I've been having trouble getting to the gym this week because of my study schedule. Honestly, studying is my priority right now, but I wish I could figure out how to achieve a better balance.

Wt: 162 :broc:

B: Leftover chicken & spinach casserole
L: Oy....the free lunch was pastitsio. It was delicious. But way off plan ....So was the Haagen-Dazs treat I followed it up with :o
S: Errrrm... also off plan.

usernametaken: The breakfast cookie recipe is from the fitnessista, here.

Kathy, it doesn't look like you are eating too much. You don't want to be hungry so definitely add in more veggies. Beans also help with hunger and cravings.

Phase 2
B: ww waffle, 1/2 banana, 1 T peanut butter, nf milk
S: celery, laughing cow cheese
L: protein smoothie (unsweetened choc almond milk,spinach,1/2 banana,protein powder)
S: veggies and hummus
D: leftover taco bake, salad, dollop rf sour cream and guac
S: nf greek yogurt, blueberries

shelf, you're a fitnessista reader too? my husband has a b-fast cookie almost every morning.

Sharonej; Thank you for the input.

Zeffryn; I forgot about the pudding not being Phase 1. Thanks. Also, what are Chia seeds?

Shelflife; Can you tell me about your chicken and spinach casserole?

Hi I'm a newbie and started yesterday I posted my menu for 4/11 in another thread and then I was referred here. I'm looking for any tips and tricks. I am posting both yesterdays menu and todays. Thanks so much in advance! (I should say you will not be seeing any nuts listed on my menus as I have a severe nut allergy)
4/118 am:
2 eggs
2 Tbsp. Pace salsa
2 Tbsp. Reduced Fat Colby Jack Cheese

9 am:
Coffee w/ 2 Tbsp. Sugar-Free French Vanilla Coffee Mate (is that okay???)

10 am:
1 Part Skim Mozzarella Cheese Stick
1 stalk of celery w/ 1 Tbsp Reduced Fat Cream Cheese

12 pm:
2 cups Salad w/ Red Leaf Lettuce, Cucumber, Green Bell Pepper, Green Onion, Celery, Clover Sprouts, and Mushroom
1 can (4 oz) Solid White Albacore in Water
2 Tbsp Newman’s Own Olive Oil and Vinegar Dressing

1:30 pm:
Coffee w/2 Tbsp Sugar-Free French Vanilla Coffee Mate

3:30 pm:
Celery stalk with reduced fat cream cheese
1 oz. of low-fat turkey lunch meat.

6:00 pm:
Bowl of home made chili that consists of extra lean ground beef, pace pacante sauce, kidney beans, black beans, cumin, chili powder, and garlic powder.
1/4 C. colby jack cheese
1/4 C. chopped raw onion

7:30:
1 C. 0% Fage (Greek Yogurt)
1 Tbsp. Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1 packet Raw Stevia

8:30:
1 Sugar Free Fudgicle

Water: 144 oz

4/12
B:2 strips turkey bacon, 1 egg, 1 egg white

MS: 1 C. 0% Fage 1 Tbsp. Unsweetened Cocoa Powder 1 packet Raw Stevia 16 oz fat free sugar free vanilla latte

L: 1 cup green salad, 1 Tbsp Reduced Fat Ranch dressing, 1 bowl left over chili

AS: 1 Part Skim Mozzarella Cheese Stick, 2 Celery stalks, 2 Tbsp rf cream cheese, 2 oz reduced fat turkey lunch meat, 16 oz SF Red Bull (Is that a no-no?)

D: 6 0z chicken breast, 1 C. steamed asparagus, 2 C green salad, 2 Tbsp Reduced fat Ranch

NS: 1 SF Fudgicle

Water: So far 64 oz planning for 128 oz.

Calories for the day: 1632

I know we don't have to count calories, but I've always done it and I track my food using Live Strong Daily Plate tool which automatically does it for you.

Sorry for the long post.

Phase II

B: V8, 2 boiled eggs
S: RF cheese stick
L: Large salad, grilled chicken, guacamole
S: Skinny latte
D: Leftover grilled pork chop, asparagus, broccoli with Parmesan cheese
S: Almond butter

Dthefashionista - Looks good! You've got lots and lots of veggies and that is really the key to this plan :)

Had a ridiculous amount of off plan snacks that I'm not going to list. I am definitely a stress eater.

b-smoothie (crazy kitchen sink concoction with strawberries, banana, pumpkin, spinach, oats, and yogurt)
L-boca burger w/ turkey bacon, ww thin bun
d-yogurt marinated chicken in a ww pita with a big salad

I'm going to have to come up with a coping strategy for the stress eating. . .maybe I'll take some crystal light for my water bottle. Other suggestions?

