I did real good at sticking to Lean Cuisines and minimal snacking when
I first started losing but over time I have become sidetracked and bad
habits are sneaking back. Its easy to say - go back to what worked before
but its not that easy....I always seem to be hungry and have no willpower.
I'm wondering what some of you that are successfully losing eat daily.
I have a desk job and no kids. My husband used to work nights so I'd eat
Lean Cuisines but now he is on days so I make dinner for both of us. He
does not have a weight problem and he is 1000% supportive. If I fed him
nothing but lettuce he wouldn't complain, but that wouldn't work for me!!
I currently weigh about 265, I think my metabolism is pretty much normal.
If I try to eat 1200 calories I always fail. Can anyone share what you eat during
your day for your successful weight loss? I have no health problems or food
allergies or isssues. I can exercise, I mostly walk but I am capable of doing
more. Not a marathon or anything but I can do aerobics and stuff. I would
so appreciate any help you can give me.
Okay, so I'm a horrible eater and you probably shouldn't listen to me, but I'm going to reply anyway. The rest can tell you why NOT to do what I'm doing lol and how to do it healthier.
breakfast:
toast and milk with ovaltine, sometimes cream cheese on the toast
sometimes (rarely) i have 4 pizza rolls
sometimes i have something left over that i packaged for myself
lunch:
pasta noodles
chicken
broccoli
carrots
celery
or a sandwich, usually turkey or ham, with a slice of cheese. or a yogurt and some carrot sticks, something like that.
dinner: whatever my mom makes, just half of what I'd usually eat. I've been losing weight steadily, but slowly. I recently decided to cut out high carbs for a month and give that a go, so my whole mealplan is totally effed up now. Hopefully I can make it work.
It's not the healthiest. It could definitely be healthier.
I've heard from most people they didn't really *Change* their eating habits at all, they just changed the amount. So while I do eat a lot of bread and pasta, I don't eat cakes or cookies or brownies at all. You just have to find something that works for you.
What I like to do, is when I'm making stew or soup, or some sort of salad, I always make myself a bowl for the next day, measured out and everything so I can have one meal that I don't have to worry about. It really seems to help.
You could try calorie counting. I know a lot of people can't be bothered and think it's a lot of effort, but there are also a lot of people that swear by it (and I am one of them). And don't think you have to limit yourself to 1200 calories. At your weight and height you could definitely be eating at least 1800 calories or so and still losing weight - there are calculators that show you an approximate number of how many calories you should be eating that relate to your age, height, weight and level of activity.
I think with Lean Cuisines and minimal snacking, you might have been getting bored. With calorie counting you can pretty much eat whatever you want if it can fit in your calories for the day - and most people find that they'll opt for healthier options because it allows them to eat more since they're lower calorie items.
Congrats on your loss so far and good luck finding something that continues to work for you!
You could try calorie counting. I know a lot of people can't be bothered and think it's a lot of effort, but there are also a lot of people that swear by it (and I am one of them). And don't think you have to limit yourself to 1200 calories. At your weight and height you could definitely be eating at least 1800 calories or so and still losing weight - there are calculators that show you an approximate number of how many calories you should be eating that relate to your age, height, weight and level of activity.
I think with Lean Cuisines and minimal snacking, you might have been getting bored. With calorie counting you can pretty much eat whatever you want if it can fit in your calories for the day - and most people find that they'll opt for healthier options because it allows them to eat more since they're lower calorie items.
Congrats on your loss so far and good luck finding something that continues to work for you!
I agree with this. I love the flexibility of calorie counting and the ease of it. I use sparkpeople.com to track my calories and even exercise. It is like second nature to me now. Good luck
1. 1200 calories is almost certainly too low for you. Use this calculator to determine an appropriate calorie amount for you.
2. Try eating real food instead of processed stuff like Lean Cuisines. You'll feel less hungry, more satisfied, and much healthier.
For exercise, you want to incorporate workouts from each of the three different elements - cardio (aerobic), strength training (anaerobic), and flexibility/stretching. Aerobic exercise builds cardiovascular capacity while anaerobic exercise builds and tones muscles. Flexibility exercises improve the range of motion of muscles and joints.
Aerobic exercises include things like running, walking, biking, swimming, dancing.
Anaerobic exercise involves weight lifting and interval training.
Flexibility examples are pilates, yoga, and t'ai chi.
Here is my plan for the next week, as far along as I am with it. I have a wicked day Friday, so it will be Subway all at once, which is a lesser of the evils choice. I haven't added all the calories up yet, and I'll be out of town, so I won't get my small Frosty on Friday this week.
