Being a "foodie" and losing weight

KnitSewSpin
KnitSewSpin Posts: 147 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I would describe myself as a foodie. I love cooking shows, collect cookbooks, and get very excited about planning our weekly menu. I cook our bread products from scratch. I cook most of what we eat from scratch even yogurt and sour cream. Have not tried cheese yet.

I was told by a weight loss coach last summer that I'll never be able to lose weight and keep it off being a foodie. Especially a foodie with children.

I know intellectually this is not true but it was a bit demoralizing and since I am a very slow loser sometimes I think I should not focus so much on the pleasure of food. It lets doubts creep in. Like I'm doing smthg wrong.

I wouldn't say it's an obsession. But it's a hobby for me like the knitting, sewing, and gardening I do.

So can you be a food lover, lose weight, and keep it off, while keeping your love of all things food and cooking and baking?
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Replies

  • dweeben
    dweeben Posts: 6 Member
    Yes! You can eat healthily and have one splash-out meal/dessert/baked thing whatever a week. Or you can try adapting dishes to lower fat versions, or you can alter the focus of your foody-ness and mostly make foody dishes that are reasonably healthy.
  • thereshegoesagain
    thereshegoesagain Posts: 1,056 Member
    Yes you can. I learned to switch my high fat, high carb, high calorie style of cooking and eating to a style that fits my needs. I've had fun creating new ways to prepare my old favorites using ingredients that will fit into my goals. I've had alot of mesl failures over the years, but am down about 85 lbs. while still enjoying delicious food.
  • samgamgee
    samgamgee Posts: 398 Member
    Of course you can! In fact I'd say that perhaps you're in an even better position to lose weight as you're already knowledgeable about cooking and are fully engaged with the fact that food is not the enemy. You'll be able to use your cookery skills and nose for what tastes good to tweak recipes to make them lower calorie should they need to be, to make things taste amazing and satisfying with herbs and spices, and plan delicious menus that fit your goals. I'd say that as long as you're logging accurately and sticking to your calories, you're golden. I've actually engaged with cooking more and got more 'foodie' since I've started losing weight because if I'm going to spend my precious calories on something, I want it to be something utterly delicious!
  • Maaike84
    Maaike84 Posts: 211 Member
    I loooove food and am definitely a foodie. But there are a lot of low cal options for delicious food, so I don't feel limited in any way. Maybe check out some more cheffy cookbooks focusing on health? I actually really love everything I have cooked so far from Jamie Oliver's new book for instance, and no meal in that book is over 600 calories.
  • UpEarly
    UpEarly Posts: 2,555 Member
    Absolutely! I love to cook, dine out, and try all kinds of amazing food. It's all about portion control and balance. If I know I'm going to have a multi-course dinner with wine and dessert, I just make sure I get in a good workout and keep breakfast and lunch lighter.
  • carrie1829
    carrie1829 Posts: 143 Member
    I sure hope so! I am very involved with Allrecipes.com and am always cooking things up.
  • KnitSewSpin
    KnitSewSpin Posts: 147 Member
    Thanks for the encouragement everyone. I guess I just needed a pep talk. It's good to know there are others out there who fit their love of food into losing weight!
  • msbanana
    msbanana Posts: 793 Member
    What they all said! I'm a foodie too and I have learned to adapt my cooking to help me meet my goals. It means I bake less and my menus are a little different but I plan my meals to help me meet my goals. I regularly scour the internets for better versions of my favorite dishes. And sometimes I just cook my favorite dish and take a smaller portion. :) I was inspired to start cooking more when I started losing weight 6 years ago. As said above... if I'm going to spend my calories on it, it better be AMAZING.
  • MinmoInk
    MinmoInk Posts: 345 Member
    Yes 100%! Food is my favorite thing and I'm a habitual grazer. If you are looking forward to meals and your already at your calorie allotment for the day, remember there is always tomorrow to dig into some delicious grub :]
  • mbaker566
    mbaker566 Posts: 11,233 Member
    you can certainly be a foodie and lose weight. i just cook smarter. i have the runner's world cookbook and the harry potter cookbook, and a new orleans cookbook, etc. I try to create a balanced menu for the week.
    i made a potato leek soup that was wonderful and simple and under 300 calories for a good serving. the gyros were unbelievable and my poached salmon elicited an "ohmygod" from my other half
  • CaffeinatedConfectionist
    CaffeinatedConfectionist Posts: 1,045 Member
    I do 99.9% of my own cooking and find your weight loss coach to be entirely incorrect. Frankly, it is much easier to count calories doing your own cooking because you have a more accurate idea of how many calories you're actually eating, since you know what is in your food.

