Weight-Loss Is my view on food really that skewed?

Weight-Loss
SunnyDay1

SunnyDay1

New member
I know many of you are members of sparkpeople, so I figure most of you are probably familiar with the meal planner available with their nutrition tracker.

I've been reading around here and it seems a lot of people have pretty good luck with eating mostly the same thing every day.

So I thought maybe I just need to pick a menu (or a couple menus) that I feel like I can stick to and try it out. If I knew what I had to eat maybe I could say no to all the other stuff and maybe following such (for lack of better word) strict guidelines for a week or two would show me some results. Cause I'm *positive* that I must be getting more calories in a day than I think.

So I looked through the options they listed for each meal and chose one for each that I liked. (I'm pretty picky and most of them just weren't very appetizing) This is what I came up with:

Breakfast:
1 cup cantaloupe, diced
3/4 cup cooked oatmeal
3 tsp, packed brown sugar
1 slice whole wheat toast
2 Tbsp. cream cheese
== 404 calories
(so far so good-- I don't usually eat much breakfast so that sounds really good and reasonable-- all except i'd wanna drink milk with it)

Lunch:
2 slices whole wheat bread
2 cups shredded lettuce
3 slices extra lean ham (how do I know which one fits??)
1/2 Tbsp. Kraft light mayo
== 340 calories
(ok, so that's a sandwich. the most boring sandwich I've ever heard of, but maybe I could adjust to that.)

Dinner:
1 medium baked potato with skin
2 oz. low fat cheddar cheese
3 Tbsp. reduced fat sour cream
10 medium baby carrots
1/4 cup hummus
== 461 calories
(a baked potato and some carrot sticks with hummus. tasty, but enough to qualify as dinner?)

Snack:
1/2 medium banana
1/2 oz. tortilla chips
5 Tbsp. salsa
== 147 calories
(i don't care for bananas much, but i *do* need more potassium.)

All for a grand total of 1352 calories. Falling neatly into my 1210-1560 daily range. That's the range sparkpeople gave me. I have no idea if it's reasonable or how they got that figure.

Anyway, when I look at that menu lots of things come to mind. First-- how can I eat like that and still feed my kids and hunny? There is *no* way they would eat that stuff. So I would have to cook something acceptable to them and then resist the temptation to eat it intstead of following my menu. The other main thing that I think is that I would be *starving* if I ate like that. *Especially* after dinner. Even if I saved my snack for in the evening--which I could never do.

So now that I see it, I know that I'm *way* off base with my calories now. And I'm more discouraged than ever. How can that seem like such little food to me if it's really what I *should* be eating??

*Sigh* I'm at that spot now. The one where I have to decide-- grin and bear it-- go into this thinking I'm not gonna be able to do it and be miserable trying-- or give up now and continue being unhealthy and hating myself. Neither choice sounds good to me.
 
After three days of eating like that, you won't notice it as much (I didn't after that).

As for your children and husband, I don't know what to say there except try and tough it out. Do that whole drinking a glass of water and having a snack before dinner so you aren't so hungry. Also eat slowly and tell yourself that if you are feeling the cravings that you have to wait till you finish your own dinner before going onto the "family's" dinner. That way, you should fill up before and it will be much easier to do.

If its possible, have your husband cook the dinner =P Or just cook them stuff you hate but they like.
 
The meal plans on spark people held absolutely no appeal to me at all.

Spend 20 minutes each week (the first week might tak you an hour, but with practice you can get it down to 15-20 once a week) and plan your menus>

Breakfast canbe the same thing or arotation of things every day.
Plan your lunches and decide what you want.. it can be leftovers from the previous day's dinner.
and work on planning dinners -healthy doesn't mean boring -and if you think it does gimme 2 days in your kitchen and I'll prove otherwise

Lean ham? yeah not gonna happen -entirely too procesed and well -gross tasting -get a chicken breast and cook up a couple a head of time and leave them in teh fridge and use those for lunch.

Eat what you like and make it work within you day - it is the only way oyou are going to have long term results.. toughing it out isn't effective long term because it will lead to binging.

