BFL Meals
 

Post what you're eating here.....maybe we can all use a little sharing of creative ideas.

My Monday:
1: Egg beaters scrambled sandwhich on 1 slice ww toast
2: 1/2 c cottage cheese and grapes
3: Lean ham sandwich on ww pita w/1 slice 2% cheese; carrots
4: 2 egg whites; yogurt
5: turkey, orange
6: spaghetti w/meat sauce made from ground turkey, spices and ketchup; green beans

My little discovery is that I'll basically be eating every 2 hours. Wow, reminds me of having an infant in the house - what else will get done? Because I plan to eat my b'fast at 8:30 after cardio is done and kids on the bus, to get my last meal in before too too late (6:30) leaves me squeezing the other 4 in every 2 hours. Weird.

Oh, and feel free to edit my choices or correct me. I'm new at this!

1) 2 eggs, whole wheat english muffin, cheese
2)greek yogurt, strawberries

(things got weird here due to babies coming out)
3)turkey sandwich on rye, cottage cheese, tomatoes, a slice of smoked beef (also 2 watercrackers with eggplant spread, to be totally upfront!)
4) bell pepper strips, laughing cow (I was planning a protein shake with this, but I had that smoked beef an hour before so I didn't)
5)salmon, roasted veggies, small potato
6)protein shake

breakfast: 1/2 cup yoghurt, 1/2 cup OJ, 1/4 cup bran, 1/4 cup yeastflakes, 1/4 cup protein powder
snack: bite of pie (coworkers 50 bd)
lunch: cup of soup, 2 slice ww bread, 1 slice low fat cheese

will edit to give the rest of today

This is my plan for today. I usually only eat four meals a day. The snack after dinner I usually skip. I think since I am going to skip the ww toast just before my workout that I should add that late evening snack. Let see how this goes. I may need to tweak it if I don't see any changes in a week.


1) Protein Oatmeal: cooked oatmeal, cottage cheese, protein powder
2) 4 egg whites omlette, Kraft ff cheese slice, strawberries
3) Fage greek yogurt, 1/2c cottage cheese, handful of blueberries, cinnamon, splenda,
4) Roasted Turkey breast, 1/2 yam, broccoli
5) 1 c milk with protein powder

I woke up ready to throw in the towel thinking today will be too hard to eat all that protein (and worrying about kidney stones returning). I was thinking, I'll just do WW and count points - that way combinations don't matter and I can eat anything! I talked my way off the ledge when my b'fast sandwhich was actually quite yummy! I reminded myself that my doc told me I could eat things in moderation as long as I drink plenty of water. For me, I think that means natural protein (moderation) but no od'ing on the shakes. Fingers crossed. Off to do my lbwo today at lunch. Mixing things up a bit - my legs are begging to be worked first, so will start off there.

May have to pick up a hand mixer today and try that blending trick for the cottage cheese. We'll see. 1/2 c is not that much to choke down.

But I can see why I'm eating every 2-3 hours. It really is not that much food. I think I like Midwife's plan of getting some fat in to each meal a little more - cheese would have been mightly tasty in my eggs this morning. Oh well, I can do anything for 12 weeks! ;)

Cheese is always a good choice with eggs! :D

I'm gonna copy and paste my post from accountability in maintainers.....sorry to double post, but I wanted to share my food plan if it is helpful at all.

Today:

kashi heart cereal, skim milk (1/2 pint), 2 eggs omelet with veggies and a sprinkling of cheese

greek yogurt & fruit

leftover salmon, perhaps with beans or a small potato

more greek yogurt! (yes I made it to Trader Joe's this weekend!), pecans, fruit

dinner: egads!! Dunno....protein and veggies

1 hr gym

protein shake

Beautiful morning today. I might go for a run just for fun. Or I might not!

I thought about you, Fran, as I had my skim milk today! Sometimes cereal just hits the spot. But I had to have my beloved eggs with it.

I usually have breakfast at the hospital cafe on Monday mornings and they use a prepared omelet mix. After learning that IHOP puts pancake batter in their omelets, I have started viewing this omelet mix with concern. So today I requested 2 eggs to be used instead of the mix. No big deal! I wonder what they'll say if I request 5 eggs and toss 4 of the yolks? :lol:

every time I try to drag a pic. of the hand weights on sale at target... I lose my post and the address changes to the target photo. I want to show you guys these 25 pound stackable hand weights and get your input. Today is my day one.

eta: sorry, this is in the wrong thread!

Hmmm....I'm not great with pictures, but could you open a second window and then copy and paste the link?

