Weight Loss Tips To Help You Quit Eating Out

August 23, 2012

Eating out and ordering take-out makes us fat.  I used to eat out A LOT.  I’d eat out for lunch when I worked full-time.  I’d pick up take-out food for dinner for the family.  We’d order pizza – often.  I regularly stopped at the drive-up window to pick up a breakfast sandwich.  All of that convenience and fast food helped me get fat.  Although, I’ve always enjoyed cooking and am fairly handy in the kitchen, one of my biggest challenges was that I had a picky family. They didn’t (and still don’t always) like what I prepare.  Of course, I was also lazy.  Planning, prepping, and cooking meals takes a lot of time and effort.  It is a lot easier to pick up a quick meal than to prepare a fresh meal at home from scratch.

As I’ve lost weight and gotten myself fit and healthier, I WANT to eat at home.  I WANT to eat food that I’ve prepared.  I no longer crave all that processed junk and salt.  I no longer enjoy eating out all that much.  But, how did I get to this point?  How did I get to the point that I’d rather eat my own fresh food at home than eat out?

1. Plan!  Plan a menu.  Plan trips to the grocery store.  Plan for the next meal.  On Sundays, post a weekly menu so everyone knows what’s for dinner every evening.  With a planned menu, it’s easy to plan a shopping list.  Planning ahead and having a well-stocked pantry and freezer saves the guess-work – looking into the fridge and wondering “What’s for dinner?” – will not happen.  Last-minute trips to the grocery store will be few and far between!

2.  Prep!  Make it easy to eat veggies.  At any given time, have some sort of green for a salad.  Also, try to have some sort of cooked vegetable that is ready to eat…roasted peppers, green beans, beets, sweet potatoes, etc.  Make veggies easy to prepare in a hurry…peeled and cut sweet potatoes…peeled and cubed squash….washed greens….cleaned, trimmed and snapped beans…par-cooked potatoes.  Planning a menu and having sides ready to go, cuts down on prep work at meal time.  It is nice to come home from work, have meat marinated, salad prepped, fruit cleaned and sliced and veggies ready to go on the grill.

3. Leftovers.  Leftovers are fantastic!  Instead of eating out for lunch, make extra meat and veggies and take it to work the next day.  If you are grilling chicken, throw on a couple of extra pieces – chicken freezes well and is great to top a salad.  Make it convenient to take food from home to work or out and about.  Don’t rely on the drive-through or deli at the grocery store for lunch.

4.  Partner.  Having a partner at home who will eat the same foods makes it much easier to eat healthy.  Trying to lose weight or eat healthy when everyone else in the house is eating take out pizza, Chinese food, and tacos is difficult.  Get a healthy eating partner . . . then quit eating out!  The whole family will benefit.

Of course, going out for a nice dinner is great – once in a while.  But, make dining out be a time when the family catches up from a busy week . . . or a treat after a sporting event. . . or a celebration for good grades.  Don’t rely on a restaurant or the deli to provide sustenance for your family!  Get in the kitchen and COOK real food!

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Posted by Barb Macy

How I Eat To Maintain My Weight – Saturday & Sunday

May 27, 2012

Saturday (5/26) - 6:30AM – up!  Hot tea.  9:30AM (hungry) - chocolate banana pancakes – 10:00AM hot tea with 1/2 & 1/2, plus a trip to REI.  2:00PM – strawberries, bar & a cup of coffee w/ 1/2 & 1/2.  4:00 – first, easy outing on the kayaks!  6:00PM (very hungry) - takeout pizza from Tomaso’s.  Evening – 1 Oberon.

Sunday (5/27) – 7:15AM - Up!  Hot tea w/ 1/2 & 1/2.  8:30-9:45AM Bike ride.  10:00AM coffee w/ 1/2 & 1/2, 2 eggs over medium, leftover fish, and a handful of bacon.  I know this sounds gross, but it tasted so good.  (Maybe I was just really hungry?)  Afterwards, I had a piece of dark chocolate.  2:00PM – snack of leftover mango salsa and organic blue corn tortilla chips.  4:30-5:15PM – bike ride with my  husband on my new bike!  6:15PM – dinner – NY Strip (grass-fed), glazed carrots, green beans with diced ham, 1 piece of dark chocolate.

One thing another one of my clients and I talked about at the gym this week was how freeing it is once you get your eating figured out.  I no longer look to food for comfort.  I view food as fuel.  I no longer eat “just to eat” or because something sounds good.  I eat when I’m hungry. The way I feel about myself now that I’m happy with my fitness and my body, FEELS much better and lasts much longer than the few minutes of pleasure that comes with a bowl of ice cream. 

