Much like holding one’s self accountable for the budget, the weight also follows the same. Since October, status quo in my life has slowly been changing. Mixed with the holidays… well, I compensated it all with eating.
The problem is (and I don’t know if all women have this), I surpassed or hold borderline to the weight I told myself would never happen. Normally, I can fall back into routine and go back to the intended weight. Not this time and I am having difficulties getting myself to return.
I am going on a Diet
So, I feel it was time to share this information with you. Because I need to start holding myself accountable for my weight in order to lose it and maintain. I need to feel healthy again for me, my family, my husband, and my health.
I need to lose approximately 13 pounds. My plans are put myself on a 1200-1400 caloric diet (This number was figured using Lean Cuisine’s Keeping on Track Tools). The calories are not as low as you think, because I seldom have time for exercise.
How I figured my Diet Menu Plan
Here are my personal guidelines on how I intend to lose weight with my meal plan. *Keep it Simple*
- Eat 3 meals and 2 snacks per day – I enjoy eating small portions throughout the day as it aids in digestion better.
- Limit carbs – watch the bread and pasta intake.
- Fiber & Fruit – increase the legumes, whole wheat, and fruit intake to aid in digestion and health
- Break up calories per meal – I can have approximately 300-350 calories for breakfast, lunch, and dinner mixed with 100 – 125 calorie snacks. Or if I eat a bigger lunch meal then dinner will be lower.
- Use common sense – If your options are a crossaint or a bowl of granola with milk – its easy to figure out the granola is better for me.
At the start, I like to write down what I have eaten through the day. Then as time moves on with a routine of sorts, I can safely eat with confidence.
My Meal Plan
Breakfast(s): Oatmeal, piece of wheat toast, and a banana; Meusli with almond milk (lots of good stuff in this!); fresh fruit, yogurt, and a piece of wheat toast; green smoothie.
Lunches: I bought Lean Cuisine 300-350 lunch meals. They were on sale for $1.99 + a free coupon for a 6 pack of Skinny Cow Ice cream sandwiches.
Snacks: Hummus and veggies, trail mix, fruit and crackers.
Dinners:
- Sunday: Happy Valentine’s Day! Diet starting tomorrow. We are heading to Bucca di Beppos and off to see Valentine’s Day at the movie theater.
- Monday: Tuna salad with mixed greens and a bowl of tomato soup with sourdough croutons.
- Tuesday: Small portion of Mac and Cheese with (you guessed it) a mixed greens salad.
- Wednesday: 3 bean vegetarian chili, cornbread, and mixed greens salad.
- Thursday: Salmon, brown rice, and steamed broccoli.
- Friday: Eat out sensibly.
Ladies, have a wonderful Valentine’s day! For more Menu Plan Monday, check out Orgjunkie.com. Oh ya, I will keep you updated on my progress. 😉
I recently lost quite a lot of weight and am feeling great. I did p90x for 3months, 6 days a week and it got my fitness back where it should be (back to 3 days a week exercise now) and strangely when I stopped and went back to a 3 day a week fitness plan that was when I dropped a 5lbs or so…. Then I was sick for a week and lost another 5lbs which has strangely worked out a blessing as I have been eating reasonably sensibly and it has not come back on.
I reckon I have about 10lbs to lose to be ideal weight but feeling good none the less and really going to be buckling down on my diet. It’s very easy to over consume carbs when you are vegetarian (bean chillis and things are good options though).
Your week looks well planned out and actually quite yummy!…. The eat out sensibly bit though, looking forward to seeing what you come up with 🙂
Yes, it definitely is easy to consume too many carbs eating vegetarian. And I know vegetarians that don’t like to eat vegetables (huh?). Yup, carbs come in there with the fries, junk food, etc… LOL. Great job on the weight loss. I would love to exercise, but have many time restraints. Plus the cold doesn’t help. I could probably start walking at work and climbing the stairs again. 😉
I’ll let you know what I chose on Friday.
Exercise doesn’t have to take a really long time.. 20mins intense a day at home will still burn 100 cals or so. That is enough for a small choc bar or to be added to your daily calorie loss 🙂
Hmmm what should you eat. Well if I was stil consuming meat and I wanted a healthy out meal I would go to the Indian restaurant. I would order Grilled Chicken Tikka (not Chicken Tikka Massala) and a side salad with plain white rice… absolutely yummy and pretty healthy.
I love Indian food. There is a great place to dine for $3.50 a plate – excellent price – and they give you so much food! I just point my finger and say, “I want that and that…”. LOL. And its all vegetarian, but I don’t know if it’s all healthy for me. 😉
Wow I would be soooo ridiculously fat if I lived near that place!!!