Cottage :barf: cheese :no: consumed :hot:

:tantrum:

:bravo:

Cool midwife, I'm glad they were able to customize your omelet. But yeah, asking them to separate eggs might be a bit much! :) I bet they have some egg beaters or egg whites back there tho already, at least for the cardiologists! lol

What's funny is they handed me the eggs and a bowl and I carried it to the omelet station and cracked and scrambled them myself.

I think I will ask about egg beaters.....good plan!

Originally Posted by midwife:
What's funny is they handed me the eggs and a bowl and I carried it to the omelet station and cracked and scrambled them myself.

I think I will ask about egg beaters.....good plan!

I regularly think about ihop and pancake batter omlettes. huh. what does that say about me?? :o

nOW i AM AT a different computer in another facility. the ad I saw said up to 25 pounds and had only one set on view. But I'm thinking maybe this is it and it's 2 hand sets up to 12.5 eACH. I was stoked on the higher weight. But the price is the same.. This could be the same item. Will check further.

ANd I'll post link the way you did. But.... why can everyone else do it???? whaaa whaa whaa






http://www.target.com/Reebok-Adjusta...8&pf_rd_t=5101

Ahhh haaaa!! I did it!! This is the set. looks good, right? do I need one or two??

Kitty - I think I got a picture of the weights you're talking about to attach to the post. I've seen them in person at Target, it's one dumbbell for $60, at least at our Target, and the weight goes to 12.5 lbs. I'm also attaching the set I bought at Academy Sports. Two dumbells, each adjust to 12 pounds, and is supposedly upgradeable to 24 lbs each. I haven't been able to find the upgrades, yet, though. I paid $30 for both after Christmas, but they are regularly only $60. I love my adjustables because they take up so little room. The only thing I've found that I don't like about them is that when I do the tricep extension the side bars make my grip odd. It's workable, though, so I can't complain too much. :D

The one review worries me a little tho I think the weight amount is fine.

Have you looked into the Bowflex? They are pricier but worth saving up for, imo. I've had them for 3+ years with no issues at all & have even traveled with them so they've been in and out of the house a bit with wear.

I guess it is the same item..One photo shows only one weight and the other two. So, the weight of 12.5 max per db is ok for this challenge?

I think you will quickly outgrow that, as that was my experience, even going from starting as a non-exerciser. I thought it went to 25 lbs each dumbbell, not in total. For things like deadlifts and squats, I am already up to 35 lbs each side and I don't feel like I'm uber-strong or anything.

Originally Posted by sportmom:
I think you will quickly outgrow that, as that was my experience, even going from starting as a non-exerciser. I thought it went to 25 lbs each dumbbell, not in total. For things like deadlifts and squats, I am already up to 35 lbs each side and I don't feel like I'm uber-strong or anything.

this is my thought also. more reearch needed ;)

Originally Posted by sportmom:
Cottage :barf: cheese :no: consumed :hot:

:tantrum:

Are you eating it plain?

I don't think it's anti-BFL to add some cinnamon, or some SF cocoa powder or something to make it more palatable

cottage cheese and pumpkin with spices should qualify as a protein and carb.

I'm not sure how you would classify SF Jello pudding mix, perhaps that would be a protein and carb serving as well (and a very tasty one at that)

I know people who love to mix a packet of Ranch Dressing mix with their cottage cheese and use it to dip fresh vegetables in or use it to top a salad.

Their are also all kinds of SF syrups that can be mixed in.

Don't choke it down! Cottage cheese has a lot of great qualities but a way of eating should always be enjoyable.

It's definitely the taste that's getting me, not the texture. I feel like I'm eating a milk soaked towel, a few days old. I was thinking after I use up the container I'm done with it and replace it with egg whites. ANd then I had the egg whites. Easily tolerable, but not too exciting. The cottage cheese is just so salty too, and I'm really noticing the sodium taste more since I've been trying to cut it out. I've been hoping it would grow on me like some other things have. We'll see what the end of the week brings. Thanks for the suggestions.

Fran - DePalma's suggestion is great, and if you blended your CC, it would be just like pudding! I think I'll get some on the way home.....

Food today is pretty much on my plan, though a little carb heavy due to the leftover pasta salad I need to finish. It had a goodly amount of chicken though.


