What are your "automated meals"?

[TerriDoodle 6]

I tend to do best when I "automate" my meals. What I mean by that is I find a combination of bkfst/lunch/dinner/snacks that I do well on to lose weight, are nutritious, and that fit in with my lifestyle (I hate to cook). As a result, I tend to eat those same foods over and over.

For those already banded: What are your favorite meals that you tend to eat quite often?

Breakfast:

Lunch:

Dinner:

Snack:

:hungry: Thanks!!

[gonnabethin 10]

I like tofu mock egg salad, chicken and tuna salads with wheat thins or triscuits, or a Soup since I dont want to PB at work. Breakfast is always some version of liquid low carb slimfast or low carb smoothie king strawberry, dinner is whatever I can get my family to eat of my offerings- I would prefer to eat lean cuisine turkey and green Beans or something easy- but that doesnt always work. My Snacks seem to default to a teaspoon full so really a tablespoon of Peanut Butter.< /p>

[Kat817 19]

I keep things simple during the day---I do cook for dinner when DH is here, but when it is just me, I keep it simple.

For breakfast, I usually have a cup of yogurt with granola. I can usually eat about 1/2 of it. I take 1/2 out of the container, put it in a bowl,sprinkle it with granola and eat it the first day, then have the second half the next day or for snack later in the day.

Sometimes I will cook up a sausage patty and throw a piece of cheese on it.

For lunch I most of the time eat some sort of left overs. But also take a slice of deli meat, and either spread cream cheese on it, or wrap it around a piece of cheese. Soup is always easy, and I like it if it is a cold snowy day! A small bowl of cottage cheese with bell pepper chopped up in it, is easy.

Snacks, I like almonds, or mixed nuts, I microwave pepperoni til it is crisp, and snack on it. The 100 calorie snack bags are handy and easy. Wheetsin told me how to bake freshly grated parmesan cheese to make cheese crisps, that we really like. SF pudding cups---a variety of things.

For dinner, I do cook. I cook the same meals I used to cook, I just eat a lot less of them, and try to focus my meal on the Protein and the veggies, and less so on the carb part....which was ALWAYS my weakeness!! My DH is pretty much a meat & potatoes kind of guy, so I can usually keep us both pretty well happy!

I drink tea or Water all day. I take my Vitamins, and I chew up Calcium chews. It is a pretty easy way to eat! Plus when you get a good fill level going on, the restriction, reduces or eliminates hunger, so that helps in a BIG way!

I am so looking forward to the new suggestions that you get!!

Have you went over to the April 2007 group and introduced yourself? It is underway and all of them are anticipating their upcoming surgeries. I am part of the April 2006 group, and we look forward to getting to know you 07's!!!

Good Luck!

Kat

[TamifromAL 1]

Automating meals (one or two per day) is one of the suggestions in the "You on a Diet" book. Supposedly, reduced variety leads to quicker satiety.

I eat the same breakfast almost every day. That's 1 c. of Kashi Go Lean Crunch Cereal with 1% milk. Because I eat Cereal slowly, and it might get soggy, I pour the milk into the bowl, add a little cereal, eat that, then add more cereal...

lunch varies, and is often leftovers, but one of my standards is turkey chili. Sometimes I'll serve it over some chopped dark green lettuce.

dinner also varies, but is more often chicken and veggies, in one form or another.

Tami

[soniacan 0]

i am very grateful for the trader joe's individual fishes! salmon with stuffed spinach, fluonder with stuffed crab, i eat most of those for dinner. breakfast I like to pack for work the kaski go lean cereal and a little contsainer of skim. lunch i need to get better about packing. I am curently suffering from a panera chicken noodle Soup addiction.

[TheCascadian 1]

Great thread! Keep it up, we pre-bandsters are lovin it.

[TerriDoodle 6]

Have you went over to the April 2007 group and introduced yourself? It is underway and all of them are anticipating their upcoming surgeries. I am part of the April 2006 group, and we look forward to getting to know you 07's!!!

Good Luck! Kat

Thanks Kat, yes I'm active in that group already and it's a great source of support!!

These are great suggestions...PLEASE KEEP 'EM COMING!

[MarySue33 0]

i am very grateful for the trader joe's individual fishes! salmon with stuffed spinach, fluonder with stuffed crab, i eat most of those for dinner. breakfast I like to pack for work the kaski go lean cereal and a little contsainer of skim. lunch i need to get better about packing. I am curently suffering from a panera chicken noodle Soup addiction.

