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Old 12-03-2010, 02:47 PM   #1  
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Default How is this for food choices?

So.. Here begins my weight loss journey..

I am 5'6''

Starting Weight: 170lbs
Current Weight: 170lbs
Goal Weight: 130lbs

Before I begin working out..I am going to get my eating under control and my lifestyle change of eating first! Once that is established.. I will begin working out!

Today was..
Breakfast: Starbucks Peppermint Mocha Large (I know.. not great.. but delicious and after the morning I had.. haha)

Lunch: Mmm. A fairly large salad with cherry tomatoes, red & orange pepper, 1/4 of an avocado, carrot shavings, 1/4 chicken breast skinless boneless cooked in a pan with extra virgin olive oil, a little salt, pepper and some chicken seasoning. (IT WAS SOO YUMMY! MY 2 YEAR OLD ATE LIKE HALF!!) I guess thats good portion control when my daughter is eating it too! haha!

Dinner tonight will be..: I just started working at a fine dining restuarant, so I will have a bite of steak, salmon, 2 bites of different appetizers, and a couple bites of 2 different desserts and will be doing some wine tasting. BUT ..

normally I will be doing some salmon or chicken for dinner with a salad on the side.

For snacks I will be doing organic strawberry yogurt, fruits/veggies, Fiber One bar, or Kashi cereal (small portion).

How does this sound for food? I will be eating lots of protein..

I'm not sure how much protein I should be eating.. but from what I have looked at I will be eating quite a bit of it.. is that okay to eat a lot of protein?

Hopefully next week I will begin working out.

Thanks
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Old 12-03-2010, 03:50 PM   #2  
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I just read online yesterday that a venti Starbucks Peppermint Mocha has 700 calories. The first thing to tackle might be the idea that you deserve treats because of a difficult morning.
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Old 12-03-2010, 03:59 PM   #3  
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I agree with Glory, cutting out the mocha will be essential. If you want Starbucks try a Tall Skinny latte, no whip. Some protein for breakfast is also a good start to your day!

I eat about 100g of protein per day.... works for me

Good luck, your lunch looks great!
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Old 12-03-2010, 04:10 PM   #4  
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Glory87, I actually just checked, and that's for the large white chocolate one with whole milk and whip cream. But even the normal one with whole milk and whip cream is 520, which is quite a bit.

Brittany, a big part of a lifestyle change is learning about what you eat, so that you can make the choices best for you. If you decide to have a coffee in the morning, you can shave off calories with a few choices. Assuming you did go with whole milk and whip cream, getting a small would bring it down to 320 calories, which are now 200 extra calories from your daily budget that can go for more filling food. If you get rid of the whip cream and have non-fat milk, you come down to 210.

The nice thing about chain places is that most of them have nutritional information on their websites, so you can figure out ahead of time what you would get, and how many calories you want to eat/drink.
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Old 12-03-2010, 04:25 PM   #5  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by flashfacts View Post
Glory87, I actually just checked, and that's for the large white chocolate one with whole milk and whip cream. But even the normal one with whole milk and whip cream is 520, which is quite a bit.
She said she ordered a large (ie. venti).
http://www.nypost.com/p/lifestyle/fo...j6bhBUdF9XUokM

Like you said - part of the process is just getting educated to what the calorie counts for foods MIGHT be. It seems crazy that a single coffee drink can have 700 calories, but those kinds of drinks regularly do. When I was heavy, I didn't want to know. Like the all the way nachos I used to get at Qdoba. I figured they weren't great for me, but I had to start this journey before I could look them up and accept they had 1400 calories (the way I ordered them). And I used to eat it ALL (well, maybe not the last few soggy chips in the bottom).

One of the big, permaent, forever changes I made was to change my mind set about sizes. Before, I HAD to have the biggest one of everything. Now, I always order the small, and sometimes a "mini" serving if they have it.

Last edited by Glory87; 12-03-2010 at 04:28 PM.
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Old 12-03-2010, 04:44 PM   #6  
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Definitely watch the Starbucks. Like the others said, though, they do post nutritional info and there are some decent choices. I have enjoyed a couple tall non-fat, no whip gingerbread lattes this season, 150 calories. A delicious and sensible treat!

I think lots of protein is the right idea. I have found that it really does take that hollow hungry feeling away. A rule I have for myself is that any time I eat carbs, I accompany them with a little protein. That's one reason a bowl of cereal or a fiber-one bar doesn't work for me as a snack. All that stuff does is make me want another bowl or bar -- hungries! I think the protein helps level out the sugar spikes from carbs, whatever the science, I have found it very helpful info.

Best wishes on your getting it all in place!
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Old 12-03-2010, 04:51 PM   #7  
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The issue on the mocha is whether it was WHITE chocolate or not. A venti white chocolate peppermint mocha with whole milk and whip is 700cal. The same thing with normal chocolate is only 520cal. (only! 520cal is a BIG dinner for me now!)

As to the original question... I think you're on the right track by keeping track of your intake. Your salad looks great and the snacks look good too. I agree with the others that the mocha is high-cal and not very filling to drink on anything other than the rarest of occasions. Also, I (personally) would have a really hard time with the dinner you describe. I wouldn't be satisfied with a couple of bites and I find it difficult to stop once I've started. It might work fine for you though, if you have more will-power than I. Instead, I try to find really filling foods to use up my calorie allotment. And I've been wondering about the protein issue too. I've been eating more protein than most sites recommend. I haven't noticed any problems, but I did wonder. I think the most important changes I've made are eating smaller portions, keeping track of whether I'm hungry, weighing food with a digital scale, and keeping track of everything I eat. Best of luck to you! There's lots of good info on the 3FC site.

