Can I...
 

Eat oatmeal and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches everyday? Haha I know the pb&j thing sounds crazy but it's literally the only thing we have to eat unless I wanna eat fattening pasta from a box everyday. And plus I need something to take for school lunch instead of the usual daily apple for lunch. (Jiff peanut butter, welch's grape jelly, and.. I forgot what the bread was called, but it's 45 calories per slice! :D ) Or.. I guess I can make half a pb&j and eat an apple with that.. that would probably be a bit healthier. Anyway, oatmeal (quaker oats) is the only option for breakfast unless I want Cinnamon Toast Crunch for breakfast everyday, or a really fattening cinnamon and raisin bagel or stupid Hostess Donut. I get tired of toast. Okay, I know this post is totally stupid, but I just don't wanna mess things up in my little weight loss journey, and gain more weight... I'm sorry for the stupidness of this post haha but I just need to know!

Oh yeah, one more thing... Did I totally mess up on my meals today?

Breakfast: 2 Eggs
Snack: Apple slices w/ peanut butter (I'm like addicted to peanut butter sorry)
Lunch: Chicken
Snack: 2 Apples (Again lol) w/ peanut butter......
Dinner: Peanut butter and jelly sandwich
I've also had like 6 or 8 glasses of water today with some green tea..

Yes, you can eat a pbj every day and still lose weight. What sort of weight loss plan are you following? If you're counting calories, count 'em and keep going. If WW, count the points and continue on with your day. If you're low carb, sorry, not going to work. ;)

Your food today was sadly lacking in veggies, but you make do with what you have available, right? When you're eating the apples with pb, take a measured amount of pb out of the jar, and put the jar away before you start eating.

Otherwise, you've lost 40lbs so far? You know what you're doing. Have confidence and keep going.

Just make sure it fits into your calorie allotment. I know a lot of people who don't gain weight drinking fruity drinks, eating junk food etc but no more than they burn. I also know people who gain on healthy food because they eat more than they burn. I've been able to lose weight eating dessert and bread (I cut them out cause I couldn't stop eating them after awhile) cause I counted cals.

just be careful with the peanut butter...
I love apples with pb as well but the calories and the fat content add up quickly.

I occasionally challenge myself to getting through a vegetarian week and I will take PBS & J sandwiches to work.

Peanut butter is high in calories but isn't bad for you if you don't eat too much. For a change, why not try an all-natural peanut butter, like Smucker's (aka Laura Scudder's in TX or the west coast)? It has fat, but not added fats like most commercial peanut butter brands. I also use the sugar free jam to keep calories down, and make it out of whole wheat bread so I get some fiber in my diet.

There's also reduced fat PB =D

I'm thinking of going on this diet myself... I used to be on the PB&J & oatmeal/cereal diet (I'm a poor college kid too haha) and it works but, may I recommend a peanut butter and banana sandwich instead? it's a fun twist and in my mind, is a little healthier. vitamin C and stuff =)

reduced fat PB is a WORSE choice, they just replace the fat with sugar

That's so funny - I was about to start a peanut butter post today!

So a toasted plain bagel w/ peanut butter is my morning guilty pleasure. I use low fat pb but that is still about 380 cals for 4 tsp and 210 for the bagel...quite a lot...so I do it once/2 weeks and the other days I stick to special k & skim. I know 4tsp is a lot but if I'm going to be bad, I don't do a scraping smear of pb, I want to taste it.

The thing is, I've heard "natural" peanut butter is WAY better for you than low fat and can be a good staple in one's diet but I don't know anything about the natural stuff...and I <3 peanut butter...this needs more digging!

This thread makes me hungry!! lol
Anyways, try freshly grated PB or almond butter if its available, you can pick how much you want to grind that way. I see them in whole foods, and other stores. The taste is like WOW.
http://pictures.hamzy.info/blog-photo-06122005.jpg
Or I suggest Peanut Butter and Co. Its so tasty!

I don't think there's anything wrong with eating peanut butter while trying to lose weight so long as you measure. An extra tablespoon more would be about 100 calories each time you eat it. If you're eating it several times a day that could add up pretty quickly.

Could you maybe have a salad for a snack instead or perhaps with your lunch or dinner in place of the snack? Asian sesame dressing has a nutty flavor and you'd be getting some veg in there.

As for natural peanut butter, I love Naturally More brand. Good stuff.

Thanks for the advice you guys.. I'll try to stay away from the peanut butter and not eat so much of it. It just gets rid of the cravings for the really unhealthy foods like Cinnamon Chips and Hostess Donuts.

