I think I need to, the problem is now I always feel guilty when I eat something other than my meals..I know its stupid but I'm so worried I'm going to go back to eating everything. I'll just have to work on it. Thanks for the help!!

Hey again!

Given your current weight, you can probably go up to 1300-1400 and lose--plus you would feel better with more food.

I second the idea of adding a couple of snacks between meals--healthy, low-cal snacks, of course! Baby carrots with 1/3 cup lowfat 2% cottage cheese, a half an apple with 22 almonds (yes, count them), a small peach and some lowfat or nonfat yogurt--things like that.

Set a time when you will eat your snack, so that it's in between your meals about midway.

Don't worry--you can do it!

BTW, Lean Cuisines have been my approach as well, but I often have a salad or other vegetable with them.

Jay

Thanks a lot guys! I will start doing that, and hopefully I will lose another couple pounds by next weekend.

This is what I do as well. Its about 2- 2 1/2 hrs between most of my meals and snacks. My last snack and supper a little further a part.

I agree with JayEll. You have to have snacks in between meals to keep yourself from eating too much at meal time. My day looks like this (approximate numbers)

Breakfast - 250 calories (6:30 AM)
Snack - 110 calories (9:00 AM)
Lunch - 410 calories (11:30 AM)
Snack - 150 calories (2:00 PM)
Dinner - 500 calories (5:00 PM)
Snack - 100 calories (before 7:00 PM)

This keeps me around 1500 calories and I rarely get very hungry unless I'm late this a snack/meal. I realize that if you weigh less then you need less calories than that, but that's what works for me with timing and counts.

Cheers, Tamara

I don't drink coffee, so I have no idea what a D&D iced coffee is???? I know I've heard that a Starbuck's coffee is loaded in cals...or maybe its caffein. But it really is something you should check on. Just put the name of it in google with the word "nutrition" and you should be able to find the nutrition info on it somewhere.

I would nix the Italian Ice and do something more constructive there, like fruit. And try plain popcorn, or at least a light version. More bang with less cals. I hardly eat popcorn myself. I do it for a treat. But most of my snacks consist of string cheese, a spoon of PB, or fruit. I just think they stick with you longer and give you better nutrition.

I use Lean Cuisine myself, and I know you only posted one day of food, but you did list it for both lunch and dinner. I only hope you're not eating those regularly. They're ok at times, or even for a quick lunch to nuke at work. But you really should think about getting some unprocessed foods in there. Lean Cusine is low cal, but check the sodium content. You can eat a lot more sometimes, yet have less calories than one of those has.

Hey almostheaven! You're one of the Big Losers here!

But, I must respectfully disagree about Lean Cuisine dinners. They have been the mainstay of my weight loss program. They have good nutrition, lots of variety, no trans fats, and they are not high in sodium. (Besides, sodium is not a problem for me.) Most are under 300 calories, and many of my favorites are under 200. I'm not someone who cooks, and I eat them every day.

That said, as I mentioned, I supplement them with vegetables and salad, and I also take a multivitamin and calcium/magnesium supplement. I don't consider them a "whole food."

I'm almost to maintenance, and Lean Cuisines won't be a daily thing anymore then, but for now, they work for me.

Jay

The only board on the net where you can get away with calling someone a "loser". LOL

I like Lean Cuisine too...and Smart Ones and Healthy Choice. But I feel like I get a lot more bang out of a prepared meal than the processed ones. I can grill chicken or turkey and add veggies, making up about twice the food of a smaller Lean Cusine, yet the same calories. And I add brown rice or whole wheat pasta and its still less than a larger meal in cals, yet more in food. But...I do like to eat. Lean Cusines sometimes just feel like a snack to me.

We all have to make our own decisions so will just chime in here once and agree with those who say Lean Cuisines are not a good choice. They might help in weight loss but they are very low in nutrition and high in sodium. But my main reason for being against them and most processed foods are the high amounts of chemicals they contain as do most all processed foods. For some that matters and others don't have a problem with it; personally I am focusing on being healthy as well as losing weight and I don't think they are a good choice for this overall focus. So again, LOL, not everyone agrees so we all just need to check the facts as best we can and go for it! At least we all know our efforts are better than junking out at fast food places like most of us used to do!

~Starbucks coffee is just like any other coffee, except that it is made with fresh beans and not beans ground months ago in a factory, it is pressure brewed so it is stronger (more caffeine and stronger taste than drip brewed), but it doesn't have more calories.
What makes a drink at Starbucks have many calories, is the fact that most people don't go get a "coffee". They get a caramel Frappucinno, a grande mocha, a latte loaded with vanilla syrup, etc. It isn't the coffee with the calories...it is all the syrups, whipped cream, etc. that are being put into it.

~There is a "scale" of healthy. Lean Cuisine isn't as healthy as having vegetables and chicken that you made yourself-but it isn't as bad as having a cheeseburger. In my opinion, an occasional one isn't bad, if having a Lean Cuisine pizza on a Friday night keeps you out of the Pizza Hut your husband and kids ordered. But, you shouldn't be eating them for 2 or 3 meals a day, every day. Moderation!!

OK, well im totally confused now lol. I started doing the Lean Cuisine thing because atleast then I knew how many calories i was eating where as if I cook it myself I don't know. They also fill me up and I don't go for seconds but if I cook my own meal I know I'll have left overs and have a difficult time not getting seconds. I usually cook twice a week now, and try to cook something that is healthy and not full of calories but LC really is helpful for me. I've lost another 3lbs so I must be doing something right.

No need to be confused.

A Lean Cuisine is better than what you were probably eating before, and you are in control of the calorie count. All that was mentioned is that it isn't as healthy (not fresh, more sodium than fresh food because of the processing) than if you were to make chicken/veggies yourself.

I need to get a low cal cookbook I think, I love to cook but I'm use to using lots of butter, salt etc. and don't really know any good meals to cook that wont take forever. I appreciate all the help from you guys, it makes me feel like I'm not alone in this!

You keep going, Piiper33! Three pounds is definitely doing something right! Just be sure that you add some veggies on the side to your Lean Cuisine meals, and you'll be fine! And the low-cal cookbook sounds like a great idea.

Good for you!!!

Jay

For a low-cal cookbook, I recommend Terry Blonder Golson's 1000 Lowfat Recipes. There's quite a bit of variety in the book, an emphasis on nutrition and, on the whole, the recipes are very simple. I tend to like my food more highly seasoned than Golson does, but I've used many of her recipes as a base and then added more seasonings and aromatics to suit my palate. It's the only low-cal book that I've really had much use for.