Fell way off the wagon......time to get back on......but how?!

ColoradoDan
ColoradoDan Posts: 85 Member
edited December 3 in Health and Weight Loss
Well I started at 326 and after losing 26lbs using MFP and simply eating better and working out a little I fell completely off the wagon.

I hurt my foot and could no longer do any exercise. It made me lose my motivation and I started eating like crap again. We also ran a little low on cash as a couple and could no longer afford the fresh items, healthy items and kind of had to start eating the quick cheap processed stuff which helped us fall off even more (think cup o noodles as our main food group type of cheap). Now we are right back to no breakfast, fast food every day at lunch, frozen processed dinners, and lots of unhealthy snacks - boo!

Now somehow magically I have only gained back 6lbs which is nice BUT i feel worse than I did before (sleepy, bloated, etc). I am holding steady at 306 no matter what I eat and drink. But I am ready to drop another 31lbs and get down to 275.

What changed. We have just started our journey to have our first child - it involves stopping smoking and drinking and getting healthy. We both need to lose some weight (10lbs for her - 50lbs for me) before we get preggo. My foot has finally healed as a two weeks ago and I am ready to start walking daily again and doing some home workouts for strength.

I want to start some sort of eating plan (we suck at planning meals on our own). I know it's just calories in vs calories out BUT after trying to lose weight over the past 20 years I found we do best when we have planned meals, planned foods, planned activity schedule, planned grocery lists, etc. So I am trying to find some sort of eating/fitness plan site or app. We really liked Weight Watchers, EMeals, and Atkins in the past but know they are quick fixes - not long term. ANY EATING PLANS / FITNESS SITES OR APPS YOU LIKE?

Any other advice to help up on our way.

Seems like I lose 20-30 pounds each time then fall off and gain 1/2 back. Wish I could just stick with it for life.
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Replies

  • LazSommer
    LazSommer Posts: 1,851 Member
    Are you like 7 ft?
  • ColoradoDan
    ColoradoDan Posts: 85 Member
    I am 6 foot 3 inches.

    Why do you ask about 7 feet?
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    Try this maybe: https://www.eatthismuch.com/diet-plan/1800-calorie/
  • LazSommer
    LazSommer Posts: 1,851 Member
    ColoradoDan wrote: »
    I am 6 foot 3 inches.

    Why do you ask about 7 feet?

    I don't know your athletic history, just was surprised you had a higher goal weight. Not an issue, but personally I find it's easier mentally if I lose down to a decent bodyfat % - makes maintaining easier and if you slip up you're at a much lower weight already.
  • LazSommer
    LazSommer Posts: 1,851 Member
    ColoradoDan wrote: »
    The 275 goal weight is just a stop on the journey.

    They say my ideal weight is 200lbs but I have not been that small since I was an athlete in high school. I think if I made it to 225 in say 3-4 years awesome. But for now - baby steps. Shooting for 275 - that will be a big accomplishment for me!

    Ah ok very cool. I know you are strapped for cash but hit the weight room as soon as you can. With your stats you could easily become a beast even on a nice deficit if you hop on a good program.
  • ColoradoDan
    ColoradoDan Posts: 85 Member
    Yeah - I have the following at home:

    1 resistance band
    2 20lb dumbells
    2 8lb weight
    1 weight bench
    1 yoga mat
    1 jump rope
    1 trx body weight system
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,337 Member
    ColoradoDan wrote: »
    Yeah - I have the following at home:

    1 resistance band
    2 20lb dumbells
    2 8lb weight
    1 weight bench
    1 yoga mat
    1 jump rope
    1 trx body weight system

    First, at this point calorie control in how much you eat is far more important that whether a food meets some arbitrary definition of healthy. The reality is not that you were eating bad foods, although they may have been somewhat nutrition poor, but that you were eating way more calories than you should have. That means the first step is starting to count calories again and stick with it. Ideally use a digital kitchen scale to measure your portions as it is far more accurate than estimation or using measuring cups or spoons.

