Robin, thanks for your input. I'm actually also going to figure out the calories. As i said, I don't really want to, but i'm still writing everything down so that I can find out what the calorie values are later. I just need time to do it and I don't really have time until probably Wednesday evening to invest in looking up the values.
In the meantime I am definitely weighing and measuring everything else.
to give you an idea of my fruit and veg today:
1 apple at breakfast
1 grapefruit mid-morning snack
lunch had 1 red bell pepper, 1 white onion (med) and 2 celery sticks
still to consume:
50 g blueberries, 50 g raspberries, 1 mandarin
5 carrot sticks
This is a fairly normal day as far as "free" foods goes, but Robin, you are right, nothing in this life is really free (except water? ). Some days I may have an additional apple, possibly 2 more mandarins, and some celery or cucumber.
I know I'll probably be surprised at how many calories that could be, but at the same time I do not eat ANY junk. No fake foods, 100 calorie packs, junk, nothing. This is literally how i snack during the day. It could be worse right?
Robin, thanks for your input. I'm actually also going to figure out the calories. As i said, I don't really want to, but i'm still writing everything down so that I can find out what the calorie values are later. I just need time to do it and I don't really have time until probably Wednesday evening to invest in looking up the values.
This is a fairly normal day as far as "free" foods goes, but Robin, you are right, nothing in this life is really free (except water? ). Some days I may have an additional apple, possibly 2 more mandarins, and some celery or cucumber.
I know I'll probably be surprised at how many calories that could be, but at the same time I do not eat ANY junk. No fake foods, 100 calorie packs, junk, nothing. This is literally how i snack during the day. It could be worse right?
Off the top of my head, that's about 400 calories in free food? And that's WITHOUT the additional apple, cukes and oranges - another close to 200 calories!!!! I think you're justifying it by saying that #1 - you don't eat ANY junk and #2 - it could be worse.
Well of COURSE it could be worse - but it could be better. Not the quality - but the quantity. And that my dear is the problem. You are overfeeding yourself. You are taking in too may calories.
I too snack like that - but I ACCOUNT FOR IT. THAT is the difference.
I know you don't "want" to, but you really don't "want" to be overweight either. You've got to decide which it is you want MORE.
Yep, that's definitely 400+ calories. I just plugged it all into calorie counter, lol, and not counting extra mandarins, apple, or cucumber.
Each of my main meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) are about 300 calories each. Then I snack 200-300 more throughout the day. So basically, you're eating a large extra meal during the day just through snacking.
Those foods are good and healthy for you, but you're taking in more energy than your body uses to keep losing. Those most definitely are NOT free foods.
One more plug for caloriecount.com. If you know the nutrition, as in calories and such are on the food label, you can plug in your own foods. So even if the foods are different, you can just add the foods that you are eating. And fruits and vegetables are the same. That's kind of a pain at first, but once you do it the first time, it will save it for you.
I'm going to count the calories, I really am! I am tracking for now still on my WW program and then will re-enter everything again into another program to get the calories. I don't want to, that's the honest truth, BUT I don't want to stay at 82KG either so I am willing to try it.
And yes, I know these things have calories and I didn't mean it like they don't count - I just meant that before I was aware of how and what I was eating, those 400 cals in fruit and veg were instead probably 1400 in a croissant, 2 lattes and quite possibly some sweets from the sweet jar. That's what I mean by it could be worse
Our food labeling is also not having the same requirements as in the US. So, I don't always have the information, no, that's what I really don't like about the idea of counting calories. In my WW database the information is there already and I rely on that to be correct as long as I measure it out properly. I tend to shy away from products that don't have proper NI anyway, so there shouldn't be anything in my food routine that doesn't have it. It's the time factor, but again, I'll set aside some time on Wednesday evening to plug in what I have.
PinkyPie, though I still whole heartedly believe calorie counting is the way to go - in the meantime, why don't you just reduce your points?????????? Because you do realize you're going to have to cut back the amount of FOOD that you're eating. Whether you want to call it points or calories, it's the FOOD that will have to be changed/reduced/scaled back.
I'm just going to interject here with some corrections. Fruit is most definitely not free in weight watchers. It has a point value.
So do veggies. A lot of veggies ARE free, up to a certain point. For it to be free, it has to be under like 25 calories and have like no fat. And that's for ONE serving, or one weighed out pieces, or whatever. If you eat more, you have to figure out how much you ate, and it usually will cost a point.
Just FYI guys. And I've calculated my calories before, I'm on Weight Watchers as well. I usually eat about 1300 calories a day.
So pinky, are you SURE you're not eating too many points? Because I weigh a heck of a lot more than you, and I just lowered my points value to 27. And that's more than enough food for me. I mean, are you nursing or something? Or do you have a reaaaaaaaaaaaaally strenuous job where you're doing hard labor all day? Cos if not, I can assure you your points needs to be something more like 26 or so a day.
