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Lunch salad: 1/4 head of lettuce-10 calories
2 mushrooms--probably less than 10 calories. I really don't know
2 shredded carrots-60 calories
2 T. cherry craisins about 52 calories (1/3 cup was 140 calories but I just ate one point.) 140 calories divided by 5.33= 26 calories per T.
1/2 mini sweet pepper--I would normally eat a whole one but there was only 1 left so dh and I shared it. Probably about 5 calories or 10 at the most.
1 spring onion chopped-approximately 10 calories or maybe less.
8 turkey pepperoni slices--70 calories. (You could have three slices of Oscar Mayer honey ham for the same amount of calories.)
2 T. Raspberry Walnut dressing-80 calories
1 townhouse cracker-12 calories.
Coffee and 1/2 cup 1% milk.
Approximately 350 calories leaving 500 calories for dinner.
Actually it was 364 calories but I think I counted too many calories for some items.
Oops! I forgot we halfed a small tomato. Those that come together on a vine in the product department. Probably approximately 15 calories. That would bring the calories up to 379.
Ok, will respond to replies but first wanted to go over some of the things I got. And I did get more than a week's worth because when I saw how busy it was, I remembered next weekend is Black Friday weekend and I do not go out on those days...it's enough to make someone go postal. So I stay in and get everything I need before that weekend.
To start, here is the meal I have prepared and am eating right now since I had not eaten yet today.
*HALF a chicken breast, (will explain), cooked in chicken broth and spritzed with lemon juice from a real lemon.
*A salad that consists of iceberg lettuce, (I had some left over), spinach, romaine lettuce. (Not quite two cups of greens.) Cucumber, maybe 1/8 cup, maybe, red onion, (again, maybe 1/8 cup..maybe), roma tomato, (again, maybe 1/8 cup...if that), 7 croutons, (yes I counted them), and Ken's Steakhouse Red Wine Vinagerrette and Olive Oil, (50 cals for 2tbsp but I used about 1tbsp...less than a gram of carbs, hardly any fat at all, and I love Ken's Steakhouse salad dressings). Oh and my croutons are 30 cals for 2 tbsp.
*I also got some Calorie Countdown milk because I'm a milk fanatic but I know it's a lot of cals. This way I can have 2 cups of milk and it's only 70 cals. So all that is what I'm eating right now.
Did I do good or is someone going to tell me I screwed up somewhere?
Ok, so I got spinach, romaine lettuce, celery, baby carrots, red onion, cucumber, roma tomatoes, (three), croutons, Ken's Steakhouse Red Vinagerrette and Olive Oil dressing, bag of oranges, (but they are smaller oranges, not tangerines, oranges), two red delicious apples, two golden delicious apples, one cantaloupe, totally forgot to look for peaches and pears..oops...bag of frozen strawberries, sliced, bag of frozen raspberries, bag of frozen blueberries, bag of "fruit medley" which is raspberries, blueberries and some other berry, bag of strawberry and mango pieces, (none of these are in syrup)...
...a big container of French Vanilla yogurt, (110 cals per serving), three turkeys, (two for the pets, one for me), my calorie countdown milk, (35 cals per cup), water, some Special K thing that you can add to your 16.9 oz of water to give it flavor, some shake things, (protein), about 110 cals per container, some granola type bars, mixed flavor box, about 130-150 cals per bar, some fruit chew things, (not the Welche's, I stayed away from kid brands because they add extra sugar), some natural brand and they make it out of apple juice concentrate and strawberry juice and make it in to some chewy thing...equals one serving of fruit and it's like 40 cals per pouch, got some peanut butter for the celery, (100 cals per serving)....
...bacon bits in case I get bored of not many croutons, two packages of chicken breasts, and then I got some kind of juice drink from the "health food" aisle....not a lot of cals and it might be something I can have or breakfast a few days, (it's strawberry/banana "shake" like drink but it comes in a carton and I think it's made of soy milk), oh, bananas, of course.
