<p>I think some people do best with a set meal plan to guide them. I find I do best keeping my meals simple. Grilled or roasted meats. Vegetables sautéed, roasted or raw.
I feel good about lunch. I had a grilled chicken kabob salad with a simple vinegar olive oil dressing. I avoided the pita bread.
I need some good side ideas. Looking for things to go with grilled chicken. One problem I have is the balance of providing healthy meals so I lose weight but enough calories so my H doesn’t lose any weight. Frustrating.</p>
<p>I really like the eggplant recipe from Plenty. It doesn’t call for grilling, but I always grill the eggplant if I’ve got the grill going. It’s here: <a href=“Eggplant with Buttermilk Sauce Recipe | Bon Appétit”>http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/eggplant-with-buttermilk-sauce</a> If you don’t have zatar, you could just sprinkle on some thyme or oregano and/or some sesame seeds. If you don’t have access to pomegranate seeds you can go without. Minced cranberries are good too, though not as crunchy. We had grilled shrimp this week with a lime/garlic/chile marinade - yummy! </p>
<p>Going back to grilled chicken - how about some sauted spinach. I like it with a little bit of good olive oil and lemon squeezed on it.</p>
<p>A favorite snack of mine lately (actually often eating it for breakfast). Buy a pack of celery hearts and clean them so they are cut and ready to grab. Mix together 2 T peanut butter, some chopped almonds and another 2T of dried cherries or cranberries. Dip the celery in the dip and eat! Crunchy and sweet and a little salty! Very satisfying!</p>
<p>A couple sides suggestions.
Add some chopped pine nuts, walnuts, pecans, almonds or even a little bacon to veggies that you stir fry like snap peas, green beans, asparagus, Brussel sprouts. Adds a little more substance to them. </p>
<p>Make a veggie/pasta salad - the key is to use LOTS of veggies, but a small amount of pasta. Use a vinegar based dressing.</p>
<p>Bean based salads like three bean salad. More hearty!</p>
<p>I do think that i do better with rigid guidelines as long as they are healthy and well balanced. I have a friend who has lost 80 pounds on Nutrisystem. Not sure if thats the meal delivery thing but it has worked for her and she’s keeping it off. It isn’t the right choice for everyone but she needed an all or nothing approach.
I don’t seem to be able to stick to the exact foods that this program tell me to eat but I sub in reasonable replacements if I can’t . As long as the scale keeps moving down, I’ll stay at it. It keeps me cognizant of what I’m eating. If I level off or gain again, I’m not feeling the love.</p>
<p>A friend told me about the “fast metabolism” diet yesterday. I looked at it briefly. I cant figure out what you CAN eat, only a long list of what you cant 
Has anyone done this diet?? There is no way I could do this <a href=“The Fast Metabolism Diet by Haylie Pomroy: What to eat & foods to avoid”>http://www.chewfo.com/diets/the-fast-metabolism-diet-by-haylie-pomroy-2013-what-to-eat-and-foods-to-avoid-food-list/</a></p>
<p>I am frustrated. My weight is up and down by a pound or 2 but not moving in the right direction .</p>
<p>Five pound party! No diet - just what I started five years ago - I’ve lost 35 pounds total - might lose five more pounds in a couple of years at my current rate!</p>
<p>Congrats!!!</p>
<p>@ Mom-<br>
In the mid 90’s I had a training class in SF that lasted a week. I didn’t go out of my way to eat particularly ‘healthy’ as such (I was eating vegetarian back then), but after class was done I walked significant portions of the city (people were shocked some of the neighborhoods I walked through, they were mortified, telling me how bad they were…I kind of laughed, and said you haven’t seen places I have been in/lived in <em>lol</em>)…anyway, with all the hills, I ended up losing about 12 pounds that week, you don’t need a gym in sf, just walk:). </p>
<p>With diets and such, one of the reasons they work is they force people to think about what they are eating. I agree with others, I don’t like diets per se, because what often happens is you follow the diet with its rigid instructions (i.e have a slice of wheat toast, one coddled egg for breakfast) then when you switch to real world, it falls apart. I also question diets that claim to boost metabolism and such, a lot of the claims on that stuff are somewhat dubious, and reading the diets what I generally see are foods that are relatively calorie sparse and/or limit some types of carbs, so my take is it isn’t that far to simply change eating habits and focus on the right kind of foods. One of the things that irritates me a bit is the current trend with ‘no gluten’ foods. While it does bring a benefit, in that you tend to eat less simple carbs eating that way, it isn’t a panacea for those who don’t have celiacs disease. Worse, you can eat ‘no gluten’ pasta, bread and so forth, that is loaded with simple carbs that will cause you to gain weight. </p>
