Hi! I have no clue what I'm doing. I have almost 90lbs to lose and would love to lose 100.

I wanted to try nutri-system but the food is just to gross for me. I am using lean cuisine and 100 calorie packs right now.

I'm 212 trying to get to 130 (and wishful thinking would be to get to 120!)

I just joined fit day and was shocked that even though my calories are so low (1000-1300 per day) my CARBS are making up 70-80% of my diet.

Can you look at this for me and tell me what you would adjust?

PS- I don't cook, I'm an awful cook,but I can stem veggies and bake chicken and fish.


Breakfast

Total Raisin Bran,2 cups : Cal- 356 Fat - 2 Carb- 86 Protein-8
Skim Milk, 2 cups: Cal- 86 Fat -0 Carb-12 Protein-8

Lunch

Lean Cuisine : Cal-252 Fat -6 Carb-32 Protein-19


Snack

Pop-secret 100 calorie bag: Cal-100 Fat -3 Carb-20 Protein-3
48 pretzel sticks: Cal- 100 Fat -0 Carb-23 Protein-2

Totals so far today ( I will also have a LC for dinner w/salad and WW ice pop so the calories and carbs will be higher)

Totals 894 calories 11 fat 172carbs 40 protein


11% fat
70% carbs
18% protein


I know the carbs are to high. How can I adjust this menu without adding a ton of cooking?

Thanks!!

There are lots of people here that are really smart and will give you some great advice. I'm not one of them... ... but I'll give you my 2 cents

You must be starving.. I would!!
I eat around 2000 calories a day (which is high for most of the people on this thread)
Your carbs are so high b/c of the popcorn and the pretzels.

Where are your fruits and veggies?

I know you said you don't like to cook... but start slow. Buy a George Foreman grill - great for families and single people! - you will fall in love with it. Mine sits on my counter - I use it almost daily.

Buy some premixed salad bags.

Learn to make brown rice - that's easy - high fiber and high in vitamins B

How about fruit? - you don't have to cook that - just wash and eat

Don't get too stressed about the carbs - just make sure they are healthy.

Just have fun with food. Eat healthy foods... try to stay away from the package stuff - b/c it's so high in salt and sugar. Once in a while is okay... but you are setting yourself up to fall if you plan to do this daily.

Set some fun goals.... try one new food a week - or - cook one dinner a week (with lots of left overs)

Good Luck..

The best advice - post here often. This forum can make the difference between giving up and success!!

Add more protein. Lean cuisine meals aren't a complete meal in themselves. You can supplement with some veggies on the side, and toss a bit more protein in them. Try cans of chicken, or any precooked meat (if you don't want to cook any yourself), and boost the protein content of each meal.

For breakfast, add something with protein, like an egg or turkey sausage, or veggie sausage sub (I like morningstar patties).

Also - make sure you are getting enough fat. 11% is really low. Have 1/2 an ounce of nuts - really good for you with healthy fats.

The biggest thing is to think long term. Lean cuisines and 100 calorie packs aren't very nutritious and they aren't very SATISFYING. When I ate a lot of diet foods like that, I was constantly hungry, munchy and restless (opening the frig, rummaging the cabinets, looking for SOMETHING). Now that I eat a lot better, that aimless "food food food" quest doesn't happen much anymore, my body gets great nutrition and doesn't have to drive me into the kitchen seeking it.

You say you don't like to cook, I would gently encourage you to get more handy in the kitchen. Baking is hard, sure, but cooking - cooking's pretty easy. Most of my meals involve chopping stirring and roasting in the oven, pretty simple stuff. The internet is a literal treasure trove of healthy recipes and lots of people with great advice and suggestions.

If you want to lose weight AND keep the weight off, you have to make some long term, permanent changes. If you diet with lean cuisines and then reach your goal weight, what then? Are you going to want to eat lean cuisines for the rest of your life? What healthy habits will you have learned? Personally, I learned how to menu plan, shop and make great meals that I enjoy eating and that provide a lot of nutrition while still being within a healthy daily calorie range - I can keep this up forever.

Sorry, don't mean to be all preachy, but the "hey, this is forever" mind click happened this time and wow, it made a huge difference in my long term success. I want everyone to be able to lose weight and keep it off, to stay slender and healthy forever, to feel this amazing feeling I feel - it does involve more work, but the results are pretty amazing.

For your current menu, adhering to the "limit the kitchen" component, I would suggest the following:

Breakfast

1/2 cup oatmeal, cooked with 1 cup water (add a little less water if you like it thicker like I do), 1/4 cup dried fruit, 1/4 cup walnuts or other nuts

Mid morning snack

Package of blueberries (cheap and in season right now)

Lunch

Whole wheat wrap, deli turkey, lots of veggies, a little spicy brown mustard, side of soy chips

Dinner
Vegetable stir fry - chop up carrots, onions, bokchoy, mushrooms, orange pepper, cauliflower, garlic, mince some ginger, add some shrimp (cooked, peeled, etc), a little spicy stir fry sauce, stir until everything looks good. Serve over brown rice (trader joe's makes an awesome "just microwave" brown rice).

Snack

baby carrots, 1/2 cup low fat hummus
orange or some other yummy fruit

Your cereal portions are huge, read the back of the box to get an idea of what a serving of cereal looks like! Adding some nuts to your breakfast and stir-frying in healthy oils will help boost your fat percentage - fat is NOT evil! Everyone needs a little healthy fat everyday!

I'll agree with the other posters. You may not like to cook but to lose weight healthily you need to learn how to cook something. Even if you cook just one day a week and then pre-package your own meals for the rest of the week.

Grill some chicken breasts add it to your salad.

There is pre-packaged salads, baby carrots, pre-sliced apples, banana's are an easy food to eat too.

