Day number 2: calorie counting madness!

Well, my first day documenting my calorie intake while working did not go as seamlessly as I had planned!

Word to the wise: when you work around food, BYOB - Bring Your Own Breakfast. Not only is breakfast the most important meal of the day, but it is also the most most most important when you work around bacon and eggs and swedish pancakes and potato bake and well... need I say more? Skipping breakfast is never a great idea, but is even worse when you simply forget to bring the meal you had packed while simultaneously being tempted by the most delicious breakfast food in Rockford. Boo. I guess I can blame it on my 7:45am trip to my parents house with Benny ;) So today I did manage to stay within my 1200 calories, but definitely did not work with the general layout I had planned. Today you get my regular meal plan plus what I actually ate today... :)

Ideal meal plan: what I would have eaten if I had not forgotten my breakfast and morning snack, and gone out to eat at Outback later in the day

Breakfast: 265 calories

1/2 cup dry oatmeal [150 calories]
1 cup skim milk [85 calories]
2 teaspoons honey [30 calories]

Adding fruit will be extra calories, but a serving of blueberries, raspberries, or strawberries won't be more than 40-80 calories. Go ahead, right?

Just heat it up in the microwave OR what I like to do, is combine all the ingredients the night before and leave it in the fridge. I just heat it up at work or in the morning when I get it up. Easy!


Morning snack: 80-110 calories
A various fruit like a banana, a handful of grapes, or an apple will only be about [80-110] calories.


Lunch: approx 400 calories
Lets do Subway! Best 6 inch options:
Turkey breast
Veggie Delite
Chicken variety sandwiches
*one of the 9 grain breads would give the most nutrients

Although we all know lunch meat type meat is not the most healthy of meats to choose from, in all reality, we are on the go without food more often than we realize. Subway provides a great reasonable calorie lunch with little guilt.

Afternoon snack: 150 calories

3 Tablespoons of original flavored hummus [100 calories]
1 cup mixed peppers [50 calories]

My absolute favorite guilt free snack. I seriously eat almost as much as I want of this one. You'll find that 3 tablespoons of hummus is alot too :)


Dinner: 360 calories

1 cup mixed green spinach salad [25 calories]
2 tsp low cal dressing (ranch, french, italian) [30 calories]
4 oz grilled chicken [130 calories]
1/2 cup fried zucchini [75 calories]1 small sweet potato [100 calories]


That puts you in at 1,285 calories! Not bad :) Sorry, no sweet snack at the end of today!


SO this is what I actually ate, the abridged and unorganized version. First off, I should say my work day is full of snacks, so I'm going to try and keep a tab on that too.


Breakfast: 250 calories

 [250 calories] My snacks added up to about 250 ish calories in the morning. I won't go into all the calories because it's about 5 different things :)


Lunch: 255 calories

Salad [25 calories]
1 tablespoon Bleu cheese dressing [80 calories]
2 low cal banana muffins [150 calories]

Dinner:
 Outback! Served by the wonderful Paula :)
1/2 tablespoon bleu cheese dressing (yes again, I know, haha. Do as I say, not as I do, right?) [40 calories]
1/2 loaf outback bread [140 calories]
1 Tablespoon butter [100 calories]
4 oz chicken [110 calories]
1/2 order sweet potato fries [220 calories]
BBQ sauce [30 calories]


This is my actual, terribly spaced, 1,145 calories.

Now- goodnight!

Day number 1: A week of low calorie ideas!

After not posting for a few weeks, you get a nice long post packed with lots of informative goodies! :)

I have been asked alot of times what EXACTLY I eat to stay under 1200 calories in a day. I'm sure my last post about my diet was helpful, and although I wasn't planning on bothering you with another large overwhelming post about my diet, I'm getting some people who are interested to know :)

A 1200 a day calorie counting diet, while not the right caloric amount for everyone, is NOT easy that's for sure, and requires some serious planning. Starting today, I'm going to try and document what I eat eeeeevery day for a whole week! Not only will this help keep me from straying, but it will hopefully help someone out there who needs a little guidance on where to start!

The best place to start is today :)

For breakfast: 260 calories

1/2 cup milk [60 calories]
     I drink my morning coffee with milk, I estimate about 1/2 cup for my approx 2 cups of coffee
2 cooked egg whites [50 calories]
     (add veggies for extra nutrition and not many extra calories, I didn't today because of time constraints)
2 low calorie banana muffins [150 calories]
      I made low calorie banana muffins with my unused bananas the other day! Not only are they delicious but they are only 75 calories each! Really?? You can't beat that! And banana muffins are so so easy to make. Why not make a bunch and freeze the extras so they don't get weird while sitting on the counter!
find the link here!


Mid morning snack: 120 or 180 calories

1 kiwi fruit - [80 calories]
1/2 cup blueberries [40 calories]
1 cup spinach - [7 calories]
1/2 cup unsweetened greek yogurt  [60 calories]

Directions: blend together for a nice size smoothie. Don't worry, you won't taste the spinach! The natural flavors of the fruit will overpower the spinach. The greek yogurt isn't necessary for a good taste, it just adds a little protein and creaminess.


Lunch: 350 calories

2 cups of home made chicken rice vegetable soup [350 calories]

I just tossed all my ingredients in a crockpot!
Here is the recipe!


Afternoon snack: 90 or 160 calories

1/2 cup of fat free cottage cheese [90 calories]
1 tablespoon chopped pecans [70 calories]


Dinner:  300 calories

4 oz salmon, pan seared or grilled using a low fat low cal sauce like teriyaki or carribean jerk [130 calories]
Small baked potato [150 calories]
Veggies like mushrooms, green peppers, onions [approx 20 calories]

After dinner snack: 60 or 130 calories

1/2 cup unsweetened greek yogurt [60 calories]
1 tablespoon chocolate chips [70 calories]


The count ends up being 1,380 calories for the entire day! 3 meals and 3 snacks with the options of altering and tweaking for less calories than that? Awesome! For me, I end up under the 1200 because for the snacks I chose were the lower calorie versions :)

Remember, 80% of your success will be what you eat! Look for the coming posts in the next few days! Thanks for reading!