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Thankfully we all can change and I have. I'll never LOVE lettuce and salads will not always be at the top of my list when dining out
but I will admit lunch has changed for me for the better and permanently since I started the eating program that changed my eating from a problem into health so perhaps I can say something that will help you make a few changes too. I actually might eat the salad in that picture these days.
If you've been following you've had a reasonable breakfast and maybe you saved your protein for mid morning. You've had at least 16 oz of water or more but lunch time is coming and your stomach is telling you it's time...by the way you should listen to your body. You don't have to wait until your stomach is actually growling but I advise you not to eat until you really feel hungry. So what should you eat?
Once again you'll need an "entree" of some sort. When I was eating Nutrisystem their lunch items consisted of things like soups, protein bars, mini heat and eat entrees like a little pasta with meat sauce like chicken cacciatore and I think there was even a sloppy jo mix that you made and put on a small whole grain roll. There was more than that in their menu but this was six years ago so I've forgotten. What I remembered and kept as part of my plan was that protein bars, certain types anyway, were more like eating a candy bar for lunch so of course that was really right up my alley! Easy, convenient, go anywhere and packing a lot of nutrition in a small size. There are a lot of protein bars out there but like everything else if it sounds too good to be true it probably is and you'd better read the labels. Nutrisystem had these very good tasting bars that had protein grams that were nearly equal to carbs and there again that's a ratio you want to keep an eye on. The calories were somewhere between 150 and 210 I think. Are you freezing and need something warm? Well start looking at soups because these days there are a lot of choices out there and you can likely find one that has lower calories per serving but again watch the protein and fat content if that's where you're headed. Just have to have meat? Well, we'll get there, no worries. Since coming off Nutrisystem I had to find great tasting protein bars that didn't have tons of carbs. The best ones I've found for my tastes and needs are Atkins bars but there are lots out there so go exploring in the grocery aisle where they keep the Atkins bars or go to one of those GNC type stores if you want to find something fabulous. So in my world I start with a protein bar.
Next you need a vegetable. So here's where the whole salad thing starts. It turns out that there are some raw vegetables that you can eat in unlimited quantities and they won't skew your weight loss. One of them is spinach. A lot of us are not natural spinach eaters but I have to say that fresh spinach with a hard boiled egg sliced and a few tiny bacon bits with some of that salad spritzer dressing makes me smile these days! Or if I'm not in the mood for a hard boiled egg, a low fat mozzarella string cheese stick torn up makes a great addition to that mix. Other veggies that don't add problems regardless of quantity include things like cucumber, alfalfa sprouts, green onions, lettuce of any variety, watercress, cabbage, zucchini and mushrooms. Don't like spinach? What about some nice romaine or some butter lettuce. I'd stay away from iceberg lettuce as it doesn't offer you much nutrition - just remember the greener the better!! The cool thing about this whole salad thing is you can eat a whole lot of it and really exercise that chewing urge you have without any guilt.
You've probably guessed from reading the above that you'll need a dairy/protein too. Mine is the hard boiled egg or the string cheese but on some days you could add some smoked turkey slices or some really lean ham slices all torn up. The key is again "portion". You can't add unlimited slices of deli sliced smoked turkey. You can get some of that thin sliced deli turkey or ham, about 1 oz. If you're gonna eat the meat then you have to lose the egg. Here's what it looks like:
LUNCH
An entree - 1 Protein Bar/small serving soup
Spinach (or other) salad
Dairy/Protein - 1 hard boiled egg
Salad spritzer dressing, sparingly please - no more than 2 tbsps.
Beverage
More about what you're drinking. So you're supposed to drink water but you can also drink things like diet soda or crystal light or sugar free tonic water or iced tea with artificial sweetener, etc. Make sure you're drinking your water - Add a slice of lemon and put it over ice with a straw in it. For me, I started drinking bottled water because I just would never drink enough tap water ( I have no idea what that's about and don't want to know so don't tell me).
