Calories in and out

[trigurl]

I had All Bran this morning with a little soy milk, dates and sliced almonds, OMG I am still feeling full, 1/2 cup goes a long way!

Yesterday I ate more oatmeal (old fashion kind) and stayed full longer too.

I was thinking about my lunches, since around 3-4 I am hungry, I eat a meat and veggies and fruit, I don't eat much bread, I have brown rice 1-2 times a week and pasta 2-3 times a month. I do eat sweet potatoes at least once a week if not more. I guess I need to get more carbs in at lunch? in the way of bread pasta or rice, and just eat a light dinner? suggestions???

Thanks for letting me bat this around with ya'll, I may be slow but I eventually learn

[DeniseGoldberg]

I was thinking about my lunches, since around 3-4 I am hungry, I eat a meat and veggies and fruit, I don't eat much bread, I have brown rice 1-2 times a week and pasta 2-3 times a month. I do eat sweet potatoes at least once a week if not more. I guess I need to get more carbs in at lunch?

I don't know if this will help at all, but here's what I do for lunch... this time of year my lunch is usually a big bowl of soup plus low-fat cottage cheese or yogurt. That probably doesn't sound like much, but the soup is my weekend creation. That is, I make a big pot of soup and store it in individual containers (I've been using a ZipLoc container that holds 2 1/2 cups, just to give you an idea of the size) that I can reheat. And some of the containers go into the freezer for later... I start with a recipe, but what goes in the soup depends on what vegetables are in my refrigerator. But always - it includes (cubed) tofu, beans (chick peas or black beans or both). Then I start adding vegetables, which can include carrots, celery, potatoes (white and/or sweet), broccoli or cauliflower, corn, edamame (soy beans). Sometimes I use a tomato-based soup, sometimes it's red lentils, sometimes split peas. So it's a pretty substantial soup, and it keeps me pretty full. Of course, you will need access to a microwave at the office unless you like cold soup!

I always bring fruit for a mid-afternoon snack, and I keep a stash of energy bars (usually PowerBar Pria bars since they are relatively small from a calorie standpoint - 110 calories, very suitable for a quick snack) in my desk just in case I'm hungry. I often keep extra yogurt in the refrigerator for the same purpose.

--- Denise

[trigurl]

Sounds good! I make split pea soup often and I just bought some 15 bean soup to make this weekend. tofu?(sorry not a fan ) the rest I could stomach. I too eat 2 sometimes 3 containers of yogurt a day the f/f sugar free kind, I eat cottage cheese too but not everyday - ever try it on saltines? its really good that way.

I will have to try the soup that may just work and warm me up, the building I work in is very drafty and I freeze all day

Still no weight loss even tho i am eating clean, I realized yesterday that last year at this time I weighed 149! I would love to be there again, I felt better at that weight and I did eat what I wanted, I know almost every weekend I had a happy meal for a treat! I was also running more and harder than I am now, I am still at base training, but will start to introduce more intervals and hills now, hopefully that will help the weight come off.

Thanks for the advise I really appreciate it.

[Pedal Wench]

Denise - this is so funny. I read your post, and I had to check to make sure that I didn't write it. I do the exact same thing. I'm a huge fan of the bags of shredded cabbage (cole slaw) that I can just dump into the soup. I also buy a bag of the pre-washed, shredded kale. I know some folks don't like it, but it's SO nutritious, and by the time it cooks down, it is hardly noticeable. I do two soups, usually one for lunches, one for dinners. The dinner soup is a split-pea with extra lima beans (again, they cook down to nothing) and add the cabbage and kale and mushrooms for texture. My veggie soup is simple - three cans of chicken stock, two cans of diced tomatoes, three bags of the cabbage, one bag of kale, and as many beans as will fit into the pot - garbanzo, pinto, black, kidney, nothern, whatever. I do exactly what Denise does - individual containers that I can take to lunch, and then the rest into the freezer. (Hmmm, but I use the 3.5 cup size - I have a huge appetite, and I can't think of anything bad in the soup to warrant limiting my portion)

I don't know if this will help at all, but here's what I do for lunch... this time of year my lunch is usually a big bowl of soup plus low-fat cottage cheese or yogurt. That probably doesn't sound like much, but the soup is my weekend creation. That is, I make a big pot of soup and store it in individual containers (I've been using a ZipLoc container that holds 2 1/2 cups, just to give you an idea of the size) that I can reheat. And some of the containers go into the freezer for later... I start with a recipe, but what goes in the soup depends on what vegetables are in my refrigerator. But always - it includes (cubed) tofu, beans (chick peas or black beans or both). Then I start adding vegetables, which can include carrots, celery, potatoes (white and/or sweet), broccoli or cauliflower, corn, edamame (soy beans). Sometimes I use a tomato-based soup, sometimes it's red lentils, sometimes split peas. So it's a pretty substantial soup, and it keeps me pretty full. Of course, you will need access to a microwave at the office unless you like cold soup!

