Today I weighed in at 170 lbs. That means I’m down 2 lbs from last week and 33 lbs total, and the scale is back on the move! It also means I am only a little over a pound away from being overweight instead of obese, according to the BMI charts for my height (5’3). I haven’t been just plain old overweight in a long time. As I start to move down into the 160s, I will be visiting a weight decade my boyfriend has never known me at. I am very lucky to have him cheering me on and listening to my fears and ideas as I work toward my goal weight!
This week I have had so many ideas bouncing around my head about strength training, but as you can see in my previous post, for now I have pursued on a fairly simple, low-time-commitment plan. The important thing, I figure, is that I am sticking to it. I have not missed a single day of those workouts since I began on January 3. Barring illness, I plan to keep up the positive streak through the end of the month, at which point I’ll decide on some strength goals for February.
I am thinking about setting some protein goals for myself as well, now that I have become well-practiced in sticking to my calorie budget. SparkPeople sets a fairly broad suggested daily protein intake range for me, and I consistently eat on the very low end of that. I am considering setting a goal of eating 20g higher than the minimum suggested amount, 5 times per week. What do you think? Do you have trouble getting in your protein? If not, do you have any calorie-friendly suggestions for sneaking in extra protein throughout my day? I have always gravitated toward sweets and carbs, so it’s not particularly surprising that this is a tricky aspect of my current diet.
12. January 2010 at 2:04 PM
hi hillary! i just found your blog; it sounds like you are doing great with consistent slow loss and making manageable changes. congrats on breaking the plateau!
12. January 2010 at 3:31 PM
Liz: Yay, I’m so glad you found my blog and commented! I look forward to checking out your site as well :).
12. January 2010 at 5:09 PM
Protein suggestions (and I share the love of all things carby): greek yogurt, eggs, egg whites, turkey and chicken. Those are the lowest calorie. When I was a big meat eater, I would grill a family pack of chicken (5-6 lbs) on Sunday, then chop it up for use all week. I could grab some for a salad, for a quesadila, pasta, etc. Very handy. For sandwiches, I sub out the cheese, and put in more turkey, and often take off one piece of bread. The calories for protein are SO worth it — I always feel so much more satisfied with a meal.
AND CONGRATULATIONS!!!
13. January 2010 at 10:23 AM
Thanks, homegirl! I knew you’d have some good suggestions for me. I especially like the idea of grilling up a big batch of chicken at one time and then using it throughout the week.
P.S. How are your bangs doing today? Have they gone on a drunken bender through half the casinos in Vegas yet?
12. January 2010 at 6:03 PM
Hilary – yay for you!!! That has got to be exciting! :)
I know the protein thing is tough. My trainer wants me to eat 160 g of protein a day! Insanity! But I usually hit it or come close. I usually drink one of those whey protein shakes after my daily exercise (low in sugar and cals) but has 52 g of protein. I can usually hit the rest of the protein in my diet for the day.
13. January 2010 at 10:25 AM
Thanks, lady! And congrats on your own progress, too!
Wow, 160 g sounds like sooo much protein to me. I’m just trying to up mine to at least 80 g per day, to start out (like I said, I’m really bad about my protein). Do you have a recommendation for any particular brand of whey powder or protein shakes?
12. January 2010 at 8:04 PM
I find an egg white omelet with spinach and a sprinkle of grated cheese keeps me full until lunch time on few calories! And another thing that is working for me is eating 1/4 cup of various nuts (oil and salt free) a day. They have more calories but they keep me full for hours! (and they’re yummy)
13. January 2010 at 10:26 AM
I love egg white omelets, Carla! That is one of the few higher-protein meals I have successfully incorporated into my life so far. I appreciate the suggestion about the nuts—I’ll have to look into the variety available at the grocery store. I know a lot of them are “roasted,” which I believe is code for “cooked in oil”(?). I’ll just have to read label closely ;).
