Tell me what to eat

Just eat what you want to eat in moderation.

Take a 20% cut from your TDEE (or MFP calorie goal plus exercise calories).

Eat foods that keep you at or slightly below your goal.

Don't eat foods/too much food that might put you over your goal.

Try to eat foods that are healthy as much as you can - lean protein, whole grains, healthy fats, fruits and veggies.

It's really that simple :bigsmile:

Everyone says " You should eat more! You should eat less! Don't eat that! Eat this!" So much confusing advice. Is there an actual meal plan - a list that tells a person exactly what to eat and when - that you would recommend to someone who has a hard time staying on track?
Stats: I am 52, weigh 173 and want to lose 25-30 lbs.
I lift weights 2-3 times a week (Body Pump), and do 30-45 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous (for me) cardio 2-3 days a week - usually spinning or walk/jog intervals, plus at least one hour of yoga.
Started my journey almost 4 years ago. After an initial loss of 22 lbs, my weight has remained in the 168 - 175 range for nearly 3 years. I was eating between 1200 - 1400 calories a week for most of that time. This summer I upped my calories to 1800 - 2000 per day. After 3 months, my body reset and I gained 5 pounds. Backed off to 1400-1600 calories a day and lost it. Feels about right... but am open to suggestions and feedback on how to stay on track food-wise.
I love to cook and experiment, so keeping focused is a challenge for me. Can't stand to eat chicken breasts and lettuce all the time. Blech!

try this and see if it works for you. you can actually set it up on paper in advance and then try to adhere to the schedule and see where you have problems or want to make changes.

create a 5 day food/meal cycle. each of the 5 days you eat certain foods for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. on day 6, you cycle back to day 1. that should give you enough variety over the week not to get sick of it, but also enough predictability to know each day what/when your next meal will be and what it will be. plan these out so that you know the daily calories, protein, carbs, sodium, etc. and that each of these are close to your daily goals.

for example, i have a day where i eat 5 scrambled eggs for breakfast. for dinner, i eat brown rice with soup. between those 2 meals, i can snack on bananas, apples, oranges, etc. i just make sure to pace out the snacking and not eat too much fruit (it has calories too!). by the end of the day, i've am close to my necessary protein, carbs, fats, etc. and that last meal of rice and soup fills me up and there is no temptation to snack on anything before bedtime. i have 5 different "menus" set up like this and i cycle through them. once you can do that and go through a cycle, you'll know which days you were hungry and which you weren't. it's ok to not eat the same amount of calories each day. just try to keep your 5-day average at what you want your daily average to be. in this way, some days you'll find you need 1600 or 1800 calories to feel full, and the next day you may only need 1300. you can start adjusting the menu until you're happy with the meal cycle. then just stick to it. if you get bored after a while, add a 6 day full of new foods that still keeps you on track and change the 5 day cycle to a 6 day cycle, or redesign the meals on one of the 5 days. etc.

at least this is what i would suggest. it should eliminate the boredom from your diet.

the advantage of pre-planning your meals is you know what you need to have on hand for the upcoming week, and what not to have on hand that might prove too tempting to cheat with. you'll also know in advance what you need to eat each day to meet your nutritional goals.