Tag Archives: Weight Loss

10 Satisfying, Yummy, Guilt Free Snacks 100 Calories or less! WOW

February 20, 2020 Heather Neal Leave a comment

**This blog contains affiliate links and I may be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.

It’s obviously no secret that I am a huge fan of Noom. I can’t help it. It just makes sense. Depriving yourself completely of certain types of food just doesn’t make sense and isn’t sustainable long term. That’s why people are so successful with Noom. If you are heading to a birthday party and want a little cake…just fit it into your day! You literally can have your cake and eat it too! However, by reducing your calories and learning to in a way that is “caloric density friendly”, you are automatically going to make healthier choices and reduce the amount of things that aren’t great for you without really even having to think about it!

Snacks can be tricky though. When you have a craving or just need something to munch on, it’s important to have good choices on hand that satisfy and are quick and easy.

Here are my top 10 (+1) low calorie snacks that I keep on hand all the time. They aren’t shockingly new or original, but they are easy, low-cal, realistic snacks that you can always count on.

#10)

Dill Pickle Spears. If you are Nooming you have probably found that there aren’t very many crunchy, salty snacks that aren’t in the Red category. Remember, red isn’t bad…it’s just not going to fill you up and if you are like me you like to save those red calories up for something special. Dill Pickle Spears are only 5 calories, have a nice crunch and satisfy salty cravings. I keep them on hand to use as a side for lunch instead of chips or for a mid-day snack!

#9)
Green Grapes. Quick, easy, sweet, crisp and low cal. These are nature’s perfect grab and go sweet treat. I munch on them when I get a late-night craving for something sweet and want to do a little guilt free mindless munching or as a side for lunch. Try freezing them for a fun treat! I also like to use my food scale and measure out 100 calorie baggies of them in the fridge. You CAN Noom without making logging a burden! I also keep a variety of berries in the fridge and and bananas and apples on the counter. Fruit is such a great snack or addition to any meal and I have found the the more accessible I keep healthy snacks, the more we make good choices!

#8)
Hummus. I love hummus. It’s perfect to spread on a wrap, or as a side with some pita chips or for a lower calorie treat a bell pepper or other veggies. Do your research on brands though. One of the top brands which I frequently used in the past is very high in Sodium, Fat, And Preservatives. It also logs as red I believe (which again…is ok but there are yellow brands out there).

#7)
So speaking of hummus…have you tried dessert hummus yet? I know, I know…it definitely sounds weird. But they are soooo yummy! This Brownie Batter is one of our favorites and goes great with fruit!

#6)

I love Better Oats Oatmeal. It’s not only a quick, easy, low-cal breakfast but it makes a great comfort snack on a cold day! I see a lot of Noomers Swearing by Steel Cut Oats but at only 100 calories, and less than 1g of sugar…not to mention the added flax seed and the convenience, these are my pick!

#5)
Salsa. It’s Green! Before you go racing off to your favorite Mexican restaurant to dig in to the neverending chips and salsa, be clear that I am only speaking of the salsa…not the chips. Not to worry though. Slice up some bell peppers and dip away or spread some on the pepper slices and top with a little cheddar cheese for some low cal nachos!

#4)
Applesauce. These pouches will make you feel like (and maybe look like) a kid again. I keep these no sugar added pouches on hand for a quick and easy snack for all of us or to throw into lunches! We love the cherry flavor!

#3)
Sometimes you just need some cookies. These little 100 calorie packs of cookie crisps are a good choice. Eat the whole bag without calorie guilt and they aren’t loaded with sugar. I get these at Aldi.

#2)
A frozen dessert treat that is GREEN?!?! This frozen yogurt with no sugar added is pretty tasty and pretty guilt free! If you want to make it a little more exciting try adding some sliced bananas, Peanut Butter Powder and maybe a little brownie batter hummus!

