how to ease into week one ?

High volume (low calorie) eat all days foods are going to be veggies. Celery, cucumber, leafy greens, zucchini, mushrooms, peppers and tomatoes.

Another high volume food - pretty low in calories is popcorn. I have a microwave popper and use 1 teaspoon of buttery coconut oil. That helps fine grain popcorn salt stick (check out Kernel Seasonings).

My goal is 2 snacks a day......no more. But snacks are foods I enjoy not mindless eating. I've lost weight & regained before. A permanent change for me is to banish mindless eating. I can't keep doing that and keep the weight off. This is where logging EVERYTHING comes in. Logging both good and bad will help you see patterns. Lisa K is correct.

My strategy, I keep cut-up veggies in the fridge. If I want to eat outside of a meal or snack the veggies are there. I also include veggies with meals as a way to bump up portion sizes. Ie: not just mac'n cheese, but mac'n cheese with cauliflower.

Another strategy - no eating in front of the TV. Find something to do with your hands if you need to.

saidoprin wrote: »

I am realizing i might be an emotional boredom eater. i practically ate nothing bad on day one and still managed to consu,e 2400 calories while feeling very virtuos that i ate almost nothing! my diet isnt bad... i dont eat fastfood, carbonated sweet sugary drinks etc., i have coffee and heavy cream or tea with milk. that is my problem as well as just regular eating with just normal levels of oil (but it adds up fast!)

i am looking for a brain-dead eat all you want kind of foods that are also not salads (they tend to be cold and caise me to continue to feel hungry)

For example today i are 2 lbs of bokchoi with garlic EASILY and sauted it with a 2 tbsp of oil. but it would have been great if i had included some amount of carb but my sense of how much everything costs in calores is messed up.

So please help if you can and share you "do this and eat this much plan" for my first week

Do you prelog your meals/snacks? If you log them before you eat them, you can adjust portion sizes (or the overall meal plan) to keep things where you want them to be. (Truth in advertising: I don't prelog myself, but many people here report doing well with that strategy, and it seems like it could suit your situation.)

As a micro-tip, maybe rethink what's "normal levels of oil". I've found that I can greatly reduce the amount of oil I use in cooking, and that (for me) that has minimal effect on tastiness or satiation. For something like the bok choi, I might even consider "sauteeing" it in a bit of flavorful broth rather than oil. (Bouillon is fine, easy; there's stuff in a jar called "Better than Bouillon" available (in the US at least) that I think truly is better, and it keeps long term in the fridge. Miso broth is also good, and so are the right brand(s) of packaged broth. Packaged broth can be frozen in an ice cube tray to use in small amounts for things like this. Even a bit of something like soy sauce in the pan can work, instead of oil. Think "stir steaming".)

Other things besides salads: Large volume cooked veggies, things like soups or stews that have high volume due to fluid content. Things like mac'n'cheese or similar dishes with high protein pasta (there are some good ones now), a moderated amount of cheese (and choose a calorie-efficient one(s)), plus some pureed Winter squash as part of the sauce, and/or some plain nonfat Greek yogurt.

Also, you say "my sense of how much everything costs in calories is messed up". Give yourself a break: You're new at this! It doesn't need to be perfect instantly. You can evolve toward your goal calories/nutrition over a period of time (days, weeks . . . heck, I'm still tweaking things regularly in weight maintenance).

You will learn as you go along. Pre-logging may help, but even without that, review your diary after the fact, and note changes you could make to reduce calories while keeping enjoyment, satiation, and nutrition in the picture. Many of us, when we start, discover from our own logs that certain things we've been in the habit of eating "cost" too many calories for the goodness we personally get from them. That's good insight, and useful. It can make some initial calorie cuts easier to live with.

Truthfully, for quite a few people (including me), it was easy to reduce what I now think of as "filler carbs": Bread, pasta, rice, etc. - things we might use to bulk out a meal, but that are relatively high in calories and lower in nutrition. Some examples are switching from sandwiches to lettuce wraps, using tortillas instead of bread, choosing more nutrient-dense grain-esque things like quinoa, dramatically ramping up the veggies in pasta sauce on a smaller volume of pasta than before, etc. Even choosing more nutrient dense and calorie efficient types of breads and pastas/grains is helpful: Read labels at the store! (I'm not saying you should give up foods you love. I'm suggesting giving thought to what YOU enjoy most, and spending calories on those things.)

Personally, I don't like structured eating plans, but there are sites that offer them. This is just an example:

https://www.eatthismuch.com/

(I don't work for them or get any kind of compensation from them for posting the link, BTW.)

That specific site you can access and play with a little without even signing up, but more features become available if you create an account. It even has recipes for the meals.

Premium MFP also has some meal guidance (for particular goals) that they call "eating plans".

Another thing you can consider - which it sounds like you're close to already - is just logging what you already eat and like, then reviewing your diary to plan positive changes for the next time. That's quite close to what I did to lose weight, and how I maintain since. This thread has more about the "gradually remodel your eating" approach:

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

Just be sure to log everything daily (good, bad or neutral!), review and adjust. Do a web search for "how to cut calories in recipes", and you'll get lots of links about changes you can make to keep food enjoyable, but reduce the calories. Examples are things like less oil for frying, using applesauce to replace some of the fats in many baked goods, subbing plain nonfat Greek yogurt for sour cream, etc.

Allow yourself to learn and evolve. That will work. You can do this!

Best wishes!