First time in a forum

[Kathyd]

I am a 39 year old mother of a three year old that needs to lose 10-12 pounds. I have always been active and I currently workout some. I am tracking my meals and wanting to become more educated on workouts and meals to achieve my goal. My goal is to lose about 2 pounds a week. My normal weight is about 115, but I feel off the wagon and I am at 120 and stuck! My goal is to be 110-112 with the fat off my belly, butt, and thighs by summer.

[Boss Man]

What meals do you eat and what times do you eat?

[Athene]

Welcome

[Kathyd]

The meal plan I am trying to follow is this:

breakfast 7am- hot green tea - trying to add in eggs or something to eat; favorite is a bowl honey nut cheerios and whole milk / I don't like the plain oats but I like oatmeal packages.
snack 10 am- piece of fruit-- banana, orange; small avocado ; handful of almonds; package of PB crackers
lunch12:30 Tuna with pickles or jalapenos; chicken - boneless/skinless; salad; steamed veggies
snack 3:00 piece of fruit-- banana, orange; small avocado ; handful of almonds

usually a workout before 6

dinner-- Tilapia with seasoning; rotisserie chicken; salad; sides may be - asparagus, yams, steamed veggies

other things added: low-fat yogurt, grapes, carrots, goldfish crackers

This is the basic plan I try to follow. There are some evening meals that get changed and some snacking that takes place (usually before dinner).
I am also trying to get my water intake up to 4 bottles a day. I teach and can't get out of my room all the time, so my water consumption is usually 2 bottle average. I drink decaf tea with sweet n low in the evenings at home. I have cut the beer and wine out during the week, but may have some on the weekends.

[Boss Man]

The meal plan I am trying to follow is this:

breakfast 7am- hot green tea - trying to add in eggs or something to eat; favorite is a bowl honey nut cheerios and whole milk / I don't like the plain oats but I like oatmeal packages.

(Try Skimmed Milk instead of Whole)

snack 10 am- piece of fruit-- banana, orange; small avocado ; handful of almonds; package of PB crackers

(Check the suggestions regarding the afternoon snack)

lunch12:30 Tuna with pickles or jalapenos; chicken - boneless/skinless; salad; steamed veggies

(Pickles are greasy and I think quite Salty, which could contribute to excess water weight; Salt often being a key contributary factor in that, so I'd pitch them. Tuna has heavy metal in it and is reccomended at 3x a week, so considering the Tilapia, I'd say pitch the Tuna altogether for something like Chicken and keep the Tilapia in sometimes with Dinner.

Alternatively you could split the Tilapia 50/50, so you'd have say 100g, (3.5OZ), then have 50g for Lunch, add in something like Rice, Mushrooms, Peas, Beans or Lentils to top up the Protein, then add in your Carbohydrate source like Veggies for example, making sure to reduce your normal amount, because of the Carbs already in the other foodstuff eaten with the Fish.

You could then utilise this methodoology for Dinner later, with 50g Tilapia and the intermediary food and the reduced Carb source. So another way to look at your Fish consumption)

snack 3:00 piece of fruit-- banana, orange; small avocado ; handful of almonds

(Good call having either the Almonds or Avocado with Fruit, but obviously be mindful of the extra Carbs in Avocado versus the Almonds. You could possibly add something in there, like a bit of Chicken or Lean Beef for more Protein, or sub the Almonds for Peanuts.

If you are very bothered by mould and aflatoxins in Peanuts, consider western grown, but if not, eastern grown should often be fine.)

usually a workout before 6

dinner-- Tilapia with seasoning; rotisserie chicken; salad; sides may be - asparagus, yams, steamed veggies

(Fine but obviously be mindful of what was discussed earlier re: fish)

other things added: low-fat yogurt, grapes, carrots, goldfish crackers

(Those additions seem okay. You can also get Yoghurt pots with Nuts in them, which would boost the nutritional content, particularly of things like EFA's, Copper, Selenium, Calcium etc)

[Kathyd]

Wow! Thank you for all of the information on my diet and I will make some adjustments.

[lynnbrwn]

Welcome to the forum. This is my first time joining a forum also. I thought that if I joined an online community then I would have more support and hopefully this time I will achieve my goal. I wish you good luck on your fitness goals.

[Trish0102]

Just continue what you are doing. Also, have a low-carb diet with more fruits. After I gave, I always put binder in my belly to prevent it from bulging.

[Boss Man]

Isn't that a bit risky, because if you wrap something around a post-pregnancy stomach to prevent "bulging", as you put it, wouldn't the fact you were inhibiting a natural human reaction have a possible detrimental effect.

I would think it was okay, if there was credible peer reviewed medical evidence, to say inihibiting the bulge reaction was not likely to cause detriment, but if there wasn't, a product like a binder might be causing a mild increased risk of some kind of problem, people were unaware of and therefore binders could in effect be a product marketed for benefit, but realisitcally only sold for profit and not for the welfare of the consumer as well, as some products can hypothetically be sold with unstated risk, if the risk is deemed that insignificant as to not cause serious harm and result in law suits, if the company deemed that stating minor risks would harm profits more than not stating them.

If that last paragraph makes any sense .