I think the word plan refers to something you intentionality set out to do BEFORE hand whereas my "plan" has been a subconscious internal "ohh, that looks good...yup calories are good" type of thing.
However, I have a feeling I could be doing better if i WAS planning it out so here is my day to day pattern:
B ~ 400 calories - Yogurt (vanilla or plain) w/ 1/2 cup of fruit (strawberries or pomegranate "seeds" have been a frequent the past couple days w/ a serving (1/3rd cup?) of all bran buds for fiber.
S ~ 150 calories - a latte (2% milk) w/ vanilla syrup
L ~ 400 calories - Fruit salad (or if like yesterday when i forgot my lunch, a yogurt cup) w/ walnuts or almonds
D ~ 450 calories - A serving of protein (fish or chicken) w/ a cup rice and a cup of veggies (cauliflower has been love as of late).
Overall that puts me exactly at my 1400 calories for the day. Now, the yogurt in the morning is a new addition to replace the premixed protein shake i was eating (all those additives were having an effect on my hunger later on it would seem as since switching im much less hungry later on in the day o.o). But, if anyone has any advice to making it a bit "sounder" that would be great.
Yes, yes, yes a specific plan in the way to go. Leaving it up to 'what I feel like' means you are thinking about food and deciding what to eat all day long. And every decision carries the risk you'll give in to temptation. Better to make all the choices at once.
Over all, it looks fine, but I would make one suggestion: Dump the latte. Drink coffee with 1% milk + splenda (if you put in 2 tablespoons of 1% milk, that's under 20 calories) and add something with more bulk--something that fills you up. For 100ish calories, you could have two pieces of low-calorie toast with no-sugar jelly, or a mini-bag of popcorn, or half a pound of carrots, or a can of Progresso French Onion soup, or an apple, or a cheesestick, or half a pound of cantaloupe.
Drinking calories feels like wasting them to me. I may enjoy the moment, but afterwards I am still hungry.
that seems a good menu for a day, but be careful not to eat that exact same thing every day. It will get boring really really fast, and probably make you want more stuff, but if you arent stocked for different healthy meals, you will end up having something not so good. So cycle different lunches, breakfasts and dinners. Say 3 or 4 different meals of each. So for lunch, you might have your fruit salad lunch, your chef salad lunch, or your veggie wrap lunch. Then each day you decide which you will have. Eating the exact same thing day after day would get very old very fast.
that seems a good menu for a day, but be careful not to eat that exact same thing every day. It will get boring really really fast, and probably make you want more stuff, but if you arent stocked for different healthy meals, you will end up having something not so good. Eating the exact same thing day after day would get very old very fast.
Oooh, I actually LOVE and have been EXTREMELY successful eating the same things over and over and over again, sometimes for months at a time, some times for years. I've found foods that I love, adore, are filling and look forward to. No need to change them. It's also lessens my eating pool.Nothing much to contemplate. I've essentially automated my foods. Much simpler, much safer.
Anyway, to the OP.
YEs, planning in ADVANCE is key for me. It's essential. It's much easier to stay on plan, when you've got one. This way when it's hungry time, there's nothing to start thinking about. I don't have to start thinking about it and pondering it. It's already be pre-done for me. Again, much safer (& smarter).
I would be starving on your menu. I need MUCH more volume and filling power. I see very little volume and not so much in the way of veggies and protein.
I'd rather have 150 calories of oatmeal for breakfast with 54 calorie 3 egg white omlette. Then an hour or so later an 80 calorie yogurt with 1/4 cup fiber one cereal in it.
Instead of that drink, I agree in not drinking calories, I'd have a big bowl of soup or another yogurt or a huge pile of roasted veggies or a veggie stew or veggie chili.
Lunch? I don't find fruit to be all that fillng. I prefer a huge veggie salad - huge. Romaine hearts, baby spinach, hearts of palm, grape tomatoes, pomegrante seeds, cukes, peppers. With some turkey breast or grilled chicken.