1: skinny latte
2: hard boiled egg
3: Cinnamon Curry Tuna salad
4: Tilapia fillet with spinach mushroom saute
5: tomato juice

B: egg McMuffin, Scrambled egg.. only ate 1/2 the bread
L: Chicken, veggie, Beans
S: edamane
D: Grilled chicken, peppers, onions, lettuce, guacamole

Tuesday, April 12, 2011 Phase 2

Breakfast: Green Chili-Cheese Casserole; V8; 2 cups Coffee with 1% milk and sweetener

Snack: Yogurt with 1/8 t lemon jello powder

Lunch: Spinach Salad with 2 slices turkey bacon (crumbled) and NF Feta Cheese - Vitamins

Snack: Apple with peanut butter

Dinner: Cottage cheese; celery, carrots and blue cheese dressing; 2 deviled eggs

Snack: NSA Fudgesicle

The key to whether things are ok on this program is to take a look at the ingredients list:

Ingredients
Vegetable Oil (Partially Hydrogenated Coconut or Palm Kernel and Canola, Hydrogenated Palm, Soybean, Cottonseed and/or Safflower)Corn Syrup Solids (Adds a Trivial Amount of Sugar)Sodium Caseinate (a Milk Derivative) Not a Source of Lactose)Natural and Artificial Flavors, Dipotassium Phosphate (Moderates Coffee Acidity)Mono- and Diglycerides (Prevents Oil Separation)Salt, Sodium Aluminosilicate, Sucralose, Acesulfame Potassium (Non-Nutritive Sweetener)Yeast.


Sorry to have to tell you... It's definitely not South Beach friendly. :(

Wednesday Phase 1.5
B: lf cottage cheese w/hot avjar and avocado
S: edamame
L: middle eastern combo platter - hummos, labney, taramonsalata, 2 grape leaves with lamb, broccoli and cauliflower + a whole wheat pita (on plan food, but way too much of it, but it was SO GOOD).
S: "kind" bar with almonds and apricots
D: 1 egg veggie omlette, salad with caesar dressing and parmesan cheese, an inappropriate amount (and totally unplanned for) of gouda cheese and a lf cheese stick. I binged on cheese. Couldn't stop eating the whole day really.

B ff yogurt, cottage cheese
L OUT...planned...olive garden, salad, 2 breadsticks, 1/2 bowl Pasta Fagioli, 1/2 bowl chicken gnocci
S nuts, peel cheese
D steak veggies

P2

1: oats soaked in almond milk and chia seeds, topped with 1/2 banana + 1 tsp. peanut butter; hot lemon water
2: "spa lunch" - hummus, carrot sticks, small bunch of grapes, 4 small spelt crackers
sn: tbd
3: grilled pork chops, mashed cauliflower, roasted tomato?

exercise: 60-75 min. strength and speed interval workout

I feel really good about my day yesterday. Here's what is planned for today:

B: greek yogurt w/sf blackberry jelly and Splenda, coffee w/ff 1/2 & 1/2 and Splenda
S: celery w/ natural pb
L: leftover taco frittata (turned out sooooo good!)
S: string cheese, sugar snap peas, v8
D: Fireside White Bean and Sausage Soup, salad w/veggies and dressing
S: If I need it...sf jello

Zeffryn, what are chia seeds?

MMckellen, what is avjar?

I'm looking forward to another great day! I feel so good!

zeffryn - just to make sure I read your oats comment correctly - do you not have to cook the oats if you soak them overnight like that? I have never been a fan of oats, but once we get to p2 that would be a great, portable breakfast for dh. He leaves the house at 4:30 to get to the gym at 5, then showers and goes straight to work, so need breakfast that he doesn't have to cook.

I am also wondering about chia seeds and what their benefits are?

Phase 2

B: shredded wheat and bran cereal, strawberries, nf milk
L: salad, hb egg, rf blue cheese dressing
S: veggies and hummus
D: spaghetti squash bake, roasted broccoli
S: nf greek yogurt, blueberries

Dang I had a feeling. I already had some today. I guess I'll be bringing my stevia and some milk in to work tomorrow. :( I love that darn creamer...probably because it's full of junk!

sorry, mika, i just saw your inquiry about chia seeds from yesterday.

