Losing Weight AND feeding the family

no need to cook anything different - just give them bigger portions, including plenty of veggies.
To sustain any weight loss we have to find a way to make it work long term and cooking one meal for everyone makes it more effortless

Just serve yourself a much smaller portion and pad with veggies? I essentially eat the same as I always have, just less and with fewer starchy carbs because they're not satiating enough for the calories. It really doesn't have to be difficult!

a lot of us work so we have to get creative - pasta and rice dishes are quick - just cos your trying to lose weight you don't need to ban foods etc, you just eat less pasta/rice and bulk up on the vegs/meat/fish to go with that.
Also alot swear by crockpots - you would prepare dinners the night before and pop then in slow cooker/crock pot so they're ready when you get home from work.

Plan out your weeks meals - e.g Mon - beef/chicken/veg casserole with potatoes/rice
Tues could be your pasta day - bologneses/ragus go down well with everyone and low cal if you make your own sauce (and its so very easy honestly )
Wed could be soup and hot dogs day
Thurs curry etc etc you get the idea

Cook some pork chops or other meat or fish with only a little oil in the pan, cook some veggies that most of them like and add baked potatoes or rice or pasta for them. (Do not try to please everyone!)
You can eat the meat or fish, the veggies, and a small portion of the potatoes/rice/pasta in order to keep your own calories low.

I always just feed the kids earlier and then eat later on myself. Also the stuff I eat is very samey and simple so a meal for myself takes little to no time to make. Wack a bunch of veg in the oven, add protein, done.

What everyone said... Plus I add extra butter or olive oil over my husband's veggies, or in his mashed potato, or extra cream to his soup. We eat bread too so he has extra bread, and bigger servings of protein.

tiptoethruthetulips wrote: »

You don't need to cook two different meals, just give them bigger portions of what you are having, and put extra snacks with any lunch packs.

My one tip is to be organised, know what your main meals are going to be, do your shopping and logging your daily menu and snacks in advance of the each day, eat to plan while allowing some leeway for out of the ordinary events.

This exactly... OVEN!!! I cooked everything in the oven; foil, pam, seasoning and let it do it's thing with a timer set, no watching the stove... this helped so much with an infant and working full time. Lots of Frittata's for breakfast (12 eggs scrambled with splash milk, meat, cheese, seasoning, (frozen onion peppers diced; see store freezer isle) put in casserole dish oven 350 30-40 min until middle is cooked. makes 4 3egg servings or 6 2 egg servings. With square casserole you can cut square pieces out and add to bread for breakfast sandwich on the go + fruit and done. Refrigerate left overs for next day or dinner...

I did Paleo 30 day challenge and my husband ate everything I did but I made him more high starch carb sides than I ate and grains. I am doing another round this month but keeping the dairy for milk, cheese, and yogurt. I liked it because I felt healthier, more energy, and happier with myself. It made me eat more vegetables, fruit, and meat. The only difference between his plate and mine were the portions, mine had more vegetables, no grains, and less high-starch (sweet potatoes mainly), his had the biggest piece of meat, grains and less vegetables but he did have a healthy amount.

The hard part was finding alternative carb veggies and setting extra time to cook every other day with an infant. Planning ahead is defiantly key and cooking extra for next day or two. Casseroles are great, you can even sneak in extra vegetables by blending it into the sauces or dicing them ). I need to find a balance for when the challenge is over to keep the healthier changes incorporated while getting some grains and potatoes, but not over doing portions.

The slow cooker is an awesome thing! I got a new one for Christmas (I asked for it, so no Hubby did not get in trouble for buying me an appliance) that is programmable. Good for those of us who are out of the house for more than 6-8 hours on any given day. I set the cooking time, and then it automatically switches to warm when the time is up. A few minutes of prep in the morning, and then a little prep time in the evening (for sides) and dinner is much easier.

Otherwise, I'm in agreement with the rest. Look to portion sizes for your main difference in caloric needs. I typically have about 1/2 the protein that my husband has for dinner. If there is no reason to 'count calories' for everyone in the family, then don't. Just make a meal with an effort at balance (protein, veggies, starchy side if you want, healthy fats) and pay attention to your portion and let them take the amount they want.

TeenyH2015 wrote: »

Thank you - I'm struggling to even plan what I want to cook in the first place.
I work full time so unfortunately, convenience takes over sometimes. Hoping to plan in advance and maybe cook the night before.

Yes, pre-planning is key

Maybe look for Cook Once Eat Twice type recipes? For example, you could roast chicken or beef on the weekend and make fajitas with the leftovers. (I have more veggies and less cheese when I make fajitas.)

A meal I make when I'm short on time is eggs scrambled with onions, red pepper, swiss chard, andouille sausage or kielbasa, and leftover pasta or potatoes. (Which you could skip and just have toast.) I make extra pasta on pasta night so we can have this egg meal later in the week.

One thing I always do is give my husband and son some kind of bread with dinner. They're all over it! Sometimes I indulge (if it's good crispy French rolls) but mostly I will skip (to save calories for dessert, of course.)

When I lived at home with my parents, my mom had a similar problem. She was a bit of a health nut, while me, my dad and 2 brothers just wanted some tasty food for dinner (as I've gotten older, I've gotten more health conscious). One trick that my mom learned was she would cook the entire meal in a healthy manner, take out her portion, and then add in all the other stuff that everyone else wanted. For example, if she was making pasta, she'd go easy on the salt/cheese etc. and take out how much ever she'd eat. Then she'd go in and add more salt/cheese/etc. for the rest of us. Didn't have to resort to cooking 2 meals and everybody was happy.

The recipe converter on here is really useful - I import a recipe I like the look of and rejig the ingredients to suit my calorie needs. If I need more it's easy enough to double the recipe, or husband and kids can have more rice/pasta etc.

I make healthier versions (lower fat meat, less butter, cheese etc) or just add some potatoes/rice/pasta on the side for them (and I just have the veggies/protein). If they're still hungry, there's always some bread, cheese, fruit, yogurt or whatnot...

Going to swim against the tide here and say I prepare and plan my food completely separate from my family. It's the only way I can perfectly count calories (or as perfect as possible for me). The kids have growing bodies, growing brains, and do not have a weight problem. My husband doesn't have a weight problem. They can have ALL the food groups, as where I really have to watch fats, oils, cheese, carbs such as bread, pasta, etc., etc., etc. I can still sit down and eat with them, but my meal is going to be lettuce topped with tuna! I can only imagine the revolt that would take place if that's all I served the family.