meals
Needachange84
Posts: 310 Member
How does everyone go about their meals? Do you eat more than 3 times a day? Do you make your meals for the week on Sunday or you just take it day by day? What do you think is the best way? What do your meals consist of? Sorry so many questions but I do not want to fail this time around.
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Personally, I'm trying to do what I always do (eat 3 meals a day and cook daily) but eat less. My problem is portion control. I use a scale or a measuring cup to serve my meals. For prepared items, I'm using the bar code scanner to gather the information from the MyFitnessPal database. I'm also buying bulk chicken breasts, fish and other items that are packed or cut as individual servings. It's easier to cook.
Some things that normally take longer, like beans, I use a pressure cooker to make.
Restaurants are still hard for me. Too much of everything is put on a plate and is called a serving. I still feel guilty for sending half of it back when I can't take it to go.0 -
I eat one diet meal such as Lean cuisine. Then it's light yogurt, apples, and oranges until I get to my calorie goal. I'm sort of afraid to eat anything else.0
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Three main meals plus morning and afternoon tea. If I want dessert that night and I still have calories left I will have it. We sometimes cook large meals to last us a few days (love it when we do this as I don't have to worry about rushing around trying to prepare things for work lunch) but other times we cook dinner every night and just take the left overs for lunch the following day - I guess it's how we feel that day and how late/early it is0
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I make my own meals 95% of the time. Now, that I am following a specific food plan (called Lyn Genet's The Plan), I need to mostly prep/cook all the meals from scratch so that I can stay within the food plan. Yes, it is a lot of work :grumble: , but I am willing to take the chance and stick to the food plan and it is working :drinker:
Forgot to add - I eat 4 times in a day. 3 meals and 1 snack.0 -
I cook all my meals from scratch. I eat 3 meals a day and have maybe 2 snacks. I dont eat very many carbs and dont eat in the evening after 6pm. I eat things like chicken steaks fish eggs, plenty of veg, some fruit but not alot of fuit as I find its very sugary. I'm funny about anything low fat as it usual is very high in sugar. I've just gotten myself into a good habit of eating good. I had a baby 5 months ago and ate everything in sight whilst pregnant so gained alot of weight. I am very dertmined to get it off now x0
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I try to eat something every 3-4 hours, and normally get in about 5 small meals a day (3 main and 2 snacks). I try to make things at home as much as possible, but have started to learn what I can get when I'm out so that I don't completely sabotage my healthy eating. I've been trying to incorporate more protein, especially during my snacks, as it helps me feel fuller for longer. I've found that eating this way has really prevented me from feeling hungry or getting overwhelming cravings.0
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I have three meals a day and two healthy snacks i cook from scratch and try to have my five a day fruit and veg and allow myself treats on a occasion ????0
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Restaurants are still hard for me. Too much of everything is put on a plate and is called a serving. I still feel guilty for sending half of it back when I can't take it to go.
I heard the best little tip on a podcast I listen to: When you order your meal automatically and immediately ask for a box. When you meal arives with the take home box, divide it in half and put half in the box to take home. Set that aside and then enjoy your meal. I'm really looking forward to the next date night to try this technique.0 -
I am on a juice fast...I hope I stay on it. I juice grapefruit for breakfast, and mostly mean green kind for other times. I randomly eat fruit too.0
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I focus on portion control, I use my measuring cups alot. I try to plan our meals in advance, but between work lunches and our unpredictible evenings I just try and eat as healthy as I can without stressing about it.
If going out for a work lunch I always check out the site before hand and have a few choices in mind that are not going to derail my day.
Most days breakfast is the same, lunch varies (usually left overs from the supper the night before) and whatever we happen to be craving for supper. I snack if I am feeling hungry and try to make good choices (but sometimes I just want a cookie).
My moto is everything in moderation, I want to be able to sick with this when I have lost all the weight, too many times I have put all or most of the weight back on when I have gone back to eating normal.0 -
I use my food scale and disposable plastic tubs. I cook for the majority of the week (lunch/dinner) on Sunday dividing my meals into containers. Since they are all premade/weighed it makes logging my food easy. When I want something different I'll whip it up, but the one rule I have is I put it in my log before I eat it.