#1)

The Official dessert of all Noomers. These things are so yummy that my whole family has fallen in love with them and we would choose to eat them even if we weren’t eating healthy. There are some really great flavors however I have found that most places only carry a couple and often have the same ones all the time so shop around and see what you can find at places you don’t normally grocery shop. They are a little pricey and you only get 4 in a box but they are so worth it.

Bonus snack.
I didn’t include this in my top 10 because it isn’t really a snack that is going to satisfy your hunger or fill you up and isn’t exactly “healthy”, but sometimes you just need chocolate. Real chocolate. I keep a bag of these dark chocolate Ghiradelli squares on hand for those times when I’m not hungry, I just want a little chocolate. At only 50 calories, they don’t blow the calorie budget and make mama happy.

These snacks are great for ANYONE trying to eat healthier, lose weight or be more fit but are all very Noom friendly as well. If you have a few extra (or even a lot of extra) pounds you wouldn’t miss and haven’t given Noom a try yet, you can click on my affiliate link at the top of the home page for the two week trial!

Click here for a free two week trial of NOOM!

https://noom.8utb.net/c/2074186/534394/8591

Food and Fitness

So you’re a New Noomer! Best Tips Ever:

February 11, 2020 Heather Neal Leave a comment

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.

You guys have no idea how excited I am! I started this blog because I absolutely love sharing anything and everything that makes life easier or better and lately I have thrown myself into both seeking those things and sharing them. When it came to my success story with Noom and weight loss though, I was a little hesitant. It’s hard to share personal things. But then I thought of the people who inspire ME the most and their stories and the little bits of their lives that they share that are the very things that inspire me the most and realized I had a responsibility to use this platform to share something that changed my life so drastically. So I shared and since then I have had so many friends reach out and say they were thinking of starting Noom or already had! I am almost in tears because I know this works and I know this is going to change your lives as well! In all of my excitement for everyone just getting started, I got to thinking of all of the things I wish I had known when starting out with Noom. So here are some of my best tips to help you be successful! If you haven’t started Nooming yet, you can find a link to the two week free trial at the end of this post or at the top of my home page (Click on “This Changed My Life”)!

1) Drink water. Lots of water. All day. Water will not only help you feel more full (because decreasing calories is tough at first) but will also help prevent bloating, water retention AND it will help you get your steps in because you will be walking back and forth to the bathroom all day. 😉 Which brings me to #2.

2) Get your steps in. I started when the weather was nice out so I just added extra dog walks, long walks with the kids in the evenings and then longer, faster walks alone and eventually started jogging. Now I go to the gym and do a fast 5k on the treadmill, ab workout and weights but just getting some kind of activity in is the most important thing. Plus getting in extra activity earns you extra calories for the day which is great motivation!

3) Weigh in EVERY day…but don’t put that much importance on any single day’s weight. It’s all about the big picture. Your weight is sometimes gonna go up even though you did everything right the day before. You will have plateaus where you stay the same weight for days of even a couple of weeks for some. You will still be making progress! Inches will be coming off even when pounds aren’t and pounds will come off when inches aren’t. Weight will be affected by sodium intake, water retention, hormones and all kinds of other things. Just keep Nooming! Here is a little clip of my weight chart.

There are ups and downs and plateaus. But when you squish it all together and look at the whole picture:

You see the overall trend was downward even with all the little bumps in the road!

4) Do your best to stay in your color limits but more importantly stay in your total calorie limit. If you go way over on yellows but way under on reds…great! That just means you are going to feel fuller on less calories. As long as you stay under your total daily limit you will lose weight. And remember, Red foods aren’t bad. They just aren’t going to fill you up as much.

5) Log EVERYTHING. No cheats. Even the teaspoon of butter you put on your toast (which I recommend using Sara Lee 40 calorie bread or Daves Killer Breads for). You will start learning how many calories are actually in things and how quickly they add up so you gotta log ’em all!

