Critique my diet.

[Pink_Converse]

I've started trying to lose weight and eat healthier and I want to know if I am on the right track:

MTW-exercised 30 minutes on the elliptical trainer or stationary bike. I also plan to go today (Friday)

I started out trying to eat fairly low carb this week-
7/18/05
B-2 scrambled eggs with cheese and scallions, 3 pieces of bacon
L-1 cup Chicken salad (homemade with light mayo, chopped almonds, celery and seasonings
Snack-String cheese
D-Mexican style chicken breast with cheese, rotel baked in the oven, cold salad of cauli. and brocc. with ranch dressing, bacon, scallions and cheddar cheese
S-Dark chocolate Hershey's Treasure Bar, a little package of SBD peanut butter cookies

I also had atleast 3 bottles of water and 2-3 diet Cokes on all these days

7/19/05
B-Serving of Frosted Mini Wheats w/ 2% milk
S-Cup of watermelon
L-Spinach salad with ham, cheese w/ cucumbers, tomato and with Paul Newman's Italian Dressing.
S-apple w/ p. butter
D-Eggplant rolls? (baked eggplant in an egg wash with whole milk ricotta, egg, grated Parm., mozarella and seasoning topped with sugar free homemade tomato sauce and more moz.) and a spinach salad w/ cucumbers, tomato and with Paul Newman's Italian Dressing.
S-small 180 cal. ice cream cup

7/20/05
B-Serving of Frosted Mini Wheats w/ 2% milk
S-Watermelon
L-3 small cuts of celery w/ pb, 2 pieces of ham and cheese
D-Stuffed bell pepper (1) (stuffed with Tony Chacere's dirty rice, sf tomato sauce, diced italian tomato and mozarella topping, baked)
S-small 180 cal. ice cream cup

7/21/05
B-Serving of Frosted Mini Wheats w/ 2% milk
L-Red Lobster (had a small baked pot. with butter, cheese and 1/2 a chicken finger and 5 fried shrinp w/ a small amt. of cocktail sauce, two biscuits and a salad with bleu cheese-obviously I know this was not a healthy meal)
S-Peach
D-leftover bell pepper
S-apple w/ pb and a small 180 cal. ice cream cup

Now that I typed it all out it doesn't look all that healthy, where could I make small changes that would add up to weight loss?

[carrie9142]

First, let me say that I am no expert! These are just my opinions.

Are you doing SBD or Atkins? I have found if you don't do low-carbs very strictly then you just end up eating tons of fat/protein and the "cheat" carbs.

Also, I don't know how tall you are or how much you weigh. Those are important for determining how many calories you would burn per day.

The thing I noticed most was that your menu seemed to have a little too much fat in it.

B pieces of bacon
DMexican style chicken breast with cheese, rotel baked in the oven, cold salad of cauli. and brocc. with ranch dressing, bacon, scallions and cheddar cheese (cheese, cheese, and Ranch!)
L-Spinach salad with ham, cheese w/ cucumbers, tomato and with Paul Newman's Italian Dressing.
S-apple w/ p. butter
D-Eggplant rolls? (baked eggplant in an egg wash with whole milk ricotta, egg, grated Parm., mozarella and seasoning topped with sugar free homemade tomato sauce and more moz.) and a spinach salad w/ cucumbers, tomato and with Paul Newman's Italian Dressing. (more cheese, whole milk, and dressing)
S-small 180 cal. ice cream cup
D-Stuffed bell pepper (1) (stuffed with Tony Chacere's dirty rice, sf tomato sauce, diced italian tomato and mozarella topping, baked)
Obviously, Red Lobster ;)

I don't know if any of this was reduced fat or low-cal options. For me, that would be the first place I would look to reduce fat and calories.

Hope that helps! :D

[Pink_Converse]

I was trying to go back on SBD the week but then decided not to. I went from 161 to 141 but gained almost all of it back slowly and I want to TTC soon so I know I probably shouldn't be eating so much fat stuff and should just try to be healthy. Now I'd just like to try a healthier approach with no fads.

I'm 5' 3" and 155 lbs.

Some of the cheeses were lowfat and some were not.

Yesterday I bought Prevention Magazine's paperback book that I guess has all the best tips for the last year or something and it had several plans in there. The one I thought I could stick to suggested 1500 to 1700 calories, it's called Prevention's "best of the best plan". It said to watch calories, lots of volume (items that are low on the energy desity scale-those with lots of water, such as fruits and veggies and broth based soups), fiber rich foods, limit refined carbs, get enough protein, increase calcium, beware of the beverages you consume-make sure they are calorie free, eat only when hungry, have smaller meals more often and don't deprive yourself. They had sample menus along with what snacks were okay. It has a list of healthy snacks 200 cal. or (chose up to 2 a day) and an indulgent snack 200 cal. choose 1 a day, I think to follow the 1500 cal a day you omit some of the snacks. I guess I will try to follow this and see how it goes. It's so hard for me to stick to any one plan. I miss the days when I could eat whatever I wanted and not gain a pound. Now it's a constant struggle.