I also got some soy milk stuff...chocolate flavor. I got two brands just to see which one tastes better. One is only 30 cals per cup, no fat, no carbs, no sugar added so I'm pretty sure it's going to be disgusting...but I got it anyway just to see. You never know. I got another brand that is low cals, as well, just to see if I might be able to have a taste of chocolate every so often if I have extra cals I'm allowed by the end of the day.
I think that's it. That should last me at least two to three weeks. Well, maybe not the veggies, they don't last that long but the rest of it should last two to three weeks.
The chicken breasts are huge. At first I was upset about them because of the price, (boneless/skinless), but once I made some of them, I realized, I'm getting double what I thought because these are, as I said, huge. HALF of one is about the size of a deck of cards...maybe a little more. Somewhere around 3-5oz. Probably closer to 5oz...maybe a teensy bit more. This is why I only had half of one in my lunch today.
Ok, so I'm almost done eating and the chicken breast was ok, juicy, nice but I think I would grow bored of eating it like this all the time. Not bad, just...only was cooked in chicken broth and spritzed with real lemon juice, (actual lemon, not that fake stuff). So, hey, not really extra cals...but, yah, could get dull.
The salad...is...interesting tasting. Little more bitter than I'm used to but I think I can do it. At moments it tasted good and other moments it was bitter but not so horribly bad that I would never eat it again.
I got spaghetti sauce and totally forgot noodles. GAR! The sauce I got is nothing to write home about, it's just something to put over the spaghetti to eat to fill the void. It has only about 30 cals per serving so it's decent. I don't want to go back out there for noodles. Crap. Maybe I'll brown the meat and freeze it.
Anyway, did I do ok, did I royally mess that up, thoughts, comments, what can I make that is interesting? What I will say, I'm stuffed. Never thought that little amount would make me feel this stuffed.
Last edited by Three Wolves In Snow; 11-18-2012 at 01:59 PM..
You have gotten lots of great tips here, especially from AnonChick. I buy bags of mixed frozen berries and keep them in the fridge to have a small cup with breakfast every day. I don't remember if you like boiled eggs or not, but my hubs boils up a bunch at the beginning of the week and has one or two for breakfast every day. They are complete protein and have lots of vitamin and minerals and only 77 calories. Easy to add to salads, too.
I love eggs and especially hard boiled. I didn't get any because I had no clue how many cals they were and was afraid I would be told they were bad for me since so many go on and on about egg whites only. Will get those the next time I go to the store. Yay! I get to still eat eggs!
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Like AnonChick, I too love salads and make big ones to go with my evening meal. You can put almost anything in a salad if you just want it for a meal, I use a lot of mixed greens (especially romaine and spinach), you can add chicken or beef strips, almonds, all kinds of veggies and even fruits.
True. If I add meat to it, (not beef...erm...that doesn't seem like the right taste to me...but I'm super picky, is why), like chicken, that would absolutely fill me up if I had a huge salad for a meal. I can get with that.
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Yes, definitely eat full-fat natural foods - it is far more nutritious and satisfying. I keep a lot of different cheeses in the fridge, great protein, fat and calcium, and can be added to many things. I make my own salad dressing in a cruet using vinegar, olive oil and packets of Italian seasonings that I buy from ALDI. This lasts all week for salads that my husband and I eat every day, and far more nutritious than bottled dressings that contain that high fructose corn syrup. For my salad "crunchies" I have switched from croutons to those French fried onions - they are lower in calories and carbs and I only add a few.
Oh! Good idea! Why didn't I ever think of that?! What is wrong with me? I'm so BORING! I'm going to try French fried onions next time. Man.
As for natural foods, I agree with you. In my lifetime I've noticed I always get really full, fast, when I eat real food as opposed to crap, processed food. The big thing was, money. That garbage food is so cheap...and I noticed in my grocery bill today. Kind of took me aback a little but I did buy some other stuff so, (shoe shine stuff, food containers to do this right, turkey roasting pan, cat litter, shampoo/conditioner, (by the ton), etc so that added to my bill..but even then, the food bill was a bit higher than I'm used to...so this will be something I have to get used to. BUT, considering I've been working on quitting smoking, (that's another thread on here), I figure the money I have saved can go towards better foods and I'm still spending the same amount of money. For the most part.