I always bring fruit for a mid-afternoon snack, and I keep a stash of energy bars (usually PowerBar Pria bars since they are relatively small from a calorie standpoint - 110 calories, very suitable for a quick snack) in my desk just in case I'm hungry. I often keep extra yogurt in the refrigerator for the same purpose.

--- Denise

[DeniseGoldberg]

Denise - this is so funny. I read your post, and I had to check to make sure that ...I also buy a bag of the pre-washed, shredded kale. ...is a split-pea with extra lima beans (again, they cook down to nothing) and add the cabbage and kale and mushrooms for texture.

You're right, very funny! I guess we think alike.

I'm going to have to try kale. I don't know if I like it or not, but it sounds like it's worth a try. Sometimes I use spinach too.

Oh, and if you haven't tried edamame (soy beans), you might want to use them instead of lima beans sometimes. I just looked up the nutrition info on both. A cup of edamame shows as 298 calories with 29 grams of protein. And a cup of lima beans is less at 216 calories with only 15 grams of protein. I like both kinds of beans, but since I'm not a meat-eater and I'm always on the hunt for more protein, I tend to choose edamame more often than lima beans.

--- Denise

[DeniseGoldberg]

I had All Bran this morning with a little soy milk, dates and sliced almonds, OMG I am still feeling full, 1/2 cup goes a long way!

I'm an All Bran Bran Buds gal myself, but I also really like Kashi Go Lean. You might want to try that as a change of pace. Actually, I usually dump both cereals into the same bowl...

--- Denise

[trigurl]

I cooked up some Kale last night, not the real healthy way tho I used a little oil and cooked some garlic in it then put 2 pieces of bacon in the pan and cooked those then piled the pan full of kale, covered and let it wilt, added a little salt, now that was good!!!! I very rarely use bacon but I wanted a little flavoring for the kale, next time I will use some beef broth.

I made a big pot of 15 bean soup and a pot of veggie soup with cabbage, a turnip, some orzo, and whatever else I had, I mix a some of each in a bowl and eat until full!! good ideas, thanks ya'll.

I went down 2 lbs. after a hard workout Friday, so I know once I increase the intensity I will lose more, all that worrying for nothing

[Pedal Wench]

It gets stranger - because I am literally sitting here eating a bowl of edamame. Today, it's just a bowl of them, but I've added them to soups with wonderful results. NOTE: you do NOT eat the outer shell - like a pea, the beans get removed from the pod.

I have to suggest the bags of 'cole slaw' that most stores sell in the bagged salad section. It's just shredded cabbage and carrots, and it's so easy to buy a few bags and toss them into anything to improve the nutritional content.

You're right, very funny! I guess we think alike.

I'm going to have to try kale. I don't know if I like it or not, but it sounds like it's worth a try. Sometimes I use spinach too.

Oh, and if you haven't tried edamame (soy beans), you might want to use them instead of lima beans sometimes. I just looked up the nutrition info on both. A cup of edamame shows as 298 calories with 29 grams of protein. And a cup of lima beans is less at 216 calories with only 15 grams of protein. I like both kinds of beans, but since I'm not a meat-eater and I'm always on the hunt for more protein, I tend to choose edamame more often than lima beans.

--- Denise

[DeniseGoldberg]

It gets stranger - because I am literally sitting here eating a bowl of edamame. Today, it's just a bowl of them, but I've added them to soups with wonderful results. NOTE: you do NOT eat the outer shell - like a pea, the beans get removed from the pod.

I think I have to go back to your comment from your last message. Are you sure we're not twins?

I always buy them frozen, and I've been buying the edamame already shelled. Someday maybe I'll get them in-the-shell, but for now the easy way works for me.

--- Denise

[Pedal Wench]

For adding to soups, I buy them out of the shell. But, for sitting down on a rainy friday night and a good movie, I buy them in the shell. Slows me down just enough...