    Second, of that stuff you listed the TRX will likely be the most useful item. The 8lb weights are too small for the average man and likely the 20lb ones are as well. Find a good TRX program online and use that. The jump rope can be an excellent form of cardio is you are able to jump rope. I always get tangled up spending more time getting untangled than actually jumping.
  • mysticlizard
    mysticlizard Posts: 896 Member
    Something that helps me is to prep all my veggies when I get home from the store. That way when I am ready to cook I can throw them in a soup, stew, stir fry, whatever, or eat them raw. With them already cut up they are easy to use and makes getting a meal on the table easier:)
  • ColoradoDan
    ColoradoDan Posts: 85 Member
    Yeah the 20lb ones are really hard for me to use - too heavy. The TRX I want to try - need to find a weight loss workout plan online for a TRX band.

    I wish it was as easy as making a shopping list then being creative and making meals out of the ingredients but for us it's not. We make that list you wrote and after we get to counter it's $50-$60 which is more than we have. We like meal planner sites because you can plan by dollar amount. We have $30 - what can we buy - and it populates a list for us to take to store.

    And we just are not very creative in creating meals from random ingredients. Who wants to eat plain chicken breast with a veggie. Yuck. But I bet there are sites on the web you can put in a few ingredients and it makes a yummy meal and recipe - we follow recipes. We can't really cook from scratch yet.
  • 2y2k
    2y2k Posts: 41 Member
    I definitely recommend a low carb, high protein diet with enough healthy fats. Cutting out carbs AND fats makes people miserable. I definitely recommend authority nutrition (https://authoritynutrition.com/). They have an emphasis on meat AND plenty of veggies but little carbs. It's done wonders for me. Also, Dr. Furhman's diet that consists of no meat is really amazing, as well. I'm slowly working towards that. Here's his book– https://www.amazon.com/Eat-Live-Amazing-Nutrient-Rich-Sustained/dp/031612091X/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1471996252&sr=1-5&keywords=dr.+furhman+books He has an emphasis on nutrition. No tricks. No gimmicks. No shortcuts. (: It's really great.

    Wishing you the best! <3
  • leejoyce31
    leejoyce31 Posts: 794 Member
    SophieSmall95 wrote: »
    ColoradoDan wrote: »
    Yeah the 20lb ones are really hard for me to use - too heavy. The TRX I want to try - need to find a weight loss workout plan online for a TRX band.

    I wish it was as easy as making a shopping list then being creative and making meals out of the ingredients but for us it's not. We make that list you wrote and after we get to counter it's $50-$60 which is more than we have. We like meal planner sites because you can plan by dollar amount. We have $30 - what can we buy - and it populates a list for us to take to store.

    And we just are not very creative in creating meals from random ingredients. Who wants to eat plain chicken breast with a veggie. Yuck. But I bet there are sites on the web you can put in a few ingredients and it makes a yummy meal and recipe - we follow recipes. We can't really cook from scratch yet.

    Which is why I said to make plans around what is cheap or in season. I never said you had to buy what I do, I was just showing you how I make a meal plan.

    "And we just are not very creative in creating meals from random ingredients. " now see...this where I am just seeing excuses. You're refusing to even learn how to do it. "we can't really cook from scratch" ...yes you can. You are CHOOSING not to. Non of this is hard (apart from arguable finding affordable options) but your attitude shows me you don't even want to try.

    Never said you had to eat plain chicken and veggies, if you don't like plain add spices or sauces (though be careful on the calories of some sauces). It's not hard, so stop pretending it is.

    Your failure is entirely down to your own lack of initiative and effort on this topic. Take some responsibility for yourself and you'll see change and results.

    Good luck.

    Wow kinda harsh
  • grinning_chick
    grinning_chick Posts: 765 Member
    edited August 2016
    It's not what you eat, it's how much. I'm walking, talking, proof you can yo-yo the same 60 lbs of weight for years eating only 20-75-100 grams of carb a day if you don't acknowledge at the end of the day, calories count regardless of the way of eating (diet).

