Help me balance my diet, please!

In article ,
"JulieB" wrote:

I plugged my regular daily intake into Fitday and got a
breakdown of
55% carb/25% protein/20% fat. I'd really like to get
that a bit more
balanced, or at least get some more protein and reduce
the carbs a bit.

snippage

Hi Julie!

I lost 45 pounds doing WW point system, and lost the
last eight (for a total of 53) by eating balanced and
exercising (which I didn't do on WW). I've maintained
115 for the last year.

I use Fitday.com to track my calorie intake, carbs,
protein, fat, and fiber. A typical day looks like this:

Breakfast: Apple, small, dipped in Peanut butter, 1 tbs
Snack: Cheddar cheese, 1 oz; Trail mix, 1/4 cup
Lunch: Big tossed salad with assorted vegetables,
Croutons; Fat Free Ranch Dressing, 2 tbs
Snack: Tuna, water pack, 6.5 oz can (just S&P)
Water: 120 oz
Dinner: Pork steak or cutlet, broiled, 5 oz; 1 ear
corn; 1 Whole tomato; Green beans, steamed, 2 cups;
Butter, 1 Tbs
Totals: 1223 cals 52g fat 101g carb 98g protein
which ended up being 39% fat, 28% carb, 33% protein
I also had 18 grams of fiber.

It took me a while to convince myself to eat more fat,
but I find that I'm more satisfied than when I ate
carrots and broccoli all day long because they were
"free" foods.

Good luck!

Amy

"JulieB" wrote in message
...
I've been (and still am, and will be for life) on Weight Watchers.
I've reached my goal weight and have sucessfully remained here for
about 10 months so far. However, I'm finding it harder to maintain my
weight and it's veeeeerry slooooowly creeping up.

Have they introduced the new WW Core Plan in your area? It was just
introduced here in the US recently and the more I read about it the more I
like it. It's focus is healthy unprocessed foods. You might get some ideas
on tweaking your diet from it as it seems to be less focused on carbs.

Beverly



I plugged my regular daily intake into Fitday and got a breakdown of
55% carb/25% protein/20% fat. I'd really like to get that a bit more
balanced, or at least get some more protein and reduce the carbs a bit.
WW is very focussed on the carbs, so I thought I'd come here for a
wider range of opinions. Here's a standard daily menu for your
contemplation:

B: 2 Weetbix biscuits, low fat milk (2%), 2 tsp brown sugar, cranberry
juice. Occasionally baked beans on toast or boiled eggs on toast, but
these are usually on the weekends when I have more time.

L: Home-made soup with lentils or beans and veges (about 1 cup),
cheese sandwich on multigrain bread. The soup is replaced with salad
in summer, and sometimes the sandwich is ham instead of cheese.

D: Lean red meat, vegies (including a small potato). Also
occasionally pasta, stir fries, burritos, but usually the same basic
pattern.

Snacks: Fruit (apples, mandarins, stone fruit when it's in season),
dried fruit (sultanas and apricots), nuts (almonds), peanut butter on
corn crackers, swiss miss type non-fat hot chocolate drink,
marshmallows, low fat choc chip cookies, occasional dark chocolate and
alcohol (wine), tea twice a day with a scant teaspoon of sugar in each
cup.

Exercise: 30 minute walk 5 times a week before breakfast. I've tried
weights too, but can't seem to keep it up. I'll have to try working it
into my routine some other way.

I can see that my breakfast is the main carb-fest here. Any other
suggestions would be great. Also, I'm Australian, so please only
suggest real food, not packaged stuff, unless you live here too! And
yes, I like sugar. I'm not about to give it up as there's no way I
could maintain that for any length of time.

Thanks for any suggestions you might have.
Julie.

93.5/72.5/74 kg
205.7/159.5/168.2 lb

JulieB wrote:
I've been (and still am, and will be for life) on Weight Watchers.
I've reached my goal weight and have sucessfully remained here for
about 10 months so far. However, I'm finding it harder to maintain my
weight and it's veeeeerry slooooowly creeping up.

I plugged my regular daily intake into Fitday and got a breakdown of
55% carb/25% protein/20% fat. I'd really like to get that a bit more
balanced, or at least get some more protein and reduce the carbs a bit.
WW is very focussed on the carbs, so I thought I'd come here for a
wider range of opinions. Here's a standard daily menu for your
contemplation:

B: 2 Weetbix biscuits, low fat milk (2%), 2 tsp brown sugar, cranberry
juice. Occasionally baked beans on toast or boiled eggs on toast, but
these are usually on the weekends when I have more time.