I agree with what Shannon^^ said about carbs and protein. I've also found that protein based snacks keep me from feeling hungry for a longer period of time.

Last edited by Jen516; 12-03-2010 at 07:14 PM.
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Old 12-03-2010, 04:53 PM   #8  
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This is kinda silly to argue over, but a Peppermint Mocha and a peppermint white chocolate mocha are not the same drink. Sorry, but I worked at a coffee shop for years, and learned how to make all these drinks. A 'white chocolate' drink has extra power or syrup chocolate added to the chocolate milk that is used to make the mocha. I think with specialty product, especially drinks, its so important to know what's in them and how they are made. Most people wouldn't assume that a normal mocha (which is chocolate) would be that different from a white chocolate one, but it is. In this case its a whole 200 calorie difference.

Oh, yeah Qdoba nachos got me too and ditto on the size changes. Now I am much happier with a small, often higher quality item, then getting the biggest thing on the menu.

Edit: opps, sorry someone already answered the mocha thing

Last edited by flashfacts; 12-03-2010 at 04:54 PM.
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Old 12-03-2010, 04:59 PM   #9  
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Only because you did ask - but the choices are not that great at all (lunch is good).

Breakfast- as everyone says, very high in calories and sugar. Not only that, but justifying it after having a chaotic/crappy morning is a big reason a lot of us gained weight. You can justify anything if you rationalize it enough. It has 62 grams of sugar, which is the same as eating 3 or 4 chocolate bars for breakfast.

Dinner- pack a dinner. Wine and more sugar? Appetizers = fat, carbs. Salmon + steak = more fat, lots of added butter etc., no nutritional information.

So you have to decide - how important is your goal to you? Because if you continue to justify eating 4 chocolate bars for breakfast, or that you are working in a restaurant, or that you aren't going to work out until next week, I can't see how that goal will happen. I'm 5'5 and 134 myself. I would not be able to eat like that in a day and maintain this weight.

And even though lunch was good choices, you only ate half. which means you are setting yourself up for more than just a couple bites at dinner. So even though 1 out of the 3 meals is full of good choices, not eating much of it leads to eating more poor choices in the evening. Somewhat counterproductive.

Good luck to you.

Last edited by sacha; 12-03-2010 at 05:09 PM.
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Old 12-03-2010, 05:02 PM   #10  
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Are you going to do calorie counting?

If you are, you might want to invest in a good food scale and if you don't have good measuring cups and spoons, some good ones of those too. And then pick a method of keeping track of your calories, so you can see how you're doing in terms of that.

If you're going to eat at work (and I've worked at a fine dining establishment before, so I know about the tastings) you may want to create "restaurant bites" and use those to track what you've eaten. I always over-estimate any food I don't have control over because I don't want to get frustrated if I am over-eating and I don't know it.

Then, you'll have to set your calorie limits (and abide by them!).

Your friend will be Google to research all those foods, like the Starbucks Mocha (I stopped drinking coffee at Starbucks for that reason, now I get green tea, no milk, no sugar, no extra anything, just water and the tea!).

It might also be a good idea to come up with a list of "treats" that aren't related to food so that when you do have one of THOSE mornings... you can spend that $4.50 latte in a magazine or other non-food treat.

Good luck with everything! It might seem overwhelming at first, but it does get easier and later, you'll look back and realize it wasn't as hard as it first seemed.
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Old 12-03-2010, 05:15 PM   #11  
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Your lunch sounds good, but I'd be careful with breakfast and dinner. You can't really know how much you're actually consuming when you're eating a bite of this and a nibble of that. It's also easy to eat more than you intend to, especially if the bites and nibbles aren't that filling. It's fine to do this every now and then, but definitely don't make it a habit.

If you're having a bad morning and want a treat, maybe you could make it yourself? Plain brewed or instant coffee + non-fat milk + peppermint extract is still very tasty, but doesn't have even close to the amount of calories as a Starbucks Peppermint Mocha does. Plus then you can have some actual food for breakfast, without going overboard when it comes to the calories.
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Old 12-03-2010, 05:51 PM   #12  
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When I want coffee I get a short or tall coffee with half and half and 1-2 packets of sugar (the fake pink sugar).

Lunch is good, dinner, eh, that's gonna be hard if you are working in a restaurant but good luck! I'd stick to grilled meats, no appetizers, and lots of veggies, if they give you a free meal a day ask the chef to use no butter and very little salt/oil or no salt or oil if possible. A great way I spice up my food is to use salsa for flavor
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Old 12-03-2010, 05:58 PM   #13  
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I'm guessing that the reason your dinner is bites and tastes is work-related--e.g., you're tasting the specials and house favorites so that you can describe them to diners? If that's the case, then yeah, one night of eating like that is understandable.

If, however, you're eating that way on a regular basis, it's going to be super-tough to calculate. Measurements and portions are vital if you're counting calories, and it's practically impossible to get an accurate count of "just a bite" portions. (I don't know about you, but I'm tempted to take a WAY bigger "taste" of something delicious than I am of something I hate. )

I think other folks have covered the Starbucks breakfast thing pretty thoroughly. I used to love the occasional mocha frappuccino (with whole milk and whipped cream, natch), but it has more calories than a McDonald's double cheeseburger. Yet it was a drink and didn't do a thing to assuage any hunger I might have. Yikes--no more drinking calories for me!

There are some great threads around here about other ways to reward yourself or handle stress than food. I used to scoff at the suggestion to go for a walk when bored or anxious, but now that I've tried it, I have to say it actually works.
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