I agree 100% on the Trader's Joes fish. We have a little toaster oven at work and I eat mine at lunch time. In fact, the ladies at work were all getting envious of my gourmet meals every day! Plus, between that and my Protein shake, I get my 60 grams of Protein in before I leave work and don't have to worry about it at night.

I am definitely into the automated meal. For me, the whole structure of not having to decide what to eat helps a lot. Here is my typical day:

Breakfast: Protein Shake

Lunch: Trader Joe's fish broiled with a small amount of veggies

Dinner: Either soup with a few oyster crackers, yogurt, tuna salad or more fish and veggies

Bedtime snack: One more Protein Shake

I was just thinking the other day that it is absolutely amazing that this is all I am eating and that I am satisfied by it. My kids and I went out to dinner the other night (the first time since my fill) and I brought home about 85% of my meal. In fact, I just finished the rest of it up tonight. I was able to make four very filling meals out of just a part of what I used to eat at one sitting -- plus, if I went out to eat, I never turned away dessert. It's a nice feeling to feel like I am starting to get some control over this...a very nice feeling, indeed!

[Marissa424 1]

Wheetsin told me how to bake freshly grated parmesan cheese to make cheese crisps, that we really like.

I would to know how to make this!!! if you dont mind that is

[irishmae11 0]

I would to know how to make this!!! if you dont mind that is

Please! They sound great!!!

[lianna 3]

Breakfast: weight smart oatmeal or a Protein drink

Lunch: automated is almost always Lean Cuisine Garlic Beef with Broccoli or Steak tips Portabello with Broccoli. There is also a Smart Ones that has green Beans on the side and a South Beach stir fry with all veggies......I avoid the Pasta,potato,rice ones

Dinner: whatever meat and veggie we cook

[JulieNYC 4]

Breakfast: Option 1: a packet of lipton cup-a-Soup and 1/2 cup cottage cheese. Yummy and always easy to eat because it fits in a coffee cup so I can sip it in meetings when I first get to work. Option 2: 1/2 of a low fat yogurt and 1/4 cup Kashi Go Lean Cereal. So satisfying.

Lunch: Option 1: Morningstar "chicken" (soy) patty with 1/2 cup veggies (often frozen broccoli or cauliflower if I haven't got leftover stirfry from the night before). Option 2: salad from the deli with mushrooms, chick peas, feta cheese and balsamic vinegar.

Dinner: Option 1: stirfry (Trader Joe's has fabulous ones and they're so inexpensive and nutritionally balanced). Option 2: 1/2 fillet of broiled fish or 1/2 crabcake with 1/2 cup veggies (usually with some fat on them, like lightly cooked in oil or sprinkled with cheese).

Snack: Option 1: 2 green olives stuffed with a clove of garlic are only 15 calories and surprisingly filling. Option 2: a wedge of laughing cow cheese on a wasa cracker is also surprisingly filling (65 cals). Option 3: a babybel gouda cheese (50 cals).

I definitely find that planning meals and a fair amount of repetition in those meals helps me keep the food cravings in control. Cool topic.

[deckedout 0]

Breakfast: Weight control oatmeal or pure Protein bar

Lunch: Campbell's Soup at hand and a cottage double

Dinner: meat marinated (chicken, steak, or fish, we really like tilapila), veggies, and either Pasta roni or mashed potatoes.

Snack: Yogurt, cottage double, pure Protein Bar, or pudding cup. sugar free.

NOT eating school lunches (I'm a teacher) has probably saved me 1000 calories a day, not to mention the cash. I bring in a pile of Soups and cottage cheese every Monday, and pick and chose what flavor I want each day. I also have a couple of frozen dinners in case I am really hungry.

[shues138 35]

What are these individual fish things from Trader Joe's? I'm about 20 minutes away from one, but this might be worth the trip. Tell me more!!!!

[hlayne 0]

I would to know how to make this!!! if you dont mind that is

I love cheese crisps. I make them in the microwave. Use whatever cheese you want on some parchment paper (it will stick to anything else) and microwave it til it's crisp. Smaller pieces of cheese work better, they come out tasting like cheese crackers. I think I learned about them from the South Beach Diet. Sorry I don't remember how long to microwave, but it will vary anyway with how big a piece you use and what kind of cheese it is.