5) There are a lot of errors in the Noom food log database. Items are entered by users and people make mistakes, companies change labels and nutritional information, etc. There are several items in the wrong color groups or with wrong calorie info. It’s ok. I promise. Check the packaging rather than 100% trusting Noom and manually enter your calories, buy a cheap food scale ( I got this one from Amazon)
and weigh your fruits, veggies, meats, etc. And don’t stress that much about the colors. Following the colors the best you can will make this easier on you but at the end of the day calories are calories and they don’t know what color Noom decided they were.

6) Caloric density. This is what Noom is mostly based on, yet the thing that people have the hardest time understanding. This photo puts it into really good perspective:

Each stomach is full of 400 calories worth of food. Yet obviously if you eat 400 calories worth of oil (ewww) you aren’t going to be full. Noom helps balance your foods for the day by helping you to combine these colors in a way to fill you up while still reducing your calories. There is actually an equation to figure what color an item is. This is handy if you have a feeling a color is wrong or if you are eating something that is not in the database yet and want to know it’s color. (By the way, did you know you can scan the barcode on items instead of typing them in? Just click on the little barcode photo under the word “cancel” where you log your food.). Anyway, here is the equation:

CD = Calories per serving divided by Grams per serving
The table below shows how we classify our foods:

Types Green Yellow Red
Solid Foods Low CD (<1) Medium CD (1 < x < 2.4) Higher CD (2.4 < x) Liquids Low CD (<0.4) Medium CD (0.4 < x < 0.5) Higher CD (0.5 < x) Soups Low CD (<0.5) Medium CD (0.5 < x < 1.0) Higher CD (1.0 < x) Because our program helps you to manage various types of conditions and promotes nourishment through wholesome and fresh foods, there are some things that might be exceptions to this calorie density rule. Here are some of these exceptions: Whole vs. refined foods White and wheat breads or white and brown rice might have similar calorie densities, but we want our users to know which is the better option. To do this, the color of whole grain foods will be adjusted (CD < 2.4=Green and CD > 2.4=Yellow).

Dairy

Non fat dairy is Green
Low fat dairy is Yellow
Whole fat dairy is Red
Drinks with artificial sweeteners

We categorize diet sodas and other low calorie drinks that contain artificial sweeteners as yellow because although they have no calories, many studies have shown that diet sodas do not satiate your desire or thirst and they are super processed. We want to encourage our users to consume these with caution because they can potentially contribute to weight gain and might have high sodium contents.

7) Join the Facebook group: Noom Weight Loss Support. Once you start the paid program, Noom will assign you to one of their groups within the program but honestly most people don’t find them all that useful. The facebook group has almost 30,000 members and is full of ideas, support and success stories! Just try using the search bar before posting a question because it’s probably been covered several times.

8) Starvation Mode. So this comes up a lot in the Facebook group when people get frustrated that they aren’t losing fast enough, etc. Someone always mentions that “maybe they are in starvation mode”. Here is the way to determine if that is happening:

Have you ever seen Naked and Afraid? Those people live off of nothing but grubs and acorns for weeks and still manage to lose an awful lot of weight. Now, some people have reported success with adjusting their weight loss speed (like from Cheetah to turtle) which does increase your calorie limit. My theory is that with a lower limit maybe they were cheating a little even if they didn’t totally realize it and by increasing it, it was more manageable to stay in the limit. A lot of Noom is mental though so if that is what works for you…great!

9) Read the articles. In the beginning I read them but it was reluctantly. I figured out pretty early that my big issue was running around like crazy all day and not eating regularly and then when I finally did sit down to eat I was binge eating or telling myself that I was pampering myself after a hard day. Simply reducing my daily calories pretty much resolved that problem so I didn’t feel like the articles were that important for me. But there were so many times along my journey that I ended up remembering and using something I read or that I realized there were several thought distortions I didn’t even know that I had.

