One of the things I noticed is a lack of fresh fruits and veggies - most of your carbs are processed (burrito, soda, tortilla, bread, M&Ms, twix), and you only had a tomato and an apple. I'd suggest trying to eat more fruits and veggies as snacks, like maybe a banana and only one of the chocolate snacks. Your body will use simple carbs for energy, while it stores complex carbs (sugar, breads, etc.) as fat. You'll find that simple carbs also fill you up a lot more, and give your body the sugar it needs to function.
And I know you said giving up soda was hard, but it would make a huge difference - you're consuming a ton of calories and sugar from something that doesn't fill you up and doesn't help you nutritionally. Maybe try going off it slowly? Just cut a bit back each day? I've never been a pop person, so i don't know what works, but I'd definitely suggest trying again to get off it.
Good luck!
i agree with you sierra. I need to do the same thing. I don't eat enough fruits and veggies. Just too hard to get veggies into my meals for some reason. I have been trying lately. I eat an apple every day. that is one change I have made in the past two months. adding a fruit to my diet. I swear before, i hardly ever had a peice of fruit. also, trying to have at least one veggie at dinner time lately. but still not enough. I have got to work on that too.
Can you maybe transition to diet soda? I really like the Coke Zero--still has caffeine but no sugar, so no calories. No soda at all is better, blah blah blah, but at least no-cal soda is better than empty calories, IMO If you really hate diet, maybe just try buying both regular and diet and mixing them, gradually increasing the amount of diet until you can tolerate it.
ya, i know. the prob with nuts is they are very high fat...i just bought a big container of yogurt and realized that it has 11g protien per serving. i will definitely be eating more yogurt. i hate regular milk, always have. i am considering a protien powder because it is very difficult for me to get enough. thanks for your input. =)
meagan
You should definitely try a protein powder! I've started that recently... I use Isopure low carb after weight lifting on gym days, and another somewhat more reasonably priced one from Wal-mart on non weight lifting days, due to price of the Isopure. I'll link below:
Also, something that I have found to be one of my best purchases is a "personal blender"... it is a single serving mini blender, that you can detach the cup from the base and drink your smoothie. Super easy, fast, less mess (having the wash the big blender, cups used) and clean up is just a drop of dish washing liquid and some water, blend for 15 seconds and rinse! This is the one I bought from Walmart for $13.99:
One other thing that I noticed on your fitday is a mention of having a hard time giving up soda. Others have already mentioned this, but if you can try to drink diet soda for a few weeks, you WILL get accustomed to the taste of artificial sweetners. I prefer diet Pepsi and diet Dr Pepper... now, if I drink the real stuff, it makes me light headed immediately due to the high amount of sugar, and also sick just by thinking of the empty calories I just put into my body. The diet stuff just tastes better to me now... and I've learned to love water a lot more.
okay and to add... sorry last time i promise... my smoothie recipe (very good and better than the smoothies sold in the store imo.)
nf vanilla yog (1 cup)
1/4 c apple sauce (no sugar added if possible)
1/2 cup frozen fruit (mixed berry or mangoes are my fav)
can add prot powder if you like and a bit of nf milk if its too thick.
Another thing I like to do to thin out a smoothie is to add some Diet V8 Fruit Medley... also, you can get Mott's flavored apple sauce (pineapple, berry medley, peach) that has no sugar added. Great way to add a twist and change the flavors up a bit.
thanks for all the suggestions. i am working on getting more fruits per day, and completely cutting out the soda. today i only had 6 oz at work and i feel fine, so i am just gonna keep cutting down till its gone. personally, i really detest diet, and i know you guys assure me that i will get used to the taste, but if i have to acclimate to it that much, it makes me question if its worth it. i think that regular soda has enough bad things-sugar, chemicals, flavorings and colorings, and diet has even more and worse! so if i`m gonna do it, i`m just gonna give it up all together. besides, i have inflammation problems and the caffiene i am sure is only aggravating them. as far as nuts, thats great that they are good fats, but as you can see i have not a calorie to spare for them. for now i am going to stick to lower fat high protien items. maybe later when i rid myself of all the junk i am so attached to i will reexamine. for now, i think i`d better keep it to a handful here and there and thats it. tomorrow after class, i will be on the prowl for a protien powder. for fruits, i did stock up on dried fruits like the cranberries that i have been eating daily and also dried apples(both from trader joes, no additives, or sulfites). i have also been eating raw apples about every other day. as far as veggies, i think i eat a fair amount of them. if you take a look, for today i had veggie pizza that was completely covered (ie: only a tiny tiny bit of cheese) in mushrooms, red peppers, green peppers, yellow squash, etc. then i ate a whole cup of raw tomatoes and a half cup of cucumbers. plus fresh salsa and some lime. altogether that works out to about 5 1/2 cup veggie servings for today. not too shabby. on previous days when i cooked the veggies with the tofu, i ate zucchini, yellow squash, garlic, baby carrots, and onion. yes, it was cooked, but there was at least 2 cups of veggies that i ate. so, again, i really don`t think i am lacking there. my ultimate goal is to eliminate processed and artificial foods from my diet, but i think it will take a long time to get there. its pretty difficult. but if you think about it, there are so many artificially flavored, and colored foods that we eat. and we really have no idea what all of these additives are doing to our bodies. i have a lot of inflammation issues in my 25 year old body--lower back injury, hip bursitis, tendinitis of the wrist, femoro-patellar displasia of both knees (and associated inflamation/pain), and plantar fascitis in my right foot. do i think that some of these issues are related to my diet? certainly! they may have not been created by it, but they have been aggravated by it. so, that is my longterm goal, to eat a healthier more natural diet. and of course, to lose weight along the way. thanks for all the help again.
If you really hate diet, maybe just try buying both regular and diet and mixing them, gradually increasing the amount of diet until you can tolerate it.