[linda_loo]

I was thinking the same thing that carrie9142 was thinking...

Additionally, if there is a big difference (which I assume there would be) between Frosted mini-wheats and plain - could you try the plain, and sweeten it with Splenda and some fresh fruit?

[Pink_Converse]

Linda-I think I am going to switch to plain Cherrios when I run out of these and sweeten them with fruit, I could do the same with the mini wheats.

Until I saw it written down I thought I was doing really good because I was eating a lot more fruits and veggies every day. I see now that alot of little things could really add up if I changed them.

Thanks!

[Sevilla]

Overall your diet sounds better than the average American's :), but there are some problematic things in there. Good for you keeping a food diary and working to make healthy lifestyle choices though! It is a hard thing to do, so don't feel bad if you're finding things you thought were ok really aren't--it's a learning process.

1. Drinks: Yeah on the water! Very healthy! Boo to the Diet Coke. Have no more than one diet Coke per day, and preferably reduce that to just one every two to three days. It's not good for you, no matter that it says 'diet'. Drinking multiple pops (or even one pop a day) has been shown to be a major factor in heavier weight, and when people stop that they have found that they tend to drop weight without even altering the rest of their diet or lifestyle. Pop = bad!!!

2. Bacon is really really bad for you. If you can eliminate it entirely that would be best, it's full of fat and is preserved with Nitrates (same goes for lunch meat, though if you are going to do lunch meat sometimes ALWAYS buy from the deli and not the plastic packages in the dairy section--those are much more processed). If you really like bacon, there is vegetarian 'fake bacon' out there you could use as a substitute.

3. Frosted Mini Wheats aren't actually that good for you (highly processed, sugar), plus they have BHT/BHA as a preservative which is bad for your body. When you select cereals never buy one with BHT/BHA (and as a side benefit, the healthiest cereals don't have this so it's an easy way to find healthier choises :).)

4. The ranch dressing is really processed and full of fat and bad-for-you chemicals. Instead use olive oil and vinegar, or something like that, b/c the olive oil uncooked is good for you, and that dressing doesn't have the major processing that ranch (or thousand island, etc... does).

5. Switch to 1% or Skim milk. In addition to lower fat, the toxic chemical 'dioxin' (similar in badness to DDT) is carried in the fat of animals, so you get more of it if you have higher fat milk vs. non-fat.

6. Don't worry about too much fat from cheese (in my opinion). Since cheese is minimally processed and a 'natural' fat (compared to things like 'partially hydrogenated soybean oil' and things like that), i don't worry about gaining weight from it as long as the rest of my food is healthy and i'm active.

Then again, i don't really watch fat and calories so much as smaller portion sizes and higher quality of food--it works for me!

I guess in addition to trying to reduce calories/carbs/whatever, i feel like people can lose sight of the bigger issue of not eating as proccessed of foods. It's like the whole 'low fat snckwell cookies' craze of the 90's. Just b/c those cookies were low fat didn't mean they were better for you in any way. And in fact research found that people consumed more of the 'low fat' things than of 'regular, full fat' variety b/c they thought they were healthier for them. same with the low carb thing.

Also--when companies make foods 'low fat' or 'low carb' make SURE to read the ingredients--often they make them low fat through using more processed items in there, which isn't good for your body.

"Read the label, set a better table
Always read the labels of foods so you can know what's actually in them--the higher toward the top of the ingredient list, the higher a percentage of the product they are, and the lower down the less a percentage.

For example, Nutrigran Bars are *really really* high in sugar. They're marketed as a 'healthy breakfast bar' but in reality they're not. The first ingredient is high fructose corn syrup. In contrast, Quaker Oats has a granola bar whose first ingredient is "whole grain rolled oats" (this one also has sugar in it, but not as much as the Nutrigrain bars, plus it gives you whole grainds to boot).

[linda_loo]

Linda-I think I am going to switch to plain Cherrios when I run out of these and sweeten them with fruit, I could do the same with the mini wheats.

Until I saw it written down I thought I was doing really good because I was eating a lot more fruits and veggies every day. I see now that alot of little things could really add up if I changed them.

Thanks!

I have been eating Fiber 1 for the past few months, and I never thought I would say it, but I love it! I actually eat 2 servings, which is something like 28 g of fiber (more than the RDA) and it's only 120 calories! It is a little sweetened already, with Nutrasweet and is yummy with fruit on top... maybe give it a try if you like.

BTW, when I looked at your menu, I thought about how good you were doing with fruits/vegies, and that your changes to make are small/easy. You should do well.

[Wrighty26]

I also recommend switching up your "bad" fats with some good fat.
I did notice that you have some almonds and stuff in your diet-- but very little. I would add moderate portions of nuts, olive oil (or canola) and salmon.