I had to just toss the breakfast cereal and juice concept out the
window. Now I eat oatmeal mixed with protein powder or an omelot with
cheese and veggies or 1/2 whole wheat bagel with lox and cream cheese.
I might occasionally have half a whole wheat english muffin with
peanutbutter on it. What I'm aiming for is whole grains combined with
proteins and fats.

L: Home-made soup with lentils or beans and veges (about 1 cup),
cheese sandwich on multigrain bread. The soup is replaced with salad
in summer, and sometimes the sandwich is ham instead of cheese.

I did this for about 10 years. What really helped me here was to toss
the sandwich. Now I eat chunks of meat on salad nearly every day in the
summer, and in the winter I'll have chunks of meat in soup or chunks of
meat with steamed vegetables. I vary what's on the salad a bit, but I
tend to spray it with a spritz of toasted sesame oil for a dressing. It
helped a lot to give up those low-fat dressings - my salads need healthy
fat! The chunks of meat are leftover from whatever I had the night
befo grilled fish, grilled chicken, grilled pork... or if I don't
have anything else I'll open up a can of tuna or salmon and chunk it on
there. It's remarkably versatile and I can eat this every day for six
months without getting tired of it. I just change when the weather changes.

D: Lean red meat, vegies (including a small potato). Also
occasionally pasta, stir fries, burritos, but usually the same basic
pattern.

I really had to give up pasta. I save it for when I'm particularly
craving it. It's just too many calories for refined flour where a
portion isn't even filling. I don't eat red meat that often, either,
and I wonder why you mentioned specified it - do you grow you own mutton
or something?

By far my most common meal is grilled or broiled chicken or fish with
rice and either a salad or steamed vegetables. I rarely have potatoes
or bread.

Today I made fajitas. I used chicken breast, four different colors of
peppers and a sweet onion and stir-fried it together and put it on flour
tortillas. Unfortunately I used a commercial fajita sauce (just to save
time) and it was horrid, so don't do that. :-)

Snacks: Fruit (apples, mandarins, stone fruit when it's in season),
dried fruit (sultanas and apricots), nuts (almonds), peanut butter on
corn crackers, swiss miss type non-fat hot chocolate drink,
marshmallows, low fat choc chip cookies, occasional dark chocolate and
alcohol (wine), tea twice a day with a scant teaspoon of sugar in each
cup.

The only thing that's awful there are the low fat choc. chip cookies.
I'm not wild about the corn crackers, either, simply because they're
probably pretty processed and high in calories for what they give you.
Dried fruit is on my "caution" list because it's so high calorie, plus I
really do try to balance my snacks with some protein and fats. I might
eat dried fruit in a trail mix with some nuts.

If I were you I'd put the peanut butter on apple slices. Also try
skimmed milk cottage cheese or hard boiled eggs in snacks. I also like
tinned fish - ever put anchovies on crackers? (Don't try to kiss anyone
afterwards.)

Exercise: 30 minute walk 5 times a week before breakfast. I've tried
weights too, but can't seem to keep it up. I'll have to try working it
into my routine some other way.

I don't do weights at home very often. I seem to need to go to the gym,
and I love weightlifting. I don't know how to tell you to do it, but
just keep trying to work it in and you'll find what works for you
eventually.

I can see that my breakfast is the main carb-fest here.

Actually, I thought your lunch was. Two slabs of bread or a carb-filled
soup... it would be good if you were open to non-traditional lunches, in
my opinion.

Any other
suggestions would be great.

I'd change to skim milk if I were you. 2% milk isn't "low-fat" anywhere
but on their label. :-) It seems like an awful change when you
contemplate it, but after a week or two you don't mind a bit.

Good luck!

Dally

Heywood Mogroot wrote:
"JulieB" wrote in message
...
Exercise: 30 minute walk 5 times a week before breakfast. I've
tried
weights too, but can't seem to keep it up. I'll have to try
working it
into my routine some other way.

I'm no expert on maintaining, but if you like what you're eating how
about upping the exercise a bit?

45 minutes & 1.5 times the distance. Put out a little more sweat on
your walks, and the extra 100-200kcal output will add up to maybe a
kilogram over a month.

The mornings are starting to get lighter and warmer here, so that's an
option. I'll see if I can get myself motivated to get up 15 minutes
earlier

I can see that my breakfast is the main carb-fest here. Any other
suggestions would be great.

carbs are fine if they don't take the place of more filling fare.

The problem I have with them is that they're not as filling as protein
and fats. They just don't seem to have the sticking power.

Julie.