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Posted by Barb Macy

How I Eat To Maintain My Weight – Thurs PM & Friday

May 25, 2012

English: Breakfast for dinnerFriday (5/25) - 5:30AM – Up with the damned cat. 5:30 – 10:30AM – tea & coffee with 1/2 & 1/2. 11:00AM – workout/lift. 11:00AM – lunch (hungry) – large salad – mixed greens, baby spinach, 1 chicken breast, red pepper, goat cheese crumbles, sliced almonds, balsamic vinaigrette, 1 cup strawberries, a piece of dark chocolate. 6:00PM – dinner – shrimp cocktail, grilled fish, mango salsa, chipotle cole slaw, guacamole & chips. . . Dessert tonight . . . Robert’s Frozen Custard! It’s Ultimate Cookie Dough night!  Evening – tequilla and diet tonic w/ lime.

One of my clients asked me this question this morning, after reading my last few posts. “How come you don’t eat breakfast? You always tell us to eat breakfast!” I guess my simple answer is that I’ve found an eating routine that works for me. How I eat might not work for everyone. Some people need to eat breakfast. Some don’t. Some people are hungry when they first get up in the morning. I’m not. And, since I stand around at the gym all morning and am not exerting myself, I just live on hot tea and coffee at the gym while I’m working. (Plus, it keeps me warm in the winter!) Like I said . . . it works for me.

I encourage my clients to eat something before they come see me. If I was going to have a long, hard workout, I’d probably eat something. On days I’m going for a long bike ride, I eat a filling breakfast. If I’m planning on going for a run, I’ll eat afterwards. I know my body, when I need to eat, and when I don’t – and I plan my meals according to my workout schedule for the day. Often, I can tell if someone has or hasn’t eaten just by the energy level during a workout. So, sometimes they go grab a shake during the workout, or they might need a bar even. Others get nauseous during workouts if they’ve eaten before they come see me.

I also think one of the contributing factors to me being able to survive on 2 meals a day, is the fact that I eat a lot of protein and fat – and my body has gotten used to the way I eat. I get most of my protein from real food. I don’t have a lot of shakes or bars, unless I’m in a hurry or am going to miss a meal. Because all of the protein and fats fill me up, I usually don’t get hungry in the mornings.

Back when I was fat(ter) and working at the hospital and preaching a low-fat, heart-healthy diet, I ate cereal for breakfast, whole wheat toast, and a lot of empty-calorie carbs that left me hungry all the time. I’d eat a big bowl of cereal for breakfast at 5:30AM, then, by 9 AM I’d be famished and need food again. I’d end up eating 3-4 fairly big meals, plus snacks – which were all heavy on carbs, and light on fat & protein. . . no wonder I was hungry all the time.

So, what works for you? Do you have a routine you follow? Do you have structure in your diet? I’m at a place now where I’ve found what works for me. I have my rules that I follow MOST of the time. Occasionally, I splurge. Most of the time, I eat well. And, I don’t have to worry about what the scales tells me!

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Posted by Barb Macy

How I Eat To Maintain My Weight – Wednesday PM & Thursday AM

May 24, 2012
Keurig.

Keurig. (Photo credit: suendercafe)

I’ve changed the way I eat.  Dramatically.  Losing weight can be easy, but the biggest challenge for most people is to NOT gain it back.  When I was in “weight loss mode”, I had a loose body weight goal, a daily plan, and I kept a food log.  Once I got to where I wanted to be, I changed my focus to my fitness and body composition.  I ditched the food log, and over the past couple of years, I’ve really dialed in my diet and now have a set of rules I follow  (most of the time!) .  What have been the biggest changes I’ve made over the past couple of years?

* We don’t eat out much.  Not that we did before, but now, we are very selective regarding our splurges.  I almost never eat out for lunch.  Although, when we go out for dinner, I splurge – I’ll eat french fries, bread, pizza, or anything I want.

* I’m not afraid of fat.  Gone are the days of eating a low-fat diet.  I buy whole fat salad dressings, I use real pasture butter or ghee, coconut oil, olive oil, etc.  I do not buy any fake fats, low-fat or fat-free products.  Not only does it taste better, but it is real and not as processed.

* We used to eat pizza (homemade) at least once a week.  Now, I hardly ever fix homemade pizza anymore (sadly), unless it’s for the kids.

