, cream cheese and frozen diet meals just doesn't equal the powerful nutrition you need to be your best YOU.

I've dieted like that in the past - nearly IDENTICAL menus. I always lost weight, at first. But, that kind of diet is really hard to stick to. There are very few calories, little protein, little nutrition. My body always eventually rebelled and I would binge. Eventually, I would give up, and regain the weight.

I did that for 20 years. I thought, the only way to lose weight was to starve myself by eating less than 1000 calories a day.

I thought, that I hated being so fat so much I could do ANYTHING, suffer ANYTHING to lose the weight RIGHT AWAY. That kind of thinking dieted me all the way from 140 lbs to 200 lbs.

About 6 years ago, I wanted to lose weight and keep it off. And I completely changed everything. I decided I didn't like being hungry, didn't like foods that didn't make me happy. So, I came up with my own way of eating that I love, has plenty of nutrition and satisfies me.

6 years and 70 lbs later, I am a slender 130 lbs.

You might not be ready to hear this yet, hey, it took me 20 years to figure it out. If you stop by the maintainer's forum though, I don't think you'll find many people that successfully starved themselves thin for the long term.

So, you have to ask yourself - do you want to be thin for 5 minutes? Or do you want to live a slender healthy life forever.

I've never been a big eater. In elementary/middle school my mom would force me to take PB&J to school so that during lunch the lunch aides wouldn't think that she was starving me lol. It was the cheapest thing she could make knowing that I was just going to throw it out.

My problem as of late is that I moved to the suburbs so I haven't been getting in the same walking exercise as when I lived in the city. I recently joined a gym so I'm hoping that will also help shed some pounds.

I never feel too full/hungry with my current "diet". In a way, this IS more of a short term thing. I'm going to Europe with a friend in June and I obviously want to feel comfortable enough with my body where I can throw on a bikini and not feel self conscious. The plane takes off in a little over a month so it's getting to be crunch time.

I do know that there are healthier ways to go about losing weight but this is working for me right now. When I get back from my trip I can worry about maintaining.

I only really was concerned that the carbs from the pasta was anti-diet and that maybe I should quit that. But apparently it's not so I had it last night for dinner! Thanks!

It sounds to me like you were just looking for validation of your current food and diet choices, even though you already know that it isn't a healthy or sustainable way to lose weight. :)

Only you know your body, but even if your hunger levels are naturally low, hopefully you'll reconsider the bigger picture -- your body needs good nutrition to fuel it! I hope you'll come back to Glory87's post and think about her experiences -- there's so much to be gained from listening to people who've been there!

^ I wanted to know if eating pasta is okay when you're trying to lose weight. I know you're supposed to stay away from carbs (bread, pasta, etc...) so I was just inquiring as to if it's impossible to shed pounds while eating carbs but not consuming a lot of calories. I didn't ask whether it was healthy or not. I got my answer though so that's all :)

It's a huge debate: carbs vs. no carbs... I vote for healthy carbs mixed with a healthy diet, and regular exercise. You need carbs for working out. You need protein to build muscle. You need healthy fats to keep the body working properly.

Some people like to cut back on calories and carbs for a short term fix. They (in their eyes) appear thinner. I would venture to say that they do look thinner, short term, since their body ate up a good part of their muscle to whittle away (ok, yes, slight exaggeration) to look "better".

It's ultimately your choice. You could post your question in other sections of this forum and get completely different answers.

But to answer the question initially that I quoted from you... the answer is: No, it is NOT impossible to lose weight while eating carbs. There are MANY people on these forums that eat carbs (possibly more than they ate before?) and lose a significant amount of weight and keep it off. No amount of preaching will change your mind, but, in the end, you'll find an answer that works for you, and you'll find your perfect weight for you.

On a side note... watch out for the sodium in the processed foods. That alone can make or break someone. Good luck with your endeavors! :)

As long as you keep the calories down you can eat whatever you want.

But, if you work with the levels of proteins/carbs/fats you can get an advantage. My advice is to keep the proteins level high and the carb and fat low, but you should still eat enough carbs so your brain can work.