my diet

I have actually had quite a few people ask about my diet. I thought that maybe I should share it here too. Please know that I am not perfect at this AT ALL. But it should give you some idea of what I'm doing and how I find my greatest success.

One of the best tools that I have found for my diet is www.myfitnesspal.com. It helps you keep track of what you are eating and has an amazing database where you can search for food. If you have a smart phone it has an app where you can scan in the bar code of the food and it will automatically add it to your diary. It lets you set up a profile on how much weight you want to lose per week, what your activity level is and the percentage of macronutrients you want in your diet. When I first started tracking what I ate, I was set at 60% carbohydrates, 25% protein, and 15% fat (it lets you customize these to your liking). Now that I have more control on my eating (at least we think so) I changed it to 50% carbs, 35% protein, and 15% GOOD fat. My weight loss goal is 2 lbs a week and I have my activity level set at sedentary, just so it gives me the lower calories. I'm currently at 252 and I have a daily goal of 1460 calories. It's been hard to stay under this, but when I do I see the most results. It also gives you the option to track your exercise, but then it adds the calories burned back into your daily allotment. I don't eat the calories that I burned (I feel like that's contradicting the work I just put in). Also, if you know people on the program you can be friends and view each others diaries.. if you want..

Now for the actual eating.. My eating habits are a lot worse than they could be. I have such a terrible sweet tooth! But when I'm eating what I'm supposed to...

For breakfast I switch between Chobani 0% greek yogurt with 1/2 cup Kashi Go Lean Crunch, OR steel cut oats with almond milk and blueberries, OR an english muffin with 1/2 cup scrambled egg substitute, a wedge of laughing cow light cheese and sprouts.

If' I'm planning for the week I'll make my oats Sunday night and then split them up in containers to take to work with me. I like to sleep so I eat my breakfast when I get to work.
I have a banana ready for a snack somewhere. If I have the steel cut oats for breakfast then I'll bring along a yogurt for an afternoon snack as well

Lunch is usually some form of vegetables and chicken, tuna, or salmon, if I'm really good, otherwise I'm at the mercy of the food court downstairs. I try to aim for a salad, some kind of protein, with fat free or light dressing in that case.

I usually have a protein drink on my way to the gym.

My "popular" dinners are turkey burgers (4oz ground turkey, 1/2 cup cottage cheese, 1/4 cup bread crumbs), makes 2 patties, served on a bed of spinach, OR protein pancakes, 1/2 cup cottage cheese, 1/2 cup quick oats, 1/2 cup egg substitute served with fresh fruit and sugar free syrup. Those are my go to meals for sure.

I don't really have a schedule as to what I eat for each meal. I just try to make sure I have some form of protein in each meal, with my vegetables and fruit. The ultimate goal is to find what works for you, gets the nutrients that you need, and that tastes good. I like experimenting with ingredients to see if I can make things more palatable.

If I had to put a schedule together it would probably look something like this:

Breakfast 9am Yogurt/Granola or Steel Cut Oats/milk/berries
Snack 11am Fruit (Banana/apple)
Lunch 1pm Protein/veggies
Snack 3pm Vegetable (grape tomatoes/cottage cheese)
Protein Drink 5pm
Dinner 8pm Something I can find! (Turkey Burger or Protein Pancakes or whatever else I feel like cooking :)

Also, I can't emphasize enough the importance of staying hydrating. I notice that when I'm hydrated I crave sugar less and have more energy. I usually get AT LEAST 96 fl oz / day.

Let me know if that helps or if you have any other questions! I really love helping wherever I can!

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