Grocery shopping and meals tips

So, I actually measured my foods today so far and it turns out that im comfortably able to eat 3oz of protein per meal. I see that "Eggfaces" recipes are quite popular on this site. I noticed she uses a lot of ingredients that I thought were empty calorie foods like oatmeal and pb to make wls friendly desserts. I love how she incorporates protein powder, and bars in recipes. My question is have you guys incorporated any of those into your menus, and were you still able to stay on track with your weightloss? For example lets use her protein oatmeal raisin cookies. I eat a meal every three hours with fluids in between  starting at 11am (protein shake at 8am), and I try to only have fluids after 5pm. Since im not able to eat much am I supposed to have the cookies as one of my 3 hour meals or in addition to one of my meals since it's technically a dessert? Im new at this, just trying to gain a better understanding. I went cold turkey off the sweets as well guys :-). I went on a rampage in the pantry and threw everything unhealthy out.. Also guys im going grocery shopping tomorrow do you guys shop for the entire month or two weeks. Do you write out menus before you shop? So far I have meats like lean ground beef chix breast, sliced lunch meats, cheese, vegggies, fruits, almonds, eggs,etc....Help a gal out.. just trying to reach my goal, and maintain!! Im trying to work on fighting my head hunger. Its tough but ive been doing good so far!!

Just to add.. this mornings breakfast was a boiled egg, lunch was 3oz of baked chix breast with eggface's greek dip (so tasty).. thats it so far today. No protein shake because I ran out of almond milk and I don't grocery shop until tomorrow... water so far and iced green tea no sugar!! This post may be a bit all over the place, but for the most part, im just really trying to prepare for this trip to the grocery store tomorrow!

I do not make "diet friendly" dessert recipes because those things just make me crave the real thing, or cause me to overeat, or cause me to binge.  I'd rather stick to "real" foods and dense proteins.  I eat protein bars for emergency meals, but otherwise, I try to avoid snack-type foods.  

My food process is like this - I meal plan for the week (I just plan dinners since I eat leftovers for lunches and have a shake for breakfast.  My plan is three meals a day, no snacks.)  Then I make a grocery list for the week.  Then I go to the grocery store and buy what I need for the week.  I tend to meal plan on Saturdays and shop on Sundays.  (Which reminds me that I need to meal plan at some point today.)

It's great that you've turned a corner and are making good changes.  It seems like you're opting for an omnivore diet as well, instead of vegetarian?  That will likely make it easier to stick to dense proteins.  Be careful with things like almonds.  It's entirely too easy to eat an unhealthy amount.  Ditto for fruits.  

I do have an outline for my meal planning each week.  It looks like this:

Su - full meal
M - protein only, no grill
Tu - leftovers
W - protein only
Th - leftovers
F - full meal, no grill
Sa - full meal

We have two leftover nights a week because I have class those nights and don't get home until around 8pm.  So we all fend for ourselves from the fridge.  I had been cooking full meals (main dish+side dish) every other night, but because I don't eat the side dishes, the fridge was filling up with lots of sides, but not a lot of main (protein) dishes.  So that wasn't good.  Now I have two nights a week where I just cook protein and that protein gets served with leftover side dishes.  Monday and Friday say no grill because my griller is busy on those days, so that's a reminder to myself when planning not to plan something that he'd need to grill.  

In the past I was posting my weekly meal plans on my food blog -- https://mangeratrois.net/index.php/weekly-meal-plans -- but that has fallen by the wayside due to Life.  But there are many meal plans there from post-VSG life.  

My household is me plus two other adults.  I pretty much only cook me-friendly food and then plain carbs (rice, pasta) for them as needed.  So.. I'll make curry and just eat the curry - they'll eat it with rice.  Or I'll make meatballs and sauce, and they get pasta, I'll just eat the meatballs and sauce.  It's pretty easy.  

Im willing to try out eating meats to see if im able to stay fuller longer. I had a bit of chicken at 2 and im doing good so far with that. On your "full meal" days how are you able to get in protein and veggies? In my case with me being able to eat 3oz should I do 2oz protein 1oz veggies and then 2 bites meat one bite veggie? With such small portions i dont see how i can get all the recommended nutrients. 

I measure out my 3-4 ounces of protein and eat that first.  If I have room, I eat a bite or two of veggies, otherwise I don't.  My vitamins handle the nutrient shortfalls, so I'm not worried about getting all the nutrients I need from food.  

I do the same thing on the days when I only cook protein - but the side dish is leftovers versus something I've cooked fresh that night.  

