Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I gained around 20lb over the winter, eating my feelings as I navigated my divorce. I decided today was to be the day I knock it off already and reclaim my life (and body.)

I am 5’ 9”/170lb/41yo/F

Ideally, I’d like to lose all 20lb, but I’d be pleased if I could lose 15lb by June, which would have me feeling confident and motivated to lose the extra 5+.

I know protein is key, cutting sugar, upping water and fiber, more movement. My main problem is emotional eating in the afternoon and evenings.

I do light-moderate cardio (brisk walking outside) and moderate outdoor biking once it’s a little warmer.

I lift weights at the gym for about an hour, 3-4 days a week, but could implement some light at-home workouts if you think I need more.

It’s worth noting that I am NOT a fan of breakfast. I just don’t enjoy eating breakfast for the sake of eating. I typically have a Greek yogurt around 10am, which is when I am finally hungry, then a protein shake after, around 11-12, and then a light lunch around 2, usually something like cottage cheese with grilled chicken or chicken cold cuts and veggies. I prefer smaller snacks like this as opposed to meals. I have an actual dinner at 6. I head to bed around 10pm. I tend to do my mindless snacking between 7-9pm, and I hate this.

I’m really motivated to have a plan and make this happen. I’d love any advice you can give me!

This is what has worked for me.

I make a big pressure cooker full of tomato soup every single day. 5 cups of water, 5 beefsteak tomatoes, 1 big onion, 10 garlic cloves, spoonful white vinegar, salt, 1/2 tsp sugar, black pepper, 1 tsp butter. No other cream, flour, croutons etc. Cook sliced onions and garlic in butter until it browns a bit, add rest of the ingredients and pressure cook it for 10 minutes. Let it cool and blend with immersion blender. You can drink as it or strain it in a strainer to get rid of the tomato seeds and skin. Adjust the seasoning.

Throughout the day, as you feel the need to drink tea, coffee or snack - you just sip on this soup. You will not gain weight even if you are drinking it from 7 to 9.

Anonymous wrote:Drinking tomato soup all day is depressing

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I gained around 20lb over the winter, eating my feelings as I navigated my divorce. I decided today was to be the day I knock it off already and reclaim my life (and body.)

I am 5’ 9”/170lb/41yo/F

Ideally, I’d like to lose all 20lb, but I’d be pleased if I could lose 15lb by June, which would have me feeling confident and motivated to lose the extra 5+.

I know protein is key, cutting sugar, upping water and fiber, more movement. My main problem is emotional eating in the afternoon and evenings.

I do light-moderate cardio (brisk walking outside) and moderate outdoor biking once it’s a little warmer.

I lift weights at the gym for about an hour, 3-4 days a week, but could implement some light at-home workouts if you think I need more.

It’s worth noting that I am NOT a fan of breakfast. I just don’t enjoy eating breakfast for the sake of eating. I typically have a Greek yogurt around 10am, which is when I am finally hungry, then a protein shake after, around 11-12, and then a light lunch around 2, usually something like cottage cheese with grilled chicken or chicken cold cuts and veggies. I prefer smaller snacks like this as opposed to meals. I have an actual dinner at 6. I head to bed around 10pm. I tend to do my mindless snacking between 7-9pm, and I hate this.

I’m really motivated to have a plan and make this happen. I’d love any advice you can give me!

This is what has worked for me.

I make a big pressure cooker full of tomato soup every single day. 5 cups of water, 5 beefsteak tomatoes, 1 big onion, 10 garlic cloves, spoonful white vinegar, salt, 1/2 tsp sugar, black pepper, 1 tsp butter. No other cream, flour, croutons etc. Cook sliced onions and garlic in butter until it browns a bit, add rest of the ingredients and pressure cook it for 10 minutes. Let it cool and blend with immersion blender. You can drink as it or strain it in a strainer to get rid of the tomato seeds and skin. Adjust the seasoning.

