myrtille87 Member

This might seem weird, but I have a "menu plan" spreadsheet where I write what we have for dinner every day. I've been using it on and off since 2011, and have a continuous record since last December. I find this really helpful when I'm short of meal ideas and find myself stuck in a rut, repeating the same few things every…

Spirits with diet mixers are going to be your lowest calorie option, as others have said. Personally I can't stand diet coke / lemonade, etc. but I've found I don't mind slimline tonic. So gin and slimline for me. Wine isn't too bad either, just stick with small glasses and don't drink them too quickly. Maybe have a soft…

I have had the odd glass of wine at home with dinner whilst using MFP but whereas before I would have had a large glass and probably had another one later on, I've been sticking to one, measured glass. I also had a couple of single gin and slimlines which fit OK into my calorie budget. Nights out are another matter. One…

Fruit is an obvious one - high in natural sugars but not high in fat. Bananas are a bit more filling and have more calories than most other fruit. For breakfast I have oats mixed with 0% fat Greek-style yoghurt and strawberries/blueberries. That could work as a snack (and has more calories than just eating the fruit on its…

You may (probably) have gained some weight back. You won't have gained 10 pounds! Apparently if you start overeating your body sometimes retains more water (to deal with the extra salt intake, etc.). So get back to watching what you eat, and see how things go in a couple of weeks. You've probably gained a couple of pounds,…

I mostly shop at Tesco, sometimes Sainsbury's, and go to Aldi for bits and bobs I know are cheaper there (currently berries for with my breakfast - strawberries and blueberries are about half the price as in Tesco). I don't really do "easy" foods - I love to cook, and if I don't have time I make my boyfriend cook instead!…

Can't work out how to add pictures, but a good dinner I did the other night was: -Chicken breast, marinated in tandoori paste and low fat yoghurt - threaded onto skewers and cooked in the oven. -Red rice salad based on this recipe but with radishes and red pepper as well as carrot. -100g spinach, just wilted by tipping…

I can't imagine not having one anyway - as a keen cook I've owned food scales of some kind ever since I left home so I can measure ingredients for cakes and stuff. But measuring food now is definitely making a difference, particularly with high calorie foods (carbs and fatty stuff). I don't necessarily measure things which…

Marinate before grilling or roasting. Cut chicken into chunks and marinate in one of these combinations: -Tandoori/tikka curry paste + low fat yoghurt -Lemon juice, olive oil and crushed garlic Then put on skewers and grill or oven cook. Probably not as healthy, I sometimes do a chicken cacciatore recipe from BBC Good Food…

Wow, that's really low... You might find some recipes and shopping tips on here to help you: http://agirlcalledjack.com/category/recipes-food/page/7/ The woman who wrote the blog had £10 per week to feed herself and her son, so learnt to budget and cook cheap and healthy meals. Her early recipes use lots of cheap veg and…

I love my appliances! But hardly have anything on the worktop because my kitchen in small. They're all stashed on top of my kitchen shelves and I have to climb up on a step to get them down. Permanently on worktop: -Kettle -Digital scales Used regularly: -Toaster (kept on top of the fridge for easy access) -3-tier electric…

Try it, whilst maintaining your diet and exercise as they are currently, and if you gain a significant amount of weight after a couple of months, go back to your doctor and see what they suggest. I've been on Loestrin 20 since I was 18 (nearly 8 years now) and don't think it's had any impact on my weight. My weight has…

Aargh so many of the best aubergine recipes are so full of oil... :( I love melanzane parmigiana - http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3091674/melanzane-parmigiana Berenjenas fritas con miel is a great Spanish tapas dish - slice aubergines into chips/fries, soak in beer for a few minutes, then dip in seasoned flour and deep…

This sounds very familiar! I'm slightly overweight and trying to lose weight, my partner is just under 10 stone but he's 6 foot 2! He doesn't struggle to eat a basic, normal amount of food (eg: cereal for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch, some kind of snack in the afternoon, a normal dinner in the evening) but if I give him…

Some schools do this, not all. I'm a teacher in the UK and I generally mark in red, sometimes in green - occasionally in purple or bright blue. It's basically whatever pen I have within reach that stands out from the pupil's work.

Thank-you! Yes, I definitely agree about being surprised by measurements. I already had digital scales (I bake, and we don't use measuring cups in England!) but didn't normally weigh things unless I was following a recipe. After a few days I'm starting to get used to how much certain things weigh. I'm weighing basically…

I had a couple of drinks last night and opted for gin and slimline tonic. For a single measure (that's 25ml in the UK) MFP says 56 calories. Not bad! Obviously a double would be twice as much, but I'd rather have 2 drinks than 1! I normally can't stand diet drinks (diet coke, lemonade etc. - I can just taste sweeteners)…

This is pretty tasty and easy: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1262640/tofu-and-asparagus-pad-thai It's also good in Thai green curry - press it between kitchen towel to get as much water out as possible and firm it up, then slice and fry. Set aside while you make the rest of your curry (Thai green paste, coconut milk,…

Well I am currently REALLY full of dinner and ate over an hour ago. I had a Thai green vegetable curry with rice. The curry was made from a bought curry paste, a tin of coconut milk (yes, it's high in calories but the rest of the ingredients were so low in calories that it worked out OK), an aubergine, a red pepper, about…

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/fiery_red_rice_salad_91889 This salad is delicious and is supposed to use 4 limes. To be honest, I think that's a bit excessive and would probably use 2-3, but it still helps. You can mix it up and add extra vegetables as well. I added radishes and red pepper last time I made it.

Do something else. In the last few days when I've felt like I might start snacking I've: -done a quick 20 minute Wii Zumba class -done some cleaning! -had a nap Or as other people have said, get a drink. I struggle to force myself to drink plain water (except when exercising) so I'll have a green tea or a sugar free squash…

I've not banned anything - I've banned a place. I'm not going to eat in my car on the way home from work, as this is the one place I tend to mindlessly consume hundreds of empty calories. After a hard day, I'll call at the supermarket for things I need, spot some cream cakes, or douhgnuts, or cheese scones, or a bag of…

One of my favourites for winter (obviously swap the butter for vegan margarine and omit the cheese!): http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4382/veggie-shepherds-pie-with-sweet-potato-mash

Oats + 0% fat Greek style yoghurt + berries + a drizzle of honey. I was having sliced banana in it too, but it was making it quite high in calories so now I have the banana as a snack later in the day to spread things out more (however filling a breakfast I have, I still find I need snacks, so it was better to have a…

Really quick and easy courgette/zucchini pasta: Grate your courgette coarsely in as big and long strips as possible. Finely grate some lemon zest and a clove of garlic. Boil a small portion of linguine pasta. Cook and drain. Toss the raw grated zucchini, lemon zest and garlic with the spaghetti and some olive oil (I've not…

I could never eat a regular leafy salad as a meal. It's not a meal, it's a side dish! But there are definitely things you can make which contain salad but mixed up with so much other tasty stuff that they don't feel like a salad. Roasted butternut squash or sweet potato, mixed with a little harissa paste, some chicken…