A Look At My Diet

October 9, 2011.

Near the beginning of my posting journey I mentioned my opposition to dieting. I've never done it and don't intend to do it now. I love fresh food and hate frozen meals. I'd rather pay $50 for a gourmet dinner out than $10 for fast food. And, I don't eat large portions.

I do, however, like things that are sweet and find it very hard to go a day without eating something chocolately or sugary and drinking one can of regular Coke a day is proving difficult to eliminate from my diet. I've tried Coke Zero and Diet Coke and I'd honestly rather give up the real stuff than drink the fake as I think they taste disgusting.

At the request of a few followers I'm posting my typical meal plans from the past week. It's something I recognize I need to change to see better weight loss results and that is why this request was good timing - because I've made that my goal for the month. On average I eat about 1800 calories a day without any effort at cutting calories. Weekends are tough and I tend to eat more (2500+ calories) as I work in an office room by myself for 12 hours with only a bar fridge, a microwave, and a toaster oven with no tray to prepare food in.

Breakfast between 6am-7am
Aim for 300-400 calories
Ex. 1 (at home) Bowl of cereal with skim milk - Special K, Honey Nut Cheerios, Golden Grahams, or Lucky Charms (I switch it up)
Ex. 2 (on the go) Toasted bagel with plain cream cheese and a large green tea with 2 milk and 2 sugar from Tim Horton's

Lunch 10:00am ish (I teach elementary school so we have two lunch breaks)
Aim for 150-350 calories
My lunches tend to be snackable things because I often eat them in less than 10 minutes or while on the go because I supervise extra-curricular clubs, do yard duty, or prep my classes. I really need to make a point of sitting and eating.
Ex. 1 Bottle of water, Source yogurt cup, cottage cheese cup
Ex. 2 Bottle of water, 6 graham crackers with cream cheese or block cheddar cheese, Source yogurt cup
Ex. 3 leftovers from dinner (pasta usually) that fit in a sandwhich tupperware container

Lunch 1:00pm ish
Aim for 250 calories
Ex. 1 Finish water bottle, piece of fresh fruit, Source yogurt cup, chocolate coated granola bar
Ex. 2 Finish water bottle, carrots and garlic hummas, 100 calorie pre-packaged treat (ie. Crispy Minis or popcorn)
Ex. 3 Finish water bottle, Source yogurt cup

After School Snack 4:00pm ish
Usually 300 calories
This is where I struggle. I'm usually starving at this point as I've only "snacked" for lunch and will not be eating dinner until 8pm many nights. This is the first area of my meal planning I will be changing by substituting a piece of fresh fruit.
Ex. 1 donut from Tim Horton's and a large green tea with two milk and two sugar
Ex. 2 chocolate bar
Ex. 3 3 cookies
Ex. 4 an ice cream bar (100-150 calorie ones)

Dinner between 5:00pm and 9:00pm
I'm usually under 1000 calories before dinner. Aim for 700-800 calories for dinner.
This is usually where I drink a Coke, but I'm trying to switch back to drinking skim milk like I used to before I married a man who only drinks pop and hot chocolate.
Ex. 1 lamb chop, parsnip puree, green beans
Ex. 2 chicken breast in sauce, frozen corn, frozen peas
Ex. 3 two frozen salmon filets, a few spoonfuls of white rice with soya sauce, frozen mixed veg
Ex. 4 pasta with 4-5 small turkey meatballs or frozen baby shrimp and spaghetti sauce, may add veggies into pasta
Ex. 5 pork tenderloin, mashed potatoes with gravy, baby carrots
Ex. 6 steak (seldom red meat), yams, broccoli

Note: Dinner components are all interchangeable. My dinner plate usually consists of these food groups though...one serving lean meat, 1-2 vegetables (frozen, fresh, or salads), 1 "starch" (rice, potato, yams, parsnips).

Snack (only if an early dinner)

Aim for 100-200 calories.

Ex. 1 hot chocolate with marshmallows

Ex. 2 100-150 calorie ice cream bar

Ex. 3 dessert of any kind (pudding, pie slice, cupcake, cookies)

Total 1800-2300 if I use the minimum and maximum for all categories, however I usually range between 1600-2100 calories.