Need help... what to eat

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MzGoals35
MzGoals35 Posts: 9 Member
in Food and Nutrition
My dr has placed my calories at 1200, however I DO NOT eat bread, pork or beef. What I’m finding challenging is the foods the dr encourages me to eat such as cottage cheese, tomatoes, avocado etc.. Things I don’t eat to put it simply. Meal planning has been horrible as I’m not going over my calories, but my fats are high and vice versa. I’m new to MFP so would like to know what you all recommend.

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  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    Don't eat or don't like?
  • seska422
    seska422 Posts: 3,217 Member
    edited May 2018
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    Are you logging your food? Start from what you normally eat and make adjustments from there. You can eat smaller portions of some things, larger portions of some things, and/or make satisfying substitutions. Craft a comfortable way of eating that uses foods that you'll eat.

    I aim for 80% of my calories from nutrient-dense foods and 20% from treats.
  • MzGoals35
    MzGoals35 Posts: 9 Member
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    I just don’t like them. I’ve tried reintroducing a lot of things I just didn’t like but still having a hard time
  • MzGoals35
    MzGoals35 Posts: 9 Member
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    Bread pork and beef is just a personal choice
  • MzGoals35
    MzGoals35 Posts: 9 Member
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    seska422 wrote: »
    Are you logging your food? Start from what you normally eat and make adjustments from there. You can eat smaller portions of some things, larger portions of some things, and/or make satisfying substitutions. Craft a comfortable way of eating that uses foods that you'll eat.

    I aim for 80% of my calories from nutrient-dense foods and 20% from treats.


    Thanks for your suggestion. I’ll be completely honest. I never seriously documented my food until recently and I’m glad I’m doing it now. I just need to figure out how to create this comfortable way of eating and feel full and get the proper protein.

  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
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    Are you battling a specific medical condition or does the doctor just want you to lose weight? My experience with doctors is if all you need to lose weight they really don't care how you do it if you show up with results.
  • MzGoals35
    MzGoals35 Posts: 9 Member
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    I had gastric bypass a few years ago and had some issues with that. Long story short I didn’t lose much so I’m starting over.
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
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    It's o.k. if fats are high. Make sure that you get enough protein. Cottage cheese does not work for me because of the lactose. Hard cheese I can eat. Also yogurt. And beans and lentils have protein. Do you eat fish and chicken?
  • lucerorojo
    lucerorojo Posts: 790 Member
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    What do you normally eat? Just eat less of it.
    As mentioned above, fish and chicken. Start there. Then you can add potatoes, rice, or pasta and some vegetables. Although with only 1200 calories you probably cannot each much pasta or rice. Easily you can make lunch and dinner some combination of protein and vegetables. Breakfast can be cereal or oatmeal, eggs, fruit.
  • thaislcrd
    thaislcrd Posts: 76 Member
    edited May 2018
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    For breakfast you can try scrambled eggs with only egg whites which are higher in protein and have fewer calories; plain Greek yogurt with mashed banana, chopped strawberries and nuts; oatmeal with some fruit; fruit smoothie with unsweetened almond milk (or the milk or your choice. Unsweetened has fewer calories). For lunch and/or dinner some grilled fish or meat with a salad (romaine lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, red cabbage, bell peppers, red onions, etc) or some steamed or grilled veggies (sweet potatoes, cauliflower, green beans, carrots, potatoes, asparagus, etc) or even some sauteed vegetables. I personally love grilled chicken with a small baked sweet potato and lots of sauteed onions and bell peppers cut into big chunks. If you use a ceramic pan you may not even need oil. If you don't like avocado (I personally don't) add some, nuts, lentils, beans, chick peas, quinoa (if you can fit them in your diet), try not to drink your calories and avoid salad dressing. Make sure to log everything. I normally log them before I eat to make sure I can fit them in my diet and to calculate my portions. When logging your food, save the things you eat often as a meal to make it easier to log them and even enter your own recipes so that you don't have to enter every single ingredient every time. Drink lots of water! Good luck! :)
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    If the doctor is encouraging certain foods see them as a category rather than the food itself. I suggest you eat very much like you do now, measuring and logging. Add new foods gradually allowing yourself time to get used to it.

