Lower calorie lunch and snack options

[chunt]

Hello everyone,

    I am looking for some healthy lower calorie lunch and snack options. I have found, try as I might to keep dinner under 500 calories but it typically doesnt happen. I want to make my calorie deficit bigger than it is now -500/day as I lost 3lbs my first week and then for 3 weeks, I got nothing. I'd like to make it 750 which should be ok with my doc as they told me not to go under 1600 a day and I burn about 2200-2400 a day, I turned the estimator OFF as I would go for a long run and then it would think I burned like 3k every day.

 No gain, no loss, just nothing. I have been measuring foods with level measuring tools and food scales and only eating meats, veggies, fruits and 1-2 starches a day (like a slice of bread or sweet potato). 

I am open to suggestions. My day usually consists of:

breakfast

1 protein(egg, or greek ypgurt, if greek yogurt bypass the other 2)

1 carb(2 slices sprouted grain bread)

1 dairy(slice of cheese)

lunch

2-3 veggies (spinach, or cauliflower)

1 protein(chicken)

1 healthy fat(avocado or homade dressing)

dinner

2 proteins(2 servings of chicken or pork tenderloin)

2-3 veggies(spinach or brussels--its gonna be green)

1 healthy fat(the fat in the meat)

1 starch (sweet potato)

And doing this im hitting 1800-1900 calories a day leaving me a 500 deficit, not as much as I'd like.  I am open to suggestions on what to do to fix this and a better way to split this up more like into snacks so that I dont eat so much at dinner or lunch. 

[WendyB]

I would cut the 2 proteins at dinner and only have 1. You have no fruit what so ever.

And you really do need olive oil, not the fat from meat. Its good for the body and keeps things moving

[chunt]

This week I have been eating a banana and some peanut butter for lunch but I haven't noticed any difference on the scale whatsoever 😞 my veggies and eggs I cook with a spritz of olive oil.

I don't eat much fruit because I'm kind of paranoid about sugar. So if I have a banana that day-that's all she wrote. I do have apples on occasion and berries when they're in season. It's hard because when it looks icky in the grocery store...

I could try cutting the second protein at dinner but don't want to be short of my 100g a day. I could try to incorporate beans

[whome]

One thing I see is at breakfast - egg yolk is a load of fat and so is most cheese so you are doubling fat if having both and then having essentially no fat if skipping cheese when having yogurt (or at least the greek yogurt I have eaten).

I concur on the meat fats - not really healthy - you pretty much need to go to cold water fish or certain vegetable sources to get the omega-3 type.

I am curious about the 100gm of protein you seem to think you need - not that it is a bad thing just that it would be a  lot for a typical 50 carb/30 fat/ 20 protein calorie distribution.

And what about fiber?  Are those veggies giving you  enough?

Don't think I am any sort of an expert here either.

Keep at it and good luck

Craig 

[chunt]

yes theres no cheese in the equation when I have the greek yogurt, that would taste weird to me.

And the eggs, I could try skipping the yolk and see how that goes. 

as far as the meat fats are concerned I trim the heck out of my chicken when I cook it. and only eat lean pork tenderloin and on the occasion that I do the ground beef its always 93 or 97 lean. Maybe if I add more greek yogurt that could be an additional protein source so that I do not eat that much meat. Now I eat about 6-12oz a day depending on the day. 

The 100g of protein was a reccomendation by the dietician my doctor sends me to see once a month. I have a thyroid disorder and seem to feel better after upping it like she had advised. I have an active job where I am up really early every day walking about and doing networking(mostly physical-not very desky) and telephony. and not really that much weight to lose (20lb) and a big concern is muscle loss along with fat loss by cutting calories.
I would say my fiber intake is really good on average from the metrics here I get about 30 a day and sometimes more.  My distribution is more like aiming for 40/30/30 I guess. 

Somethink kind of baffling is that the amount of cauliflower and broccoli I eat at a time says that those veggies have fat, which I think is very strange. 

[whome]

Well it sounds to me like you are doing things right - just keep on and give it time. Reading the discussions leads to a lot of stories about people having seemingly lengthy periods of time with no weight loss then suddenly it drops again - I know it happened to me. Glad to hear the higher protein works for you - apparently that dietician knew what she was talking about. You might want to think about some almonds or walnuts (1/2 to 1 ounce) as a snack - a good source of "good" fats and for me slow to digest so satisfy for a longer while than a sugary snack.

Hang in there and Good luck

Craig

[chunt]

I have been trying to look at the "whole picture" and others not experiencing anything going on and then having a loss is definitley a pick me up. I have the aria scale that measures body fat  and it states that I converted I guess 5lbs of fat into muscle so maybe just maybe there will be some kind of whoosh. I could try to eat some walnuts or almonds . I have noticed too if I sleep more I eat less so now that I have the food figured out I need to work on the zzzs. 

[KJScarp]

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@chunt wrote:

yes theres no cheese in the equation when I have the greek yogurt, that would taste weird to me.

And the eggs, I could try skipping the yolk and see how that goes. 

as far as the meat fats are concerned I trim the heck out of my chicken when I cook it. and only eat lean pork tenderloin and on the occasion that I do the ground beef its always 93 or 97 lean. Maybe if I add more greek yogurt that could be an additional protein source so that I do not eat that much meat. Now I eat about 6-12oz a day depending on the day.

Somethink kind of baffling is that the amount of cauliflower and broccoli I eat at a time says that those veggies have fat, which I think is very strange. 

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The yolk is the most nutritious part of the egg!  No need to cut it out.  No need to be so diligent about trimming your meats either.  The standard dietary recommendation is to eat no less than 25-30% of your calories as fats.  The American Diabetes Association used to recommend a diet no more than 20% fat  As of October 2013 that have lifted that restriction.  Without adequate fat intake, your body is unable to absorb Vitamins A, E, D and K.  Recent studies over the last 8-10 years have been showing that fats (other than trans-fats) are healthy for the body.  Studies from the 70s that were the basis of the low fat recommenations of the 80s and 90s were found to have been cherry-picked and flawed.

Here's some good info about the health benefits of eggs:  http://authoritynutrition.com/why-are-eggs-good-for-you/

1 cup of cauliflower has .3 grams of fat.  An entire medium sized head of cauliflower has 1.6 grams of fat.  Nothing to get alarmed about.  Many plants contain naturally-occurring fats.

[KristenAnne]

Sometimes veggies can add to bloating and extra weight gain. Check the soduim level in your foods as well. Food is a science and certain items work best when eaten together. I agree that you need more fruit: apple will give you fiber and help reduce bloat from, say broccolli. So you can see, both are good bor you, but one helps process the other.

Try looking up food that work well when eaten together.