critique my diary! please!

I am going to have to go with the dressings as well. Maybe try Fat Free instead of lite? Or just lower the amount that you use?

I use to have a love affair with bagels and cream cheese so I know how tempting they are. I know you aren't eating them everyday but they aren't good for your diet. Also, maybe try using reduced fat cheeses. I LOVE 2% milk shredded cheese. And try and use less dressing. I've been doing this since mid-March and have never went over fat or carbs. Try and replacing the higher fat things with leaner things for a while. Fat isn't bad and neither or carbs, but having too much of both isn't good.

That's my two cents. I'm not expert but that's what helps me...

Dressing and cream cheese, not bad just bad in that quantity. Quick tip for dressing, instead of pouring it on what ever you are eating, dip your fork in the dressing, put it in a smaller container first, then take a bite of salad or whatever you are eating. Ask for caesar dressing on the side to help you with this too. Four T of cream cheese for one bagel is 2-3 too many. Portion control is key. A good sub for dressing is salsa, sour cream, cottage cheese.

If you are looking for a different kind of dressing for salads, I have found that a really nice alternative to premade dressings is:
1 tbsp olive oil (extra virgin)
1 tbsp vinegar (white, but any will work)
1 tbsp salad dressing herbs (you can buy that at any grocery store in the spice section, usually has some dried ground veggies, sesame and other good stuff in there)
3-5 tbsp water (depending on how much salad you're making)

It replaces the fatty store-bought dressings, tastes really good and is much lighter (I use the above for a big salad for 2 people. With about 14 fat in 1 tbsp olive oil, that makes 7 per person!)

I would say watch your sodium levels they are over and that can effect weight loss too, at least it does me. Other than that I love all the ideas the others had. Good luck.

I see a lot of carbs and sugar. Both of which can be crazy.

Newmans Raspberry Vinagrette is delicious and because it's oil it goes much further than a creamy dressing. It's hard to get away from creamy dressings, but they just don't go as far I find.

Try a really good balsamic vinegar. I know it's expensive, but you don't need to use very much, and need no olive oil at all!!!

a lot of packaged/processed stuff -- will send you over on fats & on sodium.
Breakfast -- you should try to focus more on high protein -- a bagel and cream cheese is not a good option.
oatmeal is not even a great option -- try greek yogurt, protein shake, eggs. try to get at least 30g of protein for breakfast.

dressings: may sound weird, but I always water down my dressings - especially ones like ranch that are high in fat (and then the low fat/light ones are ridiculously high in sodium) - but i add some water to the bottle, and then end up using less of it, and less of it goes further - and it's so rich typically it doesn't affect the taste! --- Yesterday, dressings added 30g of fat to your day. I was a ranch addict, but now I've discovered others that I LOVE that aren't so high in fat -- kraft free toasted asian sesame, ken's light sweet vidalia onion... last night I made my own creamy dressing by mixing FF plain greek yogurt, water, and salsa in the food processor -- was delish!

overall - you should really focus on UPPING your protein & Fiber -- this usually is pretty easily achieved by having more lean stuff like protein shakes, eggs, fish, and chicken (which are all low in fat) and adding more veggies (also low in fat) -- try adding lots of seasonings (I like mrs dash varities and the salt free perfect pinch ones because they are SALT FREE = no sodium) instead of dressings. The other benefit of upping fiber and protein (IT"S GOOD TO BE OVER ON THESE THINGS TOO) is that it helps you feel fuller longer! Check out my diary. And my blog - marysforkandspoon.blogspot.com

I checked it out too and agree with some of the other comments about the salad dressing being a large contibutor (nuts too). I eat salad often and generally mix 1 tablespoon of vinnegrette with 1/2 a lemon squeezed (although recently I ran out of lemons). If you want you can take a look at my diary for some ideas, its public.

I noticed the sodium right away. Sodium causes you to retain more water. Also, I noticed one day that you logged only 4 glasses of water. Try drinking more. It will help flush out the sodium and get rid of whatever water weight you are carrying. About the dressing--remember that fat-free dressings usually contain more sugar than light dressings, so in all honestly, IMO, anyway, it's better to use full-fat or light dressings and just use less. I don't like the way fat-free tastes, either. Finally, I'd try to take in more protein and less processed carbs. As another poster said, bagels are not the best choice when trying to trim weight. They pack a lot of calories, and they tend not to keep you full very long. Oatmeal is a better choice for breakfast, and even better if you can add a little protein, like a tbsp of peanut butter or something. Good luck!

the salad dressings are taking up quite a lot of your calories and fats. that said, our bodies do need fats and switching to fat free dressings will just up your sugar numbers so it's not really worth the trade off. the oil and diary in the dressings you use now are actually good for you.

It looks to me that your salad dressing and cream cheese is mostly what is putting you over. I'd sugest switching to fat free dressing, there isn't a ton more sodium in it and it is FAT FREE! For the cream cheese maybe try laughing cow cheese on your bagel instead of the regular cream cheese or reduced fat cream cheese. :flowerforyou:

I took a quick look at your food diary for May and the things that I noticed were your dressings, cheese and chocolate. You can eat all of these things but if you are concerned about the fat content, maybe you can try low calorie dressings and cheese. As far a s the chocolate maybe limit your chocolate indulgences to once a week.

Hopefully this is helpful to you.