ksmommy,
Your day reminds me of the way I ate when I first started. This is a learning experience and you will learn how to bulk up your meals. Based on my experience, I have a couple of suggestions.
I would not have 2 packages of oatmeal for breakfast. For the same number of calories you could have 1 oatmeal (130 calories), add some protein like a boiled egg (70 calories), egg white omlet, or even some lunch meat, and a small piece of fruit. I have found that I need protein at every meal to feel full.
Grapes are good and healthy but an apple is more filling for the calories.
I would change my bread. Nature’s Own 100% Whole Wheat bread is 50 calories a slice, so you could have 4 slices instead of two. Split that turkey meat in half and have 2 sandwiches for the same calories as your one sandwich now.
Instead of 2 yogurts, have one and some veggies. Carrots are 35 calories for 3 ounces. Let me tell you, 9 ounces of carrots are filling. Green beans are 40 calories for 4 ounces.
At first, I ate lots of corn but seldom do now. I can eat more volume with other veggies such as cabbage, green beans, cauliflower or broccoli. To make life easy, I get frozen bags of veggies and steam in the microwave with steaming bags. I also like Birds Eye® Normandy Blend which has 24 calories for a cup or Birds Eye® Oriental Stir-Fry with 50 calories a cup. I stand at the freezer section of the store and read labels to I find a low calorie veggie that looks good.
Just keep looking and experimenting. You will find what works for you!
Oops, I was writing while Robin was posting. Listen to Robin, she always has great ideas!
Last edited by time2lose; 12-01-2010 at 03:01 PM.
Reason: Oops
I would change my bread. Nature’s Own 100% Whole Wheat bread is 50 calories a slice, so you could have 4 slices instead of two. Split that turkey meat in half and have 2 sandwiches for the same calories as your one sandwich now.
Instead of 2 yogurts, have one and some veggies. Carrots are 35 calories for 3 ounces. Let me tell you, 9 ounces of carrots are filling. Green beans are 40 calories for 4 ounces.
I don't eat the yogurts at the same time. I have one with sandwich and another later in the day with grapes. And really!??!! at the nature's own bread??? only 50 calories per slice????? Right now I eat Pepperidge farm double fiber soft loaf. ohhhh i will sooooooooooo be looking for. I forget who mentioned this earlier, but I will also try to make my own soup. hopefully it doesn't taste nasty and i'm stuck with a pot of unwanted soup. But i'd eat it ne way because I hate wasting money.
@ rocking robin I think I will be ok this weekend. i have no intentions of going all out this Saturday. I plan on eating normal portions. It's just the place we're going to is sort of a soul food type place. Even the "healthiest" thing on the menu is gonna be loaded with calories. The menu includes things ilke fried fish, collards cooked in ham hock juice, baked macoroni, yams, fried fish.....yea......THAT stuff :-(. Three months ago i'd be delighted to go there. Today, not so much.
Cereal is like cookies in a bowl to me (I think that's Meg's line by the way). One of the most UNsatiating foods on this planet.
If I were to have cereal, it would have to be Fiber One - the plain one.
Also, I find the Old Fashioned Oats waaaaay more filling then the Instant, for way less calories.
I also see very little bulk in your menu. Those 2 slices of bread, I'd switch them out for an ENORMOUS salad. My snacks are filling - cucumber, tomato and onion salad. FF yogurt with Fiber One in it, a huge bowl of soup, a huge bowl of my veggie stew concoction, a sliced apple sprinkled with cinnamon, a box of grape tomatoes, all under 100 calories and filling.
I'd add in soups and piles and piles of veggies.
Oh and cabbage, you can do so much with it for so few calories and its mucho filling.
Also enormous veggie egg white omlettes.
I eat a LOT of food for 1200 calories and am more than adequately full. Now if you're not, that's another story. But I think you could be with the *right* foods. And you did mention that you are trying to bank calories for Saturday.. I hope that doesn't backfire on you. That day of higher calorie eating and higher not good calories at that, could give you a very rough time next week with cravings, that coupled with the fact that you're hungry this week.
oh also, can you give me a sample of what you eat on a random day? (breakfast, snack, dinner) like some of the other ladies did?
