Trader Joes: Sacrificing richness, not quantity - Yes, I eat

jdsmith

A few tips for me: Theme being that I cannot diet if I am constantly hungry because that hurts my productivity and increases stress-level. So the key is clearly to eat as much quantity as possible with as little calories....trader joe's presents really good options in great portions (for large eaters especially).

Phase 1: Light first meal - I used to eat more out of habit in the morning than out of actual hunger, the body doesn't much to get going and to feel good psychologically here. I recommend starting with a big glass of water/vitamin-C water/coffee, and then 15-30 minutes later just a few hundred calories. A great selection for this is:

1 Container of Trader Joe's non-fat greek style ice-cream + 1 tablespoon of honey poured on top/to the side. This has a lot of protein, which is known to be filling, a nice little bit of sweet, and is less than 300 calories all told, for over 2 cups of filling substance.

Now depending on your schedule, Id go with another similarly light meal either before or after a large meal. I recommend having that large meal about 4 hours before you plan to go to sleep/prepare for sleep so that you know you will be satisfied for the rest of the night and keep a positive state of mind. However, if you are going to exercise earlier in the day, I would plan to eat the large meal about an hour before the exercise and then have 300 calories or so later.

Now, the large meal: Trader Joe's has some excellent frozen chicken selections here:
Option 1: bbq teryaki chicken frozen package + frozen microwaveable packet of brown/white rice - ~ 800-900 calories together, massively filling and maybe even less calories because you will find you need to use at most half of the sauce provided. This Chicken is extremely lean and protein rich. Also you can microwave this in 10 minutes or less, so easy...teryaki restaurant quality, will fill you up and then some.

Option 2: Grilled chicken frozen package + frozen rice packet or salad ingredients. You can go the microwave route here if you dont like teryaki and use some soy sauce instead maybe, and have an equally filling meal that is a max of 800 calories and super easy to make. Or go even healthier with the salad, grill some mushrooms and onions in there, use a rich dressing even and youll still be around 800 calories and this meal would probably be the most massive of all.

Meal 1 = < 300
Meal Major = ~800
Meal supplemental = 200-400 (you can use this meal to keep sanity, eat a giant cookie, candy, whatever) I recommend a pint of chocolate sorbet, which is incredible (at Trader Joes also) maybe more like 450 calories though, possibly less.

All told You are looking at 1300-1600 calories and this will keep you satisfied. PROTEIN PROTEIN PROTEIN, especially if you lift weights.

I have done everything in the book diet-wise, but when it comes down to it sustainability is key or I gain it right back so psychology is key here. So I build hunger slowly, protein suppresses that as does being hydrated, perhaps some caffeine to stay alert and stave off any affects of lack of nutrients during the transition to this diet.

This works, especially if you want to stay strong while you lose weight.

jdsmith

A few tips for me: Theme being that I cannot diet if I am constantly hungry because that hurts my productivity and increases stress-level. So the key is clearly to eat as much quantity as possible with as little calories....trader joe's presents really good options in great portions (for large eaters especially).

Phase 1: Light first meal - I used to eat more out of habit in the morning than out of actual hunger, the body doesn't much to get going and to feel good psychologically here. I recommend starting with a big glass of water/vitamin-C water/coffee, and then 15-30 minutes later just a few hundred calories. A great selection for this is:

1 Container of Trader Joe's non-fat greek style ice-cream + 1 tablespoon of honey poured on top/to the side. This has a lot of protein, which is known to be filling, a nice little bit of sweet, and is less than 300 calories all told, for over 2 cups of filling substance.

Now depending on your schedule, Id go with another similarly light meal either before or after a large meal. I recommend having that large meal about 4 hours before you plan to go to sleep/prepare for sleep so that you know you will be satisfied for the rest of the night and keep a positive state of mind. However, if you are going to exercise earlier in the day, I would plan to eat the large meal about an hour before the exercise and then have 300 calories or so later.

Now, the large meal: Trader Joe's has some excellent frozen chicken selections here:
Option 1: bbq teryaki chicken frozen package + frozen microwaveable packet of brown/white rice - ~ 800-900 calories together, massively filling and maybe even less calories because you will find you need to use at most half of the sauce provided. This Chicken is extremely lean and protein rich. Also you can microwave this in 10 minutes or less, so easy...teryaki restaurant quality, will fill you up and then some.

Option 2: Grilled chicken frozen package + frozen rice packet or salad ingredients. You can go the microwave route here if you dont like teryaki and use some soy sauce instead maybe, and have an equally filling meal that is a max of 800 calories and super easy to make. Or go even healthier with the salad, grill some mushrooms and onions in there, use a rich dressing even and youll still be around 800 calories and this meal would probably be the most massive of all.

Meal 1 = < 300
Meal Major = ~800
Meal supplemental = 200-400 (you can use this meal to keep sanity, eat a giant cookie, candy, whatever) I recommend a pint of chocolate sorbet, which is incredible (at Trader Joes also) maybe more like 450 calories though, possibly less.

All told You are looking at 1300-1600 calories and this will keep you satisfied. PROTEIN PROTEIN PROTEIN, especially if you lift weights.

I have done everything in the book diet-wise, but when it comes down to it sustainability is key or I gain it right back so psychology is key here. So I build hunger slowly, protein suppresses that as does being hydrated, perhaps some caffeine to stay alert and stave off any affects of lack of nutrients during the transition to this diet.

This works, especially if you want to stay strong while you lose weight.

TamTastic

Trader Joe's is a staple in my house and I can honestly say the options there helped me to keep from getting bored and I was able to stick to this easier and lose 135 lbs!!

I just wish they were located everywhere! It stinks that they aren't in some states.

lotusfromthemud

I just wish they were located everywhere! It stinks that they aren't in some states.

or Canada. . .:sad:

I'm stuck with "whole paycheque" which is nowhere near as good.