Changing eating habits but don't know where to start

aliciaxcore1 · March 2019

I am wanting to start eating better. I weigh 360 lbs and decided its time to change my eating habits. I don't know where to start though. I have no idea how to meal prep or even make a grocery list for anything lol. Does anyone have any tips to help me get started. I am a terrible cook as well so im completely lost on all this. Ive always just ate the same and tried to exercise. I am realizing now exercise and junk food doesn't equal weight loss goals met. Thanks yall

zeejane03 · March 2019

First, realize that for weight loss it doesn't matter what kinds of foods you're eating-you just need to be at the correct calorie deficit for your weight loss goals. And many times, when someone has a lot of excess weight, just by losing the weight they'll see significant improvements in their health markers.

Starting out I wouldn't make a bunch of drastic changes to how you're currently eating, that will be very overwhelming and will most likely lead to frustration and ultimately adherence failure. I'd start by logging what you currently eat for a few days-get familiar with how to log, (also learn how to identify correct database entries since there's a lot of incorrect ones listed, unfortunately), start weighing out portion sizes on a food scale to learn what proper amounts are etc.

Then, after a few days I'd start reducing your calorie intake by making small adjustments. If you drink regular soda, reduce the amount or switch to diet soda (same with juice, energy drinks etc). If you drink coffee start adjusting what you add to it, to lower calorie options. Start reducing/replacing high calorie condiments. Keep making these kinds of changes and it will snowball into bigger changes

Lenpayasa · March 2019

I also can't cook. I buy a gigantic tub of spring mix, shredded carrots, seeds and nuts, canned tuna and salmon, avocado, etc from Aldi. For variety and my sweet tooth I add in seasonal fruit like mandarins, strawberries, grapes. I microwave fish with lemon, olive oil and spices or put chicken in an Instant Pot. Actually, Instant Pots are perfect for the non-cookers like me!

My thought is that convenience is why I would eat junk so I am going to make whole foods as convenient as I can so I don't regress. Meal planning and prep is too hard for me at this point but I can easily add ingredients to a big pot or salad.

NovusDies · March 2019

The energy requirement just to maintain 360 pounds is fairly high so as @zeejane03 says small cuts like starting to eliminate sodas, replacing a dessert with fruit, or replacing a high calorie snack with low calorie popcorn is a good place to start. Notice I said "OR" in that last sentence because you may not have to do all 3.

The first phase of any weight loss effort really comes down to survival and you want that to be as easy as possible. You don't want to be hoping you get through this fast so you can get back to normal you want THIS to feel as close to normal as possible. As you make this your new normal you will be losing weight and able to handle more changes as needed. In a year you may find yourself eating very differently than you do today but it will be done with tiny changes over time.

While people can lose weight without learning to cook I do think it is a beneficial skill to develop. You don't have to be a great cook to fix many food items you only need to be a fair cook that can keep an eye on things. Is there anything you feel comfortable cooking now? Something like scrambled eggs maybe? What do you find happens when you do try? When it turns out badly what do you think is the main cause?

HollyPFlax · March 2019

First off, congratulations on making your decision to change! You have already completed the first major step. You did not get to your current weight overnight and you won't get down to a healthy weight overnight, either. Weight loss takes time. You essentially need to create a calorie deficit and sustain it over a long period of time.

I am going to reiterate what everyone else has said here. Although it is awesome that you are prepared to make huge changes, drastic change is often unsustainable. Many people entirely change their habits for a few weeks and cut out everything they love. Their new lifestyle becomes so restrictive that they drop it and go back to how they used to eat. Which is why it's important to not cut out your favorite foods.

My suggestion for your second step in this journey is to figure out how many calories you need to maintain your weight (MyFitnessPal can calculate this for you. Just enter your stats and tell it you want to maintain your weight). Then, start logging your food. Log EVERYTHING. Log a single Hershey Kiss. Log a bite of cheese. Log your restaurant meal including the salad before it, including the dressing, including the croutons, including the bread, including the butter packets (you get the idea). After a couple of weeks, just start to look at what you can cut out and not miss. It can be something significant like, maybe you haven't really loved soda in a long time and just drink it out of habit. Or even something minor, like switching from mayonnaise to mustard on your sandwiches.

