Yay! Breakfast at 9:00!

  • Ok, this may sound strange, but one of the issues I've been struggleing with is that I usually eat breakfast at noon. I have sleep apnea, just started treatment, and I'm still tired. Sometimes there is nothihg in the world that could force me out of bed in the mornings.
    But yesterday I had a pretty bad day, exhaustion wise, and I went to bed at 8:30. OK, so I still slept 12 hours, and that is still too long, but I'm eating breakfast at 9:00. I may start going to bed at 8:30 every night. I just prefer to eat breakfast in the morning for some reason.
    So this is how I'm progressing. I've only had bottled water to drink for 3 days now. And I've worked a little (very little) bit of excercize into all of those three days. Today will be my fourth day. Of course I'm not doing this perfectly yet, but I am doing better.
    And tomorrrow, I'll actually get to go buy food, instead of eating all of the junk left in the house. I'm still not sure what to buy. I mean, I have a few ideas from the things people have told me already. Low fat cheese, beans, low fat chicken and fish. Vegetables, vegetables, vegetables. A variety of healthy beverages. Pam spray. Yogurt butter. (I have no idea what that is.) Tomatoes and tomato sauce. And I've discovered that tuna is very high protien and low fat/low carbs. But I'm not sure that I have enough for a grocery list, or any variety in my menu, so can anyone just give me a grocery list?
  • Yogurt butter - something like Brummel & Brown.

    Add some turkey to the chicken and fish. Get some fruits, yogurt, nuts. Just read the labels til you get the hang of it. Watch the sodium content. They make tomato sauce with no salt added. Pick up whole wheat bread and pasta, maybe some whole wheat bagels. I put either light cream cheese or All Fruit spread on them. Peanut butter's also a good item. Spread it on celery, wheat bread, apple, or just snack on a spoon of it. Some high fiber cereals, like Kashi perhaps. Skim milk - Broughten now has something called Super Skim that's good. It's skim that tastes like 2%...in case you can't stomach skim.
  • First figure out what you want to eat for the week, then make your list. With the power of the internet at your fingertips there are literally THOUSANDS of healthy recipes out there. Shopping and cooking are good habits you will need to maintain your weight loss!

    Here is a personal shopping list and what I did with it for a week (I don't buy any junk and I don't buy anything that isn't on my list):

    It's hard to cook for 1, but luckily I like leftovers. It actually makes life a little easier. For example, if I make the omelet filling, the next night I can just pour the eggs in pan, throw on the filling and go.

    Due to all the produce, I shop on Sunday for Mon - Fri and then I shop on Friday for the weekend. I usually hit the grocery store at least 1 other time during the week, I am there a LOT.

    Plan:

    Breakfast - toast (1 slice with peanut butter, 1 slice with jelly)
    morning snacks - berries and yogurt
    lunch - take salad to work
    afternoon snack - fruit
    afternoon snack - cut up veggies/hummus dip (veggies - baby carrots, sugar snap peas, cut up pepper, grape tomatoes)
    Dinner - stir fry 2 nights, omelettes 2 nights
    dinner snack - baked apple with blueberries

    Shopping list:

    Breakfast
    Loaf of whole grain bread (I read labels, I look for bread with high fiber per slice - at least 4 grams and no high fructose corn syrup anywhere in the ingredients)
    Jar of natural peanut butter
    Jar of no sugar added jelly

    morning snack
    5 low fat Greek yogurts (I like the Fage brand, I can get it at Trader Joe's/Whole Foods, I also like Horizons organic fat free plain)
    2 containers of fresh berries (depending on what is in season/price, I only buy two because they are so perishable, I will have to go to the store again later that week, I sometimes buy frozen if fresh is too spendy)

    Salad stuff
    Big bag of spinach
    2 boxes of grape tomatoes (1 for veggie snack)
    Bag of baby carrots
    1 red pepper
    Some kind of nuts for the salad, I like soy nuts or pine nuts or pumpkin seeds or slivered almonds (serving for salad = 1/4 cup)
    Dried cranberries for the salad (serving = 1/4 cup)
    Low fat/fat free dressing
    Whatever else you like in salad - cucumber? radishes? pickled beets?

    afternoon snacks

    Fruit for the afternoon (whatever is in season - oranges, watermelon, mangos, plums, nectarines)
    Bag of sugar snap peas (for veggie snack)
    Orange pepper (for veggie snack)
    2 cans chickpeas
    1 bag sun dried tomato
    garlic (I buy the big jars of minced)
    lemon juice
    Olive oil

    Stir fry

    Protein - chicken, shrimp, tofu, lean steak (serving size - 2 oz)
    Whatever vegetables you want in stir fry, I like:
    Bokchoy, shi-take mushrooms, garlic, ginger, orange pepper, broccoli (I would use the carrots bought earlier as well).
    Some kind of stir fry sauce
    Soy sauce (if I didn't have it already)

    Omelet stuff

    1 package of 6 cage free eggs (I normally make 2 egg omelet, so omelette
    low fat feta (or low fat cheese of choice)
    Whatever you want in your omelet - I like sun dried tomatoes, spinach, olives, baby shrimp, artichoke hearts)
    Salsa (I love salsa on top of omelets)

    After dinner snack

    5 crisp apples, bag of frozen blueberries

    Misc

    Food storage - tupperware, baggies
    Spices (in the omelet, I like white pepper and a little oregano for example)

    On Sunday, after I grocery shop, I make all the salads and put them in the frig. I put all the vegetables for snacks into baggies (just divide the box of grape tomatoes and the bag of sugar snap peas 5 ways, then add baby carrots and cut up pepper strips). I make hummus and portion it into 5 cups. I get all my stuff ready for work every day, in a bag in the frig - yogurt, berries, salad (I keep the salad dressing at work), fruit, veggies, hummus), so everyday I can just grab it and go.

    hummus recipe
    Drain the chickpeas and reserve the liquid. Put chickpeas in food processor, add sun dried tomatoes, garlic, splash of lemon juice (anything else you think might be good), pulse food processor and slowly add reserved liquid until hummus reaches desired consistency. A little olive oil is good too.

    Other breakfast ideas:

    Scrambled eggs wrapped in a whole wheat tortilla, spinach leaves and salsa
    1/2 cup granola, low fat yogurt
    Oatmeal (made with water), 1/4 cup dried blueberries

    Other snack ideas:

    Trailmix (watch portion sizes)
    Whole grain crackers, laughing cow cheese
    Cheese strings
    Low fat microwave popcorn

    Other lunch ideas:

    Turkey sandwich on whole grain with spicy mustard, lettuce and tomato
    Boca burger in a whole wheat pita, lettuce tomato
    Broth-based soup, bean-based soup (no cream-based soup)
    Tuna salad (make with low fat mayo) on a whole wheat pita, lettuce, tomato (canned salmon is also tasty)

    Other dinner ideas:

    Whole grain pasta, home-made tomato sauce with lots of vegetables
    Spinach quesadillas (pack of frozen spinach, little low fat cheese, jar of artichokes, pine nuts, olives)
    Soups