Here is some info about chia seeds. I mainly use them to bulk up my oats or smoothies, and i find that drinking them in iced tea during the summer (it's hot in So. La!) helps keep me hydrated.

http://www.mychiaseeds.com/Articles/...aBenefits.html

--

imagine - correct, no cooking involved. the soaking softens them up a lot. i like them soaked much more than i do cooked. i soak them overnight because it is easier, but sometimes, i'll make a bowl, let it soak for 5-10 minutes while I get dressed or something and then eat them. They aren't quite as soft, but still really good.

I lurve me some fitnessista too. :D

Getting back to it:

1: steel cut oats, cinnamon, dark cherries, coffee with cream
2: cottage cheese
3: salad greens, goat cheese, beets(i know) grilled chicken, sunflower seeds so, so yummy
4: 2 ak moks with goat cheese, sugar snap peas
5: Turkey, cannalini, spinach cassolet, roasted green beans

Not enough water or exercise. Feeling under the weather and starving at the same time. Weird.

I think I first read about cold oatmeal here. And then recently I read this on Budget Bytes (just leave out the brown sugar, which she says is optional anyway). It is going to be a summer go-to breakfast. So glad I know about this now!

SGeranium - I :love: beets. So good for you. Personally I don't worry about the sugar in them at all.

Phase 2.
I've been fairly loose with my "plan" recently (NOT saying that is a good thing) but now it is time to kick it up a notch and go for that last 5+ lbs. It has taken more than a year to lose 18, so at this rate it will take the rest of this year to lose 5 more :p

B - coffee w/ us almond milk. 2 Nessa Bar/breakfast cookie muffins (a combination of the two recipes, made with protein powder; I'll post the recipe)
L - Shirataki noodles with peanut sauce and a lot of broccoli. Green tea.
S - carrot & feta salad w/ lf feta.
S2 - smoothie with Greek yogurt, mixed berries and cocoa powder.
D - Thinking of trying sauerkraut scrambled eggs using lowfat pepper jack cheese, with brown rice added. BIG green salad. Glass of low sodium V8.
dessert - sf white chocolate pudding with mandarin oranges

B: Spinach & feta egg muffins
L: Chicken tikka masala frozen thing. PB & Banana tortilla.
Sn: Yogurt
S: Greek salad.

Leaving on the bus tonight... for a 17 hour ride! I've GOT to refrain from snacking. Bringing a PB & banana roll up for b-fast tomorrow, and maybe some yogurt and veggies? Hopefully they stay cool enough to be edible.

Gotta get packing!

OK - seriosuly - what day is it???

B: greek yogurt, SF jam
S: apple, peanut butter
L: chili, salad
S: peanuts
D: baked sweet potato (best thing I have had in WEEKS), ww pita pizza, mushrooms, tomatoes
S: celery, laughing cow

Be well!

b-oats in a puree of strawberries, banana, yogurt and lots of spinach
l-spinach salad w/ chicken
d-hummus and schwarma

Wednesday, April 13, 2011 - Phase 2 1 fruit/1 grain

Breakfast: Leftover Green Chili-Cheese Casserole; V8; 2 cups Coffee with 1% milk and sweetener - Vitamins

Lunch: Chili

Early Dinner: Salad w/ lots of veggies, turkey pepperoni and Italian dressing; 1 slice of leftover WW Pizza w/ Turkey Pepperoni, Mozzarella Cheese, Red Pepper, Onion, Green Olives – Diet Coke

Snack at Game: Apple with cashews

Snack: NSA Fudgesicle


Last game of the season tonight.... as usual, we had an early dinner and brought (smuggled) what we normally would have had for an afternoon snack and ate that at the game. That worked well and next season will be here before I know it, so we'll remember that for next year.

1: skinny latte
2: hard boiled egg
3: tuna salad and hard boiled egg
4: stuffed bell pepper and large salad
5: glass of tomato juice

Thursday - Phase 1.5. Weighing in tomorrow
B: lf cottage cheese w/hot avjar and 1/4 avocado
S: edamame and 6 triscuits
L: what I didn't eat yesterday - pulled pork, mashed cauliflower, brussel sprouts
S: carrots and sugar snap peas
D: grilled mahi mahi and salad

Yesterday...p2 , I think....

