need help with planning a weight loss meal plan.

recodeexistance
recodeexistance Posts: 51 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi guys,

So my wife wants to lose weight. She has an account here, her daily intake has been recommended at 1200 calories a day.

Now, I like to think i know my stuff about calories, gaining weight, what's needed to lose weight etc. However, there's a difficulty here. She is *very* specific about what she will and won't eat, and most of the time looking up "recommended weight loss meals" or something of the like, she says most of the meals are incredibly strange with all sorts of weird stuff in it.

She'd be happy to eat one meal a day too.

Can anyone please offer some pointers on what could work as meals for her, things that are in essence very simple/basic while still managing to hit her daily macros? I'm literally losing my hair over trying to help her plan some meals out lol.

thank you very much folks :)

Replies

  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
    She can eat whatever she wants, just needs to hit her calorie goal. There aren't specific foods you must eat or must not eat to lose weight. It's really hard to say anything more specific than that without knowing her personally.

    She can eat goods she likes. She can eat one meal if that's what she prefers. She just needs to play around with the foods she likes to find the right portion sizes/frequency to hit her calorie goal and not be hungry.

    1200 calories is the absolute minimum. If she chose to lose 2 lbs per week, and isn't obese, that is too aggressive and she should lower her weekly weight loss goal and eat more. It will be much easier to eat a fairly normal diet if she isn't forcing rapid weight loss.
  • 23rochelle23
    23rochelle23 Posts: 269 Member
    Maybe base it in what she normally eats and swapping out ingredients for lower cal options or reducing portion sizes?
    What are normal meals in your house?
  • recodeexistance
    recodeexistance Posts: 51 Member
    Thanks for the responses guys and girls.

    Main takeaway would be - eat what she likes, just manage portions to fit caloric requirements?
    Personally my advice was for her to go with perhaps the .5 or 1lb per week option, but she wants what she wants xD

    @ Rochelle, it tends to be things like pasta and cheese, iceland indian takeaway range (chicken madras pilau rice), actual takeaways (vindalloo), fried egg sandwiches, slice+share garlic bread pizza thing, ahhmm. a few other things that i can't remember off the top of my head, but generally rotating around the same foods until bored, then switching , then switching back lol. (i eat my own diet plan though, above is just my wifes food preferences)
  • flippy1234
    flippy1234 Posts: 686 Member
    Personally, I like to keep things simple which makes it easy to make food and not look at it as a chore.
    Examples:
    egg with piece of toast in the morning.
    Protein shake mid morning
    Chicken with vegetables or salad at lunch
    yogurt mid afternoon snack
    Chicken or other protein with veggies and a sweet potato or brown rice for dinner

    Grill a bunch of chicken on sunday and have it for the week. The easier and simpler the better I think. Easier to measure or weigh for logging too.

  • recodeexistance
    recodeexistance Posts: 51 Member
    I understand the apprehension Tavistock, but that isn't really the case here. She's asked me to research for her, as she suffers severe social anxiety and would find this process very uncomfortable and disheartening. As stated though, i can understand the concern, and it's appreciated.
  • RelCanonical
    RelCanonical Posts: 3,882 Member
    recodeexistance wrote: »
    I understand the apprehension Tavistock, but that isn't really the case here. She's asked me to research for her, as she suffers severe social anxiety and would find this process very uncomfortable and disheartening. As stated though, i can understand the concern, and it's appreciated.

    I can understand the want for someone to filter the answers out for her. The internet can be...the internet, and sometimes people just aren't up for it.

  • 23rochelle23
    23rochelle23 Posts: 269 Member
    recodeexistance wrote: »
    Thanks for the responses guys and girls.

    Main takeaway would be - eat what she likes, just manage portions to fit caloric requirements?
    Personally my advice was for her to go with perhaps the .5 or 1lb per week option, but she wants what she wants xD

    @ Rochelle, it tends to be things like pasta and cheese, iceland indian takeaway range (chicken madras pilau rice), actual takeaways (vindalloo), fried egg sandwiches, slice+share garlic bread pizza thing, ahhmm. a few other things that i can't remember off the top of my head, but generally rotating around the same foods until bored, then switching , then switching back lol. (i eat my own diet plan though, above is just my wifes food preferences)

    Swap pasta for shiritaki noodles if she likes them,
    Cheese go for a slightly lower calorie version (I’m a cheese fiend so have to do this too lol)
    Cauliflower rice with curry will save some calories
    Reduce portions of garlic pizza or musclefood does a low cal garlic bread pizza thing (I’m assuming you’re UK based on you saying Iceland lol otherwise try a supplier other than muscle food)
    Have fried egg on toast as it’s half the bread (so halves those calories) - fry the egg in a 1cal oil spray rather than butter or oil

    Just nice easy little adjustments :-)
    Hope this helps x
  • RachelBlueBananna
    RachelBlueBananna Posts: 1 Member
    edited October 2018
    Swap pasta for shiritaki noodles if she likes them,
    Cheese go for a slightly lower calorie version (I’m a cheese fiend so have to do this too lol)
    Cauliflower rice with curry will save some calories
    Reduce portions of garlic pizza or musclefood does a low cal garlic bread pizza thing (I’m assuming you’re UK based on you saying Iceland lol otherwise try a supplier other than muscle food)
    Have fried egg on toast as it’s half the bread (so halves those calories) - fry the egg in a 1cal oil spray rather than butter or oil

    Just nice easy little adjustments :-)
    Hope this helps x

    These are great suggestions, thanks. She particularly liked the one about the noodles :)
    See gaining weight has been easy - eat bigger, train well, rest well. I take my hat off to you folks working on weight loss, fitting filling meals into such a small calorie allowance is mind-boggling lol!