B - cheerios with strawberries and walnuts (.5 oz) and skim milk; slice of ww toast
S - ff latte
L - leftover satay chicken pasta salad
S - lemonzest luna bar (10g protein; 26g carb; 180 cal)
S - cottage cheese with strawberries (they were going by fast)
D - grilled salmon, broccoli, spinach salad

Exercise: 30 min HIIT cardio

Food for today:

M1 Protein Oatmeal, coffee, water
M2 4 oz Turkey breast, 1/2 med. sweet potato, 2 tbs hummus, veggies, water
M3 1/2 cottage cheese blended with 1/2 c ff vanilla yogurt, strawberries
M4 Flank Steak, 1/2 baked potato, salad
M5 1/2 c cottage cheese with small apple, 1 tbs peanut butter (if needed)

35 minutes of ss cardio on bike. It's snowed quite a bit last night so I opted not to venture out to the gym at 5:00am this morning. Tomorrow is round two of the snow plus the excitement of ice. Could be another at home day or if it is a false alarm I'll go in for a later workout at 9:30am.

I got your snow Lydia (and snow w/ice tomorrow). Must be a big front if we're getting the same thing at the same time.

Today's exciting agenda includes:
B: 1/2 c Oatmeal (made with 1 c ff milk, so kill me that it's not water!), 2 egg whites in solid form
S: Cottage cheese with dry cheerios mixed in - WOW!!
L: Turkey s'wich on 1 pc bread; raw broccoli w/ranch
S: Lean ham slice w/yogurt
D: Grilled chicken, brown rice, steamed broccoli
S: (if needed, as it will be pretty late at 8-9 pm) Egg scramble in w/w tortilla

Yesterday I was starving from afternoon snack onward so ended up having snack 6 at like 9 pm. I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep w/o it. It was a smallish chicken breast with a slice of cheese on it. Woke up hungry, so there ya go. That ham, cheese on a pita was awesome yesterday! I toasted it in the toaster oven to make it a melt and it was to die for. Of course, after my cottage cheese encounter, what wouldn't have been?!

M1 -- 1 egg, 2 eggwhites, .5 c home baked beans with very little sugar added in the recipe...
M2 -- .5 c. CC w/splenda and vanilla with yogurt, 2 tsp flax oil
M3 -- oatmeal and eggwhites

sportmom -- if you cream your CC with a hand blender or blender add vanilla and splenda it taste like pudding... Also when I eat it plain I add a lot of pepper to offset the saltyness of the cottage cheese...

Yesterday -- I made protein pancakes with 1/4c CC, 1/4c oatmeal and 1/4c eggwhites, Splenda and vanilla to taste, make smooth with hand blender and cook like a pancake... :hun:

Ilene: :wave: Nice to see you!

Fran: I tried something new with the cc today. It's a lot like everyone else is suggesting. I put .5c of cc in the blender with 1 container of FAGE. Added lots of cinnamon, splenda, and almond extract I then grated an orange peel over the top. This is a fruit dip. You could use ff yogurt as well, any flavor you like. I got this with from the Eating for Life cookbook. They suggest using strawberries for dipping. From the photo it appears to be five big strawberries. Just trying to think of some new things for you.

Thanks guys! I have to pick up some cinnamon at the store as well as sf choco pudding. I'm not a big fan of cinnamon (unless on a roll with icing!), but am willing to try new things to get thru this.

Today I put cheerios in my cc and it wasn't half bad. OK, 40% bad, but much easier to tolerate. The strong oaty taste and smell of the cheerios helped cut the pungence of the cc. I will try mixing with some of my vanilaa yogurt tomorrow. Mixing it with fage would not work for me as I couldn't stand that either. Trying not to use splenda, I put organic brown sugar in my oatmeal but it seems silly to season my cc with alot of sugar to eat it - like I should just find a more tolerable protein source or another way to eat it, kwim?

Okay, I tried the CC with pudding mix. First, my poor little immersion blender bogged down, so I thinned things out with some water. That worked better. Next, I tasted it. Nice and chocolatey but ewwww, the artificial sweetner taste of SF pudding. SHudder. I'll eat it, because I hate to waste food. I used 1 cup of cc with 1/8 c of sf pudding mix. If AS doesn't bother you, this is a good combo.

Speaking of which, I just opened my cc with fruit to eat for a snack, and though it didn't smell or look bad, the cc is definitely "off." I guess I'll eat a Luna bar from my desk stash instead. Hmmm, I wonder if the cc I made with the pudding last night is also bad. It was from the same carton. Luckily, I bought a new carton at the grocery this weekend.

M1 - oatmeal with flax seed, .5 oz walnuts, few raisins, skim milk; ww toast with laughing cow light
M2 - now a Luna bar :)
M3 - trying DePalma's stir-fry veggie mix with a pouch of tuna, heat with curry sauce.
M4 - apple and cheddar cheese
M5 - either salmon or chicken (we have both leftover, so we'll flip for who gets which :lol: ), veggies
M6 - ?? Maybe eggwhites - in a solid form (love it Fran!)