Wow yeah, add in some more bulk, I'd be super hungry on that diet as well!
Canned pumpkin, for example, is a wonderfully filling snack with loa of fiber and very few calories (80 calories for a cup, but with 6 grams of fiber and 300% of your daily vitamin A), as is a cinnamon apple, or some carrots dipped in a spicy, thin sauce (if you can't abide them plain... I like mine dipped in peanut sauce and it is less than 40 calories per tbsp, but very flavorful).
I was having trouble with hunger and switched everything out for bulkier foods. Instead of cream of wheat, my breakfast is now a cracked rye and emmer cereal that I can barely finish a serving of (and that serving is over a cup of the cooked cereal and 150 calories!). My lunch went from peas, corn, and leftovers of dinner or sandwiches to a baked chicken breast with some homemade barbecue sauce; a massive salad with feta, cucumber, carrot, and peppers; an apple or pear. All of this comes down to 400-500 calories, which is my largest, satisfying meal of the day and very filling.
Snacks are things like the aforementioned pumpkin, some peanuts, even some dates... It has to have fiber or fat to satisfy me for a snack, and I have to watch it on grains and dairy.
Everyone's diet is different, based on their lifestyle and needs, but a common theme of being able to sustain a change is not being consistently hungry. Bulky foods will help with that, as will a little healthy fat. Add in about three more servings of veggies a day and I think you'll notice a difference
If you're hungry, then eat. Just eat lower cal foods and high in fiber.
But why? I'm CONVINCED it's because we are women! We have hormones and we eat according to our cycle and what our bodys want. Like you said. you ate well and your body was telling you to feed it.
I agree about the bulk, that really helps me. Also the carbs-all-by-themselves thing. I don't avoid carbs, all the ones in your sample menu are in my diet (except I hate oatmeal, unfortunately, and I don't eat cereal). But I definitely couple them with some protein when I eat them. That is one of my self-imposed rules -- no carbs without some protein to balance them out!
I also wanted to suggest that maybe banking calories isn't for you. For me, I need to be nice and satisfied before the event to be able to control myself at all. I know a lot of people do the same as you're doing, but I know for me personally, if I under-ate all week in anticipation of a dinner on Saturday, I'd go much further over what I had planned for that meal. I'd be hungry, then once the feasting started, I think I might lose control a bit. If you aren't planning on really going overboard on Saturday, why not just take the calorie hit that day, but be right on plan before and after? FOR ME, that is much easier to do if I am happy and satisfied with my usual diet. Just my thoughts on that.
oh also, can you give me a sample of what you eat on a random day? (breakfast, snack, dinner) like some of the other ladies did?
Hmmm. My days vary depending on what my work schedule is for that particular day. I don't work a typical 40 hour week. My weekends are also a bit different, but...
A huge mug of hot tea.
B1- cucumber salad (or red cabbage slaw)
B2 - Danon yogurt, partially frozen with 1/4 cup Fiber One Cereal
B3 - Danon yougurt, partially frozen with 1/4 cup Fiber One Cereal
S- Veggie Stir fry (or whatever large veggie item I've made for the week) (depending on my schedule, if I'm out of the house, it'll then most likely be a 70 calorie bag of popcorn)
S- 20 calorie hot chocolate
L- Enormous salad, consisting of baby spinach, romaine hearts, hearts of palm, pomegranate seeds, grape tomatoes, shredded carrots, sliced strawberries, red onions. Dressed with a mix of fat free raspberry vinaigrette and balsamic vinegar
S- Egg white omlette loaded with veggies (depending on my schedule, if I'm out of the house it's will then most likely be a large juicy apple..
D -Talipia with a huge amount of vegetables, roasted.
S - cucumber salad (or red cabbage slaw)
S- 70 calorie bag Sunrise popcorn
S - 2, 5 calorie Hunts Jello cups
S- 20 calorie hot chocolate
I drink lots of water throughout the day as well.
That adds up to about 1200 calories. And I am completely satisfied and full.
