Cupcake85

I'm off shopping this afternoon and would love some healthy food ideas especially lunches and snacks. I'm going to buy tuna in spring water, nori sheets, fruit and veg but I need more ideas please.

I don't mind if your ideas are paleo, low carb, etc but preferably low calorie. I'm trying to avoid processed snack foods and I'm overhauling my pantry.

I've set a goal of losing 5 dress sizes by my bday in August.

BooBitties

I eat like a kid for the most part... but I do have one go to thing if my husband needs to drop a few or if I am feeling puffy. I call it Go-Go juice. I used this as a part of my weight loss "plan" a few years ago. Honestly, there was no plan, I just cut out 99.9999% fast food (I was a junkie!! Gimme salt now! Still go to Steak n Shake on occasion). Cut back on dairy, cut back or eliminate soy, eliminate anything that says "artificial ______" in the ingredients. If you use cream and sugar in your coffee, slowly reduce the amounts of cream and sugar.

I went from a 12/14 to a 2 just by eliminating most of the crap from my diet. My son is intolerant to dairy, soy, and artificial everything. Just by eating the way he eats, I lost 45 lbs and my husband lost 20. Rat bast*** was still sneaking fast food.


BooBitties Go-Go Juice

3/4 c water (doesn't really have to be exact, example ratio only)
1/4 c simply apple juice
1 to 3 tablespoons of unfiltered, unpasteurized apple cider vinegar with "the mother"
ice
sprinkle cinnamon on top and stir
straw

Not the most pleasant tasting but safe. The apple juice is optional, but the acv can be a little shocking to the taste buds. Don't do it after you brush your teeth though. Nothing is worse than acv and a minty fresh mouth.

Cupcake85

I don't have sugar but I do like a very milky coffee so I have to try to cut back or switch to almond milk or something healthier.

I will look for apple cider vinegar as I've heard great things. Is it with normal vinegar or a different aisle?

BooBitties

It should be on the same aisle. It's usually in a glass bottle. I buy Bragg's and I believe it is available at Stay Healthy (???). Not sure, I just googled Perth and apple cider vinegar and that's what came up.

Cupcake85

I'm going to a large shopping centre today so if it's not at the supermarket will try the health food shops.

TexasHulaGirl

That's what I had to do ; ) I used to drink A LOT of milk, and after I cut dairy and sugar out of my diet and started eating Paleo I lost 15 lbs in 3 mths.

Now I use organic Almond Milk instead, I think it's a great sub for dairy milk : ) And normally I've found acv on the shelves near the regular vinegar.

For healthy, low calorie lunches I really like:

turkey wraps- iceburg lettuce, roast turkey, tomatoes, and avocado w/ some homemade salad dressing.

Zucchini 'spaghetti' w/ marinara sauce and turkey meatballs

Stuffed bell peppers made w/ beef or turkey, diced carrots, onion, and cauliflower w/ marinara sauce

Fajita or taco salad w/ salsa (no chips/ no taco bowl/ no tortillas)

Chicken Piccata- http://everydaypaleo.com/chicken-paleo-piccata/ - I add artichokes to this ; )

Most of my lunches are leftovers from the rest of the week ; ) That way I don't spend my entire day cooking and I normally snack on small things like fruit or nuts throughout the day.

Cupcake85

I've put on a pumpkin and bacon tomato salsa for lunch. That way it's ready and all I have to do is microwave it. I was going to put pasta in it but now I feel bad so I might just eat it plain.

I like the lunch ideas. I'm going to try out some new things. I completely forgot about turkey as a healthy meat option!

Cupcake85

I turned lunch into a soup and added carrot noodles and red kidney beans.

Ch3sty La Rue

I make healthy meals in bulk and then freeze them. Here is a link to some good ones. http://nataliehodson.com/11-healthy-...freezer-meals/

Springer1979

[QUOTE=Cupcake85;2738950]I don't have sugar but I do like a very milky coffee so I have to try to cut back or switch to almond milk or something healthier.

I love e creamy coffee and I found a far free coffee cream I swear by it now as I wasn't willing to give up my cream in my coffee!

Cupcake85

I have just discovered oven roasted broad beans!

They are to die for!

We also got sweet potato chips as our daughter can't get enough and my partner got sweet chilli and lime cashews.

We only got a little of everything to start with and to avoid bingeing (on my part).

3babies0boobies

These ladies all have great ideas! Sounds so yummy! One of my favorite meals (I don't eat any specific way other than no dairy since I am lactose intolerant) is to take canned tuna, add a little lemon juice and pepper to it and stuff it in half a fresh bell pepper. Don't cook, just eat it like that. Its really fresh and full of flavor!

As for cutting down on the cream and sugar in coffee, I used to be a flavored creamer girl (they are lactose free) so to stop myself I started using powdered creamer, which doesn't taste as good... which was actually my goal to not want to put anything in my coffee. Now I have drank my coffee black for two years... unfortunately my teeth have paid for it and am now using Crest White strips to fix :S

SLH1974

If you are not already taking them, start on Probiotics. They aid in the digestion and assimilation of food by the body, so less will be wasted and turn to fat, helping your body to use the nutrients!

