345lbs goal to be under 300lbs

After blowing out both knees 6 years ago in a 10 month span, I shot up to 380. Got down to 340 a couple years ago and slowly climbed to 367. Started tracking in here again and now down 17 in last 45 days. It’s a slow process. My best advice is to always keep a calorie deficit, doesn’t matter what you do but after tracking your daily calories... have a deficit at the end of the day!

Really, the world's your oyster when it comes to cooking at home. To lose weight, one only needs to eat less. In other words, know how many calories you can eat to maintain a slow and steady weight loss and then carefully weigh everything you eat and log it in your food diary.

I like food. I like cooking it. I like eating it. I like reading about it and watching TV about it. So, I'm not about to go all bland and low-cal to lose weight -- which actually turns out to be precisely the wrong way to do it anyway, especially for those of us with over a hundred pounds to lose. So now I savor good food in smaller amounts and without guilt.

When it comes to lunch and dinner ideas as you asked, well, what do you like to eat? How interested are you in cooking? Do you want to make pizza starting with a pile of flour or would you rather microwave a meal? Are you more of a carnivore, an omnivore, or a vegan? Do you like to try international dishes with strange names and even stranger ingredients or are you a meat & potatoes kinds of guy? Specify anything and you are likely to find folks here on MFP with similar druthers and lots of suggestions.

Meanwhile, my diary is open if you want to take a look. Most days I try to stay within my calorie limit. Since I'm retired and have a cooperative hubby who likes the variety I force into his regimen, I'm often making up something a little out-of-the-ordinary. If you ever see a recipe name or a list of ingredients and wonder what the heck I was making, give a holler. Tonight's supper is spanakopita -- Greek feta and spinach pie in filo dough -- a lot easier than it sounds.

Pinterest has an incredible amount of good easy recipes. Believe me, I’m a foodie but I’ve changed up what I eat and make. There are a lot of tasty easy recipes out there. As I’m retired, I do the cooking and now make things like chicken meatloaf, chicken Salisbury steaks and turkey skillet. I always make extras and package them up for lunch.
Meal prep is also an easy way to have a few days lunches made up. Something easy like a 4 pack of chicken burgers. Grill up and have one day on a bun or toast with a 100 cal pack of pretzels. Next day cut up in a ready pack salad. Next day with a bag of steamer veggies, and next day with some microwave rice dish or lean cuisine Mac and cheese. Easy peasy and about $20 for 4 lunches.