portion control and high protein family dinner ideas

Ewa101975

Hi there:

Need help with portion control and healthy meals for whole family.

Thanks

fitoverfortymom

What do you usually cook for your family? Maybe do what you are doing and just account for the calories, or adjust down as needed to fit your goals?

My meals typically break down into four parts: Protein (meat), Carb (bread, rice, potato), Veggie, Fat (oil, marinade, dressing). I cook one serving of protein per person, one carb (rice OR potato OR bread), two servings veggies (100+ grams), and oil or marinade that helps cook the meat, sometimes drizzled with the carb.

Everyone in the family eats this and I just weigh the amounts on my food scale so I can account for the calories. This works for everything from basic grilled chicken to tacos. It also keeps it really simple and affordable and you can scale it up or down based on your cooking abilities. Most of all, it keeps me from having sneaky calories in our dinners that bust my numbers. I usually eat between 500-700 at dinner, depending on the meal, with this method.

stylzemail

Portion control: 8oz. Rice, 8oz. Cup veggies, -8oz. Meat, and 44 oz. Drinks, To help stomach to stay : satisfied.

seska422

stylzemail wrote: »

Portion control: 8oz. Rice, 8oz. Cup veggies, -8oz. Meat, and 44 oz. Drinks, To help stomach to stay : satisfied.

Well, that's one way to go.

For me, portion control = how much of each do I want to eat and how does that fit into my macro/calorie goals for the day?

You can eat 3 servings or 1/9th of a serving for your portion. There's no reason to feel constrained by recommended serving sizes.

stylzemail

Sure you can ,, but remember as the servings increase so does the calories.

vanillawafer63

U eat meat bake or boil the meat and fresh vegetables. Stay away from the starches. I also eat fresh fruits. Any more ideals or good recipes PLEASE

vanillawafer63

I've lost 4 pounds in 14days. I'm getting bored with the meals I'm eating. Have any good recipes anyone..

stylzemail

Not stay away from starches just limit how much to eat of them , like every 3rd day only have rice , potatoes,
Days 1, and 2 no starches , day 3 add some .... at dinner 8 oz. Portion limit. Then just repeat the cycle.

stylzemail

See days 1 and 2, the body will use it own fat storage as energy- day three is carb load day. THEN THE CYCLE - REPEAT.

H_Ock12

Sometimes I do a one dish meal, like a casserole or stirfry. Sometimes I do a meat and veggie with a carb. Either way, I find that portioning it out on our plates and then putting the leftovers away prevents any overeating.

stylzemail

THAT's. One way of eating, another way is intermittent fasting (see-youtubecom). But both ways the results the same- low calories and low carbs. In 24 hours per day

lulalacroix

stylzemail wrote: »

Portion control: 8oz. Rice, 8oz. Cup veggies, -8oz. Meat, and 44 oz. Drinks, To help stomach to stay : satisfied.

Why specifically a 44 oz drink?

lynn_glenmont

stylzemail wrote: »

Portion control: 8oz. Rice, 8oz. Cup veggies, -8oz. Meat, and 44 oz. Drinks, To help stomach to stay : satisfied.

And so this arbitrary recommendation will be perfect for OP and her entirely family, regardless of their heights, current weights, genders, ages, activity levels, exercise routines, and goals?

Ewa101975

thanks, need to add more protein less carbs and definitely more veggies. I bought a food scale so that should help..

kommodevaran

What do you mean by
- portion control
- high protein
- healthy meals?

You don't know how much to eat of any food per day/meal?
Set up MFP with your stats, set it to track protein, carbs, fat, and start to log food. You can prelog to see how different choices affect your numbers.

Or are you struggling to portion out appropriate portions?
Buy and use a food scale, and pick database entries in grams.

Or are you having trouble limiting portions, sticking to appropriate portions?
Pick foods you like, but limit foods that are too easy to overeat - typically calorie dense foods like cake, ice cream, chips, soda etc.

What is your protein goal, and why? What is your total calorie goal, and carb and fat goals?
You can use MFP's default unless you have specific issues, in that case, those issues should dictate settings.

What kinds of foods/meals do you and your family like?
You can eat normal foods, use normal recipes, and it's important that everybody has their say, as well as the adults take the final decision.

Describe any problems regarding your cooking skills/time available/equipment/storage facilities.

KiraCharman

Go on Google and type in portion control bupa and that will help emensly

Looking for accountable friends add me if you fancy

thunderthighsandlightning

I'd just recommend trying out different low-calorie dinner recipes! You can make some really tasty stuff without tons of calories that the whole family would love. My dad usually hates "low-calorie" meals, so my mom and I would just not tell him that we substituted lean turkey for ground beef, or small things like that. If you're getting bored, play around with new recipes! MFP has a lot that already have the calories per serving calculated, too.

Ewa101975

thanks all- I think I mostly struggling with healthy recipes and choices that the entire family will enjoy. I also find to stick to my calorie count my portion sizes have to but cut quite significantly and therefore I feel hungry so I think I need to add more protein and cut out carbs? I've been trying different things but seems nothing has really worked so far so it must be the portions. I am staying away from things like cookies and candies and chips, but I do enjoy nuts and seeds and those are high in calories but healthy...just need to figure things out but don't have a ton of time to cook either..

seska422

Have you tried having larger amounts of veggies so that you end up more full?

There's no need to cut out carbs unless you have a medical condition or just want to do so. Weight loss comes down to how many calories you eat.

I have small portions of calorie-dense things and large portions of lower calorie things. For example, part of my dinner may be an entire bag of steam-in-bag green beans (which is 3.5 servings) and that's quite filling for just 105 calories. The rest of dinner can be smallish portions of more calorie-dense items. Your family might eat more of the calorie-dense items and less of the veggies than you do.

If I want some chips, I'll weigh out the exact amount I want to work into my calories. That's usually about 3/4ths of the serving size shown on the bag. I have 1/4th of a serving of my favorite chocolate bar every day as dessert for breakfast.

Portion control doesn't necessarily just mean portion reduction.

Have you tried pre-logging your day so that you can make adjustments beforehand?

jennymgraber

Try making chicken fajitas. My children and husband are not veggie fans but they love this meal and I can add as many veggies to mine as I wish. You get lots of protein and can even use low carb wraps if that suits your fancy. I have found this to be one of the most satisfying meals I can make for the least amount of calories and tons of lean protein.

stylzemail

The 44oz. Tea drinks is to hydrate the body and block hunger cravings. Because portion control may not satisfy appetite in some people that trained there bodies to eat alot.