Okay, so, I think my idea of what a 'healthy' day is may be out of whack. However, I am making progress...which is good. I FEEL better. Still, I don't think I'm losing fast enough for my taste.


I don't count calories. It's impractical with my meal plan at school, because they don't provide the calorie content (well, an accurate one...or a consistent representation) of the foods they make. I try to just eat the most healthy, wholesome foods possible...with healthier variations of my favorite treats. For example, I try to make a regular bagel a wheat one...I avoid the dessert bar. I've gone out to eat three times this week and the past two time I ate grilled chicken and veggies...and I skipped the rolls. Today, I splurged and ate very, very poorly (burger, fries, cheese dip, pie, and diet soda...all in one sitting!),...but now I feel soooo icky. I won't be doing that again. Next time, I'll just enjoy one of those items.

I'd really like to get a good perspective of what a good day is, though, from people who are losing the weight...because I feel like making a FEW changes is not enough. I want to do better. What do you eat on a good day? How much do you work out?

Breakfast:
1 english muffin toasted
1 egg
coffee
or
1 sandwich thin
w/ cream cheese
coffee

Snack:
Fiber one oats and chocolate bar

Lunch:
4oz. Grilled chicken breast
mixed veggies
brown rice or couscous or baked fries

Snack:
Yogurt or popcorn

Dinner:
Usually homemade soup
veggies

Snacks:
Fruit/
Popcorn/
Fiber one bar/

It really depends on what I want to eatch each day. Sometimes I'll eat a can of tuna for luch if I don't feel like cooking anything.

If I had a day with 1400 cals 40% protein, 40% carbs, 20% fats, in which I did 20 minutes of resistance exercise and 30 mins on the elliptical ... I be posting, calling my friends, shouting from the rooftop!

If someone here has a fitday link in their profile box over there <<< you can click on it and see exactly what they eat. Just keep an eye out for it.

Breakfast: Organic Hot Dog 70 calories

Lunch: Enchiladas 320 calories

Dinner: Egg White Omelet 90 calories

Snacks: Apple Medium 107 calories

Dannon Yogurt 60 calories
Kashi Puffs Cereal (1 cup) 70 calories
Kale with onions and with flax seed oil and soy sauce (Calories? I don't know)

Exercise: 1 hour elliptical incline of 10 (max), resistance 100 (max) total calories burned: 900 today

It took me a LONG time to get to this level of exercise. I watch my favorite show: LOST ...I"m only on Season 1 and it makes the time go by so fast that I don't feel like I"m working out!

This is a very good day for me. I usually struggle a lot but today everything sort of fell into place.

I don't count calories but I am on weight watchers heres a typical day for me.

Breakfast
coffee
and a special k cereal bar

snack
string cheese

lunch
turkey sandwich
progressive soup one cup
cutie orange, and an apple

snack
5 petite breads and a laughing cow cheese wedge

Dinner
a big garden salad with fat free Italian dressing
chicken breast/fish/or high grade low fat red meat
brown rice with garlic and lemon

snack (not always but sometimes)

skinny cow ice cream sandwich or pop corn with i package splenda and cinnamon makes it taste like kettle corn!

Hope this helps!

I'm on Weight Watchers too...so here goes

Breakfast
1 cup Special K cereal
1 Yoplait Light yougurt
1 cup coffee with 3 tablespoons of creamer mixed in
WW Points: 7

Lunch
1 Wholewheat sandwich thin, toasted
1/2 avocado, mashed with hot sauce and black pepper
Spinach, cherry tomatoes, cucumber sliced
WW Points: 5

Snack (which is normally pre-gym)
More yougurt or a Fiber One bar
WW points: 2 (either way)

Dinner
5oz chicken, cooked in a pan, with no oil
8 oz. sweet potatoes
Green beans with lemon pepper
WW points: 8

Late-night snack (I stay up really late, so I need something after dinner)
Light Laughing Cow cheese
24 Special K Tomato-basil crackers
WW points: 3

Total WW points: 25, which is low for my range, so if I'm hungry later that evening, I normally have a piece of fruit.

Work-out: 45 minutes on the elliptical, ranging from level 3 to level 10. 15-20 minutes on the weight machines, focusing on arms/chest mostly.

I also try to sleep at least 8 hours a night, although I'm not always great about that. I drink water or Crystal light the rest of the day, with 1 Diet Coke during lunch. Its not perfect, but I'm working on it.

I'm one of those with a FitDay link -

Meals - Breakfast, 200 calories, at least 10 g protein, some fiber
Lunch and Dinner - 400 calories, at least 25 g protein each, at least 6-8 g fiber each, usually consisting of a lean protein, a whole grain, and lots of veggies. It's about 150-160 cals protein source, 150-160 cals whole grain, 80-100 cals veggies and add-ons.
Snacks - 3-4 daily, from 100-150 calories

Plus over 60 min of exercise, and dog walking, and that's a good day.

I calorie count.

Breakfast:

Oatmeal with 1 tbsp peanut butter, sprinkle of cinnamon and 1 tsp brown suger. 1/2 an orange and cup of coffee = about 300 calories

Lunch:

Huge salad with 2 ounce chicken breast, olives, 1 boiled egg white, 1 piece bacon (real, crumbled), an entire cucumber, 2 small mushrooms, 3-4 baby carots and 1 tbsp crushed almonds with 2 tbsp fat free oriental dressing = about 380 calories.

