Lots of people lose faster, but I'm learning not to think of it as a race, not to be in any kind of a hurry. It would probably be frustratingly slow for some people, but for me learning to be patient has been a key to sustaining my weight loss for so long. I have never stayed with a plan as long as 17 months, and I've never lost as much as 75 pounds.
It's meant a plan that is a little less strict, a little less all-or-nothing. It's meant accepting that sometimes I'm going to choose having a couple of martinis, or overeating that one wonderful weekend meal, over seeing a loss on the scale that week. I've convinced myself to view those conscious choices as just fine, not a failure of will and not falling off the wagon, and not excuses to cast my whole plan out the window and fall face-first into the cassoulet.
That's EXACTLY where my head is too, and I think it's a healthy place. it's worked for 32lbs so far, so it will continue to work, I figure. yay for you!
I'm currently a stay at home mom, but now that my youngest is in K'garten, I'm looking to jump back in ( a few resumes out). For now, I eat when I want to eat and waht I want to eat. Going back to work will be a challenge. it's where I failed the last two times I lost weight and regained (changed jobs in the middle of a faster weight loss).
So, like now, I drink that shake in the morning (all I can handle), and then around 10 am I make the eggs. Can't do that if I'm working. We'll see how it goes - baby steps.
But I love what you say and I'm living my life that way now too.... I just have to watch those simple carbs because of blood sugar issues, but those I'm finding, are surprisingly easy to work around too, without reverting to fake sugars much either.
It's been a very busy week at work, so food isn't too fancy. Today I had
B: cup of coffee with coconut milk
L: large bowl of seafood curry soup (made with a cauliflower/leek soup base), 1 hardboiled egg
S: a second hardboiled egg made into deviled egg with homemade mayo
D: is probably going to be burgers (grassfed, no bun) and a large salad and/or sauteed cabbage. Will likely have a few nuts as a snack after dinner.
**Oh, yeah, I also had some almonds at work - forgot about that.
Last edited by walking2lose; 02-02-2011 at 05:20 PM.
Breakfast
2 hard boiled eggs (or 2 scrambled eggs or cottage cheese with strawberries)
Lunch
Salad with chicken breast (various lettuce, cranberries or figs, pecans or walnuts candied, crumbled goat cheese, strawberries or apples, other veggies if available)
Balsamic vinegar (plain) for dressing
Dinner (although it varies)
Brown rice
Collard greens
Black beans
Snacks (throughout the day)
Apple with almond butter
Chobani greek yogurt
Dark chocolate (sometimes)
Breakfast:
13 almonds, 1/3 cup Fage yogurt, 1 tsp brown sugar, a piece of fruit.
or English muffin, 1 slice bacon, laughing cow cheese.
Lunch:
I bake chicken once a week and freeze for lunches
Couscous, veg, chicken.
or Spring salad mix with fruit, pecans, chicken, and light honey dijon dressing
or Chicken and vegetable fajita with tomato/cucumber/romaine with light french dressing
or English muffin cheese pizza with the same salad as above.
Dinner:
More variety here, nothing really typical. If I am making one of the kids favorites, I will eat one of the above lunch meals. Otherwise, it is a healthy meal for all. One of my favorite standbys is just chicken with rice, broccoli, cauliflower, slivered almonds, and a little olive oil.
Snacks:
Popchips, laughing cow cheese on apple slices, dark chocolate, Skinny Cow icecream, almonds, string cheese, fruit.
I don't really have a "typical" day, but here is as close I can get.
B: 1/2 cup Kashi GoLean Crunch, 1/2 banana, 1/2 cup Fage nonfat Greek Yogurt
L: 1 baked potato with some sort of protein filling (usually canned tuna) and a little reduced fat cheese, 1 bowl of salad with lots of veggies (normally it's a spring mix salad with tomato and avocado and fat free Feta), 2nd half of the banana
S: always changes. Usually toast with hummus or laughing cow wedge.
D: Where the most variety comes in. I can't pinpoint dinner, but it usually involves a lean protein (chicken or fish), veggies, and 1 carb/starch.
Now that I've written this all out, I'm a little embarrassed about it. Also, I currently don't have control over the type of meat, soup or salad in my lunch. Thinking more about saying "eff this" to school lunch and making my own.
Breakfast
Dannon Bio yogurt (coconut, aloe or hone-apple), 80g
Coffee with one tbsp of creamer, 1tsp sugar
Thought I'd join in, but I'm just going to post today. Although in retrospect it doesn't look like the best day haha. And I'm about to eat a Godiva chocolate that my sister brought me back from her recent trip to the US.
