advice on my diet

I just took a look at it, first off POP HAS GOT TO GO. If your serious about the weight loss get rid of the pop, beer, and fast food. Just because you are staying in your calorie range , your food selections are pretty horrible. Try adding some fruit and veggies and lean meats and whole grain carbs. Take a look at others diaries if you need help thinking of foods to select. Best of luck!

I agree with Bella. That fast food is not going to help you. If you are serious about losing weight, you need to be serious about getting the best food in you. Also, if you want some quick results, I would go in to goals and change your ratio of protein/carb/fat to 50/30/20. I wouldn't do this for longer than 2 or 3 weeks before I switch to a 40/40/20 which you can stay on for a longer term. What exercise are you doing? Add me as a friend and you can message me as well. I commend you for asking for help, being honest, and opening up your diary. You can check mine out too.

Mike mike.....
do you remember basic health class? that triangle thing....?

and one more MAJOR no-no on your part....2 glasses of water a day??? What's up with that?!

HALF YOUR WEIGHT IN OUNCES OF WATER A DAY, PLUS ADDITIONAL FOR WORKOUTS!

Welcome Newbie:flowerforyou:

Another thing to get rid of is the 2% milk and go with non fat milk. Regular peanut butter has way too much fat. I LOVE peanut butter and just found a health food store that grinds their own butter from fresh peanuts without the added sugar and sodium! However, I heard that almond butter is better...it has less sugar and fat than peanut butter. I have yet to try it though.

My diary is open as well even though my message to you were private. I am a vegetarian but you can add meat into the meal plan.

I'd say your daily fat goal is a little high. Not sure what your stats are but I'm on a 3300 Cal/day diet and I take in about 70 g of fat a day.
If your goal is to lose weight, try setting your goals to 50% protein, 30% carbs, 20% fat.

What kind of exercise program are you on?

But just like everyone else says: fast food, soda, 2% milk... all that is no good. Go buy some almond milk and try that. The vanilla is really good. I get the unsweetened kind, and mix it with one scoop of whey protein every morning and take that to work with me.
For breakfast though, 10 grapes isn't enough if you plan on exercising. Egg whites, turkey bacon, whole wheat toast are all good. And also, pick up some organic natural peanut butter. mmm that stuff is good, no oil or preservatives. Just good ol' peanuts.

Hope that helped!

It's hard to quit cold turkey, in fact my husband and I will still go get some In N Out as a treat once a month or every two months (protein style, by the way, and no fries). I remember being in college and eating crappy too. And then I had my twins and I learned that I had to pack my own food for school. It sounds like you are working on that with the chicken breasts maybe. I would focus on things that are easy to take with you. I pack my husband's breakfast and lunch for him to take to work (he works in a school district). He is eating about 3000 calories a day to gain weight (I know) healthily, so I pack something like the following for him:

whole wheat tortilla with lowfat shredded cheese and 2 slice deli turkey (I buy no nitrites), an apple, a tablespoon of peanut butter, 2 string cheese sticks, a protein shake made with 1% milk, a container of baby carrots, and two sandwiches made with sandwich thins (100 cal each) and a Morningstar Griller each. It doesn't take long in the morning to get it all ready.

Hey Mike, welcome to MFP!

First of all, I don't know why you got ragged on so hard about the pop and "empty calories" since you're drinking diet (which has no calories). I realize diet pop is no where near being a healthy substance but it's a treat for me and seeing as I don't eat much candy or junk food, I feel completely justified having some 0-calorie Coke Zero whenever I darn well please

I agree with everyone that it does seem like there's a lot of fast food going on and although cooking your own meals is ideal, I realize it's not completely realistic for everyone and sometimes "good enough" is, well, good enough. Try going for the salads with a vinaigrette dressing (I bet two would fill you up and still be well within your calorie range) or a side salad and grilled chicken sandwich. The baked potato and chili are decent options at Wendy's. Subway is great, big thumbs up on that choice, lots of healthy options there. Otherwise consider hitting your local grocery store for lunch, lots of them have wraps and salads and marinated veggies.

It's great that you're asking for advice, and I think the important thing to remember here is that you're working towards overall health, towards feeling good! Once you get used to making some healthier choices, you'll start to realize how much better and more energetic you'll feel and it will make the less healthy choices seem less appealing. Your diet now is probably quite similar to many of us when we first joined MFP, and it takes time to make lifestyle changes. When I first came here I was consuming 1000+ calories just in wine many days and then gorging on junk food (pizza, chips, burgers, anything with cheeeese) to top it off. Now I eat a mostly vegan diet, 6-8 servings of veggies a day, no alcohol, started exercising, recently quit smoking.....total lifestyle change, one that I could not have imagined 6 months ago! So take your time, ease into it, do what is realistic and what works for you and what makes you feel good and healthy! Best of luck

Mike, I can understand having no time. I also work and a student and now adding working out to that mix, there isnt much time, i understand that! I take time at night before I go to bed to put all my food together for the next day. If I didnt do this, I am sure I would still be eating pretty crappy! I still eat out once in a while when I am running super late and dont have any other food on me, but I try to keep it to a minimum! Good luck :-)