PLan ahead and there's no deprivation...

your food plan as it exists doesn't include a lot of protein... I start with protein and build my meals around that...

Spark's calorie range does tend to fall at the low side... depending on your current weight, there's no reason why you can't eat more and see what your body does then adjust accordingly -there is no one size fit's all formula -every body is different... the only one size formula is that you need to use more calories than you take in - how many calories you take in -well that takes experimentation
 
Yeah, I didn't think it had enough protein either, but according to sparkpeople it was right on with the daily values for protein, carbs, and fat.

*Sigh* I agree, toughing it out won't work in the long run.

So scratch the above plan. I think it would make me miserable after just a couple days.

Currently, I'm really not a breakfast eater. I'm wondering how important that really is now.

I guess I just need to really figure out the basics. Like a core list of 'OK' food items that I can go to.

Dieting is *so* confusing.
 
it's really not confusing .. at a very high level -use more calories than you take in...

There are stickied threads all around the forum that will take a lot of the mystery out of nutrition but It's on you to figure out what you like and make it work i your day -NO ONE can tell you what to eat... you need to figure out what to eat so you can stick with it for the rest of your life..

The stickied trheads in nutrition are a good starting point

Is breakfast important? yes and no... Does it have to be a real breakfast? nope - you can have a chicken breast for breakfast...
 
Thanks, mal.

I have read most of the stickies. I guess it's not really the nutrition info that's confusing to me, it's everything that's out there. Going to the grocery store is so stressful for me now! But I'm gonna keep reading and keep trying.

So this morning I was actually hungry so I had breakfast, but like you said-- it doesn't have to be breakfast food. So I had a boca burger and some crystal light. It was something more appetizing than *any* of the 'meal plan' options so I was more satisfied *and* it put me at only 158 calories for the day so far.

Maybe I *can* do this.
 
What makes it stressful?

You have to find what works for you... (and your family) you should not being flying solo on this and having seperate meals for just you...

Boca burgers are fine if you enjoy them...

No maybe's about it - you can do this -if you choose to... just keep it easy on yourself..
 
It's stressful because it's all so confusing to me. Almost everything has a 'low cal' or 'fat free' or 'diet' or 'no sugar added' option, but that doesn't always mean it's better. I have to learn how to look at fat and calories and sugar and carbs. I know fresh is always better, but around here (and everywhere else I'm pretty sure) fresh is also *much* more expensive. It's just all stuff that I need to learn how to do and get into the habit of.

I think you're right, I shouldn't be doing this alone. But there is *no* way I can count on my hunny to do it with me. I've seen this man deep fry brussel sprouts. He fries bacon just to have the grease to make a grilled cheese sandwich with. He eats gravy with a spoon. And he *still* has a 30 inch waist!! I know those aren't healthy habits and so does he, but he doesn't care. He isn't seeing any health problems so far so he isn't making any changes. So sure, I can bring home the fresh veggies and stuff. And that's fine for me. But he's still gonna heat up the deep fryer and throw everything in. And I know that just because he eats that way doesn't mean that I have to, but sometimes it's hard to resist things when they're right in front of you.

I know that sounds like an excuse. It even sounds like one to me. And I'm really trying not to use it. It's just another obstacle I have to figure out how to overcome, that's all.
 
There's a quote that I use often from a book by Bryce Courtney called the Power of One -the book itself is aobut apartheid in South Africa but the quote pertains to everything - a waterfall begins with a single drop of water and look what it becomes.

Pick that drop of water.. one thing... Don't overwhelm yourself by thinking you have to do everyhting the right way out of the gate.. do one thing first.. and then move on from there... one habit at a time..
 
Great advice.

I agree about the meal planning. There are so many options out there for yummy, healthy meals. Sit down and plan your week, fortnight of meals. If your family won't eat the same then devote one day to making up and freezing healthy meals for yourself and then all you have to do is reheat, it's a start eg. stirfries, vege pastas, etc.

You don't have a lot of veges in your meal plan. Me personally, I would be eating my veges before indulging in sour cream or cheese. You need more protein - organic eggs, beans, lentils, grilled lean meats.

Good luck :Angel_anim:
 
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