Healthy Eating, Any suggestions/Support Welcome!

DanielleFloyd08

I look at the food that friends eat during the day. I stay under my calories, but wow I eat terrible compared to some of you guys. I live in a house with my husband and a room mate, both refuse to eat "healthy." If its not green beans its not getting eaten if its green, their idea of a good meal is some kind of meat a potato and a pasta... I have struggled to get them to eat healthier. We have "compromised" no more anything fried, and only one carb per meal, a pasta or potato not both. I make sure to make at least one veggie but try to make 2 for every supper. We eat more chicken and pork loin (i feel like pork loin is better than red meat but I don't know.) I even have him convinced to try tilapia later this week. I have completely stopped drinking anything other than water and junk food is out of my life (I'm a junk food junky!) But I look at others food diary's and feel so guilty I stay under my calories but everyone seems to be eating super duper healthy. Starting to wonder if I need to just get over the money issue and make 2 different meals... A decent not too terrible for the guys and a super healthy one for me... I still stay under my calories and I don't feel like I'm starving. I have only been at this for about a week. I'm just wondering if I will still lose the weight like I want or do I need to go to a more strict diet. I can open my diary to the public if you want to see it. has anyone else had this problem and been successful? I am very sorry that this ended up being so long!

Liftng4Lis

It's not about WHAT you eat, its about how much you eat. Caloric deficit equals weight loss!

goldthistime

Years ago I belonged to a site where we recorded our food and looked at each other's diaries and I was shocked that others ate so few vegetables and so many treats. It didn't even look like a diet. But MFP has changed my perspective. Without calorie counting, all we could do back then was try to eat filling foods with lower carbs and or lower fats. Now we can eat what we want pretty much as long as we meet our micro/macro/calorie goals. Don't worry about everyone else. Sounds like you are already improving greatly (2 veggies for supper is brilliant).

melimomTARDIS

I wouldnt cook two suppers. make one, and adjust your portion as needed. Ie- they get a fully loaded potato, you get a smaller one with less toppings/crazyness.

I eat different things than some of my friends on my list, I have a friend who seemingly eats only food Ive never heard of.

In comparison to others of my friends on MFP, I eat a stupidly large number of fruits/veggies. Like multiple cups each day. I eat a lot of beans too, and most my MFP buddies dont do that either.

I cant meet my goals without eating some calorie sparse veggies to help fill me up, if others dont need that, then they are free to eat however they need to, to meet their goals.

dramaqueen45

I think if you eat a deficit it doesn't matter if you are eating McDonald's or salads- you will lose weight. However, if your goal is to feel better about your eating and to be healthier- opt for the healthy food choices. Fresh fruit and vegetables, lean meats and whole grains will fill you up and you can eat more of them as well. Eating the occasional treat is okay too- but keep it in moderation. A small bowl of ice cream can still fit into your calorie goals.

ana3067

Liftng4Lis wrote: »

It's not about WHAT you eat, its about how much you eat. Caloric deficit equals weight loss!

2nd. What you eat only matters for general health or body composition (macros). But even so, there's no need to not eat fried foods or other "bad" foods.

Meat, potato, and pasta would be a great meal. Just needs some corn and butter/marge. Why can't you eat more than one carb? Does that mean that you also will only eat one veggie? One fruit? I easily eat multiple carbs during evening meals and sometimes during the day (I tend to eat lower carb during the day). Why would pork loin be better than red meat? Steak is delicious. Nothing wrong with "junk food." I ate a donut with nutella recently. I eat "junk food" practically every day.

IF you plan on being as restrictive once you are in weight maintenance, then go ahead and be restrictive now. I'm guessing that you won't be able to maintain this restriction long-term. Few people do.

DanielleFloyd08

ana3067 wrote: »

Liftng4Lis wrote: »

It's not about WHAT you eat, its about how much you eat. Caloric deficit equals weight loss!

2nd. What you eat only matters for general health or body composition (macros). But even so, there's no need to not eat fried foods or other "bad" foods.

Meat, potato, and pasta would be a great meal. Just needs some corn and butter/marge. Why can't you eat more than one carb? Does that mean that you also will only eat one veggie? One fruit? I easily eat multiple carbs during evening meals and sometimes during the day (I tend to eat lower carb during the day). Why would pork loin be better than red meat? Steak is delicious. Nothing wrong with "junk food." I ate a donut with nutella recently. I eat "junk food" practically every day.

IF you plan on being as restrictive once you are in weight maintenance, then go ahead and be restrictive now. I'm guessing that you won't be able to maintain this restriction long-term. Few people do.

The carb thing is for my husbands benefit. He is diabetic and a lot of carbs spike his blood sugar.

I really do like what you said though. I think of dieting and "only eat salads and white meat and don't eat anything bad ever or else you fail!" I think I need to get myself out of that mindset.

NoelFigart1

A side salad is your friend. Easy to prepare, gets your veggies in and if your roommate and hubby ain'ta into it, screw 'em.

(Make it look all special and beautiful and they'll ask for one in time. At least, my husband did back when we were first married and dinosaurs roamed the earth).

But yeah, as long as you're in a deficit, you're golden, even if you touch only green candy sometimes.

ana3067

DanielleFloyd08 wrote: »

ana3067 wrote: »

Liftng4Lis wrote: »

It's not about WHAT you eat, its about how much you eat. Caloric deficit equals weight loss!

2nd. What you eat only matters for general health or body composition (macros). But even so, there's no need to not eat fried foods or other "bad" foods.

Meat, potato, and pasta would be a great meal. Just needs some corn and butter/marge. Why can't you eat more than one carb? Does that mean that you also will only eat one veggie? One fruit? I easily eat multiple carbs during evening meals and sometimes during the day (I tend to eat lower carb during the day). Why would pork loin be better than red meat? Steak is delicious. Nothing wrong with "junk food." I ate a donut with nutella recently. I eat "junk food" practically every day.

IF you plan on being as restrictive once you are in weight maintenance, then go ahead and be restrictive now. I'm guessing that you won't be able to maintain this restriction long-term. Few people do.

The carb thing is for my husbands benefit. He is diabetic and a lot of carbs spike his blood sugar.

I really do like what you said though. I think of dieting and "only eat salads and white meat and don't eat anything bad ever or else you fail!" I think I need to get myself out of that mindset.

Re: carbs then, you don't need to follow the 1-carb-per-meal rule for yourself. For shared meals, sure, go ahead and just make one carb. But at other meals if you want say... a PB+J sandwich and fruit with your breakfast, that's fine.

Otherwise I agree, that mindset is really not the best for weight management. I use to have a "eat only 'clean' foods" mindset 5 years ago. Sure, I lost a lot of weight, but I regained it because it wasn't sustainable. Although I also regained from decreasing my exercise. It's all about eating fewer calories than you burn for weight loss, so eat foods you LOVE and enjoy otherwise your experience is going to truly suck