Does anyone else not enjoy cooking as much as I do?

You can eat meat and potatoes and lose weight. Do yours baked and put a tsp of olive oil and a little salt on yours. Your family can put on other higher calorie toppings. Grill your meat and weigh out your portion. Fix vegetables as a side for yourself. I cook for a family of 5--4 of them are men, and I eat less and leaner than they do. I've been doing this for years. I make pasta for lunch for them, and have a little--or not, depends if I've been to the pool or gym that morning, and then I have a salad or veggies, and a fruit. For dinner I make a protein--meat or fish or eggs with a cooked vegetable. They eat bread and desert to round out their calories, I sometimes do if I've got calories left for the day.

gratefulgb wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies! Still frustrated. After cooking for almost 30 years I'm just out of ideas of what to even try. No one in my family likes salads for dinner. My husband does manual labor and works outside a lot so he's starving when he comes home. Also, my daughter is special needs and unfortunately we are always trying to get her to GAIN weight! UGH! A crock pot works maybe once a week and no one eats leftovers. We both come from old-fashioned meat and potatoes families. I don't think either one of our mothers were especially good cooks either.

so eat meat and potatoes and throw in some other veg and eat an appropriate serving of said meat and potatoes.

there's nothing unhealthy about that and really, it comes down more to portion control than anything. I lost 40 Lbs and I eat a salad like maybe once every 1 or 2 months...you don't have to just sit there and eat rabbit food to lose weight.

Particularly this time of year, I throw some kind of meat, poultry, or fish on the grill and saute or roast some veggies and make either a grain or starch for the side...if my wife is trying to lose weight she'll skip the grain or starch or take a very small portion and double up on the veggies.

Cooking doesn't have to be some big, elaborate ordeal...throw some *kitten* on the grill.

gratefulgb wrote: »

I guess it must be portion control. How many calories should I really be eating? I seem to always go over what this site figured I should be eating.

If you gave MFP all the correct information your calorie goal should be correct--it's a mathematical formula. However, if you gave MFP the request to lose 2 lb a week then it gives you a lot fewer calories. You might think about plugging in a 1 lb a week weight loss and see if that's doable for you. You will still lose, but slower.

That must be frustrating!

I suggest you start doing some research. Pinterest, cooking shoes, YouTube, cookbooks, blogs, etc. You might be surprised what you find!

gratefulgb wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies! Still frustrated. After cooking for almost 30 years I'm just out of ideas of what to even try. No one in my family likes salads for dinner. My husband does manual labor and works outside a lot so he's starving when he comes home. Also, my daughter is special needs and unfortunately we are always trying to get her to GAIN weight! UGH! A crock pot works maybe once a week and no one eats leftovers. We both come from old-fashioned meat and potatoes families. I don't think either one of our mothers were especially good cooks either.

Tell us some of the dishes that you made that have been meh and some that have been disasters. Also, what is your best dish?

gratefulgb wrote: »

I've been doing this for a few weeks and I haven't lost anything, as usual. I've actually gained which is what happens when I exercise. So frustrating! I know I shouldn't always go by the scale but still....

That is frustrating. If you just started or increased exercise, you may have some water retention that can mask weight loss for a few weeks. Also, exercise can make people hungrier and they eat more without thinking about it. If you feel like you can't stick to the calories, you may want to use a smaller deficit or stick to lighter exercise for a while. You don't have to overhaul everything at once!