I have had wonderful success with calorie counting & exercising very little- I'll loose 3lbs a week, I lost about 12 in a month, but then I get on a chocolate fix & just give everything up... Well, as I mentioned in another post, I've reached a breaking point- Im tired of going up & down, up & down these 15 lbs non stop- Im ready for a steady (even if slow) decline until I reach my goal!
Heres my question- when Im calorie counting, I do really good with it- the thing is my diet literally consists of pizza, bagels, chocolate, cookies, cake, anything & everything I SHOULD NOT and DO NOT want to keep eating (of course besides the occasional dark chocolate bar... ) Anyways, when I DO have 1700 calories or whatever my daily allowance is, I feel like I dont have many options- I have to completely revamp how I eat- and I dont know WHAT to eat..
Heres an example of what I eat sometimes:
Breakfast: 2 eggs on a piece of toast and a banana
Lunch: Turkey sandwich on 12 grain bread
Dinner: Grilled chicken & veggies
Snacks: Fruit, some veggies (not a huge fan, that & I just dont know how to cook them!), cereal/fiber bars, etc.
But by the end of the day Im craving a "dessert" AND I havent reached my daily allowance of calories..
I guess my issue is I dont know how to replace all the cookies, candy, chocolate, pizza & fast food with ENOUGH healthy food that I enjoy! and not be hungry after dinner, craving dessert...
You could up your portions: 3 eggs, more chicken and turkey, things like that.
If you are craving desserts at the end of the day, think about:
Yogurt. Add artificial sweetener if it's too tart. Lots of flavors, very calorie controlled.
Cottage cheese with artificial sweetener + cinnamon
Sugar-free jello pudding. When I first started I ate a box (make with 2 cups of low fat or skim milk) every day. I did that for 3-4 months, alternating my favorite flavors.
McDonald's ice cream cone. These are 150 calories and nicely portion controlled: they don't even make it into the house. They feel like a real treat.
Sugar free jello. This is practically calorie free.
Strawberries with artificial sweetener. Surprisingly low calorie.
Sweet pickles. You can't go crazy on them--they have some calories--but they really have a lot of flavor.
Some people find that just getting rid of all sweets completely stops all cravings for them. You may want to try that. But I never have.
I started about a month ago. At first, I planned out my food the day before...carefully counting calories. I teach, so I tried to plan out 1000 calories to eat between 7 a.m. (my breakfast time) and 4:00 p.m. (snack after work). That left me with 600 calories for supper and an evening snack (both of which I was more casual about...not actually laying out on counter the night before). This actually helped me learn the amount of food I should be consuming and I gradually started just eye-balling it. I have gone from 150 to 146.5....not a huge loss in a month, but I am okay with slow and steady. I didn't lose last week because my reflux flared up big time and I had to EAT constantly to keep the pain down.
I don't exercise. I have been teaching summer school and it is unbearably hot here. I just haven't been able to get into it...but I still lost the weight.
I don't really think about certain foods being "on the list", but obviously I would have to really, really want a slice of pizza if I was going to blow all those calories on something that will take me like four minutes to eat (haha).
So far today I have had a small portion of bagel, a low fat cheese stick, a tiny, tiny, tiny bite of choc cake (barely covered the tip of my tongue)!!!! and a small portion of carrots and a chicken salad sandwich. I never drink calories so I don't have to go there. I will eat some more veggies tonight and some navy beans (low in calories but filling). I don't know the exact amount of calories I have eaten, but this is how I do it and it works for me.
I think it helps to be strict in the beginning (meaning first week or two) and then to go with your gut. Also, if someone has a birthday or whatever and you know you go WAY over...so what? Just get back on track the next day.
I don't think I am on a diet...I think I am slowly changing my lifestyle. I was 150 when I started but years ago I was 165. I am 146.5 now and would feel amazing if I were 130 (If I get under 130, I look sickly skinny.) So...I am just changing how I live my life, you know? It is such a good feeling. I have done diets before, journaled my food, embarked on exercise plans, but I always fall flat. This time I am thinking about how I want to live. It is a new concept to me because as a teacher and a mom, I have always been about OTHERS....seriously never putting myself even CLOSE to first. As I get older (43), I am starting to think that it is okay to think about myself a little bit.
I seriously feel your pain because I have been where you are. Also, your verse from the Bible certainly says it all.....at least you know Who to lean on for support.