Calorie counting is a skill that takes time to learn. As you lose weight, your body will need fewer calories to maintain it, which makes it more difficult to create a deficit. You'll eventually need a food scale and may want to incorporate exercise. But for now, just get used to the process of logging everything you eat. And remember to be completely honest. No one else will see your diary. Lying to yourself will only slow your progress.

Good luck and please come back if you have more questions, start to get frustrated, hit a plateau, or just want to chat. We love helping people!

Ddub2020 · March 2019

All the advice on here is great. You may not cook but I would check out youtube and some cooking websites. I was an ok cook but have made some amazing recipes I didn't think I could from watching a video walk through. I don't even make complicated recipes. I reject any that look too complicated or have more ingredients than I am comfortable with. I also bake 5 chicken breasts in the beginning of the week so I have some on hand if I am too lazy to make dinner or lunch. It's been a few weeks since I started eating healthier and just started on this site but I have to say making my own food and learning new, very simple but yummy, recipes makes me feel more in control and confident than I have felt in many MANY years.

mariluny · March 2019

We all started somewhere and I’m happy for you that you want to inprove your help!

Small changes add up really fast, much faster than we think! I started my journey at 250 pounds and the first few months I could get away with baby step easily and still see some changes fast, I’m sure it can be the same for you. As many people said here I would suggest to start swapping out things, 1 or 2 items per week or two weeks, just so you don’t get overwhelmed by changes.

Here’s some example of what I did that worked well for me:

I still eat pancakes twice a week, because I love them and I don’t want to give it up, but instead of syrop I microwave frozen raspberry, lemon juice and a bit of syrop, it makes a coulis-jam in about 1 min and I really enjoy it on top of my pancakes, for less than 1/3 the calories!

I really enjoy fizzy drinks but now I drink fizzy flavored water like bubbly, la croix, perrier... it took me a few days to really enjoy it, but now i find soda way too sweet and I don’t enjoy them

If you eat out often, ask them for the sauce or dressing on the side, and add then yourself to your food. It will both help you see and log what you eat, and over time help you add less to your food.

Good luck!!

Florida_Superstar · March 2019

Good advice so far, and my advice is to just start small. It can be overwhelming to try to learn about logging, cooking, and weighing foods...along with trying to change the types of food you eat all at once. Listen, all that really matters is you need to eat less than you have been to lose weight. That is true whether you have 10 pounds to lose or 100 pounds to lose. The difference is that people who only have 10 pounds to lose have to be a lot more precise, so weighing on a food scale and logging every little bite becomes much more important. When you have a large weight loss goal, you can make very small, less precise changes and make a lot of progress. My advice is to start small. Just eat the same foods you have been while cutting back on the portion sizes. That will work for awhile, and then you can post here again when you're ready for the next step. It sure can't hurt if you want to eat some salads or fresh fruits and veggies now--but you can add those in as you feel ready and just work on the smaller goal of reducing portion sizes to get started. You can do this!

ehaze52 · March 2019

When people say "start small" I think it means "start with what's easy for you" Pick a few things you can do that are personally easy for you to do, and then do them. You don't have to make drastic changes in the beginning, just a few you can have success with achieving. Maybe it's drinking more fluids or switching to lower fat dairy, or adding more fish to your meal plan. After a week, find another habit to modify or add -- before you know it, these little things add up, you'll see results, and you'll have much better eating habits. what's left are the really hard ones but by then you should have some success which gives good motivation to make the harder changes.

csplatt · March 2019

Some people here would recommend spending a week or two simply tracking what you normally eat, rather than trying to make a significant cut right away. Use the app or the FOOD tab to watch what your intake normally is. Then start making choices to lower the average calories per day.

You also can go into your settings and set exiting weight + goal weight, and it will assign you a calorie amount to net each day.

Changing eating habits but don't know where to start

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