Sticking with it/motivation

At first it seems like food is going to be boring and bland, but it can still be great, some of my favourites for snacks
- Greek yogurt with choc protein powder, blueberries, mixed nuts and a bit of ground cinnamon, it's amazing
- Cracker breads with red pepper humous and spinach
try and keep to your macros, in the end it'll be worth it

Giving up and getting a pizza.. oh i know the feeling. I recommend keeping easy to prep foods that you actually like. So there are some full size pizzas that are 1,000 calories at costco. They're thin crust margarita pizzas. I usually save about 800 cals for dinner, so if I'm having a "pizza" day, i go for a run beforehand and boom, pizza fits in my calories. Keep yummy foods around with known calories.

I'm an ovo-lacto vegetarian with an open diary, if you'd like to friend me.

I find pre-logging helps me stay on track. It's like, once I've decided to have a piece of birthday cake, I've found something in the database that comes close (though I know it won't be exact, I also know I'll be getting something like a 2" square of something with 2-3 layers and frosting and I look for similar), and it's in my diary, the guilt goes away. I see it, I know it fits my calories, I know I'm not cheating... and when I have the cake, that's all I have. I leave off the sides of guilt and negativity that send me into the spiral of 'off the diet, may as well have all the rest of the high calories stuff now and start over tomorrow... I can't believe how much I ate, I feel guilty and mad at myself and I must numb my emotions with more food. I can't believe I ate even more. I feel guilty and...'

Somehow, putting it in my diary ahead of time lets me skip that whole unhealthy scene. It's 'I want a piece of cake. I can have it. AND I can stay on target with my calories.' And everything just... calms down.

this is one of his..

Black pepper tofu

from www.ottolenghi.co.uk

Ingredients
800g firm tofu (such as Tau Kwa brand)
vegetable oil for frying
cornflour to dust the tofu
150g butter
12 small shallots (350g in total), thinly sliced
8 fresh red chillies (fairly mild ones), thinly sliced
12 garlic cloves, crushed
3 tbsp chopped fresh root ginger
3 tbsp sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)
3 tbsp light soy sauce
4 tsp dark soy sauce
2 tbsp caster sugar
5 tbsp coarsely crushed black
peppercorns (use a pestle and mortar or a spice grinder)
16 small and thin spring onions, cut into 3cm segments

Method
You will definitely surprise yourself with this one. It is an extremely delicious
dish that’s quick and straightforward to make, but looks as if it’s been
prepared at a top Chinese restaurant. It is fiery, both from the chillies and the
black pepper; you can moderate this by reducing their quantity a little.
However, the whole point is spiciness so don’t go too far.

Serves 4

Method
Start with the tofu. Pour enough oil into a large frying pan or wok to come
5mm up the sides and heat. Cut the tofu into large cubes, about 3 x 2cm.
Toss them in some cornflour and shake off the excess, then add to the hot oil.
(You’ll need to fry the tofu pieces in a few batches so they don’t stew in the
pan.) Fry, turning them around as you go, until they are golden all over and
have a thin crust. As they are cooked, transfer them onto kitchen paper.
Remove the oil and any sediment from the pan, then put the butter inside and
melt it. Add the shallots, chillies, garlic and ginger. Sauté on low to medium
heat for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the ingredients have
turned shiny and are totally soft. Next, add the soy sauces and sugar and stir,
then add the crushed black pepper.
Add the tofu to warm it up in the sauce for about a minute. Finally, stir in the
spring onions. Serve hot, with steamed rice.