New to improve

Hi guys I’m Sean and it’s been a long time since I can say that my health and body is starting to improve. I’m new to this so I’m looking for ideas to eat better and exercise more I hope you can help! Thanks guys 😃👍💪

Replies

snickerscharlie

Welcome to MFP, Sean.

Check out the pinned threads at the top of this section here. There's a lot of great information there to get you started.

Panini911

welcome!

Here are some great posts to read to get you started.

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10636388/free-customized-personal-weight-loss-eating-plan-not-spam-or-mlm/p1

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1399829/step-by-step-guide-to-losing-weight-with-myfitnesspal

and get a FOOD SCALE, crucial tool for most of us here
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10634517/you-dont-use-a-food-scale/p1

NovusDies

As far as eating better are you currently deficient in anything? Otherwise keep an eye on your protein which you want to meet or exceed, try to get enough to get enough fiber (increase gradually if you are low now), and then just eat a good variety of food and don't overthink it too much.

Remember to make small changes over time when it comes to changing your menu.

cmriverside

Log your food.

Study that FOOD page and make small changes.

Don't stop logging till you reach your goal. Even on the days of too many wings and a sleeve of Oreos. Log it.

Frainy84

Thanks for all your advise guys. My aim is to slim down and tone up. I try to put a lot of
Fibre in my diet. I try to eat chicken,tuna,pasta,rice in my meals and fruit but It’s feels a bit
Mundane. I guess I’m just looking to see what other people eat for their breakfast,lunch,dinners and snacks to give me some fresh ideas 💡🙂

Panini911

herbs and spices go a long way in making food tasty. those are my go to as i try to limit oils and sauces.

snickerscharlie

NovusDies wrote: »

As far as eating better are you currently deficient in anything? Otherwise keep an eye on your protein which you want to meet or exceed, try to get enough to get enough fiber (increase gradually if you are low now), and then just eat a good variety of food and don't overthink it too much.

Remember to make small changes over time when it comes to changing your menu.

I think this needs to be emphasized.

Where I see most people going off the rails is by coming in all gung-ho, making drastic changes while their motivation is high, but then eventually finding it all too hard to sustain, getting discouraged and then quitting.

Slow, steady and sustainable will definitely get you to your goals. Maybe not quickly, but surely.

Strudders67

I guess I’m just looking to see what other people eat for their breakfast,lunch,dinners and snacks to give me some fresh ideas

Breakfast - 30g cornflakes, 100ml soya milk and some chopped strawberries or blueberries OR 125g Alpro plain unsweetened soya yoghurt (which is carb and sugar free but only available in bigger supermarkets) plus 40g muesli-type cereal (I mix different ones together in a big container to give me some variety) plus some berries. With all of these, during the working week, I also have one hard boiled egg. Once a week I go to the deli close to work for a pork sausage and 2 rashers of bacon in a bread roll or a sausage, 2 bacon, 1 poached egg and some mushrooms.

Lunch- usually a salad with a selection from lettuce, rocket, cucumber, tomato, radish, avocado, artichoke, white cabbage, red cabbage, bell peppers and spring onions plus grilled chicken or tuna or salmon or mackerel. I often make a big salad that will cover 2 or 3 lunches, split it between my containers then add my protein to give me some variety. I can't eat most dressings so don't add anything to what I make at home. As such, lunch is generally low calorie, low everything.

Dinner varies a lot. I've just had 75g of wholewheat fusilli pasta with a serving of home-made bolognese, but I did burn a lot of calories in the gym beforehand. I often do a big stirfry. I use a few squirts of 1-cal spray oil in the wok, cook some protein (usually chicken, sometimes prawns or diced beef) then add lots of chopped vegetables (baby corn, mangetout, peppers, onion, courgette,broccoli spears etc). I sprinkle liberally with Chinese or Thai spices. I rarely bother with rice or noodles and if I do I just have 100g of cooked rice (I cook it in bulk and freeze in 100g portions). Sometimes I just stirfry the veg and bake a salmon fillet in the oven to put on top.

I only eat snacks on weekdays but I really like the packs of lentil crisps you can get here in the UK (and probably elsewhere). Per 100g they're just as unhealthly as any other crisps, but the packets are smaller so they have fewer calories. If I need a mid afternoon boost, I usually grab a handful of almonds.

Mostly I'm eating what I've always eaten but in smaller portions. I'd already started reducing my rice and potato intake and replacing them with more veg before I found MFP, but tracking calories and actually weighing portions out has helped a lot. Finding out how many calories are in my pasta was a very sad day.

LyndaBSS

Welcome to the community!

Frainy84

Thank you Strudders67 for some ideas and taking the time to write each meal time down. I love pasta like yourself and I used to eat more than I really needed but now I have smaller portions. Here is something I cooked a week ago...At the moment I’m trying to balance everything out

FBF21DAF-5A09-4E3B-AF07-3C84273C9340.jpeg

Mishilovescolours

Hi Sean, I think a good start would be cutting down on sugar and fat. And replace unhealthy options with healthier ones. But most of all change habits to make it a lifestyle change not a diet. I think diets have created a lot of people’s weight problems. I have yo yoed for over fourth years. Another good idea is drink water rather than other drinks as much as you can.

Mishilovescolours

I mean I gave yo yoed for over forty years.

Frainy84

Hi Mishilovescolours, that was my downfall sugary foods and drinks. My sweet tooth gets me in trouble but I’m cutting out most and down a lot in that department. Diets can be good but not sustainable in the long run because we are human and will eat and drink things that are not good for us. So that’s why I say im trying to balance what I do. At the moment MyFitnessPal is telling me off because I’m not hitting my calorie intake for each day. For breakfast I eat weetabix with semi-skinned milk. Have a decaf tea with semi-skinned milk. Maybe 2 pieces of toast with butter or sometimes with jam. Lunch I will eat tuna and salad or just have a tuna mayonnaise baguette with a glass of water or have a cup of my decaf tea with some fruit. Dinner will probably consist of chicken, tuna, rice sometimes Salmon with salad- in some kind of combination. I’ll cook from scratch my own tomatoe based sauces to go with pasta. I might have that with crusty baguette bought from the shop or I make my own garlic bread. I don’t really have a desert but it might be an ice cream or a chocolate cake with cream if I do. Recently I haven’t been snacking and if I do it’s a piece of fruit-apples or melons. Days of munching on biscuits and chocolate have gone but I’m not cutting them out all together because like I say we’re human and can indulge a little as long as you don’t abuse it. On top of my head just in case anyone is asking what MyFitnessPal is calculating my calories should be. It’s allowing me 1780 calories to use in a day. Yesterday I had over a thousand to play with so trying to add more food/drink to my food intake to hit MyFitnessPal target🙂

sunfastrose

If you are not eating enough (and having 1000 calories left is certainly not eating enough) you will crash and burn. I say this with kindness - losing weight does not have to mean starvation and extreme deprivation.

And to point out - you also seem to have a touch of good/bad food mental categorization going on. That’s something to work on as well. Food choices should not have moral judgement applied to them.