    “Bread” is pasta, rice, potatoes (starchy carb).
    Pork or beef is chicken, tofu and fish.
    Tomatoes are more veggies.
    Cottage cheese is convenient low fat protein. Egg whites are too.
    Avocado is a higher fat vegetable. Lupini beans, olives, and Edamame are similar.
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
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    MzGoals35 wrote: »
    I had gastric bypass a few years ago and had some issues with that. Long story short I didn’t lose much so I’m starting over.

    But there is nothing that requires a special diet then. The list your doctor gave you just really represents a varied diet. There are plenty of ways to vary your diet without those specific food items.

    The other thing is doctors love 1200 a little too much. Can you provide your age, height, and starting weight?
  • MzGoals35
    MzGoals35 Posts: 9 Member
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    RodaRose wrote: »
    It's o.k. if fats are high. Make sure that you get enough protein. Cottage cheese does not work for me because of the lactose. Hard cheese I can eat. Also yogurt. And beans and lentils have protein. Do you eat fish and chicken?
    RodaRose wrote: »
    It's o.k. if fats are high. Make sure that you get enough protein. Cottage cheese does not work for me because of the lactose. Hard cheese I can eat. Also yogurt. And beans and lentils have protein. Do you eat fish and chicken?

    Yes I eat fish and chicken as well as beans.
  • MzGoals35
    MzGoals35 Posts: 9 Member
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    NovusDies wrote: »
    MzGoals35 wrote: »
    I had gastric bypass a few years ago and had some issues with that. Long story short I didn’t lose much so I’m starting over.

    But there is nothing that requires a special diet then. The list your doctor gave you just really represents a varied diet. There are plenty of ways to vary your diet without those specific food items.

    The other thing is doctors love 1200 a little too much. Can you provide your age, height, and starting weight?
    NovusDies wrote: »
    MzGoals35 wrote: »
    I had gastric bypass a few years ago and had some issues with that. Long story short I didn’t lose much so I’m starting over.

    But there is nothing that requires a special diet then. The list your doctor gave you just really represents a varied diet. There are plenty of ways to vary your diet without those specific food items.

    The other thing is doctors love 1200 a little too much. Can you provide your age, height, and starting weight?

    I’m 5 ft 5 35 years old starting weight was 468 now 362

  • MzGoals35
    MzGoals35 Posts: 9 Member
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    jgnatca wrote: »
    If the doctor is encouraging certain foods see them as a category rather than the food itself. I suggest you eat very much like you do now, measuring and logging. Add new foods gradually allowing yourself time to get used to it.

    “Bread” is pasta, rice, potatoes (starchy carb).
    Pork or beef is chicken, tofu and fish.
    Tomatoes are more veggies.
    Cottage cheese is convenient low fat protein. Egg whites are too.
    Avocado is a higher fat vegetable. Lupini beans, olives, and Edamame are similar.

    Never thought of it that way. Thank you so much
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,344 Member
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    Maybe this will be helpful:

    ue3qoq2v6v92.jpg
  • SueSueDio
    SueSueDio Posts: 4,796 Member
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    MzGoals35 wrote: »

    I’m 5 ft 5 35 years old starting weight was 468 now 362

    If you weigh that much, I don't think there's any reason for you to be eating 1200 calories a day... you could lose weight eating way more! I don't know if you have difficulty eating in volume because of your previous surgery, but there are nutritious calorie-dense foods that would help provide more calories if you can't manage low-cal in volume to help you feel full.

    As has been said on these boards many times, it seems that most doctors really know very little about nutrition and weight loss, and I think a lot of them probably buy into the same ideas as the rest of us are prone to fall for - you "must" eat 1200 calories and cut out a bunch of food groups to lose weight. It's just not true. Eat what you like (unless you have an issue with particular foods), but less of it.

    A food scale will be your best friend. Buy one, if you don't already have one, read the stickied posts in the forums here for useful advice, and set up your MFP profile appropriately. Choose a weight loss goal (you could go for 2lbs a week at the start), and eat the number of calories it tells you. If you're accurately logging your food, you will lose weight - even if you're eating more than 1200 calories.

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