I hope this site helps you like it has helped me. I just get something out of getting on here and posting. It helps me to keep it all real. Also, I have gotten some amazing advice and lots of encouragement. I know I don't have much to lose...but I have been carrying these extra 20 pounds for years and years. I finally figured out it can't be good for my health. I am like a size 10 so no one would look at me and think FAT....but I know what my stomach looks like....I can grab many inches of FAT and that can't be good.
Keep your focus! Your meal actually looks good...why not buy something a little sweet but low in calories and eat throughout the day (that way at the end of the day you won't be overwhelmed with desire!!) I seriously ate a super tiny piece of chocolate cake and was SATISFIED....I think I just wanted to be able to have it..and I did
I've been eating in a changed way for 3 weeks at around your 1700-calorie level. I actually don't ever make it to that full amount, because I'm always pretty satisfied after dinner--and you have to understand, I'm a big girl and a big eater. If you had told me before I started that I wouldn't crave sweets, I'd have laughed in your face.
I don't crave them because I don't eat them. I know there's chemistry behind this, but it's true: once I stopped eating "fast" carbs--white bread, pasta, white rice, etc.--the cravings disappeared. I had a piece of raisin toast last week and wow! Even though it fit comfortably into my calorie count for the day, it made me feel TERRIBLE with those sort of crampy stomach rumblings and odd cravings for more bread!! I'll never make that choice again, I can tell you.
Focusing on the nutritional value of the food helps me narrow my choices to those that provide the most "bang for the buck." I try to eat as many "superfoods" as I can--there are a couple of threads on this forum about superfoods and whole foods. Seriously, they do help keep the cravings down. Stuff like oats, broccoli, spinach, tomatoes (all of which I eat both raw and cooked in different ways), yogurt, tea, oranges, walnuts, salmon, turkey, blueberries, etc.... It's not just counting calories that works for me, but making those calories count nutrition-wise.
There's a thread in this subforum somewhere in which someone asks about calorie distribution, and several people posted their diets; you might find that helpful.
Best wishes to you! Focusing on these superfoods and counting the calories does seem to be working for me--I'm down at least 13 pounds in 3 weeks with minimal exercise (not on purpose, just how it happened), and yeah, I have a lot to lose so I should be losing fast, but it's also that I'm comfortable doing it and therefore likely to stick with it. Plus I feel GREAT!
I tend to eat the same things each day and I always save calories for a Weight Watcher ice cream bar at the end of the day. I try to eat around 1450 calories.
For breakfast I have to have my coffee with sugar-free hazelenut creamer (6 tbsp which I measure out). I will also have half a cup of blueberries and half a cup of oatmeal. This puts me at around 282 calories for breakfast. Lunch is usually 2 pieces of turkey with lettuce, tomato, laughing cow cheese on a 110 calorie bagel and a bag of 100 calorie popcorn. (This is around 330 calories).
Snacks usually consist of an apple with 1 Tbsp of peanut butter or fat free greek yogurt drizzled with honey. I try to keep my afternoon snack around 200-275 calories. Dinner is usually a salad with chicken or salmon. Then I will have the weight watcher ice cream after my kids go to bed. I have lost 6 pounds in 2 weeks. I work out 4-5 times a week.
1515 calories, 180g protein, 100g carb, 45g fats (6x per week)
1620 calories, 160g protein, 180g carb, 35g fats (1x per week) "Refeed" to prevent plateau. I choose the refeed day for a "treat meal" (which must be worked into those calories)
So on the usual 1515 calories day,
B: 42g egg whites, 2oz ground chicken, 1 piece whole wheat toast OR 1/2 cup oats
S: 1/2 apple, 15g peanut butter, 1 scoop protein powder in water
L: 4oz chicken, 2oz potato, 1 cup broccoli
S: 110g 2% cottage cheese OR 4 egg whites with 1/2 cup bell pepper
D: Remaining protein/carb/fat grams into a meal (tonight, grilled shrimp with parmesan/garlic salad)
S: 1/2 cup fruit, 1 scoop vanilla protein powder, 1 tbsp flax.
Sometimes I omit various snacks and plan for a larger dinner. I weigh and measure EVERYTHING because I'm not good at eyeballing.
What do you eat?
) Anyways, when I DO have 1700 calories or whatever my daily allowance is, I feel like I dont have many options- I have to completely revamp how I eat- and I dont know WHAT to eat..