Nothing wrong with peanut butter at all, it is just energy dense. I'd have a lot harder time with so much bread and oats, those are inflammatory for many people, myself include.

Okay, since I'll probably just get fatter while eating oatmeal and pbj what else am I supposed to eat?? We literally have nothing! And I need something that I can take to school with me for lunch! And if I can't eat oatmeal for breakfast then I'm out of options. I can't eat fruit, my stomach will continuously growl throughout classes which is very embarrassing. And toast will just make me fat too, and so will bagels, and stupid cinnamon toast crunch, and hostess donuts.

Now I'm very frustrated.

Eat the oatmeal, eat the apples, eat the peanut butter. Just measure the serving, have 1-2 tablespoons at a time, rather than just globbing it on.

I ate oatmeal every day for breakfast while losing 40lbs after my now 8yo was born. (I've since had another baby, who is now 4 and never lost the weight). I haven't eaten oatmeal for breakfast in years. Not eating it certainly isn't helping me!

No matter what I eat I'll just get fatter :( so what's the point of even eating anymore?

Are you counting calories? If so, just eat what you're eating and count each bite. Hopefully you're one of the people who can eat whatever they want and lose (I am). :)

Otherwise you've lost 40lbs...you're obviously doing something right!

No and its not something I plan on.

No one on this thread said that. No one has said not to eat pbj daily, as far as I can see. Everyone has said to pay attention to portion sizes, that's all.

Didn't someone lose weight on a twinkie diet a couple of years ago?

Point is, it doesn't matter what you eat, it's all just a matter of calories in and calories out for losing weight. Nutrition and health are a different question.

Yeah I guess but that was just by starving myself. And I'm not one of those people who can eat whatever they want. So I don't even know what I'm supposed to eat anymore that's not going to make me fatter. I should go back to frickin starving myself. Food is pointless if all its gonna do is make me fat.

The point is that your body needs food to live. Starving yourself isn't going to help anything and will eventually make things worse. Why put yourself through that very special kind of **** when you don't have to?

It sounds like you don't buy your own food so you seem to have some limitations on what you have to eat. Is it possible to talk to the person who buys your food and request some healthier options? It sounds like you already are making healthier choices; good for you! That's not a small thing.

As Only Me said, eat your oatmeal and your apples and peanut butter. There is nothing wrong with those things. Maybe now you just need to introduce a little more healthy variety into your diet. (And nobody said it has to be fruit.) You have to dig a little, find out what might work for you and what works with your current obstacles (not being in charge of groceries?) and then implement it and see if it does work for you. Search the boards, they're a great help. Look at other people's daily menus. Ask questions! We can give you support but you have to want it for yourself and you have to work for it.

I can't eat in portion sizes, that's not that easy for me. I don't have time to measure out a cup of pasta, or cereal. And even if I do eat in portion sizes, I'm still aways hungry.

:hug: Honey, if eating in reasonable portion sizes was easy for any of us, we wouldn't be here. I lost 20lbs or so when I was 18 by eating pretty much nothing. Didn't last, did it? 20 years later, I wish I was as light as I was before I started that "diet". And you have to eat to live. Retraining yourself to eat normal portion sizes, even if it isn't easy, is what you have to do to lose weight and maintain weight loss.

I can't eat things without eating too much. So I just decided to starve myself. And I'm kinda thinking about doing it again. Every day I continuously fight with myself over what to eat. And I'm tired of it.

How my morning goes: I desperately want cinnamon toast crunch. Oh wait, that will make me fatter. Looks like I'm eating stupid boring oatmeal once again.
Dinner: my dad asks if I wanna go out to eat at my favorite chinese restuaraunt. Oh wait, thats right I can't. I'll get fatter. Looks like I'm eating an apple for dinner once more.

(I'm not trying to be mean at all please don't think I am. I'm just extremely frustrated with my weight and food. Not to mention I'm extremely depressed.)

You're trying to sell us on the idea that you haven't got the 3 seconds it takes to measure out some cereal? To me it sounds more like you don't want to make the effort.

Protein and fiber are your best friends for feeling full. Throw in some less calorically dense foods and you'd be surprised how much less hungry you'll feel.

But I can't do that :'( its just easier to starve myself.

Measuring doesn't take time at all! I have spoons that have measurements on them, but you can use a scale with a plate on it, or a measuring cup itself to scoop. It doesn't take much more time than any other way to get your food from a pot to a plate.

