Laura's food diary

lac2t · 18-Jul-04, 10:21 PM

Hi guys,

After a weekend of eating waaaay too much chocolate, ice cream and chips i've decided i need to get this situation under control. So for the next week i'm going to record everything i eat so i have a better idea of where i'm starting from in improving my diet. i'm going to try to eat well but i'm not setting out a plan until the end of this week so i can just see where i usually am because i've never kept track of what i eat. My 3 big problems are:

1) i have a terrible terrible sweet tooth and no will power when people at work put out brownines etc
2) i dont have much time to cook for myself, especially in the morning so its hard to make sure i get a good breakfast
3) i have trouble getting enough protien in my diet

so for the next week i would love if people made little suggestions of things i could subsitute for healthier options or tips for quick/easy/cheap meals (and also yelling at me if i don't write down what i ate for a day)

then at the end of the week i would really appreciate help in coming up with a diet/meal plan. my goal is to lose some fat (about 10 pounds) but also have changes i can maintain in the longterm instead of a couple short term diet that i will go back to my old habits after. everyone here seems really knowledgable about the best ways to lose weight and eat healthfully so i really look forwards to hearing what you guys have to say!

rrouleau · 19-Jul-04, 09:17 AM

1) The sweet tooth thing............its a matter of this question>>> How bad do you want to get to your goal?????

2) If you dont have much time during the week to cook.......What i do is i cook most of my food on sunday so then i have so much mroe time to concentrate on other things. Buy some of those gladware reusable containers. They work like a charm.

3) Another thing to help with you not getting enough protein is you can buy some protein powder. Try www.bodybuilding.com, www.massnutrition.com, or go to the local GNC.

lac2t · 19-Jul-04, 09:33 AM

Monday, July 19th

So far today....

7:00
1 slice oatmeal bread with low fat peanut butter
nectorine
coffee with splenda

9:30
3/4 cup kashi go lean
2 Nips (chocolate hard candies)
coffee with skim milk and splenda

11:15
1/2 cup fat free cottage cheese

1:30
chicken sandwhich with cheese made with 2% milk, sprouts and mustard
diet coke

3:15
3 chocolate covered graham cracker cookies

5:00
fat free yogurt
applie

8:00
chicken
chick pea salad (its very good!)
1/2 cucumber
3 riesens

hmmm....i eat a lot :confused:

lac2t · 19-Jul-04, 01:30 PM

I did a cardio fitness test today, my resting heart rate was 60 and my heart rate after the 3 minutes of stepping up and down on the block to the metranome was 74. does anyone know if this is good/bad/average?

Klinger · 19-Jul-04, 02:41 PM

Depends on your age, current weight, etc. The trainer should be able to give you a better idea what level your heart rate needs to be if you want to burn fat.

PS: You're better off eating natural peanut butter, fat be damned. The fat in peanut butter is good for you (in moderation of course).

lac2t · 20-Jul-04, 08:54 AM

Hi everyone,

thanks for the great advice on the protien shakes and peanut butter...i'll look into both options! about how much should i expect to pay for the protien mix? and if i can't have it right after i work out (as soon as i finish i have an hour and a half train ride that you're not allowed to eat drink on) would it be better to have it when i finally got home or earlier in the day before i work out?

well i figure if i'm expecting people to be interested in what i'm eating everyday (how boring) i should probably tell you a bit about myself. the reason i'm taking such an interest in fitness/health now is that its the first time i've had to handle it on my own. i was a cheerleader my first two years of college and between morning lifting and conditioning, evening stunting practices and a stunting partner who had no problem telling me if i felt heavy that day it was pretty easy to stay in shape. (for those of you who aren't sure what i mean by a stunting partner here's a picture of it...not of me but of what we did so you can see why a guy would complain if you were feeling heavy)
http://www.australian-cheer-associat...coed_cupie.jpg

anyways i quit that my third year of college and also went abroad to denmark the second semester. so between going from working out a lot to pretty much not at all and also passing an amazing bakery every morning on my way to class when it was dark and freezing cold out (i had no will power) i'm not exactly in the shape i used to be.

so now i'm working on getting into better shape and eating healthier. i'm not trying to be a body builder or super skinny or anything, just lose a little fat and stop eating so much junk. i'm pretty excited about this and really appreciate any and all advice/encouragement you guys give.

lac2t · 20-Jul-04, 09:38 AM

tues july 20th

7:00
oatmeal bread and low fat peanut butter
riesen (someone mailed these to me in a care package...i think i'm going to have to give the rest of them away)

9:30
1 box raisins
coffee with milk and splenda
3/4 cup kashi go lean

1:30
big salad with bleu cheese, salmon, carrots, balsamic vinigarette dressing and chick peas
3 chocolate covered graham cracker cookies

4:00
tea
fat free yogurt

7:00
chicken sandwhich (chicken, sprouts, mustard)

10:00
1/2 cucumber
riesens
cookies
(i'd just had a stressful phone conversation with someone and took it out on my diet...opps)

SurfinAmy · 20-Jul-04, 10:28 AM

Laura,
Well, I don't know what "kashi go lean" is, but Klinger is right on with the regular peanut butter, the fat will do your body good.
That's really awesome about the cheerleading, I've always admired that kind of strength and control...
Did you see www.fitday.com ?? I don't use it really, but it can help you see how much protein you're getting.

