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2004/09/23, 02:45 PM
Hey guys. Since I have joined FT, I have learned a lot, but I still sometimes have "silly" questions, and I think this may be one. When I started, I was consuming around 900-1000 calories a day, and of all the wrong foods. I have cleaned up my diet considerably, but due to years of eating this little, and not haveing very much money, over the past 6 months or so a GOOD day for me is about 1100-1200 calories on average. The past couple of days at work, I have eaten my "lunch" at about 12, and have nothing to eat until I get home after 5. I notice around 1:30-2:00 that I start getting very very tired (to the point of constantly yawning) Is not eating enough causeing this?? I also have no energy to exersize after work, nor do I want to because all I can think about it getting home and eating dinner. What can I do??
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2004/09/23, 05:26 PM
Get in some more calories. Try having some nuts with a yogurt between 12 and 3. Keep your levels steady. 1200 calories is the min required for a person who weighs 100lbs and wants to reduce!
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"A will finds a way, failure is not an option"
Ivan
carivan@freetrainers.com
Montreal Canada
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2004/09/24, 05:55 AM
What are you eating for lunch cristalbelle?
If it is something with too high a glycaemic index, your energy slump could be due to your blood sugar crashing.
Make sure your midday meal contains complex carbs, protein or good fats (preferrably all 3), and as carivan says, you need to eat something else before 3pm.
As well as stopping the tiredness, it should also help keep your metabolism up and make it EASIER to lose weight.
Try to think of this snack as fuel for your workout rather than extra calories.
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2004/09/24, 02:34 PM
Usually for lunch I have a variation of the following, an apple, carrots, nutrigrain bar and/or a sandwich (either tunafish or pb & j) I know this may sound rediculous, but I give my husband all of the "good" food for his lunches, because he needs to be getting around 4000 calories a day, and even with what I give him he probably only gets 2000. We are working on a SMALL budget..150-200 a month for groceries tops..some months none at all.
I think of everything I eat as extra calories, because I know I need more(based on my weight I need to be getting around 2200) but I don't want to drink soda and eat chips just to hit a caloric mark. It's sooooo frustrating!!
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2004/09/24, 03:35 PM
Hey Cristal I'm in the same boat as you hun, I can't eat every 3 hours nor all the foods I would like to because I can't afford it... so sometimes it's eat crappy food or don't eat at all.... I know how you feel its very frustrating...
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My mind tells me to win, my spirit shows me how, and my body delivers.
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2004/09/24, 04:51 PM
Is your sandwich on whole grain or whole wheat bread? Try replacing that nutrigrain bar for some almonds and a yogurt.
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"A will finds a way, failure is not an option"
Ivan
carivan@freetrainers.com
Montreal Canada
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2004/09/24, 05:10 PM
The sandwich used to be on whole grain bread, but white bread is only 88 cents, so we buy that instead. : ( I HATE white bread. Yogurt is a cheap alternative to bars...the store we shop at sells them for about 58 cents each. Will have to pick some up on the next shopping trip. Thanks for the idea.
Also, today is a really good day for me food wise..here's what I had
Breakfast@ 5:30: Cream of Wheat w/brwn sugar(1 spoonfull)
Lunch @ 10:00: 2 slices of chicken/spinach/tomato pizza(left over from a dinner at mom's house)
Snack @ 1:00: nutrigrain bar
Dinner @ 6:00: Homemade hamburger(made with steak not ground beef) and bake french fries w/ a big glass of milk.
I Will hit 1500 calories today!!! Woo Hoo!!
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2004/09/24, 05:16 PM
How about some hard boiled eggs CristalBelle? They are handy also and not bad at room temp.
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"A will finds a way, failure is not an option"
Ivan
carivan@freetrainers.com
Montreal Canada
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2004/09/24, 05:18 PM
If it is ok to only eat the whites I might try that..I don't like hard boiled yolks! Yuck!
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2004/09/24, 05:21 PM
I will try to come up with some more, but there are soem things you can do fairly cheaply to improve your lunches.
For example: Cook a roast beef (if you need to know how to do this just ask) and then slice it up for sandwiches for the week.
I am sure you may already be doing this, but find the bread outlet store in your area. Often you can get wheat breads for the same price as white, and they will be cheaper anyway at that particular store.
Think in terms of casseroles. They aren't always the lowest in fat, but can be fairly healthy if you eat smaller portions with some vegetables and fruit (tuna noodle, etc.). They also save and reheat well.
Instead of buying chicken breasts, buy the whole chicken. If you want you can roast it (there are some good recipes for this) or boil it. If you boil it with some celery, onion, carrots, pepper and different salts, you can treat yourself to chicken tacos, have chicken for sandwiches, or make chicken soup. Just pull the chicken from the bones and store. If you don't make soup right away store the broth for soup later or other recipes (freeze).
One more thing, it is ok to use ground beef instead of steak (cheaper), just make sure to drain it well before you put into something. A lot of recipes have you brown it first, so as long as you pull the fat off well, it will pass.
I hope I haven't stepped on any toes, but those are some of the ideas I grew up with. We use to boil a pork roast, than throw in some cabbage and red potatoes and got at least two meals out of it for a family of five.
Daniel
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2004/09/24, 05:27 PM
Daniel, all of your ideas are great!! My only setback is that my lunches have to be cold, as I have no access to a microwave. Dinners aren't a problem really. We have chicken and dumplings(homemade) stews, turkey tacos, chicken breast with veggies, fajitas quite frequently. I HAD forgotten about freezing my homemade chicken broth though, which will come in handy for homemade chicken noodle soup in a few months!!
Thanks for all of the ideas..I will see where I can impliment them more effeciently to improve MY diet(and my hubs)
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2004/09/24, 05:32 PM
I am glad the could help. I always forget about the microwave thing, because I don't tend to use them. I have this strange propensity to leave it in my lunch bag on my desk until lunch, and then I eat it cold. The only thing that I try to do is pack it the night before with a soda or bottled water and than put the whole bag in the fridge. The liquid then helps keep the food cool during the day.
*S*
Daniel Love
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2004/09/24, 05:47 PM
Great chicken ideas Daniel, I eat boiled chicken all the time, as I am from a culture that lives on chicken soup! I even mince or grate the chicken for chicken salad.
CristalBelle, throw away the yolks if you don't like them. Just have 3 eggs. You will benefit from the protein.
I'm starving!
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"A will finds a way, failure is not an option"
Ivan
carivan@freetrainers.com
Montreal Canada
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2004/09/24, 10:03 PM
Oh man all this food talk is making me hungry! just another hour and 40 min untill break.....
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2004/09/26, 02:57 PM
a few money savers
Oatmeal is very cheap per serving
Flea markets and fruit stands are great for veggies and fruits
The Dollar Store is good for canned goods
Find stores that don't have card programs they are overall cheaper
Buy in bulk when you find something on sale
I find that three things make me tired.
Not eating right, not sleeping right, and frustration.
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2004/09/26, 03:13 PM
Canned good sare great, but we have to watch for the sodium in veggies and the added sugars in fruit. Otherwise a great bargain.
The farmers markets are great also this time of year. I picked up sweet potatoes at .89 and cabbage the size of a large bowling ball were 3/$1.00 and thats cdn$$!
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"A will finds a way, failure is not an option"
Ivan
carivan@freetrainers.com
Montreal Canada
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2004/09/27, 01:01 PM
We just found the bulk section at our grocery store!! What we save there will help to get me some things like yogurt and string cheese to bring to work. It also has some good trail mix and granola that we could buy for snacks really cheap!!
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