What did you eat today?

Hey guys,

I thought it would be a good idea if we listed what we ate throughout the day.  That way others can get ideas what to eat for lunch, dinnet, etc for the next day.

here is mine.  Not that good today because I'm trying not to eat any cooked food this week so I can "cleanse" but i can't get rid of the cereal!

Tea with 2% milk (100 cals)

Cereal (210 cals)

Orange (100 cals)

Breakfast bar (90 cals)

Tea with 2% milk (100 cals)

Big Bowl of Cereal (300 cals)

Fruit (100 cals)

What did I eat today?? Too much! It is Friday weigh in tomorrow....and my daily intake is supposed to be 1205... but alas I went to 1422... whoops... I have been so good till now... but I kind of over did it having a rum or two... but with diet coke!!! and then some popcorn.. AFTER supper!!!???I did go to the gym tho... now I am dreading tomorrow's weigh in.... ho hum....

I might as well put in mine, if only to counteract all the undereaters and those with unbalanced diets.  I'm losing 1/2 pound a week, steadily, on 1400 calories a day.

breakfast -
1/2 cup Uncle Sam Cereal
1 medium banana 
2/3 cup of 1% milk
1/2 cup orange juice
Total calories = 361

Lunch -
2 cups mixed salad greens
1/2 cup sliced cucumbers
1/4 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup chickpeas
1 oz pumpkin seeds
1 Tbs olive oil
1 TBS wine vinegar
1/2 TSP dijon mustard
1 oz cheddar cheese (the real thing)
Total calories =  575

Supper - 3 oz salmon
1/2 cup brown rice
1 cup steamed broccoli
1 medium tomato, cut in half and broiled with the fish
Total calories = 364

PM snack - grapes = 120

Total calories for the day = 1420

I am presently gaining weight and on a MP of around 4000 calories plus a day. I get a lot of that in liquids and discretionary calories.

I can also tell you know how bloody dangerous it is to undereat from personal experience. My hair fell out in clumps. I developed anemia that has not yet quite been resolved even if my levels are up from what they were. The muscles in my legs atrophied to a point I would fall over in public. I have constant problems with my GI system. I am on a cocktail of medications. I'm suffering through edema thanks to possible malabsorption problems. And I'm still underweight right now.

My BMI dropped to 14.5 at its lowest. I could have died. But even then I know you don't have to be that low a BMI to suffer more extreme consequences of undereating - heck, you don't even have to be underweight. If your body doesn't have food to burn it burns muscle instead no matter if you're over, under, or healthy weight per BMI. And guess what? Your heart is a muscle. Guess what that means.

If you are 21 or older use CC's tools to work out your BMR so you have a number to work from for your diet: http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/calories-bur ned.php. If you are under 21, CC's tools are inaccurate and you should use this calculator instead: http://www.bcm.edu/cnrc/bodycomp/bmiz2.html as you are still growing. And yes even if you're at the higher end of under 21, because your bones and organs develop to their fullest in those years. You can't see what is going on inside of you.

Eat properly. Eat what your body requires to survive and then some. Take the time, work it out, have patience and don't resort to the drastic methods.

Yesterday:

Breakfast: A bowl of porridge oats made with a large, mashed banana, dried dates, and walnuts. Tasted like banana bread. Two hardboiled eggs and a glass of 100% orange juice.

Snack 1:  A veggie patty sub from Subway - no cheese, lactose intolerant - on wheat with olive, jalapenos, onions, lettuce, tomatoes and cucumber. A venti soy milk cappuccino from Starbucks with hazelnut syrup.

Lunch: A large jacket (baked) potato with dairy-free butter, homemade baked beans, lactose-free cheese and mixed vegetables on the side dressed with olive oil. A 500ml glass of soy milk.

Snack 2: A mixed snack bag of hazelnuts and dried apricots.

Dinner: Tuna pasta bake. 75g dry pasta, 50g of the same lactose-free cheese as at lunch, two packets of chopped tomatoes in juice, spices, herbs, and a drained tin of tuna. Followed this about half an hour later with a 50g bar of dairy-free dark chocolate broken into a bowl of Tofutti strawberry ice cream and blueberries. Antioxidant-tastic.

Snack 3: My dad got some peking duck and pancakes that turned out to be larger than he expected, so I shared that with him.

Yes, I realise that's a lot. Yes, I realise not everyone needs to eat that much. And yes, it does get extremely uncomfortable TO eat that much sometimes. But I hope this serves as (a) a warning and (b) a lesson in you need a LOT MORE than what half of you are posting here now.

I dont count calories. So this is all a guesstimation based on the calorie content of the individual food for each meal.

Breakfast
Tuna salad (tuna, onions, bell peppers, red pepper, lime, mayo), and yellow grits (i think butter is in it), coffee made with cream and 2 equal- I give this about 600 calories

Lunch
6" veggie delite sub with 2 whole slices swiss cheese and lettuce, tomatos, onions, bell peppers, olives, cucumbers, jalepenos, banana peppers, mustard, hotsauce, black pepper- about 300 calories

Snack
Tea made with cream and 2 equal, a slice of golden wheat bread and a hard boiled egg when I get home- about 175 calories

Dinner
Tofu stiry fry, garlic potatos, steamed veggies- about 300-400 calories

Total calorie guesstimation-  About 1475 calories give or take and im sure there are a few hidden calories in there that Im probably missing.