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Anyway, lastly, my dad who lived alone on a tight budget use to cook up a lot of food at once and freeze in portions then microwave when he needed one. You can do this to save time, and pre-calculate the calories/carbs, then add a nice salad (which you can pre-mix to last a few days if you want, just leave off the dressing). Also if you have a crock-pot, buy a large roast, a whole chicken, a pork butt, etc. and cook it and you can have days worth of good eating by just adding a salad and veggies, etc. And make soup from the broth.
I have a crock pot! I've used it a few times but I'm still learning what I can make in there. I will pull it out and start using it again. And yes, I also have to prepare ahead of time but that's because I'm either a) lazy or b) lacking in time. Through December, it will be, "lacking in time" but I'll have the weekends to get off my lazy backside and make stuff.
If it's not something I can grab and go, I won't do it, I know myself too well, which is why I have to make stuff ahead of time. I know myself. When I am hungry, I wait until I can't stand it anymore and then I eat and by that time, I don't want to wait an hour for food to cook...
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I am a Type 2 diabetic and I have learned that the WORST foods to eat, that spike insulin and therefore cause people to become fat are the starches - wheat, rice (and other grains) corn and potatoes. While you are on your diet you should avoid these foods and anything made from them as much as possible. Once you get to where you want to be, add them back in small amounts.
In other words, all the foods I LOVE, I shouldn't eat. Naturally. = D Potatoes are my downfall. I love them so much....I blame the Irish in me. There's no such thing as a bad potato dish. Oh well. Guess I can't have them. I did look at them, longingly today, in the veggie section. I knew I wasn't supposed to eat them...so I just gazed on them lovingly and then pulled myself away. Sigh.
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Hope some of this helps!
It did! Thanks!
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Originally Posted by NCN
Lunch salad: 1/4 head of lettuce-10 calories
2 mushrooms--probably less than 10 calories. I really don't know
2 shredded carrots-60 calories
2 T. cherry craisins about 52 calories (1/3 cup was 140 calories but I just ate one point.) 140 calories divided by 5.33= 26 calories per T.
1/2 mini sweet pepper--I would normally eat a whole one but there was only 1 left so dh and I shared it. Probably about 5 calories or 10 at the most.
1 spring onion chopped-approximately 10 calories or maybe less.
8 turkey pepperoni slices--70 calories. (You could have three slices of Oscar Mayer honey ham for the same amount of calories.)
2 T. Raspberry Walnut dressing-80 calories
1 townhouse cracker-12 calories.
Coffee and 1/2 cup 1% milk.
Approximately 350 calories leaving 500 calories for dinner.
Actually it was 364 calories but I think I counted too many calories for some items.
Oops! I forgot we halfed a small tomato. Those that come together on a vine in the product department. Probably approximately 15 calories. That would bring the calories up to 379.
Cherry craisins...is that the dried up fruit that looks like raisins but is cranberry stuff instead? That might be interesting, never tried that on a salad. I'm all pepperonied out for a long, long time...I got a huge bag at Sam's Club some time ago and ate them as snacks so I wouldn't eat chips. I think I don't want to see another pepperoni slice for a year. I don't drink coffee so I don't have to count that.
Tomatoes...I pick the cheapest ones. Today it was roma tomatoes so I got those. Thanks for the salad ideas...you put a TownHouse cracker on your salad?
OH, forgot to add...I did look for soup. The chicken soup that was 25% less sodium was $1.69 for one little can. Ugh, too much money. I passed on that.
Anyway, for the next couple of weeks I have chicken, turkey, spaghetti and some fruit, breakfast type bars, (granola kind of things), some shake things, and then, of course, I'll have to go back and get more spinach, romaine, tomatoes, carrots and that kind of stuff. But that's not bad. That won't cost much.
So except for veggies, I'm set for almost a month. I'm so afraid I'm going to get bored...wondering what other ways I can make the chicken or turkey and have it taste good and fill me up.
