Topic: Lose weight with us here!!!

[timiano]

Has anybody got any ideas for a filling but low cal snack/lunch.I sometimes run out of ideas.?

There's loads of choice, it just depends on how prepared (and disciplined) you are. I either work from home or on the road these days, so it's either really difficult, or really easy to eat well. At an office can be difficult (if that is where you are) as it depends what is near by, or as I said, preparation.

Best things for at work to keep interesting and nice are jacket spuds, as long as you have a microwave. Don't, I repeast 'don't!' cook your spud in the microwave. Do a batch of them on Sunday or Monday in the oven, so you can reheat at work (or at home) through the week. Toppings are then your choice, but as long as you don't go made with fatty stuff you'll be fine - oh, and hold the butter, no really. Jacket spuds done in the oven are devine, they'll fill you up, and you can keep it interesting. Beans, cottage cheese, creme fraiche, tuna mayo (light). My favourite is 1/2 tin beans (cheap ones) with a squirt of tomato puree and 1/2 teaspoon of chilli powder. Small dollop of creme fraiche, and a good sprinkling of chopped parsley or sweet basil.

When I'm on the road, I tend to try to get to M&S if I can, as they do a good range of healthy choice butties, and I really like the Sushi to Snack (no raw fish). Plus they do nice packets of fruit, carrot dippers etc - all nice, low calorie and healthy.

Fail in that, the slag of all snacks is calorie conscious, pot noodles - skip the bread to dunk though.

[Barnowl]

Jeannines lunch sounds great but I'd recommend Feta instead of cheddar - it has about half the fat content but stacks of flavour.

[betula]

That sounds nice Jeannine,Jim is six feet two and big built so I have the problem of letting him have quantity but low cal.If he has small portions he cant cope with it. :)

[timiano]

timiano, are you a slimming club leader or nutrionist? You seem to know a great deal about dieting and weight loss. We will be all be asking you for advice.  :)

Not at all. I've been perpetually a yo-yo overweighter all my life, and the only way I've managed to lose weight is by really understanding the science, or at least mechanics behind it. Even though I've learned how it all works, I still find it difficult, as my job entails quite a lot of travel, meaning eating out in restaurants 3+ times/week at night, and lunches from all over the place - while trying to maintain sanity!!

Diet this, diet that, all you need to know is what goes in minus what goes out has to be the same or you'll either lose or gain weight. How do you balance the books? Well, you need to find out what you burn (roughly), and then start counting what you eat. Simple!

Keeping to it is the hard part, and I wish I had a mechanical formula that worked for will power - alas I don't. All I can say, is through experience, is don't stop having nice things like treats, just account for them in the plan. My other tip is preparation. Food tastes sooooo much nicer when well prepared. A simple dish can be turned into a culinary delight with a litte bit of this or that - and it makes you feel like you are treating yourself all the time.

Oh....and eat less meat - we eat too much of it!

[sarah]

soup soup soup. and a little homemade wholemeal bread.  i make up batches of soup from what ever is growing on the plot and freeze it into individual portions and use them as and when.

[pamsdish]

hi everyone
  i too would like to join with the weight loss thread,
 like jeannine i love the fat from the meat and i eat little bread, i dont eat much processed food at all,most of my food is made from scratch.
  i enjoy a glass or two of wine but i then have to suffer hot flushes if i succumb. my problem is portion control, i am not bothered about breakfast ,i try to eat a reasonable lunch and evening meal then temptation strikes!!!  once i relax for the evening in front of the tele i start looking for nibbles
my husband is also disabled so we are not very active and he loves his food more than me and its hard to say no when somebody says ive done you a snack so my willpower wilts
 i will start tomorrow as too late today
               good luck all  pam
 

[flowerofshona2007]

Snack ideas :)
Homemade popcorn is good just leave the butter ect off, i like a few nice grapes as they satisfy the sweet need.
 I always have a yoghert for my pudding that seams to 'end' the meal for me.
 We have a low fat diet in general, bread is my biggest problem :( one slice and no weight comes off !!
 Meal wise we have curries, chilli, roast dinners, pork chops with paxo on top cooked int he oven in foil, spag bol but all with no fat even dry roast the potatoes and parsnips ect.
 The biggest change has been a smaller plate size.
 Always had skimmed milk so that is easy, its just getting into new habits.
 I have a free bar of galaxy choccie thats been here since last October and it doesnt bother me.
 Come on everyone :)

[posie]

Ok, I said I was just going to cheerlead but having just stood on the scales, I'd now like to join please?  ???  Despite not overeating (I thought) since I gave up, I have now hit 13stone 7lbs.  I only ever weighed 14 stone when I was carrying twins!!! And I'm only 5ft 7".

So count me in, if that's ok.

[Jeannine]

Oh wow, welcome aboard. pamsdish you sound too much like me, i could eat the fat off a steak and throw the meat away, and just like you I eat at night.

I do have to eat soemthng at 10pm as I have to take meds with food but it the what rather than the when.

Today, no breakfast again... I know it is bad, 3 pm I had a grilled piece of so lean ham,a poached egg with a grilled tomato and 2 microwaved mushrooms.