<p>In terms of snacks, you don’t need to get fancy (though celery with peanut butter, especially if it is natural unsweetened peanut butter [disclaimer, I don’t like that type personally, I tend to treat myself with a bit of Jiff natural, even though it has sugar in it…]. A small handful of nuts like almonds or pistachios, or a small bit of dried fruit, can stave off hunger and aren’t hard to prepare. </p>
<p>Also as a disclaimer, even eating ‘right’ is not necessarily enough, if for example you eat a lot of nuts, a lot of fruit, you can end up gaining weight since they do have calories in them, so you still have to be mindful of what you are eating. On the other hand, if you eat a lot of raw vegetables and such as snacks, won’t matter much:)</p>
<p>Pair the raw vegetable or fruit with protein - then you won’t need a large quantity to become satisfied.<br>
veggies/hummus
celery/PB
fruit/cottage cheese
apples/cheddar</p>
<p>Mathmom- grilled eggplant and peppers ended up being the side.
I am not much of a snacker but abasket gave me an inspiration. I am going to give H a predinner snack when he comes home with celery/ almond butter, apples cheese. That way he gets a few added calories.
My beach walk was rescheduled for tomorrow morning. I made myself get out and walk anyway. I tried one of the podcasts that Snowflake recommended. It makes for interesting walking. I found myself wanting to be healthier and thus walking an extra 20 minutes.
My challenge this evening- a loaf of yummy rustic olive bread sitting on my counter. I know the best plan of action is to just go cut it up and put it in my freezer for a later date. </p>
<p>Mom60 - PERFECT ideas!!</p>
<p>Take the olive bread (sounds delicious!) and cut it in small one sized servings - freeze it and only take out one serving per person at a time. That’s a good strategy for lots of things - even desserts. Cut in small serving sizes and freeze individually - then feel powerful when you are good enough to just grab one piece!</p>
<p>How is everyone doing today?
Olive bread is in freezer.
Healthy breakfast. Push-ups, planks and sit-ups done. I won’t embarrass myself by saying how many of each.
Now waiting for my friend to arrive to head out on our walk.
Musicprnt- those SF hills are brutal.
Eptr- can you share some of the forbidden foods from your diet. Yesterday I listened to one of the podcasts that snowflake recommended. The podcast I chose talked about foods to avoid. Soy, gluten, dairy,eggs and agave if I am remembering correctly. </p>
<p>Not much to report here. I tried to eat less and went back down the two pounds I had gone up over the weekend. The trick will be to keep it up. I’m also trying for 20 minutes on the Wii Fit every morning like I used to do. Hard to believe we’re at three years on this thread! (Well, three years for me on June 14 - easy to remember Flag Day.)</p>
<p>I had a nice 5k run on trails today. Beautiful cool weather, plus I was able to catch up with a friend while running. I should figure out some upper body strengthening I can do while watching TV, but I poured a glass of wine and now I just feel like relaxing. I hope I don’t get fired off this thread for couch potato behavior!</p>
<p>Snowflake- no firing on this thread or we would have all been sacked long ago!
I had 3 great days last week. I ate well, drank lots of water and moved my body. Yesterday I took the day off. I had one piece of bread and 1/2 a brownie with lunch and not to mention a few french fries. Corn tortillas with dinner. How do I feel today? Tired, lazy and just overall blah. I also woke up craving salt and sugar. Found a few cookies in the freezer and quickly downed 4 of them. I have a graduation party this afternoon. What are your thoughts regarding my binge yesterday and feelings and cravings today?</p>
<p>Agreed, mom60. No firing. We all slip. A jar of nutella jumped into my shopping cart yesterday. I don’t know HOW that happened.</p>
<p>Aww, you are all awesome, and human. In regards to the Nutella, that stuff is good. Hopefully you can spread it out over time (ha ha).</p>
<p>Today was yard work, so I don’t feel too guilty for relaxing now. 5 tractor loads of mulch now looks lovely in my weed-free yard. </p>