Volumetrics eating helps a lot of us. Swapping veggies out for half of your foods will help tremendously with your appetite. Things like low-calorie, vegetable-rich soups can be a life-saver.

My nutritionist always said that half of your plate should be non-starchy vegetables.

I like to mix my vegetables right into my dishes so that I know I'm getting the appropriate amounts. For example, I may think that 2oz of dry pasta is not a lot, but if I saute a LOT of mushrooms, peppers, and spinach and mix that into my pasta then it's a huge, satisfying bowl for few calories. When I make macaroni and cheese, I do half broccoli, half macaroni, or my chili recipes always have a huge mixture of veggies including squash, zucchini, etc. Cauliflower is a great puree to mix with potatoes, and so on.

Thats unlikely. The easiest things is probably to overeat, really.

But you don't want that. I hear your frustration. I totally understand your frustration! What I don't understand is your unwillingness to take responsibility for your own body. You get to decide what you put into it. Focus on what you CAN eat instead of what you can't and you'll be much happier for it.
Seriously, making attention-grab statements about starvation isn't going to help you reach your goals.

Ok, DON'T starve yourself :( Food doesn't make you fat. Too MUCH food will make you fat.

You're going to need to experiment to find out what you can eat. Even though I can eat whatever I want in proper portions and lose/maintain, I need to make sure I eat mostly unprocessed foods and get enough protein otherwise I don't feel all that great. I've lost weight eating whatever the heck I want (even fast food), but I FEEL best when I eat good food.

Peanut butter is pretty good for you, actually, so don't worry about eating it. Just be careful because it is high in calories. You may have to measure out a serving and take the extra effort to do so if you want to get serious about losing weight.

If you eat a lot of the same things then you will only have to measure for a little while. After a period of time you'll be able to eyeball how much one cup is or 2tsp is, etc.

You sound just like me as a teen. Starvation is not the way to go. I finally figured out that it's not about NOT eating, but about PLANNING what to eat.

I need the details planned in order to be successful, because just saying "I'm going to eat healthy!" never worked for me and always resulted in me not eating at all and really did a number on my metabolism after 17 years.

I tried at one point. And then my dad caught me measuring cereal and gave me a weird look then asked if I was on a diet or something so I told him yeah I guess. And then we had to have "the talk" about how I'm too young to be worrying about my weight, and that I don't need to lose weight or I might hurt myself, idk **** like that. Then after that I felt embarassed. I don't want my parents, or my friends to know I'm trying to lose weight.

OH MY GOD YOU SOUND LIKE YOU'RE IN MY HOUSE :(

Seriously, PM me if you want. My family is the same way. We can gripe about them together.

This is what I did to avoid measuring/hearing it from my family:

1) I looked at the measuring cups and tried to picture how much would go into whatever the serving was that I needed. I then would estimate how much I was eating based on that. Not exact, but it obviously worked for me.

2) I got up early so I could eat breakfast and prepare my lunch in peace and measure whatever I needed. I eat the same thing pretty much now so I don't have to measure as much.

3) Bake/cook something where there would be no questions as to why I was measuring. It helped me eyeball better.

4) Google "3oz or chicken" or whatever it was that I was going to eat so I could compare what the portion size looked like.


It's annoying and rough, I know, when you're living with a family that is ARGGHHH about these things. It can be done though, and you don't have to resort to starving yourself. I know how it is and I totally 100% feel your pain :(

I can see not wanting your friends to know but maybe if your parents know they can help you lose weight in a healthy way. What your dad said seems to indicate that he cares. Can you talk to him? Explain how you feel. Explain what you want. I worry for you that keeping it so secretive might lead to disordered eating or that it may already have, if you truly have been starving yourself. That kind of thing is exactly what your dad is saying he doesn't want for you.

But I don't know what I CAN eat anymore. It just seems like everything I'm going to eat is just going to make me fatter.

Thank you sontaikle.. I shall PM you sometime..

This mindframe is certainly not going to help. You have to be committed and realize you can eat peanut butter. You can eat oatmeal. But you need to be aware of HOW MUCH of these things or any other thing you are eating, and limit yourself. Are you keeping track of your calories? I ate 2 boiled eggs (sometimes just the whites), with 1/2 cup oatmeal (real oats-cheaper) with a little bit of honey almost every day the last time I lost a significant amount of weight. During that time, I also ate peanut butter sandwiches. I just kept a log of how much I ate, and didn't go over my calories for that day. Now that I am starting over, I still eat oatmeal, and I still eat peanut butter. Just keep track of it and you will do fine. Don't give up! You will definitely gain weight that way!:D