I sort of plan my days out. I eat a chobani raspberry yogurt for breakfast (its a stretch for me to even eat breakfast-not a fan) then a salad for lunch. On days that I don't have a salad for lunch I eat way more. So, I now realize that I have to have the salad for lunch, no matter how much I don't feel like it. Sometimes I have leftover grilled chicken in it, more often not. Dinner is my favorite meal of the day. I usually try to make something healthy, like grilled chicken or pork with rice pilaf made with olive oil and fresh green beans from my garden.

My biggest problem is the evening. That's when I binge out on things I shouldn't. My single biggest weakness is the all curing, comfort giving, wonderful, creamy ice cream. I have relied on ice cream to sooth all my ills and my hurts since I was a kid and I used to sneak it when my mom wasn't looking, because she used to only give me a little bit every once in a while. I joined this site just over a week ago. I've done this with ease for a week. Until I brought ice cream into the house. I got it to serve at a little get together we are having with friends in a couple days. Now I have to go out and buy more. Its like I cant make it through a night if I know it's here. I fell off the wagon for 2 evenings. I did fine during the days, just not the nights.


So, that being admitted, I will now start a new day and forget about my mistakes. In the past I would have given up after those 2 bad nights. I always used to have the all or nothing approach. But I'm trying to learn from my past. So here I go, off to greet another sunny summer day.

Peace,
Tanya

I plan my meals. I am following a Ketogenic diet for other health reasons. Weight loss on it is a bonus side effect that i am using to keep me motivated. I cook batches of food that keep well in freezer in single serving portions. I take some out to defrost each day ready for next day. I have a boiled egg as part of my breakfast so i boil 4 at a time to keep ready for next few days in fridge. I keep my meals quite similar so not a lot of thought is required. I try to spread my calorie intake quite evenly across 3 meals. I focus on getting best quality ingredients i can find and afford. I eat some coconut oil with each meal because i find it helps keep me feeling full and has lots of reported health benefits. I also eat some fresh spinage with each meal which as well as being good for you aparently reduces food cravings. I have not had any cravings for last two weeks so what i am doing works for me.

Wennim,

Good to have a fellow bike rider. Small rides are great, you can still get a good burn and if you can get things done with it 9like running errands) then even better.

I use to preplan a bit more, but I wasn't as good at keeping up with it and sometimes I need the flexibility either because of scheduling or I would just need to let myself have something to keep sane. I do try to log my meals before I eat them and I do mentally plan out my meals and have a fairly good sense what the ballpark number of calories will be. I do tend to pre plan on long bike rides. i plan out my breakfast (usually high carb, protein and fruit for sugar) and then what I will have as a snack during the ride and what my recovery meal will be when I get back (higher protein, chocolate milk... yumm).

It seems to be working.

I try to exercise 5 times a week. It's helped that I allow myself days off especially if I need to recover. I try to go back and forth between short bike ride and walking with a long bike ride either on thursdays or during the weekend.

This week has been a bit different as I just have a lot of work that needs to get done and I seem to be in the grove so I want to accomplish what I can so I don't have any stress when I decide to go out for a ride.

Pat, that is awesome about fitting into the smaller size!

I am a meal planner. A part of it is I don't really have time to prepare meals during the week (full time work and school can do that) so if I am going to eat something that isn't fast food I need to make it Sunday night. I also have to plan out when I will exercise for the same reason. I don't have a ton of time so I need to use it wisely. I also plan the exercise because some of it, like tennis, requires another person.