Eating healthy and diet help

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

I also love pasta and rice, so I still eat them. I just put much less on to my plate than I used to. Same with potatoes. I add more vegetables instead.

I rarely drink beer as it doesn't agree with me but it might be worth trying the zero or low alcohol ones. They're definitely much lower in cals, so even if you have one low alcohol drink plus a 'proper' beer, you'd still be reducing your calorie intake. Same with the coke - could you switch to coke zero or diet coke? Pre Covid lockdown, I'd still have a glass of wine (or two) if out with friends. But I intersperse them with soda water & lime.

Could you take salad for lunch? In a container in a small cool-bag, perhaps with a small icepack, it would keep cool until lunchtime evenif you don't have access to a fridge. I rarely eat bread for the same reason I don't drink beer, but my typical salad is large. With chicken, tuna, tinned salmon or ham & feta cheese mixed through, it's a substantial meal but lower in cals than if I were to have a sandwich. I usually make a big bowl of salad (lettuce or rocket, cucumber, tomato, radish, spring onions, sometimes avocado, sometimes artichoke hearts, sometimes bell peppers), that I'll then divide between three lunches, so I don't have to prep daily. I'll sometimes cook a small amount (60g dry weight) of wholewheat pasta which I'll also add to the salad bowl. The ones I had last week, with pasta in, were 233 cals, whereas a quick addition of some entries to MFP shows that 2 slices of bread with a light spread plus chicken and lettuce would be over 350 cals. I can get far more chicken in to a salad than I can between two slices of bread.

Add your avocado to your lunchtime salad and switch to a sugar free Greek yoghurt for breakfast. Add some berries and seeds to jazz it up. Or have a plain omelette with your avocado instead of toast.

Instead of pretzel crisps, do any supermarkets near you do veggie crisps? There are other options, but the most commonly seen ones in the UK are made from lentils. They're not necessarily lower in cals, carbs or anything else than normal crisps, but they are very tasty and they come in smaller packets than regular crisps.

One square of dark chocolate might be enough to satisfy any sweet cravings, but there's always the temptation to just eat the entire bar. Ricecakes coated in dark chocolate are far nicer than they sound and are a good option.


Track your intake for a week or so, so that you can see how much you're eating and also where the higher cals are coming from. Then look around the supermarket to see where you can gradually make small changes that are lower cal options.

i eat what i want. im not big on carbs in general, but i do love bread and sweets if it fits in my calories for the day, its fair game.

Some strategies that help me as a Mom of 2:

1. I eat the same breakfast and lunch every day so it's much easier to track and I know I always have those items on hand.
2. I plan and cook dinners that are also easy to weigh and track - for example, I plan a meat, sauce, carb and veg and cook them separately so they can be weighed and logged. Put sauces on the side. One of our favorites is pulled pork, sweet potatoes, and broccoli with some BBQ sauce on the side. Or chicken, rice, and a veg with curry sauce on the side.
3. I eat what satisfies me rather than a healthier version of it. The portions are smaller, but I'm not left dreaming of the "real thing." I have potato chips, cookies, and ice cream (not all at the same time) and I make sure they fit into my calorie allotment. Now, I know this last one is not manageable for everyone. Sometimes a small portion of something leads someone to binge eat, so do what works best for you.

Best wishes to you!!

For alcohol: I don't drink on a regular basis, but when I do I plan for it. That may mean shaving a few calories a few days ahead of time, such as saving 100-200 per day. Or getting in an extra walk to 'earn' more calories. For the drinks I had on the 4th, I started working them in on the 2nd. With extra activity and limiting my intake (just a little) I was able to prelog a drink each day on Thur/Fri.

I go by the theory its overall calories that count. So banking cals Thur-Fri-Sat between being extra careful on how much I consumed AND burning extra was the same net value as having normal days Thur-Fri and a really high calorie consumption day Sat.