The balance (and importance) of free food?

[Lucylu79]

I Should know this really considering I'm at target but I only got there by doing success express for the last few pounds. I'm part of a group but I only go when I can afford a babysitter and as it goes on until 9 pm some nights I tend just to go once a month or especially for taster nights etc.

I'm wondering have I missed 'the big picture' here and actually I am doing it right but could do it better.

I only really snack on superfree fruit or my healthy extras and during a conversation about what we eat at class one night I came away thinking that I eat too much sf and not enough free food. I went through a few typical days with my consultant and she kind if said I'm 'too hard on myself' and that I was not eating near enough free foods and sometimes, going hungry.

My worry now is if I change and eat more free that in my head that equals more food (calories), whilst I understand we are not calorie counting I'm just saying that snacking on say a chicken drumstick or ham would be worse than say a banana or an apple. Truth is I rarely would eat free food like that in between meals :/

The answer I guess is simple, try a week of upping my free and see what it does but I'm a bit scared!

Any advise or past experiences very welcome please!

 

[Beautyxx]

For success express your snacks should be sf, but if you are following the normal plan then you should be having 1/3 sf and 2/3rds free food. I try and follow this though out the day, so this works for meals and then in the day overall.

I eat the majority of my free foods in meals, then for snacks i try to have super free first, or free foods like yogurts which are always free, rather than things like meat etc. The majority of my snacks are then either my Hex B or syns. Like you the things i like to snack on are not normally free foods.

You shouldn't be feeling hungry though, especially at target, so more free in your meals to keep hunger away would probably be more beneficial and then you will want to snack less overall.

 

[AnnaFaraday]

I would never eat things like meat as a snack - as far as I am concerned, that would be part of a meal. And my personal feeling is that if I eat enough at mealtimes then I won't need much in the way of snacks.

You might perhaps try having bigger meals, balanced with 2/3 free and 1/3 superfree, and less in the way of snacks?

 

[Lucylu79]

Can I give you a typical week day example.....

Get up and have coffee from hea allowance
Go to work, have a banana or cut up fruit box.
More coffee, and water.
Probably an apple, orange and pear before lunch and if I'm really hungry an Alpen light.
Lunch these days usually speed soup with ryvita depending if I had the Alpen bar.
Water and tea in the afternoon if I have any hea left.
Maybe an apple mid afternoon and then tea at 7.30 always a sw friendly meal.

I haven't even had the extra healthy extra I'm aloud at target but I'm not actively loosing weight, I still have to really try to!

 

[Gwella]

If you don't feel hungry that's a good sign - but is your consultant right that you're going hungry?

There's no 'rule' that you have to eat free food between meals. We're advised to choose superfree as the first option and you should only eat if you actually want/need to!

As you're at target, maybe try filling in a few days' food on a tracker like MyFitnessPal? Then you can see if you're getting enough calories, fat, protein, carbs and essential vitamins and minerals. If not, you can look up whether there are particular food types you need to eat more of. Myself I'm high on protein and low on carbs and fat so when I get to target I will be increasing my pasta, and having more oily HexBs like nuts.

 

[Beautyxx]

I think what strikes me from what you are saying is that you are not having much other than super free until your evening mean (aside from the small amount in the speed soup). It probably means that by lunch you are getting to hungry, and then again by tea hunger levels will be high.

What about having something free for breakfast to start you out better. A nice breakfast is a HeB amount of muesli, mixed in with a muller (or just plain yogurt and sweetener over night, and then mixed with some chopped fruit like banana in the morning. If you dont want to use your B then some pudding rice boiled works just as well (no need to soak overnight) mixed with yogurt, frozen berries or fresh chopped fruit.

Your lunch soulds good, but remember that a main ingredient in SW is variety, its in the food optimising book, and in our group our consultant is always going on about having a varity of foods, soup is good but maybe vary it and throw in a pasta salad or rice salad to mix things up a little.

Just a few thoughts

 

[Lucylu79]

Thanks everyone, I think I'm going to try more at breakfast and see how I go.

 

[AnnaFaraday]

Can I give you a typical week day example.....

Get up and have coffee from hea allowance
Go to work, have a banana or cut up fruit box.
More coffee, and water.
Probably an apple, orange and pear before lunch and if I'm really hungry an Alpen light.
Lunch these days usually speed soup with ryvita depending if I had the Alpen bar.
Water and tea in the afternoon if I have any hea left.
Maybe an apple mid afternoon and then tea at 7.30 always a sw friendly meal.

I haven't even had the extra healthy extra I'm aloud at target but I'm not actively loosing weight, I still have to really try to!

What I am seeing here is a lack of protein. Perhaps you are having some at your evening meal, but really there should be some protein during the rest of the day as well. In your original post you mention having chicken or ham as a snack, but why not have them with your lunch, with vegetables, or your soup, or a salad?

 

[Jeanne Von Buttonpopper]

I agree with Beautyxx and Anna, it was the first thing that struck me and I would have said the same. Protein is a good way of sustaining you through the day and a big thumbs up for breakfast.

 

[OpalLilyEats]

As the others have said, I think your food looks fine. The only difference I would make is adding protein to your lunch (ham, chicken, pulled pork etc with your ryvita) and definitely having a more substantial breakfast. Porridge is a goodie - I weigh out 35g and take it into work with me and zap in microwave with water for 2 mins. Alternatively you could make overnight oats which would still incorporate your chopped up fruit and bulk it out a little. Or you could make the magic pancakes the night before and munch them with your fruit when you get into work.

If I want to save my healthy extra B or want to incorporate some protein into my diet, I make egg muffins or do some hard boiled eggs the night before to have with fruit.

I do all of the above intermittently and it seems to keep me going with just some fruit for a snack mid-morning if I feel the urge x

 

[Lucylu79]

Well i've been very good over the last few days...I have had 3 good meals including breakfast!

I had porridge and mixed berries for breakfast today but I still eat my usual fruit in between, I just hope I don't eat too much! Having a green day today so i've already had my 2 heb's!