Ignoramus19922 wrote:
Extreme low fat dieting is known to produce the effect that you are
observing.

I don't know that I'd call what I do 'extreme' low fat. I'm sitting at
20% fat per day.

What helps many people, and is likely to help you, is

1) replace junk carbs that you eat (crackers, bread etc), with good
healthy fats. Try drinking full fat milk, eating fat and untrimmed
meat, fatty fish like salmon or catfish, etc. Do not be afraid of
saturated fat too much. A good balance of fats that includes
saturated
fats is healthy.

I have a family history of heart disease and eating too much fat makes
me feel ill. I know you mean well, but increasing my fat intake by
eating saturated fats in the way you suggested is just not going to
happen for me.

2) Eat enough low calorie vegetables. You will find ones that you
like. The more the merrier.

I eat a huge amount of vegetables already. Eating any more and I'm
afraid I'll turn into brocolli!!


3) Exercise daily, such as walk. I am sure that you are aware of the
need for exercise, but it must be said.

Oh yeah, I know this. I took a week off a few weeks ago because I had
a head cold. I knew I needed the break to give my body time to
recover, but facing the day was much harder without the walk.

4) Sugar. To me it is incarnation of evil and, without sugar, my life
is much easier. I no longer crave it because I basically forgot how
it
tastes. If you could get to this point, you may find it easier to
maintain. If not, then, tough for you. It all comes doen to
priorities.

Yep, comes down to priorities. I can control my sugar urges somewhat,
and I'd much rather have the flexibility of being able to eat anything
in moderation than trying to avoid sugar for the rest of my life.

4) Eat enough protein to supply you, which is about .1-0.8 g/lb of
body weight.

That's what I'm trying to work towards. How do you add protein to your
day?

Sugar also typically implies eating bad stuff like cookies, trans
fats, etc. No one eats sugar by the spoon.

I eat 2 spoons of sugar on my breakfast Not a good habit, and one
I'm trying to stop. I also eat sugar in fruit.


Generally speaking, if your current diet is not working, it is time
to
make adjustments, so, I applaud you looking for alternatives to your
current eating.

I'm looking at making small changes that I can maintain. WW taught me
that I can't drink Coke and eat cake every day and not expect to gain
weight. Now it's time to fine tune the diet so I'm getting all the
nutrients I need consistently.

Julie.

Ignoramus19922 wrote:
Extreme low fat dieting is known to produce the effect that you are
observing.

I don't know that I'd call what I do 'extreme' low fat. I'm sitting at
20% fat per day.

What helps many people, and is likely to help you, is

1) replace junk carbs that you eat (crackers, bread etc), with good
healthy fats. Try drinking full fat milk, eating fat and untrimmed
meat, fatty fish like salmon or catfish, etc. Do not be afraid of
saturated fat too much. A good balance of fats that includes
saturated
fats is healthy.

I have a family history of heart disease and eating too much fat makes
me feel ill. I know you mean well, but increasing my fat intake by
eating saturated fats in the way you suggested is just not going to
happen for me.

2) Eat enough low calorie vegetables. You will find ones that you
like. The more the merrier.

I eat a huge amount of vegetables already. Eating any more and I'm
afraid I'll turn into brocolli!!


3) Exercise daily, such as walk. I am sure that you are aware of the
need for exercise, but it must be said.

Oh yeah, I know this. I took a week off a few weeks ago because I had
a head cold. I knew I needed the break to give my body time to
recover, but facing the day was much harder without the walk.

4) Sugar. To me it is incarnation of evil and, without sugar, my life
is much easier. I no longer crave it because I basically forgot how
it
tastes. If you could get to this point, you may find it easier to
maintain. If not, then, tough for you. It all comes doen to
priorities.

Yep, comes down to priorities. I can control my sugar urges somewhat,
and I'd much rather have the flexibility of being able to eat anything
in moderation than trying to avoid sugar for the rest of my life.

4) Eat enough protein to supply you, which is about .1-0.8 g/lb of
body weight.

That's what I'm trying to work towards. How do you add protein to your
day?

Sugar also typically implies eating bad stuff like cookies, trans
fats, etc. No one eats sugar by the spoon.

I eat 2 spoons of sugar on my breakfast Not a good habit, and one
I'm trying to stop. I also eat sugar in fruit.


Generally speaking, if your current diet is not working, it is time
to
make adjustments, so, I applaud you looking for alternatives to your
current eating.

I'm looking at making small changes that I can maintain. WW taught me
that I can't drink Coke and eat cake every day and not expect to gain
weight. Now it's time to fine tune the diet so I'm getting all the
nutrients I need consistently.

