Here's my first two days on my new plan. I have to admit it's not been easy. I've been antsy and restless and more than a little short-tempered. Yesterday I went way under on calories and today I'm just over my thousand calorie minimum so that's probably why I'm feeling so out of sorts.

Anyway, here's yesterday's menu.

Breakfast
2 cups black coffee
1 slice Arnold oatnut bread
1 slice Kraft fat free cheddar cheese
calories 155

Lunch
3 ounces chicken
1 celery stick
half tablespoon mayo
1 whole grain pita
half large apple
calories 310

Dinner
2 Hebrew National fat free hot dogs with mustard
half cup Campbells baked beans
calories 235

Before bed
3 squares dark chocolate
calories 90

water consumption for the day 4 liters
total calories for the day 690


Today's menu (it's Saturday so a few small snacks are included)
Breakfast
2 cups black coffee
half raison bagel
half tablespoon peanut butter
calories 185

midmorning
2 cups black coffee
3 prunes
calories 50

Lunch
1 can tuna
1 slice havarti cheese
calories 255

midafternoon
1 cup tea
1 level teaspoon sugar (I can't stand the taste of plain black tea)
1 graham cracker
calories 145

Dinner
3 ounces top round steak, trimmed before cooking
1 cup broccoli
half cup sliced carrots
half tablespoon whipped butter
calories 350

I'll probably have 3 squares dark chocolate before bed so I'll include that in my total

water consumption for the day 3 liters

Total calories for the day 1075

I can already see some problems; my calories are too low, not enough fruit or veggies, and today I broke my own no carbs after 1.00 p.m. rule by having sweet tea and a graham cracker at 3.00 p.m.

Hope I do better tomorrow.

I think you'd benefit from exploring the whole foods forum. You can get way more bang for your buck with some different food choices. Like you said, not enough veggies. I don't know if it would help you, but breakfast is usually my biggest meal and then lunch and dinner are smaller. I just seem less hungry throughout the day if I eat a bigger breakfast. There also seems to be a lot of sugar in your diet and unnecessary fat aka butter and mayo. You'd be better of and way fuller with healthy fats like nuts. I know there are other members that can give you a lot better advice on your food choices, I hope they chime in.

Magrat, what food plan are you following?

690 CALORIES!?!?!?! I think if you are going to try to eat at the 1000-1300 level, you need to plan your day's food in advance to be sure you at least get up that high! I think 1000 is already too low... going so far below that is simply not good for you!

My initial thoughts on the food:
Oatnut bread and bagel -- are these made with white flour (also known as "enriched unbleached flour" because that sounds better)? Ditch any bread products not made with 100% whole wheat flour. If it says "wheat" on the package, that's not enough. It should say 100% whole wheat. I really like the Arnold 100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Thins.

I would check the ingredients on the fat free cheese. If it's tons of chemicals, consider reduced-fat with less additives.

Hot dogs. I looked up the ingredients and nutritional information on HN and could only find 97% fat free, but I'll assume they're similar to the ones you are eating. They are a big nutritional zero. The only thing they really have in any significant amount is sodium -- 500 mg each!

So I know I sound like I'm talking more about health food than weight loss, but really I don't think you are being good to your body on this food plan. Especially when you are eating such low calories, you really need to make every bite nutritionally valuable (well, except the dark chocolate -- I'm with you on that).

I also think that if you concentrate on foods that are better for you -- veggies, whole grains, nix the processed meats and synthetic dairy -- you may find you can eat more calories. Your body is just happier on real food.

Thinking of you and hoping you can find a way to make this work!

I agree with everything thesame7lbs said (including the part about the chocolate ).

I don't know exactly how anyone can eat that little—and I'm not referring to under 700, but really under 1,200 or 1,300. I hope it doesn't lead you to binge down the road. I know some people not only lose weight in that range, but even maintain at about that level of calories, but it is so low to my mind that I can't wrap my head around it.

Thank you for the reply.
I agree that a bigger breakfast would probably be more sustaining. It's hard though, for me to eat a lot first thing in the morning on workdays, mostly because I have to eat so darn early. Usually my weekend breakfasts are bigger but I was trying to keep both calories and fat down. I could have eaten a whole bagel instead of a half but then I would have used more peanut butter.

