Weight Loss

I'm a 41 year old woman and I've lost 12 pounds since March (about 3 months).  I know I'm not starving.  I'm eating around 1800 calories a day or more, but right after I eat something, I'm scoping out the next thing to eat.  I rarely feel full.  I want to eat everything.  How do I tame my hunger?  I have 3 full meals a day plus 3 or more snacks between so I eat about 6-7 times every day. 

I try to eat mostly healthy foods like homemade whole wheat bread and brown rice, but the Skinny Cow Ice Cream Sandwiches are very good so I have a couple of those per week.  I have been eating fairly low-fat choices.  I keep my fat grams around 20 to 30 a day.  I'm on a "Healthy Lifestyles" program in Montana to prevent diabetes and it suggests I keep my fat grams under 33. 

It's been great to lose a little weight but I only lose about 1-2 pounds a week.  (Isn't that the ideal?)  My BMI is down to 24.5 (from 27).  I thought that I'd get used to eating less and not feel so hungry but it hasn't happened so far.

I get moderate exercise of about an hour a day but it's pretty tame, like walking during lunch, or riding my bike to work (10 min).  I'm hoping to work up to some cardio soon but I'm so tired all of the time.  I'm a teacher so when school gets out for the summer in 2 weeks I'll have more time to pursue that.  I'm pretty burned out at school, home, and church, too.

I'm hoping to lose about 10 more pounds but I've hit a bit of a plateau for the last 2-3 weeks.  It's tough to stick to something so hard when I can't see any results right now and my family (and I) want something non-lowfat for dinner.

i came up with a trial day of food based on what you had for breakfast and what I am eating today, tailored a little bit to your calorie and fat goals. here it is:

Nutrition Report



Fat - 18.4% (36 grams)
Protein - 30.8% (135 grams)
Carbohydrates - 50.8% (223 grams)
Alcohol - 0.0%
Other - 0.0%

Daily Sodium Intake - 2,904 mg
Daily Sugar Intake - 82 grams
Daily Cholesterol Intake - 144 mg
Daily Saturated Fat Intake - 6 grams
Daily Fiber Intake - 37 grams

Nutrition Grade

A



Date

Calories

Grams

Fat

Carbs

Protein

Grade

2008-05-16

1,688

1,890

36

223

135

A

Item

Grams

Calories

Fri, May 16 2008



A-  Egg, White - Raw, Fresh

165

79



A   Nature's Own 100% Whole Wheat

52

100



A   Milk, Nonfat, Fluid - Without Added Vitamin A (Fat Free Or Skim)

245

86



A   Strawberries

152

49



A   Bananas

101

90



B+  Almonds

14

81



B+  Tuna, Light, Canned In Water, Drained Solids

165

191



B   Olive Oil

9

80



    100% Whole Wheat Crackers, low-fat - Crackers

45

188



A   Carrots, Baby - Raw

200

70



B+  Puddings, Chocolate, Dry Mix, Instant - Prepared With 2% Milk

105



A   Mixed Baby Greens - Organic Specialty Salads

113

20



B   Chicken, Breast, Meat Only - Cooked, Roasted

86

142



A   Broccoli - Cooked, Boiled, Drained, Without Salt

148

52



C   POTATO & CHEDDAR PIEROGIES

120

180



B-  Original Hummus

27

50



A   Grapefruit - Raw, Pink And Red, All Areas

230

97



    COOL WHIP - WHIPPED TOPPING - FREE - COOL WHIP

18

30

Total Calories Consumed  

1,688

That is your breakfast, substituting grapefruit for strawberries.

Snacks are a banana and 1/2 oz of almonds; and crackers and carrots with hummus.

Lunch is tuna salad with oil and lemon dressing, crackers, and chocolate pudding for dessert.

Dinner is chicken, broccoli and potato-cheese pierogies with strawberries and whipped cream for dessert.

It totals 35 grams of fat but if you made the pudding with skim milk you'd be at 33 grams. yay! Even 100 calories to play with. Like putting salsa on your eggs, jelly on your toast, add another piece of fruit for a snack etc.

