Learning to eat what I love within my calorie deficit

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jocelynthompsett
jocelynthompsett Posts: 1 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I am new to calorie watching. My personal trainer recommended it for a month so that I can see how many calories are in things. Ugh, it's been so friggin hard! Any tips???

Replies

  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
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    Right--get a digital food scale and start weighing and measuring everything you eat and drink. Try to hit your daily calorie goal. Eat back exercise calories, or at least half. Take your measurements and keep a weekly journal. It's a great way to measure progress.
  • nighthawk584
    nighthawk584 Posts: 2,001 Member
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    Incorporate more nutritionally dense foods in your diet...Lots of veggies! They fill you up and are low in calories. and Food scale is a must.
  • Jackie9003
    Jackie9003 Posts: 1,110 Member
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    It's a definite learning curve, my advice is to try to log things before you eat them as you may find some foods more than you expected - I once ate some birthday cake and found out too late it was the best part of 800cals.
    You'll soon start to get the hang of it and eventually you will start make different choices as you start deciding whether or not something is worth the calories.
  • wilson10102018
    wilson10102018 Posts: 1,306 Member
    edited February 2020
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    My tip is to love what you eat.

    I wasn't a fan of shrimp or halibut or ahi tuna until I learned how to cook them. Today, I would rather have an ahi tuna steak seared in butter (1 pat) and dolloped with oyster sauce, than a rib eye. Calories difference = tuna is 450 lower.

    today, I'd rather have a bowl of fresh raspberries than a bowl of salted peanuts. Calorie difference 750.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    Read the stickied most helpful forum posts in the top of the getting started and other sections - they have a wealth of information about how to set appropriate goals, how to log accurately, why you should eat back exercise calories, how to be successful using the site, what to do if you hit a plateau, etc.

    What are your overall goals? Weight loss? Weight maintenance? More fitness related?
  • nicsflyingcircus
    nicsflyingcircus Posts: 2,458 Member
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    wilson10102018 wrote: »
    My tip is to love what you eat.

    I wasn't a fan of shrimp or halibut or ahi tuna until I learned how to cook them. Today, I would rather have an ahi tuna steak seared in butter (1 pat) and dolloped with oyster sauce, than a rib eye. Calories difference = tuna is 450 lower.

    today, I'd rather have a bowl of fresh raspberries than a bowl of salted peanuts. Calorie difference 750.

    I know how to cook tuna, but still don't like it, lol. And I love steak. I can fit sirloin or other leaner cuts like flank steak into my calorie budget routinely, with Ribeye as an occasional food, like last night. And I make a point to cook it exactly as I want it, then eat it slowly and savor it.
  • summery79
    summery79 Posts: 116 Member
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    Living in the U.S., I quickly learned with tracking that the restaurants here serve super high-calorie meals. I used to eat a salad that was ~1500 calories thinking I was making the "healthy" choice. lol It becomes much easier if you make your own food. Make a soup or stew (or salads or another recipe), log it, decide how many servings to split it into for lunches. That takes care of one meal for you. Non-starchy veggies are a great help in bulking meals without a lot of calories.
  • bmeadows380
    bmeadows380 Posts: 2,981 Member
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    As others have pointed out, definitely look at the stickies for a wealth of information on determining the right amount of goal calories for you based upon what you are shooting for - lose weight or bulk up.

    Since you're just starting out, I would recommend taking a week or two, using the food scale, and just eating what you'd normally eat to get an idea of where you are. It can be a real eye-opener when you start seeing just exactly how many calories you just ate! For instance: I could eat a good cup of almonds and not even bat an eye as a snack - I could have keeled over when I found that a serving of almonds is in the neighborhood of 1/8 cup (for example) and is around 200 calories per serving - so I was easy scarfing down 1200 calories with no thought to it at all!

    Serving size is everything! Packaged items and foods are really bad for posting a low calorie count by breaking the serving into tiny portions. As an example, I quit eating cereal for breakfast because I realized that I what I was actually eating was around 2 to 3 servings, and it wasn't feeling me up at all. Honey Bunches of Oats with Almonds serving size is 3/4 cup or 32g and is 130 calories alone before you add milk. 1% milk is in the neighborhood of 110 calories, so if you use 1/2 cup of of milk on that 3/4 cup cereal, you're up to 185 calories. Weigh out that serving of cereal, and you'll be really amazed (or upset) at just how small that serving is!

    Once you get the hang of measuring to get an accurate serving size and the calorie content for that serving, you can start learning to tweak recipes and such, learning what you can cut out or modify or substitute to get the calorie counts closer to where you need them.