Dinner:

1 cup homemade chili with black beans (from scratch), chicken breast and veggies over 1/4 cup brown rice and a nice side salad, fat free dressing = about 400 calories.

Snacks

Popcorn, air popped (1/4 cup worth unpopped) and 1/2 tbsp margarine = about 140 calories

Apple = 60 calories

1 Tbsp peanut butter on a piece of whole wheat bread = about 140 calories

1 string cheese stick and the half of that orange from breakfast = about 100 calories

(I love to eat so I split it up quite a bit! lol)

Hmmm... a good day would look something like this (from today actually)

Breakfast
Special K advantage with low-fat yoghurt

Snack
4 x corn thins, flavoured & a dozen mixed nuts (almond, walnut and macadamia)

Lunch - homemade coleslaw (low fat greek yoghurt, seeded mustard and a little low fat mayo as dressing) with lentils

Snack - homemade passionfruit and blueberry muffin

Dinner
- Steamed salmon fillet with steamed vegies (potato, broccoli, bok choy and carrot) with a small dinner roll

It sounds like you know what you need to do.... If you dont feel like you are losing fast enough, I would cut out all processed starches. You think you are eating healthy by eating the wheat bagel, but I dont think you realize how detrimental it could be to your diet. I am not saying cut out all starch - potatoes are fine as long as they arent fried or grease-laden. But, even a "wheat bagel" is made with white flour half the time. I would choose a protein like eggwhites instead of the bagel. Fruit is a good choice too, in my opinion. Good luck, chickie-poo.

Well lately I've been relying on protein bars for 1 meal a day and some other quick stuff, because my class/teaching schedule is CRAZY.

But here's a day from last week, before classes started, that I think is representative of a fairly healthy day for me:

B - special K protein plus, skim milk
S - 1/2 cup plain lowfat yogurt with a little maple syrup
L - 2 cups homemade cream of carrot soup, 3 oz pineapple
S - 1/2 serving triscuit thin crisps, 1/2 ounce cheddar cheese, 1/2 serving turkey pepperoni
D - turkey Italian sausage patty on light wheat bread with peppers and onions and 1/2 ounce lowfat mozzarella, steamed broccoli on the side
S - a whole grapefruit
Extras: cream in coffee, crystal light, gum - about 100 calories altogether

Since this is a lifestyle change, every day is a "good" day for me. I hate to say it like that, but I've chosen a plan that is dummy-proof for my way of living. I found what works for me and it really works. That's what you have to do. Find a plan you like, work the plan and it will work for you.

Every day for me is simple:
6 meals a day of equal calories totaling right around 1500 calories.
Exercise, cardio daily, strength training 2-3 days in a week.

That's it. Simple.

What yesterday looked like for me. Nearly every work day is quite similar:

Breakfast - 4 oz blueberries, 4 oz nonfat plain yogurt, 4 oz nonfat cottage cheese, ground ginger. Fish oil supplements, cal-mag-zing supplement, vitamin D supplement.

Snack - Green or black tea

Snack - 8 oz nonfat milk with 2 tsp instant decaf coffee stirred in

Lunch - 4 oz pork chop coated with pecans and fried (had to pat a bunch of oil off), 3 oz baby carrots, 3 oz raw spinach, 1/2 grapefruit. Fish oil supplements, cal-mag-D supplement.

Snack - Sugarless gum, more tea

Snack - 1 oz raw almonds

Dinner - 4 oz stir-fried chicken breast, 3 oz stir-fried onions and green pepper, 1 oz whole-wheat bread toasted with 0.5 oz parmesan cheese on

Snack - Hot chocolate made from 1 oz good cocoa, 1.25 oz honey, 12 oz nonfat milk, dash of salt and vanilla. Melatonin supplement.



Usually I actually have a couple more servings of veggies than that (raw tomatoes with my lunch, a salad with dinner), but we are out of some stuff at home right now. I tend to get 120 to 150 g of protein per day, tons of calcium. Yesterday was about 1700 calories, which is what I'm shooting for during the work week; on weekends I eat a little more than that.

For exercise, I focus on NEAT (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis) rather than on "formal exercise." So my workday includes 4 to 6 hours of standing on my feet, listening to music and bopping around--which burns a lot of calories but doesn't leave me hungry and tired.

Also, I shoot for at least 7 hours of sleep. (Failed on that last night, though.)

Beyond the small quantity of honey I have in my hot chocolate, I do not eat sugar, nor do I generally eat artificial sweeteners; sugar is highly addictive to me and I must avoid it due to insulin resistance. I also avoid caffeine (except for one special cup of coffee on Saturdays which I cherish), as it causes sleep issues for me and contributes to insulin resistance.

Thank you, everybody, for all your help!

I think I've realized a couple of things...

A. I need to spread out my food more and consume smaller meals.
B. I need to lower my carb consumption.

=3 I have a tendency to blow things at night.

Today, I had a mini banana an a lean pocket for breakfast. For lunch, I had baked chicken, veggies, a salad with honey mustard dressing, and a slice of rye bread with butter.

For dinner, I had a sandwich, two mini bananas, meatless spaghetti sauce, whipped yogurt, and mini rice cakes/pita chips.

I snacked on an oatmeal/frozen yogurt treat (less than 200 calories) and a mini bag of animal crackers at one point.

I have a lot to learn. I will definitely check out the Fitday Journals.