25 days ago I looked up how many calories I should be consuming in order to lose weight. You can find a calculator online that will tell you based on your age/height/weight. That's the day I put myself on a 1200 calorie meal plan. I don't call it a diet because I don't feel like I'm starving or having to live on salad. I'm literally counting EVERY calorie that goes into my body. When I started reading the side of the box of things I used to eat - OH MY WORD. I was consuming the amount of calories for a ginormous man. I've had people ask what I'm doing and what I'm eating so I thought I would write a post about it. I've found the My Fitness Pal app on my iphone to be incredibly helpful! I keep up with all of my exercise and calories on this app. You can search for any food and lots of restaurants to find out how many calories you're consuming.
Breakfast options:
Coffee
All Natural Granola - I put this on top of my yogurt in the mornings. My favorite with the least calories is Bear Naked Granola.
Stonyfield Vanilla Yogurt
1/2 Medium Banana
Instant Oatmeal (Maple & Brown Sugar). I eat the low sugar option and add 1 tsp of Brummel & Brown Yogurt Spread. I also make it with 1/2 cup of skim organic milk. Milk is high calorie so I try to be careful how much I drink.
Scrambled or fried egg w/piece of whole wheat toast or multi-grain english muffin.
Every Sunday I go through Starbucks and get a grande non-fat vanilla latte. My latte choice is 200 calories. This is the only day of the week that I don't have time for breakfast, so I drink my calories.
Lunch options:
Multigrain Tortilla w/turkey, mixed greens, tomato, laughing cow cheese, tiny bit of ranch dressing to add more flavor.
Strawberry Spinach Salad w/strawberries & fat free feta. I dip my fork in dressing so I don't really consume much but get a little of the flavor. :)
Tomato Basil Soup - I buy this pre-made at Fresh Market. You can have a cup of this for only 100 calories!
Grilled Chicken Breast on a salad or with veggies, baked potato.
Medium Baked Potato w/sour cream only.
Dinner Options:
Grilled Chicken Breast with salad or baked potato.
Grilled Fish with salad, veggies or baked potato.
Pulled pork without the bun.
I even have fried catfish. I just make sure I save a few of my calories during the day. Some restaurants have fried catfish that's only 100 calories per piece. I don't eat the hush puppies or fries and have salad and a baked potato.
Salad with lots veggies.
I've had ribs...chicken strips...tacos on corn tortillas. You can have anything you want - you just have to watch the quantity you're consuming and what's on it.
Snack options:
I love any of the 100 calorie snack packs. So many options!
Laughing Cow Cheese.
Pretzel Thins.
Skinny Cow desserts.
Marshmallows.
I measure everything I eat. If it says 1/2 cup - I get out my measuring cup! If I'm out to eat - I look up the restaurant and find out how many calories are in what I'm about to order or do it ahead of time. Seems like a pain but it's really not. I feel healthier and have more energy! I have always drank water w/lemon and unsweetened tea, so I don't really have to worry about drinking my calories. If you're going to drink sweet tea - it's best to make it at home. A large sweet tea at Mcalisters or Chick-fil-a is at least 220 calories! Some of you don't have to worry about the amount of calories you consume and I'll try not to hate you for that. ;) I on the other hand...well, in order to get the rest of this weight off, I do have to pay attention to what I'm eating. I walk with Amelia (when it's not raining) and that has helped too. I usually walk 20 minutes every day. I hope to build up to a run which burns even more calories but for now - walking it is! I also try not to eat past 7:00pm. If I get a craving for something sweet before bed - I eat a couple of marshmallows and go to bed! :)
This is day 25 on the 1200 calorie meal plan and I've lost 9.4 pounds!! I would love to lose 20 more pounds. I'm going to just wait and see how I feel as more comes off. I'm not really hung up on the number on the scale...I just want to feel good in my clothes again. I've already lost two sizes in some of my clothes which is exciting.
So for those that asked - this is what I'm doing!
Love to all,
15 comments:
Good for you! I am doing Weight Watchers, which restricts your calories, too. So far I've lost about 5, and I do not want to find it again! Haha.
Keep up the GREAT work!