12. January 2010 at 9:01 PM
Hi Hilary, so happy to read about your continued progress. I don’t know what food you like to eat, but as a carboholic 2 years into a low carb diet, I can tell you a few of my low carb protein based snacks. You can roll sliced turkey around a pickle spear, cut into slices and take to work as a snack. The spice of the pickle helps the protein go down. You can also make a low cal smoothie with a scoop of cottage cheese, some frozen berries, a little milk or soy milk, a dash of vanilla and sweetener of some sort and a scoop of protein powder if you want more boost. Blend with ice and drink it down, or take it to work and drink it after you arrive. If it needs a little more flavor add a spoon of frozen oj concentrate (undiluted) from the freezer. I also like to eat nuts (almonds or walnuts) or smear some peanut butter on celery for a work snack. I know you don’t like to cook, but if you experiment with cooking know that you can use lowfat ground beef or turkey and mix up to half with chopped vegetables to make a meatloaf – I use defrosted uncooked frozen greens like collards, finely chopped carrots and onions, chopped walnuts and sundried tomatoes. No bread or carb but other spices and ingredients per the recipe. Guilt free and delicious- half lowfat meat and half veg. I buy frozen chicken sausages at Costco or Sam’s Club (13 gr protein and 100 calories), split open and brown without oil in a pan – slice and eat with mustard. Or cook a turkey burger (add a big scoop of salsa to the meat for flavor and moisture) and eat on a bed of salad greens with a soy peanut dressing. Beats a burger on a bun anyday. For dessert try 3 or 4 dried apricots each with an apricot on top. Fiber, protein and no fat or added sugar – tastes a bit like an oatmeal cookie without the subsequent cravings from eating sugar.
Hey, almost time for another photo update, eh?
13. January 2010 at 10:29 AM
Babbalou, I was missing you! So glad you commented and thank you for the many fantastic suggestions! I am going to compile all these great ideas you and my other peeps have had into a protein list to post here on the blog. It will serve as a constant reminder to me :). Oh, and I’ll be doing an official photo update when I hit 163 lbs (40 lbs down, total), although perhaps I’ll sneak in an unofficial photo or two before that ;).
13. January 2010 at 2:33 PM
Correction to my post – put a whole almond on top the dried apricot for a dessert that tastes like an oatmeal cookie.
13. January 2010 at 7:23 AM
Yay! Good for you!
On the protein question: when I was pregnant, my childbirth instructor suggested I should up my protein in a big way. I find cottage cheese to be fabulous for this, especially if you have a sweet tooth: take some cottage cheese, add a bit of unsweetened cocoa and some splenda (or the artificial sweetener of your choice), and it’s positively yummy.
Also, there are some good breakfast cereals that are high in protein and dietary fiber, so they take some of the wallop out of the GL of the carbs – Kashi Go Lean is my favorite.
13. January 2010 at 10:31 AM
Hey, Hot Mother! Thank you so much for commenting :). All of the protein suggestions I’ve been getting are great, and your contribution is no exception. When you make the cottage cheese recipe, do you put it all (cottage cheese, splenda, unsweetened cocoa) in a blender or just mix it by hand?
13. January 2010 at 11:47 AM
I just mix by hand, but if you don’t like the texture, you might want to try a blender. Let me know what you think! :-)
13. January 2010 at 9:50 AM
Good for you Hilary! You are just flying down in the numbers girl! I don’t have any answers for you on the protein question, because I need suggestions too. Thanks to your readers above who have graciously commented! I also am curious about FIBER…I SO need more of it and will probably do like you did and ask for some low calorie suggestions.
Congratulations, Hilary!
13. January 2010 at 10:32 AM
Josie: I am definitely going to compile all these great protein suggestions into a list that I’ll be posting here on the blog for reference. I definitely recommend asking your blog readers for fiber suggestions—great ideas just come pouring out :).
13. January 2010 at 1:54 PM
If you can fathom spending 270-290 calories in bar form, get thee to costco and get a box of premiere nutrition protein bars. 30g protein is huge and it’s just grab and go. If you’re looking for lower calorie, I think they are also at costco/target…pro-max? or something similar – they’re 200 calories for 20g protein. Zone bars are pretty decent as well.
Honestly, you’re probably better off getting your protein from natural sources, but I just don’t have the time to prepare that much meat and if I can get in a 20-30g protein-y breakfast, I feel so good all day.
Actually now that I’m looking at it, I could probably do a double serving of greek yogurt for a few less calories and the same protein – though that stuff is EXPENSIVE!