    Eat what you want, just be sure to stay in the ballpark of your calculated deficit. That is absolutely applicable to your current diet. I know I haven't changed mine in the slightest as far as types or quality of foods eaten. What you have to accept in the trade off is I guarantee you will be eating significantly less of it than you currently are.

    I only have $120-140 available a month to feed myself. Despite falling off the logging truck April-June this year for different reasons, I am still managing to easily shove my desired 1,583 calories/day into my pie hole. In fact, I'm struggling with it not being 1.6-4K a day.

    Exercise is for fitness, not weight loss. Many people do only walking as their "exercise". Some, like me until I hit 190 lbs, do none. And I do mean none without hyperbole.
  • cakestacked
    cakestacked Posts: 10 Member
    edited August 2016
    You can Google cheap recipe ideas. There are loads of blogs dedicated to cooking on a budget.

    Lots of vegetarian meals are cheap and you can cook extra portions to freeze. Bulk out pasta dishes with veggies like courgette/zucchini and peppers - I've found they both last a good week or two in the fridge, so there's less waste. Canned tomatoes are good for the base of a lot of dishes. They're cheap and nutritious too. Carrots are usually cheap, and versatile. Dried lentils can substitute meat in chilli or spaghetti sauce. You can add them to soups as well. Look for larger packets of spices instead of the smaller jars of spices. They're almost always cheaper per gram, and you can use mix them up to create your own blends to make more boring foods taste better.

    Oats for breakfast - add some eggs to make pancakes, use yogurt and/or milk to make overnight oats, make normal porridge or find a recipe and make homemade granola.

    Soups/stews for lunch - you can use lentils or beans (buy dried and follow the instructions to cook them to reduce the cost) to bulk it out, and use up any vegetables that are looking a little worse for wear.

    Pasta or rice for dinner - use canned tomatoes to make the base for a sauce. Add garlic as standard then switch up the flavours. Basil one day, oregano the next. Use dried rosemary, thyme, fennel seeds and/or a glug of balsamic vinegar. Sauté courgette and mushrooms, roast peppers and onions, grill aubergine/eggplant, throw in lentils or cook some cheap fatty ground beef but make sure you drain the excess fat off. Or make rice bowls. Cook some rice, top it with whatever is in the fridge. A fried egg, some fresh tomatoes, diced onion, leftover meat or beans, fresh or cooked vegetables, etc.

    Store cupboard basics - rice, pasta, olive oil (cook with the regular kind instead of extra virgin), soy sauce, a variety of dried herbs and spices, canned tomatoes, chickpeas, beans, lentils, oats.

    Fridge basics - eggs, extra strong cheddar, milk, plain yogurt, cheaper cuts of meat like chicken thighs, fatty ground beef, frozen fish if you like it.

    Freezer - get stuff like some frozen spinach, peas, green beans, broccoli and cauliflower.

    I don't know your budget, but people feed their families for next to nothing. If money is THAT tight, scrap your internet connection, get a cheaper phone plan, sell some stuff. Otherwise, spend an evening checking out budget meal ideas. Write down what you already have in the cupboards and what you can make from it, then expand from there.
  • ColoradoDan
    ColoradoDan Posts: 85 Member
    edited August 2016
    Tired of hearing about excuses and being lazy. Yes I could spend tons of time online finding recipes - putting them together - writing out shopping lists - prepping ingredients - mixing spices - whatever else. That isn't what I want to spend my time doing though.

    I want to do this without having to learn to cook, do extra work to learn, etc.

    I prefer things I can cook quickly - no prep involved, no chopping, no trimming, no making and freezing for the week. Grab n go in my style or quick throw in a pot or pan or microwave and it's done. For now that is all I can handle.

    I am happy for you guys who love to cook, love to learn, and are not lazy - but I am lazy and unmotivated still - sorry. I have to work with who I am.

