Opinion needed

I eat a lot of canned and frozen stuff. Buy bulk brown rice and other items. Just get down to the basics to start with and it's as cheap as it gets. Canned tuna, steam-able veggies, rice, chicken. You don't need a fad diet, just portion control and count the calories. Or do like the others said and just keep eating what you do already just smaller portions that fit into your allotted calories.

Eating your normal food in smaller amounts is most sustainable. Stick to your calorie goal and eat what you like.

I save money by buying chicken thighs, eggs, fresh fruits and vegetables in season, frozen vegetables, dry beans, lentils, pasta, rice, potatoes, onion, garlic, peanut butter, tuna, powdered milk, bread, larger containers of yogurt, store brand/generic items.
I save money by planning meals and eating food prepared at home mostly.

My calorie goal is 1200 calories without exercise. This is how I typically eat:
Breakfast- things like Greek yogurt, granola bars, cereal with milk, sandwich, dinner leftovers, fruit, cottage cheese (about 200-300 calories)
Lunch- sandwich, salad, or dinner leftovers (about 300-500 calories)
Dinner- something different every night of the month. (about 500-600 calories) I have soup once a week usually and that is very budget friendly.
Snacks- things like fruit, chips, popcorn, pretzels, chocolate, cookies, granola bar, carrots, celery, broccoli, trail mix, deviled eggs, pickles, cottage cheese (about 100-300 calories)

Eat less move more.

sandeegriffin wrote: »

I like everyones suggestions but the food I eat is fried, starchy, and sugary. I'm just looking for a change and have heard about the Mediterranean diet and Adkins(not sure about spelling) diet. I just wanna know opinions about those is all.

If you want to change the way you eat, you don't need an organized diet plan. Just began swapping out some of the foods you eat often for some new things. If you never eat beans, try a bean dish. If you never eat green vegetables, look up some recipes and try a new vegetable each week (Pinterest is a great recipe resource). If you don't want to eat fried food as often, try cooking methods like sauteing or roasting.

There's nothing *wrong* with either the Mediterranean diet or the Adkins diet, but you can switch the way you eat without a specific plan. And the wonderful thing about avoiding a plan is that it can be super-budget friendly. You can look around the produce section at your grocery store, notice what is on sale, and plan to try those things.

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Alatariel75 wrote: »

Count calories on MFP, eat things you like that fit within your calorie and financial budget.

This. Also, not cutting out foods that you enjoy will go a long way in making this whole thing sustainable for the long term. Weight loss means nothing, if you can sustain the loss, so don't make it any harder than it needs to be. Just eat at the correct calorie deficit for your weight loss goals and you'll lose the weight, and then adjust your calories up a bit when it's time to maintain

sandeegriffin wrote: »

So what does everyone think about just swapping out "bad sugar" such as sucrose with natural sugar such as fruit or a sugar alternative such as honey?

Do you prefer the taste? I don't see a reason to but I also don't see a reason to call it "bad sugar".

sandeegriffin wrote: »

So what does everyone think about just swapping out "bad sugar" such as sucrose with natural sugar such as fruit or a sugar alternative such as honey?

Sugar is sugar. You can gain weight eating 'good' sugar the same as you can gain weight eating 'bad' sugar-by eating at a calorie surplus. The only thing that matters for weight loss/gain/maintenance is calories.

jlsjenni1992 wrote: »

I'm working on losing weight myself but I try to get advice from people but my aunt said allot about losing weight is eating the same meals over again and not making a big deal out of each meal... so if u had to make this fancy healthy meal every night it would be almost impossible to do every night just stick to eating things that aren't artificial but filling or eat egAt u want in very small amounts .. I get really hungry easily and it affects my mood so most days I have simple things like Greek yogurt , beans and cheese , soup and things that aren't hard to make and keep me full but u could easily eat fast food but eat very little of it ... I tried this tho but it doesn't really fill me up but keep things simple and try to not make it too complicated

No.
You don't have to eat the same boring foods every day.
Weight loss is ALL about eating less calories than you need to maintain your current weight.

What is 'artificial' food?

While I sit firmly on Team Moderation, I will say this: when I first started out, I loosely followed the Mediterranean diet. I looked up a whole bunch of recipes with the word "Mediterranean" in the name and cooked those. I ate a lot of lean meat (chicken is cheap) and seafood (not so cheap). I increased my veggie intake. I swapped out bread and pasta for beans (cheap), grains like quinoa (not cheap), and brown rice (cheap, but not really better for you white rice). It gave me some structure while I got used to calorie counting, and it gave me a chance to get comfortable in the kitchen. Now I eat whatever I want within my calorie limit, but if the idea of "Eat all the things, just eat less of them" is overwhelming to you, the Mediterranean diet isn't a bad place to start. I think it's pretty flexible, both from a budget standpoint and for allowing you to eat "off-plan" things from time to time.