Grocery shopping and meals tips
So, I actually measured my foods today so far and it turns out that im comfortably able to eat 3oz of protein per meal. I see that "Eggfaces" recipes are quite popular on this site. I noticed she uses a lot of ingredients that I thought were empty calorie foods like oatmeal and pb to make wls friendly desserts. I love how she incorporates protein powder, and bars in recipes. My question is have you guys incorporated any of those into your menus, and were you still able to stay on track with your weightloss? For example lets use her protein oatmeal raisin cookies. I eat a meal every three hours with fluids in between starting at 11am (protein shake at 8am), and I try to only have fluids after 5pm. Since im not able to eat much am I supposed to have the cookies as one of my 3 hour meals or in addition to one of my meals since it's technically a dessert? Im new at this, just trying to gain a better understanding. I went cold turkey off the sweets as well guys :-). I went on a rampage in the pantry and threw everything unhealthy out.. Also guys im going grocery shopping tomorrow do you guys shop for the entire month or two weeks. Do you write out menus before you shop? So far I have meats like lean ground beef chix breast, sliced lunch meats, cheese, vegggies, fruits, almonds, eggs,etc....Help a gal out.. just trying to reach my goal, and maintain!! Im trying to work on fighting my head hunger. Its tough but ive been doing good so far!!
Just to add.. this mornings breakfast was a boiled egg, lunch was 3oz of baked chix breast with eggface's greek dip (so tasty).. thats it so far today. No protein shake because I ran out of almond milk and I don't grocery shop until tomorrow... water so far and iced green tea no sugar!! This post may be a bit all over the place, but for the most part, im just really trying to prepare for this trip to the grocery store tomorrow!
You are more "on track" than you think !!!
Many go blindly into recipes deemed as "good" and get sucked into thinking they are doing something correct.
As much as I hate recipes that don't give nutritional values, it's up to us to decipher, react and live smart.
Recipes also "tend" to make way more food than we should be thinking...... a recipe for 4-6 people means enough for 16-24 VSG meals.
The good..... alarms went off in your head when you saw those empty calorie ingredients !!!!
Never is a protein oatmeal raisin cookie a meal replacement !!!
You are on a much better track by going cold turkey on sweets, sugar and carbs are plentiful and hidden in just about everything !!!!
Count the nutritional values of the foods/ingredients you put in your mouth, the WL phase is a learning period and a time to establish new normals.
A fake cookie is still a cookie, fake cake is still cake, most protein bars are candy bars in disguise.
I remember a support group meeting and my surgeon brought up the topic of comparing cultures and the many reasons why we Americans lead the world in obesity. One thing that made sense to me and verified by my own travels. Most of the rest of the world "shops daily" yes, they are set up for it with small convenient grocery stores and vendors. They don't have huge American side by side refrigerators and only have an oven big enough for a chicken and we have ovens that fit 30lbs. turkeys.
They shop with baskets, we shop with carts with wheels. We shop in quantity for several days. We are a Costco culture.
A couple years ago I moved my business, I had it narrowed down to two places. I chose the one that had the most incredible grocery store a couple blocks away (The Berkeley Bowl) so I could "daily shop" and just buy what I need for the day. The freshest veggies, I can buy a half pound of most proteins....I can buy 1 slice of applewood smoked bacon, 6 asparagus stalks.... the produce guy will cut a cabbage in half for me. If you can do it, daily shopping rules !!!
It's about quality over quantity !!!
Lose the weight first, learn your tolerances and behaviors, after your well into maintenance and held your weight for some time, than figure out how you can get a real cookie into your program.
Keep staying mindful, it will take you far !!!
" To eat is a necessity, but to eat intelligently is an art "
frisco
SW 338lbs. GW 175lbs. Goal in 11 months. CW 148lbs. WL 190lbs.
" To eat is a necessity, but to eat intelligently is an art "
VSG Maintenance Group Forum
http://www.obesityhelp.com/group/VSGM/discussion/
CAFE FRISCO at LapSF.com
Dr. Paul Cirangle
Some of this clearly depends on who else is in your household and what their dietary needs are. My husband is a near end stage kidney patient and has dietary restrictions and I have a toddler. Expecting my toddler to never eat snacks is simply not reasonable. I did discover that when I was not planning and cooking dinner at my house (because I was content with a cup of yogurt or a protein shake), my toddler was eating a lot mac & cheese and chicken fingers and fries for dinner and I decided this was not acceptable.
I have taken an approach that is clearly not for everyone. I signed up for the Cooking Light Diet, just the dinner menu. They have a new "smart carb" option and they also allow several other customizations. It gives me several healthy options for dinner each dinner that are usually quick. I often improvise on the sides and just use steamed veggies or a small salad. You have to not mind cooking to use this and it does cost something but it has definately improved the quality of our dinners. I avoid dessert completely. I eat yogurt, sugar free popsicles, or occasionally fruit. Glad you are thinking about this and trying to make good long term choices.
Consultation Weight: 261. SW: 241. CW: 191 GW: 135
Some of this clearly depends on who else is in your household and what their dietary needs are. My husband is a near end stage kidney patient and has dietary restrictions and I have a toddler. Expecting my toddler to never eat snacks is simply not reasonable. I did discover that when I was not planning and cooking dinner at my house (because I was content with a cup of yogurt or a protein shake), my toddler was eating a lot mac & cheese and chicken fingers and fries for dinner and I decided this was not acceptable.
I have taken an approach that is clearly not for everyone. I signed up for the Cooking Light Diet, just the dinner menu. They have a new "smart carb" option and they also allow several other customizations. It gives me several healthy options for dinner each dinner that are usually quick. I often improvise on the sides and just use steamed veggies or a small salad. You have to not mind cooking to use this and it does cost something but it has definately improved the quality of our dinners. I avoid dessert completely. I eat yogurt, sugar free popsicles, or occasionally fruit. Glad you are thinking about this and trying to make good long term choices.
Its just my daughter and myself.. I don't worry to much about grocery shopping for her. She gets most of her meals at school, and she usually has a snack and dinner at home. As far as mac and cheese and other shelved items, I never buy them, not even in my pre sleeve days. Those things are full of preservatives and cancer causing ingredients. I stay away from them. I went grocery shopping earlier today and I picked out lots of meats and other good ingredients that I can make low carb recipes out of, that we can both enjoy. I'm a great cook so she never really complains at mealtime! I thought it would be tough having to get snacks for her and keep them in thoe house, while im trying to lose weight, but instead of the usual junk that kids like, I got yogurts, and fruits for her instead. Might as well instill healthy eating in her now while she's at a young age, rather than her having to pay for it later with terrible health!