    I am sure we will be just fine with our baby - thanks. I know people on welfare who have kids - I think we can swing it.
  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
    ColoradoDan wrote: »
    Tired of hearing about excuses and being lazy. Yes I could spend tons of time online finding recipes - putting them together - writing out shopping lists - prepping ingredients - mixing spices - whatever else. That isn't what I want to spend my time doing though.

    I want to do this without having to learn to cook, do extra work to learn, etc.

    I prefer things I can cook quickly - no prep involved, no chopping, no trimming, no making and freezing for the week. Grab n go in my style or quick throw in a pot or pan or microwave and it's done. For now that is all I can handle.

    I am happy for you guys who love to cook, love to learn, and are not lazy - but I am lazy and unmotivated still - sorry. I have to work with who I am.

    I am sure we will be just fine with our baby - thanks. I know people on welfare who have kids - I think we can swing it.

    I'm sorry but you are full of excuses. You either want to change your lifestyle or don't. Nobody can do it for you, there is a certain amount of personal responsibility you have to take in order to be successful at losing and maintaining weight. If it were super easy we wouldn't have the obesity epidemic we do in the western world.

    And honestly, I'd want to have all of healthy living skills down pat to pass on to my kids. That's not snark, it's just a proven reality that kids with overweight parents tend to be overweight themselves because skills are learned from our families in that regard.

    To put it plainly, you're not ready to lose weight. As long as you are lazy and unmotivated, that's going to dictate your success or lack thereof.
  • salsera_barbie
    salsera_barbie Posts: 270 Member
    edited August 2016
    " wrote:
    I wish it was as easy as making a shopping list then being creative and making meals out of the ingredients but for us it's not. We make that list you wrote and after we get to counter it's $50-$60 which is more than we have. We like meal planner sites because you can plan by dollar amount. We have $30 - what can we buy - and it populates a list for us to take to store.

    And we just are not very creative in creating meals from random ingredients. Who wants to eat plain chicken breast with a veggie. Yuck. But I bet there are sites on the web you can put in a few ingredients and it makes a yummy meal and recipe - we follow recipes. We can't really cook from scratch yet.

    I'm calling you out.... your original post mentions that you are eating fast food every day. At $8 per day x 2, you are spending weekly $80 on one crappy meal.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    edited August 2016
    salsera_barbie wrote: »
    " wrote:
    I wish it was as easy as making a shopping list then being creative and making meals out of the ingredients but for us it's not. We make that list you wrote and after we get to counter it's $50-$60 which is more than we have. We like meal planner sites because you can plan by dollar amount. We have $30 - what can we buy - and it populates a list for us to take to store.

    And we just are not very creative in creating meals from random ingredients. Who wants to eat plain chicken breast with a veggie. Yuck. But I bet there are sites on the web you can put in a few ingredients and it makes a yummy meal and recipe - we follow recipes. We can't really cook from scratch yet.

    I'm calling you out.... your original post mentions that you are eating fast food every day. At $8 per day x 2, you are spending weekly $80 on one crappy meal.

    Good point. I can't see "fast food every day at lunch, frozen processed dinners, and lots of unhealthy snacks" costing less than cooking from scratch.

    I'd like two meals per day to come from the Thai restaurant, but I can't afford that, so I learned to cook Thai.

    My Gramma used to say, "If you can read, you can cook."

    @ColoradoDan don't you have more disposable income having stopped smoking and drinking?
  • bethannien
    bethannien Posts: 556 Member
    edited August 2016
    My favorite thing to cook is easy and cheap.

    Buy a whole chicken. Maybe you can find it on sale for 70 cents a pound every now and then but even if you can't, it should stretch over two meals for two people. Anyhow pick up a whole chicken, a couple bundles of celery, a couple pounds of carrots, a couple of lemons, an onion and some noodles (if I want to splurge, I buy the cheese filled tortellini).

