Made up my own diet...

ladynasdaq

Hi to everyone.
My name is Stacy. I am turning 57 y/o on the 22nd. My weight is very high. It's New Years Day. I am reflecting about last year where I had lost 40 lbs. with Weight Watchers and just hated it. Tried both Techniques and though I lost 40 lbs., life got into the way and couldn't get back on. Went on a couple of sites and see people can be so hateful when you say this is not working and unsupportive things thrown at you.
I have had quite a bit to contend with last year and though we aren't supposed to blame things I believe that you can.
So the problems that I had to contend with for the most part are fixed, it ruined my chances of getting the bulk of the weight off.
I am a Registered Nurse and work in ICU,night shift. I'm also a Travel Nurse and have been working out West over a year and going home next month. I was home a short time last March to get my taxes done but then flew back for the next contract I was about to do.
So I have irritating things go on but now I'm figuring why am I giving myself stress knowing I am not happy with the present form of weight loss. At this time I have one thing but I can solve that by the way. So, I came here,figured use the calorie tool and see how many calories I should eat to lose 2 lbs. per week. I figured in 1 hour of exercise but truthfully in a 12 hour shift I am in constant motion so conservatively I am definitely in that zone lol but also, on my days off I mall walk or store walk at least 1 hour so activity is NOT my problem. Also, as bad as I've been eating, I'm still below last year's starting number by 4 lbs. but that's enough to say I didn't get as high up on the scale nor did I not lose something over the year though not what I wanted.
So I am going to show you all something different that I concocted last night to get the ball rolling. Being a Night shifter, I am goofing up with Breakfast and Dinner mainly. Getting out of work, eating badly after work for Breakfast and Dinner with snacks later at work, not figure friendly and that's ok, plenty to work with.
In the past I had used SlimFast. They have a better formula nowadays and the newest ones have 1 Gram of sugar plus 20 Grams of Protein.

So this is an easy-peasy attempt to lose this weight at 1600 calories a day or less.

A SlimFast shake at the most is 200 calories. I know, I bought the cans,the meal bars,the snacks and also 100 calorie canned fruit and 100 calorie packaged almonds.

I am going to use a SlimFast shake or bar for Breakfast and Lunch. I called SlimFast and was told I can use this product up to 3 times a day by the way. So 2 bars and two 100-calorie snacks is equaling 600 calories. I have a choice depending upon a day off or on as to how I want to spend 1000 calories left. If it is a work night, I can spend 200 calories on another Slim Fast plus a 100 calorie snack of choice. That still gives me 700 calories to spend on a meal of my choice. If it's a day off like today, here's what I can do...
SlimFast shake w/ff milk, I can use almond milk as well if I want extra calories for something else like more mayo or salad dressing for ex. Snack is 100 calorie SlimFast packaged snack or some fruit which is more likely what I'd eat. Lunch, a SlimFast then 100 calorie snack.
Going to Dinner. This is where the bulk of my issues stem from. I also know by cutting back to allow for a meal and snack that equates to the rest of my calories I will do very well. I also know that my advantage with MyFitnessPal is logging in everything and still making this year livable. I can eat out,I can eat in. I know with eating out many restaurants have terrific meals that are around 500 or so calories but also, I can eat later still again. One place is El Pollo Loco with their 500 calorie or less meal options and the other, Chilis restaurant as well where the menu items are low calorie but you would get 2 meals out of the day.
I'm a big eater. I see how I can stretch 1600 calories a day and not fall off. I tried to work this with Weight Watchers both PointsPlus and Smart Points. It cannot be done easily. In fact, it is a mathematical nightmare. With calories it is far easier and all I want to do is eat healthier and lose this weight. I will check in to report back but I also want to say sometimes you need to do this yourself.
So just in closing I want to add something to my thread. The correct way to do this in my opinion is to log in your weight weekly. It is Friday morning,January 1,2016. Each time you weigh yourself, you go back to the goals tab and recalculate your weight and how many pounds a week you want to lose. So if let's say my weight is this, now my total calories drops to 1400 calories a day to still lose 2 lbs. I stay with my Breakfast and Lunch plus my snacks which is 600 calories. Now I subtract from 1400 and get 800 calories to work with. Finally, at some point I will end up at 1200 calories a day and so Dinner will eventually be 600 calories with my other 2 meals replaced. That could be challenging but again, I figured that out. I have to see what I weigh, can I handle that or do I need to scale down to losing 1 lb. per week or figure on splitting that 600 calories up to 1 meal bar and a 400 calorie meal. I can also resort at times to a diet frozen meal as well. It's still doable.
I know this is a long thread but what I want to say is this is a blueprint of how I am going to get my weight down and not walk around so hungry like I do with the other attempts and start off with a clean slate,different food and being that I love sweet foods, this would prove to be a really smart way to get my diet plan going.
The name for my new diet idea is called Easy-Peasy because I love the wording and also I want things simple. No more points calculators,no more trying to figure out Power foods just eat sensibly, enjoy an ice cream at McD's if I want it and stop dealing with whether you can or cannot. If the scale number continue to go down at 1600 calories a day, stay put. If it stalls out,recalculate as to why. It may be that I've got to scale down on calories. I'm ok with that. Just go with losses and keep things healthy.
Thanks for reading,
Stacy

zoeysasha37

Hello Stacy ! It seems that you have a plan for yourself and you seem motivated for a change ! That's great ! While personally, I would take away all the slimfast foods and fill them with other food options , its not my plan - its yours ! And if this is what it takes to get you on the right track, then that's awesome !!
Just remember that you can do this without slimfast foods though if you want to. For weight loss, it comes down to calories. Eat less then you burn, and you'll lose weight. Calories in / calories out. So if you are ever in a situation where you don't have the slimfast products, you can still stay on track by picking foods that are within your calorie goal.
Best of luck to you ! You can do this!! I have lost all my weight and kept it off for 2+ yrs so far just by counting calories , learning portion control and moderation.