@thabit11
I think most of the calories come from what you have on / with your pancake
https://www.verywellfit.com/pancake-nutrition-facts-calories-and-health-benefits-4111295
If maybe if you have a sweet tooth, you could make some low/ no sugar fruit compote to put on it. If you want savoury, incorporate the sausage or bacon (turkey? Linda McCartney?) into your daily food plan. Or skip lunch!

Is it ok if I start this late for March?

I also wanted to thank those that reached out to me when I was not online. I have briefly mentioned in the past I have been dealing with my abusive ex. I am in the middle of a nasty battle. So I needed to take time away from social media. I am not sure how comfortable I am posting about this yet, since I am still in the middle of it. Plus I am afraid of my ex and how he manipulates things.

However, I need to focus on my goals, and the future I have been working so hard to achieve for me and my son. Plus the stress level I have currently is extremely high and I am starting to experience chest pains, which scares me as well. I need to achieve my health goals now more than ever.

@Chinkiri Thank you!

Chinkiri wrote: »

@thabit11
I think most of the calories come from what you have on / with your pancake
https://www.verywellfit.com/pancake-nutrition-facts-calories-and-health-benefits-4111295
If maybe if you have a sweet tooth, you could make some low/ no sugar fruit compote to put on it. If you want savoury, incorporate the sausage or bacon (turkey? Linda McCartney?) into your daily food plan. Or skip lunch!

Thanks for the link I'll check it out for sure and when I do it, I'll upload a picture to show you 🥰

Thanks @thabit11 , will try that! Don't think I can get veal slices here in France, but I can certainly get veal and cut it into small, thin cubes. I get the bit about wrapping the final product into lettuce leaves! Love broccoli. Like you, I like brown rice, has a bite to it and lots of nutty flavour. I also don't often cook from recipes, but I use them for inspiration. Some exceptions, like Julia Child's onion soup, or her Boeuf Bourguignon, they are just too scrumptious to follow my own path. I might do a beef stew for next week, provides several meals ...
I really enjoy my food and hate 'dieting'. I am fine looking at calories, smaller portions and am fortunate in that I have never enjoyed 'junk' food and don't have a sweet tooth. However, I love cheese, starchy comfort food, my glass of wine with my meal (and often one while cooking), finishing my meal with cheese and what's left of the wine, not great on exercise, and that piles on the calories.

Chinkiri wrote: »

Another question: I am not a vegetarian, but I much prefer vegetables, pulses, potatoes to meat or poultry. I like fish and seafood, so I eat that at least twice a week. I feel I should eat some red meat or poultry from time to time. What do you think? Do you have any tempting recipes for beef, chicken, lamb or pork that won't take me all day to cook and prepare and don't taste bland (chicken) or like they could've been omitted altogether? (Chicken, again) I'll eat wok-fried strips of beef with lots of garlic, ginger, soy sauce spring onions and broccoli any time though.

@Chinkiri

Here is an easy chicken scaloppini recipe. When I first started cooking this, I would pound skinless chicken breast until it was a uniform thickness. Now I cheat and just use chicken strips. It cooks in one pan with a lid.

Breading:
panko (about half a cup for a pound of chicken)
fresh cracked black pepper to taste
parsley to taste
Sauce:
a jar of capers 3 or 4 ounces (you can't have too many)
splash of lemon juice
white wine (you want a dry wine with citrus flavors, not sweet)
Olive Oil

Mix up the breading and bread the chicken tenders. (I don't use any liquid on the chicken to pick up the breading because I like the breading light.)

Get a large frying pan on a temperature you can control for browning the chicken. I go a little less than medium. Put a tablespoon of oil in the pan and heat it up. Add the chicken and brown the pieces on both sides. Use more olive oil if you need it. Use the lid while browning to limit the mess on the stove.

When they are browned, add capers, a splash of lemon juice, white wine to not quite cover the chicken. Drop the temperature to low and cover. Let it simmer 10 or 15 minutes, stir it up and turn over the chicken. Add liquid (water) if you need to. Let it simmer some more.

You cannot overcook this. It always comes out tender and flavorful. In a pinch, you can substitute a little white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar mixed with mostly water for the wine.

@Chinkiri surely at a boucherie you can ask for them to slice the veal for you (at your desired rate of thickness), no?

Where I live - in Montreal, Canada (an emulator of Paris and its suburbs lol) - many of the bigger butchering shops will do this for you. The exception are butchers, delis, and bakeries that are in too small of a space to fit in a slicing machine.

Good luck!

@thabit11 @Chinkiri For extra crunch and freshness, I also often make romaine “wraps“ or add lettuce strips to my meals. It helps me feel full more quickly, as portion control is my main challenge!

KCJen wrote: »

I got a Fitbit Inspire 2 yesterday. I was curious as to how many in UAC use a Fitbit or fitness tracker?

I do but it's an old Moto360 (Gen 2) that runs on Android. That said, it still runs lol I use the exercise calorie counts from that, as opposed the MFP-generate counts.

How are you finding the Fitbit so far?

Question: Is anyone tailoring their eating to meet the daily nutritional guidelines provided by MFP, or customized that part of MFP to a specific diet? If so, is it helping you reach your goals (whatever they may be)? I'm pretty new to MFP, so I'm focused on my calorie budget and exercise, which is probably good for now. Baby steps.