This is more difficult than I thought!!!!

I'm not going to say shakes are horrible. They do have a place in my life, but usually as a quick grab n go meal/snack. I couldn't handle drinking them all the time; I would end up binge eating.

Have you considered batch cooking?

Just my two cents:

It takes several months to find your groove. I had to tweak my meals to reduce sugar and carbs by a lot just to stay within my goals. It's a work in progress. I level set each weekend when I make my meal plan / shopping list for the week. The goal is to find something that is sustainable and that is easy for you to do long term.

I went on a Paleo / Keto-ish meal plan (low, low sugar/carbs and high protein/fat/fiber) of about 1400 calories (since January I have lost 23 pounds). And... I am only complaint calorie wise about 75% - 80% of the time.

Note: the 1400 calories was suggested based on my age and weight and weight loss goals. I am 59 and I wanted to lose slowly so that my skin wasn't overly saggy.

By eating low carb and low sugar all of the time amazing things happened:

• I don't crave sugar (I have an entire box of Charms Wild Berry Blow Pops in my file drawer that I haven't touched since November because I don't crave sugar; I once measured my stress level by how many of them i consumed in one day);
• My moods are more even and I don't have blood sugar spikes and crashes; I feel better.
• By consuming more healthy fats my joints don't hurt as much and I am more or less satiated on 1400 calories.

I used Paleo Leap and Paleo Tribe for the recipe ideas (they have some great low calorie recipe options) but this isn't necessary. I do think preparing and eating food that I make as opposed to boxes or eating out has helped me a lot. Boxes say they are low carb (but they lots of other additives in them to make them taste good.)

It's not just about water -- on a Paleo / Keto-ish meal plan it's important to balance magnesium, potassium, sodium and chloride -- these minerals in the correct ratio (each person is different) help with mood, blood pressure and water balance. (Try seaweed capsules for minerals).

I make my own coffee and drink before work with 1 oz half and half. The other half goes into a metal thermos with 1 oz half and half that I drink mid morning.

I have a homemade 265 calorie low sugar/carb high protein shake in the am (at work) that has the following in it:

5 grams, Modified Citrus Pectin
1.50 cup, Original Unsweetened Coconut Milk
15 g / 1.1oz, Organic Hemp Protein Powder
14 g (~0.5 oz), Moringa Powder
1 tbsp (7g), Brown Flax, Ground
15 g egg white powder
4 g Nestle Nutrition - Nutrisource Fiber Supplement
0.25 tsp Jarrow Formulas - Inositol Powder
0.25 tsp Infinite one - Vitamin b complex

It is palatable - kind of tastes earthy and slightly bitter. I put it in an Honest Tea glass bottle (that I protect from breakage with an old clean sock, which I take off when I get to work) I sip it over several hours at work.

I use 16 oz jelly jars for my 2 other lunch items.

I have plain full fat Greek yogurt with a tablespoon of unsweetened coconut (191 calories) and I make my own blended raw vegetable lunch with separately cooked mushrooms and greens (249 calories) for the week on Sundays (and carry it to work). I always use parsley, carrots, celery and cucumber but mix it up by adding avocado, onion, garlic, spices, lemon juice or vinegar to help keep it fresh all week. (I store it in a qt size mason jar that has the cup marks on the side.) The cooked mushrooms and mixed greens are mixed in when I prepare my lunch the next day to give the meal some texture. (It's the same with the shredded coconut - just try to vary the texture).

All of this goes with me in an insulated lunch bag with an ice pack.

Dinner is a protein and a low carb vegetable. (That's why I use the Paleo Tribe meal ideas). Some people double the recipes and eat left overs for breakfast and lunch. I found that to be too "binding" and i developed GERD. The blended meal of vegetables actually helps to prevent that. I am less constipated and I never have have acid reflux.

I eat bread, rice or potato very rarely.

In addition to natural HRT (prometrium and vivelle dot) I also take the following supplements:

Pure Encapsulations 7-Keto DHEA
Desiccated Adrenal Cortex 200 mg (to support cortisol)
Desiccated Whole Adrenal 80 mg to start (to help with carbs / sugar metabolism)

If after 8 weeks you feel you are compliant with your calories and are not losing, you may have a thyroid problem.
Check out https://stopthethyroidmadness.com/how-to-find-a-good-doc/

1 TBSP of unsweetened peanut butter is my go to snack. If I am still hungry that usually stops it in its tracks. It works well when you have a hot beverage like tea with it.

Outside sales with bad eating habits is an unfortunate combination. I spend about 20% of my business days out of the office, and that's when I'm most tempted.

If you're a burger-and-fries type, start by getting rid of the bun. I've started a crusade against bread because, if we can be intellectually honest, isn't the stuff you truly want to eat inside the two bread slices? If you make a crude estimate that each half of the bun is 100 calories, suddenly 40-ish % of that sandwich's calories is in the bread.

If you're one to eat-and-drive, I'd also recommend (if you can) slowing things down a bit, going in the restaurant and sitting down to eat.

Yes like gamerbabe14 said you want to do something thats attainable. Shakes are more like a "quick fix" of course everyones different and if you think you will do shakes forever than thats great! Just make sure your getting enough calories and at a deficit and you'll lose that weight. From personal experience I lowered my calories too much lost 90 pounds....and here I am trying to lose it again. So dont rush take it slow. And it will be so much better in the long run.

Shakes never worked for me. I was miserable on them.

I eat the same foods that I used to, just less. I've added more protien and fibre, but that's it. I was also absolutely miserable on low carb/keto as I love carbs (great energy!).

The best way of eating is something that you can stick with for the rest of your life. Eat the same foods you'll always eat/enjoy with a mindful eye on nutrition. Treat yourself but be honest. No need to cut out entire food groups to lose weight nor settle for "palatable".

I am new here and this morning, I planned out my meals and put them all in my daily food log. However, one of the items, I want to remove because I will not be eating it. That will also change my daily calculations so I can replace it with another and stay within my totals but I cannot see a way to delete it? Help is appreciated