Last week, I went to my nutritionist and found that I had gained 4 pounds since my last visit. Over the past month, I watched the number on the scale increase and I was completely clueless as to why it was going up. I was doing everything I was supposed to be doing. I was eating veggies, drinking my protein shakes, eating smaller amounts of food, going to the gym, and whatever else it took.
My nutritionist and I had discussed what we thought the issue could be. Initially, we thought that my fruit intake was too high. I was having fruit in my protein shakes, a banana for a snack, and maybe even more fruit later in the day. This wasn’t bad, but with my plan, I should limit my intake of fruit to 2-3 servings/day. I knew this, but it didn’t always come to mind when I was eating. So, this past week I have limited my fruit intake to only my shakes in the morning.
However, the scale had kept rising. I was discouraged, unmotivated, and disappointed in myself. I found myself asking why I was depriving myself of all the delicious things in the world to just have my weight increase. This immediately triggered something for me. This attitude is what had made me gain all the weight in the past. I would have totally ate my feelings and gained all the weight back, if it weren’t for what I’ve learned on this program. I wasn’t going to have that!
So, over the past 5 days, I’ve sent my food journal to my nutritionist. She was able to find my issue by seeing what I ate. It wasn’t that I was eating too much food or even unhealthy food for that matter. It’s just that I was eating a little more than my share of nuts lately. Nut butter, nuts, and bars are such a readily available and easy snack. Sometimes when I was in a big hurry, in addition to the nut butter earlier in the day, I’d have a bar. Most bars have a base of nuts, which would then take up my nut intake for the day.
Also, I’ve found that sometimes I’m so busy in the day, that it slips my mind to write what I’ve eaten. This just shows the importance on journaling my food. I must journal what I eat. If I bite it, I write it. That way I can track what goes into my body and how many calories I’ve consumed for that day.
My nutritionist’s advice to get me out of this funk is to cut out nut butters and bars for the next week to see if the scale starts moving. In place of the nut butters, I should snack on veggies or proteins. Even carbs! She suggested that my snacks be around 200 calories.
After talking to her, I started thinking of what healthy and natural snacks that I could have at work and readily available. Things that will work for me are:
- Deli Turkey Rolls Ups with sprouts, spinach, and/or mustard
- Hard Boiled Eggs
- Mini Frittatas
- Sweet potato wedges
- Veggies and hummus
- Edamame with sea salt
- Guacamole with veggies
Here’s some other places where you can get ideas for easy, healthy snacks:
- Quick and Healthy Snack Recipes
- Six Sister’s 100 Healthy Snack Ideas
- Dietriffic’s 25 Healthy Snack Ideas
What do you eat as a healthy snack?
Have you ever plateaued? What did you do to help push you along?
erinberries 
Baby carrots and avocado are a great option too! I’m trying to cut back on my nut intake too! It’s hard because they’re delicious and so easy to snack on but also super easy to overdo without realizing it! I’ve been plateaued for a while now too and am trying to switch things up to find what works! Cutting back on the sugar has helped a bit!
I love nut butter so much. It sucks that I have to cut back since I just discovered it’s wonderfulness. Hopefully I’ll start seeing more movement and then maybe I can introduce it back in….in moderation.
I love avocados just because they give you the satisfaction of a (healthy!) fat. Also, I’m not gonna lie – I love some squares of super dark chocolate as a snack! Just gotta make sure it’s in moderation.
That’s awesome! I totally believe in having a special treat here and there in moderation. My favorite is Necco Wafers! (Yes, I’m an old woman.)
I can’t wait to hear about how you do!
Even as an RD, I have to look at my diet cause I miss things too. I am trying to lose weight as well. i haven’t seen the scale drop in the past couple weeks so I think I may resort to a bit of journaling since I know I eat a bit too much fruit at times and probably nut butter as well.
It’s good to know that I’m not the only one to have issues with their weight and that RD’s miss things too. Sometimes I see my nutritionist as a lifestyle know-it-all, but I feel a lot better when she tells me stories about when she’s eaten too much too. 🙂
It can be so frustrating when we think we’re doing everything right but yet the scale goes up or won’t go down. I hate plateous. So annoying. I hope you figure out what works for you though and what will help you break through. I, for me, can’t really do nut butters because they are too caloric and I can’t stick to just one serving – I love them too much 😦
I think I might have to cut out nut butters completely. So sad. 😦 Especially that devil of Justin’s Vanilla Almond Butter. So addictive.
I LOVE hard boiled eggs a snack.
I also always try to add a bit of protein to any fruit I’m eating for a snack, otherwise I find myself hungry again in about 7.3 seconds.
Apple Sauce and string cheese.
Carrots and hummus.
Also – the Chobani Champion cups are smaller, and only 100 calories each, but still filled with 8 grams of protein. I add oats to mine, or a little granola of some sort, and it’s DARN tasty!!
Do you have a food scale?? I found that it is helping me LEAPS AND BOUNDS in choosing/prepacking healthy snacks. Weighing out an ounce of cheese, for example – instead of guessing how much of the brick I’m cutting.
I do have a food scale! It really helps whenever making sandwiches with deli meat! I weight out 4 oz rather than just added x many slices and hoping its under a certain number of calories.
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