I think you could've done a lot better in the snack department - the fruit chews are nasty. Step back a bit and try not to micromanage calories quite as much. Look at the bigger picture - "what am I eating today?" "What kinds of combinations of foods can I eat today, that will provide me with great nutrition, great taste, and genuine fullness in small portions?"
As I said previously (or maybe a different thread?) I discovered I don't really eat a lot of calories, when I'm NOT counting them. However, the calories I eat when I'm not paying attention, tend to be fats and sugars and starches. That kind of stuff tends to be calorie-rich, nutritionally lacking, and as a result it lowers your energy level so you feel lethargic and totally unmotivated to exercise - and totally inspired to eat more of it.
Watch your sugar content. High fructose corn syrup, cane sugar, maple syrup, honey, granulated brown sugar, etc. And avoid the "fake" sweeteners, such as Splenda, saccharine, and even Stevia. Sweet things attract sweet appetites, no matter how "natural" they are, or how "low in glycemic index" they are. Definitely don't eliminate sweets, but keep them to a minimum. Remember, fruits are naturally high in fructose. That's where the word comes from; it means fruit sugar. Condensed dried "natural fruit added" fruits are higher in fructose per bite, because they're condensed.
Bacon bits are sodium-drenched artificially flavored, artificially colored, dried soy crunches. You'd really be better off cooking up a few strips of real actual bacon and crumbling them up into your salad. Unfortunately, there's no such thing as "a few strips of bacon." There's either half a package today and another half tomorrow, or there's a whole package. So instead of looking for more junk to add to a perfectly lovely salad, try just adding some spices.
5-pepper blend is great with cheddar for a tex-mex flavor salad. Red pepper flakes, dried minced garlic, and oregano is awesome with parmasan or romano or asiago (or a pinch of each) for italian salad. Sweet basil, cracked black pepper, and crumbled feta cheese is the quintessential greek salad (also goes especially well with red onions, yay!). A *pinch* of roasted sunflower seeds OR a couple tablespoons (1/8 cup) of slivered almonds will work with any of the above. You can toss in a few calamata olives in the greek salad by the way, but only a few, and only once or twice during the week because the olives and the feta combined is a pretty salty pair.
Keep an eye on your sodium levels; you're eating a lot of high-processed packaged foods (not including the frozen fruits, those are fine as long as they're not in syrup or sweetened).
I'm not a vegetarian, I eat meat, including beef, and don't see any problem with it. Crumbling some beef with the 5-pepper blend in a skillet, and a tablespoon of minced red onion and a few jalapeno pepper slices would actually combine with shredded cheddar to make a decent taco salad. You can use a couple of tortilla chips, smashed and thrown on top of it all, for the crunch. You might want to splurge once every couple of months on a decent fillet mignon though. Just cause it's so damned amazingly delicious.
As for potatoes...get a single garden variety generic potato from the supermarket. Nuke it (there's guidelines for this online, just look up "microwave baked potato"), takes around 6 minutes to cook completely til it's moist and crumbly soft. Slice it down lengthwise, shove a few pinches of cheddar cheese in the slit, and call it lunch. Add some crumbled spiced beef leftover from your salad experiment and call it a mexican stuffed potato dinner. Serve with a small fistful of salad greens, with a sliced ripe pear sprinkled with powdered cinnamon for dessert.
You can eat a lot more food than you realize. If you haven't already, switch to whole wheat bread. A slice of white bread is 100 calories which is the same as two slices of whole wheat bread. A good breakfast can include whole wheat English Muffins with one egg, lean ham, and cheese along with milk and or juice. Fresh nuts, grapes, and berries are great snacks for such a diet plan. As for meat you can do grilled or pan fried chicken breast (no breading, just spices and olive oil), lean ground meat, or steak. Using lean ground beef or chicken you could make a low calorie chili and stretch it with beans and chopped tomatoes and onions.
A big nutrition item to include is baked sweet potato. When possible, try to eat nuts that are still in the shell. Having to work nuts out of the shell as you eat gives your body time to feel full. You won't eat as much nuts this way as oppose to eating them out of a jar or a can.
