Another Thursday morning (wish it was Friday) and I am in desperate need of some coffee!! I didn’t get home from work til around 11:30 last night….I couldn’t fall asleep because I knew I had to wake up so early and, lo and behold, the alarm went off at six! I am going to leave for school a few minutes earlier this morning and drive through dunkin doughnuts for coffee….they make the best coffee ever!!!! I haven’t eaten a doughnut in probably 10 years, but I do love their coffee 🙂
This morning I had 1/2 of a whole wheat bagel topped with 1 tbsp pb and some jam. I also had a yogurt and a banana. I miss my fage, but this yogurt was much less expensive (I could buy six of them for the price of one large fage) and right now my budget seems to be getting tighter and tighter.
Wish my luck—I have the written part of my final exam today! No fun baking 🙁
This breakfast was about 474 calories.
Got a couple more clementines in my bag for later—I still have the rest of this whole box to finish before they go bad!! Good thing I love them so much! 🙂
VeggieGirl
January 24, 2008 at 12:16 pmI wish you the BEST of luck with your written examination – you’ll do great!! And yay, it’s almost Friday!! :0D
hk
January 24, 2008 at 12:21 pmyou’ll knock them dead, good luck!
Patricia
January 24, 2008 at 1:01 pmGood Luck!!
Brittany
January 24, 2008 at 2:17 pmFirst of all, I love your blog! You are a great example for being mindful of what’s going into your body without overobsessing every calorie. It’s refreshing. As a college student I find it hard to balance school, homework, social activities and working out. Any tips to keeping things balanced? What time do you usually get up in the mornings?
Also, when it comes to weight loss when should you start to see results? I feel like the scale says the exact same thing everytime and it can get slightly discouraging.
Amy
January 24, 2008 at 2:20 pmGood luck Jenna! Your problem the only student there with a group of “blog readers” rooting for ya!
arimcg
January 24, 2008 at 2:20 pmGood luck…then take a nap!
Amy
January 24, 2008 at 2:21 pmHi all! I left this post of Kath’s board the other day and got some great responses. I know there are some cross-over readers but I would love to hear Jenna’s and your all’s ideas as well:
I am in college right now, so my friends and I eat dinner early (5:30ish). I then will have one snack at night, so that’s not a problem. Next year I enter the real world though, and realistically with my job plus commute won’t ever be able to eat dinner closer to 7. My problem is I don’t want to spend a lot of my dinner calories on a bigger afternoon snack. Typically my snack is about 150 cal. However, I find that snacks definitely don’t hold me more than 2 hours (which they shouldn’t). How do you all go from that 3 pm hungry till 7? Tea, etc is not going to cut it if I am hungry!
Andrea
January 24, 2008 at 3:07 pmAmy-
What types of snacks do you eat? Snacks cocnsiting of protein and or healthy carbs tend to hold me over the longest. (high fiber foods also do the trick)
Some ideas:
– almonds and raisins
– string cheese and kashi crackers
– apple and natural PB
– a skim milk latte with a piece of fruit
– kashi granola bars
– homemade trail mix made with: kashi heart to heart cereal, raisins and/or dried cranberries and almonds or walnuts
– kashi crackers with natural PB
Try some out and see what works best for you.
Kate
January 24, 2008 at 3:44 pmHi Amy,
I responded to you before on Kaths but here is more elaboration.
I like to have soups for afternoon snacks. The pizza place by my job makes great pasta e fagiolo and minestrone. Canned soups are great too. If you want something to hold you over well try progresso lentil, split pea, chicken barley or pritkin veggie chili.
Oatmeal is also a very filling snack, quaker weight control (banana bread is my fave) packets are delicious and all you do is add hot water.
Also, salad with protien like kidney beans, chick peas, cottage cheese, or tuna (the packets are easy, no draining) and wishbone salad spritzes ( I keep a bottle in the office fridge).
These are all low cal and very filling. I hope this helps.
Kate
Grace
January 24, 2008 at 4:40 pmI completely understand how snacks don’t seem to last. My trick is just to keep something with me that I can pick at. I usually have some almonds, a raw fruit or veggies, and then some dry cereal I can pick at. Also, make sure you are eating enough and drinking enough water from the start of the day. I notice when I have a small breakfast or too light lunch, snacks just don’t cut it. Maybe you need two small snacks in the afternoon, perhaps, every two hours versus 3-4 hours. Another trick of mine is to keep a bag of raw cut up veggies, like red pepper, summer squash, celery, etc. If I’m feeling hungry but know that I’ve eaten enough calories, fat, and protein, I snack on these even though they are a little boring. I just make sure to have a tasty dinner when I get home. Also, chug water, literally! It fills the tummy! Just try different things; everyone is different so it takes some time to figure out what works for you.
Allison
January 24, 2008 at 4:44 pmI have a question about carbs versus protein. I have been reading Nancy Clark’s Sports Nutrition Guidebook and she recommends about 55 to 65 % carbs in your diet (on average, more if you are about to run a marathon). She speaks specifically about people doing weight training and trying to add muscle and says that they too need to have that percentage of carbs. But I have also read several books about weight training for women and they seem to advocate much higher protein and carbs only in the 35% range. I have tried to go low carb and end up starving for carbs, but I also do a lot of cardio so I am wondering if that is the difference? Of course, the other books haven’t been written by nutritionists. Thoughts?