Why? Because of fear. Fear I will let the sweeet smells and tastes get to me. Fear I won't be able to say no. They serve very large portions. Just fear I won't stop once I start. I have it drilled in my head that I WILL eat a small portion. and I WILL NOT be taking home leftovers. I say this again and again. But I wonder if I'm able to DO IT. I hope I can. I think I can. So, I rather plan ahead, hope for the best, prepare for the worse. I'd like to think of myself as being strong....but.....idk.
And I can endure the 1200 calories short term but I don't know if I could possibly do it long term. I don't know what I'm going to do once I get closer to goal. Probably pay someone to hypnotize me so i actually LIKE exercising and become a gym rat.
B - non fat Greek yogurt (130 calories), 6 oz blackberries (70 calories) (I eat breakfast when I get to work at 9, so I don't have a morning snack)
L - huge salad - dark greens, carrot shreddies, grape tomatoes, red cabbage 3 oz protein (chicken, steak, fake crab, ham), low fat dressing, 2tbs of something crunchy (it's only 50 calories, but it makes salads so much more satisfying for me). I make 5 salads every Monday morning and eat salad every day at work. Luckily, I like salad. I have 5+ variations I cycle through (steak salad with low fat caesar, BBQ chicken with fat free ranch, grilled chicken with a little goat cheese and dried cranberry dressing, Asian salad with spicy peanut vinaigrette, Greek salad with yogurt dressing and crumbled veggie burger, taco salad with salsa)
S - tall non fat latte (100 calories)
S - fruit (varies - I follow the seasons, this week it's Clementines) - (100 calories)
D - A typical dinner would be maple glazed salmon over 170 calories of brown rice (I split those containers of quick nuke rice from Trader Joe's), huge pile of steamed broccoli
I hear you on the hunger. I cut my calories from 1500-1700 to 1200-1300 this week to detox after overdoing it over the weekend/bank for this coming weekend, and I'm miserable. Yesterday I had more carbs than the previous 2 days and as a result I felt weak, low blood sugary and cravey all day. Definitely recommend stuffing yourself with bulk.
While other folks have already made great suggestions on how to deal with your hunger now, I'd like to offer a suggestion or two about the restaurant you're planning to visit.
Anyplace that has at least two menu items is almost bound to have a higher-calorie and a lower-calorie option. Yeah, greens cooked with salt pork or ham may not be as light as you'd prefer, but they're a healthier choice than mac & cheese. Do they serve red beans and rice? If so, go for that and eat heavy on the beans, less so on the rice and sausage.
I really liked the suggestion to "buy back" your calories after the meal, not before, too. For me, it'd be very tough to eat more abstemiously than usual for a week, then go to a favorite restaurant and try to keep myself in check.
Your description of this place totally has me drooling and planning a pot of red beans with andouille in my near future.
Here is my regular menu and some snack ideas to get your veggies in.
B1 - coffee with FF 2 T half n half, Activia Light vanilla yogurt
B2 - 2 boiled eggs with a spray marg, 4 oz V8 with Benefiber
L1 - HALF OF: 2 sl. Orowheat Light 100% WW bread, 2 sl Sargento RF cheese, 1 sl smoked ham lunch meat, 2 handfuls of fresh baby spinach in the sandwich, 3 oz raw baby carrots, fruit (Pear, Clemetine, Apple, Blackberries, etc.)
L2 - The other half of above
S - bell pepper with humus or celery and laughing cow light wedge or peanut butter, raw carrots, cucumber or apple and RF string cheese or walnuts or almonds
D - Green beans, green peas, mixed vegetables, mashed cauliflower, cooked carrots, zucchini or broccoli, lean protein like fish, chicken, pork loin, or beef sometimes cottage cheese or brown rice.
S - Skinny cow truffle bar, pumpkin dessert (pumpkin puree, spices & FF SF pudding), FF SF hot chocolate, 1 oz of walnuts or almonds or more fruit
If you prepackage your snacks, they are easy to add to your lunch bag or even your purse.
Good Luck with the dinner out. I LOVE red beans and rice (and just nudge the sausage to the side) but only occasionally when my neighbor from LA has a party! Mmm... greens (drained well) have my mouth watering.
Green beans are 40 calories for 4 ounces. 