B (post work out) whey, milk,banana
L salad, steak, veggie chili
s chicken veggies
d steak green beans apple
s yogurt, cottage cheese apple
cals 1895

P2

1: oats and chia seeds soaked in almond milk, topped with 1/2 banana, few blackberries, 1 tsp. almond butter; hot lemon water
2: "spa plate" - 2 T. hummus, carrot sticks, 4 small spelt crackers, small bunch grapes
3: greek yogurt w/ cinnamon, stevia, a few chopped almonds and some blackberries
4: salad w/ grilled chicken, tomatoes, red onion, black beans, salsa for dressing

exercise: 20 min. strength training, 40 min. treadmill, maybe 45 min. pilates in the evening

Z-that "spa plate" sounds tiny. Does it hold you for long?

it is actually very satisfying. it doesn't look like a lot of food, but seems to hold me ok until my afternoon snack, which I have around 3. I don't like having that "full" feeling (it makes me want to nap) during the day, so I don't eat a lot at one sitting. I have a feeling that I'm in the minority around here, and I don't need a lot of food at one time to tide me over. For dinner, I'm good with 3-4 oz. of meat, where it seems that most people around here need 6-8. I also have a 16 oz. bottle of kombucha with lunch, so that holds me too.

It is the lunch that we had the last time I went on a spa day. It was tasty and satisfying, so I recreated it at home.

1: south beach bar, 1/2 cup Greek yogurt with cinnamon and stevia, coffee cream
2: cheese stick, sugar snap peas, baby carrots
3: leftover spinach , bean, turkey cassolet
4: a couple off plan evil, evil wasabi chips
5: black bean soup topped with yogurt, a cheese quesadilla wedge, more sugar snap peas
6: dark chocolate

Still feeling under the weather, but I'm done babying it.

Thursday, April 14

B: Atkins Bar, PB (no sugar, but kinda a lot of fat?)
S: greek yogurt w/cinnamon, sf maple syrup, Splenda)
L: Leftover Bean and sausage soup, sf jello
S: celery, laughing cow wedge, V8
D: small steak, broccoli soup
S: string cheese, sugar snap peas

Today -

B: greek yogurt, sf jam
S: almonds
L: sliced tomatoes, cottage cheese, sf jam
S: carrots
D: DD! has a concert - I expect Friendly's is in my future . . .
S: see above - sf ice cream and sf fudge sauce . . .

Be well -

Phase 2

B: oatmeal, apple, walnuts, nf milk
L: protein smoothie (unsweetened choc almond milk,spinach,1/2 banana,protein powder,choc Greensuperfood)
S: veggies and hummus
D: leftover spaghetti squash bake, salad, rf blue cheese dressing
S: nf greek yogurt, blueberries

Yesterday was good; I ate completely on plan (except for forgetting the V8 with dinner).

THEN I ate something like 750 extra calories. :?: Why, o why? :?: It all began with the chocolate that my husband brought home. I KNEW I shouldn't have even one piece, but of course I did anyway. grrrrr

I need to set up the no eating after 8, or whatever, rule!

Phase 2
B - coffee with lf milk. Nessa Bar/breakfast cookie muffin. Then... veggie sausage and low sodium V8 juice.
L - Pizza!! (1 ww pita bread with tomato paste, fresh garlic, lowfat "Italian" shredded cheese, chopped spinach). Cauliflower/broccoli soup.
S - Tofurkey roll ups with lf cream cheese and chopped green onion
Walking/yoga
D - Grilled tuna. Grilled asparagus. Beet & brown rice salad with goat cheese (I'm on a recipe-trying roll!!).
dessert - Greek yogurt with mixed berries.

Showered, exercised (sorta) and awake after a grubby morning and a 17 hour bus ride.

B: 1/2 piece of apple strudel @ 5am
Sn: Some veggies and tzatziki
L: A&W Whistledog
S: BADBADBADBAD
Ex: 15 minute jog in the hotel fitness room which is RIGHT NEXT to the Jacuzzi room. It was so hot in there I couldn't do any more.

Phase II

B: V8, 2 boiled eggs
S: RF cheese stick
L: Large salad, roast beef, guacamole, pico
S: Skinny latte
D: Pork chop, sauteed veggies, crack slaw
S: Dark chocolate, almond butter

For all you overnight oaters-have you tried pureeing some spinach in with your milk of choice before adding it to the oats? Bright green oatmeal = awesome

b-smoothie (the green oats are for tomorrow)
L-almond butter and banana sandwich on a thin bun, spinach and broccoli salad w/lemon tahini dressing
s-frozen yogurt (too much) and half a larabar
d-sweet potato falafel with tahini yogurt sauce, large spinach salad