So after yesterday's post about "quitting" and moving onto maintenance I've been thinking about all the tweaks I can make to my meal plan to reenergize, remotive, recommit and to stop "dieting" and move into the final phase of my weight loss/maintenance and just start living. I completely plan to keep counting my cals, but I'm going to focus more on eating when I'm hungry, eating what I'm craving, and eating better nutrients and fueling my body with food instead of just eating. I hope that picking more whole foods, more filling foods will satisfy me more and naturally lower my cals a little, but if not then so be it.

So here is what I'm thinking right now, and it's got me pretty excited.

Ditch my "super" breads for more whole food type breakfasts and incorporate veggies into breakfast a few times a week. Those breads really went that super anyway. Also start experiementing with some of those interesting grains like Quinoa, Flaxseed, etc.

Start measuring my coffee creamer (this is the only thing I eyeball, and I need to stop) and decreasing my morning cup by about half. This will take my morning coffee from 120 cals to 60. If I can maybe at some point I can eliminate it all together, but I really don't think that is a resonable at this point. I know that 60 cals doesn't sound like a lot to be saving, but I think that the decrease in caffine will be good for me.

Change my romain salads to salads with more raw veggies and darker greens. Incorporate other raw veggies other than carrots when I have humus.

Change my evening frozen veggies with chemical butter spray to fresh seasonal veggies sauteed with spices and maybe a smidge of EVOO and use leftover veggies in some scambled eggs the next am.

Ditch my fruit and dairy snacks for nuts, nut butters and other proteins.

Not too sure about my skinny cow dessert, but I'm going to Henry's today and will check out their soy ice creams and fro yo, but I have a hard time when things are pre portioned. I weigh and measure but always want more.

I've ordered some cookbooks and will be looking for some more so I'll get some better ideas about tweaks I can make to my entrees, but I feel like this is a pretty good start and I'll just take it a meal at a time. Right now I'm focusing on breakfasts and snacks because this seems to be what is giving me the most trouble.

Sounds like an awesome plan! Good luck.

Good luck!

Sounds like you are right on track with some regained motivation!

Hey, about the skinny cow - last night instead of icecream, we picked up some low fat yogurt that I stuck in the freezer for a while to harden like icecream. And I mixed that with some fresh fruit (strawberry, pinapple, banana, peach and mango) and drizzled a little maple syrup on top. Because I froze the yogurt first, it felt like icecream. But it was really good

For coffee creamer, I don't trust myself to eyeball. I use two of the little non dairy creamers - 20 calories total (I think the brand is mini moo?). I love my morning cup of coffee too much to do without and I must have some sort of creamy goodness. I don't even count my 20 calories of creamer in my daily total!

To easily cut 100 calories out of your day - from 120 to 20...that would make a difference.

chnkymonkey... I do something similar with the yogurt. My mom found a whole bunch of 50 calorie FiberOne yogurt packs... 50% off. She then froze them. At first, I would take one out, put it in the fridge the night before I was going to eat it, and then eat it... but I don't like yogurt that much (by itself... I like it with muesli or frozen fruits), and I got lazy, wanted it one night, and took out a frozen one. And I prefer it MUCH better. Even to ice cream. It stays frozen far longer than most ice cream I've had... meaning it takes me longer to finish it, meaning that not only am I not wanting anything else to eat afterwards, but I am also able to enjoy it for far longer (20 minutes vs 5 minutes). And... only 50 calories, making it a pretty good movie snack...

To ncuneo... I think that your plan is great! Just think of how far you've gotten so far... will you be content only getting most of the way to your goal? If you're anything like me... if you don't do the full extent you feel you SHOULD have (even if you've done enough to "pass"), you'll never be happy or content. But then... some people aren't like that.

But yeah... keep going! You're awesome. A definite inspiration to me.

Sounds like you needed to switch it up a bit. Carry on!

I love my half & half but I only use a teaspoon with Splenda. I never just pour a dollup into my mug. I use a teaspoon to measure then it goes in my coffee. Mindful eating matters.

Also good ideas. I have been enjoying several lectures on food selections- one by Robert Lustig and others by Gary Taubes. I have had excellent results incorporating some of their ideas.

I can't eyeball coffee creamer either...nice to know I'm not alone. Really, its too early for me, so I get the tablespoon out every time.

It sounds like a really solid plans and I honestly wouldn't be surprised if the tweaks don't help you lose those last couple lbs

I make a killer homemade granola--rolled oats, flax seed, wheat germ, almonds, and walnuts. It's an awesome start to my day, and really keeps me full until lunch (I'm rarely/never hungry on my current eating plan). I could post the recipe if you think it might be something you could try for breakfast?

Yes! Please post! I love love love granola, but the store bought ones are always too caloric and have too much sugar.

6 cups rolled oats
1 cup chopped raw almonds and walnuts (or any other nuts you prefer)
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup flax seed
1/2 cup honey (can lower this to 1/4 cup to cut down on sugar if you want)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
1 teaspoon vanilla (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 and grease a big baking dish with a little extra olive oil. Stir everything together really well, and then dump it into the dish and spread it out. Bake for 20 minutes, stirring every 5 (be sure you get the corners). That's it! The best thing is you can substitute any nuts/seeds/grains you like, and even add chocolate/carob chips or dried fruit after you bake it if you want. I keep a 1/2 cup scoop in my granola and that's about the perfect size for a yummy breakfast.

Sounds awesome! I'm going to give this one a go. I've just dicovered nuts and love them and they work wonders on my hunger levels. I've be using them on salads, as snacks and about to incorporate them into breakfasts as well. I'm having a lot of fun with more whole foods, super foods and ne clean recipies. This is just what I needed to take my mind of weight loss and change my focus to nutrition. Hopefully this will make the next 6-10 weeks fly by and I'll be at my goal in no time.

Let me know how you like it! I adapted it from a recipe here: http://recipes.robbiehaf.com/ . Her cooking isn't especially low fat or anything, but most of it is easy and doesn't require exotic ingredients, which is nice when you work 50 hour weeks!

I made it! Had to sub old fashion oats for rolled (I don't recommend, didn't realize how different these were) and I burned it a little, but was pretty tasty, I can only imagine how good it would have been with the right ingrediants. Thanks!