What do you eat is your trying to lose weight but also very busy!

[hourur]

I'm a part time working mum of 2, husband is a police officer so on shifts, I'm trying to lose weight, but am struggling, I walk a lot and my job is on my feet, but with it being such a busy household, I snack a lot, I also struggling with healthy lunch and dinners as I need to be quick! Any suggestions thank you

Log all your calories on an app like Fitbit or my fitness pal. Things like a quick salad with protein can be easy to whip up, thin/protein bagels with protein/cream cheese, scrambled eggs, sugar free granola and Greek yoghurt/berries, hummus and veggies/pita, veggie bologanise, homemade curries with lots of veg or protein, fish/protein and veg. Work out what calories you need to stick to to lose your desired amount of weight and stick to that (there are online calculators that you put in your vital stats). Im aiming to lose about 10 ish kg and am sticking to about 1300 a day.

Batch cooking, meal planning and shortcuts like frozen veg and ready cut stir fry packs.

I make sure I have cooked chicken and boiled eggs in the fridge so I can add to salads or noodles and veg etc for something quick. I wfh so have a lot of omelettes and fry up (medallion bacon, eggs, tomato, left over veg at lunch). I've stopped snacking after the kids are in bed.

Batch cooking. No additives. Avoid fat free products ( full of sugar). Avoid sugar free products ( full of fat). Avoid highly processed food. Avoid packet mixes and jars.

Thank you, i ideally need to be able to do it healthy but quick, which is why I'm struggling!

My go to's are ufit protein shakes, fridge raiders, mini satay skewers, eggs, babybells, crackerbread with philadelphia and cherry tomatos, protein yogurts from Aldi, Brooklea ones are 25grams. You need high protein, low carb snacks to keep you fuller for longer. Frozen baked potato tou can chuck in the micro and have with tuna and light mayo, salads. I avoid bread products, pasta, junk like sweets, fizzy juices etc. Iv almost lost five stone since January by doing this.

Replace carbs on a plate with veg.

Big packs of mixed Mediterranean veg roasted at the weekend with a couple of tins of chickpeas thrown in. Couple of eggs on top.

Roast chicken without the skin. Cook it yourself without added fat but with herbs or spices, then buy Warburtons sugar free wholemeal (about 60 cals a slice) or bagel things (about 130 a bagel) and make roast chicken bagel or sandwich with very low fat mayo and iceberg lettuce. Add some cherry tomatoes in a pot and some fruit. That's lunch for about 350-400 cals depending on the fruit.

Spread 3 crackers with low fat Philli and top with cucumber and then pile a large bunch of grapes , 4 or 5 Cherry toms and a whole pack of thin sliced ham on a plate-- I ate variations on this for months when I lost weight-

Make yourself a packed lunch even if you're at home so you can plan what you want to eat. I make 5 lots of overnight oats for breakfast on a Sunday so I don't end up having toast and jam and getting starving by 9am. I'm also really boring and plan my snacks (e.g. every morning I have some fruit as a snack) because it feels like part of a routine and without that I would be stood with my head in the fridge every morning not choosing fruit!!

Loads of protein. Pre prep breakfasts and lunches.
Tuna or chicken salads for lunch, Chuck in lentil or chick pea pouches.

Boiled eggs or cold chicken sausages for snacks (pre cook them all on a Sunday eve)
Overnight oats with low fat yog and frozen fruit for breakfasts (I make up 5 little tubs on a Sunday eve)
Dinners - those frozen birds eye fish fillets in sauce with a load of fresh veg or Batch cooked bolognese with courgette/ chilli bean stew etc. less pasta or bread.

For puddings I have berries most night. Very sweet but low sugar.

Everything I make is quick as I have a son with additional needs and it's full on.

I do avocado on Rye or rivita with lime, spinach leaves, crumbled feta and then natural yoghurt with fruit.

Make big tray bakes of cauliflower with spices or butternut squash and have this with lentils, pulses, yogurt, tomatoes, olives - or whatever I have in

I often fry a slim piece of fish which takes about 4 mins.

I make big tuna salads with lime, add chickpeas, bulgar wheat etc.

Baked sweet potato is very nice

I buy tons of veg on a Monday and just vary it through the week

I'm not low carb particularly but I centre my meals around veg and usually have cheese or yogurt based things as my protein

Cheese salad,
chicken salad,
boiled eggs and veg sticks,
apple and peanut butter,
yoghurt and fruit……..

all good, nutritious meals…..

I’ve a new puppy and a playful youngster dog and the last month I’ve dropped a dress size with no conscious effort as I’ve made quick meals that don’t go cold, as I’ve been running in and out for toilet training and supervising play fighting…….. also, no sweet after every meal.

Thank you all!

Only eat between 12 -8 cut out crap snacks eat normal meals on smaller plates up the cardio - lost 2 stone

Make a big pot of soup with plenty of protein and then portion it up to go in the freezer. It will take an hour max at some point in the week. Filling, tasty and takes the hassle out of lunches. My favourites are chicken and vegetable, bacon and lentil, ham and pea.

A wedge of Brie, oatcakes and cherry tomatoes is another quick and satisfying lunch.

Huel ready made meal replacements, 400 calories each, you can live on them 100% of the time if you're really strapped for time

Could you meal prep?

Idea is you make food for a few days ahead.

Just search I. YouTube and you'll get tonnes of ideas.

Meal prep sound the way to go!

I meal prep because I don't have time to cook from scratch for every meal.

I usually only do 3 days ahead through. Some people do 5 days ahead which is a bit minging imo.

I usually do chicken, roasted veg and sauce for my dinners. I do a load of cooked tomatoes and mushrooms that I can quickly fry into a scramble in the morning with some eggs. For lunches I make a big vat of vegetable soup.

Loads of fruit for snacks. Job done!

As I said loads of people are into this for dietary and also for time constraint reasons.

Use my fitness pal to log calories, make a meal plan and stick to it. Also try to cut back on snacks, they don’t snack at all in lots of other countries with much lower obesity rates than the UK. It’s ok to have a banana or whatever if there’s a large gap between meals but you don’t need 5 snacks between lunch and dinner. Lots of people batch cook and freeze in their spare time so that could be an option or a meal subscription service like hello fresh.

Perhaps try to do more exercise too. Get a Fitbit or similar to track your steps and calories burnt. Some people think they walk a lot but realise it isn’t even 10k steps when they get a watch.