10) Your goal specialist is not your coach and can’t tell you what you need to do. This is one of the most common complaints I see in the facebook group. People say their Goal Specialist (or sometimes they even refer to them as a coach) just answers questions with another question or that their responses are obviously scripted or maybe they are just a robot. The Goal Specialist is there to hold you accountable, help YOU figure out your goals and the best way to reach them. Not do that for you. Everyone has different goals and the best way to reach them for one person isn’t the same for someone else. That’s why they ask you questions that make you think. And yes, a lot of what they say is scripted because let’s face it, they are having the same conversation over and over all day every day if you think about it. But they are real people and there is real conversation in there too. If you are truly unhappy with your GS though, you can request a new one.

Well, that’s it for now. I hope these tips help and that you all will share your progress with me!

If you haven’t started yet and want to do the trial, here is a link:
Noom

Food and Fitness

Aldi Faves: What I buy at Aldi

January 25, 2020 Heather Neal Leave a comment

I love Aldi. I love having (almost) everything I need in just a few aisles. I love not having 99 different brands and variations of every item on my list to decide between. I love that they cut their business expenses (and pass the savings on to their consumers) with their “bring your own bag” system. This system not only reduces their expenses greatly by not having to purchase bags but it also encourages re-usable shopping bags which is great for the environment! Also you don’t get home to unload your groceries and realize you have 50 bags because there is only 1 item in half of them. I love the no-nonsense way the cashiers slide my items across the scanner an into my cart for me to bag myself which saves me time, allows me to bag the way I want and saves them from paying a bagger. I love that Aldi uses their “rent” a cart for a quarter system which encourages people to take their carts back up to the store themselves to get their quarter back (and also encourages getting more steps in their day…Happy Accident!). This not only eliminates the need of yet another employee to retrieve carts, but I also see people being so kind to one another every trip by passing their carts on to another shopper in the parking lot (which also saves them a trip up to the store to return it so win/win) but also refusing to take that person’s quarter.

Most of the time I can’t, or choose not to, get everything on my list at Aldi and end up heading to the big grocery store nearby afterwards for a few items. But because of all of the reasons listed above it’s still worth it to me to start at Aldi and I kind of make it a game to see just how much of my list I can accomplish there. Another thing I love about Aldi is they have a lot of healthy choices. I love to see what treasures I will find each trip and love sharing those finds.

One thing I think is super important in maintaining healthy eating is not feeling deprived. Not only is this crucial to make eating healthy a lifestyle rather than just a diet, but life is just too short. There definitely is the occasional sweet tooth in our home so I like to keep some choices on hand that aren’t completely full of sugar but will satisfy that craving.

This most recent trip I found these Coconut Cashew Crisps in Sea Salt Caramel flavor. These were yummy and like light little cookies. A serving size is 8 pieces and 160 calories but I think 4 pieces is plenty to satisfy most sweet tooth moments which makes a sweet treat for under 100 calories and only 4g of sugar. They also have 3g of protein.

My kids also love these Freeze Dried Strawberries. They are tasty but if you are seriously hungry they are not going to fill up your belly. As a matter of fact when you pick up the bag it somehow even feels lighter than empty. How is that even possible? Also 1 serving size is the whole bag which is a lot (but again won’t really make you full). It does mean that you can do some mindless eating with these though and even if you polish off the bag it’s only 130 calories. The downside is that would be 21g of sugar though so I recommend just a few.
These 100 calorie packages of little cookies are fun to sometimes throw in lunches. At 7g of sugar I can pack these as a fun surprise every once in a while without too much guilt.

One of the first things I grab every Aldi trip (because it’s the first thing I see when I walk in the door, but also a favorite) is fruit. I have found the day you shop will determine how good the variety is. One recent trip was obviously the day before produce deliveries and there wasn’t much in stock and what was left was over-ripe or even moldy. But most of the time I have better luck with their produce than the big stores and the price is almost always better. I love their berries and packages of sliced mangos. I also love grabbing some dessert hummus to dip it in as a little extra treat for those sweet tooth moments!