This is awesome!!! So proud of you!!!
WAY TO GO, JILL!!!!!! I'm using that app too!!! I'm not brave enough to do 1200 cals yet. Dr. Simmons told me to stick with 1800 for now. I have lost around 10 pounds so far & I started about 3-4weeks ago (can't remember exact date). Here's to us both losing more weight. Loves & hugs!!!! :)
WAY TO GO JILL!!!!!! I'm using that app too!!! It is very helpful. I'm not brave enough to try 1200 calories. Dr. Simmons said to start at 1800 cals for me. So Chris & I are doing it together. I have lost around 9-10 pounds so far. I have been doing it for 3-4 weeks now. I can tell a difference in some of my clothes already. Love & Hugs!!!!!
Sorry didn't mean to post a million comments!!! LOL!!!
Thank you for doing this post. I wondered what you were doing and you have totally motivated me. Thank you for the inspiration.
I've found that 10 pounds a month is a great goal! I've lost 40 pounds since January 2nd (sad that I have so much left to loose), but you mentioned many of the foods I eat. I just want to add that I found digorno pizza portions that are 200 calories. It's great for lunch paired with an activia and 100 calorie snack pack (I'm currently loving the yogurt pretzels).
Great job with 10 pounds!
I'm really proud of you, Jill! I know that dieting is not easy. My friend Sandra has lost 80 or 90 pounds on WW - that and she started running. She just finished her first marathon last weekend. She feels so good about herself now.
It will be interesting to see what I need to do to lose these pregnancy pounds. I think I've gained about 45 pounds so far. Ugh!!!
You go, girl!! WOO-HOO!! What you are doing is HARD!! Or at least for me it is. I LOVE food!! I use the Livestrong app...it keeps up with all my calories, too. If I write down EVERY single calorie I eat, it always works. It's like it holds me accountable. You should walk with us sometime...we go SUPER fast...most people's jog. :) Happy Happy Day, sweet girl! I miss you!! I hope I see you next Monday at LG!!!
I am SO IMPRESSED!!! 9.4 lbs in 3 weeks!?! I need to find this app and be your friend. : )
That is SO GREAT!!! That is what I did--counted caloried, measured everything...and eventually it will become second nature...you will know what your favorites are and you won't have to actually/manually "count" anymore.
1200 calories seems awfully low, though, to me. Those online calorie counters are notoriously low even when you enter in your height, weight, etc. It sounds like you are doing good, though. I would just encourage you to not be afraid to increase your calories by 100-200 (at least) per day if you're really hungry---especially if you are exercising. When I first started....I was eating 2000 calories a day. Of course, I was breastfeeding. But even without breastfeeding, I probably would have been around 1500-1600 I think.
I'm just so happy you are feeling so good---it's so encouraging isn't it?!?!? SO PROUD OF YOU!!
Love you friend!!
A trick I learned from WW is to substitute almond milk for regular milk. One brand of almond milk has a version for 40 calories for a whole cup! I'm not a big milk drinker so it works for cooking, baking and putting in coffee, I've heard it goes well in cereal too!
Good luck!
So glad you are doing so well! I have always been a hardcore calorie counter, it works best for me along with routine exercise.
Someone mentioned almond milk, I am a HUGE fan of it as well. It's not great in cereal so I still use skim milk for that, but I use the almond milk in coffee, oatmeal, cooking, etc. Make sure you get the "no sugar added" variety if you go that route! (I prefer it to soy, personally, which is another lower calorie route you can go)
Keep up the good work!! Nothing feels better than losing weight, I'm sure of it. Oh, and let yourself have a "cheat day" every now and then. I find that helps! (just make sure you don't spill your cheat day in to a cheat week, it's easy to do)
xoxo
That's great - you should be proud of yourself! I started Weight Watchers about 6 weeks ago and I am down 10 pounds. It isn't easy, but I sure feel better!
Good job!
Way to go, Jill!!
I did this a couple months ago when I was stuck losing the baby weight. After going on vacation, I need to do it again! Your post gave me a little boost to do it again.
Hope you are having a wonderful Mother's Day!!
Post a Comment