Breakfast:
Coffee with 25ml skim milk
English muffin with 5gm butter blend and 3gm Marmite
Lunch:
Zucchini/squash stuffed with ground beef and rice, cooked in tomato puree/water with green beans. 50gm greek yoghurt on top.
Dinner:
Chicken casserole thing with mushrooms, olives, tomatoes, herbs, etc, served over low GI long grain rice.
Dessert: Godiva chocolate MMMMM.
Total calories: 1221
Usually I'd eat cereal for breakfast, there would be fruit as snacks...and probably less rice in one day!
I don't have a typical daily menu, but here's what I had yesterday...
A cup of coffee with a splash of sugar free creamer
Breakfast:
1 whole wheat pita
1 egg cooked in pam with onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, and green pepper
1 light and fit yogurt with blueberries
Lunch:
1 whole wheat pita with home-roasted turkey, avocado, and tomato/drizzle of green goddess dressing
1 bowl of turkey noodle soup (we cooked a turkey)
1 apple
Dinner:
5 turkey meatballs simmered in sugar free/reduced sodium spaghetti sauce
1 small potato roasted in wedges with pam and Mrs. Dash, with a dollop of reduced fat sour cream
A whole mess of brussels sprouts roasted with onions
No snack, but I always leave the option of an apple or a yogurt at night
Actually, mine varies quite a bit...I rarely have the same thing in 3 months. Here are some things, I follow Weight Watchers:
BREAKFAST
2 breakfast tacos with corn tortillas, reduced fat cheddar, salsa, egg substitute and Oscar Mayer Center Cut bacon (2 pieces) + a banana (this morning's, 6 pts)
OR
1 Oroweat Double Fiber English Muffin + 2 tsp peanut butter + 1 banana + high fiber maple oatmeal
OR
1 c Dannon Fit and Light vanilla yogurt + berries + 2 Tbls oats
SNACKS
fruit or cheese stick or both, or light popcorn
LUNCH
leftovers from night before's dinner
DINNER
last night: Cheese Soup Ole! + piece of garlic bread
OR
ham and beans in the crockpot
OR
pepper steak with brown rice
OR
spinach and mushroom frittata
OR
whatever...I just eat as healthy as I can 90% of the time.
DESSERT
I rarely have dessert because I'm not a dessert person, but sometimes a Skinny Cow or lowfat ice cream treat.
Here's a typical day in the life of a 1200 cal, low-ish carber!
Breakfast: 2 toasted cinnamon mini-bagels w/ 2 Tbsp low-fat cream cheese, coffee w/ Stevia and 2 Tbsp half-and-half
Snack: Avocado half with lemon juice and a little salt
Lunch: Macaroni and cheese Lean Cuisine with 1/8 c pickled jalapenos
Snack: 2 Tbsp all-natural peanut butter
Dinner: 2 cups southwest pumpkin soup, 1 herb and cheese biscuit, green beans and salad without dressing. Yummy!
I love these threads too; they give me such great ideas. I see some ingenious and tasty possibilities every time I read all these menus.
I don't have too many "typical" days as I get bored easily and have the luxury of free time to cook, so here's the day before yesterday's menu:
Breakfast: 2 egg whites plus 1 whole egg scrambled with peppers, tomatoes, and onions served with one toasted English muffin spread with half a tablespoon of grape jelly (350)
Lunch: Half a cup of chili con carne alongside a wrap containing roast chicken, thin-sliced apples, even thinner red onions, mixed greens, and half a tablespoon of olive oil mayo (350)
Dinner: Twelve ounces of homemade chicken-vegetable curry that's very heavy on the vegetables, half a cup of a pre-packaged chickpea curry (super-hot), and a couple of tablespoons of yogurt to cool my mouth between bites (550)
Snacks: That day it was an orange and a couple of pecans and a blueberry-pie yogurt eaten as dessert after lunch. I've got a lot of snacky options to choose from, though, including a fruit bowl big enough to bathe a toddler in.
I've been edging away from making soups, to baking sliced vegetables.
Typically I line a pan with a small amount of sunflower oil, about half a teaspoon at most... enough to wipe it into a thin film with a finger. Put the veggies in, drizzle lightly with egg white (maybe 5 spoonfuls) and then spices. It's a good way to use up sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, and squash when you have an excess of them.