    It may seem daunting at first, but I promise that it gets much easier as you go along.
  • corinasue1143
    corinasue1143 Posts: 7,467 Member
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    Like anything, it’s just hard at first. But SO worth it. It really opened my eyes to so many things!
    Just be glad your trainer wants to teach you. Lots of them don’t.
    Good luck!
  • wilson10102018
    wilson10102018 Posts: 1,306 Member
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    nicsflyingcircus wrote: »
    wilson10102018 wrote: »
    My tip is to love what you eat.

    I wasn't a fan of shrimp or halibut or ahi tuna until I learned how to cook them. Today, I would rather have an ahi tuna steak seared in butter (1 pat) and dolloped with oyster sauce, than a rib eye. Calories difference = tuna is 450 lower.

    today, I'd rather have a bowl of fresh raspberries than a bowl of salted peanuts. Calorie difference 750.

    I know how to cook tuna, but still don't like it, lol. And I love steak. I can fit sirloin or other leaner cuts like flank steak into my calorie budget routinely, with Ribeye as an occasional food, like last night. And I make a point to cook it exactly as I want it, then eat it slowly and savor it.

    Perhaps I should have been more articulate.

    Eating what one loves is the reason we are here in the first place. Loving what we eat after adjusting to more sensible food choices is what brings us serenity. I love my new foods.
  • nicsflyingcircus
    nicsflyingcircus Posts: 2,458 Member
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    wilson10102018 wrote: »
    nicsflyingcircus wrote: »
    wilson10102018 wrote: »
    My tip is to love what you eat.

    I wasn't a fan of shrimp or halibut or ahi tuna until I learned how to cook them. Today, I would rather have an ahi tuna steak seared in butter (1 pat) and dolloped with oyster sauce, than a rib eye. Calories difference = tuna is 450 lower.

    today, I'd rather have a bowl of fresh raspberries than a bowl of salted peanuts. Calorie difference 750.

    I know how to cook tuna, but still don't like it, lol. And I love steak. I can fit sirloin or other leaner cuts like flank steak into my calorie budget routinely, with Ribeye as an occasional food, like last night. And I make a point to cook it exactly as I want it, then eat it slowly and savor it.

    Perhaps I should have been more articulate.

    Eating what one loves is the reason we are here in the first place. Loving what we eat after adjusting to more sensible food choices is what brings us serenity. I love my new foods.

    I have found some new foods to love, true, but that doesn't mean I have to completely eliminate food I have always loved. It's more a matter of frequency and portion... An 8oz Ribeye once in awhile, 1 or 2 extra dark lindor truffles vs the whole bag, measuring butter, sour cream, mayo, salad dressing etc VS pouring with a free hand. Making substitutions where it doesn't bother me, like Kraft avocado mayo VS regular, lite or yogurt based salad dressings. Eating more veggies and less starches (calorie density).
  • DevonKaroline
    DevonKaroline Posts: 19 Member
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    It can definitely feel challenging, tedious, a hassle, etc. but I'd focus more on what you'll gain from it such as education and awareness to prepare you for future ease in meal choices/meal planning that supports your goals.

    This new awareness can also make it easier to see where you can squeeze in ice cream, pizza, etc. while still making progress.
  • angelexperiment
    angelexperiment Posts: 1,917 Member
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    nicsflyingcircus wrote: »
    wilson10102018 wrote: »
    nicsflyingcircus wrote: »
    wilson10102018 wrote: »
    My tip is to love what you eat.

    I wasn't a fan of shrimp or halibut or ahi tuna until I learned how to cook them. Today, I would rather have an ahi tuna steak seared in butter (1 pat) and dolloped with oyster sauce, than a rib eye. Calories difference = tuna is 450 lower.

    today, I'd rather have a bowl of fresh raspberries than a bowl of salted peanuts. Calorie difference 750.

    I know how to cook tuna, but still don't like it, lol. And I love steak. I can fit sirloin or other leaner cuts like flank steak into my calorie budget routinely, with Ribeye as an occasional food, like last night. And I make a point to cook it exactly as I want it, then eat it slowly and savor it.

    Perhaps I should have been more articulate.

    Eating what one loves is the reason we are here in the first place. Loving what we eat after adjusting to more sensible food choices is what brings us serenity. I love my new foods.

    I have found some new foods to love, true, but that doesn't mean I have to completely eliminate food I have always loved. It's more a matter of frequency and portion... An 8oz Ribeye once in awhile, 1 or 2 extra dark lindor truffles vs the whole bag, measuring butter, sour cream, mayo, salad dressing etc VS pouring with a free hand. Making substitutions where it doesn't bother me, like Kraft avocado mayo VS regular, lite or yogurt based salad dressings. Eating more veggies and less starches (calorie density).

    This very much this 🥰

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