Not knowing any of your personal details as to how old you are, how much weight you want to lose, exercise level, etc. makes it difficult to give anything but a general opinion. But since you are asking what people think I will give you my opinion.
Calories: Rather than aim for a specific amount, give yourself some leeway. Say between 1200-1500 calories. Getting anything lower than that you may find difficult to lose weight as your body will be hording whatever you put in.
Portion size is a big key to all of this. I use to "eyeball" my portions and had a rude awakening when I actually started measuring.
As for your meal plans...1. Boring, 2. Where is the nutrition? 3. Have you checked the calories in microwave popcorn? Even with the 100 calorie popcorn you won't get enough to satisfy any hunger and then you will end up eating other stuff.
Social Activities: There is noting wrong with eating out as long as you do order sensibly. If the restaurant doesn't have what you want in regards to salad dressing, put a measured portion in a small container and take it with you. I have seen many a person do that. In there Resource Center here on spark people there is a whole section devoted to problems of eating out and how to deal with it.
I have never heard of the 3 S plan. Sounds great in theory BUT we all know that theories usually have some sort of hole in them. We all have some kind of a sweet tooth. To deprive yourself totally of something that you absolutely want is going to cause problems. There is nothing wrong with having something sweet as long as you have a proper portion and you make room for it in your diet without depriving yourself of needed nutrients. I knew that for my birthday I was going to have 2 cakes...one from family and then my girlfriends did one for me the next day. I made room for those mmm good cakes each day but still got in my daily nutrient supply.
As for when to have snacks, that is up to you. I usually eat breakfast about 8, have a snack about 10 or 11, eat lunch about 1:30 or 2, another small snack about 4:30 and eat dinner about 7 or 7:30. My snacks usually consist of a fruit or vegetable which helps me to try and get in the required amount. Also, by breaking up my day like that, I am not starved at mealtime so thus I actually eat less.
Lastly you are correct, this is not a diet but a lifestyle change. I have been at this for three months and have seen a tremendous change in my eating and cooking habits. So much so that I will not go back to my old ways. I never did like cooking but now I am finding that it isn't to bad. Of course I would never admit if I started liking to cook as I do have an image to uphold of despising cooking.
Anyway, please go to the Resource Center and read the articles there. They will take 5-10 minutes to read but pack a wealth of information.
Good luck!
NORROG 4/16/08 8:26 P
Good Afternoon!
I think I finally have this message board problem solved. Anyway, I will try again and see if it works.
Hope all of you have been successful in meeting your goals the last few days. Yes, I agree with the advice to think of this as a life style change rather than a diet. I started keeping track of calories yesterday and writing it all in a journal. I'm aiming for 1200 calories and trying to measure and really watch portion size. Husband, Roger, is trying also so that helps. It seems to help if we have breakfast (oatmeal), a good lunch, and then cereal or 100 calorie microwave popcorn and a piece of fruit for dinner. Since it is just the two of us, we can do this.
The trouble is that many of our social activities seem to revolve around meeting friends for breakfast or lunch a couple of times a week. However, I'm learning to order carefully.
Did any of you read the 3 S plan? The idea of that was no sweets, no seconds, and no snacks. Then you could have moderate amount of sweets and snacks on days that started with an S. I liked the idea but think healthy snacks are o.k. if you keep within your daily caloric allotment. What do you think?
Keep up the good work and thank you for the support.
