Failing and in desperate need of help

Ayikai_Margaret
Ayikai_Margaret Posts: 5 Member
in Introduce Yourself
I've been here for a 100 days now. Started off well then somehow just lost it. I spend hours on cooking websites, watching meal planning videos, but somehow I'm still failing at simple logistics. The food I cook tastes bland, and I seem to just do everything wrong. I need an accountability partner, I'll be going to see a nutritionist on Thursday, but any helpful advice + friends with open diaries would be appreciated.

Replies

  • GuacamoleSquirrel
    GuacamoleSquirrel Posts: 1 Member
    ^(o.o) Don't know how useful it'd be, but my food diary is open and everyone's welcome to see it

    I'm quite new here, all I'm doing is finding time to walk and avoiding the snacks that I know are gonna be a surefire diet killer

    It's tough because I've got quite the sweet tooth (>.> ) and my diet is pretty wild at the moment. Basically seeking only to fill the calories in and maintain a balance between carbs, fats, and proteins.

    Heck, I had a burger at Wendy's for lunch last week
  • notreallychris
    notreallychris Posts: 501 Member
    edited May 2017
    Are you weighing your food on a food scale? If not, I'd start there, and log accurate calorie intake.

    ETA: You should also calculate (if you haven't already), your BMR and TDEE, so you know what calorie # you are trying to reach.
  • BuffingButtons
    BuffingButtons Posts: 25 Member
    I know how you feel! You think you are failing, but I doubt you really are. Recognize that with anything new there is a process of being a beginner, intermediate and expert level (and all that falls between). 100 days in isn't anything if you have chosen to make a lifetime change. I don't know what it is with people and counting days - Eating healthy and monitoring what you eat is forever. Once you lose the weight, you have to maintain it.

    - You need to start recognizing the little things that you are doing. For example... Make notes for every temptation you skip. It can be as little as someone offering you something that you decline to deciding not to do that late-night run to the gas station to pick up a pack of ding dongs. Those lists of "wins" come in handy when you think you are failing.
    - Have you started making your own sauces yet? Stop buying the canned pasta sauce and salsa. Make your own. Learn how to build sauces and tweak them. How about a fresh tomato sauce? Basil pesto sauce? Roasted garlic? All these sauces go great on grilled turkey or chicken breast.
    - Go to the grocery store and make note of what vegetables or meats you have yet to buy, try or cook with. Buy some of them and look at new recipes. You'll start to build a wider pallet and then realize what "new recipes" you can mix with your "old recipes."
    - Look at recipes online where you can read comments. Cool thing is you can copy/paste the URL into MFP and incorporate the recipe. There are a lot of folks out there that know what they're talking about. Small reductions or additions to recipes can make a word of difference! I know you know that companies photoshop your favorite fashion models, so recognize that they do it to food as well. What looks yummy in a photo can taste bland.
    - Great step going to a nutritionist. Look for similar forums online like "sparkpeople," "discuss cooking" and "recipes" to build base.
    - Don't forget to treat yourself. Again, this is for a lifetime. It's more of a lifestyle change, not diet. Are you really never going to eat a Wendy's burger again?

    Hope this helps!
  • Ayikai_Margaret
    Ayikai_Margaret Posts: 5 Member
    Thank you so much, I am literally in tears reading this.
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
    If you've learned to cook one way, making lighter versions of the same foods taste good does have a learning curve! What are some of the things you most enjoy eating? Maybe some of us will have some suggestions. Spices and vinegars are your friends!

    Speaking for myself, I eat plain Greek yogurt with berries when I crave ice cream, roasted vegetables when I crave French fries, and I put cinnamon and almond milk in my coffee now instead of sugar and cream.
  • chaosbutterfly
    chaosbutterfly Posts: 71 Member
    Just sent you a friend request!
    I haven't logged in the past couple of days, but I'm back on the train as of tomorrow.

    Getting the food stuff down is hard, but you can do it.

    What has helped me the most has just been experimenting and being open-minded.

