thanks everyone.

Do you all cook at home? what about eating out most of your meals? I know that sounds sad, but it's just the lifestyle i have right now, i'm not at home enough to cook, so i grab a lot of fast stuff. what do you eat out when your options are mostly bad?

I use to eat out EVERY night because I have few free minutes when I am actually at home. One thing I learned how to do was to do "make-ahead" meals, I would do atleast 2 or 3 meals on sunday and freeze them, then just throw them in the microwave and heat...it lasts the whole week. Most people say they have absolutely no time, but if you are really truely willing to lose weight you will learn to MAKE THE TIME. Buying bagged salads and prewashed organic veggies work for lunches or the pre cooked healthy chicken strips..if not always hit up the salad bar at your local store (just watch out for the mixed cream salads and some of the salad dressings). If you absolutely have to eat out at fast food stores just make smarter decisions when you are there...no mayo...maybe no bun or a grilled peice of meat instead of a fatty one.

I'm not at home enough to cook, either, but I certainly don't have the $$ to eat out all the time (even the restaurant where I work only gives us a 40% discount, so I still have to pay). I also hate cooking, but I suck it up and deal with it once a week. Depending on my schedule, I pick the least busy day in my week and just cook stuf and then slap it all into individual little Gladware containers to eat throughout the week. When I get up in the morning, I grab a few different containers, toss 'em in my lunch bag with a few ice packs, and run out the door. I also separate snacks (like fruit, sugar-free jell-o, sugar-free pudding, etc.) into individual containers for this same purpose. It keeps me away from the fast and junk food. So on my way out the door, I'd toss a container of whole-what pasta w/sauce, one of fruit (grapes and apples last quite a while refrigerated--peaches and strawberries I buy frozen so they don't go bad), one of a turkey burger patty (or 2 if I eat them without the bun), and maybe a pudding with ff cool whip--plenty of food for the day, and all with my own ingredients in them, so no added sodium (restaurant food tends to have TONS of sodium, which can make you retain major amounts of water).

If I absolutely must eat out, I try to hit Subway, where I can get my 12-inch (I know I should only eat 6, but I always end up getting the 12) sweet onion chicken teriyaki sub with lettuce for less fat and calories than a cheeseburger or fried chicken sandwich (plus it's bigger and yummier!). Lately, my diet's been a little different since I started this Idiot Proof Diet--lots of eggs and ham and chicken and fruit and turkey burgers--but I still just cook once a week for the most part. For example, I was gone all weekend, and last night was my only night off of job #2 for the week, so I went grocery shopping, then came home and cooked some chicken, turkey, and veggies for the week and separated all of that plus a bunch of fruit into containers and tossed in the fridge. Okay, now I'm just babbling--you get the idea

Are you ready for a dumb question?!?!?!

What can you cook and freeze? I am a horrible cook and don't understand what's freezable and what's not. Thoughts?

You all are fabulous

April Showers...great advice! So true, if you really want something, you will make time! That saying goes for almost anything in life. I also love your saying....keepin it movin even if it jiggles! ---cute!

Diamond, I also prepare my meals for the following day each night. I made chicken breast with some type of veggie. Also packing healthy snacks, celery w/ peanut butter, peanuts, or a cheese stick (I love cheese!) or even a V8 juice

Jilly: I also love, love, love, the sugar free jello & pudding..I love them so much, I was thinking I should make a box of it at home, so I can have more..but then I realized I was having a fat thought. So I'll stick with the little cups, 1 with lunch, 1 with dinner.

We get the giant bag of chicken breasts from Sam's Club, marinade them and grill them on a lazy Sunday. We put most of them in the freezer, some in the fridge. They work for lunch (chicken breast + a side, salad) or dinner (fajitas, stir fry, whatever). I rarely get sick of chicken.

We grill a lot. It is actually quicker than getting the baby into the car, driving across town, getting dinner and going home.

As far as going out with friends, I almost always eat before going. If I eat dinner at 6 and go out at 8, I can either split something with someone or just have a few bites. I still eat, it just saves me from going overboard. My friends have never had to diet, so if I didn't eat or ordered a chicken breast with no bun, they would laugh me off the table! I only have two beers, too. That is my limit.

if we have to go out, i go to subway or our bagel shop. we also have a restaurant with great salads so that is where i have client meetings. it is worth $9 a salad for something good and healthy.

it isn't always easy, but pays off!

we almost never eat out (except on vacations) so I have become a pro at low-fat cooking and finding new recipes. the bf doesn't complain too much and i let him have the kitchen once a week so he can make steak or fish (things I don't cook).

you can make big batches of chili and spaghetti sauce to freeze in individuals portions. also like meredith suggested get a big bag of chicken and marinate it. you can freeze it in the marinade and pull it out the night before you want to cook it.

when we *do* eat out I generally pick a spicy grilled chicken option or a salad with using salsa as a dressing. we really don't eat fast food but many places are coming out with "healthy" options and you've just got to get accustomed to only looking at those so you won't be tempted by burgers and fries etc.

