BORED BORED BORED!!! SOS

I went to look - your diary is hidden! So I can't really comment specifically on what you're eating.

It might help to move away from a bad vs good dichotomy. Healthy/nutritious/lower calorie food doesn't have to be boring. And you can still have food that you enjoy, just smaller portions for example. Are your calories set too low? Being overly restrictive is a recipe for frustration, boredom and being hungry.

I can see it now. Are you vegetarian? I'm seeing a lot of faux-meat products. Your calorie allowance is really pretty low. Do you really need to do 1200? Or could 1300 or 1400 still work? I do a menu plan each week and try hard to rotate meals and try new ones, even though we definitely have favourites. It keeps it from getting too repetitive.

Salads don't have to be boring - mix it up with quinoa, roasted vegetables, marinated tofu etc. Frittatas are great, I make mine with eggwhites (so I can add plenty of fetta!) and green vegetables. Don't forget about soups too. Perfect for cooking in bulk and freezing. There are so many amazing recipes that you make while keeping within your calorie deficit. I noticed that you're having pasta. I'm also on a quite a low calorie allowance, I've replaced pasta with spiralized zucchini so that I can eat a pile of it. You definitely don't have to, carbs aren't the enemy, I just prefer the bulk. And get creative with your snacks! Smoothies, make your own protein balls, air popped popcorn etc.

I really love food, so I put the effort into making my calorie allowance work to the max - so I hit my macros and also don't feel deprived. I still have 15+kg to go, I don't want to be miserable and deprived.

littledante wrote: »

I am so bored with being good and eating healthily.... help... I have zero resilience (It has only been 3 days!) :0) My diary is public so anyone can see it and comment on how I could make it more exciting. I think focusing away from food would be a good idea. I think I am bored of calorie counting and being so food focused.

Go to your local grocery stores and markets and other places you can acquire food. Walk up and down the aisle and read labels.

You might be surprised what is available out there.

Since I started with MFP, and did that exercise to find low-cal food, I've been eating a whole lot more variety than I did before. I was bored with the same ol' dinners etc. ... but once I really looked at what was available, my selection has become so much more interesting.


And also ... exercise. I told my husband today that if we do a certain amount of cycling on Saturday, we can have pizza. Incentive!!

3 days is a bit soon..... I'd address the issue now and learn how to focus. As said above being good and bad instead of a lifesyle is a bit dull and will make your journey harder. Remind yourself why you are doing it, focus on each day and commit. When you start getting resilts it gets less boring.

Apologies in advance: What follows is long (too long) and very focused on your original post, @littledante, and *completely* vegetarian-centric. Maybe it should've been a personal message. Certainly I should've posted it quicker!

My first reaction to looking at a few days in your diary is that your diet is kind of like a meat eater that doesn't eat meat, if that makes any sense. There's sort of a "meat + veg or salad + carb" cast, especially to dinners, except that the meat isn't actually meat. I'm definitely showing my prejudices here, but I don't much like fake meat. To me, it isn't, frankly, as tasty or satisfying as actual meat (assuming one likes that sort of thing) and it gets kind of same-y after a while. But if you really like the meat substitutes, they may be just the thing for your meals, I don't know.

After 40 years (yikes!) as a vegetarian, I don't really even think of meals in that "meat + veg + carb" way; I think it's kind of boring. I'm more likely to put together a range of things, and just try to make sure there's enough protein by the end. This isn't necessarily more cooking, but it's different cooking. Like maybe

* a salad with some beans and a bit of sunflower seeds (or pepitas or almonds or what have you), and/or
* a stir-fry of veg with a little tempeh (or tofu. or seitan if you eat gluten, or it's combined with a high-protein grain like quinoa), or
* a casserole with veggies and cheese and quinoa, and a side of edamame, or
* some bean/pea soup with a little cheese in it, and a salad of broccoli (more protein for a veg) and other veggies with a few nuts or seeds.

You can even add in some dessert protein: fruit and greek yogurt (or cheese), or fruit and nuts if there's enough room for the calories, for example. And don't forget protein options for salad dressings, like creamy dressings based on greek yogurt.

For dinner, I tend to make one more prep-oriented thing, and one or two other easy things, each of them kind of like veggie side dishes but with protein woven through.

If you think of vegetarian meals this way - which is hard at first! - you get really lots of variety. You tend to develop some basic go-to items that can be seasoned up or accessorized in a lot of different ways, and mixed and matched. You know, basic ideas like: A stir fry, a lasagna-like casserole with veg slices instead of pasta, bean-based salads, soups, ethnic things (not necessarily seasoned in their ethnically-traditional ways) - like enchiladas, different kinds of dips (bean or cheese based) for raw veggies, things like cabbage rolls but with various wraps (other greens, eggplant) and fillings, stuffed vegetables (peppers, summer squash, tomatoes), various egg dishes if you eat eggs.

If you're willing to experiment with different international foods, there are a lot of options. Mexican food has some amazing vegetarian stuff (mostly bean based), Indian food is fabulous (curry sauces with nuts in them, yum, and the dals with different kinds of beans/lentils/peas), Japanese or Chinese (think about flavoring a stir fry with peanut butter, ginger, soy sauce, rice vinegar), Middle Eastern or Mediterranean food has things like hummus, mujadara, foul mudammas . . . .

This is really daunting & bizarre, I guess, at first. I went through a long period where we joked that I was cooking "unidentified patties with brown sauce" all the time, kind of in that meat-centric way but without meat. But I feel like once we get out of that rut, vegetarians actually have more options, and more varied ones, than the meat-eaters. Nowadays, since I'm living alone (widow), I'm simplifying somewhat, especially while calorie-restricting, but it still tends to be the case that there isn't a;ways a clear & obvious "main dish" let alone "main protein dish" to my meals.

I think you have had some good advice above but here's mine anyway.

1. if you don't like counting calories don't do it. Keep a simple food diary instead but record everything and measure everything as accurately as you can either by weighing or in metric cups. Level off the spoons and cups. You need a degree of objectivity in order to know where to make corrections and changes what you doing.
Also weigh daily but don't react to every up and down. Only go on the lowest value in a week and if you find that is going on a general downward trend you're doing fine. When its stops the trend you need to cut back on food.

2. Currently you are not eating enough. You are robbing yourself of enjoyment, satisfaction and also nutrition. Try to eat three meals a day. dont' eat til you are stuffed unless its mainly vegetables even then its better to stop when you are satisfied rather than wait til you are full. If your height is around 5'5" you should eat 1600 at least and would still lose weight. I know this becuase i did it and i am older than you which means my metabolism is slower than yours.

3. Eat when you are hungry. But if you have a schedule of three meals then you may only need one or two snacks in between those main meals to get you over a long period without a meal. Eg if its 5 hours you'll need a snack about 2/3 way along.

4. Unfortunately losing weight successfully just about requires that one is a bit obsessed for quite a while. You have to care and you have to pay attention to what you are putting in your mouth. If you can't be bothered with all of this, then chances are you won't reach your goals. Do whatever you can to make this all easier for yourself but don't compromise on good quality nutritious food. Try to make good choices, keep your fridge stocked with fruit and vegies and other things you can cook up fairly easily.