For “non-sweet” snacking I like these Butternut Squash crackers. I often throw a serving of these (about 44 crackers…they are small) into my lunch. For my Noom friends, you know how easy it is to feel like you can’t eat anything crunchy, but remember…NOTHING is off limits and although these are still in the Red catagory, only 100 calories for 44 crackers is a good way to add a little crunch to your life.
I almost always grab some of these guacamole singles on an Aldi trip. My kids pack them in lunches with corn chips, we put them out to add to turkey tortilla soup, and I use them for avacado bread in the morning (although that only requires about 1/4 of one of these so unless you are making it for several people the big tub is probably better since it can be re-sealed.
These flatbreads are great for wraps and only 90 calories. I like to use them with some thin sliced turkey, swiss, lettuce and a little mustard. I grabbed these little egg rolls on my last trip but haven’t tried them yet. I think they will cook up nice and quickly in the air fryer and make a low-cal lunch. 3 of them is only 18 calories!

Food and Fitness

Noom…What to eat when eating out

December 26, 2019 Heather Neal 3 Comments

I am now at the end of my weight loss journey and it has been amazing. The thing about Noom is that I am never really done “Nooming” though. Although my goal isn’t to lose a lot of weight anymore, my new goal is to maintain both my new weight and my health. This is why Noom is so great and different from “weight loss” plans. Everything about what I eat, what I crave and how I eat has pretty much changed which is why I know I can continue to be healthy and successful. You never really stop Nooming. I will write another post about my entire journey and results including before and after pictures (if I am brave enough) another time, but I wanted to first work on this second Noom post that I thought would be helpful to my fellow Noomers. Noom is about learning to eat in real life and real life includes eating out from time to time. Between not knowing exactly what is going into your dishes, not always having calorie and nutritional information available, and huge portions, it can be overwhelming. But it doesn’t have to be. Here are the best tips I have learned about eating out guilt free:

Plan ahead. Whether we are celebrating a birthday at a favorite sit down restaurant or in a rush and going to have to grab something fast, I plan ahead. This means figuring out what restaurant we are going to ahead of time, instead of winging it and picking something as we drive by. I keep in mind who has the most and best choices whenever possible. Look up a restaurant’s menu online whenever you can and decide what you want before arriving. This helps you to not feel stressed at the restaurant or be on your phone frantically trying to figure calories or see if you can fit something into your day. If you are able to do this far in advance, you can also plan ahead and save up some calories to splurge a little or maybe even have a dessert or favorite appetizer!

If you are in a situation where you were on the go or maybe traveling and have to choose a place to eat most large chains will have calorie information listed to help you choose. If not Google is your friend and you can usually find the information on popular dishes there or in the Noom App itself (although we all know it isn’t the most accurate sometimes).

The thing that I think makes Noom so different from other weight loss plans is that you can have everything in moderation and you don’t have to feel deprived of anything! So what if you have a favorite meal from a restaurant that is high calorie? With most plans you can either plan on never having it again or have it and call it a “cheat day” which will then in turn make you feel like you failed. With Noom, you learn to treat yourself to those favorites from time to time…just not all the time. Ask for a to go box at the begining of your meal and put half of your meal in it from the start. The biggest thing Noom taught me about myself was that my portion sizes were way too big. Even when I was eating healthy, I was eating way too much and restaurant portions are ALWAYS too much. Another way to splurge on something that is a little higher in calories is to add an extra healthy side. Replace the fries you would have normally ordered with some steamed veggies or a fruit cup. I have had the pleasant surprise at a few of my favorite restaurants that what I thought would be boring veggies were actually wonderfully seasoned and delicious!

Cheat Sheet: Here are some of my favorites from popular restaurants to make your life a little easier. 🙂

Applebee’s has many “lighter fare” menu items and I good variety of different dishes to choose from.

Chicken Tortilla Soup and Ceasar Salad~ 400+ Calories
Cedar Grilled Lemon Chicken~ 580 Calories
Thai Shrimp Salad~ 410 Calories
Peppercrusted Sirloin and whole grains side~ 350 Calories
Cedar Salmon with maple mustard glaze~ 350 Calories
Shrimp wonton stir fry~ 580 Calories (but 2550g sodium!)