You do have A LOT of cheese listed...while some is good, I would cut back slightly. Do you eat the full fat cheese? Maybe try switching to 2% ?If after eating, you are still craving some cheese/need some calcium I recommend some non-yogurt with fruit or a glass of milk.

If you want to lose weight, and keep it off--what it's really going to boil down to minimizing calories and increasing your work outs. 30 minutes 3-4 times a week is OK, but I highly recommend throwing in weight lifting (which you can do while watching TV or even while you cooking!) and switching up your exercise routine regulary. Once you get into a pattern, yous metabolism levels off/even drops off and you end up burning less calories. I know that this has happened to me! (SO FRUSTRATING).


:D Good luck! I think it's awesome that you are motivated and trying to lose weight in a healthy way :D

[Sevilla]

I did notice that you have some almonds and stuff in your diet-- but very little. I would add moderate portions of nuts, olive oil (or canola) and salmon.
ITA about adding in more nuts and other sources of Omega-3's.

With salmon it's important not to eat too much if it is farmed b/c of high mercury content--and if you are pregnant or could become pregnant in the near future you should limit farmed salmon to about 1x per month b/c of the mercury issue.

BUT--wild salmon is much lower in mercury and you don't have to worry about that issue :).

[Pink_Converse]

So, for those that have given advice, what's a typical day for you? What do you eat?

[Sevilla]

So, for those that have given advice, what's a typical day for you? What do you eat?

This is harder for me to answer b/c i don't eat '3 big meals' so much as having that divided up into lots of littler snacks all throughout the day :).

Breakfast:
Yogurt (regular--light has nutrasweet and regular has the most acidopholus)
Whole Grain cereal bar/granola bar

Snack:
Another whole grain cereal bar/granola bar
or
All natural applesauce cup

Lunch:
All natural instant soup cup (I love the purl=http://www.drugstore.com/qxp92094_333181_sespider/fantastic_foods/big_soup_spicy_thai.htm]Fantastic brand[/url])

Drinking throughout the day and night:
Water
Iced Tea

Snack:
All natural applesauce cup
or
Fruit

Dinner: here's what we currently have in our fridge
Thai Curry Chicken (Green beans, zuccini, chicken, rice and spices. Not low-fat: it's made with coconut milk and coconut cream, but it's really good so i don't care :)).

We make a lot of Rachael Ray recipes, you can make much of her stuff healthy.

Snack:
Some crackers or cereal

Junk food snack (once a day or less):
Fruit popsicle (Edy's Whole Fruit Bars are *really* good)
or
Cookies
or
Cake Mix (i know, we're weird, but DH and I like eating the mix dry from the bag with spoons)

That's my average day. I tried to total up the calories once and i think it comes to about 1500 calories on average, depending on the calorie content of dinner. I eat when i'm hungry, i don't ever starve or deprive myself, but my body just naturally settled at thsi level. I'm not sure how healthy that is or not to eat that many calories--but i don't regularly exercise so i figure my need is lower. Another thing i need to work on is getting more protein. I can't for the life of me figure out how people get like 4 servings of protein a day without forcing themselves to eat when they're not hungry!

[Wrighty26]

5:30am- 1/2 Multigrain Light English Muffin (it's about 50 calories, and it fuels my workout)

7:30-8am- 1 cup Kashi Go Lean Cereal with Bananas, Strawberries, Blueberries (if all are in season), 1/4 cup of Carb Countdown Chocolate milk, 1/4 skim milk-- and a big ol cup of coffee with skim milk.

11am- I have a snack at this time-- sometimes an English Muffin with sugar free jam, sometimes a 1/2 ricotta cheese with splenda/strawberries. It generally adds up to being about 150 calories or so.

12:30-1pm - Lunch. Usually it's a portion of leftovers from the night before. I find that be eating my snack at 11 and then lunch an hour and a half later, I'm not as inclined to overeat.

3-4pm- Snack. Usually it a mini bag of popcorn (100 calories)

7-8pm (sometimes later) - Dinner. This varies every night-- but I generally cook. We maybe go out to eat 2-3 times a month. Some of my favorite meals include: lightly breaded/baked chicken tenders with roasted asparagus, fish taco salad, creole shrimp, and chicken stroganoff.

If I do snack (which generally, I don't if I eat later in the evening) it's usually on cereal or yogurt...

I hope this helps! I will say that when I was trying to loose weight for my wedding, getting into a routine eating habit helped (eating the same thing almost every day)-- over time I become more adventurous and adjusted it :D

Sevilla - I'm the opposite of you because sometimes I find myself eating TOO much protein! Some sneaky sources: some cereals (Go Lean has 13 grams per serving!), milk/cheese products, and some breads. My DH and I are generally "meat" people though-- we like chicken, pork, beef, seafood- you name it!