And another thing you can try is A) increase your calories and fat (it may jolt your system into getting off a plateau), and B) I think on the WW section of this website there's thread about the "wendie plan" I believe it's called. It's a plan of changing your point intake every single day to bump your body back into weight loss mode, made by a lady that was presumably in your position.
And another thing you can try is A) increase your calories and fat (it may jolt your system into getting off a plateau),
So pinky, are you SURE you're not eating too many points? Because I weigh a heck of a lot more than you, and I just lowered my points value to 27.
.
I just want to mention here that I think the kind of "plateau" PinkyPie is experiencing is a self induced one - one in which she's taking in too many calories, you even said so yourself. So I don't see how INCREASING calories and fat could possibly "solve" this "plateau".
And really, our bodies/our systems don't need to be JOLTED in order to have weight loss occur. We just have to keep providing our bodies/our systems with a calorie DEFICIT.
Since I'm not familiar with WW I thank you for the info on the "free" foods. What you mentioned seems somewhat more reasonable. I wonder if it's different here then where PinkyPie is.
Our program in NL is different from the US. I don't know why that is, but it is. I am diligently entering my foods into the WW program online and it even gives me the point values. Most fruits are ZERO points, as are most veg. I eat the zero point items. I don't eat any pointed fruits or veg at all, unless it's something exotic like a mango (which are not available at the moment). I definitely enter how many servings of something I eat too. So if I eat 100g of celery that's what I enter (which is ZERO points here). If I have 150g tomatoes (like 2 for example) I enter that. I always enter the total grams because I also like to know for myself that I'm getting ALL servings of fruits and veg.
I am definitely not breast feeding! I do think that my dinner food intake has been too much because I have been counting as "vezadigde portie" which roughly means a straight point value for eating until satisfied. I believe this is my culprit, or at least part of it.
Our points values are different here in NL too. So before the new program I got 22 points. With the new program I have 29, BUT, point values are higher now for certain things. So I could eat the same thing I eat now (roughly) for 22 points back then and I WAS losing weight. This has been just since the program change/ my foot operation / my back injury. I have also increased my exercise, and especially with running I am absolutely ravenous the day after a run (I'm up to 8 - 12 KM average now - yesterday I did 12 KM) and I really have to eat then, which is why I eat mostly lean proteins, fruits and veg as extra points (we have 29 a day, 49 extra a week, so a day after a run I may have 33 points - 29 from my daily and 4 from my extras).
I'm going to check right now in my program if I need to adjust my daily points... BRB...
maandag, 08 maart 2010
Ontbijt
3* tablesppons (75g) Cottage cheese 2
3* crackers Wasa Original Crisp 2,5
1* teaspoon Sambal 0
1*Appel, 0
Subtotaal 4,5
Lunch
4* tablespoons (100g) (cooked) Pasta 3
1* portion (100g) chicken filet 3
1* spoon (5g) Olive Oil 1
1/2 portion (20g) Calve Extra Light Mayo 0,5
1* teaspoon (20g) Mosterd 0
1* portion Red Bell Pepper 0
1* portion (It was 2 sticks) Celery 0
1* portion (it was 1 med white) Onion 0
Subtotaal 7,5
Diner
1* portion (30g) Milner Light Cheese 2
4* tablespoons (100g) white rice 3
1* Dutch New Mexican Chili con Carne 8
Subtotaal 13
Tussendoortjes
1* portion (125g) Greek Yoghurt, 0% v.g. 1
50g blueberries 0
50g raspberries 0
1* Mandarin 0
15g All-Bran Plus 1
100g carrots 0
1* Starbucks Double Short NF Latte 2
1* Grapefruit 0
1* cup of herbal tea 0
Subtotaal 4
Used ProPoints™**waarden 29
Rest ProPoints™**waarden 0
Activity 0
Earned Active ProPoints™ 0
I've highlighted my ZERO fruits and veg here
in RED is the chili we had for dinner - my husband made it and weighed and measured everything out so that I could figure out the points on my program (like down to every last bean, tomato and pepper). I then weighed out EXACTLY the amount that would be a portion, which calculated as 8 points.
I know it's probably hard to read the Dutch gobbledeegook but I'm happy to explain further.
I'm also not sure how to even eat less than I already do now. This is down to the bare bones, especially during the day!
I checked to see if I could recalculate my points based on my height, weight and activity levels and it's still 29/49.
You can re-calculate from today till tomorrow, the bottom line is - you're overfeeding yourself. I'm sorry to keep saying that. Your body is the true determination and guide of what you should eat - not some calculator (or even a WW leader).
And trust me, there IS room to scale back without ever being hungry and with getting all your nutritional needs met.