I try to do 3 meals a day and two protein supplement meals for a total of 5 "meals". I probably eat way too much protein. My body weight is staying the same, but I'm losing body fat and gaining muscle. I was originally upset when I wasn't dropping weight and then my dietician pointed out to me that it isn't the number on the scale I dislike, but my % of BF. Plus more muscle = more food I can eat. I continually seem to be losing the same 5 lbs. but my body fat keeps dropping so I can't complain. When I stop dropping BF or gaining muscle I will re-evaluate what I'm doing.
I do snack, have a crazy sweet tooth and don't always eat "clean", but I try to keep in perspective how hard I work during the week and how easy it is to negate all of it on the weekends.0 -
3 meals a day (most of the time - I don't always make breakfast! Plus snacks morning and afternoon - I have recently found the Graze box website which send me lots of really nice snacks. Particularly the flapjacks - yum!!
We plan our meals for the week in advance and that is probably the one thing that I've found really helps. If you have planned for the week and shopped against that plan for the week, it is much easier to be disciplined and manage what you eat. And it's generally cheaper as well. I think I put on much of my weight during the years when we decided what to have for supper as we were going home from work - tired, hungry and not inclined to be healthy!
And we cook each evening - but left overs from the weekend often makeup lunch to take to work and heat up during the week.0 -
Four meals a day (one meal is like a 200 cal cliff bar or something) and then a protein shake thrown in after a workout.0
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I usually eat three meals a day with two healthy snacks after breakfast and lunch. I try to limit snacking after dinner because I have a tendency to grab snacks that are not so healthy. 6pm is usually the cut-off time for my eating. At least one of my meals are cooked. If I know I am going to be too busy the next day I will go ahead and cook it the day before. Breakfast is mostly cereal, a pastry, or oatmeal, and I will eat 1 lean cuisine/smart one for lunch or dinner. I will usually shop for my meals at the beginning of the week. My biggest problem is that I have a serious sweet tooth. For this challenge I will focus on cutting out the junk food/sugar and choosing healthier snacks. At one point I was choosing one day out of the week to eat fried/junk foods and this really helped reduce my weight and body fat. I also felt more energized.0
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(See Diary)
I typically will have 3 'meals' with a number of snacks mixed into the day. I work an 8-5 desk job, so the idle time where I just 'need' to munch is where I am very susceptible to over-indulging. I didn't realize how many calories I would intake before MFP. I'm ok eating similar things repeatedly, whereas my wife requires more variety.
KEY FOR ME: All meals & snacks (except dinner) are prepared or accommodated for before consumption to help me stay on track and not 'graze' alternatives.
Breakfast: "home-made" smoothie for breakfast, 1C consisting of flash Frozen Mixed Fruit, .25C Bolthouse Carrot Juice, .5 C Bolthouse [other juice - mango, green goddess, etc], 1C Pineapple, Banana, and half-serving of Lean Protein powder. This keeps me full for the majority of the morning. (Prepare night before, refrigerator ... Add Ice in morning & Blend)
AM Snack - fresh fruit and/or vegetables in the AM (i can eat cucumber all morning!) ...as well as 1/2 serving of Almonds (yes, i count kernals).
Lunch is Salad w. 'spring mix' & vegetables, w. Protein. I barely use any dressing (Prepare night before)
PM Snack - Same as AM, but may add Protein Bar of some-kind depending on whether I'm going to straight to gym after work or will have dinner then hit the gym late (We really like "KIND" brand and ordered some new flavors via Amazon - arriving later this week http://www.kindsnacks.com/store#All-Bars ... or ... http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=KIND)
Dinner - varieties of Protein (although I haven't eaten beef in 18 years), usually w. a small amount of seasoning , I love sweet potato and am learning to love it just as much without the lbs of butter and brown sugar. We eat fresh vegetables, edamame, etc. My wife has some great recipes for healthy meals I'd be glad to share. I'm really very lucky in that regard.