You'll notice there aren't any carbohydrates in there of any sort - no bread for a sandwich. If you have to have something like that then choose something like a Breton cracker that is reduced fat and reduced sodium but for me if I ate any of the breads, even whole grain, it would just make me hungrier. So for awhile just stay away and you'll get enough fiber from your vegetables and fruits and you cereal serving in the morning. After a while you won't miss it, I promise. Notice there wasn't any fruit with lunch either. Trust me, we'll bring it back.
I mentioned a few bacon bits. Oscar Meyer makes some ready to serve Real Bacon Bits that are 25 calories in a tablespoon with 2 grams protein and 0 carbs. So I might not use a whole tablespoon but I will sprinkle a few on there for that little punch of flavor.
By the way this is for a woman. This isn't for a child or a man. The men on the program got to have a low glycemic index carbohydrate at every meal but that is because their metabolism is different. I'd rather stick with mine - I bore children and I haven't met any men that have done that yet. I would suggest you can apply the principles of trying to eat things that are whole foods - like fresh fruit and vegetables easily to your children's plates but if you're helping a child with a diet their pediatrician should be involved, in my opinion. Otherwise you may eliminate something essential to their growth and development that is not needed as an adult. If you're a man and you want to know what the low glycemic index carbs are just ask me in comments and I'll post it.
Don't despair if this is lighter than the lunch of your dreams. Snack time's coming. Oh and let me just let you know a bit about eating out since a lot of folks are at work and the girls go to lunch to get out of the office. Those salads at most restaurants have portions that are absolutely way out of control! They've begun to publish the nutrition facts in some of the menus and tout that their salads are healthy because they're 500 calories - geez, if I'm eating 500 calories for lunch it's not going to be salad - I'll go for the hamburger please. So if you find yourself in that situation, here's some help. If you order something healthy, like their version of spinach salad for instance, first ask for the dressing on the side and any of the other stuff like the egg or bleu cheese or bacon bits or whatever ask if they can bring it so you can assemble it or have them hold it in the kitchen. If you just can't do that then ask for the to go box up front and get the dressing on the side. Before you stick your fork into it and add saliva to what's on your plate, take 1/2 or 3/4's of whatever you've ordered and put it in that to go box - you can eat it tomorrow and it will keep if you didn't add saliva or dressing. Then you can enjoy what you ordered. Unless your friends object tell them to hold any of that complimentary bread in the kitchen. Once it's on the table I really can hardly ever say no!
When I was seriously dieting and my family wanted to go out I'd go and look over what was on the menu but in most cases it was loaded with way to much "extra" stuff I wasn't eating. I found that if I talked to the waiter and told him I was on a special diet and asked if I could have two veggies instead of a potato or could they leave the topping off the meat or could the dressing be on the side or whatever I'd decided to do I often got great meals that were way better than what my family was ordering off the menu as they tried to get creative in their kitchen and help me. So along with enlisting the aid of your family, don't be afraid to ask for help in a restaurant. Obviously I'm not talking about fast food here although these days they even have some "better" choices than grease soaked, is that really meat? on a bun. Trust me, you'll feel so much better if you go out with your family and have a great time you won't miss the extra calories but until you get this hang of this you just might want to eat in a break room with stuff you bring in from home or celebrate eating in the dining room with your family for a few weeks.
Are you moving? Are you stretching? If you aren't ask yourself why not? Are you important to you? My Dad always got a big kick out of that L'Oreal commercial but seriously, "You're Worth It".
What inspires you to success? Is it a picture of you from several years ago? A picture of a hot outfit from a catalogue? Should you print words of encouragement on sticky notes and post them around the house? Since most of the people I associate with, and therefore may be reading this blog, are also people that have some type of faith structure in their environment I'll up the motivation factor here. You know you want to change your health for the better. God who loves you always just the way you are will always answer your prayers so how about praying for the strength to make this change and stick with it?
Til next time,
HV 13
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