So! Here I am.. almost thirty pounds lighter than I've been in a long time. This came in about.. six months.

But now I am in need of some help. I have only gotten this way from eating around 1600 calories a day, which I've calculated to be the correct number. But I'm still eating so poorly and with no direction! I want to be healthy and fit, not eating all those fatty foods and be thin. I feel too sluggish all the time. (I literally get home from school and pass out for about five hours from being so tired. While it might not all be related to food I eat so badly, I know that changing it will help.)

So.. my problem is.. I'm not sure what I should get to eat. I've never been a fan of fruits or vegetables but I fully understand and push to start liking them. Aside from that though.. I'm always about the boxed foods, the processed junk that is not doing my body (or weight loss) any good. I eat high calorie foods and still feel hungry from the lack of content.

Those who have been this.. help a soon to be seventeen year old push on a bit more to be skinner for prom and changed for life? Tips on what I should avoid, tips on foods that make me feel fuller for longer, any healthy or low calorie snacks to help those moments would be most satisfactory.

I never eat at school, so I am starving since I usually eat around seven PM the day before and get home from school at 5 PM the next day. Almost twenty four hours without eating! Helpful snacks that I should pick up would be excellent.


To sum up..

- Healthy foods I should get and foods I should avoid more often. (Pizza is definitely on that list for me. I dislike sugary things so soda is already out!)
- Snacks to pick up that I can eat during the day so my body doesn't go into the fat reserves and think I'm starving it.
- Foods that will make me feel fuller for longer, or foods low in calories that I can eat instead of me eating very little with high sodium AND calorie content.

How does your family eat? If they're not eating a healthy diet then it can be extra challenging for you to make good food choices.

Keep trying vegetables and fruit and I promise you'll find some you like!! It's so important for you to eat breakfast, even if it's just a banana or a bit of toast on the way out the door. It'll help you concentrate at school and it'll make the rest of the day so much easier.

I just finished high school, and things that I found really good were sandwiches, grainy crackers with cheese, fruit salads, hummus with carrot sticks, sushi, puffed rice wafers with peanut butter, banana and honey.. you could be super dorky like me and take a thermos of soup and a wholemeal roll!

It's hard to offer detailed advice without knowing what sorta resources you have at home- can you do the groceries with your family and pick up some quick and easy snacks? How does your family eat? Is there lots of nutritious food available?




Leonie

Gyah, sorry. That probably would've been quite helpful.

My family eats just as bad as I do, or rather, they don't eat much. They both work in a restaurant so cooking food is the last thing they want to do.. which usually leaves us with fast food or something to pop into the oven!

Grocery shopping is definitely available and the ability to pick up snacks is quite easy.

As for nutritious food available.. not particularly. A bit of breakfast would be good but there never seems to be any breakfast food around aside from cereal.. but milk makes me ill. (Not Dairy in general, just milk)
I suppose I could take a lunch baggy and eat it dry. We have a VERY late lunch at school. (I get up at six and we don't eat until one.) So cheese or yogurt might be a bad idea..

Sorry to sound strange, but what exactly is hummus?

Hey Shetani!

Can you list a typical day's menu, along with the times when you eat? It might help for us to see the big picture.

Jay

It's excellent that you recognize that it's not only about how much you eat, but what. And that, yes, what you eat can either lend towards you feeling full, satisfied and more energetic, or towards you feeling sluggish, hungry and tried.

Some general suggestions:

1) As mentioned, breakfast. It's SO important. It quite literally breaks the fast that we've put our body into overnight. Grabbing almost anything for breakfast is better than waiting until lunch time or dinner to eat. It can be as simple as an apple and a yogurt. Just something to help your body get going.

2) You're already taking initiative in how you're eating, so you're going to have to continue this determination with what you're eating. Pack your food for the day. Pack up your breakfast and eat it in homeroom. Pack up a snack of some baby carrots and munch on them between a class (or even in some classes as some teachers don't care). Pack up a lunch! A simple sandwich, or even a salad with grilled chicken slices (which you can find at grocery stores pre-made) will do. When you get home, have a snack! Some cheese or an egg or something. Keep the energy levels up.

