Need to Lose 100 LBS -Robins Thread !

skinnyjeanzbound wrote: »

@niki-- I'm a firm believer in eating back exercise calories if I'm already eating at a deficit at say, 1600 calories/day. That's already 500 below my maintenance level, so if I then burn 500 calories and don't eat them back, I'm only netting 1100 calories which is not enough to keep my body fueled. I don't understand how people can NOT eat them back and expect their metabolisms to not slow to a crawl.

• No salt added beans (.69-.99/can) I like black and cannelinis. Both go into bean salads, warm salsa/pilaf things, soups, and as the main ingredient in burritos. I am a burrito fiend, especially breakfast burritos with scrambled egg.
• Canned tuna in water (.69-.99/can). I eat tuna salad like crazy, but it also works well with the cannelinis.
• Boneless, skinless chicken breast or boneless skinless thighs. Frozen is usually cheaper than thawed. (.99-1.99/lb). I usually butterfly and grill them with a spice rub, super easy and fast. And you aren't paying for bones you can't eat. Also, remember that a serving is 4 oz - I generally get two out of any given breast.
• Store-brand lite Greek yogurt (.70/tub). Flavored versions are breakfast, plain gets used wherever you need something creamy.
• Boneless Pork loin (I buy this at Sam's Club for <$2/lb.). This can be ground, grilled, stir-fried, whatevered.
• Eggs (variable price, usually $2.19-$2.49/dozen). Price is better if you buy in bulk. I turn these into breakfast hashes, hard boil them, poached on toast, crustless quiche, you name it.
• Peanut butter. Plain ol' Jif for me, just about a tablespoon at a time. I like it on toast with fruit as a protein snack.

• Beans (as above). I am currently in love with a mixture of black beans, corn, tomatoes, bell pepper and sauteed onions, with cilantro and a splodge of plain yogurt. Pop it under grilled meat and it looks SWANK. Or go Cuban with black bean soup.
• Sweet potatoes (.70-1.29/lb). Bake in oven, or microwave 5-10 minutes. Nothing extra needed, but you can make them savory with curry powder, or sweet with ginger or cinnamon.
• Pasta. (about $1/lb). Remember, this is a side dish, so small portions will take you far.
• Canned no-salt added tomatoes (actually, these came out of my garden last year, but they're in the .49-.89/can range. These go in soups, with the beans, into homemade pasta sauce with onions and peppers
• Store brand oatmeal. The cheap stuff. Instant, regular, whatever. For me, this mostly gets turned into refrigerator breakfast oatmeal with the Greek yogurt, but it can also go into baked goods.
• Frozen or canned corn niblets, no salt. Good on it's own, good as a supporting player.
• Frozen broccoli or cauliflower in the microwave steamer bag (often on sale for $1). Frozen cauliflower generally becomes a mash/puree that is less calorie-dense than potato. Fresh gets roasted.
• Onions. Onion is da flava enhanca for just about everything I cook
• Indulgence buy #1: non-organic quinoa. I find it has the lowest calorie/volume, so I can eat enough to get full without killing my calorie allowance. Generally 3.99/lb.
• Indulgence buy #2: Shirataki Noodles. 12 ounces of noodle for 20 calories! But they are like 2.99/pack. Just remember to rinse them thoroughly. I usually put them in a hot skillet for a few minutes to dry them out as much as possible.
• Indulgence Buy #3: Ole Extreme Wellness Tortilla Wraps. At $3.29/8, these are expensive, and a little difficult to find. And they only superficially resemble tortillas. *BUT* they have a massive amount of fiber, only 50 calories, and if you fill one with some beans, a scrambled egg, and maybe a little cilantro and Greek yogurt, you'll be full for a while. I find the Mission brand low-carb tortillas to be fairly nasty, but the 80 cal La Salsarita? brand are OK.

• Green beans, fresh if it's less than $1.19/lb; frozen or no-salt canned otherwise.
• Zucchini/squash. I like zucchini noodles, sauteed, or in soups/casserole. Generally $1-$1.29 lb. AVOID CANNED/FROZEN, they are gross.
• Bell peppers. Green for sure, red if they are on sale.
• Carrots. Steamed with OJ and ginger in the water. Mashed. Raw. Sauteed with a dab of butter. Shredded with cucumber and radish in a Japanese salad with chicken breast. (mmmm)
• Lettuce: I am a huge salad fan, because the bulk fills you up without a lot of calories. It's a little more expensive, but go with green leaf, red leaf, or romaine lettuce because unlike iceberg, they contain actual nutrients. (.99-1.19/head)
• Spinach: I put it in my breakfast scrambles, with my tuna salad, in salads, and sometimes just saute it with garlic and onions. ($2.50-$3.79 for 12-20 oz, often marked down for quick sale).
• Any veggie on sale for $1.29/lb or less. Some weeks this is asparagus, sometimes it's eggplant or parsnips or corn. I figure the internet or Cooking Light has some way to combine it with a bulker to taste good. I particularly like it when turnip greens are on sale for .59-.79/lb. These are super good slow simmered in a pot with about 3 qts of water, a couple tablespoons of Worcestershire or low-sodium soy sauce and either a couple tablespoons of sugar or a few solid squirts of hot sauce.
• Any fruit on sale. The local store usually has some variety of apple on sale for .99/lb or .50/ea; sometimes I get pears or pineapple. I generally avoid bananas, because they are a little sugar and calorie dense for their mass, but I do keep some in the freezer for smoothie duty.
• Indulgence buy #1: Mangos, as raw fruit or in no-sugar added fruit cup form. Price highly variable.
• Indulgence buy #2: Frozen berries. Look for them on sale. Defrosted, they are dessert, frozen, they are smoothie fuel.

• La Frontera saute mixes, in the Mexican foods aisle. You get a lot of flavor from the pouch, and not a lot of extra salt and sugar. $2-$3, sometimes cheaper.
• Store brand monterrey jack cheese, on the block. Lower calorie than cheddar, melts well. Usually $3-4/lb.
• Cilantro. I'm from Texas, and lived in California for awhile, so my impulse on just about any food is to add cilantro for instant flavor. If you're one of the folks who hates cilantro, this would obviously not be applicable. (usually .69/bunch)
• Kraft Fat-free Zesty Italian. Marinade, salad dressing (bean salads too!), and 8 cal/tbsp. Avoid the Wishbone version, it tastes like petrochemical buttcrack. (<$2/bottle)
• No-salt spice mixes. I have little mason jars with a Moroccan, a Southwest, and an Old World mix of herbs and spices. These go on meats, beans, veggies, whatever needs some flavor. You can buy them, or you can make them from what you have on hand.
• Kraft lite mayo. Tuna salad, deviled eggs, sandwiches. Fewer calories than Hellmanns/Best Foods. Avoid the fat free, it's terrible.
• Olive oil cooking spray. Pan lube, grill lube, and pre-roast veggie treatment.