Reward meal question

[rainsimar]

This is my third day on the CAD plan. I feel like I am eating too much at my reward meal - dinner. Could someone comment on what I've eaten for dinner and let me know if this sounds OK? I'm just having a hard time believing I will lose weight eating this.

Dinner: Spinach salad with low fat ranch dressing and cottage cheese
Steak - about 6 oz with mushrooms and onions
a large serving of asparagus
baked potato w/light sour cream and two pats butter
5 cream filled cookies

That's it. I feel so guilty for eating the sugar and all that fat! I need some assurance.

Breakfast and lunch have left me not hungry - though I do feel guilty for eating the cheddar cheese at lunch. Please assure me I won't gain from all this high fat!

Thanks
Rain

[Gracia_30]

Rainsimar,

Which book do you have? CAD or CALP? In CALP it explains that you should start with a salad of at least 2 cups, then have your balanced reward meal. And by that they mean separated in 3 equal parts so to balance out the Protein, Vegetables and Carbs.

Also: no need to use light sour cream, or low fat/calorie salad dressings. They are actually much higher in carbs then the normal kind. This is true of almost all foods actually.

Also, if you were used to a low fat/calorie diet, when you first start this one you will feel guilty alot. I especially used to feel guilty about my reward meals. And when kept losing and losing, I stoped feeling guilty. In the beginning I didn't understand why I was losing but I was still on the low fat mentality. It's hard to get out of it. So try to read as much as you can on LC either in this board or in books and keep me posted as to how you're doing.

Good Luck :wave:

[cogin]

HI! Just read your post and I would watch the carbs a bit. The potatoe + the cookies +the onion should equal the size of the meat on your plate. If they do, the go for it and enjoy!! if not you may have to adjust your amounts a bit. But you are ok in that it is leagl to eat all these foods. Just watch the portions. Maybe 1-2 cookies rather than5. Good Luck!!
Also,the other advice on reuglar fat cream and salad dressings is good too.

[Libbyfcr]

I take my REGULAR salad dressing and thin it with water. Seemed silly at first but it makes good sense really. Just thin with a little water. (It's in the CALP book too) When you put your now-slightly-thin dressing on your salad it tends to run down into your salad and spread out instead of sitting on top of one lettuce leaf in a big glob.

The CALP book suggests doing the same thing with the mayo but I haven't yet tried that. I love mayo but limit how much I consume.

Also.... I love my salads. Remember not to limit yourself as to what kinds of greens you try. I have been trying to buy something new and different often so that it keeps my salad interesting. I love Spinach!! (and right now it is a lot less expensive than iceburg lettuce!) I also love cilantro, it usually comes with a rubber band wrapped around a "bunch". Don't take the rubber band off. Just wash it...and dice it from the end. Just dice what you want for your salad and save the rest of the "bunch" for next time.

My favorite salad dressing is not dressing at all. I have a very high quality, cold pressed olive oil. I just use a little bit of that and some black pepper. It's very simple.

Gosh.... I wrote a book... LOL
One more thing....... I always, ALWAYS save that treat... (or your five cookies) for last. If I still really want them when I have eaten my other food then I will have them. BUT.... 99% of the time I am done and I skip them. ( telling myself I will have them tomorrow for supper)

:wave: Libby

[rainsimar]

Wow, thanks for all your replies and advice. I ended up switching my reward meal to lunch because then I don't have to eat either of my complimentary meals out, and I am limited at my lunch time, and am less likely to eat large meals.

Also, eating a larger meal with a lot of protien in the evening feels heavy in my stomach all night.

Thanks again.
Rain

[lcon109]

Don't forget to ENJOY your Reward Meal!! This is one of THE most important things to remember. We do alot of planning around our reward meal. My husband makes sure the coffee is perking while we're eating our dinner so we can indulge in that cup with our desert (if we're having one that evening). We try our best to set the table so that it is more of a dining treat and not just dinner (since we've chosen dinner to be our RM). Little things like that are helpful in making it seem special.

We've started having appetizers here and there to change the pace of our RM. Tonight we had a soup appetizer then our salad and dinner. It was SO good!

Lisa