Showing posts with label I'm all fired up now... get ready for some old school Mrs F. Show all posts
Showing posts with label I'm all fired up now... get ready for some old school Mrs F. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Monday, August 11, 2008
Getting Back To My Roots
Today is August 11th. I almost let it slip by and then I remembered that today is the day my best friend is going to start her diet plan. What's exciting about that is that she wanted little old me to come up with her meal plan... like I'm her very own personal Jenny Craig! Now truth be told we've tried this arrangement before and it hasn't worked... but this time I do believe she's ready. And I'm very excited because I would love for her to have the same success that I have... and I believe anyone can when they are ready to stop sabotaging themselves and really, really, take accountability for their choices.
Curious what I've laid out for her? Well here is some important background info... she has Celiac disease (no gluten) which of course has been a huge stumbling block for her in the past, she works full time with a significant commute into the city, she doesn't like to "handle" meat, due to her health issues she tends to eat separate meals from her boyfriend... which is nice in this circumstance since she really can have an individualized meal plan.
I'm a big believer in eating small meals through out the day. She typically pushes back food (since she's busy) until she is ravenous and then that spills over into all night eating. Sound familiar? I find, for myself, if I get too hungry I become like a bottomless pit and I never feel like I can get full enough. So I favor eating 6 times day with one of those being a straight up treat. I'm pretty consistent with my meal times (kids will do that to you) and I always have an afternoon snack between 4-5 pm so that I don't pick the whole time I'm making dinner (or get so hungry I freak out and tell Mr F to bring home pizza). One thing that held her back from succeeding in the past was her old job position, her hours were crazy and random and it really was impossible for her to be consistent. She has a much more consistent schedule and she's ready to commit to a food plan but she doesn't want to calorie count and meal plan.
So here is where I come in. I want her to succeed. I understand her particular hang ups. While I think food journaling and calorie counting are surefire methods for consistent weight loss... they'll only work if you'll do them. So since she can't dial up Nutrisystem or something else I've made a fairly inflexible plan. Inflexible on purpose. When she gets bored we'll change it up... but the hard weight loss portion is what it is and I don't know that having tons of choices makes it any easier. I actually think the more you run on autopilot food-wise the better. This isn't permanent but for now she's going to be eating the same types of food everyday. Think about your own diet... don't we all sort of do that anyway?
Breakfast: 1 brown rice cake w/ 1 T peanut butter
1 flavored yogurt
300
Snack: 1 piece of fruit
Tea w/skim
90
Lunch: frozen Amy's meal in the 300-400 calories range
400
Snack: Nectar bar
Tea w/ skim
190
Dinner: huge salad w/ unlimited veggies (except corn)
3 oz meat or 3 oz tuna or 2 hard boiled eggs or 1/2 c beans
1/2 c shredded cheese (or 1/4 avocado)
2 T lite dressing
300
1 piece of wheat free toast 100
400 total
Dessert: 1 Sherbetter popsicle or pudding cup 120
120
Total for day: 1500 calories
Now we worked this plan out of food she already likes and eats often. Obviously due to her Celiac disease she can't have many prepared or conventional foods. While she's eating basically the same thing everyday she can vary the flavors of her yogurt, snack bar and dessert as well as choose different frozen meals and completely change the taste and texture of her salad every night. I'm excited and she is too. This is a doable plan for her which doesn't require a lot of cooking (any really). We're going to let this plan work its magic over the next few weeks and add in exercise when she feels she has gotten this part down.
After working all that out for her I was so excited that I got recommitted to streamlining my own diet and getting back on a daily schedule. I really find that sticking with a routine helps keep me within in my calorie range.
Curious what I've laid out for her? Well here is some important background info... she has Celiac disease (no gluten) which of course has been a huge stumbling block for her in the past, she works full time with a significant commute into the city, she doesn't like to "handle" meat, due to her health issues she tends to eat separate meals from her boyfriend... which is nice in this circumstance since she really can have an individualized meal plan.
I'm a big believer in eating small meals through out the day. She typically pushes back food (since she's busy) until she is ravenous and then that spills over into all night eating. Sound familiar? I find, for myself, if I get too hungry I become like a bottomless pit and I never feel like I can get full enough. So I favor eating 6 times day with one of those being a straight up treat. I'm pretty consistent with my meal times (kids will do that to you) and I always have an afternoon snack between 4-5 pm so that I don't pick the whole time I'm making dinner (or get so hungry I freak out and tell Mr F to bring home pizza). One thing that held her back from succeeding in the past was her old job position, her hours were crazy and random and it really was impossible for her to be consistent. She has a much more consistent schedule and she's ready to commit to a food plan but she doesn't want to calorie count and meal plan.
So here is where I come in. I want her to succeed. I understand her particular hang ups. While I think food journaling and calorie counting are surefire methods for consistent weight loss... they'll only work if you'll do them. So since she can't dial up Nutrisystem or something else I've made a fairly inflexible plan. Inflexible on purpose. When she gets bored we'll change it up... but the hard weight loss portion is what it is and I don't know that having tons of choices makes it any easier. I actually think the more you run on autopilot food-wise the better. This isn't permanent but for now she's going to be eating the same types of food everyday. Think about your own diet... don't we all sort of do that anyway?
Breakfast: 1 brown rice cake w/ 1 T peanut butter
1 flavored yogurt
300
Snack: 1 piece of fruit
Tea w/skim
90
Lunch: frozen Amy's meal in the 300-400 calories range
400
Snack: Nectar bar
Tea w/ skim
190
Dinner: huge salad w/ unlimited veggies (except corn)
3 oz meat or 3 oz tuna or 2 hard boiled eggs or 1/2 c beans
1/2 c shredded cheese (or 1/4 avocado)
2 T lite dressing
300
1 piece of wheat free toast 100
400 total
Dessert: 1 Sherbetter popsicle or pudding cup 120
120
Total for day: 1500 calories
Now we worked this plan out of food she already likes and eats often. Obviously due to her Celiac disease she can't have many prepared or conventional foods. While she's eating basically the same thing everyday she can vary the flavors of her yogurt, snack bar and dessert as well as choose different frozen meals and completely change the taste and texture of her salad every night. I'm excited and she is too. This is a doable plan for her which doesn't require a lot of cooking (any really). We're going to let this plan work its magic over the next few weeks and add in exercise when she feels she has gotten this part down.
After working all that out for her I was so excited that I got recommitted to streamlining my own diet and getting back on a daily schedule. I really find that sticking with a routine helps keep me within in my calorie range.
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