    Dinner 1, I rough chop 5 or 6 carrots, one bundle of celery and quarter the lemon. I toss the veg into the bottom of the crock pot, pull the gizzards out of the chicken, put the chicken on top of the veg. Shove the lemon inside the chicken, sprinkle whatever seasoning strikes my fancy on top (garlic if I have it, thyme, onion powder whatever). Maybe drizzle some olive oil. Turn on the crock pot and let it cook for 4-6 hours depending on the size of the chicken. Serve it with a salad and a sweet potato or yam. About half the chicken easily feeds two adults and two kids.

    For dinner two, this is the most work you have to do and it's really not that much work. Cut off the remaining chicken, shove it in a freeze bag or Tupperware and put it in the fridge. Put the skin and bones into a roasting pan. Roast it for an hour or so then dump the bones and skin into a big pot of water. Salt it and let it boil until you have a nice yellow broth (an hour or so). Strain out the skin and bones through cheese cloth. I usually save the broth in a large Tupperware. Then the next day I skim the fat off the broth, dump it into a large soup pan, heat it up. Chop up the remaining carrots and celery, chop up the onion (and any other veg I decided I wanted to add but for simplicity's sake, we'll stick with celery onion and carrot). Toss the veg into the pot. Once they have softened up, add the chicken and noodles (the cheese tortellinis take like 2 minutes so if you do that, throw the noodles in a few minutes before you're ready to eat.)

    The soup saves for a while in the freezer and, while it sounds like a lot of instructions, it takes not much effort and yields a lot of food for cheap

    There are cheap and easy ways to make healthy and filling food from scratch. Typically when I make that soup, I have two more dinners in the freezer after.

    Make the most of the ingredients you buy. If there is a special on pork shoulder, slow roast one and you can eat bbq pulled pork sandwiches, pulled pork tacos and, depending on the size, pulled pork something else.

    Around Christmas time, when hams and turkeys are cheap, I'll buy and freeze a few. Hams are a gold mine, ham roast then leftovers in various casseroles then you save the bone and make ham hocks and beans.

    Buy what's on sale. Make a plan. Look at adds. Decide you're going to make a positive change or don't. The only person it effects is you.
  • salsera_barbie
    salsera_barbie Posts: 270 Member



    bethannien wrote: »
    My favorite thing to cook is easy and cheap.

    Buy a whole chicken. Maybe you can find it on sale for 70 cents a pound every now and then but even if you can't, it should stretch over two meals for two people. Anyhow pick up a whole chicken, a couple bundles of celery, a couple pounds of carrots, a couple of lemons, an onion and some noodles (if I want to splurge, I buy the cheese filled tortellini).

    Dinner 1, I rough chop 5 or 6 carrots, one bundle of celery and quarter the lemon. I toss the veg into the bottom of the crock pot, pull the gizzards out of the chicken, put the chicken on top of the veg. Shove the lemon inside the chicken, sprinkle whatever seasoning strikes my fancy on top (garlic if I have it, thyme, onion powder whatever). Maybe drizzle some olive oil. Turn on the crock pot and let it cook for 4-6 hours depending on the size of the chicken. Serve it with a salad and a sweet potato or yam. About half the chicken easily feeds two adults and two kids.

    For dinner two, this is the most work you have to do and it's really not that much work. Cut off the remaining chicken, shove it in a freeze bag or Tupperware and put it in the fridge. Put the skin and bones into a roasting pan. Roast it for an hour or so then dump the bones and skin into a big pot of water. Salt it and let it boil until you have a nice yellow broth (an hour or so). Strain out the skin and bones through cheese cloth. I usually save the broth in a large Tupperware. Then the next day I skim the fat off the broth, dump it into a large soup pan, heat it up. Chop up the remaining carrots and celery, chop up the onion (and any other veg I decided I wanted to add but for simplicity's sake, we'll stick with celery onion and carrot). Toss the veg into the pot. Once they have softened up, add the chicken and noodles (the cheese tortellinis take like 2 minutes so if you do that, throw the noodles in a few minutes before you're ready to eat.)

    The soup saves for a while in the freezer and, while it sounds like a lot of instructions, it takes not much effort and yields a lot of food for cheap

    There are cheap and easy ways to make healthy and filling food from scratch. Typically when I make that soup, I have two more dinners in the freezer after.