Julie.

JMA wrote:
"JulieB" wrote in message
...


B: 2 Weetbix biscuits, low fat milk (2%), 2 tsp brown sugar,
cranberry
juice. Occasionally baked beans on toast or boiled eggs on toast,
but
these are usually on the weekends when I have more time.

There are a few ways I make sure I can get my protien in the morning
and
others here use the same methods:
- a scoop of protein powder in oatmeal or yogurt
- make your eggs in advance and heat them up each morning (SBD has a
mini-quiche recipe that's really tasty)
- make a smoothie with tofu and fruit in a blender/food processor
(fast and
simple)

I was trying to figure out what 'SBD' was - South Beach Diet, yes? How
many eggs can I get away with per week? For some reason I hesitate
having 1 every day. I could do the protein powder thing too. I'll
have to see if I can find one I like.


L: Home-made soup with lentils or beans and veges (about 1 cup),
cheese sandwich on multigrain bread. The soup is replaced with
salad
in summer, and sometimes the sandwich is ham instead of cheese.

If you're looking to up your protein, I'd continue to include a
little ham
or turkey or else have some without the bread and with your soup. I
make a
nice spread with lowfat cream cheese and herbs and spread a thin
layer on
the ham or turkey slice and roll it up, or else I roll it up with
hummus
and/or cheese.

Not a bad plan. It's getting into salad weather too, so I could add
that to the salad and ditch the bread.

D: Lean red meat, vegies (including a small potato). Also
occasionally pasta, stir fries, burritos, but usually the same
basic
pattern.

Dinner looks fine if you make sure you get plenty of veggies and some

protein with your pasta.

We have pasta about once a fortnight or so, usually with lean mince.

Snacks: Fruit (apples, mandarins, stone fruit when it's in
season),
dried fruit (sultanas and apricots), nuts (almonds), peanut butter
on
corn crackers, swiss miss type non-fat hot chocolate drink,
marshmallows, low fat choc chip cookies, occasional dark chocolate
and
alcohol (wine), tea twice a day with a scant teaspoon of sugar in
each
cup.

Try peanut butter on an apple. Another good snack is some low fat
cottage
cheese with splenda and cinnamon - if you like cottage cheese.

That's not something I've tried, but I could give it a go. I've also
started seeing smooth cottage cheese around which might work better - I
hate the texture of the regular stuff.

Exercise: 30 minute walk 5 times a week before breakfast. I've
tried
weights too, but can't seem to keep it up. I'll have to try
working it
into my routine some other way.

There are a million ways to add strength training and you don't
always need
weights. Here's a great reference
http://www.stumptuous.com/weights.html
There is also a section on food that is an excellent nutrition
resource.

I recommend Krista's site to anyone who asks me about exercise and
weights. I have weights at home. I just need to pick the darn things
up occasionally!!

I can see that my breakfast is the main carb-fest here. Any other
suggestions would be great. Also, I'm Australian, so please only
suggest real food, not packaged stuff, unless you live here too!
And
yes, I like sugar. I'm not about to give it up as there's no way I
could maintain that for any length of time.

While giving up sugar can be helpful, it's not mandatory, especially
if you
used it while losing weight. Just keep it in moderation and all is
well.
Some people have to give it up because it can be addictive-like.

I think I can control my sugar cravings, and I really can't imagine
life without it.

Thanks for any suggestions you might have.
Julie.

93.5/72.5/74 kg
205.7/159.5/168.2 lb

Wow, you did great and the fact that you're getting on top of things
before
they get out of hand is really a positive thing. Most WW people I
know will
just go back to their points for a few weeks to get back down if they

regain, but I totally agree with you that you need to find a WOE for
maintenance. Give it time and it will come, don't expect things to
happen
overnight.

I probably will go back to points counting for a bit too, but I'd like
to incorporate some changes too. I lost at a rate of 0.6lbs/week, so
I'm used to being patient
Jenn

Thanks for the suggestions Jenn.

Julie.

Beverly wrote:
"JulieB" wrote in message
...
I've been (and still am, and will be for life) on Weight Watchers.
I've reached my goal weight and have sucessfully remained here for
about 10 months so far. However, I'm finding it harder to maintain
my
weight and it's veeeeerry slooooowly creeping up.

Have they introduced the new WW Core Plan in your area? It was just
introduced here in the US recently and the more I read about it the
more I
like it. It's focus is healthy unprocessed foods. You might get
some ideas
on tweaking your diet from it as it seems to be less focused on
carbs.

