Hi everyone, I was just wondering if you could give me a sample of what you eat in a day. I think that my meals a a bit carb heavy, thus I usually end up craving everything in sight at about 3 PM and ruining what would have been a really good day. My usual day is:

Breakfast: plain oatmeal (100 cals) with banana and coffee

Lunch: can of healthy request soup or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and some applesause

Dinner: whatever I make for my family, just a smaller portion

I throw snacks in there like a bag of 100 cal popcorn or something. Do you think I'm not eating enough protein??

Today I ate

Breakfast: Fiber One chocolate chip banana muffin (190cal)

Lunch: homemade turkey salad and pumpernickel bread ( ~364cal according to my fitness pal)

Dinner: Portobello pizza (mushroom cap,pesto,feta,olives, 1slice provolone (~256cal per MFP)

Snack: pineapple chunks cup (140 cal)

A typical day for me is:

Breakfast: 8 oz OJ and either yogurt or a granola bar

Lunch: Some sort of Lean Cuisine, Smart Ones, etc

Snack: Either yogurt or granola bar (whichever I didn't have for breakfast)

Dinner: Same as lunch or I might make something of a similar calorie/fat gram level, like beans and rice

If I find I'm hungry in between I'll munch on fat free pretzel sticks. Oh, and there's always a can of Pepsi somewhere in the day (only one if I'm good lol).

How many calories are your breakfast and lunch? It sounds like maybe not enough to me.

my cals for lunch and breakfast are about 200-300. I'm still not sure what my daily allotment for calories should be though

My day today:

B: oatmeal w/raisins, dates, honey, cinnamon
S: Greek yogurt
L: tuna wrap with spinach, tomatoes, pepper jack cheese. Steamed veggies
S: almonds
S: carrots
S: apple
D: homemade chicken teriyaki with steam veggies and brown rice
wine

Estimated Total: 1600

(I haven't calculated the chicken teriyaki yet)

I find that I am the most hungry in the afternoon no matter what I eat. So I eat. My first snack of the afternoon is always almonds and usually around 3. I then follow up with another snack around 4:30 if still hungry and I always eat an apple on my way home around 5:30.

I found a huge difference when I incorporated more protein. I make a point to eat as much protein as I can.

ETA: I try to listen to my body and eat when I am hungry. I drink a lot of water during the day, so usually it iis legitimate hunger and not thirsty pains.

Today, breakfast was a Glucerna diabetic shake.
Snack, 1/2 banana
coffees with skim milk during the work day
lunch, tossed salad with lean ham, turkey, cheese and regular French dressing
dinner was weird--I didn't cook and my husband thought he was doing us all a favor--olive loaf sandwich (5 thin slices) on rye bread with mustard and a fruit salad dessert
water all day long

yesterday B: Glucerna
snack: Tangerine
lunch: 1 can Progresso beef barley soup
snack: fruit salad
dinner: 6 cheese ravioli with 1/2 cup marinara sauce and a bit of crumbled lean beef -- there was salad too, but I got too full to eat it!
coffees with skim milk
Water all day long

Sunday: Latte with skim milk, banana (B&L)
Dinner: 1 cup pasta, 1/2 c marinara sauce, sauteed mushrooms, onions and peppers, 2 ounces of steak
Water, but not enough
This was a weird day -- weekends can be that way - either I've been struggling with trying to not eat, or under eating.

3 weeks ago I was following a bit differently, without the shakes.
Breakfasts were either a 1/2 banana with a tblsp. of peanut butter and a coffee with skim milk, or a smoothie of skim milk and 2 fruits with some vanilla extract added, or 1 slice of bread with sliced tomato and 2% cheese toasted in the toaster oven

Lunches were generally greek salads (greens/tomatos/onions), feta cheese and about 3 or 4 greek olives, plus olive oil dressing. Or the standby, 1 can of Progresso soup (whatever kind), or as a treat chinese takeout of veggies in garlic sauce with either shrimp or tofu or chicken, but no rice. Rarely, I'd have a tuna salad sandwich on whole wheat with lettuce, onion and tomato that I'd purchase at the office.

Snacks are generally fruit, or the occasional 1/2 granola or power bar. I love an occasional latte with skim also.

I was also eating a Greek yogurt a lot, with mixed berries and a bit of Kashi 7 grain puffs on top, or some Kashi golean crunch (as a granola substitute).

Generally, daily coffees with skim milk up to a cup of skim to get that dairy in

Water.

Dinners, I tried to go generic with protein/veg/starch. Think roasted chicken or grilled meat of some sort, a salad, perhaps some broccoli, etc., and rice or potato. Or pasta with meat or beans and a veg.

Something that my daughter and I absolutely LOVE is the Kraft pouch "Homestyle" cheddar flavor mac and cheese--and I boil up some cauliflower (2 cups cooked) and add that to the casserole before putting it in the oven--so you have your veg and your starch together--and its soooo delicious and filling--easy to serve with whatever protein you've got. I made chicken legs, some with skin, some without, baked in the oven with 1 can of crushed pineapple in juice and some splashes of soy sauce--that was delicious with the cauliflower/mac. We also like stewed tomatoes with mac and cheese, so we had that with the c-mac too.

One night we had kielbasi on the grill, and saurkraut, and I cooked pierogi with onion and a little butter. I was able to have a 2 inch link, all the kraut I wanted, and 4 pierogi.

I try to make meals that my family will enjoy and not think of as "diet". I do eat sausages and kielbasi and burgers, etc., but I make modifications, like use a whole wheat hard roll and scoop out the insides for my burger, and as you wrote, eat less, or just eat firsts, no seconds, thirds...lol We now all eat the 2% Land O Lakes American cheese...its really good.

