I also find I must plan, plan and then plan some more. It's so much easier to just grab something ready made but the rewards of making stuff yourself is just too great to let go although I do feel like I'm always cooking and chopping vegetables and stuff, but it has definitely made a difference. I just started making this and I love it: I slice a large onion very thinly and brown it in pam and then I add a few tablespoons of prepared marinara sauce and add in some of my own spices - lots of peper, garlic powder and onion powder, etc. Then I add fresh string beans and some water. I cook this for about 10 -12 mins till they're soft but not mushy. I make a lot at a time so I have it for a few days and if i'm famished before I can get to make dinner - I'll pop some in the microwave and pick at it, sometimes I eat it cold - very satisfying. I bought the south beach diet cereal bars, 140 calories and 10 gms protein, sometimes when I'm lazy I'll eat that for lunch with an apple. They're very good , but when I eat that I don't stay full as long.

Is there any way you could bring a big salad for lunch with turkey breast or some low-fat cheese? And then you still need to eat a snack before you eat dinner. And I drink a lot of water during the day. Keeping myself satisfied has been a big help to me this time around.

I am having trouble allowing myself to eat more during the day because I always feel I have to "save" the calories for the evening... just in case. Like last night, I wasn't planning on eating anything after class, which ends at 9, but I was really hungry so on my way home I ate a tangerine. That was enough for me but after I got home, my bf and his parents pressured me into eating more veggies, fish balls, and fruit. They always pressure me by saying I HAVE to eat this or that for my own health, it's ridiculous! For example, last night it was "you can't not eat, you haven't had dinner", which isn't exactly correct because my workout was from 7-9 so I ate late in the afternoon around 4 then I had a tangerine around 6. My mom called me this morning and she agreed I shouldn't listen to them, especially when they pressure me to eat white rice (Chinese people think rice is absolutely essential when we all know it's actually refined carbs that have little nutritional value). She thinks my bf doesn't want me to lose weight because he doesn't want more guys to like me (I already joke about it to him all the time).