October 17
2 c milk 244
1/2 can chicken 155
greens 24
couscous 168
dressing 50
hot cereal 130
1/2 C almond milk 30
blueberries 1/2 C 54
eggbeaters 120
feta 1 oz. 70
provencal soup 353
1398
October 18-Monday
2 c milk 244
1/2 can chicken 155
greens 24
couscous 168
dressing 50
hot cereal 130
1/2 C almond milk 30
blueberries 1/2 C 54
eggbeaters 120
feta 1 oz. 70
provencal soup 353
1398
October 19
2 c milk 244
pita bread 90
turkey 84
1 oz. spinach 6
pork roast 4 oz. 136
greens 24
quinoa 1/4C dry + broth 160
dressing 50
hot cereal 130
1/2 C almond milk 30
rasberries 1/2 C 35
October 20
2 c milk 244
pita bread 90
turkey 84
1 oz. spinach 6
pork roast 4 oz. 136
greens 24
quinoa 1/4C dry + broth 160
dressing 50
hot cereal 130
1/2 C almond milk 30
rasberries 1/2 C 35
October 21
2 c milk 244
pita bread 90
turkey 84
1 oz. spinach 6
pork roast 4 oz. 136
greens 24
quinoa 1/4C dry + broth 160
dressing 50
hot cereal 130
1/2 C almond milk 30
rasberries 1/2 C 35
October 22
milk 2 C 244
Subway 760
fruit (melon?)
eggbeaters
feta
October 23
milk 2C
turkey roast
brown rice
greens
dressing
October 24
milk 2 C
hot cereal
raspberries
almond milk
pita
3 oz. turkey
melon
turkey burger
sweet potato fries
Barb
Last edited by angelskeep; 10-17-2010 at 05:38 PM.
Breakfast is either
eggs (cooked any way I can think of) and homemade breakfast sausage (seasoned ground turkey) OR
Egg Bake (eggs, ham (Hormel Natural Choice), cheese, and veggies - spinach, mushrooms, peppers, zucchini)
With that I have either
cottage cheese w/pineapple OR
protein shake (milk, protein powder, fruit)
And occasionally I'll have a grain carb - 1/2 whole wheat English muffin, 1 thin slice whole grain raisin toast, steel cut oats (not sweetened)
Lunch is almost always salad (leaf or romaine lettuce, as many vegetables I can find, lunch meat (Hormel Natural Choice) or a can of tuna, maybe some cheese, and 1 tablespoon of dressing) and a serving of fruit
Dinner is a hunk of meat that I do something to and veggies. If I have the carb allowance, I have fruit for dessert.
My daily calories are between 1,400 and 1,600. I limit my carbs to less than 100 grams/25% and try to get 100+ grams protein. I rarely do snacks.
My exercise routine includes:
Aerobic/Cardio
Running
Stationary Bike
Belly Dancing
Kickboxing
Kelly Smith's Cardio Fatburner DVD
Anaerobic/Strength training
Jari Love's Get Ripped & Chiseled DVD
Jillian Michaels' No More Trouble Zones DVD
Biggest Loser Power Sculpt DVD
you might want to try adding fruit and veggie snacks during your day, it takes away my hunger highs and lows. Like I'll have an apple and V8 in the middle of the day, or a V8 on my way home before dinner (little cans, low sodium). apples have a lot of fiber, plus they're sweet.
I eat a bunch of baby carrots with my lunch, usually a sandwich on low cal wheat bread. the low cal bread can make a big cal difference in the day. and an orange.
I like a good dose of lean protein with dinner, a veggie and starch. sweet potatoes mashed, baked, roasted are a good choice for starch.
I have a glass of skim milk in the evening as part of a snack too.
drinking water regularly during the day helps me feel full too, I've read that thirst can feel like hunger (have no real idea if that's true, but it good to stay hydrated anyway!)
as for aerobics, I like the treadmill. I give it a bit of an incline, do a face paced walk, sweat it up. feels pretty good. I'll mix it up with other machines too, the elliptical, arc, now there's a stair climber but I haven't tried it yet.
I walk a lot during the day usually too. and have a good number of stairs to go up and day because of subway.
Breakfast:
2 eggs with cheese or a little bacon (the boar's head already-cooked bacon is 70 cals for 3 slices, i usually have 2). I beat the eggs and cook them in a non-stick omelet pan with no oil or butter and they don't stick!
or
cottage cheese with 1 Tbsp peanut or almond butter, 10 g fiber one cereal, 1/2 banana, 1 tbsp ground flaxseed
Lunch:
Salad with romaine + dark greens (spinach or arugula), whatever veggies I can scrounge out of the fridge + chicken breast or tuna or shrimp. My favorite salad is grilled chicken on arugula with goat cheese and strawberries with some balsamic vinegar and olive oil!
or
Turkey or grilled chicken on sandwich thins (100 cals) or flatout light wrap (90 cals). Lots of lettuce or greens. I love to add roasted veggies to a sandwich!
