Need help with eating habits
Replies
-
DisneyDude85 wrote: »I would set your goal for 1 lb a week, maybe even .5 lb. If your goal date is Feb/March, no reason to try and do it in half the time! You should still be able to hit your goal by March at 1lb/week, and you will be able to eat more and not starve! Make sure to eat back some of your exercise calories!
As far as pasta goes, make up a batch, weigh it into individual portions, and box it up! I have a weeks worth of penne pasta with Bolognese up in my freezer, just pop it in the microwave and I'm good to go
And you will save some money by not eating out! Like ElleMarieRose said, learn to like your veggies! Are there ones you have never tried? I admit, there are some that I cannot stand (ahem, Brussels sprouts, ahem), but there are many that I LOOOOOVE. And the freezer section is a great place to load up on veggies. The steamer bags are great. Just microwave, season, and eat
More Brussels sprouts for me then!! But seriously, have you tried roasting them? With a generous pinch of salt and pepper, they're so delicious!0 -
AlisonH729 wrote: »AlisonH729 wrote: »...[snip] OP I know you came here to ask about food, but if you have your calories set to 1200
She has cheat days. She's averaging more than 1200 per day.
That doesn't matter. Goals should be both reasonable & healthy.
At 5'1, I wouldn't think 1200 is unreasonable. What do you suggest for her?
Also, I might have been confusing her with another thread when I said she had cheat days, though. So I apologize for that.0 -
DisneyDude85 wrote: »I would set your goal for 1 lb a week, maybe even .5 lb. If your goal date is Feb/March, no reason to try and do it in half the time! You should still be able to hit your goal by March at 1lb/week, and you will be able to eat more and not starve! Make sure to eat back some of your exercise calories!
As far as pasta goes, make up a batch, weigh it into individual portions, and box it up! I have a weeks worth of penne pasta with Bolognese up in my freezer, just pop it in the microwave and I'm good to go And you will save some money by not eating out! Like ElleMarieRose said, learn to like your veggies! Are there ones you have never tried? I admit, there are some that I cannot stand (ahem, Brussels sprouts, ahem), but there are many that I LOOOOOVE. And the freezer section is a great place to load up on veggies. The steamer bags are great. Just microwave, season, and eat
More Brussels sprouts for me then!! But seriously, have you tried roasting them? With a generous pinch of salt and pepper, they're so delicious!
Yes, tried that. A friend told me to grill them. I am going to try that next I don't want to give up on them, because they can be pretty inexpensive! Haha. And I'm always so intrigued when I see them at a farmer's market still on the branch/stem/stalk. 0 -
Are there any soups you like? They are typically lower in calorie as meals, even ones with less healthy ingredients, due to the amount of added water content. It's a good way to fill you up for less calories. As for pasta, I like to use a spiralizer to make noodles out of a zucchini. And I find zucchini goes really well with the spicy marinara I make. It can cut quite a bit of calories out of homemade pasta dishes. I personally do it so I can have an extra glass of wine.0
-
DisneyDude85 wrote: »I cannot stand (ahem, Brussels sprouts, ahem)...
Don't like miniature boiled cabbages? Try cutting them in half, then saute cut edge down in olive oil 'til brown, then finish in a hot oven. Season with basil and sea salt and a splash or 2 of red wine vinegar (or balsamic if you like it. I don't) . Serve with garlic bread and maybe something like chicken parmesan for your protein.
Or you could just roast them. I have issues with some veggies prepared by certain methods. I don't like soft and bland, but I love some good savory texture.0 -
AlisonH729 wrote: »AlisonH729 wrote: »...[snip] OP I know you came here to ask about food, but if you have your calories set to 1200
She has cheat days. She's averaging more than 1200 per day.
That doesn't matter. Goals should be both reasonable & healthy.
At 5'1, I wouldn't think 1200 is unreasonable. What do you suggest for her?
Also, I might have been confusing her with another thread when I said she had cheat days, though. So I apologize for that.
Well it's hard not to cheat on 1200.
MFP has her BMR on the low side at 1400. And my point was that 1200 is already below that. Plus she's trying to stay under 1200. Besides the fact that that's not healthy she said she felt like she was starving herself. You won't stick to a plan you're miserable on.
Even mostly sedentary I think OPs TDEE was around 1800. (I don't have the numbers in front of me anymore.) But she said she goes to the gym so she would likely need even more than that, probably 2000. That minus 600 like you suggested would still put her at 1400. I still think that's a little aggressive with only 20 lbs to lose, especially when the other calculators had the BMR at 1500. So I would recommend closer to 1600 calories a day, that's still a fair deficit, but it ends up being like an entire extra meal. That's way better than feeling like you have to starve yourself.0 -
Slightly off topic, sorry.
Brussel sprouts: cut in half unless tiny, par boil, then sauté with bacon and orange segments and zest. Make sure the edges are nice and brown and crispy.
Delicious, but then I love Brussel Sprouts.
