Sorry ya'll but this will be a short posting. It's 8:30pm and I'm just writing this and getting to homework. I got home from work a little late (thank you Dallas traffic,) made a HUGE mess cooking dinner but still managed to fit in my 45 minute workout. I have a couple questions that I was hoping some of you might be able to answer - ANY advice is welcome!!
1. How do you cope with caffeine withdrawal? I have stopped drinking soda and coffee (because I don't like it without non-dairy creamer) and I have noticed I'm getting really bad headaches now. I actually woke up at 4am this morning feeling like my head was going to explode!
2. Any recommendations on frozen meals? I know most have way too much sodium, but there are some nights when I either don't want to cook or forgot to pull the meat out of the freezer that morning (today was one of those days,) and defrosting it in the microwave is a mess and ends up cooking 1/2 the meat before I even get it in the pan. Healthy Choice? Lean Cuisine? I would like to keep them under 350 calories if possible, but don't want to eat cardboard.
On a side note, I came across this article today and it was really motivational! Happy reading! http://www.health.com/health/article/0,,20410099,00.html
7 comments:
Quit caffeine cold turkey did ya? Just tough it out; your body will adapt. Great read from a great blog: http://lifehacker.com/5585217/what-caffeine-actually-does-to-your-brain
I can't think of a single low-cal frozen dinner that isn't sodium-rich. I think they load it up with salt as a preservative and because the food is just bland. For taste, the Lean Cuisine "Spa Cuisine" is the best I've had. All are typically sub-300 calories but are still toeing the 25% D.V. line for sodium.
You should ask heather about the dinners next time you see her, she knows most of the good ones and not so good ones. The kashi ones are apparently really good. As for the caffeine, I'd recommend using caffeine pills to supplement the drinks and gradually cutting down. It allows you to measure the intake and make adjustments. It's what I was doing until finals changed my mind about quitting caffeine last semester :)
Since you've already gone a few days, the worst of the caffeine withdrawal is coming to an end (eventually ...), so just keep it up.
As the previous commentors have said, frozen dinners are loaded with salt. But flavorwise, I like the Lean Cuisine fettuccine alfredo and the Healthy Choice Chicken Parmesean. I'm not sure how many calories are in either, but I tend to choose the higher calorie ones just so I don't starve later (I eat them for lunch). Don't tell me if you find out anything bad about those, because I really like them :)
Or you could do like me and just stay on it...lol...I decided I was tackling too many fronts at once and that caffeine was the least of my worries. I cut back, but kept it in the mix.
I went through caffine withdrawal headaches several years ago, and I had to get back on my caffine drinks and cut back gradually over a couple of weeks.
If it's not the caffeine but more the soda and calories you trying to cut out, try hot tea. I don't like coffee but love hot tea in the morning, and that way you still get a bit of caffeine.
Amy's is hands down my favorite frozen meal. A bit pricier, but well worth it. They taste great and most are organic, vegetarian, and some vegan. Lean Cuisine Butternut Squash Ravioli is also very good.
I still drink coffee. There are some great sugar free non-dairy creamers out there. What I have done is cut back to a mix of decaf and caf and I only have a cup or two a day. The main boost for me was cutting out the carbonated drinks except as an occasional treat. When I did drink carbonated, I got Diet Rite, which is made with Splenda.
Cutting sodium on diet food is going to be a challenge. But I found that my blood pressure went down as I cut the caffiene and kept my sodium around the same.
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