How to start

[Nuca]

I’ve lost 22lbs following using Slimfast as I wanted a kickstart, but I really don’t want to carry it on any longer. I still have about 4 stone to lose

But I’m so lost with where to start with calorie counting and what to eat for a healthy lifestyle, as I want it to be sustainable for life. I have PCOS which doesn’t help as there’s so much conflicting advice out there, so I’m not sure if I should be going low carb or not

Any guidance or meal ideas would be very appreciated!

Morning 👋🏻

I've started calorie counting this morning, have about a stone of baby weight to lose.

Last night I used a TDEE calculator to work out what my body actually burns. It's came out at 1891, so I've downloaded MyFitnessPal (which I've used previously) and set my calorie goal at 1600. I could go less if I wanted a quicker loss but I'm trying to do it slowly without feeling like I'm starving all the time will see how I get on this week with that being my calorie goal and may drop it next week, when I'm used to the change in my diet.

It's really helpful for me because it means I weigh/measure my food properly - my idea of an actual portion is totally skewed. For example, I weighed out a portion of bean flakes for my breakfast and realised I'd easily pour out twice as much and think nothing of it.

My worst snack time is on a night when the kids are in bed and I want some chocolate, so this way I can keep some calories aside for a bar if I want can even add that on a morning so I know I won't eat into the treat I'll want later.

Hope this helps, I'm happy to stay on this thread if you want? And can give each other ideas.

My breakfast today was bran flakes with 100ml of whole milk and a medium chopped banana, which has came out at 278 cals. I've got warmy up lasagne for tea so I'll get that calculated soon (as best I can as it's homemade) so I can work out what I'll have left for lunch. Might have a veggie omelette.

As above, MyFitnessPal is fab. Put in your height, weight, age and activity level. It will tell you how many calories to eat and you then just need to be diligent about logging everything you eat and drink.

It can be a bit generous with giving you back calories for exercise so I always avoid eating those.

Make sure you drink lots of water as that really does help with losing weight, it reduces appetite and water is necessary in the fat breakdown process your body goes though.

@BrandNewFor2022 if you have homemade foods that you tend to repeat then it's worth using the MFP recipe builder so you can just have them stored up to log.

@HalfShrunkMoreToGo that's really helpful, thank you! I'll sit and add my recipe to that now and get my portion cut off the big piece that's left so I'm not tempted by more later

Yy to my fitness pal. Just keep it simple, plug your height and weight in and let it do the rest.

Get a set of electric scales with a tare function. Weigh everything. Mine sit permanently on my kitchen top.

If your new to logging food it may be worth keeping up the slimfast a little longer and logging your main meal, shakes and snacks to start. Then dropping one shake and logging 2 meals before logging the lot.

Yy on the exercise calories being way too high. Log a quarter can work quite well.

Log your meals as part of meal planning. If you are an emotional/impulsive eater dont stock trigger foods inthe house.

I found the stored meal works better than the recipes. It allows me to alter what I'm using easier

Oh and if it isnt weighed logged and within calorie allowance it doesn't get eaten.

I love the premium as it made me think about the composition of my meals more

My portion of lasagne and 2 x slices of garlic baguette has came out at 748 calories!

That leaves me with 574 for lunch/snacks which I'm happy with. I'll also try and do some exercise today (although I'll ignore those calories burned and just see them as bonus ones!)

@BrandNewFor2022

My portion of lasagne and 2 x slices of garlic baguette has came out at 748 calories!

That leaves me with 574 for lunch/snacks which I'm happy with. I'll also try and do some exercise today (although I'll ignore those calories burned and just see them as bonus ones!)

Sounds right, my DD loves lasagna and a store bought one is about 700 calories per portion (that's never big enough), same for Mac n cheese which is another favourite.

If I want to join her I usually plan for a 2 meals only day and be very careful about things like drinks with calories and sides.

I got the PT at my gym to do me an eating plan, with calorie and protein goals. The protein makes me really full so I struggle even to get to the calories allowed! I am heavy and active though, so there are quite a lot. It’s made me rethink the way I eat and get back to cooking meals.

I don’t log exercise on MFP but am religiously logging food just now till I get fully in the swing. This is my third week of doing it and I lost 1 1/2 kilos last week, despite having a bit of a wine lapse the night before weigh in 😳