Dinner Kills My Day!

cavycity

I eat so well for breakfast and lunch, then my dinner is completely out of control! I've been under my calories so far, but I feel like I should space them out more. Does anyone have tips for creating meals that really feel like dinner but are relatively low in calories?

Centerstagekris

I'm with you! I feel the same way! If you get any good advice, let me know!!

pkgirrl

Add TONS of sauteed veggies. I usually have a serving of meat, sometimes a carb, and always a couple cups of veggies. Sometimes I steam them, grill them, sautee them, roast them, etc, but they're so yummy and filling.

Another really yummy trick a friend on atkins showed me, try mashed cauliflower. You can add a little salt and butter, and its a nice substitute for mashed potatoes. Sometimes I'll blend some with ground beef, a little tomato, and spices, then stuff it in a pepper and bake. Especially with a little cheese on top. Super yummy.

You can basically eat anything you want for dinner, you just have to get creative and try to find a way to substitute high cal items with veggies. Like portabella mushrooms, make a great pizza crust

tsgrove

honestly i was in the same exact boat you are in. my breakfast and lunch were small then i would BOMB dinner. I have learned that the typical meat, starch, and veggie helps alot for dinner time. that way my plate is full but im not consuming massive amounts of food at dinner time. and eventually i started waking up hungary and got alot better about consuming enough calories through the day. it really helped me because i dont feel like im starving and my energy level has improved big time. i hope this advise helps. let me know how it goes.

leastwood

I had to change completely the way I eat. I now eat something small every two hours. I make sure to eat BEFORE I am starving. What has been working for me is to eat a banana for breakfast, 2 hours later I eat an apple, 2 hours late I eat a handful of almonds, 2 hours later I eat lunch, two later I eat an orange, 2 hours later I eat Light Yogurt, and then 2 hours later I eat dinner. If I need to I might drink a glass of 1% milk 2 hours after dinner. I have been doing it for about a month, and I love the results. My problem is the weekends! During the week it is easy to maintain a schedule, but it is tough on the weekends! You just can't let yourself get too hungry before you eat. Plan and avoid the starving mode!

Holton

Prepare a thin chicken breast by either sauteeing or baking (less than 20 minutes), steam some asparagus or broccoli (less than 5 minutes), boil some whole wheat pasta (typically only 9 minutes) and mix with a little pesto after draining. Easy peasy and filling and takes no time at all! Prepare enough and you have lunch for the next day!

jodiebs

Hmm. Well, when I want to "oopmf" up my dinner from boring to "yummo", I sautee up a whole onion in olive oil and then I throw in a bag of frozen peas and a bit of splenda and some salt. I let the onion simmer with the peas on low until it soaks up the flavor. Even if my meat is boring, it livens up the whole meal. You can do the same thing with beans or peas too. Then....I splurge and have a flakey biscuit if I have any extra calories at the end of the day.

Also, I'm wondering if you eat something around 3pm??? Just a little something so you're not starving by dinner time?? I can't last till dinner without a glass of milk or something small. Then a coupla glasses of water.

Good luck to ya!

cavycity

I'm often teaching or running at three, and I don't usually snack. I try to avoid the calories, but I'm thinking it might help in the long run. I love veggies, so maybe some of those would help in the afternoon.

ginnyroxx

Broil chicken breasts in olive oil and lemon juice, topped w/ a little pepper and some garlic salt. YUM!
Add some veggies on the side - or serve w/ rice (like i did tonight) & salsa. Low Cal and super yum!

I broil a few at a time for leftovers and I also slice the meat for lunch sandwiches.

kmahly

What works for me...

I figure out out what my total calories for the day should be, then I decide how many meals I want to eat, usually five or six. Last, I figure out what my macros need to be (how many grams of prot, fat, carb). Then just divide all this up.

So, for example... I aim for 1800 to 1900 calories in a day (which is weightloss for me), and about 160g of protein, about 60g of fat, the rest for carbs. So if you divide that up by five or six meals, usually I'm aiming for about 28g of protein a meal, and usually around 300 to 400 cals a meal. Fats are easy for me to keep low, I usally find I have to add more in if I'm not meeting my numbers, but that's easy to do... grab an avocado or some nuts or something. So, really, I focus first on protein grams. You don't have to be exact and anal for each meal, but I find using these rough estimates helps me keep on track throughout the day. This is what works for me, anyways and makes it easy for me.

So, this makes the dinner thing a moot point, because all of my meals will be around the same amount of calories, all around the same amount of protein, and eating every two hours, or every three if you need to stretch if more. The hardest part is planning dinners ahead of time. Make sure you pay attention to any cookbooks you are using and lean more towards the 300-400 cal recipes, or learn how to adjust recipes with healthier ingredients to make them have fewer calories.

Hoping that gives you one idea/method of how to plan it out with minimal fuss.

cavycity

Thanks for the great ideas!

rmkorama

Snacking helps me immensely. I have to eat something every two or so hours or I want to eat my fingers I get so hungry. I don't like being hungry, so I always make sure I have something to fill some gaps with. Particularly the 4-6 PM gap, because I commute and if I'm hungry on the way home I get mighty cranky. Also, sometimes when I get home, I'll have something small and protein heavy right away so I can make it until dinner is prepared if I'm not doing leftovers.

Snacks include popcorn, nuts, granola bar, apple and cheese, chocolate milk, veggies. Really, anything as long as it's a small portion of something that will stick with me for a while.