* I never eat cereal, crackers, chips, etc. .  A box of cereal, crackers, chips, etc. goes stale at our house.  The kids don’t eat much of that stuff either!  I’m also not much of an evening snacker.

* Speaking of kids, I quit eating their leftovers.  How many of you nibble off your kids plates?  Or, eat whatever is left that they don’t want?  Having a daughter that eats like a bird, I frequently would snarf down her leftover peanut butter toast.  Ugh.  That adds up!  No more!

* We used to always have ice cream in the house.  Now, it’s only a treat or we go out for it.

* In my chubbier days, I’d regularly “treat” myself to baked goodies whenever I’d stop for a latte.  Now, I hardly ever go to Starbucks or local coffee places.  Since, I’ve gotten my Keurig, I make my own coffee, which has helped me cut back on sugar and a lot of extra calories.  I can’t remember the last time I had a scone or muffin or piece of pumpkin bread.

My food from last night and today, so far:

Wednesday (5/23) - 4:00PM cup of coffee with 1/2 & 1/2. . . I had a headache and I was sleepy.  6:30PM – dinner (not terribly hungry) - salad (mixed greens, pear, walnuts, gorganzola cheese, balsamic dressing), 1 1/4 grass-fed burger, raspberries, 1 piece of dark chocolate.  Evening – 1 beer.  I ended up skipping my conditioning workout today and swapped days off with Thursday.

Thursday (5/24) – 6:15AM up . . . hot tea and one cup of coffee until about 10AM.  10:00AM – hard conditioning workout with medball throws outside (fun!), then I finished with 10 sprints the length of the back yard at the gym – approx. 50 yards or so.  11:30 – Lunch (very hungry) – 1 leftover grass-fed burger, leftover brussel sprouts w/ bacon, raspberries.  Dinner tonight will be eggs, since we’ve got a lot of kid-stuff going on and I won’t be able to cook a real meal.

What else have I had to eat this week?  Monday/Tuesday . . . Tuesday/Wednesday

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Posted by Barb Macy

How I Eat To Maintain My Weight – Tuesday PM & Wednesday AM

May 23, 2012
Brussel sprouts

Brussel sprouts (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

What do I eat?  How have I maintained my weight loss for the past 2 years?  I don’t quite follow a truly Paleo or Primal diet, but I tend to follow a lot of the same principles. . . More protein, fewer processed foods and carbs, plenty of veggies, and quite a bit of fat.

You can read about my set of rules I mostly follow throughout the week.  Also, for weight loss or maintenance – consistency is key. . . I’m not militant about my diet.  I don’t obsess about food.  I don’t keep a food journal.  But, I do consistently follow my own guidelines, which has worked for me.  I’d estimate that I eat really clean and follow my rules about 85-90% of the average week.  The rest is spent on splurges – dining out, an occasional dish of frozen custard, etc.

Here is a link to how my eating started for this week on Monday & Tuesday . . . as I finish my lunch today, I’ll update my menu for you:

Tuesday (5/22) -  5:30PM – early dinner before my daughter’s softball game (not terribly hungry) - 4 oz. or so of almond-crusted chicken breast with marinara sauce (I use a store-bought organic sauce with no HFCS - read the label!),  a large serving of roasted asparagus (olive oil), and a large serving of roasted brussel sprouts w/ bacon.  Dessert was fresh strawberries and a piece of dark chocolate.  Evening – no alcohol.

Wednesday (5/23) - 6:30AM up!  6:30 – 11AM – several cups of hot tea and one cup of coffee with 1/2 & 1/2.  Noon – home for lunch (very hungry) – I just finished about 5-6 oz. of grilled chicken breast with another big pile of brussel sprouts and asparagus, 1 pc. of dark chocolate.

Dinner tonight – grass-fed burgers from Ney’s Big Sky, a local supplier of grass-fed & organic meats.  They deliver meat right to the gym!  Today’s workout is conditioning of some sort.  I think I’ll ride my bike to the park and run sprints on the soccer field in a little while.

Tips:

* Cook and allow for leftovers!  I always make a huge batch of roasted veggies.  They are especially good in scrambled eggs.

* Cooked chicken breast freezes well.  If I’m grilling a lot, I’ll under-cook it before I freeze, so when I re-heat, the chicken isn’t rubbery.  Marinades also help improve the flavor and tenderness of meat.  I’m not a huge fan of plain chicken breast, so I ALWAYS marinate before grilling.  I like having a bag of cooked, individually wrapped chicken breast in the freezer to use in salads, to add to soups, or to just have to eat when I don’t have other leftovers.

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Posted by Barb Macy

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