Amy
January 24, 2008 at 4:52 pmI just wanted to thank everyone who has responded so far- you guys are so nice!
Jenna I would love to hear your take too.
Evie
January 24, 2008 at 5:14 pmWhat kind of bagel do you buy? That looks delicious!
Does the Horizon brand taste good? I personally like Stonyfield and Dannon all natural yogurt, but I might give Horizon a try, if it’s any good..
Lynn
January 24, 2008 at 5:15 pmJenna, I a considering buying salmon vacuum seal pack (I typically buy tuna in a pack). How does it compare to tuna? I’m not sure if there is a point in me switching.
Also, what is so great about fage? I hear everyone talk about it, but to me it taste like sour cream, which I could never imagine anyone eating a large amount of. Thanks!
Kelly
January 24, 2008 at 5:40 pmWould a snack of a gnu bar and ff yogurt be a good choice?
Christie
January 24, 2008 at 6:01 pmAllison,
If you are working out you should no tbe going low carb, but you dont not need to be high carb eaither unless you are doing serious distance runnings 50% carb is a good amount you can even go to 45% carbs but it is not neccisary, it is specifically stated that the Carb to protein ration post exercise is 4:1 and so you need carbs to be able to build your muslce. Make sure you are eating enough calories or you will not be able to biuld muscle at all whether it is from carbs or protein.
jenna
January 24, 2008 at 6:13 pmAmy,
Pack a larger snack (apple/peanut butter…peanut butter toast….yogurt and nuts) that will keep you satisfied for longer or eat 2 small snacks. I know what you are talking about..knowing you will eat a big dinner later so you dont want to have a big snack…but its 6 on one hand, half a dozen on the other because if you know you wont be eating dinner til 8, you should plan lunch around 12:30 or 1 then have a substantial (like the ones I mentioned above) snack at around 4 so it will keep you going til dinner. Because you are eating later you wont be hungry probably for dessert. Thats what I always do because when I’m with my boyfriend we don’t eat dinner until much later than I do when I’;m on my own. I always eat a larger midafternoon snack around 4 that I know will keep me til dinnertime. Yes, water helps too. But I think the idea of a larger snack (around 200 calories) or 2 snacks (100 calories each, 2 hours apart) will work the best for you, since that’s what I do and it works for me!
jenna
January 24, 2008 at 6:17 pmAllison,
I am not an advocate of low carb diets under any circumstance. Carbs fuel not only your body but also your brain so you will feel like crap mentally and physically if you deprive yourself! Your body could also go into ketosis, which is basically a starvation mode when your body starts to actually “eat itself” for fuel. It looks to muscle for fuel when you don’t give it enough food. Then, you are losing the muscle you want to gain by working out! Its a double edged sword! I’m not sure on exact percentages of carbs, but I know when you are doing extreme physical exercise (running a marathon), you obviously need more than if you are sedentary. I would just aim to make all of your meals balanced above all with carbs, fat and protein and then you shouldn’t have a problem. Too much of anything is not a good idea, so aim to have a balance on your plate and not go overboard on one thing. Just don’t give up carbs! Your body needs them desperately!
jenna
January 24, 2008 at 6:18 pmEvie,
These are pepperidge farm whole wheat bagels. I love them! This is my first time buying horizon yogurt but I like it because it seems thicker than others and I hate runny yogurt! Def. give it a try!
jenna
January 24, 2008 at 6:20 pmLynn,
I like to switch it up and eat both tuna and salmon. For some reason salmon always keeps me fuller longer than tuna does. Salmon has more fat in it than tuna so thats probably why! The taste is different. Salmon is a bit stronger and fishier..but I quite like it! About fage…it is def. an acquired taste. I learned to love thick plain yogurt while living in europe but you have to wean yourself on it slowly. If its not for you then that’s fine, too! You can get all the health benefits of yogurt by choosing another kind. Try adding some jam or honey to it and see if you like it more then!
jenna
January 24, 2008 at 6:27 pmBrittany,
The secret is a good planner! I have a cute, pink kate spade one and LOVE it. I keep everything neatly organized in it. It helps though that I am naturally a really organized person. I’ve never had a problem tackling tons of things at once! I like to stay busy so I always keep my schedule full. I wake up right now at 6:00 because I have school that starts at 7:30. Soon though I will be waking up at probably 7:00 because I won’t have school in the morning. I’m a big morning person and can’t sleep in to save my life!!! 🙂 About weight loss….it does take some time for the body to start getting in the mode of losing weight and sometimes you will reach a plateau that is hard to break. If you are trying to lose weight I suggest increasing your exercise (mainly cardio) and reduce all the “crap” like processed foods in your diet. The plateau stage is hard and it might take weeks or even months but stick with it and if you are eating right and exercising you will reap the reward!
jenna
January 24, 2008 at 6:30 pmKelly,
Yes. I’ve never tried GNU bars but from what I hear they are great if your body can handle all that fiber (without getting a tummy ache)! Let me know how they are…I’m just too lazy to order them off the internet and I can’t find them here!