I would then add in another snack. MAybe an apple or a pear or a grapefruit. Maybe a veggie stir fry or an egg white omlette. Or those other things I mentioned earlier.
Dinner? I too LOVE cauliflower. I'd have a huge amount of it, roasted with tons of spices. I'd have that protein and instead of the rice, I'd prefer a large bowl of soup or another vegetable.
I would then add in another after dinner snack. A couple of clemintines, or maybe a veggie platter with salsa or perhaps another 80 calorie yogurt, which I like to partially freeze, as it takes longer to eat and is really good.
Think volume. Think veggies. Protein. Think outside of the box. Be creative.
I agree with rockinrobin. It doesn't look like a BAD menu, but I know I'd be starving on it. If you can stay on plan with that and feel full, well, great, but I'd never make it lol!
Overall it looks like a decent menu. Personally, I would opt for a lower calorie breakfast and add another "mini breakfast" a couple hours later. And someone else mentioned to dump the latte but I'm a latte addict and if you are too, I know how hard it will be to get rid of it. If you switch to skim milk it will save you calories, and if you eliminate the vanilla syrup you could save some calories too. Or, get sugar free syrup. It has artificial sweetener instead of sugar so of course you'd have to assess how your body reacts to artificial sweetener. For some people I've heard it makes them crave sugar later but it doesn't have that affect on me so it was easy to make the switch.
I plan dinner first thing in the morning while I'm making coffee. That way I can start thawing. But before dinner I don't plan at all. I always wait till I get hungry, then have fruit and a sandwich, or, if I'm starving, a small pot of hot cereal with skim milk. That is really satisfying. My problem time is after dinner, when I just want to chew and swallow. So, this has been keeping me away from the bad stuff for weeks now. I prepare a sliced apple, 3 raw carrots and start chewing. It takes a long time to get through this and I believe my jaws now have the strength of a pitbull. As a comfort snack, I mix applesauce with a flavored fatfree yogurt but instead of spoonfuls, I tap the back of the spoon onto the creaminess and then delicately lap at it. I guess it's either a way to slow me down, or a fetish.
I have been calorie counting for about 5 months (basically since I started losing weight). At first I didn't have a "plan." I just mentally estimated calories. That worked fine at first, but then I found I was prone to eating too little or too much by doing that (mostly the former, as I overestimated everything - that had to stop).
I now plan my food for all day (meals, snacks, everything) at night right before I go to bed. I pretty much LOVE doing that. If I have new food I'm going to eat, it's even more exciting (lame? Yes, but whatever). And on the days I can't plan for whatever reason, I'm now pretty good at estimating, especially my staple foods.
I usually eat mostly the same thing every day with some minor variations. I like it - it's easy, tasty, and keeps me on track. But sometimes a staple food gets replaced, or I have a new recipe I'm doing for the week, so I work that in.
I basically use a table in Word and put down the date, the type, amount, and caloric content of each food I'm going to eat. It's really fast after I learn the numbers for a lot of my favorites. And then I have a plan for the whole day.
Thank you everyone!! I'll definitely take into consideration all the advice. I think I've been lucky as of late in terms of my hungry...my body is just so happy to be getting a normalish meal pattern :P
Thank you everyone!! I'll definitely take into consideration all the advice. I think I've been lucky as of late in terms of my hungry...my body is just so happy to be getting a normalish meal pattern :P
Just want to warn you, you can only rely on *luck* so long. I would think that you're so into the weight loss here in the initial stages that you're not even sure what you're feeling. That can only last so long.
What I'm trying to say is, if at some point you see these foods are not working for you, please be open to changing them up.
I would definitely recommend upping the veggies. Something like hummus and veggies is a good midday snack.
I'm also one of the ones that mixes it up. If you get bored eating something, it may be good to have an idea of what else you'd want to eat instead that is on plan.
I enjoy salads but what I put in my salad may differ and sometimes (especially during winter), the last thing I want to eat is salad so I go for some veggie soup.
My Food "Routine": Thoughts?