My poor kids....for 2 days out of school they've been opening/closing the fridge/freezer and hanging out at the pantry repeatedly, as if something will have changed without us leaving home. I finally asked, after hearing we have no food, and reciting off how much we DO have, what would you normally be eating that is not there now - and asked them to make a list. I won't list it out here, but 2 secs after they finished they both said "...junk food." Yep, pretty much. As they say it, they're really not liking "Body for Life - Kids" :lol3:

Originally Posted by sportmom:
My poor kids....for 2 days out of school they've been opening/closing the fridge/freezer and hanging out at the pantry repeatedly, as if something will have changed without us leaving home. I finally asked, after hearing we have no food, and reciting off how much we DO have, what would you normally be eating that is not there now - and asked them to make a list. I won't list it out here, but 2 secs after they finished they both said "...junk food." Yep, pretty much. As they say it, they're really not liking "Body for Life - Kids" :lol3:

My kids are not young adults 18 and 20, and I STILL get that, I've rarely bought junk food in the last 8-10 years, and they can't get used to it :rolleyes: ... I can't wait for them to be on their own and start gaining weight, because a lot of my weight problem is genetic, I don't us it as an excuse, but it is a LOT harder to lose weight...

Food today:

M1 -- 1 egg, 2 eggwhites, .5 c home baked beans with very little sugar added in the recipe...
M2 -- .5 c. CC w/splenda and vanilla with yogurt, 2 tsp flax oil
M3 -- oatmeal and chocolate protein shake
M4 -- 1/3c peanuts, this is all my mother had for eating, the first choice was cookies :rolleyes:
M5 -- 3 oz beef, shredded cabbage, romaine lettuce .5 tbsp ceasar dressing, .5 tbsp parm cheese
M6 -- post workout chocolate shake

Just an FYI, the veggies with tuna and curry sauce was actually - not bad. I think I'll use a little more curry sauce next time. It certainly kept me full anyway.

Cottage cheese problems? Mix it with yogurt - OMG yum!!

I also used to blend my cottage cheese and add a half a cup of apple sauce. Then I'd throw in a bit (a TBS or so) or raw oatmeal or grapenuts to add a bit of crunch. Add a bit of cinnamon - honestly it tastes just like apple pie....so good! (this may or may not be BFL friendly - I've been on a LOT of diets and I don't remember where I got this recipe).

Blend the cottage cheese, throw on frozen spinach, add some precooked chicken and nuke for 2 minutes....yummy! The CC melts like "real" cheese.

Hmmm....that's all I know.

Breakfast - the choco/peanut butter oatmeal (EFL) - I LOVE THIS!!!!
Lunch - salad and whole wheat wrap with roast beef, lettuce, and a dab of raspberry walnut vinagrette (sp?) dressing.
Snack - yogurt and cottage cheese
Dinner - today I had meatloaf (EFL), spinach, and vegetable medley
Another snack - Zone Bar (I know, I know...)
And yet another snack - cheese cake (EFL)

Please let me know if I should change some of this up.

What is EFL? I'm sure I should know this, but I don't ....

My M6 was a tablespoon of peanut butter ... not the best choice :rolleyes:

But it's been a good day all around...

Hi,

yesterday:
M1: yoghurt, OJ, brewers yeast, bran & soy protein powder. Same weekday breaksfast meal for years, but now ith 2 tbs of protein powder. I notice it keeps me full for a longer time.
M2: - did not happen
M3: 1 cup soup, 2 ww+ 1 slice cheese
M4: 2 ww crackers , ham, gherkin
M5: steak, rice, string beans sauteed with garlic & onions & mushrooms. I measured out the rice in a 1/2 cup measure.Ewww... that is much less rice than I usually eat.
M6: 100 ml cc with cherry's in water
M7 ??? 1/4 cup dried cranberries & 1/4 cup driep apple chunks
m8 ??? 2 sliced delimeat, piece of cheese & a gherkin.

M7 and M8 are not as planned, but I was totally starving in the evening because I missed out on M2 and M4 for work reasons. Do better today.

Also I notice 2 things food and eating wise:
1) the protein powder in my breakfast make me full for longer
2) I wake up hungry in the morning
3) I get sugar cravings in the afternoon and in the evening.

meal plan for today:
M1: breakfast drink with protein powder
M2: yoghurt, fruit, protein powder
M3: cup of soup, melted cheese pita with tomato
M4: soup with hard boiled egg
M5: left over beef, steak & string beans + salad with boiled egg
M6 : ??? no idea yet.

Thaks everyone for posting the food lists. It is really helpfull to see how to work out these BFL food menus.


