How to cook regular food for family, but low calorie replacements for myself?

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  • courtcassiefit
    courtcassiefit Posts: 76 Member
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    My boyfriend just has double what I have. I always make a lean protein, some sort of pasta/potato and loads of vegetables! You could always have some bread/rolls on hand for them as well x
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    edited December 2016
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    My relative has a teenage son who is underweight, but the mom is controlling her weight (not losing, just trying not to gain). What she does is cook what they've always cooked, then make higher calorie side dishes and snacks. Her meals are also "modular", in that you can mix and match your plate any way you like. For example if there is broccoli and french fries + a main, her son would load up on the french fries and she would load up on the broccoli, then everyone would just have an appropriate portion of the main dish and any condiments to fit their needs/hunger.
  • mhuntrn4
    mhuntrn4 Posts: 8 Member
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    teach them to eat healthy, fresh, seasonal food--same as you! Control calories by controlling portions. You'll be doing your child(ren) a big favor and they are much less likely to end up with a weight problem later in life themselves. Short-order cooking leads to picky eaters--that is my opinion.
  • kgirlhart
    kgirlhart Posts: 5,030 Member
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    mhuntrn4 wrote: »
    teach them to eat healthy, fresh, seasonal food--same as you! Control calories by controlling portions. You'll be doing your child(ren) a big favor and they are much less likely to end up with a weight problem later in life themselves. Short-order cooking leads to picky eaters--that is my opinion.

    I have the opposite opinion. My MIL always made my husband eat whatever she cooked when he was growing up. She never took into account what he liked. He is the pickiest eater in my family. Now that he is an adult he refuses to eat foods he doesn't like just because someone prepared them.
  • Karb_Kween
    Karb_Kween Posts: 2,681 Member
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    They eat what I make
  • nikkishea3
    nikkishea3 Posts: 906 Member
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    .
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
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    firecat1987 wrote: »
    I'm struggling with dinner. . My partner and my son do not need to lose weight, they actually need high calorie food to keep them going. I'm trying to figure out how I can still cook for them but make a lighter version for myself without spending hours in the kitchen. Any ideas would be helpful.

    I already posted up thread, but I'm just going to give you an example of what we're doing tonight...it's unusually warm for mid December so I'm grilling some sirloin steaks and I'm serving them with sauteed asparagus. In addition, I will be having mashed potatoes, and so will my boys...my wife will forgo those and likely have a smaller steak.

    This is pretty much how we do it...I'll have a 6 oz piece of meat or whatever...my wife will have 4 oz...I usually have a grain or starch with dinner...she does not and doubles up on veggies, etc, etc. If we're doing soups or stews or casseroles, same things apply...she has a smaller portion of whatever than I do.

    Beyond that, she can control what she's taking in during the day as she makes her own breakfast and lunch. She might have a 3 or 4 egg white omelette for breakfast whereas I usually have a two egg and two egg white omelette with toast or oats or something. She often eats salads for lunch with some kind of protein...I'm not a big salad guy except as a side dish.

    Basically it comes down to learning what portions are appropriate which I think can be hard for some women as they have become accustomed to serving themselves the same portions that they serve their husbands even though they don't need that much food.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,424 Member
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    firecat1987 wrote: »
    I'm struggling with dinner. . My partner and my son do not need to lose weight, they actually need high calorie food to keep them going. I'm trying to figure out how I can still cook for them but make a lighter version for myself without spending hours in the kitchen. Any ideas would be helpful.

    I eat a smaller breakfast and more of my calories later in the day. A 500-600 calorie dinner is pretty common and doesn't require me to eat much differently than my family for dinner.
  • tmontgomery2142
    tmontgomery2142 Posts: 1 Member
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    TerryMyfitbitsnbobs wrote: »
    MASH FAUXTATOES.
    INGREDIENTS:
    Cauliflower.

    METHOD:
    Microwave the fluffy cloud bits until hot and steamy.
    Blend the until mash like. (I use a cheap hand blender)
    Serve.
    The strange thing is, if you add salt or butter etc you immediately realise it's not potato.


    So do you recommend not adding the butter and salt?

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