Good Luck!!!! I have added Jillian Michaels’ 30 Day Shred to my days & have lost about 3 lbs & 3.5 inches (not all in one place) in about 3 weeks – I haven’t really been watching what I am eating either – Just making smarter choices, instead of grabbing chips at 9pm when I want a little snack, I grab an orange… stuff like that.
If you go at it like your debt, you will lose what you want in no time!!
Congrats! I hear a bunch of people shredding lately. Sounds fun (and like a lot of work). And you are right, making sensible choices does help. Out goes the chocolate and Girl Scout cookies and in with the fruit & veggies. 😉
Thank you for the support.
Christine,
Good luck! Going from your regular eating habits to eating “healthy” can result in a few days of crankiness and headaches, but it’s something that needs to be done. After a week on healthier food, you won’t miss much of the old stuff.
I don’t lose weight by just eating right, so exercising isn’t an option for me. I try to do it around 6:30 a.m. so that it’s out of the way.
Anyway, first step is planning it out and it seems you’ve done just that! Now jump!
Oh yes, I do know that one. When I was on the raw food diet, talk about a slum of depression, headaches and crankiness. But then after 2 weeks I was good. And my husband was glad. 😉
Weight is soooo hard to lose. LOL. I wish I had your dedication to exercising. Thank you for your support.
Great ideas! I am impressed with how you are choosing healthy and low-calorie foods that are also FRUGAL!! Good luck with your diet!
Thank you, Holly! Now if I can just get myself to make the same choices about getting out there to exercise. 😉
Looks like a pretty healthy meal plan. Plus, the fruit and grains are not too expensive. Beans are also a cheap and great filler. Black beans actually lower your blood sugar level..So, these are a fav in my diet. Plus, they are cheap!
Love black beans, try this recipe: http://www.moneyfunk.net/uncategorized/thee-best-black-bean-cake-recipe/
My son loves them more than steak. 😉
Thank you for your input and visiting. And you’re right, being healthy doesn’t need to be expensive.
good luck doll. i’m thinking about a good “detox” to help me get back into gear. i feel like i’ve indulged quite a bit lately and i just need to give my body a rest, know what i mean? hmm, i’m thinking i may try to go raw or vegan for about 2 weeks or at try doing that at least 1 week a month. something like that. the plans are still fuzzy.
Ya? I need to do so, too. Well, when you get your plans together, let me know. I will pow-wow with you. Always up for a good challenge. *cheers* to green smoothies! 😉
I recently lost 8 pounds in 30hrs. Unfortunately, it was because I had the stomach. That is one diet plan I don’t suggest for anyone!
But Personal Finance and Personal Nutrition have to be from the same mold. Almost everyone has problems with both. I’m sure you will be able to tackle this as you have tackled your Financial Weight.
8 pounds in 30hrs? Wow, that some serious loss.
I hope I can tackle it. Don’t know why I am having such a problem with it. Never have before. I just hope its a little quicker than the progress of financial weight. 😉
I have what I think is about 5 lbs to lose and it is tough! I eat very healthy (I’m vegan) but have a hard time hitting the gym. I think that in order to lose those last 5 lbs I will have to get busy working out.
You can do it! Eating 1200-1400 calories per day isn’t as hard as it seems. Just fill up on a bunch of fruit and veggies!
I’m interested in having more vegan days in my diet. I am currently a vege but do have dairy and eggs, oh and cheese… I would miss cheese so badly!!!
Same here, but I couldn’t give up cheese. My husband frequent cheese and crackers as a night snack.
here is a great vegan recipe: Scrambled Tofu. I like to serve it with salsa and corn tortillas. Maybe throw some ranchero pinto beans. It’s totally yummy!
It’s seriously tough! And if the gym was in my garage, then I might be able to do it. But having to go and dress out, shower, exercise… all that time adds up that I don’t have. I know, I know… guess I need to make time. But I do have time to walk a mile, as Forest suggested.
I definitely want to get back into my vegetarian/vegan/raw food lifestyle I once held. I felt so much better. Not to mention the weight never became a problem. And I bought tons of fruits and veggies – today’s snack mushrooms w/ lite ranch; dried apricots. Yesterday was a banana and grapes. Yum!
Good luck with your five pounds!
Good luck with the diet! These “diet menu plans” will be a big help to me in May when I try to get back my pre-pregnancy body!
Thank you. It’s hard breaking bad eating habits!
First child? If so, you’ll get that bod back in no time. Congrats!