How to make a meal and stay within calorie budget

SillyCat1975
SillyCat1975 Posts: 328 Member
edited December 24 in Food and Nutrition
Ok, so I am looking to make dinner, dinner which my family will eat, do meal plans. I don't know how I can do this and still remain within my calorie budget. It seems impossible. I count every little calorie that goes into something, so If I am making a huge meal for people then I'm not sure how to count those calories and make it a portion. Say I am using 4 Tbsp on unsalted butter, that's 400 calories right there. I'm just using that as an example, then add meat to it and that more calories, and whatever else.... how would i count calories for a meal? That was just an example. Not an actual meal. Please help! I want to make something my family will eat.

Replies

  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    Enter your recipes in My Fitness Pal and save them. If your serving is 1/5th of that recipe, then you log your meal as 20% of that recipe. A favorite strategy of mine is a veggie side. That way I can fill up my plate and be a little stingy with the higher calorie casserole (or whatever).

    Skinny Taste is website with really good lower calorie recipes. You can take some ideas from there to "lighten" anything you would make for your family a bit.
  • SillyCat1975
    SillyCat1975 Posts: 328 Member
    TeaBea wrote: »
    Enter your recipes in My Fitness Pal and save them. If your serving is 1/5th of that recipe, then you log your meal as 20% of that recipe. A favorite strategy of mine is a veggie side. That way I can fill up my plate and be a little stingy with the higher calorie casserole (or whatever).

    Skinny Taste is website with really good lower calorie recipes. You can take some ideas from there to "lighten" anything you would make for your family a bit.

    Thank you! I am so goofy, I didn't even think of that, and to think, I've been doing this forever!
  • apullum
    apullum Posts: 4,838 Member
    The recipe builder is definitely the way to go. You can add your ingredients and then enter the number of servings of the finished dish. You can also save multiple foods as a meal.

    Regarding the number of calories in, say, butter, many recipes really don't need as much fat as they call for. If you are already getting the minimum amount of fat, you can try reducing the amount of oil/butter in the recipe. Try 3 tbsp. butter; if that works, then next time, you might try two. (Note that this does not work for baking; you generally cannot reduce fats in baked goods without making substitutions or compromising the finished product.)
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