Eggs are your best friend really. Simple and easy. They plump up your protein too and they fight cholesterol.

If you don't have a good caloric intake then your body shuts down into starvation mode quickly and you'll notice you aren't losing any weight anymore.

I do Atkins because I am a carbaholic. It's difficult. I want the pringles, the candy, the pop, and the ice cream too; but I see results fast. I've been on it for a week now and have already lost 10 pounds. I don't miss my cravings when I se the weight coming off.

Good Luck!

Are you feeling full and satisfied? Or hungry?

Raisin bran is just like eating sugar for breakfast. Can you make eggs? Or maybe eat some Kashi cereal, which is higher in protein and fiber? It's best to make sure you've got some good carbs in.

There are great suggestions here. Find a few dishes and snacks you like, and start small. I think changing eating patterns is easiest when you take one small step at a time. Find one thing you know you can do, then implement it. When it's routine, find something new to work on.

Make sure you're not starving yourself. =D

I am new, but have had some early success by making most of my carbs high in fiber. I actually like Fiber One and eat the original kibble-like stuff every morning for breakfast. In the beginning I added dried cranberries but now I measure out 1/2 cup and add 2 tablespoons of ground flax seed. I know, it sounds terrible and DH laughs at me every morning, until I had to buy all new pants (dropped two sizes in 4 months!).

One of my quick protein fixes is to mix a can of water pack tuna with 1/2 low fat cottage cheese. Also, sounds gross, but fairly bland. I found it on a weight lifting website with lots of food tips. You could add some fat free Italian dressing or some such to it....

As for brown rice, I found a recipe on the Food Network from Alton Brown that requires 5 minutes work and an hour bake. I make a big batch and then divvy it up into 1 cup portions. That way if the family is eating crescent rolls or something bad for starch, I can nuke a little pack of rice from the freezer.

Good luck.

These ladies had great advice. You are going to have to make changes, but just remember, You can do this! Please don't give up. I'm not much of a cooker either but have started to find easy recipes that I can make extra so that I get more than one meal out of it. Cook in bulk, separate it into single serving sizes, and freeze it that way you don't have to cook as often.

You need to eat a balanced diet, even if you are restricting your calories...

One of my favorite breakfasts is to toast an english muffin, put an egg white in a small round microwavable dish, cook it for 30 seconds, add a few sprinkles of cheese, heat until melted. Place on toasted english muffin. EAT. Have an orange or 2 clementines with it and you are good to go with all the food groups. (5 points weight watchers or about 250 calories). Fat free yogurt with berries or grapenuts is also tasty.

Lunch, pack a sandwich with an ounce of meat, and an ounce of cheese; or pb and sugar free preserves, and a piece of fruit, and your pretzels if you want them. (I also like the baked lays assorted packages) Use mustard instead of mayo if you want to skip the fat. Stick some lettuce and tomato on the sandwich. Stick a diet soda in there if you don't mind the artificial sweeteners or the sodium, or an herbal tea (about 500 calories at most)

Supper, the GF grill is a great idea. If you don't cook have a lean cuisine if you want it...include a can of veggies or have a nice big side salad with fat free dressing on it. They have nice packages of microwavable steamfresh veggies in the freezer case that are also pretty good. Also easy enough to steam your own fresh veggies in the microwave. You can do this.

And,...I can NEVER stop at one 100 calorie pack...not a good thing for me to keep around the house!

Vary your diet, eat more fruits and veggies, drink lots of water, exercise regularly (even if it is just walking),journal, and you will see results! Good luck! Bethz

I will echo everybody who said, "Fruits and veggies!" In addition to fresh fruits and veggies for snacks, you may want to add cooked vegetables to your meals. If you don't want to cook them, frozen veggies are good, nutritionally equivalent to fresh, and microwavable. Just make sure you get them without sauce!

I have a suggestion that may help with your cereal portion size. I also used to have a double portion of cereal, not realizing how much it was. When I finally measured out the proper amount, it was so sad because my bowl looked so empty! Since I usually have fruit in my cereal, these days I put the fruit in the bowl before I add the cereal. It looks like there's so much more food!

Lisa

I'll join the chorus "fruits and veggies, fruits and veggies!". Fibre is our friend! Easy, fresh - no cooking required!!!!! I am totally domestically disabled but cooking is a necessity of life if you want to eat healthy. Surf the net for some good recipes - there are lots of simple ones out there. I have a great book by Weight Watchers called 5 ingredient 15 minute meals. I love it because as the book says - 5 ingredients! I make the whole amount and take the left overs for lunch.

Good Luck!

I'm 2 weeks into ww and I have a LC everyday for lunch because it's quick and it's good. I stay full all day because I eat something every 2 hours and drink a ton of water.

Welcome...I am so glad you posted and are here with us. You've gotten alot of good ideas here. Try and think of making changes that you can live with. Small goals are good too.

Lots of great advice above re fruit & veggies, etc . . .

A quick and easy way for you to cut the carbs and get more protein would be . . .

drop the cereal breakfast (substitute eggs, yogurt, cottage cheese/fruit . . . if you don't have time to make eggs in the morning, you can make hard-boiled eggs in advance)

drop the pretzel/popcorn snacks (substitute LF string cheese, yogurt, small portion of nuts or dried fruit, hummus w/celery and baby carrots)

My suggestion would be to add an egg for breakfast...you don't have to cook it you can just scramble one up with a little water and put it in the microwave for about 20 secs then stir then another 30 secs it comes out fluffy and its really good. For lunch I would throw in a serving of fruit or some carrots or something. For the lean cuisins they don't have enough protein so i always add in chicken or shrimp or something. Hope this helps and don't forget to drink water!