Also congrats to the rest of you- everyone looks like they are doing AWESOME.

krampus low-cal dessert finds are exciting, and ZERO cal dessert finds are even better! I've been hooked on mashed frozen bananas lately- throw frozen bananas in the blender and they taste like ice cream. Add 1 tsp of Hershey's syrup and it tastes like chocolate ice cream, with a faction of the cals.

I want some of this zero-calorie Jello.

Another mid-day check-in: I was so on-plan with low carb until just now. It's my best friend's birthday so I had to have celebratory chocolate sorbet with her right? Not terrible damage calorie-wise, just 100cal. But now I have sugar cravings, which I've been (ironically) indulging with Better n' Butter PB... crapcrapcrap.

Will edit this later to add the rest of my eats. But so far:
B: a hot mess of didn't happen: 1/2 Kind bar, about a tbsp of ridiculous trail mix, Suzie's spelt cake. 170 cal.
L: grilled chicken, cucumber, romaine lettuce, spiced black beans & tomato sauce mixed "dressing" on steamed broccoli and carrots. 320 cal.
S1: not long afterwards, boca burger, 1/4 large flatbread, more lettuce, pickle. 140 cal.
S2: 1/2 cup sorbet (some mango, some chocolate), 1 tbsp Better n Butter. 150 cal.
D: grilled chicken, sauteed collard greens, stir-fry veggies. 240 cal.

sleep: 3 hrs last night, if anything. this insomnia is killing me.
exercise: 40 minutes moderate cardio btwn stairmaster, elliptical, hiking up 10% grade on treadmill. too sleepdeprived for a real workout.

ETA: Resisted snacks at discussion group (of COURSE there were snacks) better than I would have before this weight loss plan -- only ate 1/2 cup of smartfoods popcorn and 2 candies (50 + 25=75). Came back to the dorm and splurged my remaining calorie allowance on a couple slivers of pound cake and strawberry topping (180 + 60 = 240). Totally worth it. Closing out the day at 1250 calories. Hear that, self? No more snacks tonight.

B: 2 whole grain slices bread, 2 tblsps sunflower seed spread, 1 banana (140, 200, 172) all eaten on toasted sandwhich

S: Serving of low fat cottage cheese, 1/2 cup blueberries (90, 41)

L: Green Giant veggie steamer, 1 kiwi with skin, serving Greek yogurt (50, 46, 110) calories online for kiwi said 26 then another site said 46 so I picked the higher one, just in case

S: 1/2 granola bar (90)

D: 1 cup steamed sweet potato, 1 piece talapia- 3.5 ounces, lightly seasoned (180, 126, 15)

Total, 1260

I'm done eating for the evening, I typically don't eat after dinner.

I'm about to go to yoga class then do legs, abs and cardio. I also walked 1/2 an hour each way to work.

I have to add a little to my day yesterday: A binge on wasabi peas (could have been worse, right?) three crackers with cheese and a Vodka drink.

Today I am giving cooking lessons to a friend, and am planning to keep it healthy.

Finally, I had a great on-plan day!!!

I think I ate pretty darn healthy - and I wasn't starving all day!!! My dinner looks kinda wonky cause i had class tonight, so I brought a sandwich with to eat in class but ended up eating it at 4:30 and having a snack when I got home at 10:30.

Breakfast (293): 1 egg over easy (80) with 1 slice ww toast (90). 1 Tsp almond butter (33), tea with vanilla almond milk (90)

Snack (150): mixed fruit of 1/2 cup blueberries, small sliced banana, 5 blackberries

Lunch (211): Salad of herb salad mix (5), yellow pepper (5), 5 grape tomato (10), 5 green olives (25), 2 T hummus (70), 1 T avocado dressing (30), 2 slices tempeh "bacun" (66)

Early Dinner before class (305): sandwich of 1 T almond butter (95), 2 slices ww bread (180), 1 T fruit only blueberry jam (30)

Snack (236): 1 cheese stick (90), 6 brown rice crackers (36), 2 slices tofurky (40), hummus (70)

Total calories: 1195

Yay everyone great work!! You always inspire me to eat better.

Breakfast: 1 smoothie (1 c yogurt, 1 banana, 5 strawberries, 1 tsp bran)
Lunch: 1 c daal (Indian lentils), 1 big wheat tortilla
Snack1: 1 medium carrot, 3 tbs hummus
Snack2: 1/2 pomegranate
Dinner: 1 morning glory muffin, 5 strawberries, 1 egg

Exercise: 20 minutes elliptical, 10 minutes stationary bike, 15 minutes weights and abs

Total: 1170
Exercise: 178
Net: 992

Put this question on the 120s thread, but maybe you guys can answer it here. My protein was pretty good today and so were my fruits/veggies, but my carbs were through the roof. Obviously I could cut the wheat tortilla easily, but that was less than 10% of my carb intake for the day. The main sources were the smoothie and daal, neither of which I'm happy about cutting. Without access to soy products here in India, beans and lentils are a huge source of protein for me. Fruits and vegetables are seasonal, meaning sometimes I can only get carb-heavy ones, like bananas and pomegranates.

Any thoughts on how/if I should try to reduce my carbs?

Today was sloppy. Too early in the game, gotta tighten up tomorrow. I blame white rice with lunch for leaving me ravenous and nibbly in the afternoon.

Total calories around 2000.

Breakfast: 80g yogurt, 100 calorie oatmeal, banana
Snack: 2 rice crackers wrapped in seaweed
Lunch: Leftover graduation bento - white rice, half a lotus root wedge, half a tamagoyaki (tiny omelette), 1 piece of karaage (boneless fried chicken, bite sized), about 100g of grilled lean chicken, 4 strawberries, cheddar cheese
Snack/Nibbles: a couple chocolates, 3 mini pies
Dinner: Subway ham and egg sub
Dessert: Baskin Robbins small double T_T (so much for getting the kiddy single)

Exercise: 50 min brisk walking, 40 min Tae Bo Cardio, 50 pushups, 200 crunches, planks and squats galore.