Original Post by clairelaine:

I might as well put in mine, if only to counteract all the undereaters and those with unbalanced diets.  I'm losing 1/2 pound a week, steadily, on 1400 calories a day.

breakfast -
1/2 cup Uncle Sam Cereal
1 medium banana 
2/3 cup of 1% milk
1/2 cup orange juice
Total calories = 361

Lunch -
2 cups mixed salad greens
1/2 cup sliced cucumbers
1/4 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup chickpeas
1 oz pumpkin seeds
1 Tbs olive oil
1 TBS wine vinegar
1/2 TSP dijon mustard
1 oz cheddar cheese (the real thing)
Total calories =  575

Supper - 3 oz salmon
1/2 cup brown rice
1 cup steamed broccoli
1 medium tomato, cut in half and broiled with the fish
Total calories = 364

PM snack - grapes = 120

Total calories for the day = 1420

 

I started this thing off with 1400 calories and then as I am nearing  my target weight the total amount of calories it has worked out for me to have a day was 1205... I eat a balanced diet! I didn't only have rum and popcorn!!! lol! I had porridge, hummus, stir fry...! Just can't be faffed with writing my entire days food intake here as well as on the calorie counter... once my target is reached, of 130 pounds (me being 5' 4" this is perfectly healthy) I will stop being so 'anal' about counting calories as I will have a better idea and will have changed my eating habits somewhat, and can go back to eating more calories to maintain. But by counting the calories for now it is great as I don't really have forbidden foods and feel terrible cos I can't have them as I know I can have them in moderation, or just change recipes slightly to lessen fat intake or what have you.. And for me portion control is a big thing, as I have a tendency to overfill my plate!!! I know what you mean though about people undereating. Some daily menus on here are not enough to feed a sparrow!!

 

wow ! I cant believe how little everyone eats, atleast in my opinion !

I had:

Breakfast:

yogurt: 100 cal , waffle with peanut butter : 200 cal , half a mini donut: 75 cal , green tea

Lunch: spaghetti with meatballs: 600 cals

snack: almonds : 150 cal

dinner: light chicken ceasar salad with bacon bits and feta cheese: 600 cal

veggies with sauce : 250 cal

equals: about 2000

but I burned about 500 at the gym

2 cups of tea with milkl 200 cals

Cereal 200 cals

snack: celery/carrots/laughing cow cheese 75 cals

Cereal 300 cals

Snack: 100 calorie pack cookies

I'm not counting calories anymore because a few months ago, I got obsessive about it but I do keep my own food diary and check the calorie count for foods I'm unfamiliar with. Here's a description of my day, I think it probably adds up to 1500-1700 cals.

11:00 AM

small bowl of cheerios with 2% milk, scrambled eggs with onions and peas (cooked with cooking spray), 1 orange

1:00 PM

grande coffee with sugar free caramel and half and half

3:00 PM

Earls' Sante Fe Blackened Chicken salad (dried dates, corn, black beans, lots of mixed greens, grilled blackened chicken, a light vinaigrette, a few bites of avocado), diet coke, 2 piece of pita bread and a bit of spinach dip

7:00 PM

2 pieces of pita bread and a bit of spinach dip, baby carrots and spinach dip

9:00 PM 

red beet soup, 1 chicken drumstick (boiled in the borscht)

10:30 PM

4 squares of Dove dark chocolate

Original Post by raychelc:

Original Post by mkculs:

Original Post by imcoolsoni:

03/04/09

Tea with 2% milk 100 cals

Cheerios with 2% milk 200 Cals

Tea with 2% milk 100 Cals

Big Salad with lime 200 Cals

CHEERIOS AGAIN! 200 Cals

Peach and grapes 150

 

In your posts, you are at or under 1000. No adult female should eat under 1200 for any reason (and almost no actual woman is small and inactive enough to need only 1200, even when she's losing weight), and teens need at least 1500. Have you read a lot on this site about healthy weight loss? Severely restricting leads to lots of unpleasant things, including gaining back the weight when you try to resume normal, healthy eating habits. It's unavoidable; your body makes changes to survive on reduced calories and doesn't change back until it has stored enough fat for the next "famine."

 Funny..CC is the one who put me at 1200 for weight loss *and* maintenance.

Just for fun, I put my goal weight as my current, and my goal to see what it would tell me, and it said 1200.

When I put my real current and goal, it said 1200.

Either way, looks like 1200 is the verdict from CC.

 

 

 I think that too many people on these boards would jump off a cliff if CC told them to do it.

What about your commmon sense? What about the tons of information there is out there that promotes healthy eating and balance in every meal (protein, carbs, fruit and veg, fats etc) and the fact that surviving on 1200 cals a day is the BARE minimum for health? Just because a computerised calculator spits out a number at you, are you going to take that as gospel and live your life by it, even if it means living on this measly underfed diet of tea, cereal and raw veggies?

It is no way to live and is not sustainable in the long term. How are you even functioning on that little food is way over my head

Regarding individual calorie targets - The Calorie Target tool defaults to the minimum of 1200 when your goal date is too short.  Also, if you don't put in a goal date, it automatically calculates the closest goal date you can reach on that minium of 1200 calories.

I've found a more accurate way to figure it out is to use the burn meter and deduct 500 calories from that.  You can always add exercise if you'd like to eat a little more. 

For instance, my sedentary burn is 1700, so to lose my 1/2 pound a week, I deduct 250 from that and get 1450.  I'm unable to exercise, but some days I do get in a little extra walking, and that seems to keep me losing.  And that's with an under active thyroid for which I take medication. 

So I'm telling you it does work as long as you don't carry things to extremes.