I think you could've done a lot better in the snack department - the fruit chews are nasty. Step back a bit and try not to micromanage calories quite as much. Look at the bigger picture - "what am I eating today?" "What kinds of combinations of foods can I eat today, that will provide me with great nutrition, great taste, and genuine fullness in small portions?"
As I said previously (or maybe a different thread?) I discovered I don't really eat a lot of calories, when I'm NOT counting them. However, the calories I eat when I'm not paying attention, tend to be fats and sugars and starches. That kind of stuff tends to be calorie-rich, nutritionally lacking, and as a result it lowers your energy level so you feel lethargic and totally unmotivated to exercise - and totally inspired to eat more of it.
Watch your sugar content. High fructose corn syrup, cane sugar, maple syrup, honey, granulated brown sugar, etc. And avoid the "fake" sweeteners, such as Splenda, saccharine, and even Stevia. Sweet things attract sweet appetites, no matter how "natural" they are, or how "low in glycemic index" they are. Definitely don't eliminate sweets, but keep them to a minimum. Remember, fruits are naturally high in fructose. That's where the word comes from; it means fruit sugar. Condensed dried "natural fruit added" fruits are higher in fructose per bite, because they're condensed.
Bacon bits are sodium-drenched artificially flavored, artificially colored, dried soy crunches. You'd really be better off cooking up a few strips of real actual bacon and crumbling them up into your salad. Unfortunately, there's no such thing as "a few strips of bacon." There's either half a package today and another half tomorrow, or there's a whole package. So instead of looking for more junk to add to a perfectly lovely salad, try just adding some spices.
5-pepper blend is great with cheddar for a tex-mex flavor salad. Red pepper flakes, dried minced garlic, and oregano is awesome with parmasan or romano or asiago (or a pinch of each) for italian salad. Sweet basil, cracked black pepper, and crumbled feta cheese is the quintessential greek salad (also goes especially well with red onions, yay!). A *pinch* of roasted sunflower seeds OR a couple tablespoons (1/8 cup) of slivered almonds will work with any of the above. You can toss in a few calamata olives in the greek salad by the way, but only a few, and only once or twice during the week because the olives and the feta combined is a pretty salty pair.
Keep an eye on your sodium levels; you're eating a lot of high-processed packaged foods (not including the frozen fruits, those are fine as long as they're not in syrup or sweetened).
I'm not a vegetarian, I eat meat, including beef, and don't see any problem with it. Crumbling some beef with the 5-pepper blend in a skillet, and a tablespoon of minced red onion and a few jalapeno pepper slices would actually combine with shredded cheddar to make a decent taco salad. You can use a couple of tortilla chips, smashed and thrown on top of it all, for the crunch. You might want to splurge once every couple of months on a decent fillet mignon though. Just cause it's so damned amazingly delicious.
As for potatoes...get a single garden variety generic potato from the supermarket. Nuke it (there's guidelines for this online, just look up "microwave baked potato"), takes around 6 minutes to cook completely til it's moist and crumbly soft. Slice it down lengthwise, shove a few pinches of cheddar cheese in the slit, and call it lunch. Add some crumbled spiced beef leftover from your salad experiment and call it a mexican stuffed potato dinner. Serve with a small fistful of salad greens, with a sliced ripe pear sprinkled with powdered cinnamon for dessert.
What?! Not a single thing in my dinner tonight was "high processed packaged food" with exception of the 7 croutons.
I'm at a loss here.
I got the "snacks" for when I don't want to eat or don't have a lot of time but need something. It's not something I would eat every day.
This is the fruit things I got: Nature's Place, All Natural Fruit Twists
Ingredients: Concentrated apple puree and juice, concentrated strawberry juice, natural flavor, natural color, pectin, glazing agent.
That's it. There is no corn syrup in there, no sugars added, none of that. It's 70 cals, (think I wrote the wrong thing in my other post) for one pouch which is .7 oz of fruit things.
It says: No sugar added, good source of Vit C, 1 pouch equal to one serving of fruit, no preservatives, no artificial colors or flavors.