I try to get balance of veg, protein, dairy, fruit, starch/carb, fat. I don't always to great, but I try try try.

I don't have an opinion on the carb-i-ness of your menu, but if that is a typical day, I wonder if you're eating enough calories.

Also, I don't do artificial sweeteners much at all. I'd rather have a little of something "regular" than even a serving of ... for instance, chocolate pudding. Sometimes, those single serving cups of pudding with a 1/2 banana are a wonderfully "decadent" snack/dessert.

Not sure if anything I've written is helpful, but I've been doing well with it.

Today was really odd, so this is what I ate yesterday.

Breakfast: Steel cut oatmeal with flaxmeal, walnuts, dried figs and honey. Black coffee.

Lunch: Ham and cheese quesadilla (1 tortilla, 2 slices of ham and 1oz of cheddar.) Plus, an apple.

Snack: One homemade chocolate chip cookie.

Dinner: Salmon, sweet potato oven fries and oven roasted green beans. Oh, and a small glass of white wine. The wine is very rare.

Snack: Decaf Chai tea, unsweetend, with 1/2 cup of vanilla almond milk.

Looking at this, yesterday wasn't stellar either, but that's what I love about calorie counting. If I want a cookie, I can have one.

gracesmomma - Try the calorie calculator at freedieting.com. I use that and select the "zigzag" option so that each day is a slightly different number, letting me have some higher cal days to indulge in treats that wouldn't otherwise fit, without cheating. And I personally put my weight in as a few lbs less than it is, I find that amount of cals works good for me...I lose a bit quicker but it's still enough so I'm not hungry.

Today I ate:

B: Chobani Greek Yogurt and 3 clementines (this is my usual breakfast) -- 245 cal
S: about 1 cup baby carrots -- ~52 cal
L: 2 slices Ezekiel bread, 2 oz Boar's Head Everroast Chicken breast, yellow mustard and pickles -- 315 cal
D: 6 oz Marinated Sirloin Tips, 1 can green beans (3.5 servings--too much sodium, even though I rinsed them thoroughly), and 1 mini purple potato w/ cajun spices -- 436 cal

I also had extra calories so I indulged in some slow churned coffee ice cream and cookies (oh well) -- 230 cal

= 1288 calories and I don't feel deprived and I had a decent workout tonight :-D

Breakfast - Either a bran muffin with nuts or protein shake (200 cal)

Lunch - either marinated chicken with salad and pitta bread, or chicken escalope in a wholemeal bap with salad and small amount of butter (600 cals)

Dinner- anything at all in 800 calories.

This totals about 1600, sometimes I will make my dinner 600 calories and have a 200 calorie sweet snack in the afternoon if I am peckish but thats very rare, this menu keeps me pretty satisfied!

Breakfast: 4 ounces of hamburger with salt and pepper. And coffee. (I was making ground beef for lunch and it looked good.)

Lunch:
Roasted butternut squash with cranberries, and 4 ounces ground beef. (Also, I just picked up a 1/4 grass fed cow, so I have lots of meat.)

Snack before yoga: 16 small pretzels & a greek yogurt.

Dinner: Sauteed cabbage, onions, mushrooms with 2 eggs and a dollop of pesto. Spoonful of almond butter.

This is about 1400 calories. I do weight watchers but I also track on Sparkpeople to make sure I'm getting enough fiber and other things.

Well, mine's not going to be as healthy as most, but I like it.

Breakfast -- 1 Coca-Cola in a glass bottle -- 100 cal
Lunch -- Amy's Tamale Verde -- 400 cal
Snack -- Spicy Black Bean Soup -- 170 cal
Dinner -- Beef Stew w/ a chunk of garlic bread -- 550 cal

So I end the day with: 1220 calories

Typical day:
Breakfast: High fiber tortilla (50-70 calories), one egg white, spinach, sofrito or 1/2oz neufchatel or both.

Snack: Fruit (1 serving strawberries OR an apple OR blueberries)

Lunch: 1 cup of homemade soup

Snack: Baby carrots/cherry tomatoes w/3T hummus

Dinner: 1.5 cups of homemade soup/chili/stew OR a serving of casserole OR rice/beans OR curry/rice OR veggie stir fry OR pasta. Varies so much, typically 300-500 calories.

Snack: Popcorn

thanks everyone. this really helps me get ideas of other things to eat. I guess I just need to broaden my horizons a little and not be so lazy about making and preparing food...

I don't see too many vegetables in your day ... I hope you're eating plenty of them at dinner. But you're also just not eating that much early in the day ... I'd be ravenous at 3PM on your menu as well!

Here is my typical day (weekday, at work) - is fairly carb-heavy, but I have an okay macro-nutrient balance.

Breakfast:
1 cup Kashi Go-Lean crunch
1/2 cup nonfat milk or almond milk
1 apple

Lunch:
Turkey sandwich: 4 oz. turkey on multigrain bread with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, sprouts, green peppers, and hot sauce
pickle
very small side salad or small portion of steamed vegetable
(note how much vegetable is in my lunch)

Mid-afternoon snacks:
banana
another apple, or an orange
(occasionally) a boiled egg, or a can of sardines, or a little more Kashi cereal

Dinner:
Some kind of protein (chicken, fish, daal)
Large portion of vegetables (and I mean large! 1/3-1/2 head of roast cauliflower or sauteed broccoli, or a large chopped salad, or 1/3-1/2 acorn squash, or 1/2 bunch sauteed kale, etc. My plate is mostly vegetables.)

After dinner:
(sometimes) Chobani greek yogurt

Adds up to about 1400-1600 calories/day, depending upon how many midafternoon snacks I have and whether I have that yogurt after dinner.