Totally lost and confused newbie

determinedgal12

Hey guys!

So it's only in the past few weeks that I've decided to take a more active role in controlling my weight. The problem comes in the fact that I study in the Netherlands in a boarding school. I would like to ask for advice! What should I eat? I am 55kg, 5'3". My goal is 50kg, but I can settle for higher so long as it's from muscle mass.

We have breakfast where they serve us fruits (bitter apples, pears and bananas only), cereals (corn flakes and various sweet muesli mixes), hard-boiled eggs, bread (white, seeded and brown), and different cold cut meats and cheese (yellow and white slices). I also have to pack my lunch from whatever is available during breakfast.

Then for dinner we have catered food. It's usually a plate of 50% carb (rice or potatoes), 25% boiled veggie mix, 25% meat. There's also a salad bar! I don't eat salads before though so I am not used to them. I seem to like eating vegetables, but I am not used to the idea of eating salads alone for a filling meal. And then there's desert...

I am also in my Senior year, so I don't think I have enough time to always cook for myself. Dutch food prices are also expensive for me, plus all the food I mentioned above is free from the school scholarship so I don't think I should buy my own food.

As you can see, my choices are limited and i'm easily bored by the same sandwiches. I bought my own cereal (Weetabix) with unsweetened almond milk for bfast. For lunch and dinner, I am quite lost. I usually end up eating random, **** food, or having seconds of fries from dinner!

From what I just said, how would you plan your day's meals? Any advice? Much appreciated!

David_AUS

the breakfast at the boarding house - looks like plenty of options. For me personally I would bias as follows and use other foods to prevent repetition:

Breakfast: Eggs / Cheese

Lunch: Sandwich if you like - I would avoid egg for sandwiches unless you can refrigerate them (food safety issue potentially). Personally I would bias the fruits and consider drinking some protein (milk / dairy or yoghurt)

Dinner: Looks fine but do try to avoid the fries.

LosingItForGood13

dress up the salad for a few dinners with the fruits from breakfast instead of having plain boring salad

Cheeky_and_Geeky

Grilled chicken salad is a good option, but watch the dressings. Salad dressings are typically loaded in calories. Look for low fat & fat free options.

Looks like all good options. Just watch the desserts.

Abowles27

What are you drinking? Also, it's good try to have 50% of your diet be carbohydrates, 15% protein, and no more than 35% fat. A lot of people eat too many carbs like 60-65% but that's basically for athletes usually runners and cyclists. Also, exercise? You also should maybe try to eat more meals but smaller meals like 6 instead of 3 because almost anyone won't use all the calories they get from the meal and it will store as fat. So with 6 meals, it will be more spread out so you're using most of the calories instead of wasting them and also they should be like 200 calories and dinner no more than like 500 calories because you won't use more than 500 calories. Another benefit is that your energy isn't like up and down but more level because you're eating throughout the day. I would say eating fruit with not a lot of sugar and maybe oatmeal or toast preferably whole wheat. You should try to stay away from white bread. Lean meat is good for you. I don't know if you would do all of these because it's very drastic but maybe one or two or try to add them slowly so it doesn't feel like a huge change. I hope this helps.