Planning ahead is crucial to my success at this challenge. Today, the morning and afternoon will be easy, and the evening will be crazy. The hardest part about a light schedule is that snacking is too easy. The difficult thing with a crazy schedule is that if I don't plan ahead, I will be at the mercy of whatever food is handy when I'm hungry. Throw in the challenge of feeding a hungry husband and picky kids, and finding the balance will be complicated. To avoid these pitfalls, I've got to plan.
My resting calorie use is 1650 per day, so while I am dieting my doctor suggests I stick to a 1300 calorie level each day. The general number of servings for this level is:
3 carbs (1 ounce or 1/2 cup--15 g each)
3 concentrated protein (1 ounce meat or substitute--7 g protein each)
1 nuts (1/2 ounce or 1 Tbsp nut butter)
1 legume (1/4 c cooked dry beans)
2 milk (1 oz. lean cheese or 1 cup milk per serving)
2 fruit (1/2 cup each)
3+veggies (1/2 cup each)
light on the oil
plus about 170 calories of discretionary intake
I'll post more details on this later.
Here's the plan to meet this goal:
Breakfast:
one strawberry crepe (1 carb, 2 protein, 1/2 fruit)
Everyone loves these, so adjusting for myself is easy--plan on two for each child, one for me. Throw in flavored yogurt for them.
Snack:
half apple with 1 Tbsp. peanut butter (1/2 fruit, 1 nut)
Lunch:
veggie soup, 1 slice whole wheat bread, 1 ounce cheese (2 veggie, 1 carb, 1 milk)
Snack:
veggie sticks, with hummus (1 veggie, 1 legume)
Dinner:
cup of chili, a little light sour cream and sprinkle of cheese, 1 slice whole wheat bread, 1/2 orange (1 protein, plus discretionary intake since I want a cup--not an ounce!, 1 milk, 1 carb 1 fruit)
The kids asked for hot dogs. . . I can't fit that in for myself, but if I turn it in to chili dogs, I can use my favorite lean chili as a garnish for them and a main course for me.
The result should be right on target. Now, I need to get up and DO! Cleaning up the kitchen and making sure ingredients are ready for tonight should only take a few minutes before I dive in to other work. I'll be heading off to the gym with my hubby tonight between the kid's activities, too. It's nice to have an A+ day!
My resting calorie use is 1650 per day, so while I am dieting my doctor suggests I stick to a 1300 calorie level each day. The general number of servings for this level is:
3 carbs (1 ounce or 1/2 cup--15 g each)
3 concentrated protein (1 ounce meat or substitute--7 g protein each)
1 nuts (1/2 ounce or 1 Tbsp nut butter)
1 legume (1/4 c cooked dry beans)
2 milk (1 oz. lean cheese or 1 cup milk per serving)
2 fruit (1/2 cup each)
3+veggies (1/2 cup each)
light on the oil
plus about 170 calories of discretionary intake
I'll post more details on this later.
Here's the plan to meet this goal:
Breakfast:
one strawberry crepe (1 carb, 2 protein, 1/2 fruit)
Everyone loves these, so adjusting for myself is easy--plan on two for each child, one for me. Throw in flavored yogurt for them.
Snack:
half apple with 1 Tbsp. peanut butter (1/2 fruit, 1 nut)
Lunch:
veggie soup, 1 slice whole wheat bread, 1 ounce cheese (2 veggie, 1 carb, 1 milk)
Snack:
veggie sticks, with hummus (1 veggie, 1 legume)
Dinner:
cup of chili, a little light sour cream and sprinkle of cheese, 1 slice whole wheat bread, 1/2 orange (1 protein, plus discretionary intake since I want a cup--not an ounce!, 1 milk, 1 carb 1 fruit)
The kids asked for hot dogs. . . I can't fit that in for myself, but if I turn it in to chili dogs, I can use my favorite lean chili as a garnish for them and a main course for me.
The result should be right on target. Now, I need to get up and DO! Cleaning up the kitchen and making sure ingredients are ready for tonight should only take a few minutes before I dive in to other work. I'll be heading off to the gym with my hubby tonight between the kid's activities, too. It's nice to have an A+ day!
Today I didn't follow the plan exactly, but I got pretty close. (That's typical). Here's what reality looked like:
ReplyDeleteOne strawberry crepe
one orange & 1/2 ounce almonds
veggie garbanzo soup
cup chili with 1 hot dog (I found all-beef with NO sugar or corn syrup!!!)
1/2 cup mangos (they were SSOOO yummy!)
Later I had a sweet tooth, so I grabbed:
6oz. cup of plain greek yogurt with a little leftover strawberries and stevia from this morning.
I feel really good--like I conquered that sweet tooth and don't miss the sugar at all!
One thing that helps a lot with my hunger is if I make sure that the morning meals are spread out as far as I can without feeling famished, then I have more options in the afternoon.
I need to improve my intake of veggies, though--both in quantity and quality. I had some in the soup, but I should be eating at least three servings, and raw would be much better.