So Many Questions

[Stardust]

I am new at this and attempting the Maximum Weightloss diet. I am struggling with leaving cheese and bread out of my diet. I think the biggest problem for me though is what to do for my lunches. I work 12 hour days in an ambulance so I am all over the place during the day. Sandwiches are the easiest thing to eat or I just eat out. Now I am trying to find food to eat and it isn't easy. Does any one more experienced have good ideas?

Another question: is it okay to use cooking sprays? My spray says it is 0 calories but it is made from oil. Any thoughts?

Thanks for your comments. I have lost 6 pounds in a little over a week so I must be doing something right but I have been cheating as well. Oops.

[DavidMR]

Concerning cooking sprays that have 0 calories . . . I bet that the serving size is very small--maybe just a few sprays. Check how many "servings" are in the container--if there are hundreds of servings, then there is less than 1 gram of fat, so the producer feels justified to write "0 calories per serving".

[mollyfisher]

I've found that most of the suggested lunches and salad recipes are pretty portable carried in re-usable plastic containers.

[stephanie]

As DavidMR said, I'd be careful with the cooking spray. A food can say "0 g fat" if it has less than 0.5 g of fat per serving. In order to achieve that, the manufacturer makes the serving size miniscule, even though no one actually uses that small of a serving. I'll bet the serving size of the cooking spray is a fraction of a second, which is not nearly enough time to coat a pan. In reality, all oil has 120 calories, all from fat, per tablespoon. The manufacturer can divide it into tiny "free" servings, but if you go through, for example, a 1-cup bottle of cooking spray, that's almost 2000 calories of pure fat no matter how you divy it up. (The fat you eat is the fat you wear!)

Instead of using cooking spray, I'd suggest other things like nonstick cookware, sauteeing in broth or water, etc.

[margiereilly]

Could you pack a thermos with a widemouth holding veggie soups? I teach and I use a widemouth thermos to hold McDougall Soups that come in a cup. They are available in the health food section of many grocery stores. I like many of his soups or I use a nofat Pea soup in a can, heat it and take it in the thermos.
It is just one suggestion.

[Frank]

I have become addicted to potatoes: they fill me up and are low in fat. The discussion about potatoes and sugar is academic (vacuous) to me. I usually microwave four or five, put them in a lidded container and stuff them in my back pack and eat them throughout the day. I think I would have a problem eating if there were patients lying around.

Yeah, the "non-fat" sprays have fat. It's another scam by the food industry whereby through verbal subterfuges, they've convinced the checkers of labels that their fat products are non-fat. There are millions of non-English speaking people who probably miss this.

[prairiedream]

I second Frank's idea about potatoes. I used to bring either potatoes or sweet potatoes to my work and eat them for lunch. I'd just cut them beforehand and put a little hot sauce and black pepper on them and eat them cold at lunchtime with some veggies.

[Cindee]

I'd too be worried about the cooking spray.

When Hubby and I were first married (over 16 years ago) we purchased a can of that stuff and we used it for potatoes or fries--can't remember now. Anyway.... We couldn't get the stuff off the pan and ended up throwing the pan out. Scary.

I don't think McDougall would recommend it either.

I'd avoid it.

You'll be surprised at how good you feel without that stuff on anything. You do have to learn to adjust and like foods for what they truly taste like, and your body will thank you.

Cindee