Crackers?

So good! Try those Greek Hummus Rounds in the link I posted above :) 

Thank you, thank you, thank you!  What an awesome idea!  I love cuc's-will be trying tomorrow.

Can't thank you enough for this idea.

Maybe about once every other week, I have a meal that's 4 Triscuits, an ounce of lunch meat, and a deli slice (3/4 oz) of cheddar cheese. Some people here avoid crackers like the plague, but they've never been a trigger food for me, and eating a few with protein and fat makes for a much more satisfying meal for me than just the meat and cheese alone (I just need the crunch). It also keeps me from craving something worse, like chips, down the line. My dietitian told me that makes them totally worth it, so I'm going with it. Bread, on the other hand, is something I plan to avoid for as long as possible, because there was a time when I could eat an entire 8-piece bag of dinner rolls in one sitting. Once I start with bread, I can't stop.

Like others said though, that is a LOT of cheese. Cheese is a great option, but 4 oz at a time plus the crackers makes for an almost 500 calorie meal. Is that what you're aiming for at your current point in your weight loss?

Crackers are one of those things I stay away from, because I don't trust myself.  I have 4 more pounds to go, but I'm still staying away.  I know I'll go overboard if I start adding them in.

I've eaten cheese all along through my weight loss, but I've always made sure I count those calories.  Like Grim said, it's easy to go overboard with the calories.  The best thing you can do is to track your calories.  Every single thing you eat during the day.  Even though your meals you posted don't sound too bad, it's hard to say for sure without tracking those calories.  However, I have stayed away from bread, crackers, pasta, and sugar.  I'm an addict, and it wouldn't go well if I went back to those.

I like having something crunchy with my tuna, so I'll have either baked cheese crisps or Mr. Cheese O's.  I'll also cut up some celery and mix that in there.  It takes care of my crunch cravings, and keeps my calories and nutrition in check.

I was one of those who stayed on plan until I reached goal.  My eating had been so dysfunctional that I didn't trust myself to make any choices that weren't on my plan.

In addition, even though things like bread and crackers were allowed on my plan I knew that it was playing with fire for me.  I have NEVER been able to eat those things in moderation and I wasn't about to test that.

Once I hit goal I did try difference things.  Even though I don't eat gluten there are a lot of gluten free options.  I found that whether or not there was gluten they were still very easy to eat and eat a lot of.  It is easy for me to eat meat moderately because it fills me up quickly.  Crackers and bread?  Not so much.

The bottom line is I have seen many people who ate things like crackers and bread while losing weight and the common denominator is that most did not lose as much as the wanted and had more issues with bounce back, or as it's commonly know, regain.

It is always your choice.  You can eat more or you can weigh less.  Unfortunately, I haven't seen where you can do both.  For me it isn't really as much the weight as it is not being able to stop eating certain things once I start.  I have to be honest with myself about whether or not having a little occasionally is what I want or if I really want to eat as much as I want, whenever I want.  I can do that but in the end it's not worth feeling bad about myself.

In the past several years since I have been maintaining I have tried a lot of different things and some have worked and others I've had to let go of.  It is all a learning process.  I need to be willing to admit to myself that this is just not working out the way I hoped and to move  on and make different choices.