Just to see how far we've come, I was wondering what everyone else ate before LC during a typical day.

Here's mine...

• 2 coffees with milk and 3 tsp. sugar each
• 1 Coke
• 2 pieces toast with butter and honey
• 1 Coke
• A handful of chocolate chips
• A sandwich with French fries
• More chocolate chips or some sort of candy
• 1 Coke
• Some kind of sweet: banana bread, shortcake, whatever
• 1 Coke
• 1 latte with 3 tsp. sugar
• A giant bowl of pasta or meat with potatoes or rice
• 1 Coke
• Half a pint of Hagen Dazs, sometimes more

What did you eat?

Karen

Karen you were a Coke addict! lol

Here's my typical menu:
2 strong cups coffee with 1/4 c coffeemate hazelnut creamer each
2 pieces of wonder bread toast with peanut butter & jelly
1 double grande vanilla mocha
sandwich and cookies from Subway or Togo's
Coke
something (anything) from the honor box at work
Coke
Dinnerplate *full* of mashed potato casserole
or pepperoni pasta (cream cheese & tomato sauce)
chocolate milk

I remember feeling panicky when DH would cook dinner and not plan a starch! Every meal had to have potatoes, rice, or noodles...and maybe a roll to go with it!

And water? That stuff will rust your pipes!

a typical day would be

low fat cereal with semi-skimmed milk
banana
chicken sandwich with low fat mayo made with ww bread
ww yoghurt
1/2 a scone with jam-no butter
toast with marmite and l-f cheese
handful of dried fruit
1/2 baked potato with beans and chicken-no fat of course
l-f biscuit
small ww desert.

YUK
i eat much more cals now and weight stays stable
did everything"low fat" then and couldn,t keep weight down


christine

OK, I'm game!

Typical day of eating before LC WOE.

Breakfast: cinnamon raisin bagel with cream cheese
glass of iced tea sweetened with sugar

Lunch: Quarter Pounder with Cheese from McDonald's
Large Fry
Large iced tea sweetened with sugar

Dinner: 3 slices of Tower pizza from East of Chicago
side salad with ranch dressing

Snack: potato chips, ice cream, popcorn

Also drank iced tea from morning until night sweetened with sugar.

Wow!

1 coffee-extra large with flavored cream - or an orange mocha
Scrambled eggs with toast or a bagel with american cheese & fruit
no snack
Loaded potato with chilli/cheese/veggies etc.
vending machine pack of ho hos
pepsi
pasta with chicken & cheese & tomatos
1/2 bottle wine
maybe 3 glasses water during the day-
evening snack of pudding or jello w/ fruit

...vegetarian, but huge amounts of carbs: huge 4 ouncer bagels for breakfast with very little protein, or carby cereals...lunch, lots of bean burrittos, dinner lots of pasta dinners...snacks: large amounts of fruit.

I'm still a veggie but I've totally revamped everything to include more protein from dairy and soy and legumes (I'm on the Insulin Resistance Diet so we're allowed beans)....a lot less carbs and MUCH smaller amounts of fruit.

I feel so good, and the results came so quickly, it often amazes me.

I LOVE this question, because I was a poster girl for the high carb, low fat, way of life. Bought into it hook, line, and sinker!

Breakfast: Coffee with skim milk. Then another coffee with skim milk.

Lunch: Salad with non fat dressing, turkey breast, low fat cheese, diet soda or more coffee with skim milk, green apple, tons of grapes.

Snack: Starving as a result of lunch, so eat more grapes, two slices of potato bread. Sneak bunches of grapes for remainder of afternoon.

Dinner: Spaghetti and lots of it, non-fat tomato sauce, non-fat cheese, more grapes if there are any left in the house. Oh, and is that a left-over potato in the fridge? Luxury!!

Dessert: An ongoing meal for the remainder of the evening. Low fat ice cream, reduced fat candy bar, cold spaghetti.