    Make the most of the ingredients you buy. If there is a special on pork shoulder, slow roast one and you can eat bbq pulled pork sandwiches, pulled pork tacos and, depending on the size, pulled pork something else.

    Around Christmas time, when hams and turkeys are cheap, I'll buy and freeze a few. Hams are a gold mine, ham roast then leftovers in various casseroles then you save the bone and make ham hocks and beans.

    Buy what's on sale. Make a plan. Look at adds. Decide you're going to make a positive change or don't. The only person it effects is you.

    Didn't you read his post about being lazy and unmotivated? This is all good suggestions for someone who wants to work for it.
  • bethannien
    bethannien Posts: 556 Member
    salsera_barbie wrote: »


    bethannien wrote: »
    My favorite thing to cook is easy and cheap.

    Buy a whole chicken. Maybe you can find it on sale for 70 cents a pound every now and then but even if you can't, it should stretch over two meals for two people. Anyhow pick up a whole chicken, a couple bundles of celery, a couple pounds of carrots, a couple of lemons, an onion and some noodles (if I want to splurge, I buy the cheese filled tortellini).

    Dinner 1, I rough chop 5 or 6 carrots, one bundle of celery and quarter the lemon. I toss the veg into the bottom of the crock pot, pull the gizzards out of the chicken, put the chicken on top of the veg. Shove the lemon inside the chicken, sprinkle whatever seasoning strikes my fancy on top (garlic if I have it, thyme, onion powder whatever). Maybe drizzle some olive oil. Turn on the crock pot and let it cook for 4-6 hours depending on the size of the chicken. Serve it with a salad and a sweet potato or yam. About half the chicken easily feeds two adults and two kids.

    For dinner two, this is the most work you have to do and it's really not that much work. Cut off the remaining chicken, shove it in a freeze bag or Tupperware and put it in the fridge. Put the skin and bones into a roasting pan. Roast it for an hour or so then dump the bones and skin into a big pot of water. Salt it and let it boil until you have a nice yellow broth (an hour or so). Strain out the skin and bones through cheese cloth. I usually save the broth in a large Tupperware. Then the next day I skim the fat off the broth, dump it into a large soup pan, heat it up. Chop up the remaining carrots and celery, chop up the onion (and any other veg I decided I wanted to add but for simplicity's sake, we'll stick with celery onion and carrot). Toss the veg into the pot. Once they have softened up, add the chicken and noodles (the cheese tortellinis take like 2 minutes so if you do that, throw the noodles in a few minutes before you're ready to eat.)

    The soup saves for a while in the freezer and, while it sounds like a lot of instructions, it takes not much effort and yields a lot of food for cheap

    There are cheap and easy ways to make healthy and filling food from scratch. Typically when I make that soup, I have two more dinners in the freezer after.

    Make the most of the ingredients you buy. If there is a special on pork shoulder, slow roast one and you can eat bbq pulled pork sandwiches, pulled pork tacos and, depending on the size, pulled pork something else.

    Around Christmas time, when hams and turkeys are cheap, I'll buy and freeze a few. Hams are a gold mine, ham roast then leftovers in various casseroles then you save the bone and make ham hocks and beans.

    Buy what's on sale. Make a plan. Look at adds. Decide you're going to make a positive change or don't. The only person it effects is you.

    Didn't you read his post about being lazy and unmotivated? This is all good suggestions for someone who wants to work for it.

    I know it looks like a lot but honestly, I'm lazy and unmotivated. This advice is just good sense and frankly the bare minimum when trying to eat healthfully and on the cheap.

    I'm a busy mom of two young children and I don't particularly love cooking. If I can find the time and desire to do things like this, anyone can.
  • cerise_noir
    cerise_noir Posts: 5,468 Member
    I love this.

    Also, there are pre-cut veggies and fruit, frozen veg, canned beans... Costco.
    bethannien wrote: »
    My favorite thing to cook is easy and cheap.

