BellaOnline Forums Food and Wine Low Carb What Is your Daily Menu Like?

charise,

your diet doesn't sound all THAT bad - just a few minor tweaks and you'll be right back on track. It's good that you only eat a small lunch bag of bugles - that's good practice to just take a small amount of that sort of food and leave the rest of the bag out of sight. Veggie sticks make great snacks too and you can even buy them already made into sticks so it's quick and easy. I try not to drink soda at all anymore but when I do have it I always drink the diet versions. I prefer diet fruit juice over pop though - like Crystal Light - they have a huge variety of flavours too!! I think you're being a little too hard on yourself. It sounds like you are eating small amounts of food and that's great!! Focus on the positive stuff you are doing and forget about the negative (easier said then done, I know) - YOU CAN DO IT!!!

lol...well the little snack bags are for my SO's lunches...but I've been sneaking them once in a while. Same with the little snack cakes- I wouldn't even bother having them in the house if it weren't for him..but this is what he wants for lunches..so here they are.. *(for me too <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />)*

and I generally don't drink soda at all ever- usually coffee in the mornings and water in the afternoons/evenings

see..that's what I mean by not even eating the normal way I use to.

Today's menu has been better though so far.

Didn't have any sort of appetite this morning so didn't eat until noon, and had a turkey sandwich.

Now at 4pm, Im having my anti pasta salad..and lots of water! <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Yup it's not like you're eating Twinkies all day!! Just a few minor changes and you should be all set. First of course, soda is EVIL EVIL EVIL <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> At least switch to diet soda of any variety at all <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> To drink regular soda is just to inhale fat that lands on your thighs and stomach <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Try to make sure you eat small amounts regularly. That really is part of the trick. If you let yourself starve then you gorge when you do eat - and you reach for high-sugar things because your body craves the energy. If you are eating small amounts regularly, your body doesn't have those cravings and is happy with healthy food.

It's important to remember that cheating isn't an "end of the road". We're not talking about a temporary lifestyle here. Eating healthy is a permanent, life-long task. If you screw up, then fine! You screwed up. Simply go back to eating healthy the next day. If you drive cars, and you have an accident, you don't stop driving cars. You get your car fixed and get back on the road. You only have one body <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> It's your daily task to take care of it! Every day it gets 1 day older. Every day it is that much more important that it is well taken care of.

typical menu for me

breakfast : softboiled eggs & probably some ham/sausages ,a hot cup of tea with Splenda

lunch : depending on whether I have school , I have meat & veggies in the canteen without rice . Or I sometimes have leftovers from the day before's dinner Or I buy some salad & meat from the supermarket

dinner:sometimes I have meat & veggies dishes that my dad buy or salad/meat from the supermarket

snacks : can be meat stuff/canned tuna/almonds/peanuts etc

basically for lunch/dinner , I stuck with the basics : meat & veggies <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Here's what I ate today (very typical):

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2 organic eggs and 1 link of chicken sausage

2 stalks of celery, cut into sticks
1 carrot, cut into sticks
Handful of green beans, raw
1 Deviled egg (both halves)

Cheese plate (a few slices each of aged parm. regg., aged gouda, aged Irish cheddar), handful of olives, 5 or 6 thin slices of hard salami

Spinach salad with 1/2 grilled chicken breast, grape tomatoes, toasted pecans, crumbled goat cheese

Large helping of chicken, Italian sausage, ground beef, eggplant, spinach and zucchini parmesan casserole

Handful of nuts
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I try to eat 3 meals a day and two snacks. I keep the veggie sticks in a bowl by my desk as I work, I absentmindedly knaw on them (I know absentminded eating is bad, but I rationalize because it's CELERY for goodness' sake!). I portion out nuts so I don't go too far with them.

I drink insane amounts of water, my urine is pretty much clear all the time (yeah, I know, aren't you glad I shared?). I like to mix it up between seltzer (NOT club soda, I try to keep sodium to a minimum) and flat water, I also drink one glass of unsweetened iced tea and at least 2 cups of coffee per day (I use heavy cream, it's the lowest in carbs and it tastes the BEST! No sugar or sweetener). So, yeah, caffeine is a bit of a problem.

I take a multi-vitamin in the "morning" (around noon.... like Lisa, I stay up all night, although it's mostly because my S.O. is a professional musician and he's on a gigging schedule, so we sleep weird hours. It works fine for us but our mothers both really hate it.) I also drink at least two packets of Emergen-C fizzing vitamin mix per day, usually before dinner and before bed. I drink the "diet" kind, it doesn't have sweeteners but is still not sour or bitter. I'll also have a glass or two of wine, or occasionally a coupla beers (the good kind, I haven't found a low-carb one yet that tastes good enough to be worth it.)

I eat too much cheese and drink too much coffee, but other than that I feel like I do pretty well. I used to be a chef, so my standards for cuisine are super-high, but I don't love to spend half my day cooking (that's why I'm not a chef anymore!!!), so I spend Sunday afternoons "prepping" for the week: chopping several bulbs of garlic, onions, shallots, etc.; making carrot, cucumber, celery, zucchini sticks; blanching at least a couple of days' worth of veggies; grilling LOTS of chicken breasts; making egg salad and deviled eggs, and making food to freeze and thaw out later in the week. I also brew tea for icing, and do little things like portion out nuts or other snacks.

About every 4 days I'll wake up MUCH too lazy to make breakfast, so I'll cheat and have an Atkins breakfast bar. Otherwise, I avoid sweet things. I prefer to eat low-carb most of the time and "cheat" on special occasions, having a REAL piece of cheesecake or chocolate chip cookie or whatever. I know some people think this isn't wise, but it works for me!

BTW, I'm low-carb mostly because of food and skin allergies (wheat and rice in excess make me sick, raw potatoes make my hands break out in hives). I don't think of it as a diet of deprivation, but at the same time, I can't see myself NEVER eating a slice of real cheesecake again.

I forgot to mention that I take psyllium husk pills for extra fiber, usually with dinner.

That does sound like a good balance of foods. I agree that it's great to have something healthy by your desk and a glass of water. On one hand like you said mindless munching isn't great, but on the other hand if you're hungry and celery sticks are right there, that is good for you. It keeps your blood sugar levels nice and even. Plus the rumor with celery is that it has so much fiber in it that you actually burn calories digesting it, more than what it gives you <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Hi! I love this site! I left this message in another room, but realized the last entry was a very long time ago, so I thought I'd try here. Not sure if this is the place either! I've been low carbing for 10 days now and I have not lost any weight! I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I'm 37, I weigh 135, 5'5...I want to lose 10 pounds! I've always "tried" to watch what I eat, low fat, etc. I excercise almost every day. I drink tons of water, always have. I've gained this weight and have tried everything to lose it. It just won't budge. My girlfriends are losing tons of weight with this low carb diet! What's wrong with me? It's frustrating! Please help! Thank you so much for putting this site together. I've been using it for "counting" purposes since I started this diet!

Okey dokey we can definitely help. What I suggest is starting a brand new post, though. When you're looking at the main list of low carb forum posts, hit the "post" button to start a new thread. Put in it exactly what you've eaten each day for the past 2 or 3 days. We can help you evaluate what is going on.