Everyday Systems

If you could give me a sample day's of meals it would really help me to visualize what normal people eat at a meal. I am an atkins refugee whose sense of 'normal' is off now. Please list maybe what your meals were yesterday? I love this board and am starting to feel 'normal' again!! I am officially throwing out my half used, grotesque bag of pork rinds this morn!

Welcome Jumbotights! If you look at the Daily Check-In page, a number of folks, including me, keep track of what we have been eating on a daily/regular basis.

Sample meal for a day:

Breakfast: strawberries and blueberries, scoop of greek yogurt, honey
Lunch: tuna melt with chips and pickle
Dinner: tacos with rice and beans

Well, yesterday I ate

Mixed berry lowfat yogurt with chopped up fresh peaches and flax seed for breakfast,

a large chef salad for lunch with lowcal catalina dressing mixed half and half with vinegar (I always do that, hate "creamy dressings".

dinner was the last two slices of leftover pizza from the weekend but could also have been a normal sized plate of whatever I was making for dinner - like spaghetti or chicken and dumplings or ham and beans (yes we are down home county folk).

That's it, no snacks, no sweets, no seconds.

so simple.

SR

Hi Jumbotights,

I definitely recommend looking through the daily check-ins. I think we've had posts here before about typical day's food (possibly under "suggested menu" "meal ideas" or something like that). I vaguely remember that someone managed to get Reinhard to post a week's food once upon a time.

Yesterday I had:

B: 1 fried egg & sliced tomatoes in 2 slices wholewheat bread with butter.

Mid morning mini meal: 1/4 cup nuts & raisins.

L: Tofu & tomato sandwich with hummus on 2 slices wholewheat bread with butter.
1 apple. 1/4 cup nuts & raisins.

D: 2 quorn fillets, 1 cup cooked rice (with coconut oil), peas, salad. Bread with peanut butter (1 slice), a few raisins.

I have no idea if what I eat is normal, but I guess it feels normal for me!

I think after a while on No S you'll get back in touch with what consitutes normal amounts of different foods for you based on your own metabolism, size, activity level etc.

good luck

p.s. I should mention that the bread I use is Nimble brand (small thin slices) which is a kind of low carb/low cal bread. That is the only "diet food" I eat though

My day yesterday:

B: high-fibre cereal with soy milk, banana
L: pea soup, crackers, trail mix
D: boneless bbq ribs, mashed potatoes, corn

Welcome jumbotights! I eat regular meals in the evenings (meatloaf, chicken, manicotti, etc.) and cook from regular cookbooks. I try to use mostly fresh or frozen ingredients, with as little processed/packaged food as possible. I no longer look at labels for calories, etc.
Usually in the morning I eat a peanut butter and banana sandwich on whole wheat bread, coffee, and some yogurt. Lunch is usually a sandwich of some kind (meat, cheese, lettuce and tomato, mayo) and chips or pretzels, and maybe some more yogurt. Sometimes I eat leftovers from the previous night's dinner. Always one plate, and no seconds! I'm losing weight eating this way, slowly, but surely!

Mimi

Breakfast: oatmeal with nuts and fruit; iced coffee with milk and one packet of sugar.

Lunch: Slice of pizza or big salad with nuts, cheese, etc. for staying power.

Dinner: Varies, and we order in a lot. But keeping myself to one plate and making sure there are some fruit or veggies on it keeps me honest.

After dinner: One beer, which I nurse through the evening.

These suggested menus have been very useful for me as a newbie too- I was looking at a few daily posts and was thinking that I was eating too much OR others were eating too little- some of the menus I saw would have me bingeing in starvation in no time at all but it is all about what each individual's body needs isn't it? I really want to stop thinking "calories" as they have ruled my life for too long, and just try and get a good mix of all the major food groups in during the day when I can possibly do so. It's important as I have often snacked on fruit- healthy enough in itself but I was literally working my way through the fruit bowl just for something to do. If I am not going to snack then fruit and veg need to be an integral part of my meal of I will be eating a pretty unhealthy three meals otherwise!
Good luck with finding your own way
Dolly

Any single day in my case isn't indicative of my overall eating habits; I tend to shift around depending on what I'm doing. Yesterday evening held a martial arts class half an hour's walk away (and back), tonight does not. The other major deciding factor is time; on both days either my girlfriend or I are going out a couple of hours after work, so both require stuff which can be made quickly. Examples!

Yesterday:
Breakfast: One slice of granary toast with butter and honey and an apple.
Lunch: A round and a half of cheese, lettuce and pickle sandwiches (granary).
Dinner: Chicken pie (consisting of chicken, onion, peas, potato and creme fraiche).

Today:
Breakfast: Same as yesterday, but without the apple.
Lunch: Houmous, apple, celery, two wholemeal pita breads and a handful of vegetable crisps.
Dinner (will be): Pasta with garlic, proscuitto, spinach and the rest of yesterday's creme fraiche.

I vary a lot, but here's a recent day:

B: Shredded wheat, skim milk (I don't like whole, although it's fine to have on No S), and fresh blueberries

L: Leftover whole-wheat macaroni with Christmas lima beans and artichoke hearts -- meant to pack fruit too, but was too discombobulated in the morning.

