I'm glad to know that this is helping you CAG!!
I want to talk a bit about portion control and eating until the full feeling.
I am and was a big eater. When I first started this journey, I'd make huge salads with very large amounts of protein and veggies as I was very afraid of being hungry. I ate until I was stuffed!! I did not realize at that point, that snacks are an integral part of this plan.
Once I started eating my snacks in accordance with the guidelines of this plan, my appetite at my meals was greatly reduced. I realized that I'd always thought that dieting meant that I was supposed to be hungry and that is why I was never successful before. Finding out that I should eat if I am hungry was a totally new concept for me.
So I began to start to feel for the "full feeling" as I ate my meals. I ate slower waiting for the feeling to occur. When I first started to have an awareness of being full, I would put away the rest of the food. I had always eaten all the food ...until it was all gone....as I had been taught as child.
My fridge became filled with all kinds of leftovers that I'd eat the next day in one of my meals. Learning to feel for the full feeling has taught me that I can eat much smaller amounts of food and feel satisfied.
When I prepare my meals now, I always make a large portion of veggies and weigh my protein to keep it portion controlled. I also weigh cheese as I do limit my cheese to a couple of ounces per day. Nuts are also portion controlled as they are calorie dense. Please pay attention to the portion amounts on the food lists as they are key in making this work for you.