Regarding my sugar and fat intake. I have cut way down on both, but I am not intending, right now, anyway, to eliminate either. Saturday was unusual in that I had some fat at each meal, but that doesn't happen all the time.

By whole foods do you mean the market of the same name, or organic food in general?

Calorie counting.

Magrat, am sending you lots of good thoughts.

It can take some experimenting and good research to successfully get through the maze of losing weight so that we become much healthier, as well as slim.

Would you consider going on something that balances the nutrition, such as the South Beach Diet? There are some good books about nutrition, such as Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes.

I personally think that some of us are morning folks and need a serious breakfast, and some do better eating later. I like my biggest meal to be breakfast, others like to have it at nine in the evening.

When we eat carbohydrates instead of protein and animal fat, we starve our bodies, and they hang on to whatever they can to try to repair themselves. That is how we gained weight. Protein and animal fat are the building blocks of nutrition. We get irritable when we try to live without them. When we replace them with caffeine, or artificial things, or carbohydrates we make it even harder for our bodies to take care of themselves. (I was a vegetarian for over thirty years, and it took its toll.)

The food plan I follow is in my signature.

The food plan we choose must have sound nutritional and metabolic science behind it.

Eating less got me thinner for a while, but then I got stuck, because my just counting calories wasn't giving my body the nourishment it needed.

If you could start with some simple changes, while you are doing research about what plan you would be willing to follow, here are some suggestions. I don't know what all you eat, it's a general list:

Leave out sugar, and anything in the sugar family: high fructose corn syrup, maltodextrin, dextrose, fructose, honey, and any artificial sweeteners. Artificial sweeteners are excitotoxins and cause serious, serious health problems, including obesity.


Leave out fruit juice and sodas, sugared or sugar-free.


No packaged foods. Only eat real food.

If you want your yogurt or cottage cheese sweet, put berries in them.

No margarine or other hydrogenated fats. No polyunsaturated oils.

No white flour.

Just doing those highlighted things will help you a great deal.

We must read labels and know exactly what the ingredients do.

If you can start with one of these and then go on to include one more, and so on, you will make amazing progress!

I'm sending you very best thoughts!

PetitePowerhouse, I used to use calorie counting as my main method, and the recommended calorie intake for my age, height and weight, was 1040-1200 per day. Magrat is much shorter than I am. She is five pounds from her goal. There are several women who have posted in the Maintenance Forum that when they got close to maintenance weight, they had to eat 800-1000 calories per day to get there. Those women have now been in maintenance for many years. We cannot know for someone else how that person's body metabolizes macronutrients, or that person's health parameters and food sensitivities. We each have such different calorie needs, for so many different reasons. I got stuck at 138 and I am 5' 7". It can take some very large steps for some people when so close to the goal.
--------

There are some great blogs about macronutrients, how metabolism works, what effects it, etc.

Here are my two favorites:

http://www.paleonu.com/ ,by Dr. Kurt Harris. A very kind medical doctor who cares deeply about people recovering from diseases of all kinds.

http://high-fat-nutrition.blogspot.com/ A brilliant doctor, Peter Dobromylskyj, who posts amazing things, and cares very deeply about helping others know how food and medicine effects them.

The science in both of them is a bit beyond me, but I understand enough to know they are leading-edge thinkers in medicine and nutrition.

Sending you all very best wishes!

I'm no expert as I'm relatively new to using whole foods myself, but I believe in general it's just less processed stuff, like using just meats, veggies, spices and whole grains to create your recipes. There is a whole forum on the topic.

Regarding breakfast, can you eat at work? I also get up really early and exercise, take my son to school, etc. I don't like to eat breakfast til about 9am, but I'm lucky because I have a desk job for the most part and with the exception of an interferring meeting I can eat at my desk whenever I want. So could you pack your lunch and breakfast and take it with you?

Just wanted to add that you don't have to eliminate them, just choose healthier ones. Fats - try olive oil instead of butter, avocados, nuts and try natural sugars - organic honey, agave nectar, fruits.

