I'm trying to put aside a prep night a week to prepare and freeze lots of veggies / fruit etc. I put them into freezer bags for each recipe. Then I can just throw things in the slow cooker and they're done when I get home. It works out quite reasonably priced as we have a good market near us. Otherwise I'm frequently too tired to cook when I get home, and stuff goes to waste.

1200 seems pretty low. If you find yourself going over a lot, maybe be a bit more realistic. No point making yourself feel bad when you could just pick another target and stick to it. Obviously, not 3,000 or something, but a little more leeway may be helpful.

I have a childs dinner plate, which is the equivalant size of a side plate.
If I eat whats on it, and still feel hungry after 30 mins then i will have a piece of fruit but this does not usually happen.
Sometimes we pile our plates with food because this is what we are used to, the aim is to re-teach our brains that we don't need the food we think we do. Remember you can always top your calories up at the end of the day, but you can not undo the damage once its in your mouth.

If you need a friend add me

Combination of smaller plates, more vegetables, using things like grated carrot, priced cauliflower as bulking agents in mince dishes, I do 50/50 meat and riced cauliflower in Bolognese, chilli etc.

Add spices, herbs etc bump up flavour without loads if salt and fat.

Cook in bulk, freeze in portions, use the recipe function on here to build your dish as you go then record the portions as you bag it for the freezer.

Pasta looks more on the plate than rice. the curly pastas look like more on the plate than flat or ribbons.

Dress the plate everything sat on a bed of rocket or topped with fresh herbs looks visually more appealing.

Use the old a'la carte stacking trick. A pile looks more than a thin spread.

Finding it so hard to stick to portion sizes.

Same here. But like some of the others have suggested, using a small plate or bowl helps visually.

Hi everyone! Finding it so hard to stick to portion sizes. Weighing stuff out so that's a correct portion size, but it's so little when it's in the bowl or on the plate. What's your trick? Do you eat out of, or on kids sized bowls and plates??

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Do you exercise regularly at all? If I've had a day of no exercise I find it difficult to eat 1200 cals but lots of exercise means I can eat quite a bit more than the 1200 cals on an average day and I find I'm not hungry at all then. Feel free to add me if you are looking for more MFP friends

Wouldn't it be easier to increase your calorie goal?

Only if you want your fat bits to turn into saggy bits! Just a brisk walk helps, you'd be surprised. I've just started and I'm 65 and have arthritis and a wonky leg so I do a slow walk but it's still exercise.

What I have a real problem with is this quantity of "1 cup". I suppose it's an american measure - anyone know what it means in English?

Oh and where do I find the recipe thingy to work out the calories in home-made dished?

I use a smaller plate, and have different coloured vegatables in a meal. We were always told to make a meal colourful so more appertising. I eat slowly and put the knife and fork down to chew. Eating slowly and doing this seems to fill me up.

Thanks for that Shanitomorrow - but that's an american conversion as it says it's equivalent to 8 fluid ounces or half a pint - in british measurement, half a pint is 10 fluid ounces!

Wouldn't it be easier to increase your calorie goal?

Only if you want your fat bits to turn into saggy bits! Just a brisk walk helps, you'd be surprised. I've just started and I'm 65 and have arthritis and a wonky leg so I do a slow walk but it's still exercise.

What I have a real problem with is this quantity of "1 cup". I suppose it's an american measure - anyone know what it means in English?

Oh and where do I find the recipe thingy to work out the calories in home-made dished?

Undereating by large amounts is exactly what it takes to turn fat bits into saggy bits as you put it.