    And since I do my own cooking and baking and am good at it, I have fairly high standards in what I eat - which is not at all to say that I don't eat "junk" food, but it does mean that I am less tempted to eat random crap from a grocery store bakery or disappointing low-quality restaurant meals than I was before I really started doing all of my own cooking and dessert-making. I feel like I do better at maintaining quality over quantity.
  • AmazonMayan
    AmazonMayan Posts: 1,168 Member
    I think being a foodie makes it easier for me. I know food and know how to use it for different needs. You can still have the good stuff just less of anything higher calorie. I know what lower calorie items I can add to things to kind of stretch the meal into something bigger quantity wise and still is good but lower cal overall. I also know what to leave alone as far as altering things - those I just eat less often and smaller portions.

    I don't bake much bread though since homemade bread is a weakness lol. I can eat a whole small loaf slathered with butter if it's fresh out of the oven.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,372 Member
    Definitely possible, in theory you just have to eat less. The limit for me is that a small serving of a high calorie dish will never fill me up, so I just spend more time looking up 'lightened up' recipes of what I want to eat.
  • Smallc10
    Smallc10 Posts: 539 Member
    Of course you can! I love cooking, the food network, and cookbooks. You just have to be smart about what you plan and I usually go for the more meet my weekly calorie goal than daily. I challenge myself to make healthy meals, try new vegetables and meats, and make everything taste good enough that my husband will also eat it (that's the hard part) What's helped the most is starting to make more and more things from scratch! It's fun and now I really do know what's in all of my foods and they taste so much better.
  • StacyChrz
    StacyChrz Posts: 865 Member
    samgamgee wrote: »
    Of course you can! In fact I'd say that perhaps you're in an even better position to lose weight as you're already knowledgeable about cooking and are fully engaged with the fact that food is not the enemy. You'll be able to use your cookery skills and nose for what tastes good to tweak recipes to make them lower calorie should they need to be, to make things taste amazing and satisfying with herbs and spices, and plan delicious menus that fit your goals. I'd say that as long as you're logging accurately and sticking to your calories, you're golden. I've actually engaged with cooking more and got more 'foodie' since I've started losing weight because if I'm going to spend my precious calories on something, I want it to be something utterly delicious!

    I agree whole heartedly! Use your knowledge and experience to help you adapt some of your favorites so that they fit your new, healthier lifestyle. And don't ever feel like you can't eat something you enjoy, no matter what the calorie count. You just need to plan for it.
  • LHWhite903
    LHWhite903 Posts: 208 Member
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  • scyian
    scyian Posts: 243 Member
    I get excited about the weekly food shop!

    Of course you can. I am a foodie and love to cook. I find there is fun in making your own meals and looking at ways of making them healthier. I don't bake cakes as much as I use to (I make food as gifts now to fill the gap) but I'd rather go to the effort of making a dessert rather than buy it. You know what's going into your meals and you're enthusiastic about making them.

    So many diets and fads and clean eating mantras are causing so much anxiety for people when it comes to food. I think being a foodie means you have a better relationship with food as a whole.
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
    The media (and world) is full of fit foodies. Think of your favorite tv chefs. Most of them aren't overweight, in my experience. You have an edge because you understand food and how to enjoy it for quality, not quantity.
  • Alidecker
    Alidecker Posts: 1,262 Member
    I agree with everyone here. I love to cook and eat good food. The loving to cook has probably been one of the things that has helped me lose weight. I can make myself healthy food that is delicious instead of pre-packaged "diet" food or only eating salads that do tend to bore me after a while. Being willing to try to make new things is a plus. It was especially helpful when I would make dinner for my trainer once a week in exchange for a training session :)
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,883 Member
    CaffeinatedConfectionist wrote: »
    I do 99.9% of my own cooking and find your weight loss coach to be entirely incorrect. Frankly, it is much easier to count calories doing your own cooking because you have a more accurate idea of how many calories you're actually eating, since you know what is in your food.

    And since I do my own cooking and baking and am good at it, I have fairly high standards in what I eat - which is not at all to say that I don't eat "junk" food, but it does mean that I am less tempted to eat random crap from a grocery store bakery or disappointing low-quality restaurant meals than I was before I really started doing all of my own cooking and dessert-making. I feel like I do better at maintaining quality over quantity.
    AmazonMayan wrote: »
    I think being a foodie makes it easier for me. I know food and know how to use it for different needs. You can still have the good stuff just less of anything higher calorie. I know what lower calorie items I can add to things to kind of stretch the meal into something bigger quantity wise and still is good but lower cal overall. I also know what to leave alone as far as altering things - those I just eat less often and smaller portions.

    I don't bake much bread though since homemade bread is a weakness lol. I can eat a whole small loaf slathered with butter if it's fresh out of the oven.

    Agreed!

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