Dinner sucks

Can you have dinner ready when you get home, like a crockpot meal or a slow cooker? Maybe make a few meals in advance so its heat and eat?

Crockpot meals or take some time on the weekend to prep things for the coming week. Having freezer meals ready to pop into the oven or prep all your vegetables and freeze meat in a marinade. Then you just defrost the meat, toss with your prepped veggies and throw it in the oven for a bit. Have some healthy snacks prepped too so you can grab a quick little something to eat while you wait. Whenever I make casserole type things I always make at least two, one for dinner that night and another to throw in the freezer for later. Doesn't take any more time but helps me down the road.

that happens to me quite often when if realize i have so many calories left for dinner...i feel i can "afford" it.
so i try to balance my meals out more during the day so that the temptation isnt quite as strong.
eating out isnt horrible, and you can still lose weight while doing so..but nothing beats a nice home cooked meal. slow cookers are awesome too

That was always my problem, too. I would do great for the day, and then fall apart at dinner. The 3 things that helped me are planning, measuring and what I call priming.

I finally started losing weight and getting healthier when I started planning my dinners and calories the night before. If I knew it was going to be a convenience or high calorie night (pizza Tuesday or adult beverages on gameday at our house), I would plug that into MFP the night before so that I could adjust the my portions, eating and exercise throughout the day.

As for the measuring, I always keep measuring cups and spoons and a food scale handy so that I can control my portions. 3 oz of meat is generally just right.

What I call priming is what I consume before the main part of my meal. If we are eating out, I always start with a lower-calorie soup or salad. A big salad with reasonable toppings and dressing has many fewer calories than a giant plate of spaghetti. Priming yourself with a low-cal, healthy, filling option makes you much more content with a smaller (but still tasty) portion of you main course.

Good luck!

i was having the same problem then I added a snack about 4pm and it helps

that's a good idea I like the priming idea and the planned higher calorie days. To many times i have higher calorie days that I did not plan

Try as hard as you can to decide what you are going to eat for the day. Fast food is fine once and a while as long as you can make it work with your calorie goals for the day. I completely understand the temptation, If you have in mind what you will have for dinner, log it in your MFP food section for that day even before you get to dinner. I have found that, for me, logging in food that I intend to eat early on in the day helps me stick to it better when I just do not want to. Hope this helps a little.

I find keeping cooked skinless chicken tenderloins on hand helps. They do well for a protein snack and can be heated up with minor sides to prep a fast dinner.

Oh, and on my odd work days, I have him pick up a rotisserie chicken on his way home. Fast food that doesn't make you feel sick!

Oh my goodness, this is my problem exactly.

From all the friends that have advised me about changing my ways, here's the best advice I can give you:

Stay away from fast food! Haha, that's alright - now you know.
Drink tons of water before/after every meal and even in between bites.
Brush your teeth right after dinner to refrain from eating more desserts or whatever else you have lying around.
Decide on a portion and leave the rest in the kitchen. Don't bring the entire dish to the table because that's too easy to get another helping.
Eat very slowly. Very slowly. 20-30 chews per bite. Eat with your nondominant hand. Use chopsticks.
Eat more vegetables - those keep you full without the added calories.

Hey! I always have my meals mapped out the day before. That really helps me with making sure I'm eating a healthy (or somewhat healthy) meal. Dinner is tough for me too... I tend to finish up my calories...and then an hour or two later, I want to munch on things! But tonight, I realized that I usually can't finish all of my dinner. It's too much all at once. So if I eat half of it at 6pm, I can save the other half for later if I do get hungry. And it worked! It's almost bed time for me and I'm still very full. Good luck! Hope this helps!

I freeze lots of stuff in portions, take it out the night before to defrost, that way when I get home it's ready in 20 to 30 minutes. Rabbit casserole and roasted veg for dinner tonight, all put on mfp this morning so I know where my day can head.

Ps everything in freezer is created as a recipe as I cook it, portioned and calorie labelled. So simple.

I work at home, so it's easy to lose track of time and not stick to the dinner I've already planned. I set a timer and when it goes off, I stop working, have a large glass of water, then look at what I have planned for dinner. This probably won't work for those who work outside the home, but it sure helps me!


Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Calorie Counter

I vote with those who say 'pre-plan'. I've started a new schedule for myself. Sunday night, I plan meals for the following week. I include any nights we're going to eat out (and it will be at least once). I schedule an easy dinner on nights I know I'll be home late due to an appointment or something. So, tonight, we're having (homemade, was frozen) sloppy joes because DD won't get home until 6:30. We're having meatloaf on Sunday because I'll have time to cook it. (It's already made and frozen).

My goal (still working on getting it right) is to plan all three meals for the entire week on Sunday--not just entrees but side dishes, too. As I've been reminded lately, Failure to plan is planning for failure.

I grocery shop in the way home from work on Monday, whether I want to or not. I decided this week that Monday is just going to be rotisserie chicken night so that I don't have to cook a full meal when I get home from shopping. I'll use the leftover chicken for lunches during the week.

For me, deciding what to have is always harder than just making it, so having a plan really helps.

I second/third/agree with all the people who said to cook for the freezer. I'm using the Once a Month cooking book less because many of the recipes are too high in calories, but I still cook for the freezer. When I make marinara sauce, I make a lot of it. When I make taco meat, I freeze several of them in 1 lb sizes. I haven't done it yet, but I intend to start freezing pork cutlets and chicken in marinade so I can pull them out the night before and then grill them for dinner.

Good luck!