Dinner ideas for a family with high metabolisms... And me

suzcain

Sooo... When I lived by myself, I managed to lose 70 lbs and keep it off for a couple years. Then I moved in with my fiance and his 2 teenage sons - all of whom have the metabolisms of hummingbirds. And I've put 15 lbs back on. Part of it is that our nightly dinners are fairly high in calories because they would all waste away to nothing otherwise.

For those of you with families, how do you balance things at dinner time? Of course I eat less than they do, but I'd have to eat very, very little of it to match the calorie intake I had when living alone - and to be honest, they don't like the lighter, healthier stuff I used to make for myself. And back then, if I had a calorie heavy day, I could have a bowl of cereal for dinner. But when there is a ready-made hot meal in the kitchen, the appeal of cereal kind of disappears (especially if I'm the one who took the time to make it).

Pointers?

loribethrice

When I lived with my family I always just made my own dinner. I never liked what they were eating, so I'd make myself something separate or if my mom was cooking she would make a side dish that I'd eat. No one in my family has high metabolisms, but I don't think that the rest of them care or worry about how much they are eating.

WildOkapi

Whenever I ate with my husband's family, I just controlled my portions. I ate what they ate, but made sure it was within my calorie goals by measuring/weighing. If the food itself is too high calorie to do this, make your own dinner. My husband tends to do that when he's with his family.

jenilla1

WildOkapi wrote: »

Whenever I ate with my husband's family, I just controlled my portions. I ate what they ate, but made sure it was within my calorie goals by measuring/weighing...

This. (*)

21million

I make separate meals if what I am having isn't appealing.

Alatariel75

Unless you're willing to cook a seperate meal for yourself, portion control is the way to go. Make yourself a big bulky side to go with it - My husband and I eat the same main, but he will have chips and peas while I'll just have a big salad.

chouflour

Our household is a little different - my husband is on high fat, low carb, high fiber for weight loss. I'm on low fat, low fiber, high carb for easy digestion and weight stabilization. The kid would live on pasta and cheese if we let her....

Our answer is that there's something on the table that's good for each of us. A roast chicken dinner has chicken breast and rice for me with a little serving of broccoli. My daughter eats broccoli with cheese sauce, chicken and rice. My husband eats chicken thighs (plus all my chicken skin) and broccoli with cheese sauce.

It's a lot easier to add a component or two than to make a whole meal - and once your meals aren't pre-combined - it's easier to adjust them for everyone's needs.

gmallan

One of the best things for me (my boyfriend is 6'2" with an active job) is to add carbs to his meals. Make a stirfry, curry or cassarole that's mostly meat and veggies that you can serve with rice, noodles, mash or bread. Give them a big serving of carbs and you can have whatever portion of rice/noodles etc. fits your daily cals and macros.

Some other stuff that is easy to modify is:

Burgers - you can have bunless, no cheese/mayo etc.
Pizzas - make yours on a lower carb crust with less cheese/fatty meats and more veggies
Pasta - make a meat sauce and serve yours with veggie (carrot or zucchini) noodles
Lasagna - make yourself one with sliced veggies instead of the pasta sheets and less cheese

Your other option is to cook lighter healthy meals that you like and if they don't want to eat them then they can cook for themselves

eldamiano

First point of call... stop using metabolism as an excuse.

Second thing.... eat at a calorie deficit and you will lose weight. If you dont, you wont....

MelFallesen

Through the years, and having cooked for a lot of different people (including the 7 well-eaten friends of my husband), I've found out that, even when people say that the don't want/like/won't eat salad, if it is on the table, the do eat it.
At home, I usually make dinner that contains meet, a salad, and carbs (most often potatoes in any of it's forms). A nice good-looking salad is always useful.

suzcain

Thanks everybody! These are all very helpful suggestions!!! Except for eldamiano. You're just kind of a jerk, aren't you? I wasn't using metabolism as an excuse. It's a fact. They do have very high metabolisms. His one son who eats 2-3 servings at every meal weighs 113 lbs - we can't find pants small enough for him. And really? "eat at a calorie deficit and you will lose weight. If you dont, you wont...." Gee... Thanks. Having already lost 70 lbs to begin with, I sure wouldn't have figured that out myself without your pointing it out. I was looking for ways to balance my needs with theirs (which everyone else who responded offered). Not nasty, uncalled for snarkiness. Shame on you.

blossomingbutterfly

I love your response to him. Awesome, suzcain!

And to answer your question, I don't know but the other responses here are good. I have my bf and I to cook for. He eats what I eat and he'll just add cheese to it all and he's fine. Makes my life easier. I'd say what everyone else has suggested sounds good.

MyChocolateDiet

1-save most of your cals for dinner
2-save the butters and oils for topping the foods they eat instead of mixing it in while cooking and don't put so much on yours.
3-make yourself a side salad that you eat right before making dinner or some chopped raw veggies that you eat during cooking ...then have smaller servings of whatever they are having
4-make them dessert to keep them going but when it's dessert time, have a cup of tea or coffee or decaf while they have their dessert.
5-get more active. even a small woman can require a lot of calories if she is active enough.

dopeysmelly

I agree with chouflour's suggestion. It's what I do - make lots of meal components which can be combined to everyone's individual taste... within reason. Also, are they serving themselves? If not, then suggest that. That way, everyone just takes what they want and are not interested in what others have, and if you have any leftovers they can be kept in the fridge for the next time. Just make sure you are helping yourself first (chef's prerogative in my house!!)

Unless they are doing the food preparation, then really they should accept what you cook, or help out.