Have a great day,
Rabbit

So I've beat the cottage cheese blues! YEA! The trick (for me) is one container of Yoplait Light very vanilla flavor and mix with the cottage cheese. The yogurt is so sweet that it wipes out the nasty!! Yea! Hunger abated for 3 more hours!

Ilene: I think Michelle may be referring to the Eating for Life cookbook by Bill Phillips. It's where I pull out a lot of my food options too.

Fran: I'm so glad you found something. If you want to add another yummy to it try some almond slices that you can find in the baking section of the store. I like to toast a whole bag of them in the oven and then just sprinkle a few of them on my cc/yogurt snack every day. It's a healthy fat... also, think about adding a few berries or maybe pineapple. Just about a 1/4 cup. It adds a little fiber, antioxidants, and all kinds of good stuff.

Food:

M1 Protein Pancakes (also mixed sf syrup with Smuckers sugar free blueberry jam, and 1/4 fresh blueberries in a small dish and warmed in the microwave to top the pancakes.) Mmmm. Best part, it makes two servings, I get to have this again soon.

M2 Not hungry. Still full from pancakes...(I know I know probably had something to do with the two cups of coffee I had around that time)

M3 4 eggwhites, FFcheese slice, red pepper flakes, spinach, 1 slice ww bread, strawberries.

M4 Probably my old stand by, yogurt/cottage cheese/berrries. It makes me happy.

M5 Indian Chicken, with Tabbouleh stuffed Tomato (Eating for Life cookbook..EFL) First time I ever made this dish, wish me luck.

M6 :chin: 1/2 c cottage cheese covered with cinnamon, splenda, and vanilla extract and 1/2 chopped apple and sprinked with toasted almond slices.

I thought this was a timely...check the labels on those bars. :devil:

http://ericcressey.com/

Now, does anyone know how to make their own protein bars?

The video below it is entertaining too. :doh:

Wait. Wait. I found a link to some recipes. Okay. These may actually have me experimenting in the kitchen. I'm really looking for something that is below 200 cals and is more protein than carb though. I'll see what I can come up with.

http://www.liftforlife.com/proteinba...acement_Bars:1

Does BFL/EFL use artificial sweeteners?

Lydia - if you do a search in the recipe section either here or in maintainers there's one by meg/mel (one of them :lol: ) for homemade protein bars and muffins.

Ennay - don't know, but I don't since I've not find one I can tolerate the taste of.

Yay, Fran, for finding a cc combo you can eat. I often stir a spoonful of DH's full fat vanilla yogurt.

Rabbit - more protein helps me keep fuller too. ANd if you stay away from sugar, the cravings will susbide. When I was in graduate school I noticed my blood sugar would plummet each afternoon. I found that eating a piece of fruit worked much better than candy.

Here's today's meals:

B - protein pancakes, topped with unsweetened applesauce and a spoonful of yogurt (in actuality I forgot the yogurt)
S - ff latte
L - stir-fried veggies with curry sauce, shrimp on the side
S - cottage cheese - added my b'fast yogurt - and strawberries
D - eating out with 2 friends - we'll see what this place has for food - it's a newish Greek cafe (actually called Neo Kafe)

1. whey protein and oatmeal
2. cottage cheese, vanilla pudding and pumpkin puree, tastes just like pumpkin pie
3. egg white omelet beans
4. (an hour later) protein powder and oatmeal
5. veggie chicken nuggets, rice, cabbage,
6. 2 small bananas, 2 granola bars :frypan:

I'm starving today... must be because of that great workout last night...

Forgot to post my meals today!

1: 2 scrambled real eggs with 1 slice lf cheese
2: yogurt w/cc
3: big salad with turkey meat and olive oil based dressing (did you know the BFL guys say that we should all eat more dressing?! The dressings tend to be good-oil based and the fat we dont' get enough of anyway. So if your dressing is a clear type and based on olive oil, canola oil, don't feel the need to dip your salad in the dressing on each bite, pour it on! Disclaimer: I don't think this applies to creamy ranches, thousand island, french, etc.
4: Oatmeals and egg whites (solid) - can I say how much I loved this great combo after a somewhat low density salad for lunch? Plus after getting the kids in and out multiple times today, it was a great mental soother while they enjoyed hot chocolate.
5: A new experiment in dinner, ham & cheese quesadilla on ww tortilla. Didn't mind the ww tortilla bit, not sure the cheese was lowfat, it's hard to find shredded lf cheese except in motzarella. Don't like quesas that taste like pizzas!

Not hungry and going to bed. Hoping I don't need my 2 am feeding. Waaah! :bb: