I’ve heard a lot of people say that weekends are the hardest for them when it comes to eating healthy, or avoiding usual cravings & triggers.
I suppose because you have more free time on the weekends, or maybe because you go out more – versus eating at home through the week?
My schedule is pretty fluid. I work from home so I don’t have “set hours”. And I travel a lot too, so I’m often eating on the go whether weekend or weekday.
Plus I really don’t like to cook (at all!) so I eat pretty simple even when I am home all day. 😛 I find that keeping it simple is the key though. Less food prep is always good, fewer ingredients is easier on your system, and the simpler your plate – the easier it is to track your meals properly.
I’ve been on a steady losing streak lately, so I thought I’d share my Low Carb Food Journal with you. Here’s a “photo tour” from this last 3-day weekend, a typical weekend “at home”, which even included hitting the lake and having a few beers. 🙂
I’m a “slow loser” being closer to my goal weight, and also being post-hysterectomy. Last Wednesday I weighed 160 pounds. On Friday, 158 pounds. This morning (Tuesday) 156.6 pounds. I usually do well to lose a pound a week on average, so losing 3 1/2 pounds in under a week is GREAT for me!
Friday was an odd day. I’ve been sick, so I woke up in the middle of the night (at 1am) and outside of a long nap… I was up until 10am Friday night. Somehow I still managed to stay at my 20 net carbs limit for the day!
Here’s how my macros worked out in MyFitnessPal for Friday:
The macros were pretty much right on target. My goals are 75% fat, 20% protein and 5% carbs.
I use MyFitnessPal to track my meals.
I don’t really eat “three meals” most days, but rather eat when I’m hungry. Especially on a weird day when I’m up at odd hours, lol.
Here’s a breakdown of what I ate on Friday:
- 2 Boiled Eggs (creamed up w/mayo)
- A low carb peanut butter & jelly sandwich on a Low Carb Hamburger Bun (using Polaner Sugar Free Raspberry Preserves)
- 1/3 cup of Pecan Halves
- A Hardee’s Low Carb Thickburger
(I order mine: no onion, no tomato, no ketchup) - A Low Carb Grilled Cheese (with sliced chicken & mayo)
On Saturday morning I wasn’t feeling well, so I snacked light & easy and rested on & off before I headed off to spend the evening on the lake. I also drank 6 glasses of water before lunch. I was feeling dehydrated 😛 lol.
Here’s what I had on Saturday:
- 1/4 cup of salted Almonds w/Colby Jack Cheese
- Atkins Blueberry Greek Yogurt Bar (blech!)
- 1 TBSP Peanut Butter
- Hardee’s Low Carb Thickburger (plain)
- Hamburger Steak with Green Beans
I grabbed the plain Low Carb Burger (above) on the way to the lake, which was later in the afternoon than I meant to head out. But that’s okay, because it was a beautiful evening for sunset on the lake with the warm sun and a nice breeze. 🙂
After we came in, we ordered local take-out and I got a big juicy hamburger steak with double green beans on the side:
They put some kind of weird brown gravy on my hamburger steak, which is NOT how I ordered it, so I just scraped it all off then wiped off the rest with a napkin. 😛
I was only able to eat about half of that meal. It was HUGE!
Seriously. That hamburger steak was as big as my face.
All said and done, Saturday worked out to 1,375 calories and 15 net carbs.
On Sunday we enjoyed a long lazy morning with coffee, then a late breakfast of bacon & eggs before we hit the lake for the afternoon…
I intentionally had a “clean” breakfast (super low carb) that morning, knowing I’d drink almost half my carbs for the day in low carb beers. 😛
That’s mild Cheddar cheese scrambled into the eggs, and I sliced off some more to go in the cooler for later. A nice slice of real cheese – preferably Mild Cheddar or Colby Jack goes SO good with an ice cold Michelob Ultra on the lake!
That’s pretty much what I had for lunch on Sunday:
Cheese & Beer. 🙂
Dinner was my leftover hamburger steak & green beans… and an early bedtime, lol.
Sunday totaled out at 1206 calories, and 17 net carbs.
That includes my *almost* 3 beers. YES, I’m a lightweight, lol. You’ll find that alcohol affects you faster, and that it takes a lot less, when you eat super low carb. Keep that in mind, lol.
We got up on Monday and Ricky made breakfast (again): Pork chops pan fried in bacon grease, with scrambled eggs & cheese.
He normally uses olive oil or coconut oil, but he was out. I have to say, the bacon grease gave those pork chops a beautiful flavor!!
I know exactly what you’re thinking… Some fresh avocado slices would have been GREAT with every single one of those meals.
I was thinking the same thing. 🙂
I don’t necessarily count calories, by the way. I keep half an eye on them out of curiosity, and simply included them here for reference because a lot of people ask about that. I pretty much just eat when I’m hungry, and eat whatever sounds good – within my “carb budget” of course. 🙂
I’m loving the variety the low carb bread is adding lately – especially the PB&J and grilled cheese sandwiches. 🙂 🙂 The Everything Bagels are my personal favorite!
As you can see, I eat fairly plain. Usually meat & eggs, or meat & greens. I only had 2 servings of green beans over 3 days. Well, there was a little lettuce on Friday. LOL. Seriously though, I usually lean more toward spinach and broccoli and healthy fish (like salmon). But on the weekends, or when you’re “winging it”, well – I just go with whatever. Like I said, simple is good!
Best,
Lynn Terry, aka @LowCarbTraveler
Thank’s for sharing want to start my diet this will give me ideas again thanks for sharing if you have more I would love to get them. How about inches ? I have been told you will lose more inches than weight have you found this to be true? Julie
Hi Julie π You can see my other entries in this category: http://www.travelinglowcarb.com/category/low-carb-daily-journals/ and I also share all of my meals on my Facebook Page at:
http://www.facebook.com/lowcarbtraveler – if you click Like then hover over the Like button, you can click Get Notifications to make sure you see those updates & meal photos.
As for inches vs pounds, some people do see more inches lost than pounds. It really depends on your activity level and body shape, among other things. Muscle is more dense than fat, so it takes up less room, so you’ll definitely lose inches (rather than pounds on the scale) if you are also exercising for example.
See this post on the topic of losing fat, building muscle density, etc: http://www.travelinglowcarb.com/5974/your-ideal-weight/ π