Is skinnytaste too good to be true?

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AyEmElle89
AyEmElle89 Posts: 3
in Food and Nutrition
For the last week since I started my weight loss journey, I've been exclusively cooking skinnytaste recipes for dinner. For breakfast I usually just have Cheerios and fruit, or peanut butter on toast, but I've made seven of her dinners.

I feel like I'm cheating or doing it wrong. I've been "dieting"'and I've been able to eat chicken fajitas, chicken parm, teriyaki stir fry, roast beef, sloppy joes, and baked ziti. All were her recipes. I've also stayed at my MFP goal each day.

It tastes good, the portions are decent, so it feels like I'm not really dieting. I'm scared I won't lose weight this way because I don't feel like I'm eating diet food. Granted I need to add more veggies to my diet, and I know you aren't supposed to eat low fat dairy forever, but for initial weight loss purposes, is this site okay?

Replies

  • kgeyser
    kgeyser Posts: 22,505 Member
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    The answer is yes and no. I've made some of her recipes in the past, and obviously I've lost weight, so yes, you can eat foods like that and lose weight. However, you need to pay attention to the ingredients you use and make sure to put those in the recipe builder, because that will change the calorie and macro values of the recipe. A different brand can completely alter the calorie count.

    And you don't need to eat "diet food" to lose weight. Just correct portions and stay within your calorie goal. Eating the way you plan on eating the rest of your life while you are losing weight is a good thing. It's the "diet food" mentality, then reverting back to old ways of eating when you hit your goal weight that gets people in trouble.
  • nicsflyingcircus
    nicsflyingcircus Posts: 2,526 Member
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    Don't need to eat 'diet food' to lose weight. The only thing you need to do is stay under your calorie goal.

    *just ate regular full-fat/full-sugar ice cream with dark chocolate broken up into it*

    Enjoy :wink:
  • xmusicloverr
    xmusicloverr Posts: 100 Member
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    I'm with these two ^ just watch your calories and everything will be fine :) I eat whatever I want and I still lose weight (you should probably pay attention to macros and not just literally eat whatever :P but you get my point)
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
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    I eat all of those foods and have lost plenty, albeit not the skinnytaste versions.

    kgeyser is right-- you need to make sure you use the recipe builder. I've learned the hard way never to trust the calorie counts that blogs and magazines give for recipes.
  • angelique_redhead
    angelique_redhead Posts: 782 Member
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    You can eat "real" food and diet. You just have to run it though the recipe counter. I love my REAL foods.
  • EmperorNero
    EmperorNero Posts: 3 Member
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    Yesterday I had ice cream for dinner, and woke up a pound lighter than the day before. Plug it into the counter. If it fits, it fits!
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    The answer is yes and no. I've made some of her recipes in the past, and obviously I've lost weight, so yes, you can eat foods like that and lose weight. However, you need to pay attention to the ingredients you use and make sure to put those in the recipe builder, because that will change the calorie and macro values of the recipe. A different brand can completely alter the calorie count.

    And you don't need to eat "diet food" to lose weight. Just correct portions and stay within your calorie goal. Eating the way you plan on eating the rest of your life while you are losing weight is a good thing. It's the "diet food" mentality, then reverting back to old ways of eating when you hit your goal weight that gets people in trouble.

    This. Calculate the recipes to see how many calories your dish has. I've found that skinnytaste is typically not that far off, but you'll never use exactly the same ingredients or quantities. Some of the other sites are WAY WAY off though, I remember making a '110 calories' dessert and when I added up everything it ended up 350 calories.
  • Fit_Fox88
    Fit_Fox88 Posts: 410 Member
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    Basically what everybody else has said- eat what you want, just stay within your calories. I use Gina's recipes a lot and what I do is weigh the meat and raw veggies I use and put them into the recipe builder. That way I can alter them if they are different next time I make that particular dish.
  • eganita
    eganita Posts: 501 Member
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    No, it's not... it's very possible to eat nutritious foods that are also delicious. There are so many vegetables, lean meats, spices, etc, that are so yummy :) I also think it's healthier to include "real" foods when trying to lose weight, rather than any diet fad or processed diet-type foods. Foods have a good amount of fat, protein, and/or fiber tend to keep me nice and full too (Granted, I try to stick with natural fats like eggs, avocados, etc.. but I do typically enjoy a serving or 1.5 servings of ice cream per night. I fit it in my calories :))
  • taunto
    taunto Posts: 6,420 Member
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    You lose weight by eating fewer calories than you burn.

    That being said, skinny taste recipes are good. At least the ones I have tried.
  • amgerbin
    amgerbin Posts: 49 Member
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    I love skinnytaste and often use the recipes. But agree with the others, enter the food and amounts into MFP so you have an accurate count.
  • eels4peels
    eels4peels Posts: 229 Member
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    You can eat "real" food and diet. You just have to run it though the recipe counter. I love my REAL foods.

    I agree. Any food that you want to eat you should try to incorporate into your daily diet. Doesn't matter if they're necessarily "diet" foods or not.

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