Beverly

Nope, no core plan in Australia. I think I understand the basic
concept, but haven't seen the list of 'no count' foods yet. I'll have
to see if I can find out some more details. It might be a good way of
controlling the snacks.

Julie.

"JulieB" wrote in message
...
JMA wrote:
"JulieB" wrote in message
...


B: 2 Weetbix biscuits, low fat milk (2%), 2 tsp brown sugar,
cranberry
juice. Occasionally baked beans on toast or boiled eggs on toast,
but
these are usually on the weekends when I have more time.

There are a few ways I make sure I can get my protien in the morning
and
others here use the same methods:
- a scoop of protein powder in oatmeal or yogurt
- make your eggs in advance and heat them up each morning (SBD has a
mini-quiche recipe that's really tasty)
- make a smoothie with tofu and fruit in a blender/food processor
(fast and
simple)

I was trying to figure out what 'SBD' was - South Beach Diet, yes? How
many eggs can I get away with per week? For some reason I hesitate
having 1 every day. I could do the protein powder thing too. I'll
have to see if I can find one I like.

Yes, it's South Beach Diet. There really aren't restrictions on eggs if you
have none from your physician. My husband eats 3-4 a day (breakfast and
lunch combined), but I eat them sparingly because they're just too rich for
me at times. I use an egg substitute called Egg Beaters that is primarily
egg whites. I also just use egg whites.

For protein powder, I get mine online and the brand I like best is Designer
Whey, though it's a personal preference. Just get small containers and try
some. I generally start with a vanilla flavor since it's innocuous and can
have stuff added like cocoa powder or almond extract or fruit to flavor it
differently. There are also soy protein powders if you want to add more soy
to your diet.


Try peanut butter on an apple. Another good snack is some low fat
cottage
cheese with splenda and cinnamon - if you like cottage cheese.

That's not something I've tried, but I could give it a go. I've also
started seeing smooth cottage cheese around which might work better - I
hate the texture of the regular stuff.

You could also put it in the blender - I do that when I want a change. Fat
free ricotta cheese has a different kind of texture, less sodium, and less
protein than cottage cheese and it makes a good dessert when flavored with
something.

I recommend Krista's site to anyone who asks me about exercise and
weights. I have weights at home. I just need to pick the darn things
up occasionally!!

Yep, they don't do much sitting on the floor by themselves do they?


Thanks for the suggestions Jenn.

Julie.


No problem! I hope you find them useful

Jenn

"JulieB" wrote in message
...
JMA wrote:
"JulieB" wrote in message
...


B: 2 Weetbix biscuits, low fat milk (2%), 2 tsp brown sugar,
cranberry
juice. Occasionally baked beans on toast or boiled eggs on toast,
but
these are usually on the weekends when I have more time.

There are a few ways I make sure I can get my protien in the morning
and
others here use the same methods:
- a scoop of protein powder in oatmeal or yogurt
- make your eggs in advance and heat them up each morning (SBD has a
mini-quiche recipe that's really tasty)
- make a smoothie with tofu and fruit in a blender/food processor
(fast and
simple)

I was trying to figure out what 'SBD' was - South Beach Diet, yes? How
many eggs can I get away with per week? For some reason I hesitate
having 1 every day. I could do the protein powder thing too. I'll
have to see if I can find one I like.

Yes, it's South Beach Diet. There really aren't restrictions on eggs if you
have none from your physician. My husband eats 3-4 a day (breakfast and
lunch combined), but I eat them sparingly because they're just too rich for
me at times. I use an egg substitute called Egg Beaters that is primarily
egg whites. I also just use egg whites.

For protein powder, I get mine online and the brand I like best is Designer
Whey, though it's a personal preference. Just get small containers and try
some. I generally start with a vanilla flavor since it's innocuous and can
have stuff added like cocoa powder or almond extract or fruit to flavor it
differently. There are also soy protein powders if you want to add more soy
to your diet.


Try peanut butter on an apple. Another good snack is some low fat
cottage
cheese with splenda and cinnamon - if you like cottage cheese.

That's not something I've tried, but I could give it a go. I've also
started seeing smooth cottage cheese around which might work better - I
hate the texture of the regular stuff.

You could also put it in the blender - I do that when I want a change. Fat
free ricotta cheese has a different kind of texture, less sodium, and less
protein than cottage cheese and it makes a good dessert when flavored with
something.

I recommend Krista's site to anyone who asks me about exercise and
weights. I have weights at home. I just need to pick the darn things
up occasionally!!

Yep, they don't do much sitting on the floor by themselves do they?


Thanks for the suggestions Jenn.

Julie.


No problem! I hope you find them useful

Jenn