So, this is only the sixth day of my renewed efforts to lose weight, but yesterday was rough. Last Friday I planned out a whole week of meals, and I'm finding it super helpful to not have to think about what I'm going to eat and to be able to say, ok, it's Thursday, so I'm making grilled pork chops for dinner.

But yesterday I got home from work and I felt light-headed and just yucky. I ate a couple of walnuts while I was making dinner and felt better, but I now remember that when I'm losing weight I almost always feel yucky at some point in the late afternoon. Even planning a late afternoon snack doesn't make that go away.

And then my friend came over for dinner and I had some wine. I planned to have some wine, but then I brought out another bottle and she kept filling my glass and then I'd had twice as much wine as I planned for (but somehow managed to stay in my calories for the day). And then I was a little buzzed and alcohol makes me feel snacky and it was a struggle not to eat anything else.

I did fine, but I really, really don't want to give up again. I'm not sure what I'm looking for here, whether it's someone telling me to suck it up or just some encouragement.

One of my favorite quotes from the bible- A just man (woman in your case ) falls 7 times but gets back up. You did great, you didnt even go over, but if you do- just get right back up. Keep your eye on the goal & be encouraged! You can do this!!

You didn't go over your calories, so don't be discouraged! You didn't give in and you were eating walnuts to hold you over. Good for you!

What does your whole day of food look like? It sounds like figuring out this problem and eliminating it by tweaking your food and movement would help reinforce your dietary compliance. Feeling "yucky" doesn't feel good...and if you don't feel good you're not likely to stick to it, right? I don't think that feeling yucky at ANY time is necessary for losing weight, nor is it beneficial.

The lightheadedness sounds to me like you're experiencing low blood sugar, which makes me suspect there is something you are eating (or not eating) earlier in the day that is crashing you.

i second what warmaiden said. The first thing that came to my mind was possibly a drop in blood sugar. That's something that I deal with. I would experience it for years and never understand why. Just figured I was exhausted! Doctor finally did some testing and sure enough in the afternoons my blood sugar level severely drops (because of the foods I was eating) and I feel awful.

I still have days like that, but now that I know what the problem is, I can tweak my meals to alleviate the problem significantly.

Let me know if I can help.

Thanks for your encouragement, guys.

This is my typical day:
Eat breakfast (around 8:30)
1 cup low fat yogurt
1 cup fruit
1/4 cup granola
Coffee with soy milk

Eat lunch (around 1 pm)
Sandwich thin
Some sort of protein (turkey, ham, tuna), about 100 calories worth
Low fat cheese
6 oz fruit yogurt
Diet soda

Feel yucky (yeah, I agree it's low blood sugar) around 4-5 pm

Eat dinner (about 6 pm)
4-6 oz lean protein
Glass of 2% milk
Some whole grain
A lot of vegetables

Eat after dinner snack (around 8-9 pm)
Serving of low fat ice cream/snack

I guess it sounds like I could use some suggestions for easy, convenient snacks I could eat around 3ish. I'd like to, but haven't yet, start going to the gym for a half hour or so of cardio between work and coming home to make dinner. Or do you think I should be eating something different at mealtimes? Right now, I'm around 2000 calories a day- I actually think I should be closer to 2200 to start off with, but, like I said, I'm just starting and still tweaking my program.

maybe some rice cakes with something on them.. either laughing cow light or any other calorie-counted spread you can think of/want

Hi tomorrow,

It seems as if you are waiting too long to eat and thats why your blood sugar level is dropping. Ideally you should eat every 2.5 to 3 hrs. As such if you have breakfast at 8.30, you should have a snack between 11 and 11.30. The lunch at 2 -2.30 and so on.

I find though that if I wait too long to have breakfast then I am very hungry by 1.30. As such, I try to have breakfast between 7.30 and 8. My snacks are between 100-120 calories so I would have a fruit or if its my afternoon snack i will have a jello pudding (no more than 120 calories) or 1/2 can of Pringles (105 calories).

The aim is to have between 5 and 6 meals a day to steady your blood sugar level. Hope this helps.

I think your breakfast and your lunch do not contain enough protein and good fat, and have WAY too many carbs--especially breakfast. To keep my blood sugar under good control and prevent hypoglycemia, I typically have at least 20 to 30 grams of protein each at breakfast, second breakfast (AKA snack), and lunch. Plus fats from my fish oil supplement, ground flaxseed, and/or eggs. I avoid stuff that will spike my blood sugar, like dried fruit, simple sugars, or high-glycemic fresh fruit (bananas). Coffee also may be contributing to your blood sugar issues, but it's not the first thing I would try fixing.

When dealing with hypoglycemia, basically you should eat early, eat often, concentrate on protein and good fats, and avoid carbs that will spike blood sugar.

I would say you are eating too much sugar in the mornings and its causing the crash mid-day. If you aren't looking to lower your sugar then I would eat some fruit mid-day to help with the crash since walnuts don't have sugar in them they won't help in that regard, but if you are looking to wean yourself off sugar then you could lower the sugar in the mornings and suffer through a few bad days of fighting off the low blood sugar and your body will adjust to not needing sugar for energy. Just my opinion, I would opt to cut the sugar, but what is best for me is not for everyone, whatever works for you!

You seem to be doing really well on eating less processed stuff so I would definitely continue with that.

Hi tomorrow,

when I had a trainer and nutritionist they recommended that I eat around 2100-2200 calories per day. Ok, I just consulted my The Biggest Loser book and it says the approx. number of calories you should consume = your weight x 7. If over 300 lbs, they recommend around 2100 or so calories, so that mirrors what my trainer and nutrionist told me before.

I think that if you up your calorie intake (even if its only every other day!) by around 100 calories, you could fit in an afternoon snack (something with fiber would be great!) such as a cup of fruit and a protein... try to steer clear of 'appetite stimulating foods' such as white bread, white pasta, pastries, etc. as an afternoon snack. These foods have been stripped of fiber and thefore turns to sugar much more quickly!

Now, I am by no means a health expert (as a matter of fact I am learning more about foods, etc and believe me I LOVE food!) I am just giving advice based on very similar experiences that I have had.

You can do it! The pieces will fall right into place! (Huggs)

Don't give up, I'm been doing this for 180 days and it passes in the blink of an eye. The secret is to be consistent.

Thanks so much for your support and great advice. I'm planning my meals for the next week tonight and tomorrow, and I will definitely take your suggestions to cut down on the carbs and get more protein and good fats in, especially early in the day, and I'll plan for an afternoon snack- which should get my calories around where I want them, anyway. I guess I think of yogurt as a protein, but that's not really true- maybe yogurt with nuts for breakfast instead of fruit? Definitely more egg-based breakfasts.

I think from my personal experience with low sugars that you are getting too much sugar with breakfast with the fruit and yogurt then the other yougurt with lunch, adda veggie to your lunch and have the yogurt as your snack at three.

You could try Greek yogurt, which I believe has more protein; or cottage cheese, which has a ton of protein; or eggs. Nuts don't have a lot of protein, comparatively, but they are definitely good fats. Some folks will have something like a piece of 100% whole-grain toast with peanut butter on it, plus some yogurt or cottage cheese and fresh fruit; perhaps that would work for you. I think the key here is to try various things until you find exactly what works for you and helps you feel good all day.