All of the above suggestions are things I pratice and they work really well! The one thing that gets me through this "lifestyle change" ,lol, is my George Forman grill. I loved it in college and its even better now. It makes cooking super quick and its grilled so much more healthier than pan frying. Also, Rachael Ray, the girl on food network who makes 30 minutes meals has great ideas, granted some of them are fatty so watch out, but most are really helpful and you can find alternatives. A tip I took from her show was to pre-wash and chop most of my veggies once I buy them so that when cooking or more importantly snacking they are just as easy to grab as a bag of cheetos

talking about the foreman grill - I jused it for one thing and one thing only - but it was a great thing - turkey sausage - the spicy ones (i think from shady brooks) oh man they were so good - and so easy to clean up afterwords.

but now I don't have either - a foreman or a place that I have found that sells shady brooks (i thought it tasted good, and it had the nutritional information on the packet - low cal 90? - about 6 grams per link of fat) but when you are in the need for an italian sausage it totally fits the bill.

oh I also found that the sausage went really good into the cambells creamy tomato soup with fresh spinach cooked in it and some red pepper.

ok - and on to now where I live - I love trader joes - and because I am a Lazy cook - they have all these wonderful healthy frozen meals in a bag - sweet and sour glazed chicken - strif fry chicken/shrimp, this great asian veggie medly - etc.

oh and I just got into the no sugar chocolate pudding - I find it not sweet enough - but great to dip things in, like peaches or strawberries.

I also have a hard time eating out - not sure what to order - having budetary and the dietary restrictions - esp. when I go out with a group of 10+ (as we do sometimes.) I don't wanna explain to everyone how the fat girl is really trying finally.

and last comment of the evening to jellybean - I can't imagine not wanting to eat anything - not being hungry and still not wanting to eat - maybe props to you i wish - but the only time that happens to me is when I am under a lot of depressing/stress (like when my ex and I broke up - come to think of it, boys are the only things to do the not eating thing to me so far) so are you unduly stressed about anything lately??

B

I LOVED the Foreman Grill in college, too--awesome for chicken! I don't have one now, but I think my sister may be buying me one for my birthday (which is later this month), so I shouldn't be without one for too much longer

Diamond--I find stir-fry freezes great. I did a batch of brown rice and a wok full of skinless chicken, frozen sugar snap peas, frozen "stir-fry mix" (corn, red pepper, and broccoli), a small can of crushed pineapple, and a little teriyaki sauce (the pineapple adds sweetness, so I used less teriyaki sauce). I separated the rice into my billion little containers, then plopped a big spoonful of the stir-fry mixture ontop. I froze all my little Gladwares, then when I want one, just take it from the freezer, add a few drops of water (to keep the rice moist), and microwave (with the cover turned slightly on top of the container so it can still vent but won't splatter the sauce all over the microwave). It worked great and even forced me to eat some veggies, which I rarely do
I don't think the lack of hunger thing is stress-related. I actually just got a HUGE raise at my full-time job (26%), so I cut back a little on my hours at job #2. Work isn't very stressful--it's a slow time of year in the office and at the restaurant. Relationship isn't stressful--just the opposite; it's going better than I ever imagined! Maybe that's the thing--maybe I subconsciously was using food before to ease my stress and soothe emotional issues, but now that I'm pretty much happy, I don't need it anymore. Who knows. What I DO know is that I peeked at the scale this morning and am down about another 2 pounds, so as long as mu snacking urges stay away, I'll definitely have another loss at my TOPS meeting tomorrow night

George good ole george!! LOVE IT!! but Mike doesn't like cooking on it, he likes to grill everytihng outside. Which isn't bad, but also I hvae been eating healthy, and I noticed how much seasoning I have been using on my meats. Lke chicken and steak pork loin.... A ton of seasoning because Mike cooks most of the time, and just loads it on. .. Can't be to to healthy can it??
( my last post, about being a "lifestyle change" I wasn't trying to be mean about it. I just reread it, and I sounded like a b&^ch. sorry, wasn't meant to sound that way.)

Man!!!! That is what i've been missing, A George!!!!! I will add that to my things I need list!

Bida, your recipe with the turkey sausage, Tom soup, fresh spinage and red pepper sounds awesome!!!! I think that sounds great for me to try this weekend, and sounds like it will be ok for the SBD I'm on. Thanks for sharing!

Happy Hump Day everyone!

Things are going well so far on the sbd, my stomach is getting flatter already! Wow! That hasn't been the case since hs, and that was almost ten years ago for me! Woweeee!

spillthebeans--congrats on sticking to the SBD so far! The book even says that because of how your body works without those "bad" carbs, you'll burn fat from your tummy before other places. How awesome, especially if you have a particular size goal in mind!

justforus--what kinds of seasonings do you use? Better to use seasonings than sauces--so many calories in the good bbq and honey mustard (my favorite) sauces If the seasonings you use are spicy, then that's even better, because I have read multiple times that spicy foods actually help to increase your metabolism. Too bad I can't stand anything even remotely spicy or else I'd live on jalepenos after reading that

Well, still going strong on this Idiot Proof Diet. Tomorrow starts my 3 days off the diet, so I get to eat whatever I want Of course, I will have to keep it within reason so I don't go crazy and gain back all I've lost in just 3 days I think I am down about 1-2 pounds according to my home scale this week, but my scale has been jumping around quite a bit lately, so I'll just see what the TOPS scale says at my meeting tonight. Keep truckin', ladies--tomorrow is Friday!

JustForUs - seasoning (like spices) isn't a problem unless it has lots of salt. You can usually buy a salt-free seasoning mix (I have salt-free Italian, salt-free Greek, salt-free Mexican). For sauces, check the label for nutritional info. But in general, you're better off using spices than sauces, like Jill said.

Hey, maybe I should get a George Foreman grill too! I keep seeing all these great recipes for grilled stuff, but I have no grill at all. Can you do that kind of stuff on the george?

Um the seasonings are usually montreal steak and montreal chicken seasoning.. And of course I LOVE SALT, but Mike likes it more then I, so one of those and some garlic salt, which I have been skipping. Other then that, we use a house "rub" consist of salt <of course> garlic, garlic salt,pepper, and some other stuff. I like seasoings a lot, but with steak I also love A 1 ...badbad cheree...lol