Some great suggestions by PP's. Almond milk for diary milk (30 calories per cup vs. 100 calories per cup!)

Some of the staples in my low calorie diet include:

Celery (as a pre-meal appetizer) fills you up, blocks the absorption of carbs, and hydrates!

Greek Yogurt

Fresh Berries (Raspberries, Blueberries, Blackberries, Strawberries)

Low Fat Cottage Cheese

Lots of fresh fruit and vegetables

Oatmeal

Fiber One Cereal (60 calories per cup) mix into Greek Yogurt for a crunch

Drink Water! (no soda or caloric drinks!) I'd rather eat than drink my calories!! ; )

Fresh Fish grilled or baked with just olive oil (Love Salmon!)

Salads (lots of fresh veggies w/ lo-cal dressing) can use Red Wine or Apple cider Vinegar

Pretzels (for a salty snack) far fewer calories than chips

Air Popped Popcorn

Eggs (heavy on the whites) I make a 1 yolk/4 white omelette with veggies & cheese for 140 calories!

Tuna Salad (make with plain greek yogurt, dill pickles, & celery = very low cal)

I could go on, but the key is learning what you get in terms of nutrition and satisfaction for X number of calories. Once you start to pay attention to nutrition labels, you can streamline your own diet to suit your tastes, and give you the most bang (calorie-wise) for your budget buck! I eat about 1500-1600 calories per day, and for that you'd be amazed at how much I eat!

You can do it~! Just don't get discouraged because it doesn't happen overnight. Your goal is reachable... slow & steady wins the race! ; )

3babies0boobies

SLH1974 you seem to be soooo well versed in calorie counting, which is something I am starting to try a bit. Where would you suggest is the best resource for me to find my calories per day I should be eating to lose weight? I already try to make sure to have two fruit a day (as unfortunately alot of people will look at a 70cal apple vs 100cal pack of cookies and go for the cookies. So I am already trying to, as you say, get the most 'bang for my buck' by focusing of veggies, whole grains etc.

Diva01

These are all great suggestions. Im glad this question was asked. Ive gained almost 10 pounds since my revision and need to lose weight if I ever want my tummy tuck. Im going to yry really hard & lose weight.

SLH1974

Hi~!

I've been doing it for a few years and have built up a pretty good knowledge base of calories/food/nutrition. I was into bodybuilding years ago, so the nutritional education I developed then certainly helped. It's never too late to start, and I think it's the best way to go rather than some fad diet where you eat only this or only that, or can never have this or that. Depriving yourself of any kind of food is a pathway to failure. IMHO, which is backed by nutrition science, simply consuming fewer calories per day than it takes your body to operate, will result in weight loss. Of course, you still must feed the machine that is your body with wholesome, nutritious foods so it will perform for you.

Generally speaking, women can subsist on approximately 1800 calories per day and men 2000. Of course that depends on your level of activity and your personal physiological make up. There are free online sources that you can use to plug in your height, weight and activity level and get a number of calories. You could also ask your doctor (PCP), or just start out with 1800 and see what happens. If you stay the same weight after a couple weeks, you're probably a bit high, but if you start to lose, then you're in the ballpark. You'll have to play around with the number to find yours, because even what a doctor tells you will only be an estimate since all of us are different in the calories we burn to live and move. Don't go crazy though and start out at 1200 or 1000 calories per day. Too many women do that because they think it will result in rapid weight loss, but in reality will only put your body into starvation mode and force it to hold on to fat reserves. The trick (which is not difficult) is to find the balance point for your body.

I started by purchasing a high-quality food scale. Even the really nice ones are only about $20.00. I use gram measurement for accuracy, and measure everything before it goes in my mouth. One ounce is 28 grams, and with the labels on foods, as well as online calorie information websites, you can break down everything. One of the sites I like is www.calorieking.com for caloric value reference. As you no doubt have discovered, some foods don't have labels or very informative labels, and of course produce doesn't at all. For any given food, once you break down the caloric value into the number of calories per gram, you have it made. With that information, you can then dish out your portion and completely control what you take in. For instance, celery has .140 calories per gram, which means that you can eat 130 grams of celery (which is quite a lot!) for just 18.2 calories! Something like farmed Salmon from Costco has 1.77 calories per gram, so a fist-sized single portion of 72 grams (cooked weight) has 127.44 calories. Something very calorie-dense like bread has about 3 (or more!~) calories per gram, so a very small piece of bread - one piece of a small loaf or 1/2 piece of a large loaf (approximately 30 grams) has 90 calories plus. So, if you make yourself a sandwich with two regular sized pieces of bread, you've added at least 200 calories to the meal. Eat an open faced sandwich and you've cut that in half! Or, a lettuce wrap around your preferred sandwich-able food and you've taken at least 200 calories off the top, which you can add to a side or save for another meal!

