Really concerned about my nutrition.

I doubt you're getting enough protein and fiber eating the way you are. Eat meat or beans, and add some veggies. Frozen veggies are cheap.

Hi everyone! I'm new to MFP, but I've been trying to lose weight for about 2 years. I'd lost over 70 pounds before hitting a plateau. I gained 10 back, and now I'm working to get to where I really want to be.

However...

I'm very concerned about my nutrition. I take a Centrum every day. A typical day for me is a Slim Fast/Special K protein bar for breakfast and lunch; snack/s of trail mix, hummus and pretzels, or raw apple or orange; and dinner of either soup, salad, or instant noodle.

I'm sure that's horrifying. I'm on a VERY tight budget/time schedule. Any tips for staying in my 1,200 calorie budget and still being able to get what nutrition I need?

Have you figured out your BMR? You need to do this first and eat your BMR calories. This should allow you to actually eat real food.

You actually need to figure out your BMR and TDEE and eat BETWEEN those two calorie levels. The standard is TDEE-20%, BMR is the number of calories you would burn just lying in bed all day. Since you will be up and moving around, you need more energy to simply provide for your life.

Here is a post that will help you:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

I'm sure that's horrifying. I'm on a VERY tight budget/time schedule. Any tips for staying in my 1,200 calorie budget and still being able to get what nutrition I need?

The key here is that you should be trying to get OUT of the 1200 calorie budget and start eating like an adult human being

Hi everyone! I'm new to MFP, but I've been trying to lose weight for about 2 years. I'd lost over 70 pounds before hitting a plateau. I gained 10 back, and now I'm working to get to where I really want to be.

However...

I'm very concerned about my nutrition. I take a Centrum every day. A typical day for me is a Slim Fast/Special K protein bar for breakfast and lunch; snack/s of trail mix, hummus and pretzels, or raw apple or orange; and dinner of either soup, salad, or instant noodle.

I'm sure that's horrifying. I'm on a VERY tight budget/time schedule. Any tips for staying in my 1,200 calorie budget and still being able to get what nutrition I need?

Have you figured out your BMR? You need to do this first and eat your BMR calories. This should allow you to actually eat real food.

You actually need to figure out your BMR and TDEE and eat BETWEEN those two calorie levels. The standard is TDEE-20%, BMR is the number of calories you would burn just lying in bed all day. Since you will be up and moving around, you need more energy to simply provide for your life.

Here is a post that will help you:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

How dare you expand on my answer?!?! I will give half-answers if I want to.

I'm on a budget too. What I do is watch the circulars and when the meat goes on sale, I buy it in bulk and freeze the extras. I would say that will help out.

Also veggies: Frozen veggies are just as good as fresh. Don't go with canned though, if you can help it. There typically is a lot of sodium in canned vegetables to help preserve them.

I feed my family of 3 on around $50.00 a week. That is for breakfasts, lunches, dinners, snacks... EVERYTHING!! We eat lots of lean meat that I try to stretch by adding beans and veggies. For instance, tonights dinner was chicken breasts (at our local grocery store its $1.99 per lb at the meat counter!!) cubed and thrown in the crockpot with cubed russet potatoes and baby carrots. Added some italian seasoning, red wine vinegar and about a tbsp of olive oil. I served it with sauteed cabbage and onions. The whole meal was probably under $5.00 and fed us tonight and I will get one lunch out of it tomorrow. Another example is when I make enchiladas I use lean ground beef and then bulk the filling up with chopped zucchini! I go to our farmers once per week and the grocery store a couple of times per week. You definitely need more variety... fruits/veggies/meats/beans/whole wheat pasta.

Make some low-sodium bean soup (lentils are my favorite), and take it with you for lunches. When I was drinking Slim Fast, I spent so much money!!! Those are really expensive. Fiber one cereal has a lot of nutrition, I usually put a serving in a bag and snack on it throughout the day. Trader Joe's has a large amount of clementines for $3.99, which I eat all week.