As for the sweet tooth at work, if it was me I would bring nuts & fruit and a big water bottle too. Then when people break out the sugar I would be able to munch on something different....
see you later

-Amy

lac2t · 21-Jul-04, 09:18 AM

Thanks for the advice amy! always having fruit on hand is a good idea because its not something i'll really mindlessly eat but if there's yummier things around i can make myself eat that instead. and Kashi Go Lean is a type of cereal. its really bland tasting but really high in fiber and takes forever to eat so its kinda a good snack to have because i'll only eat if if i'm actually hungry....not just because its there.

i'm kinda nervous about this afternoon. my department is having a picnic/bbq at the beach and the catered food here is really good. also there's only me and one other younger person in my department and the rest are older. for some reason the women love trying to shove food down our throats by handing us plates full or brownies and cookies and such and saying "you girls are skinny, you can afford to eat these" and its hard to say no when its your bosses.

any advice on a good way to handle this?

SurfinAmy · 21-Jul-04, 10:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lac2t

the women love trying to shove food down our throats by handing us plates full or brownies and cookies and such and saying "you girls are skinny, you can afford to eat these" and its hard to say no when its your bosses.

any advice on a good way to handle this?

At the bbq you could say something like, "well, certain foods make me feel tired - spike my insulin you know, so I'll have to pass..." something like that

At the office you can make it sound like you won't be able to perform your job as effectively or something if you eat crappy food....

Sounds like someone (or some people) want you to be as out of shape as they are..........(I hate when people do that!)

I know, you can have your own good food on hand and say the opposite to them....."you guys are fat, you can't afford not to eat these"
hehehehehehehehehehe

-Amy

lac2t · 21-Jul-04, 11:02 AM

hahahahahaha, thats a great idea!

: maybe i'll just go into some long made up reason until their eyes glaze over and they walk away, and in the future they wont give me food anymore because they'll just fear getting trapped in another convesation

lac2t · 22-Jul-04, 11:36 AM

ok so i'm going to just cross the bbq off my list because i dont even want to remember all i ate. apparently by bbq they meant really nice meal at this ritzy country club and the food was waaaay better then anything i can afford and it was served to us at tables so it would have been really obvious if i didnt eat it, so i did (poor me

)

today i'm getting back on track! i brought all the chocolate a friend mailed me to work and put it on the table so that everyone else can eat it instead of me. i'm also working out today and not letting myself off the hook just because i'm tired. when i dont work out because i'm tired i still dont go to bed early and get more sleep so thats really not a good excuse.

so heres what i've had so far today

7:30
peanut butter toast

10:00
coffee
fat free cottage cheese
2 riesens (unfortunately the chocolate being on the table everyone passes means i pass it too. oh well its almost gone

)

i'm getting a sald for lunch today...what do you guys think the best choice for dressings are? fat free ranch? oil and vinigar? should i go for low cal, low fat, neither? thanks for the help

Andrea · 22-Jul-04, 04:55 PM

Why do you eat so late at night? 8pm and 10pm?

SurfinAmy · 22-Jul-04, 11:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lac2t

what do you guys think the best choice for dressings are? fat free ranch? oil and vinigar? should i go for low cal, low fat, neither? thanks for the help

I'm not too great on the food dept....I just eat whatever salad dressing tastes good (never seems to be the low-fat runny nasty stuff.....) I like ranch and bleu cheese....
but I guess you should go for olive oil and vinegar since you're being good.....
-Amy

lac2t · 26-Jul-04, 10:02 AM

ack! i've been lazy with this journal, but i have actually been doing better eating wise. i dont eat until late (8:30 and 10) because i dont get home from work until 8:30 if i go to the gym (my gym is in my office). i thought about trying to bring more food to work with me but i take public transportation so you cant eat on it.

here's what my plan is for eating today now that i'm trying to eat better instead of just keeping track of what i eat.

7:00
ON chocolate shake made with skim milk (great advice from everyone who recommended it...its so yummy and does really take care of chocolate cravings)

10:00
Kashi Go Lean cereal
coffee

12:45 - gym for 15 min abs class

1:30
Veggie burger
small salad

3:00
fat free cottage cheese
nectarine

5:00
gym (5 min warm-up, 15 min stair mill, 15 min elliptical, cool down and arms)

8:30
4 oz. steak (very lean)
salad
shake? (do you guys think i need it?)

my goals are to lose a little fat (5-10 lbs) and gain a little muscle but i'm pretty happy with the amount i have now. right now i'm at 21% B.F. and 129 lbs at 5'3.

does this meal plan sound good to you guys? i came up with it from reading a ton of the stuff on this site but i'm not sure if its good for my goals. any advice/tips would be appreciated!

laura

Laura's "who need's chocolate anyways?" journal