So I realize that 54th Street is only located in a few areas (Kansas City, San Antonio and I believe Dallas) and I feel extremely lucky to live in one of them. I decided to include them anyways for my local friends and anyone else who is lucky enough to live in one of their areas. Most smaller restaurant chains do not have nutritional information on their menu, but 54th street has calories listed on every item. They also have one of the largest and most diverse menus of any restaurant I have ever been to. There is seriously something for everyone. They have a great “pick two” section with lots of low cal choices:
Hand Breaded Shrimp~ 209 Calories
Grilled Shrimp Kabob~ 153 Calories
Grilled Aparagus~ 84 Calories
Southern Green Beans~ 69 Calories
Fried Pickles~ 346 Calories (just have them for a meal, because yum!)
1/2 Turkey Sandwich~ 340 Calories
Blackened Salmon with steamed veggies~ 470 Calories
1/2 Havana Sandwich~ 380 Calories
Chicken Fajitas~ 460 Calories

Panera is awesome when it comes to low calorie menu items as well!
Cup of Turkey and sprouted grain roll~ 330 Calories
Garden Chicken Wonton Broth Bowl and fruit cup~ 350 Calories
Steel Cut Oatmeal with strawberries and pecans~ 340 Calories
Half medium veggie Sandwich and half seasonal green salad~ 320 Calories
Half steak and arugalu and petitie chocolate chipper cookie~ 350 Calories
Culver’s Mindful Choices
Culver’s is one of my favorites when we are short on time and need to stop somewhere in the middle of running around. There is one on our way home, annnnnd I sometimes crave a burger and know what I can order there to stay low calorie. Here is my “go-to” meal from Culvers:
Butterburger Single with no cheese
Side salad with raspberry vinaigrette dressing
Unsweet Tea/ Diet Cola (I LOVE Culver’s Root Beer)/ water~ Meal Total 490 Calories
Another options:
Garden Fresco Salad and tomatoe flourentine soup with 0 calorie drink~ 515 Calories

You can find more of their “mindful choices” here: culvers.com/men-andnutrition/mindful-choices

Outback- Here are just a few of Outback’s low calorie options:
Center Cut Sirloin 10 oz.~ 350 Calories
5 oz. Sirloin and Coconut Shrimp~ 540 Calories
Aussie Tacos Mahi~ 650 Calories
Bacon Bourbon Salmon~ 480 Calories
~ w/ fresh veggies 640 Calories
Grilled Alaskan mahi w/ veggies~ 390 Calories
or Tilapia (380 Calories)
Grilled Chicken (5 oz.) on barbie w/ mixed veggies~ 520 Calories
Alice Springs Chicken 8 oz~ 790 Calories (a little high, but soooo good. Worth saving up some calories for).

Sometimes life just takes you to a fast food place. Be ready for when it does with these options:

Egg McMuffin~ 300 Calories
Hamburger~ 250 Calories
Cheeseburger~ 300 Calories
Grilled Chicken Sandwich~ 360 Calories
Grilled Chicken BLT~ 380 Calories
small fries~ 230 Calories
6 piece McNugget~ 270 Calories
3 piece Chicken Select~ 400 Calories

Jr. Hamburger Deluxe~ 300 Calories
Jr. Cheeseburger~ 280 Calories
Apple Pecan Chicken Salad~ 570 Calories
Southwest Avacado Chicken Salad~ 590 Calories (Note: I think their avacado tastes funky)
Berry Burst Chicken Salad~ 470 Calories
Grilled Chicken Wrap~ 260 Calories
Baked Potato~ 270 Calories (w/ sour cream and chives 320 Calories)
Cesar Side~ 260 Calories
Large Chili~ 270 Calories
Apple Bites ~ 35 Calories
Jr Frosty~ 190 Calories

Food and Fitness

NOOM! What do I eat?