I just noticed that when I started eliminating the processed artificial stuff I could eat slightly more cals and still lose. When I eliminated those things I went from 1650 cals to 1750 cals and started losing right away. But we're all so different. Good luck!

I acknowledged that this works for other people. I completely believe that. And if one can lose weight effectively eating less while still getting all necessary nutrients, more power to that person. But I'm so glad I don't have to go down that road. I am thankful every day that choices I made 20 years ago have enabled me to eat a lot of food today and still lose weight. I think I'd really be struggling with weight at 37 if that were not the case, because eating within a range like that is not something that I am willing to do. Anyone who can do that has my respect.

Thank you for the reply. I agree that 690 was much too low. I was trying so hard to keep the calories down that I went too far the other way.

Regarding the oatnut bread and the bagel. The first ingredient listed on the bread is indeed whole wheat flour. Arnold is the only brand of bread I eat, mainly because it doesn't contain high fructose corn syrup. The slices are big and range from 90 to 120 calories each, so I have just one for a serving. The bagel, on the other hand is made of unbleached white flour so it was less healthy than the bread. Still, it was healthier than the breakfast item I really wanted to have, namely a cinnamon bun.

The hot dogs had been bought on sale the week before and needed to be cooked up and eaten or else thrown away. I actually don't eat hot dogs very often and I eat no other processed meats at all. I know only too well they are all high in sodium. At least the hot dogs were a relatively healthy brand and I ate them sans buns.

The fat free cheese is primarily skim milk. I agree that real cheese tastes better but the ff had only 25 calories a slice and I was desperate to keep the calories down.

Again thank you for the reply.

Thank you for the long and insightful reply. You've given me a lot to think about.

I've read Good Calories Bad Calories (have the hardcover book actually). Good read.

In truth I know a reduced or low carb diet works because I've done low carb several times in the past and lost weight on it. I just don't know if I am really and truly ready to commit 100% to a way of eating that requires total dedication, no slip-ups and especially no going back to the way one ate before. From past experience I know that once you go low carb you have to stay low carb or the weight comes back on in a hurry.

Thank you for the reply.

Actually, though it was hard to tell from the menus I posted, my intake of processed foods is already minimal. One problem with posting sample menus is that people read them and tend to think you eat those foods all the time.

I'd love to be able to eat breakfast at work but with a ten minute break that's just not an option for me right now.

Magrat, I am sending you lots of good thoughts and the best hug I can. Thanks very much for your kind post.

I have struggled for decades with the food and weight stuff. I have had successes and pain. I have finally found a food plan that works well for me. It fits my needs and health parameters. It took me all these decades to find it and to be willing to do it. I'd make a few healthy steps, and for various reasons, would go away from them, come back, make a few more healthy steps, go away from them, repeat. Off, on, off, on.... Then, something from deep inside me showed itself earlier this year, that "Something Clicked", and I know I will keep my plan for the rest of my life.

We are all so different and need different things. I know that the way to being slim is to really take care of the nourishing part, along the way, in the best ways we can.

It's true that low carb must be high fat, animal fats, butter, etc. If the protein is right for you, the fats and carbs can be adjusted to fit what works best for your needs. The Standard American Diet is full of poison. Eating smaller amounts of the S. A. D. is just smaller amounts of poison. When I was a young girl, it was very unusual to see a person who was even a bit chubby. Very overweight people were only at the circus, on the stage, and ridiculed in a "freak" show. The diet has changed, the grocery stores are full of things that aren't really food, the media has changed, there is pressure everywhere to "eat this, buy this, you must try this". It takes a great deal of moral fiber to go one's own way and not get involved in all of that "stuff".


I sincerely believe that when we come to know that we are really, really worth taking care of, then we will do it. I look at it this way, you are made in the image and likeness of God, and you have a God-given right to be free and healthy and live according to your deepest knowing, your deepest longing, and feel joy in being alive. When I forget that, I make detours which cause me trouble, and I don't even know I'm doing it. It's grand and delightful to remember.

I wish you beautiful success and joy in finding the way that fits for you.