Suggestions for success

JohnR41

I assume the shake you eat in the morning is a store-bought protein shake.
That's big mistake number one. Nothing good will come from that. The only good thing is that it's easy.

Mistake number 2: All the animal protein in your salad. I'm sure it tastes very good but it's not doing you any good.

Your dinner could be okay but I doubt it because a lot depends on how much of each item you eat.

Most overweight people don't really like fresh fruit, a wide variety of fresh non-starchy vegetables, legumes/lentils, non-roasted, non-salted nuts and seeds (in reasonable portions).

The secret to attaining a healthy weight is to like the right foods. For example, you would be better off to include beans instead of animal protein in your noontime salad. Do you like beans? Then you could include a reasonable amount of chopped nuts - the kind I mentioned above.

For dinner you should eat (cooked) vegetables, vegetables, vegetables as much as you can possibly fit in your stomach. Then at the end of the meal, when you're already full, you can eat a small portion of meat - maybe 2 ounces. If you feel that the meat is not enough protein, include a serving of beans or lentils with your vegetables.

You need at least 25 to 30 grams of fiber per day. If you're not getting that much it's very likely that your diet will fail at some point.

The last thing is: never take advice from other overweight people because it's likely that they don't like vegetables and will steer you in the wrong direction.

froggie83

Yes the shakes are premade. and yes They are easy. But with the expense of them I sometimes have a chia seed honey lemonade that I make myself. Should I opt for this instead, every day?

I have been finding the chicken to be kinda icky lately and have not been using it, just the ham, cheese, nuts or corn on top with the Greek yogurt dressing

Dinner is basically baked chicken, pork or fish. With broccoli, green beans or carrots. (Zucchini and peas and such when in season) and rice, quinoa, potatoes or whole grain noodles. I have a cup of skim milk with this meal.
My snacks are fresh fruits and nuts. but like I said I work at a school and there is no time for snacking. So I basically eat the 3 meals with an Apple on the way home and a handful of nuts if hungry again between dinner and bed ( but not within 2 hours of going to bed)
I am a mid 30 something gal wanting to drop about 40#

JohnR41

You don't need to make a lot of changes all at once. Maybe my breakfast will give you an idea: I start with a small breakfast bowl of fruit. It includes about four servings of mixed fresh fruit and berries. I sprinkle some flax seeds and sesame seeds on top. Then I eat one serving of plain oatmeal. Lately I have been mixing the fruit with the oatmeal after the oatmeal cools. All of this is healthy but doesn't contain enough protein. so I wait a while and then eat one generous serving of beans or lentils.

The beans at the end may not be appealing to many but it provides protein and a big boost to your daily fiber needs. Fiber is needed for about 5 different reasons to maintain good health. One of the reasons is for your metabolism. People on high fiber diets use up calories more efficiently. But the fiber needs to be from natural whole foods.

I'll explain more later after you get started with a few changes.

JohnR41

Hi again,

I promised I would provide more information and here it is. This is why you need a high fiber diet from natural whole foods, like fresh fruit and vegetables etc. (25 to 30 grams of fiber per day)

1. Fiber helps to curb your appetite

2. Fiber helps to reduce the absorption of calories

3. Foods rich in fiber are low-energy-density. In other words, you can eat a lot without getting a lot of calories.

4. Fiber-rich foods slows your body's conversion of carbohydrate to sugar. This helps to stabilize your blood sugar for weight loss.

5. On average, 7 calories will be eliminated (in the stool) for every gram of fiber you consume. But there's no evidence that fiber prevents you from retaining nutrients (under normal conditions). It has even been said that fiber can help with the absorption of nutrients.

froggie83

I have stopped the shakes, and am slowly increasing the fiber intake. (Don't want to rush and end up with diarrhea or constipation)
I will post in a while when I start seeing results, (changes do not happen overnight)