Getting the right balance of cal/protein/carbs/fat

Hey everyone. I have been doing some journaling of my food, not something I am really consistent with. But lately I have been struggling to see the scale move so I began journaling and using fitday.com. Well, it would seem that I am getting in way too much fat. I eat protein of some form at each of my 3 meals. Usually it's cottage cheese (lowfat), meat and cheese, meat/chicken with salad, chicken salad (reg mayo), turkey meatloaf, etc. I have not been eating lowfat cheese. I have a hard time finding low fat cheese in slices. I can usually only find it shredded. I really need to change some things because I am wondering if the fat I am consuming is causing slow down in the weight loss. I am not too worried because I know that I am staying under 1200 calories a day and getting less than 50gr carbs a day. But still, it makes me wonder if WHAT I am eating is making a difference. My meat is usually lower fat cuts, skinless, etc. I don't use any oil or other fat to cook with. I bake or roast almost everything. I really need to go to low fat mayo/fat free if I can stand it. Oh and low-fat or fat-free dressings too. I am trying to also increase my protein because I am not getting nearly enough of that. I am trying a new thing this week of eating 4 small meals with one or two snacks. Maybe that will help me get more protein and still stay in my calorie range. How are y'all doing with your food intake? Are you tracking? I know that the weight loss is supposed to slow down but after over 3 weeks with no loss I decided to keep track and see if there are ways I can improve and maybe at least try to get the losing going again. Even if it is slow, it's better than not at all. Hugs, Robin

Robin- I had noticed the same thing as you recently and talked to my nutritionist about it. I've had to re-evaluate my meals and really plan them out. I am going back to 2 protien drinks a day. Things like bananas and protien bars were what was affecting my calorie and fat intake the most. They are now cut out. They also made me crave sugar. Aside from yesterdays fudgesicle fiasco, I have been doing pretty good and the scale finally budged. Only a pound, but I'll take it. BTW, Kraft makes Krafts Snackables 2% cheddar cheese. They are individually packaged in 1 oz portions. They have about 7 grams of protien each. I pay $1.68 for a package of 10 at Walmart. I eat at least one of these with lowfat low sodium deli roast beef everyday. They are in the section with the String cheese. Kathy

Thanks Kathy. I'll have to look for those. I am sure that as I adjust things the scale will get moving again. I am going to try to buy one of those magic bullets so that I can get my protein smoothie again. I am not a protein powder/drink liking person. I don't like the pre-mixed ones at all and have just a select few that I can stand that I make at home. The blender broke so I am out of a way to mix them. I did add 1/2 scoop of strawberry powder to my yogurt this morning and that was not terribly bad, although I did gag a couple of times on it. It's mostly a mind thing with me. I am working on it though. Robin

Not sure if you tried Nectar protein drinks or not, but the Fuzzy Navel is really good and I have it every morning with Crystal Light as my "Orange Juice" or morning drink. I use about 4 oz of Crystal Light or Wal-Mart brand Orange Sunrise, and 4 oz of cold water. I use a scoop and 1/2 of the powder and don't have to blend it for it to mix well. I just use the plastic shaker you can find on BraiatricEating.com and shake it for about 30 seconds and it mixes just fine. One scoop has 90 cal, 23 g protein, 0 fat, 0 sugar, 0 carbs. If you do a scoop and 1/2 or 2 shakes a day you can get in a lot of extra protein without worrying about added fat and calories. Hope this helps, Monica