Cheers, h.0 -
You can have one meal a day of that kind of stuff on 1200 calories. But then the other meals will need to be very low-cal.
Do you like yogurt? Maybe soups for lunches?
If you scrimp on the other meals, then you can have the high-cal stuff at a meal and still make your goal.
0 -
AlisonH729 wrote: »AlisonH729 wrote: »...[snip] OP I know you came here to ask about food, but if you have your calories set to 1200
She has cheat days. She's averaging more than 1200 per day.
That doesn't matter. Goals should be both reasonable & healthy.
I do eat the around the whole 1200, I just worded it weird I guess. I don't starve myself don't worry0 -
xxHaley2013xx wrote: »AlisonH729 wrote: »AlisonH729 wrote: »...[snip] OP I know you came here to ask about food, but if you have your calories set to 1200
She has cheat days. She's averaging more than 1200 per day.
That doesn't matter. Goals should be both reasonable & healthy.
I do eat the around the whole 1200, I just worded it weird I guess. I don't starve myself don't worry
I still think you could (and should) be eating more.
I don't want you to think I'm attacking you. I did the same thing when I first signed up for MFP. I had a few 'vanity' pounds to lose and I set my goals to 2 lbs a week because I wanted them gone as quickly as possible, and it set me to 1200 calories. Sure I lost some weight, but I was miserable doing so and finally quit. And gained what I had lost right back.
The second time around I started reading the message boards more. I saw people talking about things like BMR & TDEE, and when I finally started looking into these things, I came to a hallelujah moment when I realized I could eat more and didn't have to be tired and hungry all the time.
But when you set up your goals MFP doesn't tell you these things!
This is a very helpful post. So are the rest of these.
Take my advice with a grain of salt. But I think if you fuel your body and use that energy to kick *kitten* at the gym (add in strength training if you don't already!) you'll be a lot happier come Feb/March than you would be if you keep spinning your wheels like this.0 -
xxHaley2013xx wrote: »AlisonH729 wrote: »AlisonH729 wrote: »...[snip] OP I know you came here to ask about food, but if you have your calories set to 1200
She has cheat days. She's averaging more than 1200 per day.
That doesn't matter. Goals should be both reasonable & healthy.
I do eat the around the whole 1200, I just worded it weird I guess. I don't starve myself don't worry
The MFP set up assumes that you eat back some exercise calories if you exercise. I don't think 1200 is a terrible base goal for a smaller person (I did it, but I'm also older than you, which means usually that you need fewer calories), but if you go that low you should be eating back some exercise calories.0 -
DisneyDude85 wrote: »I cannot stand (ahem, Brussels sprouts, ahem)...
Don't like miniature boiled cabbages? Try cutting them in half, then saute cut edge down in olive oil 'til brown, then finish in a hot oven. Season with basil and sea salt and a splash or 2 of red wine vinegar (or balsamic if you like it. I don't) . Serve with garlic bread and maybe something like chicken parmesan for your protein.
Or you could just roast them. I have issues with some veggies prepared by certain methods. I don't like soft and bland, but I love some good savory texture.
I love almost all veggies. I love them prepared most ways - raw, sautéed, roasted, grilled, alone, in recipes, etc. I am not a picky eater in the least. However, I cannot make myself like Brussels sprouts. I have tried every preparation I can think of. I see recipes for Brussels sprouts that look fantastic and try them. I want to like them, I really do! I just don't. At all. Ick.0 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »xxHaley2013xx wrote: »AlisonH729 wrote: »AlisonH729 wrote: »...[snip] OP I know you came here to ask about food, but if you have your calories set to 1200
She has cheat days. She's averaging more than 1200 per day.
That doesn't matter. Goals should be both reasonable & healthy.
I do eat the around the whole 1200, I just worded it weird I guess. I don't starve myself don't worry
The MFP set up assumes that you eat back some exercise calories if you exercise. I don't think 1200 is a terrible base goal for a smaller person (I did it, but I'm also older than you, which means usually that you need fewer calories), but if you go that low you should be eating back some exercise calories.
Yeah I always do, I usually go in the morning or early afternoon and eat my breakfast/lunch once I get home and shower0 -
I know it's hard hearing that slower is better in this case. That was a mindset that took me a while to get out of! But I realized something: I'm not in this to 'lose weight', so to speak. That's part of my goal, yes, but I also want to keep it off in the future. So I started focusing on relearning eating habits and retraining my brain and body to what a proper food portion looks like. Now, three years later, I'm at goal and so far, doing good staying in my weight range. It's not perfect, but I've learned a lot about my hunger cues and what I should and shouldn't be eating. So maybe looking at it that way will help.0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.3K Introduce Yourself
- 43.8K Getting Started
- 260.2K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.9K Food and Nutrition
- 47.4K Recipes
- 232.5K Fitness and Exercise
- 424 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153K Motivation and Support
- 8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.7K MyFitnessPal Information
- 24 News and Announcements
- 1.1K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions