New here! I have some questions before I get started!

verbosegf

I weigh about 190. My goal weight is about 150 (140 preferably, but 150 is acceptable as well).

I am a housekeeper at a hospital, and work 8 hours a day. I do a lot of walking, bending over, things like that. I tend to sweat a little on the job, but my heart rate doesn't really increase. I work 4 days a week.

I was wanting to decrease portion sizes. I would love to eat healthy as well, but I live with my boyfriend and his parents, and they buy things like canned ravioli, fish sticks, frozen pizza, macaroni and cheese, and other things like that, so I really don't have much of a choice. All the money that I make goes to paying rent and bills, so it's not like I can buy healthy food for myself.

I was wondering if decreasing portion sizes combined with the amount of physical activity I get from my job would help me lose weight. I usually eat a lot. I'd eat like 2 cans of ravioli, and an entire pizza. I was planning on just now eating 1 can and only a couple slices of the pizza.

Any extra tips would be appreciated.

stongjos

Maybe you could suggest cooking one meal a week. They could come to like what you make and change their old habits? Wishful thinking... Or I would suggest buying a few bags of carrots or cucumbers and completing your meals with this...

Godscanvas

Unfortunately it's not just portion control and exercise it's also WHAT you are eating.. You can decrease the amount of pizza and raviolis and such but the fat content is pretty high on them so could you talk to them about mixing it up a little for you or maybe you could buy your own personal health stash? Greek Yogurt is filling, easy to take with you, and delicious (and full of protein) I have 4 kids at home and we are on a strict budget but you can eat healthy if you make it important- Buy bulk if and when you can. Make a batch of chili and put it in freezer containers so you can pop one out of the freezer and take it with you to work. When eating pastas, opt for whole wheat that now costs the same as regular if you get off brand. There are alot of options out there for eating healthy on a budget. We just scored 2 bags of apples and 2 bags of oranges for 10.00 total because they were on sale buy one get one free, You can Do This

nturner612

shop dollar tree for things that will only cost you a dollar.
head of lettuce is roughly $2.50. get a few tomatoes and lite ranch and eat this with your $1 Progresso soup from dollar tree.
maybe the hospital kitchen will let you have/buy produce thats not needed.
shop at groceries early or late. they ALWAYS have clearence.

nannyal

Welcome. Cutting down is what we all do, smaller porions will make a difference, What ever your boyfriends parents buy you can look up on mfp and work out how many calories you have for the meal. Will they help you to cut down your potions? Do they do all the cooking or are you able to help then you can judge how much or weigh how much you put on your plate. What do you eat at work may be you can have the healthier option there/ Good luck

langsyne

Unfortunately it's not just portion control and exercise it's also WHAT you are eating.. You can decrease the amount of pizza and raviolis and such but the fat content is pretty high on them so could you talk to them about mixing it up a little for you or maybe you could buy your own personal health stash? Greek Yogurt is filling, easy to take with you, and delicious (and full of protein) I have 4 kids at home and we are on a strict budget but you can eat healthy if you make it important- Buy bulk if and when you can. Make a batch of chili and put it in freezer containers so you can pop one out of the freezer and take it with you to work. When eating pastas, opt for whole wheat that now costs the same as regular if you get off brand. There are alot of options out there for eating healthy on a budget. We just scored 2 bags of apples and 2 bags of oranges for 10.00 total because they were on sale buy one get one free, You can Do This

Totally agree. You will never lose weight and will eventually destroy your health living off processed foods.

jmadams111

The first step is to figure out how much of a calorie deficit (or let MFP do it) you are shooting for; then decide at a given meal whether you can eat 1 can or a couple of slices. I personally don't worry that much about what I eat as how much. (I eat ONE piece of pizza). I also work out and have managed to lose weight without eliminatig anything.

Good luck!

kwilliams386

Cutting your portion size is a good start! I dont cook for myself often, so it was hard to change what I ate, since I wasn't making it. Watching how much I ate was much easier and I realized i could cut out 300-500 calories without starving, I was just eating to eat. From there, I started to make better choices, buying healier snacks that kept me fuller longer. It's a process and a life change, so you think you will do it over night or you will burn yourself out.

gpizzy

Losing weight is about calories in vs calories out. If you have more calories in, then out, you will lose weight (generally speaking). If you can manage to start by cutting back even 300 calories on what you're eating now, then you should start to see a drop. I would recommend to go about the way you're eating now and enter it for a week into MFP. Once the week is over, you can go back and see what you were eating and where you can make cuts. You will start to drop.

This being said, I think it's VERY important that what you eat is healthy for you. These things are not healthy and even with exercise you are exposing yourself to quite the number of health risks. It may be worth it for you to pick up an extra part-time job to make the bit of extra money you need for healthy groceries. Or, have the tough conversation with the parents and ask if you can put a few things on the grocery list.

Or, try a different living arrangement. Your health is the utmost of importance here, and quite frankly, you control it. No one else. Yes, there are some obstacles to getting what you need/want, but if and how you overcome them is up to you.

lyndabraczynski

If you eat a small salad or some carrots before eating the pizza or ravioli you will be more full and satisified and will not eat as much of the not so good stuff. Hav eyou considered making the pizza choice of toppings healthy chicken and peppers and onions are delicious on pizza. I am about the same weight as you and I am also just starting out. I have found a local sharp shopper very reasonable for veggies. I am not a big veggie fan but I have found sprinkling them with a small bit of cayenne pepper makes them tastier.Good luck

whitmars106

Decreasing your portion size may help you lose some weight initially, but eventually you're going to have to eat more nutritious foods to not only make your body healthier, but to aide in further weight loss. I understand living on a budget, but does your husband not work? I don't understand how ALL of your money goes directly to bills. You should bring it up to your in-laws that (and I'm assuming they do) while you appreciate them buying all the groceries, you would like to eat a little healthier, and ask if they can buy more produce than usual, or ask if you can pay them a little less in rent so you can afford to buy healthier foods. If you're just stuck in a bad position, and there are no alternatives to help you do this, then I suggest since you only work 4 days a week to ask for more hours, or find a part time position somewhere, or a side job cleaning, so you can afford to buy your own groceries.