I will have some fruit and dry crackers with my meds tonight.Grapes I think, than k you FOS.

Nice to see you here posie.

Well done all that are losing, hopefully I will be able to post something soon.

XX Jeannine

[Biscombe]

Posie! snap! we weigh the same!
nearly completed my 3rd diet day, feel like I have more of a chance of keeping this going, thanks to this thread!

[posie]

Have to be honest, I never eat breakfast, just several cups of coffee. If I eat lunch it's generally sandwiches of some kind.  My biggest problem is I can go days without eating a thing, then 2 or 3 days when I don't stop.  Need to find some kind of happy medium.  I too would eat the fat and throw the meat and I LOVE chicken skin.

Mind you I'm hoping now that I'm going to gym twice a week and running 3 times a week it will start to reverse itself.

Fingers crossed and good luck everyone!

[Crystalmoon]

Hi everyone, Ive just caught up with the posts. Im not exactly on the Atkins diet but I am cutting out most carbs (not fruit & veg though). Some of you mention problems with Atkins type diets, could you elaborate please?
Sofar Im sticking to 2 main meals a day with a snack type meal (sometimes i have the snack meal for lunch other days for breakfast).
Today I had fruit for breakfast with a flax seed bar, for lunch a mushroom omelette & for dinner lean roast beef & dry roasted sweet potatoes. Ive been eating like this for a couple of weeks now & have lost 2 inches from my waist  ;D (I think bread & other wheat products were making me bloated so cutting these types of carbs has really helped).
I was 14st 3lb this morning so hoping to see that scale go down in a weeks time  ;)
Good luck everyone....WE CAN DO IT   

[timiano]

Hi everyone, Ive just caught up with the posts. Im not exactly on the Atkins diet but I am cutting out most carbs (not fruit & veg though). Some of you mention problems with Atkins type diets, could you elaborate please?

Atkins isn't 'that' bad. The folk who have trouble with it, are the ones that don't really eat veg. You really need to eat veg until it comes out of your ears, massive portions. Spuds are starchy though, as are some other veg.

Be careful though, as it's not as effective as actually knowing what you are eating. You can't stay on a low carb diet forever, and you will return to normality. If you learn about food now, it will help you more when you stop trying to lose, and start trying to maintain.

[sarah]

ooohh i am not doing very well the last couple of days  :'(. i seem to go through good and bad spells with regard will power.  not a good spell at the mo though.  yesterday i had two packets of crisps and a couple (ok -four) mini cream eggs. and i dont even know why!! when i am good i can avoid these things easily.  but when its a certain time of the month my will power is zero.  gggrrrrrrrr

[Crystalmoon]

Thanks Timiano for your reply. I love most veg but I dont eat potatoes as my digestive system doesnt get on well with nightshade plants. I suppose the most starchy veg I eat is baked sweet potatoes & i do like the sweet root veg like parsnips probably abit too much.
I will see how i feel on this low carb approach for a couple of months & maybe i will decide to just leave white stuff like pasta rice & bread out of my diet forever  ;)   

[debster]

i managed a pound off this week must have been the worry of the interview lol ;D

[Suzanne]

Low cal snacks/lunch idea.

Last night we had mackeral fillet (grilled) with roasted med veg (peppers, banana shallot, aubergine, courgette, tomatoes) which had ben roasted ina tray and sprayed with 1 cal. I then season and add basil and balsamic vinegar/very small amount of good olive oil and serve warm. But always do enough so I can take it to work cold the next day.

For me this is enough for my lunch, and in terms of WW points I only need to account for the oil in the dressing. For my OH who is over 6ft he will also take some crusty wholemeal bread as well.

Also have done roasted squash cubes - again roasted in  1 cal, seasoned with salt and black pepper, some pine nuts and caper chopped in. With green leaves as a base this again good as a boxed salad.  ;D

[gardening-gal]

Can I join in, I'm the heaviest I have ever been at 18.5 stone. 
I joined slimming world again last week so hopefully I will have had a good loss this week.
  My weight has gone up and down for years mainly because of my knee problems.  I had broken it three times in 6 years had wires put in and taken out, everytime I lost the weight I would break my knee and put it all back on again.
  Touch wood this is the best it has been in a long long time so I hope when I lose the weight it will stay off this time.
  Is anyone else following the slimming world plan?

[prink13]

welcome and good luck gardening gal - glad to have you losing with us

Kathi

[pamsdish]

hi fellow slimming gardeners ::)
   i have started my diet today, my weight is 17st 8oz  :o on my scales but 16st 12oz on docs so i will have to go by mine. so far had a grapefruit and yogurt smoothie for what passed as brekkie,homemade broccoli and stilton soup with ham salad and cous cous and plan on having liver tonight with cabbage to add bulk!!
  i tried atkins 5 years ago no coffee gave me blinding headaches and i felt terribly ill after about a week,but the weight was flying off!!
  i have the low gi books which is very similar but you eat some carbs i will try and find these out (moved house 3 months ago and still unpacking)
                 best of luck pam