November 12, 2019 Heather Neal Leave a comment

This post is a little different than my normal posts here. First of all the photography was (obviously) not a priority and all photos were quickly snapped with my iphone. Also, this post specifically is being written for my own benefit and that of my fellow Noomers. Brief explanation for those of you who follow me or happen to wander upon this post and have no idea what I’m talking about. Noom is a weight loss (and weight maintenance) program that I have been doing since the beginning of September. I plan to write a post giving more specifics on my experience and opinion of the program once I hit my goals and will explain more of how it works then, but this post is just about things I commonly eat on an average day. It is the first of at least 3 posts I will write. My next one will focus on Motivation, Inspiration and Fitness and then another on How to Eat Out.

So if you are a fellow Noomer, Welcome! And a disclosure: I don’t claim to be an expert at Noom but have had fairly consistent success so far (just starting week 11) and have gained a lot of ideas and tools that work for me and might help you too.

SOOOO…..WHAT DO I EAT?

First of all I should say that I think it’s important to look at what your Pre-Noom eating patterns were and what meal or snack times were most important to you and what you are willing to change. For me, as long as I had my black coffee in the morning I didn’t really care if I ate breakfast or not. I was usually starving by lunch though and that would cause me to eat a very large lunch. Now I do eat breakfast so that I’m not as hungry at lunch time however I keep it small (usually around 150 calories total) so that I can have more calories left for the meals that are more important to me.

BREAKFAST

My most frequent breakfasts consist of a combination of any of the following:
A slice of Dave’s Killer Bread with a teaspoon of country crock spread
Yogurt- vanilla greek with some blueberries and granola on top, Activia Strawberry or peach, or Light and Fit
Thomas Whole Wheat English Muffins with a teaspoon of veggie cream cheese
Fruit (blueberries, strawberries, canteloupe, or honeydew)
A bowl of Better Oats oatmeal (This also makes a good snack if you are craving something sweet!)
Eggs or the Spinach Egg White Frittatas from Costco (above)

LUNCH

Most days I eat lunch at my desk at work. I know Noom says not to do this but I work part time for just a few hours a day which happen to be through lunch so I don’t really have a choice. One thing I have found that really helps with the hassle of tracking and logging my lunch at work is measuring it as I pack it in the morning (or if I’m doing really good the night before) and either writing all of my calories and or weights on a piece of paper and including it in my lunch bag or sometimes, especially if I know I’m going to eat everything, I will go ahead and log it before I leave for work. I ALWAYS bring a big bottle of water to work and sip on it all day even if I bring another drink for lunch. Another thing I should point out is that there is a good example of both how to modify your Pre-Noom normal and also not be deprived in my lunch choices. Shortly before starting Noom, one of my favorite restaurants; Schlotzky’s opened in my town. I had been praying for this to happen for a while so when it did and I heard the first 200 people in line would get free sandwiches every week for a year, you can bet I was there. After standing in line for a few hours I got my free sandwich card and then a few weeks later I started Noom. It didn’t take long on Noom to learn that my biggest issue was portion control though and both my portion sizes and appetite decreased quickly. So I continued to get my free sandwich every week and eat half (it’s yellow and half is only 281 calories) and save the other half for either dinner or the next day’s lunch! So now it’s like I get TWO free sandwiches every week. The only downside is I’m getting a little tired of them.😢

My frequent lunches:

Wontons from Costco (pictured above)
Peppers or a few pita chips and hummus
Salad (I like a big ole bucket of mostly green stuff from the grocery store salad bar with fat free Italian Dressing)
Leftovers from a healthy dinner
Wrap Sandwich using Tumaro’s Garden Veggie Wraps,thin turkey or chicken deli slices, a thin slice of provolone or mozzarella and sliced black olives. I like to throw this in the microwave for a few seconds.
Half of a sandwich from Schlotzky’s (Original) or sometimes Jimmy John’s Turkey Tom
Black Olives
Dill Pickle Spear
Fruit (usually cuties or grapes)