Can I ask why you want to reduce your carbs?

If they are coming from fruits/veggies/lentils/beans I wouldn't worry about them. I also wouldn't live on soy products, it's not really healthy unless it is tofu/tempeh/miso. Veggie burgers and fake meats are great occasionally, but I don't think anyone should be making them into a staple product, ya know? It's really tempting though as they are SOOOO FILLING and low cal!!! I was living on them when i first started dieting, maybe that's why my weight loss stalled - I gave them up! Hmmm.... I still eat them a little, but not every meal like I was.

hi, i'm new and have never posted before, but I was wondering if anyone could help me out with a question. I love peanut butter, but obviously its not the best thing to be eating if your trying to watch calories/fat...so are there any good substitutes that taste similar and are lower in calories/fat? I noticed some of you have mentioned almond butter and something called better n' peanut butter, but are those actually healthier and do they still taste good? Sorry if this is the wrong forum...would really appreciate any input!

Hey kwilli -- almond butter is no better or worse, just made of almonds. Better n peanut butter and PB2 are both lower-cal versions. I've tried both and like the second one better -- low in fat and not higher in carb. I find Better n peanut butter to be absurdly sweet. Hope that helps.

B: Made smoothie- 1 cup strawberries, 1/2 cup blueberries, 1 Greek yogurt, 2 packets of Stevia type fake sugar (53, 41, 100)

S: 1/4 whole grain naan bread with 3 tblsps homemade hummus (43, 91)

L: Green Giant veggie steamer, 1 small Macintosh apple (140, 80)

S: 1/2 cup raspberries (32)

D: 1 serving whole grain pasta, 2 cups brocolli, 1 tspn olive oil, parmesan cheese (200, 60, 60, 80)

Total of 980 cals

Tonight I'm going to take a night off from the gym, I have been going to bed later and tonight I'm going to relax and make it an early one.

Hadn't eaten quite enough cals so went looking in the fridge and found some black beans, which I love so I had 1//2 a cup- 90 cals

1070

I eat peanut butter or almond butter basically every day and haven't found it impacts my weight loss. IMO, it's necessarily bad for dieting, as long as you measure it out. A tablespoon of either is 100 calories, which is the same as a tablespoon of margarine or olive oil, but it has a lot more protein and unsaturated fats.

I personally find a tablespoon is also just enough to make a sandwich with too.

I bought Better Than Peanut Butter in the past, and remember it was pricey (probably about 7 bucks for a jar) and the product itself was runny and had the consistency of honey. It tasted OK. But I try to eat whole foods so I personally find it healthier (for me) just to eat natural peanutbutter (made from only ground peanuts and salt) or almond butter (just made from almonds).

Another alternative is soynut butter, but I think the calories are about the same as peanutbutter, it may have more protien though.
Hope that helps!

Did pretty well today, came in at being under my calories so may add a snack later.

Breakfast (273): 1 egg over easy (60) with 1 slice ww toast (90). 1 tsp almond butter (33), mug of green tea chai with almond milk (90).

Lunch (397): 6 brown rice crackers (40) to which I added 2 T hummus (70), 2 slices tofurky (40) and 2 slices of pickle (5). Salad made from herb salad mix (10), 6 grape tomatoes (12), 5 green olives (25), 1 T hummus (35), 2 T Avocado dressing (60), 3 slices tempeh "bacun" (100).

Dinner (335): 1 cup Amy's Chunky Vegetable Soup (60), 1 roll (175), 1 T margarine (100).

Total Calories: 1005

Today was on-plan but felt gross. I really need to stop eating meal replacement bars because they do NOT replace meals for me. I think I'm a whole foods / volume kind of gal... cucumber fills me up and bars do not.

B: Zone Perfect Bar (210), then 1/2 Larabar Tropical Fruit (105). 315.
L: Chicken tikki masala, stmd green beans, 1.5 oz bulgar wheat, 1/2 square ChocoPerfection. 280.
S: Pecan dark chocolate trail mix, 120.
S2: Major carb cravings. 2 bran crackers, 1 thin cake, 1 tbsp PB2, 1 sq chocoperfection, 1 graham cracker. 160.
D: Fresh arugula with 4oz egg whites, stmd green beans, cucumber, and 2 oz glazed butternut squash. Oatmeal raisin Atkins breakfast bar, 2oz maple butternut squash. 290 cal.

1150 cal at 8:30pm, which is bad for me, but currently full, so I might be ok. Major failure on nutrient ratio, though... despite my Atkins bar & other protein/fat substitutions for carbs, I still ended up at 29/46/24 with major cravings. Never starting off my day with sugar carbs again.

lackadaisy I love all the different grains you get in every day- bulgar wheat, bran crackers, yum! Also jealous of Wildflower's brown rice crackers- they sound sooo good.

Wildflower in response to the question about carbs... I'm not sure if I want to lower them or not yet. I just realize as I get closer to my baseline adult weight (127) that to move lower I may have to make some adjustments to my diet. I know a lot of people watch their carbs so I'm exploring the thought of doing the same. Yesterday I ate a TON of carbs and had a sudden realization that they come from sources other than bread and pasta (yes I know, I must have slept through the early 2000s and the Atkins phase haha).

Anyway it may or may not be the right decision for me right now, but I'm open to exploring at least watching them. I may cut back on grains- specifically rice, pasta, bread- and not worry about the beans, fruits, and vegetables. Still exploring possibilities.