totally feel you on not feeling satisfied with that lunch. definitely add in some fresh or frozen veggies. spinach is GREAT for that. the veggies add lots of bulk, volume and vitamins with a bonus of balancing out the sodium. plus, the soup just tastes sooo salty as is, so that helps. or try making your own soup and portion out for the whole week in frig or freezer.
katy, that lunch would leave me starving as well. You're choosing foods that are *easy* as in quick, but everything else about it is HARD.
Homemade soups are the ones that are satiating - loaded, with tons and tons of onions, zucchini, carrots, parsnips, sweet potatoes, celery - cooked and then blended with an immersion blender.
Cracker? Oooh, nothing filling or lasting in there either. Nothing.
Eating healthy takes effort and time and preparation.
Another thing, those foods don't sound so yummy. It's imperative to eat delicious foods. If the on plan foods that you are eating are so yummy, it will be waaaay easier to resist the yummy foods which are fattening. It's also very likely you won't be able to stick to a diet such as that, because of the non good taste and because you'll be left hungry. A double whammy.
Be creative. Discover some healthier, more filling choices.
I've learned that feeling truly full means feeling nothing at all. Its like my abdomen is no different then the rest of my body, and I can't separate it based on hunger pains or that stuffed feeling.
I love this. I will actually write it down (if I may?) to remind myself to look for that feeling, because you are absolutely spot on.
Volume is definitely key for me, like Robin often emphasizes.
I just finished a lunch I put together at the salad bar at the cafeteria at work. I grabbed:
~ 2 packed cups baby spinach leaves (I really just filled the container with leaves and then used everything else on the salad to pack it down)
~ 1 cup sliced roast chicken breast (measured using one of the 1c soup containers from another part of the cafeteria - I measure my food at the salad bar even if it makes people look at me weird!)
~ 3/4 cup steamed string beans
~ 1/2 cup cucumber slices
I sprinkled the whole thing with salt & pepper and red wine vinegar - for a tasty, crunchy, positively enormous lunch, packed with protein and vitamins, all for under 350 calories.
I have an apple for later in the day, and those things - plus lots and lots of water - will easily hold me over until dinnertime.
Volume is key, for me - and volume means lots and lots of vegetables.
If you like soups and have a hard time making them yourself, maybe try to play around with the type you get. Not all canned soups are made equal, and some are naturally low in calories without being part of a diet line. Look for types that have a lot of substance to them, as some soups are little more then broth. I've found that my favorite soup is a barley soup I get at trader joes. The whole two servings that comes in the box is under 300 calories, and the barley is sooo filling and wonderful.
BUT don't think that you have to eat a prepared soup as is. You can add a little left over cooked veggies, or even some extra meat to make to most out of your soup.
For breakfast: I put two heaping spoons of pumpkin puree in my instant oatmeal and I am full for hours. I also agree with everyone above about fruits veggies and water.
Just wanted to add another filling *food* - water, hot tea and 20 calorie hot chocolate. Really, really helps fill up my tummy and keep my hunger at bay.
But be certain you know where there's a bathroom available at all times.
What is it with the 20 calorie cocoa? That stuff
is a miracle - I don't know how it fills me up but
it does. Sometimes I add a 1/2 scoop of chocolate
protein powder to it and then it sticks for hours...
maybe I need to start making some lol!!
I had a big glass of water and now I'm fine! I will have a bowl of raw spinach when the kiddos get home from school.
I have been doing really well with cooking... but since the weekend,
I haven't :-( I love to cook but get tired of the planning. And I'm not in the habit of buying enough veggies yet! I'm on track for the rest of the week. Doing a turkey breast, green beans, and sweet potatoes tonight. Hopefully I will have some left over!
Katy - bags of frozen veggies are my life savers. My hubby doesn't eat many veggies (he actually will only eat corn) and my only child is 17 months, so he doesn't eat a whole lot. I find that a lot of fresh veggies go bad before I can eat them so I stock up on the steam bags of veggies. 5 minutes in the microwave and they're ready to go. I usually just keep salad type veggies on hand.
I make stuffed chicken breast with fresh broccoli and cottage cheese, then top with a LITTLE bit of lite mozzerella...and the stuffing is the best part! Sooooooooo...I decided to try a take on just that!
Tonight I nuked some frozen veggies (brocc, cauli, carrots, peas), then added about 1.5 cups of LF cottage cheese and a 1/4 cup of mozz in a small cassarole dish and topped with lots of pepper and garlic powder.
I baked it for 25 min, then drained. (The LF cottage cheese can get watery) I then added about an 1/8 cup of mozz on top, moved to the top shelf in the oven and baked for about 15-20 more minutes. (Until it starts getting brown and crispy)
OMG - YUMMMMMMMM! This makes at least 4 servings! The (soon to be) hubby LOVED it and he's very picky. I ate it with a turkey dog and I'm STUFFED - for the first time in days!
Last edited by Getupandgo; 12-01-2010 at 08:59 PM.
See that gigantor bowl of popcorn? That's after I've eaten half of it. I fill that baby up every night...it takes me over an hour to eat. 1/4 cup of kernels, air-popped, spritzed with I Can't Believe It's Not Butter spray, and sprinkled with cinnamon and a few sweetener packets...tastes like Cinnamon Toast Crunch. It's 240 calories and so worth it.
I eat it for an evening snack and has completely stopped any need to graze on junk because I have a huge bowl of popcorn to eat. It's not that popcorn itself is an inherently satisfying food. But it's bulk and it takes time. For me, taking 60 minutes to eat popcorn is much more satisfying than taking 5 minutes to eat a handful of nuts or a granola/fiber bar or something.
Haha, I HIGHLY recommend the popcorn. It has kept me from deviating from plan numerous times. "Do I really need/want <insert any junk food>?? Nahh...I have a huge bowl of guilt-free delicious popcorn waiting for me at home."
I no longer have the problem of avoiding night time snacking because I DO night time snack. I park my butt in front of the computer or TV and mindlessly munch. And it's all gloriously on plan, haha.
mkendrick: Oh my gosh, how much popcorn does 1/4 cup of kernels make?! If I'd had to guess, I would have said maybe like 2 cups... guess not.
Looks like an awesome snack - I'll have to try it sometime!
OP: I just had a dinner yesterday that I loved and that filled me up! If you like onions and cabbage and chicken, you might like it.
I took 1/2 a large onion (chopped it up), 5 cups cabbage, chopped. Then I put them in a glass dish. I put that in the oven next to 1 chicken breast and let them bake at the same time for about 40-45 minutes at 375 degrees.
I shredded the chicken when it came out, and mixed it in with the cabbage and onion (which should be pretty soft now). Then you can add any sauce you like - soy sauce, horseradish sauce; I even considered spaghetti sauce, but was out of it. But I ate it plain and I still really liked it.
But the cabbage, onion, and chicken together make a very large, filling bowl of food that I really enjoy.
1/2 large onion - 30 cal
5 cups chopped cabbage - 110
Chicken breast - 110
