Maintenance Seems Too Low?

Well other than the age thing (my youngest is years older than you) we seem to have similar lifestyles - the majority of my calorie burn/activity comes from farm work (do exercise 5-6x/week but that is more for my health - it's an age thing) and (not for $$ reasons) I don't spend alot of money at the grocery store (raise/butcher most of our own meat/poultry). Rarely do I buy fresh fruit (other than bananas) and veggies (the quality is horrible at local stores). I do buy frozen veggies when they are on sale. The majority of the fruit/berries I eat is picked by me - I freeze or can for later use.

Another thing that I want to add to the suggestions you received (which were great - especially the fiber thing) is if you like yogurt/greek yogurt to think about making your own. It's extremely easy and very cost effective - for the price of a gallon of milk you get about 48oz of super thick greek yogurt (more if regular yogurt consistency).

I believe in volumetrics, with almost every meal I will eat spinach or red cabbage, mixed veggies are also inexpensvie, I buy a large bag in the freezer department. EGGS have a great source of protein.
Is there a food bank nearby? We have so many food banks that all have an abondance of food, many veggies there.

Hi

Just wanted to share my experience in case it helps as I have similar stats to you. I am 5''3.5 and weigh 112 lbs (8 stone) at present. My daily calorie recommendation to maintain my weight with no exercise is 1,350 (based on several sources where I've entered my stats and received an estimate). I have a sedentary job (office / desk based) and believe therefore that this is fairly accurate. As others have advised, it does sound as though some of your meals are calorie/carb dense and this of course will use much of your allowance in the earlier part of the day leaving little for your evening meal. I personally prefer to use my calories (and am most hungry) for my evening meal. I aim for a low calorie approach but also avoid carbs where possible and this completely works for me whilst allowing for cheat days since I’ve been maintaining 7st 13 lbs – 8st 2lbs for the last 2 years. A typical week for me looks like this:

Monday - Friday
Breakfast: 1 scoop of chocolate slim fast & 1 pint skimmed milk
Lunch: 200g chicken (various flavours)
Dinner: Meat and vegetables or salad. Examples: grilled burgers with onion chutney, broccoli, green beans and gravy OR 6 Quorn chicken fillets in an Old El Paso BBQ spice mix with creamed spring greens and cabbage OR 350g Quorn mince in a spicy salsa sauce with jalapenos and low fat sour cream.

Saturday – Sunday
I generally follow the above where possible but allow for cheat meals or a whole cheat day occasionally. For example if I know I’ll be out for dinner on a Saturday night, I’ll stick to the slim fast and chicken (or alternate protein) at lunch and eat what I want during the evening meal. Or if I’ve been super good on the Saturday and also burned more calories through more exercise (usually walking), I’ll have chocolate / crisps or anything else I might fancy on the Sunday as my treat. It tends to even out.

I also drink Slimatee from Holland and Barrett (one cup per day in the evening after dinner) and find that this helps me feel less bloated. If I know I have an event coming up, a holiday for example, I’ll just reign my calories in so I don’t slip over 1,350, try to do a little more exercise and also try (hardest of all) not to have those cheat meals/days. It’s hard but it works.

Also note that I do not include alcohol in my calories as I believe based on reading from recent scientific studies that calories from alcohol (except beer) do not convert to fat as they are not processed in the same way as calories from food. In fact, studies show that people who regularly drink in moderation over a period of 10 years were less likely to be overweight than those who did not drink at all. Here is the article if you’re interested (yes I know its Daily Mail but there are plenty of other sources behind the science!): http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&sqi=2&ved=0ahUKEwjDlr3BoeTPAhVJ9WMKHeNdDWsQFgglMAE&url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2512850/Drinking-doesnt-make-fat-A-startling-new-book-claims-nightly-glass-wine-wont-straight-hips.html&usg=AFQjCNE866UcdKs4tzghfKzbsKoTVvpDvg&bvm=bv.135974163,d.cGw

Whilst I’ve been maintaining, in addition to food I drink on average 3 – 4 glasses of red wine per week and more at the weekends if I am socialising. This has had no impact on my weight.

Feel free to add me so that you can see my diary or reach out to me directly.

First of all Deanna, I respect your willingness to learn and share your financial situation openly. I'm sure you are not alone. Personally I love Peanut butter and if I had to redo your breakfast I would cut the PB in half, eat only one slice of bread and lose the jelly. Baking your own bread is awesome and I agree that whole wheat would give you more satisfaction but you might prefer the bread toasted in that case. I say lose the jelly because sugar makes me crave carbs so the protein in PB seems worth the 90 calories instead of the less healthy 32 calories for the jelly. The tablespoon of sugar in coffee is a big cut out of your calorie budget for what is basically empty calories. Maybe try cutting that in half or splurge on some low calorie sweetner. If you get free apples they are wonderful dehydrated. It sounded like you had a dehydrator. You still have to watch the calories but there's lots of fibre in the apple and might help you feel more full plus sometimes you might want something with some crunch. I agree with the others that the beef which is about the highest caloric protein might be better cut into a smaller serving. If you eat more veggies you will be surprised that a 3 oz. serving of meat is very satisfying. Be careful too which cut you choose when counting the calories as some cuts have alot more fat so you might not be spending as many calories as you think. The more expensive cuts of beef often have more calories because they have more fat which is good news for those of us watching our pennies and calories. Vegetables that come from your garden can be blanched and frozen and are probably even better than the store bought ones. I use a lot of spiralized vegetables. If you don't have a machine you can cut thin strands of zuchinni and squash with a knife when they are in season to use in place of pasta. This is really healthy, filling and low calorie. I saute them in a no stick pan for a few minutes without fat to remove some of the water so my sauce doesn't get runny. Zuchinni "spaghetti" is wonderful. I loved the idea of Cauliflower rice. I haven't tried it but others tell me it's wonderful. You don't cook it you just chop it fine and then toss it in a no stick pan to sort of heat up and slightly cook it. Hope there is some help in this long post, lol. Good luck.

Hi there, there are lots of comments here that I haven't got through but just thought I'd throw in my tuppence. I think if you swapped the PB/Jelly for two poached eggs once your hens start laying that will make a huge difference. The PB&J are full of sugar which doesn't get you anywhere. The eggs will also give you energy for the morning. I would kill for access to fresh farm eggs instead of having to go to the supermarket!! Your lunch is fine as long as you don't eat the equivalent amount for dinner, and be careful what sides you take with the roast. For dinner perhaps a bowl of homemade veggie soup with your homemade bread, at least nothing processed and it's not too much to digest overnight. And so cheap and easy to make a stock of for the week. It sounds like you are quite active so even if not going to the gym your day to day beats us office workers hands down!! As such you need the energy in the morning and afternoon to keep you going. As the frenchies say, breakfast like a king, lunch like a queen and dinner like a pauper