Dinner:
Some kind of protein -- chicken, pork chops, fish, shrimp -- simple prep -- baked or sauteed with pan sauce -- plus lots of veggies. I make a starch for my husband and kids but rarely eat it.
Snacks:
Babybel light cheese + fruit
Yogurt (either yoplait light or greek yogurt + fruit)
Apple + peanut butter
carrots and sugar snap peas
Almonds (love the cocoa roast almonds!)
"Protein at every meal and snack" -- some of the best advice I've received.
ETA: I'd be very unhappy on 1200, too! I'd bet you can lose on more!!!
Last edited by thesame7lbs; 10-17-2010 at 10:21 PM.
You've gotten some good advice here, but I also wanted to throw in my two cents. I recently read You on a Diet by Dr. Oz and he had some really good things to say about how the body works, especially the hunger cycle and he had a lot of good tips on what to do to control hunger. Some things I have found helpful:
Eating about 70 calories worth of walnuts 20 minutes before a meal. Dr. Oz says that 70 calories of fat is enough to activate the satiety chemicals in your stomach that communicate with your brain. He used the right biological terms, but that's the idea.
Eat fiber (like oatmeal, bran, whole wheat, etc.) for breakfast to be less hungry in the afternoon.
Your body doesn't read artificial sugar and high fructose corn syrup as actual calories, or nourishment, so when you eat foods with these ingredients your brain keeps telling you you're hungry even if you have eaten sufficient calories.
Refined carbohydrates put your blood sugar on a roller coaster and you end up hungry a lot when you eat a lot of refined carbs. Whole grain is much more stable for your blood sugar, and the fiber helps you feel full.
Im paraphrasing from memory, and there were a lot of helpful ideas in the book, coupled with good explanations about how your body and your hunger work. It helps a lot to understand how your body reacts to food so you know how to approach your eating.
I'd also say to find a way you like to eat vegetables and eat till you are totally full. (As long as you are not cooking them in a bunch of sugar or fat.) But your body does need a sufficient amount of healthy fat or you will be super hungry all the time.
I have an impression that after a few weeks of new eating habits your body adjusts and you don't feel so hungry, you just have to make it through the first part.
When you find a healthy recipe you like, make a lot, you can always put some in the freezer to use when you don't want to cook.
Thank you so much!! I was counting calories, and in the beginning I was around 1400 - 1600. But as time goes on and bad habits and snacking creep in I am finding it impossible to keep it at that level....thats why I was wondering what other people are eating. For example today I have had a bag of grapes and a bagel....does not seem like much but its probably 500 calories. I don't make a habit of bagels but someone gave me a bag. As for the Lean Cuisines - yes I agree with the "processed crap". It was convenient because if you give me a choice I will 100% pick the worst one. With those I just had to say ok which one do I want and I'd know the calories were ok. I do think that weight loss boils down to calorie counting. You can limit carbs, fats, white foods, blue foods...but in the end its calories in vs calories out. I do try to limit sugar, pasta, rice, bread (yeah I know....the bagel).... and other "starchy" carbs because they will set me off on a binge. But like I said as time goes on I have not been as good at that. I have literally no self control. I am a compulsive overeater. I have OCD so I have been seeing a therapist for years and she is an addiction specialist so after many years I am finally taking advantage of that in relation to my eating. I did join Weight Watchers and I am up 8 pounds! It says to eat 30 points but that didn't work so well. Have not been to a meeting in a while. A number of calories means more to me than a number of points. I brought my little notebook today and am going to journal everything again. And walk at lunch.
But - the good things..... I started changing my life Oct 15, 2009. So in that year I no longer smoke (I actually quit Dec 2008), I no longer have acid reflux, my knees no longer kill (just ache lol), I have gone from a snug size 28 to a 20/22 and am down 60 some odd pounds. Now if I can just kick my butt into gear! Because I am up 10 lbs from my lowest and I don't want to be done yet.
I'm still new here....but you'll find I ramble on a lot!!
If you are aiming low in the calorie range (1200 or so), you absolutely have to make sure that every calorie is satisfying. I find that carbs will spike my blood glucose and make me hungrier, so I've pretty much eliminated sugars and starches. For me, the key to satiety is fat. I eat some protein for every meal, but make sure I get a good dollop of fat with it. Then I bulk it out with all sorts of veggies.
The fat keeps me satisfied, and since I've eliminated sugars and starches I need the calories from fat for body fuel (protein is a building block, not fuel, so if you lower carbs, you have to increase fat... and if you lower fat, you have to increase carbs). Anyway, I can easily stick to around 1200 calories (though my range is 1200-1500) without too much hunger so long as I'm eating enough fat for satiety.
Menu plans?