Sorry, I had a hard time deciphering what you eat, so it's hard for me to make specific suggestions.
OK 29 points = about 1450 calories, which is probably a fine calorie in take for you, however those zero point items will add up.
The apple and the grapefruit and mandarin add about 230 calories, assuming the rest are vegetables they may add another 100 -150 calories, so that's an extra 380 calories a day! This could be the issue, I would try to count at least the fruit for a while and see if that helps the scale move.
Edit: I translated some of those foods and I see you are eating blueberries and raspberries too, which could add another 150 calories(or more) So IMO you biggest problem is that fruit contains a lot of calories and they are adding up!
Robin, please don't apologise for repeating the message!! I do get what you are saying, I'm just trying to figure out WHERE I can scale back (besides my dinners which also need to be weighed and measured). For example it's 10.20am now and I am VERY hungry. I ate my breakfast at 6am. I have to get up around 5am every morning. I am trying to not eat now between breakfast and lunch but I fear it's not going to work (I have a meeting until 12.30, so for me that's really pushing it, from 6am to 12.30 no food).
Where can I scale back??? I updated my food entry post to be in English now, maybe that helps?
Where can I scale back??? I updated my food entry post to be in English now, maybe that helps?
Well,I'm still having a hard time deciphering it.
But from what I can see there's crackers, rice and pasta. ALL very caloric and not all that filling - yes even brown rice and whole wheat pasta. That chilli con carne seems pretty caloric as well. Cheese? You can also get more filling power with few calories elsewhere.
When you're eating fewer calories each and every one REALLY must count in order to stay satiated and meet those nutrition requirements.
*For me* that means veggies, veggies and MORE veggies. Don't turn to rice, pasta and crackers. Veggies, veggies and YES - MORE veggies. Serving sized bowls of them. Think soup - VERY filling and low calorie - for snacks and for a portion of a meal. Think salads as meals. And snacks. Think fish. Think chicken. Think turkey. Don't waste calories on mayonnaise and the such. Think vinegars, broth, lemon juice, spices, herbs, etc. Your Starbucks Latte? Am I seeing that that's 2 points - so upwards of 100 calories? HAve hot tea instead - 100 or more calories saved and you're no more hungry than when you started out.
Be creative. Experiment. Search. Delve. Play around. Kick it up a notch.
The crackers are a replacement for bread. Bread costs me about 2.5 points just for one slice, I get 3 crackers for the same "price".
rice and pasta are, let's see... 3.5oz in us measurements. Do you really think that is too much?
the mayo I checked last night, for the teensy amount I used is about 10 calories.
The Starbucks drink - this is already scaled down from my Triple Tall NF Latte and it's 70 calories for the double short (that's from official NI - I work for the bux )
my lunch is mostly a salad - though I don't always use lettuce or spinach as the leaves. Today for example I had 2 large tomatoes (about 250g) and 50g of shredded carrots. So, you would say MORE here? (I'm open, I love veggies). I had shrimp today instead of chicken. I used 40g of avocado for my "good" fat instead of olive oil and no extra-light mayo.
Soups - I've tried that and I don't actually feel satisfied with soup. I make my own veggie soups usually and the ones that satisfy more have lentils or kidney beans in them (using more calories of course). That said, I'll look for some other soup recipes as well.
I do use vinegar (white wine or balsamic), lemon juice, loads of herbs and spices (Sambal is a spicey paste - the amount I used I calculated last night at about 3 calories). I never use more than 20g of the extra-light mayo IF I use it at all. I love mustard, so I use that often, but no more than about 15g because I love the sharp stuff.
OK admittedly the cheese i probably didn't need, it was more of a want. I had already decided to skip any light creme fraiche (light sour cream I guess you have in the States) and go only with 1 30g serving of light sharp cheese for my chili. This is probably the only cheese I eat all week except when we have home made spaghetti (sauce that has been WW'erd as well). I don't do well with milk-products anyway, so cheese is just every once in a while no more than 1 serving.
The chili is made with only the leanest beef and kidney beans, some olive oil and the rest veggies. DH took my recipe and then changed it to a WW recipe.
OK - with all that I'm still rethinking everything. I don't often feel satiated - this is my biggest issue, hence why I like to bulk up my meals a wee bit with pasta or rice. I have done it with no pasta or rice and loads more veggies and i was losing, but that was on the old program, not the one we are on now. So I'll do that, at least, go back to a few more veggies and no rice or pasta in my lunch and that should help a bit.
). Some days I may have an additional apple, possibly 2 more mandarins, and some celery or cucumber.
I'm going to count the calories, I really am! I am tracking for now still on my WW program and then will re-enter everything again into another program to get the calories. I don't want to, that's the honest truth, BUT I don't want to stay at 82KG either so I am willing to try it.
)