Diet Wars: Planning Ahead

In Search of..... Fun Foods to Eat Under 300 Calories

Pizza - Who would have thought that you could still eat pizza on a diet? A normal slice of pizza (1/8 of the whole pizza) is roughly 140 to 196 calories, depending on the size of the pizza and what other stuff will on there. I would stick to the thin crust cheese pizza, with maybe one additional topping of mushrooms, chicken, veggies, maybe pepperoni. A slice of pizza and a small tossed salad with fat free dressing can make a great meal.

Grilled Chicken Salads - The BK Garden Salad with Tendergrilled Chicken is your best bet. The whole salad along with the packet of Fat Free Ranch Dressing is exactly 300 calories. A perfect lunch. I never add the croutons to the salad and they probably add a little more. Shoney's has a similar salad along with a side of fruit. A cursory look at several regular restaurants and fast food restaurants shows that in many places you have to be REALLY careful with the salads. You can easily be fooled into thinking you're eating healthfully (which in theory you are) but especially the restaurant salads like you get at O'Charleys, Logans, etc., are going to be anywhere from 500 to 1,000 calories! Yikes! (Thanks to Hungry Girl for that tip)

A Filling Breakfast - I've never been a good breakfast eater and tend to wait until late in the morning, and then stop off at McDonald's for a sausage and biscuit. I've discovered a very filling breakfast for just below 300 calories is a toasted English Muffin with a tbsp. of jam (preferably sugar free), and two boiled eggs. That's more that I would ordinarily eat, but since I'm having to make do until lunch, I figure I should get that protein from the eggs. You could also make your own Egg McMuffins and stay well within range.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Planning Ahead

My challenge this week has been not being prepared when I'm not where I need to be at meal time in order to eat healthfully. Part of the problem is that as a single woman, I don't keep a stocked refrigerator or pantry the way you do when you have a family - especially children. For the most part I'll only buy food for a few days and eat out most of the other time (a clue to my weight gain as well!). Or I keep frozen items that I can zap and eat - and then there have been the times in the evenings when I simply ate a bowl of cereal or straight out of the peanut butter jar!

Plus when I grocery shop, I tend to do it by the seat of my pants - no shopping list in hand, just a mental checklist and cruising up and down all of the aisles to see what catches my eye and hoping I remember everything I do need (I always forget something!)

So since starting on WW I've been gradually trying to rebuild my pantry with stock items that can help me make wise choices when it comes time to eat. And I'm trying to think ahead when shopping, actually make a list, check the WW website to figure out points for certain items and go from there.

What happened two nights this week is that I didn't know until the last minute that I was going to be somewhere other than home for dinner - so it ended up being late before I could eat - and while I stayed within my points and made relatively good choices, it just was more difficult and stressful. I'm trying to think of "emergency rations" - perhaps a protein bar? - that I can keep in my purse when that happens again. (I don't think a Rice Krispies bar counts - even though that's what I had with me yesterday!)

However a midweek weigh-in at the doctor's office showed a few more pounds coming off - assuming their scale is calibrated closely to mine - so I'll be interested to see what the scale reads this weekend.

I can say that this has not been difficult so far and for the most part I feel satisfied with the foods I eat, and I already feel better from not loading myself up with sugar and fats. The only thing I don't like, and which has sabotaged most of my diets, is having to be constantly aware and conscious about my food intake. Having to plan and think about it all the time gets old after a while. Of course, the alternative to not being aware and thoughtful about it, is to eat anything and everything and continue to gain weight.

A little primer on making comments to my blog
Some of you seem to be a bit challenged about commenting directly to the blog post. Most of you have my email address so it's perfectly fine to just email me. However, if you'd like to comment on the blog, here's what you do: At the end of each post you'll see a "0 comments" or perhaps there'll be a number which means someone has already commented. Just click on that link and you'll be taken to an area where you can read the comments and then write one of your own. That's all you have to do - don't have to sign in or anything! I think there's some kind of little puzzle you have to interpret - but we all have seen those before. Just remember - these are "public" comments - anyone will be able to read them. So if you want to say something to me in private then it's better to email me directly!