It sounds like you are really getting the hang of it! Knowledge is power! I don't buy a thing at the grocery store without inspecting the nutrition label and comparing it to other brands of the same thing to find the one with the lowest caloric value. Once you master the process you can have anything you want to eat, but in most cases will probably opt for something lower in calories that will give you more bulk. A candy bar will have 200-300 calories in it, and will just make you want more, which is what sugar does in the human body. If you spend that 200-300 calories on a cup of Greek Yogurt (140 calories), you can hit that sweet spot, add some fresh berries and some low cal cereal, and still come in at less than 200 calories! With that, you'll also be satiated! At first, the reading of labels, weighing everything and logging it is time consuming and can be kind of a pain. The good thing about that aspect of it is that it slows you down and prevents impulse eating! You won't be just mindlessly shoveling food in your mouth, which is what most people do who are overweight. There is a process and ritual to measuring and weighing everything, then dishing out a portion for yourself knowing exactly how many calories are in it! It gives you a tremendous sense of control over your diet and you stop being at the mercy of food and your appetite, and begin to use food intelligently to fuel your body, to satisfy cravings, and lose or maintain your weight!

Keep CalorieKing up on your computer, put together a spreadsheet of the foods you commonly eat and log the caloric value per gram. That way, you'll have a quick reference guide at your fingertips and you won't have to repeatedly look up foods all the time. If you want to go a a little farther, keep a log of everything you eat, how much, how many calories and at what time you ate it. Add to that how you feel that day, and after a few weeks it will become an invaluable resource you can consult to see what works and doesn't, and if any foods make you feel not so great! Keep at it! Good luck! ; )

3babies0boobies

Thank you!! I have started (2 days ago) using a app on my tablet that helps me track everything I eat, and to help find caloric values. I have started myself at 1500 calories a day, and it hasn't made me feel deprived yet, but perhaps I need to up this then? And I agree with the sugar issue, I actually used to crave pop all the time, but the past year I was trying to find something different and wound up becoming addicted to Perrier! It turns out the carbonation helps me curb cravings, and I genuinely love the taste!!

I look forward to updating on my progress!!

SLH1974

You're very, very welcome! ; ) I briefly looked into those apps, as well as the wrist devices, and found that you still have to log the information into a database. So I figured that was an extra step for me at least. If it works for you and you like it, you go girl! 1500 calories may be a little bit low depending on your height/weight and activity level. Everyone has a different stationary caloric burn rate, which is based on those things, as well as muscle mass. I'm sure you are aware that muscle burns calories, so the more you have, the more you burn. Thus, strength training to some degree, working out with weights, etc.... anything to build muscle, is beneficial to your overall goal.

Sugar is sooo good, but it's evil! The more you have, the more you want, and once you get that taste in your mouth, it can be almost impossible to stop eating it. For that reason I try to stay away from it. For me, it's easier to have none than to have one. If I don't get the taste in my mouth, I'm much better off than if I have a little bite. There is not such thing as having just one little square of a chocolate candy bar for me! ; )

Good for you kicking the soda habit! That is one of the biggest hindrances to weight loss... people who cannot stop drinking sweetened soda! I destroys your body. Like you, I love carbonated water and drink lemon infused sparkling water that I get at the grocery store (Albertson's, if you have them near you. The carbonation will definitely help to make you feel full! So will lemon. You can try squeezing fresh lemon juice in your water to give it an extra kick.

When you are looking for a treat, I found something that is totally amazing. It's a frozen dessert like ice cream, but is super low calorie and really good! It's called Arctic Zero, and comes in pint containers just like Ben & Jerry's or Hagen Daz, except an entire container (1 pint) has only 150 calories~! Comparatively, a pint (actually less these days) of B&J or HD has about 800 or more! They carry it at Ralphs, Whole Foods, and Sprouts Markets if you have them around you. You can't beat it for a treat, and you won't blow your diet! They have a website too if you can't find it at a store near you! ; )

3babies0boobies

Actually this app (I have a Surface Pro) is a MSN based 'health watch' so all food, and most brands are already 'built in'. Its actually been easy to track, which I thought would be harder. I usually workout 4-5 times a week, depending on my 8 month olds nap schedule, the older ones are good with playing in their room for an hour while mommy workouts out.

And yes, lemon in my water is a must! I actually have a Soda Stream at home that I use to carbonate my water since my hubby was getting sick of the cost of me buying flats of pre-carbonated water!! Lol! As for the ice cream, I read about that in my fitness magazine I get, but sadly it is yet to be available in Canada

BooBitties

http://enjoylifefoods.com/

^^^ look. drool. buy. eat. be happy.

B/c of my son's soy/dairy/artificial issues, we buy a lot of their products. I will sit here and eat a bunch of the the chocolate mini chips - they are SO good!

At Target, one bag is around $5-ish. I can make 2 batches of chocolate chip cookies, 3 batches of waffles (I told you people that I eat like a kid, I wasn't kidding! LOL), and still have chocolate chips left over. It comes out to be cheaper than the morsels filled with gunk. Satisfies the need for you daily dose of goodness, I mean chocolate.

http://enjoylifefoods.com/our-foods/...ng-mini-chips/

The best weight loss tip I can give besides the ACV above is: if you can't spell it in a spelling bee, you shouldn't be eating it!!

I applaud those that have the patience to count calories. During my training days, I had to consume about 4000-5000 calories a day. It sucked. I was not blessed with the gift of patience.