Where do I start?!

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  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,140 Member
    Ssumner2001 wrote: »
    Time is definitely a commodity that I don't have a lot of. However, I could do better. I don't drink as much water as I should but I'm starting to do better with that. I'm in the process of making a grocery list for my shopping on Friday, I find that I buy food then don't take the time to prepare it. I think using my CrockPot more would be beneficial to me as well.

    Meal planning can be very helpful in this predicament, I plan out what meals I am going to have for the following week on a Wednesday, I use the plan to work out a shopping list and only buy what I need, I prep my food on my day off work usually 5 lunches and a couple of dinners (freezing leftovers for another week so I have a bit of variety).

    For example last Sunday I made:

    A batch of spicy carrot & lentil soup (cooked carrots, onion, garlic, chill & chicken stock - blitzed in food processor and cooked lentils added after), doesn't take much effort, is made in a half-hour and makes 6 portions.

    Some Salmon Fishcakes (Large tin of red salmon, mayo, mustard, egg and breadcrumbs blitzed in food processor and made into patties) - Makes 3-4 dinners can be refrigerated for a couple of days or frozen and defrosted later.

    2 x Chicken & Quinoa salads, cooked the Chicken whilst I was making the soup using seasoned cooking papers (20 mins) and cooked the Quinoa whilst I was making the salmon fishcakes, added some spinach and some of the green lentils I made for the soup.

    In the freezer from last week I have some leftover lamb meatballs, some Thai Green Curry and a portion of Mushroom soup I made last week.

    So that is lunch and dinner sorted for Mon-Fri this week and some of next week in around 90 mins.

  • Rickster1967
    Rickster1967 Posts: 485 Member
    make loads of friends on here and read their diaries to get inspiration for meals, tips and tricks

    EAT WHOLE FOODS

    batch cookingin the crock pot has been my saviour - I can make 8 portions in one go, eat one and freeze the rest (with a label), then just batch cook another lot

    get an accurate scale, keep it at hand and weigh everything except lettuce and stuff like that which is all water anyway

    you can do this come on! exciting discussion here

    best wishes
  • jessicapk
    jessicapk Posts: 574 Member
    Lots of great tips on here but the one that helped me more than anything was to set small goals and take it one step at a time. For instance, you started by dropping sodas, which is a great start! Some people can enjoy them in moderation in a calorie counting situation but they are triggers for some people to overeat (I know all too well). Maybe the next step would be to cook 2-3 meals at home one week or go walking a certain distance or time. Dip your toes in with a new goal every week and you will work out ways to incorporate your health ideas into your real life, as opposed to trying to turn on perfection with a second's notice.
  • timtam163
    timtam163 Posts: 500 Member
    edited September 2017
    theowlbox wrote: »
    Ssumner2001 wrote: »
    I want to start walking, my excuse is I work a lot and when I get home I don't want to leave. Guess I need to get over that.

    Can I just offer an alterative approach?

    You are doing a good job. You have done a lot of reading and you're here asking for help. That is a great start! Good job!

    You eat processed food and you're tired and unmotivated. You see a mountain of work ahead of you and all the advice you got was to knuckle down and do some work. Can I just offer this thought? It's not that hard. I swear, it's not horrible, it's not awful, it's just a stack of new habits that you create over time. You can absolutely make it terrible by beating yourself up over not being perfect and comparing yourself to other perople, and by hanging out on the internet where you never know what kind of info you are getting. But take it slow and be nice to yourself.

    Try one habit: logging food. When you're able, add weighing yourself once a week. When you have those down, you are ready to make any changes because you will be great at logging your intake and measuring progress. When you are good at this, feel free to tinker. But peiple lose weight without exercising all the g d time. And people lose weight eating processed food every g d day. So if that's all you can get it up to do, great. I bet you a dollar you'll be more motivated and interested in exercise once you are able to see the effect of your actions and feel like you have some agency. Doing what you can do consistently is better than the all or nothing self flagellation many people engage in. Don't stress yourself. Inch your way forward lady.

    This one!! ^^ I'm a big fan of being kind to yourself. You say it's a lack of motivation; I say it's that you're wise enough to KNOW that drastic shifts won't do anything for you in the long run. And you know what? They probably won't. Eventually you'll pick up a handful of sustainable health-promoting habits and that's all you really need; it won't happen all at once though.
  • Ssumner2001
    Ssumner2001 Posts: 34 Member
    @rickinnercirclebet You're right, this is exciting! Whoever suggested freezing the leftover CrockPot food, I don't know why I've never thought of that before. The thought of eating the same thing every day is kinda horrible for me. However, I could eat the same thing on the same day each week, not quite as horrible.

    Someone had made the suggestion that I redo my profile, specifically my reason for being here. This was kind of an eye-opener. I realize that I don't have a specific reason for wanting to lose weight. There are many reasons why it's a good idea but I have nothing that I claim as my own. I feel that this is a major part of my lack of motivation, I don't care enough about any one thing. I will have to think on this some more.

  • Rickster1967
    Rickster1967 Posts: 485 Member
    Ssumner2001 wrote: »
    @rickinnercirclebet You're right, this is exciting! Whoever suggested freezing the leftover CrockPot food, I don't know why I've never thought of that before. The thought of eating the same thing every day is kinda horrible for me. However, I could eat the same thing on the same day each week, not quite as horrible.

    Someone had made the suggestion that I redo my profile, specifically my reason for being here. This was kind of an eye-opener. I realize that I don't have a specific reason for wanting to lose weight. There are many reasons why it's a good idea but I have nothing that I claim as my own. I feel that this is a major part of my lack of motivation, I don't care enough about any one thing. I will have to think on this some more.

    do let us know how you go

    make loads of friends on here, including me if you wish (I log every day), you'll get support and motivation plus tips and advice

    use the recipecalculator on the app - add all the ingredients one by one and get a total for the whole lot

    then you can decide how many calories you want in your portion and divide the batch into the correct number of exact portions (using the scale)

    my advice is to bulk out everything with extra veggies to make the portion size larger (in weight) without adding many calories - this will add both bulk and nutrients to your dish

    I add spinach, cabbage, mushrooms, capsicums (green red and yellow), courgette (zucchini) and whatever else I have. Keep the fat down and measure it (weigh or use volume). Use lean cuts like chicken breast fillet, rabbit, turkey breast fillet (I don't myself coz I dont like it), venison - you can eat more meat for the same calories of beef, pork or lamb (this is because they have less fat)

    Get creative, enjoy your food, eat fresh whole foods, do not cut calories drastically rather eat your fill but make sure you have a deficit

    You excited yet? Come on!
  • MarvinsFitLife
    MarvinsFitLife Posts: 874 Member
    I see that you live in Florida so I would suggest doing a lot of running on the beach and make drinking water your new favourite drink. Don’t even entertain the idea of eating anymore fast food or packaged meals. Go to the grocery find the produce/whole foods section. Let YouTube be your cooking channel there are a lot of healthy recipes on it and let’s face its a perfect guide for a novice. Add me if you like always here for support
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