Please, tell me, what is horrible about that?
The granola type bars are what I got for breakfast...something I can eat in the car on the way to work. We discussed, "breakfast bars" in another post. These are even less cals than what you wrote about. These are 130-150 cals for a bar and one bar would be the breakfast...which, I've been told, is better than NO breakfast at all.
Last edited by Three Wolves In Snow; 11-18-2012 at 04:10 PM..
You can eat a lot more food than you realize. If you haven't already, switch to whole wheat bread. A slice of white bread is 100 calories which is the same as two slices of whole wheat bread. A good breakfast can include whole wheat English Muffins with one egg, lean ham, and cheese along with milk and or juice. Fresh nuts, grapes, and berries are great snacks for such a diet plan. As for meat you can do grilled or pan fried chicken breast (no breading, just spices and olive oil), lean ground meat, or steak. Using lean ground beef or chicken you could make a low calorie chili and stretch it with beans and chopped tomatoes and onions.
I'm not really a bread eater. Never have really enjoyed bread...it's too dry for me. I mean, all it does is make me feel thirsty so I don't really eat it all that much. It would be extremely easy for me to cut out bread altogether, (except croutons for the salad...although I'm going to try that French Onion crunch thing someone mentioned earlier). Bread is not an issue for me. If I never ate it again...meh, not a big deal.
Don't beans have a lot of calories and carbs? I thought those were a big "no" when trying to drop a few pounds?
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Originally Posted by sailordave
A big nutrition item to include is baked sweet potato. When possible, try to eat nuts that are still in the shell. Having to work nuts out of the shell as you eat gives your body time to feel full. You won't eat as much nuts this way as oppose to eating them out of a jar or a can.
The nuts I could do...it would have to be one of those, "at home snacking" type things though as there is no way I would be allowed to eat those while at work.
Edit: Oops, forgot to add...I tried the tiniest taste of that Soy milk I got earlier. It's called Soy Splender and it's 70 cals per cup. That's the one with no carbs, no fat, no sugar added...that I thought was going to be totally gross.
Surprise! It's NOT! And it does taste like chocolate. And it's not too sweet. Neat! So, when I get a craving for some chocolate, I can have just a 1/4 cup of that, if I still have room for cals and I'll be ok! I can, hopefully, learn to say, "good bye" to my nemesis, Peanut M&Ms.
I buy the resealable large bag of Blue Diamond Natural Almonds. They're not dry roasted and not salted. I use the Snack Size Ziplock bags to bring one serving of almonds to work. Am a fan of herbal teas. This time of the year I drink peppermint tea. For a change of pace, I'll have one of the other flavors. To add flavor to my water, I use Real Limon (brand name) Limon juice. It's cheaper and healthier than other water flavor additives. I love tuna, catfish, and crawfish (I am Cajun). If you enjoyed seafood, you could widen your choices.
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Originally Posted by Three Wolves In Snow
I'm not really a bread eater. Never have really enjoyed bread...it's too dry for me. I mean, all it does is make me feel thirsty so I don't really eat it all that much. It would be extremely easy for me to cut out bread altogether, (except croutons for the salad...although I'm going to try that French Onion crunch thing someone mentioned earlier). Bread is not an issue for me. If I never ate it again...meh, not a big deal.
Don't beans have a lot of calories and carbs? I thought those were a big "no" when trying to drop a few pounds?
The nuts I could do...it would have to be one of those, "at home snacking" type things though as there is no way I would be allowed to eat those while at work.
Edit: Oops, forgot to add...I tried the tiniest taste of that Soy milk I got earlier. It's called Soy Splender and it's 70 cals per cup. That's the one with no carbs, no fat, no sugar added...that I thought was going to be totally gross.
Surprise! It's NOT! And it does taste like chocolate. And it's not too sweet. Neat! So, when I get a craving for some chocolate, I can have just a 1/4 cup of that, if I still have room for cals and I'll be ok! I can, hopefully, learn to say, "good bye" to my nemesis, Peanut M&Ms.
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