PM Snack II - this is where I get in trouble... I've been eating Greek Frozen Yogurt often...I have an insatiable sweet tooth and this tops off my night pretty well. I have to find alternatives (example: last night, we had sorbet)
I think I'm actually eating more now, but making better choices...It feels good to not feel hungry and my portion control during major meals is greatly improved because of this.
17lbs down...40 to go!0 -
A personal favorite recipe - can sub or remove things like Sour Cream & tomatoes (we garnish with Lime only) with minimal impact to overall dish...We will also use ground chicken or ground turkey.
245 calories per serving (...but we used to eat this with loads of bread...oh how I miss the bread and butter!)
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/white-bean-chili-recipe2/index.html0 -
2-3 small meals a day and 3-4 healthy snacks in between meals, which adds up to 6-7 times a day. Trying to eat minimal carbs, drink lots of water and do my best not to eat after 7pm. That is M-F. I am currently allowing myself to "cheat" on weekends which includes beer. I was drinking 1-2 beers a day during the week, and have cut drinking down to just weekends, also switching from my favorite Budweiser to Mich Ultra.:frown:
Even with the cheating and the beer drinking I am still managing to keep my calories under 1800 on those cheat days, also controlling my portions when I have a "cheat" meal. I know I will have to cut this out all together pretty soon if I truly want to achieve some serious weight loss & toning! But for now I am rolling with it, and will continue to make adjustments as I continue to lose.0 -
For me I started having significant success when I started eating 5 meals a day. They are roughly equal in calorie size and I eat as soon as I wake up and then roughly every three hours. There is the theory that it starts your metabolism and keeps it going. I have also read that theory is BS. (who knows) I think it works for me because it keeps me satisfied all day and I rarely have the urge to binge eat. The other thing it has done is allow me to settle into a healthy routine. I eat far more volume than in the olden days just now it is 30-50% of the olden days calories. Another funny/telling feature is when I used to eat garbage I was always hungry.
I generally pre-make whatever and eat it throughout the week. Makes it easier and it keeps me from making last minute changes that are poor health choices.0 -
I plan my meals out every week. I measure everything out and I eat 5 to 6 meals a day .0
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I don't really plan much, sometimes I will, like I'll get salad stuff for that for all week, or whatever. I eat almost the same thing every day for a week. lol. I eat 5-6 times a day.
Breakfast- 8am, usually greek yogurt and granola.
Post workout snack- around 11am, varies, protein bar, protein shake, banana.
Lunch- 1-2pm- turkey/chicken wrap, eggs, fruit maybe if i didn't have some earlier, veggies if i feel like them.
afternoon snack- sometimes i get busy and skip this. usually apple & pb. popcorn. veggies and dip if i have them cut up.
dinner- 6pm- salad, chicken and veggies. i try to keep it lower carb.
evening- i am a terrible evening snacker. usually have some dark chocolate or popcorn.
I would say they are mostly "mini" meals. not usually over 400 cals, unless I go out. snacks 200 or so.0 -
I am strictly 3 meals a day, a defined breakfast, lunch, and dinner. To keep grocery costs down, and because it doesn't bother me, I will have the same meal for breakfast and lunch every day in a week. Dinner is grilled or baked chicken, sweet potato, and assorted steamed veggies. When cooking for husband and myself, I try to get adventurous using sites like skinnytaste.com. I'm not much of a cook, so I stick to the simple stuff, but thankfully I don't have to cook often, because my husband works alternating shift work, so we actually eat out a bunch for dinner. Surprisingly, I don't really have trouble eating out. We frequent mostly chain type places, like Chili's, P.F. Chang's, etc, so nutritional info is easy to find. I plan ahead of time, and normally can find a nice meal for 500-700 calories that is delicious. This works for me because eating around 1750 calories a day, I ALWAYS have 1,000 for dinner. it's just my favorite meal of the day!0
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I try to eat 3 main meals, then carry snacks with me if I need it. I try to cook everything. For breakfasts I use the overnight apple cinnamon oatmeal becaues I can make it in advance and it's ready for the go. I normally do sandwiches or left over dinners for lunch, and dinner I always cook, whether i toss it in the slow cooker before work or turn on the oven and back something myself.0
