Dieticians say that the place where most dieters and weight loss patients fail is planning their meals ahead of time. Apparently, and yes I do know this to be true, when you get hungry your ability to make good choices is severely stunted. So if you have a plan of what you're going to eat - you're more likely to make good choices rather than succumbing to that Wendy's ad on TV or ordering a delicious pizza (my problems).
So I picked out some recipes and made a grocery list. To me, the most important thing was making sure I had healthy snacks, as I am following the eat every 2-3 hours to keep your metabolism going plan. I used the Basil Metabolic Rate calculator on the My Fitness Pal app and found that to maintain my weight I need to take in about 2,200 calories daily. It takes a deficit of 3,500 calories to lose 1 pound, so I chose a daily deficit of 500 calories (500 cal x 7 days = 3,500 cals = 1 lb lost per week), which gives me 1,700 calories to eat in a day. I calculated the calories so that I eat, roughly:
Breakfast: 330 calories
Lunch: 500 calories
Dinner: 500 calories
2 Snacks: 370 calroes
TOTAL: ~1700 calories
For breakfast I eat oatmeal, an egg with a slice of ham and 1 piece of toast, and a piece of whole fruit.
For snacks I try to have a whole fruit or veggie to make me feel full along with some protein to give me energy. So here are my snacks:
Banana and peanut butter
Greek yogurt and berries
Apple and almond butter
Grapes and cheese
Orange and cashews
Kashi bar
Pear and almonds
Edamame
1/2 bagel with light cream cheese and berries
Hummus and cucumbers
Harboiled egg and carrot sticks
Turkey and cheese roll-up with cherry tomatoes
Celery with peanut butter
Cottage cheese and preserves
For lunch and dinner I have begun cooking regularly and have found some awesome low-cal recipes on Pinterest.
In addition, I made myself a schedule so that I make sure to eat before and after every workout. I eat dinner at 4:30 PM at work, because I want to exercise right when I get home at 5:30 PM - usually when I'm insanely hungry. Then after I workout I eat my second snack, around 7 PM and cook my meals for the next day.
I have a plan. On Day 1, I would say I was pretty successful on sticking to it. Where I fell short: I didn't exercise outside because of the half a foot of snow that fell last night. I didn't do my indoor exercises either because I didn't make it a priority. I ate totally according to plan and extremely healthy and felt great about it except for one slip up. I forgot to make myself a side salad to have with dinner and let it slide because there were veggies already in the meal. Tomorrow, my goals are to stick to the meal plan and make that side salad!
Breakfast: 330 calories
Lunch: 500 calories
Dinner: 500 calories
2 Snacks: 370 calroes
TOTAL: ~1700 calories
For breakfast I eat oatmeal, an egg with a slice of ham and 1 piece of toast, and a piece of whole fruit.
For snacks I try to have a whole fruit or veggie to make me feel full along with some protein to give me energy. So here are my snacks:
Banana and peanut butter
Greek yogurt and berries
Apple and almond butter
Grapes and cheese
Orange and cashews
Kashi bar
Pear and almonds
Edamame
1/2 bagel with light cream cheese and berries
Hummus and cucumbers
Harboiled egg and carrot sticks
Turkey and cheese roll-up with cherry tomatoes
Celery with peanut butter
Cottage cheese and preserves
For lunch and dinner I have begun cooking regularly and have found some awesome low-cal recipes on Pinterest.
In addition, I made myself a schedule so that I make sure to eat before and after every workout. I eat dinner at 4:30 PM at work, because I want to exercise right when I get home at 5:30 PM - usually when I'm insanely hungry. Then after I workout I eat my second snack, around 7 PM and cook my meals for the next day.
I have a plan. On Day 1, I would say I was pretty successful on sticking to it. Where I fell short: I didn't exercise outside because of the half a foot of snow that fell last night. I didn't do my indoor exercises either because I didn't make it a priority. I ate totally according to plan and extremely healthy and felt great about it except for one slip up. I forgot to make myself a side salad to have with dinner and let it slide because there were veggies already in the meal. Tomorrow, my goals are to stick to the meal plan and make that side salad!