Throughout the day, as you feel the need to drink tea, coffee or snack - you just sip on this soup. You will not gain weight even if you are drinking it from 7 to 9.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I gained around 20lb over the winter, eating my feelings as I navigated my divorce. I decided today was to be the day I knock it off already and reclaim my life (and body.)

I am 5’ 9”/170lb/41yo/F

Ideally, I’d like to lose all 20lb, but I’d be pleased if I could lose 15lb by June, which would have me feeling confident and motivated to lose the extra 5+.

I know protein is key, cutting sugar, upping water and fiber, more movement. My main problem is emotional eating in the afternoon and evenings.

I do light-moderate cardio (brisk walking outside) and moderate outdoor biking once it’s a little warmer.

I lift weights at the gym for about an hour, 3-4 days a week, but could implement some light at-home workouts if you think I need more.

It’s worth noting that I am NOT a fan of breakfast. I just don’t enjoy eating breakfast for the sake of eating. I typically have a Greek yogurt around 10am, which is when I am finally hungry, then a protein shake after, around 11-12, and then a light lunch around 2, usually something like cottage cheese with grilled chicken or chicken cold cuts and veggies. I prefer smaller snacks like this as opposed to meals. I have an actual dinner at 6. I head to bed around 10pm. I tend to do my mindless snacking between 7-9pm, and I hate this.

I’m really motivated to have a plan and make this happen. I’d love any advice you can give me!

This is what has worked for me.

I make a big pressure cooker full of tomato soup every single day. 5 cups of water, 5 beefsteak tomatoes, 1 big onion, 10 garlic cloves, spoonful white vinegar, salt, 1/2 tsp sugar, black pepper, 1 tsp butter. No other cream, flour, croutons etc. Cook sliced onions and garlic in butter until it browns a bit, add rest of the ingredients and pressure cook it for 10 minutes. Let it cool and blend with immersion blender. You can drink as it or strain it in a strainer to get rid of the tomato seeds and skin. Adjust the seasoning.

Throughout the day, as you feel the need to drink tea, coffee or snack - you just sip on this soup. You will not gain weight even if you are drinking it from 7 to 9.

Anonymous wrote:I gained around 20lb over the winter, eating my feelings as I navigated my divorce. I decided today was to be the day I knock it off already and reclaim my life (and body.)

I am 5’ 9”/170lb/41yo/F

Ideally, I’d like to lose all 20lb, but I’d be pleased if I could lose 15lb by June, which would have me feeling confident and motivated to lose the extra 5+.

I know protein is key, cutting sugar, upping water and fiber, more movement. My main problem is emotional eating in the afternoon and evenings.

I do light-moderate cardio (brisk walking outside) and moderate outdoor biking once it’s a little warmer.

I lift weights at the gym for about an hour, 3-4 days a week, but could implement some light at-home workouts if you think I need more.

It’s worth noting that I am NOT a fan of breakfast. I just don’t enjoy eating breakfast for the sake of eating. I typically have a Greek yogurt around 10am, which is when I am finally hungry, then a protein shake after, around 11-12, and then a light lunch around 2, usually something like cottage cheese with grilled chicken or chicken cold cuts and veggies. I prefer smaller snacks like this as opposed to meals. I have an actual dinner at 6. I head to bed around 10pm. I tend to do my mindless snacking between 7-9pm, and I hate this.

I’m really motivated to have a plan and make this happen. I’d love any advice you can give me!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you actually hungry when you snack? If the issue is emotional eating, the answer is to

1. Stop buying the snacks you would eat
2. Occupy your hands with something else until you break the habit.

OP here.

I am absolutely NOT hungry.

The problem is that I will eat the kids snacks, or even just semi-decent food that I just don’t need, like a peanut butter sandwich. A PBJ, for example, is an easy extra 350-400 calories!