    Buy a whole chicken. Maybe you can find it on sale for 70 cents a pound every now and then but even if you can't, it should stretch over two meals for two people. Anyhow pick up a whole chicken, a couple bundles of celery, a couple pounds of carrots, a couple of lemons, an onion and some noodles (if I want to splurge, I buy the cheese filled tortellini).

    Dinner 1, I rough chop 5 or 6 carrots, one bundle of celery and quarter the lemon. I toss the veg into the bottom of the crock pot, pull the gizzards out of the chicken, put the chicken on top of the veg. Shove the lemon inside the chicken, sprinkle whatever seasoning strikes my fancy on top (garlic if I have it, thyme, onion powder whatever). Maybe drizzle some olive oil. Turn on the crock pot and let it cook for 4-6 hours depending on the size of the chicken. Serve it with a salad and a sweet potato or yam. About half the chicken easily feeds two adults and two kids.

    For dinner two, this is the most work you have to do and it's really not that much work. Cut off the remaining chicken, shove it in a freeze bag or Tupperware and put it in the fridge. Put the skin and bones into a roasting pan. Roast it for an hour or so then dump the bones and skin into a big pot of water. Salt it and let it boil until you have a nice yellow broth (an hour or so). Strain out the skin and bones through cheese cloth. I usually save the broth in a large Tupperware. Then the next day I skim the fat off the broth, dump it into a large soup pan, heat it up. Chop up the remaining carrots and celery, chop up the onion (and any other veg I decided I wanted to add but for simplicity's sake, we'll stick with celery onion and carrot). Toss the veg into the pot. Once they have softened up, add the chicken and noodles (the cheese tortellinis take like 2 minutes so if you do that, throw the noodles in a few minutes before you're ready to eat.)

    The soup saves for a while in the freezer and, while it sounds like a lot of instructions, it takes not much effort and yields a lot of food for cheap

    There are cheap and easy ways to make healthy and filling food from scratch. Typically when I make that soup, I have two more dinners in the freezer after.

    Make the most of the ingredients you buy. If there is a special on pork shoulder, slow roast one and you can eat bbq pulled pork sandwiches, pulled pork tacos and, depending on the size, pulled pork something else.

    Around Christmas time, when hams and turkeys are cheap, I'll buy and freeze a few. Hams are a gold mine, ham roast then leftovers in various casseroles then you save the bone and make ham hocks and beans.

    Buy what's on sale. Make a plan. Look at adds. Decide you're going to make a positive change or don't. The only person it effects is you.

  • chocolate_owl
    chocolate_owl Posts: 1,695 Member
    You're asking for a lot here.

    There's something called the engineering triangle:

    Project_Triangle.png

    We can deliver two of the three, but not all three. This applies to your case.

    You want:
    -Healthy food that isn't bland (good)
    -A $30 budget (cheap)
    -Food that takes no prep time (fast)

    If you want Good and Cheap, you're going to have to take time to do prep. Pre-cut veggies cost way more than unsliced ones, and they don't last as long. Chicken already prepped in a chef's case will be 3-4 times as much as doing it yourself. If you want Good and Fast, you spend more money. You're already doing Cheap and Fast.

    At some point, you're going to have decide what your priorities are and compromise somewhere.

    I can help you out in big ways if you're willing to spend 45 minutes every other night in the kitchen. That's the time it takes me to prepare nutrient-dense, calorically appropriate meals from scratch on a reasonable budget. But if you're not willing to do that, my advice won't be of much use to you.
  • dragon_girl26
    dragon_girl26 Posts: 2,187 Member
    edited August 2016
    Low calorie, cheap, and no prep: Lean Cuisine or Healthy Choice. That's about all I've got. Either that or a crockpot. That's literally just opening a few items and tossing them in to cook all day.

    Or maybe Slimfast. Nothing easier than a pre-made shake for breakfast and a 2nd for lunch. No prep work, the cans are relatively affordable, and the meal plan is laid out for you.
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