3) At dinner, you can still have smaller portions of what your family eats, or after a few days you might feel so good about your new habits that you'll start helping to cook dinner yourself. Think about it, how much help would that be to your family to have someone at home caring about them enough to put together a simple, but healthier meal each night?

And 'recipes' is always a deceptive word. I used to think about it as being something so hard to do, but a recipe can have only 3 ingredients and only take as much effort to put it in the oven.

Find fruits & veggies that you do like. And don't only try them once. Give them a try quite a few times before you make up your mind.

Apples, pears, oranges, grapes, tangerines, bananas, all really easy fruit to wash up or peel and eat.

Baby carrots, snap peas, broccoli, cauliflower, I find are good crunchy, munchy veggies.

Be proud that you've changed your life around so much already

Good for you for recognizing that you are trying to change your habits for the long-term! You will end up a healthier, happier, more energetic person and probably thinner too!

So, I agree with Faerie that there are a lot of good choices out there for you. My suggestion is to try to think outside the box. Breakfast doesn't have to be "breakfast" food. Think about what you eat as healthy calories and nothing else. So, you can microwave up some frozen winter squash with a bit of butter substitute and cinnamon for breakfast. Nutritious, delicious, quick and easy.

A great on-the-go stable is whole wheat tortillas. They run about 90 calories and you can put whatever you want in them from eggs to lettuce & a slice of turkey to hummus (which is ground up chickpeas and a staple of middle eastern diets. It is found in the deli section at the grocery store and is usually flavored-garlic or red pepper or something. It is super good for you and very tasty. But it does look a bit like paste. )

To eat properly you need to eat every two hours. Just small snacks. Wasa crackers with Laughing Cow cheese, red bell pepper slices, there are lots of snack ideas on the food/recipe threads.

As for cooking, start small. Look through some recipes, find one dish that sounds interesting & appetizing, and try it. You'll soon end up with a regular set of things you can make that work for you and your family.

An option could be choosing healthy alternatives to your favourite foods.

I eat pizza every week. Here's an alternative:

- 1 whole wheat pita, 2 tbsp tomato sauce, 1/3 cup skim mozza cheese, 3 oz grilled chicken, & whatever veggies you don't mind.

Voila, pizza! Depending on the pita size, generally under 400 calories.

Sometimes I like potato chips. Here's an alternative:

Take 1 russet potato and slice it extremely thin. Toss in a smidge of olive oil and bake in the oven. There's your chips.

I admit it takes more time. But it is worth it.

Both my bariatric doc and my dietitian explained that even people who do not have bariatric surgery follow the bariatric diet will have great success.

Eat protein first, then veggies, then fruit, limit or no starches, no sugars....and exercise, walk or something. that should do it.

Congrats on your weightloss so far!

I suggest looking at Target- they have some cute cooler/lunch bags. Mine looks like a purse and keeps things cold all day. Especially good if you have somewhere to keep it like a locker.

My breakfast suggestions:

2 slices light whole wheat toast with 2 TBS peanut butter and a sliced banana on top. (approx 320ish calories)

Home made egg mcmuffin- 1 english muffin, 1 egg (poached or fried without oil), half oz of cheese, slice of Canadian bacon. (approx 280 calories)

half cup plain yogurt, half cup unsweetened applesauce and one serving of whole grain cereal mixed in. Mix in a little cinnamon and a tb of sugar or splenda- very tasty!

To keep full- lots of fiber! That means veggies, fruits, etc.

Snacks- protein and fiber are great, especially if you cna get both.

Tuna and whole wheat crackers, string cheese, apple and peanut butter, or pb and crackers. Veggies and ranch made from light sour cream and ranch mix. Hard boiled eggs.

Try to balance meals with starch/fiber, veggies, and protein. I usually make a double serving of veggies and eat them first (they fill you up!).

Keep going! You're doing great!

One way to get more nutrition is to eat whole foods. We have threads for that.
http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=209

Food the way nature provided it. Like grapes, an apple, an egg ...