I used to make her chocolate protein muffins when I had a hankering for baked goods. They were higher in calories than what I would have liked, however, when I was sick to death of protein shakes and such it did help to mix things up a bit and were really easy to make. 

Grocery store- I force myself to stay to the outside perimeter unless I absolutely must go through the aisles. Fresh whole food and dairy is what I mostly purchase. I do some frozen veggies. Tomato products are frequently canned though, unless our garden happens to be producing. Proteins are lean (can't stomach the higher fat stuff since I lost my gallbladder). I am a little different in that if I can't make it in my Instant Pot, air fryer, or Vitamix I don't have much interest in making it. I am all about healthy, fast, and easy. :) 

I do use some processed foods. Kays naturals protein cookie bites and fibergourmet thinnables. Pasta also, but only whole grain or the fibergourmet version that is packed with fiber and protein. 

I don't write out menus. Proteins are typically bought at a local grocer that has a very nice meat counter. I buy the 3 or 4 meals worth of protein at a time, and usually have a specific meal in mind- but I go by what is on sale most always. I go to Costco once per month, and those proteins are partially used and partially frozen, and I get protein shakes there. I go to Trader Joes every other week, and these are more convenient preflavored/marinated single type portion items and kombucha.  Aldis maybe twice a month. Kroger to pick up occasional ingredients needed in a recipe. We have an outdoor farmers market here (Eastern Market) where I LOVE going to for fresh veggies when I am able to manage to get there. 

The hubby and I are a little weird in that we both enjoy going grocery shopping, so we don't mind all the different places for different items.

Eggface has many very healthy recipes, and I use many of them. However, with no disrespect to Eggface, I avoid the recipes that call for a lot of protein powder, no-sugar syrups, and other highly processed foods. I don't believe they're healthy, and they are low-calorie attempts to replicate a way of eating that should really be given up, IMO.

My food philosophy is that the less one's food is tampered with, the healthier it is. I keep away not only from protein powders/bars/shakes and low-calorie sweeteners, but also from grain-based and starchy products in general, including the much-praised oatmeal. If I eat oatmeal in any form, I'm hungry again an hour later.

My diet consists mostly of lean proteins -- always eaten first! -- chicken, fish, shellfish, eggs, tofu, beans, and occasionally red meat. I also can't eat more than 2-3 ounces of protein at a time, but I'm usually able to get in a few bites of non-starchy vegetables without stuffing my sleeve. For snacks, I have fresh fruit (although many sleevers find that even the small amount of sugar in fruit stirs up carb cravings). If I'm short on calories for the day (a rare event!), I eat a few walnuts, pecans or almonds. They up the calorie count in a hurry, and they're good for you.

Another iron-clad rule -- I NEVER keep food I shouldn't eat in my home. It's like keeping a fully stocked bar in the home of an alcoholic. It's just plain torture knowing it's there, and sooner or later I will go for it.

I always write out exactly what I plan to eat for any given week. Then I make a grocery list based on the menu. Then I shop and stick to the list. I try my best to avoid even walking down aisles that have crappy food in them. If my list is a good one, I have no business there anyway. Even though my food plan is for a week, I usually make 2 trips to the market during the week so that my fruits and veggies are always fresh.

I'm retired, so I have the time to do this easily. It's a lot harder for those who work and have children at home. But I think good health is important enough to make sacrifices for. Try to find a routine that works for you. Good luck!

psychoticparrot 

I agree about sticking to the list at the grocery store!  I pretty much never have a reason to visit the middle aisles of mine - I mainly shop the outside. 

I eat 1400 calories a day broken up into

• 2 Meals of 300 calories each
• 4 Meals of 200 calories each

I have 4 hours between meals and I normally eat a 200 calorie meal around 3 AM.  These are what I list in My Fitness Pal

1. 3 AM - 200 calories - Early morning snack
2. 7 AM - 200 calories - Breakfast
3. 11 AM - 300 calories - Lunch
4. 3 PM - 200 calories - Afternoon snack
5. 7 PM - 300 calories - Dinner
6. 11 PM - 200 calories - Evening snack

If I made protein cookies or muffins then I would weigh the food first and eat 200 calories worth for one of my meals.  My lunch and dinner of 300 calories are always lean protein.  Other meals are cheese, meat, vegetables, fruit or high protein snacks.  This has worked for me for nine years.

Your plan sounds great, but looking at the times I'm just curious, how much sleep do you get? Last meal at 11:00 pm, first meal at 3:00 am. I would be a Zombie.