After a lot of cancellations, I was finally able to see my dietitian for a follow up last Wednesday since being put on a 1900 calorie diet plan. As I mentioned before, the first plan worked great, and I lost 6 pounds.
But September didn’t go as well. I ended up losing 2 more pounds, which was not the goal. I was supposed to maintain my diet, but it became increasingly difficult to write down all of my meals, day after day after day. Usually at work I’d start off great, but once I got home, I got lazy, and didn’t feel like writing it all down. On top of that, we spent a lot more time going out to eat.
I’ve been struggling with coming up with creative snacks and my lunches overall have been boring (PB&J every day), so instead, we’ve worked out a few options for each meal that I can have the freedom to choose, as long as I keep up with the correct number of food groups in each meal. Then I keep track of what I’ve eaten throughout the day, and if I miss a serving earlier in the day, I can make adjustments to make it up by the end of the day.
For example – for breakfast, I should have one bread/starch, one fruit, one dairy, and one meat. So to satisfy this, I had one serving of low-sugar apple cinnamon oatmeal with 8 oz of almond milk, a 4 oz glass of orange juice and a handful of peanuts. Surprisingly this meal really filled me up.
I think that this new method will be much better for me. While my first couple of days started well, I have to admit, this weekend I haven’t been doing the greatest job…we had a lot of toasting and celebrating to do. But I will buckle down and keep committed!
It’s time to get more groceries, so I’m looking forward to adding the following new snack items to the list:
- Animal crackers and whole grain crackers
- Laughing Cow cheese wedges
- Baby Carrots (not my favorite but I’ll keep trying)
- KIND bars (work as a fruit and meat serving)
- Frozen yogurt
- Low calorie ice cream bars
- Sugar-free pudding
In the fall, my favorite healthy snacks are Honey Crisp apples and pomegranates. I usually eat fruit, these days, with a small amount of really good cheese to get a little protein and fat with it.
Exchange plans work best for me, too. Over time, I gradually developed a kind of mix-and-match meal plan using the exchanges as the basis. I need a little variety, but not as much as I sometimes think I do. So, if I have two breakfasts, three lunches, five or six suppers, and three of four snacks to choose from, I’m pretty happy. As the seasons change, I’ll swap out some things and that also helps add some variety.
That sounds delicious, Joy!! I love fruit and cheese and it took seeing a nutritionist to finally eat healthier. I get hungry every few hours now that I’m on the plan, but I am still out of sync on the weekends. Glad to know that mixing and matching can be maintained over time! 🙂