DINNER

One of the reasons I always had trouble sticking with eating healthy in the past was because it’s hard enough to feed a family of 4 and please everyone, let alone try and make healthy and/or low calorie meals at the same time. I used to say I refused to make two separate meals so everyone would just have to eat what I was eating (and then came the complaints) OR I would just go back to making hearty comfort foods that made my family happy and give up but I have learned it doesn’t have to be so black and white. For instance on taco night I throw some chicken, salsa, black beans and seasoning in the crockpot in the morning and then for my “non-chicken-loving” husband in the evening I make regular beef taco meat. My kids like to eat a little of both. Yes, I end up with a lot of extra chicken but YAY…there’s lunch! For pizza night, I found a great recipe in the NOOM APP for a spinach pizza on whole wheat pitas that I make for myself and let them order whatever OR if we pick up some frozen pizza’s I found these:

Other favorite dinners the whole family enjoys:

Pulled Pork
Salmon
Lemon Chicken
Grilled Pork Chops
Soups
Zuchinni boats (look these up on pinterest…yummy!)
Butternut Squash Risotto side
Veggie Tots
PIZZA! Look up the “Pita Party Pizzas in the Noom recipes. Only 192 calories for two and they are 70% GREEN! I replace the black olives with Kalamata! I also enjoy the Pizza shown above from time to time or sometimes just a slice or two of good ‘ole fashioned carryout pizza.
Pretty much anything in moderation. I do save most of my calories for dinner…the one meal my family sits down together most of the time.

SNACKS:
I don’t snack often and when I do I try to stick with fruits and veggies and things that won’t use up my calories for the day however I believe one of the things that makes this program so successful is that nothing is off limits and you don’t have to deprive yourself. Having said that, it can be tricky to both fulfill hunger and cravings AND stay within your calorie limits. Here are some ways I do that:

SWEETS
I keep a bag of Ghiradelli dark chocolate and sea salt squares out of reach of the kids…just for me. If I’m not hungry, but am craving sweets just one 50 calorie square usually does the trick. Other favorite sweets are dark chocolate hummus with strawberries, or after dinner I occasionally enjoy a YASSO bar for dessert. I feel like almost every Noomer has heard of these at this point but if not, they are 100 calorie greek yogurt bars that come in a wide variety of yummy flavors. My daughter and I also stumbled upon “Oreo Thins” this week which are only 35 calories per cookie and could possibly become an occasional special treat. I do try to not only keep things low calorie, but also healthy most of the time but once again…everything in moderation and no deprivation are the keys to long term success here.

Other snacks I enjoy:

Tuna Infusion Cups
Grapes or cuties
Yogurt
Pepper slices with hummus
Fruit and Grain Bars
Applesauce snack pouch

DRINKS

I lucked out a little in the drink department because three of my favorites happen to be water, unsweetened iced tea and black coffee. BUT I do get on Dr. Pepper kicks every once in a while and when I do, I start craving them daily. This is one of those times that I know that it’s important for myself to not feel deprived or like I will never get to eat/drink normal which is exactly the kind of thinking that will lead to throwing in the towel. So I have learned to modify this treat. I buy the little 12 oz. bottles of Diet Coke or Diet Dr. Pepper and keep them in the garage fridge. That way they are out of site and out of mind and I don’t grab one just because I saw them and got “triggered”. When I really am wanting a soft drink or am having a craving, I get one and know that I have not screwed up my calories for the day. Yes, I know that soda in general is not healthy and artificial sweeteners are the devil and ironically enough I refuse to use them in any other aspect of my family’s diet. (Have you tried Monk Fruit Sweetener? It has 0 calories, is diabetic friendly and 100-250 times sweeter than sugar!! Great for those of you who don’t love your coffee black). But for me, my diet has changed for the better SO drastically on NOOM that if a little diet coke every so often will keep me going…it’s actually a healthy choice. Another thing I have learned to love and sometimes use to curb a soda craving is Kombucha. My favorite is the locally made Watermelon Hibiscus flavor that our grocery store caries. It’s a little fizzy and sweet and full of probiotics and good for the microbiome!

Happy Accidents

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