    I love to cook, but cooking clean can be tough because there are so many commonly-used things, especially in my culture, that are unhealthy but that pack flavor into the dish. Being more adventurous and trying out new ingredients and spices has helped make things easier and fun. If you can, I would definitely suggest heading to a Trader Joe's and looking around. At least the ones in my area generally have a wide variety of produce and cuts of meat, and the way that they package everything makes it very approachable. If you see a fruit or veggie that looks interesting or fun, grab it and try incorporating it into a dish that you usually make and see how that goes. So I usually make this spiced rice dish with like meat and veggies and tomatoes, but to make it more clean-eating friendly, I substitute cauliflower or broccoli rice and make some adjustments to the cooking time and amounts of other stuff. Or lasagna, normally, I make it with pasta noodles, but I switched out the pasta noodles for layers of butternut and spaghetti squash. So that kind of thing.

    Also, try to beef up your spice repertoire in the kitchen. When you can't lean on salt, you have to learn to layer flavor using other ingredients. Onion, garlic, ginger, thyme, cumin, rosemary, celery seed...there is a whole world of spices out there that you can use to season your food. Also check out the jarred sauces and marinades...there are some great options that don't pack much salt or sugar, but a tablespoon added to your food can really zoosh it up. Trader Joe's is really great place for this as well, since they have just about everything, including 21 seasoning salute, which is a sodium-free spice blend that goes perfect with just about everything. So yeah, just try new things and see if you might also find a new favorite.

    Last thing is to be gentle with yourself and don't give up. This whole thing is trial and error. So many times, I have made dishes that were bland or that I just had to throw into a tupperware and call a casserole because...I just couldn't do anything else with it. So many times when I've set out to make a chilli and found myself with a taco meat instead, or vice versa. Or I tried to make a curry and found myself with an awkward soup. It is going to happen. If it's edible, then eat it and learn from the experience for next time. And if it's not, then toss it and pat yourself on the back for trying LOL.

  • Dumbbell69
    Dumbbell69 Posts: 199 Member
    Feel free to add me
  • jcausey1
    jcausey1 Posts: 8 Member
    Start off with simple things. Find something that you love. I LOVE seafood. I can literally have a salad with fruit and 10 large boiled shrimp. I love crab salad or just eating a steamed lobster tail or crab legs. These are things that I love and crave when I'm not dieting. I cut back on the seasoning and I have a pretty healthy meal base going on. But that's because I love seafood.

    Buy natural juices. You can literally marinade chicken in lemon juice and an herb like thyme and it will taste SO amazing. Simple and you can't go wrong. Find a vegetable that you like. Maybe something like fresh green beans or broccoli bunches. Buy low sodium lemon pepper and stir fry them in either olive oil or just water. Trust me, you will appreciate to taste of that lemon pepper.

    Bake a sweet potato. Poke holes in the sweet potato and sit it on a baking pan. Bake until it's soft. Golden! Stif fry beef. Just like tacos but without the loaded taco seasoning. Bake half of a squash. And make a squash boat with the ground beef. YUMMY. or stuff a bell pepper with ground beef. Cut up bell peppers and onions and simmer the beef in lime juice. Bake a bell pepper and stuff it.

    You can literally just buy meat, chicken, steak, beef for bun less burgers and have someone grill it for you. Bam shazaam. Meat can be covered for a entire week. Bake 3-4 filets of fish if you can stand the taste.

    Ok, now I'm hungry so I'll stop. I'll add you and we will talk about some super easy meals that you can eat all week.
  • beanz744
    beanz744 Posts: 221 Member
    blant foods

    learn use dry pre-mixed seasonings. all u need is sprinkle some in while cooking or use them to marinate foods. they r zero calorie. organic chicken stock from costco that is 15 cal a cup

    keep dishes simple

    i try to make dishes with 2 or 3 ingredients. a piece of meat, veg, n sometimes a third ingredient like mushroom or hot pepper. the veg i cook in chicken stock n the meat i use dry seasoning on it. thats it for me! :)

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