Bedtime: Whoops, can't sleep, sit in front of computer with another slice of potato bread.

diggin' up some painful memories here. lol

Breakfast: Two big bowls of lucky charms and a Diet Coke
Midmorning snack: either a snicker bar or a Little Debbie Oatmeal cream cookie or two Grandma's cookies, PLUS a bacon cheese or jalapeno Nab Cracker pack
Lunch: A Steak and Cheese Sub from Franks, loaded, plus french fries and a Regular Coke (And these sandwiches and fries are HUGE!)
Midday: depended. Sometimes a banana, sometimes some peanuts, could be anything. Sometimes another candy bar. Another regular Coke on the way home from work
Supper: Big plate of spaghetti, tuna noodle casserole, Shepherd's pie or some other similar meat/pasta/fat/starch dish. And the plate was always heaping. a diet coke.
Bedtime snack: BIG bowl of Moose Tracks Ice Cream, or Boston Creme Pie, or Chocolate pudding or OREOs and milk. Something sweet, creamy, and lots of it. Might have a glass of milk with it, might be another regular Coke.
Oh, and lots and lots more Diet Coke throughout the day. I didn't drink anything else, no water, no koolaid, no tea, no nothing.

No wonder I got FAT!

1996

Breakfast: 4 Double Chocolate Doughnuts & 1 Large Coke
Lunch: 2 Slices Roast Beef (Fat Removed), 2 cups Mashed Potatoes, 1 cup String Beans, 2 French Rolls, 1 slice Chocolate Cake, & 2 Large Root Beers
Dinner: 3+ Large Biscuits, 1-2 Dinner Rolls, 12-24 Saltine Crackers, Salad w. Croutons, 4 Chicken Strips, 1 Baked Potato, 1 cups Mashed Potatoes, 3 Medium Cokes, Scoop Vanilla Ice Cream

1998-1999

Breakfast: 3 Biscuits w. Cheese, 2 Sides Hash Browns, & 1 Large Coke
Lunch: Big Montana Sandwich, 1 side Super Sized (or whatever Arby's calls it) Curly Fries, 2 Super Sized Cokes
Dinner: 3+ Large Biscuits, 1-2 Dinner Rolls, 12-24 Saltine Crackers, Salad w. Croutons, 4 Chicken Strips, 1 Baked Potato, 1 cups Mashed Potatoes, 3 Medium Cokes, 1 Scoop Vanilla Ice Cream

1999 - Atkins

Breakfast: NONE (Usually)
Lunch: Plate of Spaghetti, 6 Slices White Bread, Graham or Saltine Crackers (Amount varied), 3 cans Pepsi
Dinner: Plate of Spaghetti, 6 Slices White Bread, Graham or Saltine Crackers (Amount varied), 3 cans Pepsi

6:30 AM to 6:30 PM

• 2-liter bottle of diet cola
• water/ice

6:30 PM (Dinner)

• small amount of meat (little money, I tried to make sure the kids ate all they wanted of the meat before I touched it)
• rice with gravy
• salad (lettuce/tomatoes/cucumbers/whatever was in season) without dressing

Evening snack

• fat-free potato chips, or
• ice cream, or
• homemade cookies/bread
• fruit (particularly apples)

some more typical dinners:

• eggy pancakes, smeared with fruit preserves, then a good scoop of cottage chees and rolled up
• beans and rice
• beans and cornbread and cheese

I don't think I was ever a big eater -- but I sure managed to get fat!

And I absolutely NEVER touched any food until dinner time -- now I love breakfast!

Hmm, well, seems so long ago

On an average day I would skip breakfeast.

Usually have a litre of diet coke during the morning

Lunch, usually around 11am, I'd hit a restaurant 90% of the time and get something like burger and fries, jambalya, club sandwich or something, and diet coke.

Afternoon, another litre of diet coke.