I am so glad I am not the only one. I have been going through this for about 2 weeks now. I also eat several times a day but even after large meals I felt hungry with in the hour. I also think I was underestimating how many calories I was burning or not eating enough........

Hey liswobble,  thanks for working that whole menu up for me.  It looks great!  I actually ate 1/2 an oz of almonds with lunch today (plus "fried" rice I made myself with veggies, egg, and a touch of olive oil) and I'm quite full and happy right now (could it be because I just finished?)

I'll be working more of your ideas in today, thanks!

I try to eat a very low fat breakfast so I can save most of my fat for dinner.  I just get too hungry after dinner if I don't.  I also have a weakness for butter (LOVE IT!!) so I have 1 T on some popcorn about once a week.  Margarine or Promise just doesn't cut it.  If most of my fat grams are used up, I just eat dry, air-popped popcorn for bedtime snack.

I go to my diabetes prevention class tonight and I have to weigh in at the door.  I'm pretty sure I'll be down by 1 pound again; their scale is different from mine and I weigh in the morning in the buff, thus the difference.  Here's hoping, anyway.

I do not have diabetes currently.  I had elevated cholesterol, high triglycerides, and an elevated BMI (27) as well as a diabetic sister, mother, grandparents, etc. so I qualifed for the class.  The hospital got a grant to administer the class so the members paid only about 10% of what it is actually costing.

In two months my cholesterol went down by about 90 points!!  It is a year-long program with an intensive first 16 weeks, then monthly checks.  I lost the recommended 7% of my weight (weight loss goal for all members) 2 weeks ago but I would really like to fit into my old size 8 clothes again, so I continue.

Thanks, everyone, for all of your helpful comments.

Yeah butter or nothing! :D

You know what's also yummy is brown butter. It's got a toasty nutty taste. I'll make a little of that and put it on veggies instead of olive oil sometimes. That idea came out of cooking light's recipe for cauliflower with brown butter.

How do you make brown butter?  Do you just brown it on the stove?

yes, but brown it very gently or it will burn or separate. Also yummy on brussels sprouts that have been braised in orange juice, and you only need a little!

I am also a butter freak...but I am proud to say the same block of butter has been in the butter keeper since January. Sometimes I look at it and say, you don't own me butter, ha ha!! I have learned to use a teaspoon measure for butter. Not a whole chunk! I THINK I HAVE FINALLY LEARNED MODERATION!!! After hearing it all my life, I finally get it!

Anyhoo...I am putting together some recipes for ya, took a little more effort than i thought to get them understandable for someone else lol but should have 8 or so for you tonight.

Excellent!  I can't wait!

Well, the dreaded weigh-in happened and I was down 2 pounds!!  My little plateau only lasted a couple weeks, so I'm glad all that work, well..., worked.  I upped my activity for the last few days but I also upped my calories because I was so hungry.

Yay for exercise.

woot!

There's no magic way to get around that feeling of not quite being satisfied that comes with a lowered calorie intake, but what works for me is really staying away from processed refined-carb foods like cookies, frozen pizza, or the ice cream sandwich you mentioned.  For whatever reason, those kinds of foods seem to make me crave MORE food, as opposed to my regular homemade meals, which leave me satisfied and not craving anything.  This may not hold true for everyone, but for me, processed-carbs etc. seem to make me crave more processed carbs.

Eat slower and more vegetables this fills you up also don't forget the water 0 cal. and keep busy you think about food less when you do.

Let me know how the mushroom jalapeno burgers turn out!

You bet!

Instead of ice cream sandwiches, here's an option - take raspberries, strawberries and pinneapple, cut the fruit in very small pieces, freeze them and crush them altogether. A bit like a sorbet, a bit like ice cream, but no added sugar other than the fruit itself, yet just as good.

As for hitting plateau - I think one option would be to either bring your activity level up - ironically, exercising more can actually give you more energy. Trick your body, change your calorie intake from day to day (give yourself an interval and stick to it, but go to the higher end one day, lower end another day). Your body will find it more difficult to settle down because it won't know what to expect.

I'll definitely try the frozen fruit treat.  That sounds fabulous!  Thanks.