Cheat weekend, and trouble with my sugar/sodium/fat goals.

YoshiZelda

Okay, So when I first started here I was around 300 pounds, now 287. Joined may 1/2nd, and have lost 12 pounds since.
I'm attempting to lose 2lbs a week, so far so good! I am eating around 1,630 calories a day, and it's not hard honestly, I get alot of food and feel full. But the problem is , I'm 18, no job, and I am kind of forced to eat what my family eats, and usually what they eat is high in fat, sodium, and sugar. So I keep going over this, I keep trying to find other things in the house, but honestly my family buys really fatty things, Which is probably the reason why I am overweight, as I also have a binge disorder ( Have not binged since may 1st! ).

My mom has agreed to support my diet till I get a job. I'm new to dieting, and was wondering if you lovely ladies/men could take a look at my diary and could let me know what I need work on, and what I'm doing wrong / good on. Also any food suggestions. It will be very appreciated.

Also, is it fine to have a cheat weekend, only going over by 200 calories?

Thank you all !

Feel free to add me!

YoshiZelda

Also, today , and yesterday were the cheat days, so don't mind them. LOL

RuthieCass

Well first of all, you're moving in the right direction. Recording everything you eat is the first step. Now, to see where you can tweak it. :-)

Looking at your diary, the first thing I noticed was the amount of processed foods. This is likely b/c this is what your family buys. Since you're not working, though, you have more time to prepare meals (and exercise!). If you're concerned about cost, then let me tell you that cooking all your own food from scratch saves money. Maybe you can volunteer to cook occasionally for the family so that you all can help each other. And that way you can gain more control over your nutrition. Chicken nuggets are full of who knows what. Rice cakes are mostly empty, processed, sodium-filled calories. Processed food is almost always high in sodium.

The other thing I noticed was that your protein levels are a bit low. I know MFP suggests 15% of your calories from protein, but it should probably be at least 20% (especially if you're on a diet). I'd suggest the goal be ~25% of your calories. So if you're aiming for 1600, you should try to get about 100 g protein. Protein will also help you remain full for longer, so they're good for your diet. Also, more fiber in your diet will probably help. You can change your goals on MFP for this.

So here's some specific suggestions:
-Add some protein with breakfast. Instead of prepared bars, muffins, and rice cakes, eat a piece of grain/sprouted toast with peanut butter and some yoghurt. Or some toast eggs. And maybe some fruit.
-Try to eat more veggies and salads with lunch and dinner. Instead of a sandwich for lunch, try a salad with some meat. Eat some veggies with dinner--steamed broccoli, asparagus, sauteed kale, etc.
-Reduce sodium by grilling your own chicken breast or tofu, eating canned tuna, etc. for lunch protein.
-Instead of eating chicken nuggets, bake some drumsticks and eat without skin.
-Instead of snacking on rice cakes, snack on nuts, peanut butter, fruits and unsweetened milk/yoghurt.
-Mix it up! Diets get boring if you eat the same thing all the time.
-Get a food scale and measure portions.

Here is a nice article on about nutrition goals (written by a trainer that frequents these boards), if you want to read a bit more: http://body-improvements.com/resources/eat/

I think a cheat day can be fine sometimes. Within reason. 200 over your goal for one day may be okay if you're below your goals on all other days. But it's a good idea to still record your cheats and recognize when cheat days are becoming a problem.

cheesy_blasters

Congrats on your progress so far!

If you like popcorn (I saw it a bit in your diary), you could try popping the kernels in an air popper/stovetop or paperbag in the microwave instead of getting the packaged stuff. I love chips and have been using pop corn as my replacement and I will add a bit of salt or butter (a pinch of salt or tsp of butter) to satisfy the salt craving. I also like to add spices (chili pepper/dill/nutritional yeast) to switch it up. I think there's a thread on it somewhere here.

If you eat a lot of salt you can also try drinking more water to balance it out.

It sucks when you're at the mercy of what other people buy. I think that's how a lot of people fall into the trap. Unhealthy habits seem to be cyclical (parents pass it down to their kids).

A few things I like are eating greek yogurt or cottage cheese (both high in protein, relatively cheap and easy). I found you can use plain greek yogurt instead of sour cream for nachos etc. Hemp hearts are also good. They're just small little seeds you can sprinkle on whatever you eat to add more fiber/protein/omegas. Chia seeds are good as well.

If you are getting stuck in the processed food trap, you could always try cutting your portions down. Instead of five chicken nuggets, have two and have a more veggies or yogurt or something.

Sea food is also a good option, if you like it. I hated seafood growing up but then I started to really like the lobster flavoured pollack or just grilling a piece of tilapia with lemon juice and herbs.

Maybe an easy option is to concentrate on improving one meal a day. A lot of your sodium seems to come from lunch so maybe setting a goal like reducing that by a little bit each day could help and still be easy?

RuthieCass

Oh and something to keep in mind is that sodium makes your body retain water and can mask some weight loss. Also, the calories burned for exercise calculator on MFP tends to overestimate while we tend to underestimate our portions. So those numbers could add up to put you over your daily goal. As for sugar, I think the MFP recommendation is a bit low since eating 2 servings of fruit puts you at the limit. But if you're getting your sugar mainly from what's added to processed foods, that's something to watch.