Supper, Oh, chicken fingers and fries, pasta with a meat sauce, chicken and rice. Diet coke of course to drink.

Once or twice a week, I'd probably polish off a big bag of chips as a snack in the evening.

And of course, another litre or more of diet coke during the evening (i'd usually always have a 32 oz diet coke on the go)

uke:

I used to have:

3 to 4 cups cheerios with lowfat milk for breakfast (no sugar).
a "rice plate" dish at the local Chinese restaurant for lunch -- think lots of white rice.

I didn't eat much between meals, but I drank copious amounts of tea.

Dinners were probably my worst:

homemade chili over 2 potatoes with sourcream, cheese and butter
or
homemade very-low-meat spaghetti sauce over 3 to 4 cups of noodles
or
a box of macaroni and cheese

Get the picture? Lots and lots of carbs and fat, which when combined are lethal -- it's amazing that I was maintaining my weight and not gaining. And I had no energy to cook even half way decent food. I made a big batch of chili and a big batch of spaghetti sauce once a month and froze them so I wouldn't have to cook at night.

Now I cook almost every night and love it. The other night I had poached salmon with homemade pesto and grilled eggplant. My lunch is usually a large salad from the local salad bar restaurant with chicken or tuna and my own salad dressing (I don't like restaurant dressings). And breakfasts are usually my homemade chorizo and eggs with tomatoes. I snack on nuts, cheese, pickles and other vegetables. And I feel so great!

;-Deb

This is what makes me want to smack the doctors/govt./etc. upside their collective heads for this food pyramid nonsense. Over the last ten years that I have been putting the weight on, I have been on a diet for about 9 of those years. The last couple of years (before LC) this was a pretty standard day:

Breakfast - "healthy" cereal with low-fat milk, or bagel, etc. (carbs)
Mid morn. snack - apple, banana or carrots (carbs)
Lunch - Lean Cuisine (carbs)
Afternoon snack - apple, banana or carrots (carbs)
Dinner - usually something in the low-fat realm, even Lean Cuisine's
a lot before LC.

Guess how much weight I lost on that plan? I'll put it this way, I'm here on this board now, aren't I? I've lost more in 4 mos. of LCing than I did in years of low-fatting.

Interesting to read this thread!

I am a vegetarian and I think after living with about 4 other veggies my eating habits are pretty typical = most of us eat little to no protein. No wonder my lean muscle mass is so low!!!

BREAKFAST: bowl of cherrios with skim milk or two slices of toast with low fat margarine and a small slice of cheese
LUNCH: no time for lunch, I was a teacher always getting things ready for the next classes, so just a 25 cent pack of cheese n crackers
AFTER SCHOOL SNACK: was STARVING by this point! several slices of bread, crackers, a piece of string cheese, maybe grapes or a banana, whatever it was it was high carb and lots of it!!!
DINNER: anything that included rice, potatoes, or pasta. Usually pasta won! In fact a few times my DH and I made a dish using pasta and potatoes at the same time! What were we thinking!
DESSERT: some low fat ice cream or low fat sugar free ice cream bar

For bkfst I'd typically have yoghurt, fruit & a pc of whole wheat toast, or grainy cereal.

Lunch would be a salad & sandwich, or soup, or a frozen pasta chicken entree.

Dinner was a sandwich & salad or veggies (peas & corn were favs). 1 - 2 x a week I'd eat out & typically have pasta, rice, or a meat dish w fries.

(I never thought anything was wrong with these meals, bc I was under the common wrong belief that if you don't eat a lot, you won't gain weight. Plus, I thought they were healthy options.)

Snacks I thought were alright & ate a lot of were baby carrots & popcorn.

Snacks I ate a lot of but knew were bad were anything chocolate, ice cream, chips, cookies, & crackers.

The biggest shock for me was learning eating a lot of fruit & certain veggies is no good (for weight loss), & that sugar (which I thought I did not eat a lot of! yeah right!) is in practically everything!