Eating/Meal Planning Strategy??

egwatkins

What is your eating or meal planning strategy? Do you plan meals in advance? Are you focusing on a particular area (low carb, high fiber, no sugar, etc.)? Restrictive or Moderation?

Me, personally - I'm experimenting with planning my meals in advance for the week (primarily business days) so I can better track the calories for what I'm eating. I'm a little OCD, so I calorie count everything even during the course of recipe preparation. So if the recipe doesn't already give the calorie intake, I'll figure it out for the entire dish and then determine a reasonable portion size to keep the calorie count under control. It's tedious. But I read somewhere that many who are really successful in weight loss don't eat a wide variety of foods anyway. So I figure once I lock in on some key meals, all the work will already be done; it'll just be a matter of clicking it in.

I think I'm probably somewhere in the middle between restrictive and moderation. I'm trying to avoid my two biggest enemies right now - potato chips and fast food. But if I consume it, then I have to count it. So far, THAT has kept me out of McDonald's and away from the potato chip aisle. (well, at least this week), :laugh:

So share your strategy with us. Maybe we'll all get some valuable information to apply to our own strategies.

ShanaGore

I have been planning for the day, one day at a time. That way, I can input all my food in the morning and be able to see if my plan matches my calorie goal and if not I can adjust. Plus having a plan for the day helps me stay on track. I am bringing my breakfast, morning snack, lunch and afternoon snack to work, so I can only eat what I pack, lol. I am more focused in the morning, so I only put healthy stacks in my lunch bag. If there are no chips in there, then there are none for me to eat! Planning is key for me.

I am trying to cut most all refined sugar, so I am only getting sugar from fruit (and the 2 teaspoons I put in my coffee each morning!) I am also cutting back on carbs, but not cutting them out. I have found that when I cut them out completely, I crave them ALOT. So I am just cutting back on them and trying to only have bread/rice/pasta/potatoes with just one meal a day and when I have them, I try to make them whole grains, like whole wheat bread, whole wheat pasta, whole grain brown rice, whole grain cereal, things like that.

I also have to watch my yogurt intake. I LOVE yogurt and I always thought of it as a "healthy" food, but then learned that most of the flavored yogurt, even though they are low in fat they are very high in sugar, so I have switched to plain greek yogurt and put my own fresh or frozen fruit on top.

My sister (the health buff!) told me something that makes a lot of sense. She said when grocery shopping use the "outer aisle theory." Most everything you buy should come from along the outer wall as opposed to things in the middle aisles. The healthier, non processed food comes from the outer perimeter of the grocery store, the fresh fruits and veggies, the meat, the dairy. She told me 90% or more of my groceries should be bought from that outer area. The inside aisles are filled with the junk food, the processed box dinners, canned food high in sodium and additives, the chips, the soda, ect. So I try to do that when I grocery shop now. Take my cart around the outside first, filling my cart w/lean meat, fruit and veggies, milk, cheese, yogurt, whole grain bread and then getting just a few staple items from the inner aisles.

Chan1028

I am currently on a low carb eating plan. I'm trying to jump start my weight loss and I've had success with this approach in the past. In order for me to be successful on this plan, I must plan all of my meals (including snacks) for the week. It takes some time and little work at the beginning of the week, but its so worth it. I don't spend money on fast food and I'm losing weight and getting healthier. Some produce don't have a long shelf life, so I have to visit the grocery store twice a week instead of once a week. So far, I'm doing well.

donnajoogarcia

That's how I was so successful when I previously lost weight. I cut out all processed and manufactured foods. If you do that, the weight falls off! It's a win-win because that stuff isn't healthy for us anyway. But this time around I'm not being as strict. I do eat Kashi and Lean Cuisine frozen meals, yogurts, etc.

When I'm alone I do better than when Albert is home. :-( Sad but true. Most of the things I buy during weekly shopping trips are fresh fruits and veggies, lots of salad every day, chicken, soy, etc. And Juan and I are loving my new juicer! You'd think I'd be thin, right? But my weakness is eating out, both fast food and sit down restaurant. And not exercising. I have been staying away from fast food now that I'm logging my meals, though, and I'm in the gym every day thanks to my accountability partners! But I don't plan my meals. I just keep healthy food in the house so when I'm ready to eat, I have no choice but to pick something that's good for me. I don't add salt to meals (per doctor), and I don't eat sugary items. I don't eat bread. When I do eat carbs it's either whole grain pasta or brown rice. My doctor told me that the serving size for carbs should be no bigger than you fist, even if they are whole grains. That was a very important tip/boundary for me.

I think the accountability of logging my meals daily is really helpful in staying on track. This is where I feel much of my strength and encouragement is coming from, whereas after the deaths I could not find any motivation what-so-ever, no matter how hard I tried. The structure and accountability of myfitnesspal is just what I needed!