I’d stop tracking calories and just make better choices. Consider all fresh veggies, fresh fruit, eggs, and fresh unprocessed meats a free for all. Instead of making the PB & J then eat a roasted chicken leg quarter or a few hard boiled eggs or half a bag of grapes instead. This takes some prep work so you have things that are easy to grab but not counting calories is worth it. If it doesn’t fall into one of these categories then don’t ever eat it for a snack and really think before you eat it as part of a meal. Ditch the protein shakes and anything else that’s processed or has added sugar of any kind. If you need sweetener on your fruit use local honey in moderation.

Honestly, this is horrible advice.

A half bag of grapes? Do you even realize how many calories that is?

The fact of the matter is, calories matter, even if they are from grapes, or chicken, or eggs, and you need to be in a deficit to lose weight.

And protein shakes are easy, dense protein that are low in calorie. They are actually the perfect food on a macro level, by design.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The multiple meals a day and snacks needs to stop today. Stop grazing. You're not a cow.

Three meals a day. Bigger meals of real food you've made. Nothing packaged. If you can skip breakfast and just have a 8nhr window great. But don't eat all afternoon and also if you 16 8 and only so 2 meals they will have to be a little bigger. Herbal tea at night no exceptions. Popcorn should be your only Friday night snack. Once a week say. That's it. Also make sure it is popcorn yoi made yourself on stove with real butter melted. None of that fake microwave stuff. Snacks should be inconvenient a little. Meal plan and meal prep. Yes 15 lbs is doable. But most people just talk about it while mindlessly nibbling multiple times a day. Stop spiking insulin multiple times a day. You can do this if you put your mind to it. Also no white flour or white bread. Ezekiel only. Avocado with Ezekiel and a tiny bit of olive oil and hardboiled egg is great lunch or dinner. Est yogurt but plain whole only. Read labels.

This is just so grossly inaccurate I don’t even know where to begin.

CALORIE IN, CALORIE OUT. It doesn’t matter WHEN or HOW MUCH. Can we please stop spreading this misinformation.

If OP consumes her caloric deficit amount of daily calories by consuming only white bread, one slice at a time every hour, she will lose weight.

+100

Why do people overcomplicate it?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your stats and habits are similar to mine , OP. I find it is MUCH easier to curb the afternoon and evening snacking if I eat more during the day. You eat very few calories all day long- a yogurt, a shake, some cottage cheese and chicken and then finally dinner? When I eat like that I’m always very proud of myself and then by 5pm or so I’m finding myself eating a giant bowl of animal crackers because I’m famished and craving carbs.

For me, if I add on a serving of high fiber whole grains with lunch , some fruit or vegetable, and then have a snack of maybe some cheese and buckwheat crackers right before dinner , I find myself feeling actually full/ satiated after dinner and it’s much easier to go to bed that evening without snacks.

This is me! What high fiber grains do you recommend for lunch? I still want to have the chicken and yogurt because without them I won’t reach my protein goal, but I’m not against adding a grain to help with hunger.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The multiple meals a day and snacks needs to stop today. Stop grazing. You're not a cow.

Three meals a day. Bigger meals of real food you've made. Nothing packaged. If you can skip breakfast and just have a 8nhr window great. But don't eat all afternoon and also if you 16 8 and only so 2 meals they will have to be a little bigger. Herbal tea at night no exceptions. Popcorn should be your only Friday night snack. Once a week say. That's it. Also make sure it is popcorn yoi made yourself on stove with real butter melted. None of that fake microwave stuff. Snacks should be inconvenient a little. Meal plan and meal prep. Yes 15 lbs is doable. But most people just talk about it while mindlessly nibbling multiple times a day. Stop spiking insulin multiple times a day. You can do this if you put your mind to it. Also no white flour or white bread. Ezekiel only. Avocado with Ezekiel and a tiny bit of olive oil and hardboiled egg is great lunch or dinner. Est yogurt but plain whole only. Read labels.

This is just so grossly inaccurate I don’t even know where to begin.

CALORIE IN, CALORIE OUT. It doesn’t matter WHEN or HOW MUCH. Can we please stop spreading this misinformation.

If OP consumes her caloric deficit amount of daily calories by consuming only white bread, one slice at a time every hour, she will lose weight.