D: Honey-mustard grilled chicken thigh, with the skin; roasted tiny new potatoes; braised asparagus; and I think we cut up a good tomato and had that too, with salt and olive oil.

Jumbotights - as you can see we all eat differently but basically the same concept of eating normally.

What I had yesterday:

B: Swedish pancakes with bluesberries and sour cream. Latte with foam milk.
L: Tuna salad with celery and full fat mayo on sourdough french bread. Small peach.
D: Shrimp teriyake (I make the teriyake sauce with soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, vinegar, cornstarch), basmati white rice and pea pods. A small plum. Oh and a glass of red wine after dinner.

I eat fairly light by choice.

Breakfast: Whole grain toast with butter and a bowl of fruit. Sometimes a smoothie (juice, yogurt, berries) instead of the fruit. Occasionally an egg or two cooked in butter.

Lunch: Large bowl of soup, bread, and a piece of fruit. A salad may replace the soup in summer.

Dinner: Main dish (chicken, fish or some kind of one pot meal), salad, and usually another vegetable. Maybe a piece of fruit.

Dolly wrote:These suggested menus have been very useful for me as a newbie too- I was looking at a few daily posts and was thinking that I was eating too much OR others were eating too little- some of the menus I saw would have me bingeing in starvation in no time at all but it is all about what each individual's body needs isn't it? I really want to stop thinking "calories" as they have ruled my life for too long, and just try and get a good mix of all the major food groups in during the day when I can possibly do so. It's important as I have often snacked on fruit- healthy enough in itself but I was literally working my way through the fruit bowl just for something to do. If I am not going to snack then fruit and veg need to be an integral part of my meal of I will be eating a pretty unhealthy three meals otherwise!
Good luck with finding your own way
Dolly

People do eat differently - we're at different weights, levels of activity, metabolism. I am learning (okay, trying to learn) not to compare too much with what others are doing. I can learn to better manage my own choices with information, but that's not the same as thinking my choices should match someone else's.

Your phrase about "finding your own way" is a very useful thing to keep in mind.

oliviamanda wrote:Sample meal for a day:

Breakfast: strawberries and blueberries, scoop of greek yogurt, honey

Mmmm, one of my favorite breakfasts . . . usually with a handful of nuts, too!

Breakfast: An egg, several slices of smoked tempeh, a hunk of mozzarella, and . . . Coleslaw!

Lunch: Lemon Cilantro Tofu, some kind of beans, mixed fruit (ate out).

Supper: Honey Baked Lentils, Broccoli salad, different mixed fruit.

Like mimi tomorrow for breakfast i am going to have a peanut butter and banana sandwich! Yummy!! So bye bye to my dry chemical tasting Atkins Advantage bars I am used to choking down!!!

Yesterday:

Breakfast: Bowl of fruit compote, slice of wholemeal toast.

Lunch: Broccoli and potato bake with salad; an orange.

Dinner: Wholemeal linguini with red pepper and tomato sauce, grated cheese, courgette (zucchini).

Helping of soft fruit late evening.

And as an example of how flexible No S really is, here's my yesterday, which involved a lot of restaurant time:

B: shredded wheat, skim milk, OJ

L: Work team lunch outing -- Tuna melt with bacon on rye, orange and pineapple slices, an onion ring and five or six curly fries from a shared appetizer plate -- there was room on my sandwich plate, so I slipped a few on. Show me a diet on earth that would bless THAT! I didn't finish the sandwich because I'd really had enough.

D: Pizza parlor treat with daughter -- Half of a 12-inch or 10-inch or whatever the personal size is pizza with roasted artichokes, tomatoes, and fresh ricotta, celery sticks.

I don't eat like this every day, but everything was really good and I was able to enjoy it without stuffing myself or feeling guilty.

I'm a vegetarian who is trying to 'go vegan'....again. So here goes:

Breakfast: scrambled tofu, peppers & onions seasoned with nutritional yeast and turmeric (sounds gross, but tastes great), millet bread toast, fresh strawberries

Lunch: Whole wheat burrito filled with homemade refried beans, sauteed vegetables, edamame and cilantro topped with fresh tomatoes and avocado, cucumber salad, fresh pineapple

Dinner: Chickpea flatbread topped with kalamata olives, peppers & onions; tossed salad with balsamic dressing, melon balls

Evening: glass of merlot

Today's menu:

B: Stuffed French Toast (bread, cream cheese filling), smear of jam and drizzle of real maple syrup, glass of milk, glass of juice, coffee.

L: (our main meal): Javanese Ham and Pineapple Curry, steamed rice, cuke&tomato salad, fresh steamed green beans.

D: Tunisian Zucchini Relish, leftover cuke&tomato salad, leftover tzatziki sauce, small piece of feta cheese, couple of slices of fresh bread with a smear of butter.

Really, you can eat ANYTHING as long as you follow the prinicple of moderation....

Yesterday:

Breakfast: cup of oatmeal with brown sugar and nuts; iced coffee with milk.

Lunch: grilled cheese sandwich. Dried fruit and nuts on the side.

Dinner: (Out): two steak tacos with small serving of rice and beans. Beer.