    @RelCanonical Precisely! She's commited, but she'd rather I just filtered information through for her. I'm the self admitted fitness/health addict of the family xD

    Oops, didn't realise i was logged in on her account. -recodeexistance-
  • sbrooks0387
    sbrooks0387 Posts: 167 Member
    I have lost 40 pounds in 10 months and eat ice cream a lot. It’s really just portion size.

    I do make some swaps like using almond milk on my cereal and in anything I cook that I will eat. I swap half to 3/4 of my rice with riced cauliflower. I have discovered a alfrado recipe using almond milk that taste pretty good, and is easier on the calories. I make Sheppard’s pie with mashed cauliflower, so I can have full fat cheese and not blow my calories for the day. Little “tricks” like these really help you feel full, and still enjoy foods you love, and have room for desserts!
  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
    recodeexistance wrote: »
    Thanks for the responses guys and girls.

    Main takeaway would be - eat what she likes, just manage portions to fit caloric requirements?
    Personally my advice was for her to go with perhaps the .5 or 1lb per week option, but she wants what she wants xD

    @ Rochelle, it tends to be things like pasta and cheese, iceland indian takeaway range (chicken madras pilau rice), actual takeaways (vindalloo), fried egg sandwiches, slice+share garlic bread pizza thing, ahhmm. a few other things that i can't remember off the top of my head, but generally rotating around the same foods until bored, then switching , then switching back lol. (i eat my own diet plan though, above is just my wifes food preferences)

    She can eat those things in portions that stay within her goal but my prediction is she's going to feel hungry and deprived before long. Adding a fruit or veg serving to every meal or snack will add better nutrients for the calories and the fibre may help her feel satiated.
  • jor3c
    jor3c Posts: 40 Member
    When I started this process in 2012 I too had trouble figuring out food...
    What worked for me was getting a food scale (yea! gift exchange at work during holidays) and digging out the measuring spoons and cups Every time I served myself!.
    Reading labels and finding what I thought was a serving was in fact sometimes 3+ servings was a Real wake-up...
    I measured EVERYTHING I was going to eat and charted on here.
    Trying to keep my calories in the allotted 1200 calories each day plus started to try to walk down to end of block and back...it was not easy I won't lie, but I stuck with it with goal of being able to walk completely around the block - slowly but I make it.
    Remembering to NOT berate myself when I ate more or badly was a Big thing too. Sounds like she is ahead of the game with your support (something some of us Do not get) so she is lucky in that respect.
    I continued to eat what I wanted just learned portion control and charting. There are NO foods that I deem off limits I just continue to measure/portion control. Some days I am over and some days I am a bit under (those are rare) but I do try to keep between 1200-1300 each day.
    Also, what worked for a friend was just measuring and charting a "normal" week - before cutting her calorie count down so she had an idea what she had been doing and not cut so drastically at first...this gave her body time to adjust to less and not feel deprived.
    There is NO Fast Easy way...it is a day to day process over time. Yes, it does work and yes, you will backslide at times but you still keep going. Life is hectic and full so therefore, learning to ease up on yourself and the self-doubt nagging internal voice for me tends to be the hardest.
    The recipe section where I can put in a recipe and see how much the calories are is a great feature & I use it a lot too. This way family gets what they like too and I know I can eat and how much to keep within my individual guidelines for that day.
    Good Luck and Keep Good Thoughts.
  • Its_Haleeyyy
    Its_Haleeyyy Posts: 39 Member
    edited October 2018
    I'm also a big pasta/pizza/ carb person and a really picky eater. I usually buy personal pizzas/single serve pastas and such so I don't overdo it. Baked chips are a big one too. I try and squeeze water and some fruit in with my meal so I get full and don't stuff my face. Maybe have one cheat meal a week as long as it won't put her off track. If I'm having a really bad craving day I'll try and eat low calorie stuff early in the day and have what I'm craving for dinner
  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
    I'd start by logging what she's currently eating for a few days so you have a baseline for what her current normal is. From there, you should have a pretty good idea of how much needs to be cut. Then, let her make some decisions about what is or isn't worth cutting based on calories and taste/desire for said food.

    As for what she can eat vs what she's willing to eat... they don't have to be different. Heck, getting started they probably shouldn't be wildly different. But everyone is different in terms of what/how much change they find tolerable, so some trial and error might be necessary.

    Just as a side note - I'd make sure 1200 cals is a reasonable intake for her. It may be, but it might not be. 2 minutes of double-checking is well worth it, IMO.

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