What do y’all eat ?

sugarmemango7003 · January 12

Hey I’m Melanie
43, from Mississippi
My highest weight was 299 in 1/2023.
I joined a gym and started taking water aerobics classes
From that I’ve lost 33 pounds.
But I have diabetes and other health issues.

I’m planning to have gastric sleeve surgery this year.
I just began seeing a dietitian and I’m trying to learn how to eat right
And the correct portions.
1/14 I will begin logging my foods.

What do y’all eat ?
Any recommendations?
Feel free to add me as a friend too.

zebasschick · January 12

i'm a vegetarian, and i eat 6 small meals per day rather than 3 larger ones. i had type 2 diabetic, and i learned my blood sugar spike was much lower eating less calories per meal. eating 5 or 6 meals a day is also handy if you're resistance training as it lets you get more protein in without eating too much at any one sitting.

i eat a lot of riced cauliflower, which - when done right and not overcooked - has a slightly crunchy, ricelike texture that i find satisfying. it's good with dressings or mixed with other stuff. i eat shelled edamame (green soy beans), tempeh, homemade bread, small servings of crackers and chips (potato chips, sweet potato chips or tortilla chips), cheese. i eat a lot of chocolate from protein bars to york zero sugar peppermint patties, and i love roasted cashews and pistachios - in moderation. if i have the calories, i might have a cookie or some cake if i've been baking. i eat a lot of protein powder, too, as i've been doing a lot of resistance training.

since i've lost 100 pounds, my blood sugar is normal, but i'm going to keep eating the way i learned to over the last few years. i feel better, my cholesterol is normal (it was high before) as is my blood sugar (which at its highest was 300!), all with no drugs.

i suggest you start by logging now without making any changes. it will give you a good idea of where your calories are coming from, and that helped me make changes that worked best for me. you'll need a food scale, and each time you add a food for the first time, you'll need to check the MFP database entries against the manufacturer or FDA info, as many users input wrong calorie or nutrition info when they add a food.

btw, for more food ideas, you might want to check out the foot and nutrition forum
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/categories/food-and-nutrition
and the recipes forum
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/categories/recipes

welcome, and you can do this!

AnnPT77 · January 12

I eat the same things I always ate, just different portion sizes, proportions on the plate, and frequencies for calorie-dense foods.

I'd endorse @zebasschick's suggestion of logging what you eat now. When I did that, the first calorie cuts I could make jumped right out at me: I was definitely eating some things that weren't worth their calorie "cost" to me, once I knew what their calories and my calorie budget were.

I'm a fan of a "gradually remodel one's eating" approach to weight loss and improved nutrition. Details about that approach are here:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10636388/free-customized-personal-weight-loss-eating-plan-not-spam-or-mlm/p1

That won't be perfect for everyone - no one method is - but it's one option to consider.

Me, I'm also vegetarian (and have been for almost 50 years, thin to obese and back to thin again). I make it a point to get plenty of protein, and lots of varied, colorful veggies and fruits. For me, those things are tasty and filling.

Breakfast is usually a yogurt bowl or oatmeal with yogurt (either of those with walnuts, hemp seed, flax seed, peanut butter powder, cinnamon) plus coffee with lots of hot skimmed milk; or peanut butter on an Ezekiel pita with kefir.

Lunches vary, but things like scrambled eggs with veggies and calorie-efficient cheese; smoked tofu tortilla with sauerkraut, onions, mustard, and cheese; or oatmeal if I didn't have it for breakfast (love my oatmeal!)

Dinners also vary, but might be high protein pasta with veggies and marinara plus possibly cheese; a giant vat of roasted veggies with tamari or a peanut powder/chili sauce dressing plus edamame pasta; broiled romaine wedge salad with raw veggies and dry-roasted edamame for protein; tempeh cut up in sticks and eaten with salsa, ketchup (I have a ketchup weakness!), or calorie-efficient BBQ sauce.

Nutrition is important IMO, but there are lots of different eating styles that will let you achieve it. Calories are the thing that will directly determine weight gain/loss, but nutrition can affect appetite or energy level so matter indirectly. Too many people assume they need to eat all clean all the time (whatever the heck "clean means"!?!). I think it's fine to eat any combination of foods that is tasty, reasonably filling, and that adds up to reasonable nutrition on average most of the time.

Finding a personally satisfying, filling, practical way of eating is a key success factor, IMO. We each have different preferences, strengths, challenges, lifestyles. Finding ways to eat (and move) that fit us well is a huge contributor to losing a meaningful total amount of weight (since that takes weeks to months at least), and especially to maintaining a healthy weight long term after reaching goal weight.

Best wishes!

carolinelittle · January 20

I was sleeved 10 May 2023. Another vegetarian! I eat frozen yoghurt twice a day which I make myself. Love my Ninja Creami. Low carb wraps with cheese, lately mountain bread with PB, watermelon, and lots of legume and bean based dishes. Nothing is off limits but I do eat well 90 percent of the time which leaves me room for treats. I usually indulge in a take away dish once a week. Last week it was loaded fries. I do monitor carbs, try to keep them under 100. As a vegetarian it's impossible to avoid them. I'm down 95 pounds and wish to lose at least 80 to 100 more.

yirara · January 20

I think my diet resembles the Mediterranean Diet most closely with lots of fresh produce and very few ready-made things. I only cook one meal per day, and this hardly ever takes more than 30 minutes. As I live alone I often cook for 2-3 days at a time and reheat my dinner. Breakfast is oats with skyr, few raisins and whatever fruit I have. Lunch is a few slices of bread with whatever I have, and dinner is whatever I cook. Plus additional fruit, something like labne balls, pieces of cheese and one or the other small snack in the course of the day.

mandiclare9 · January 20

I am really loving my spiralizer. I found one at the thrift store. I am eating a lot of spiralized meals. My favorite is spiralized sweet potato noodles with (butter, onion, garlic with chicken or shrimp adding some cheese on top. I also love making rice rolls with veggies and chicken or shrimp. MMM

What do y’all eat ?

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