I’m starting to calorie count. Anyone want to join me?

[Bookaholic73]

I’m going to be starting calorie counting from tomorrow, with the aim of losing around 2st (28lbs).

Would anyone else like to join me and hold each other accountable here on this thread?

I’ve tried so many ways of losing weight (Keto, Vegan, Low Carb etc) and none of it works long term.
So I’m quitting the fad diets and starting something that I can stick to.

I’m 5,5 and 12st. My aim is 10st, and I’ll be eating 1600 cals a day.

@thenewaveragebear1983 this sounds a great idea. I always struggle with water and I know if I drink more I'd feel 100 times better in everything. I try to make a big salad with lots of cucumber, peppers, tomatoes, red onion etc. If I make a big batch it usually lasts a few days. Also, sweet potatoes have become my new bff.

Had scrambled eggs and mushrooms this morning and lemon, honey and ginger tea. Feeling surprisingly fresh. I made 'healthy' chicken nuggets yesterday using ground almonds to coat and a raw tomato ketchup which was amazing. Can share recipe if anyone is interested? Xxx

@Bookaholic73 congratulations on no wine or snacks in the evening. I am such a habitual snacked and I find it so hard to change this. I was consistently having a sweet treat (or two or three) around 9pm with a cuppa.

Is anyone doing fasting, I've heard leaving a twelve hour gap between your last meal of the day and the first really helps reset the metabolism. Trying to do this. Some days are more successful than others

@bluebottle23 I'd love your raw tomato ketchup recipe please!
I sort of fast, in that I don't eat after my evening meal (around 7pm) until lunch at the earliest, so usually hit approx 16hrs, though I do have a splash of milk in my drinks. There's debate about whether or not it counts as a true fast. I haven't especially noticed if it's helped my metabolism but it helps with hunger for me. Once I start eating I don't usually want to stop!

@bluebottle23 i quite like fasting. Now I WFH I don’t eat my breakfast until I actually want it, rather than in my old job where I would force something down at 6am so I could last the day. I find this makes me less hungry overall. It goes very well with low carb/high fat/high protein plans as well so it’s definitely something I do although I never strictly enforce it. My natural eating pattern is 9am, 12.30, 6pm which then naturally gives a 14hour overnight fast.

I will add one caveat- I am very accomplished at eating when I am not actually hungry, and for any plan to work, I have to really listen to my signals or otherwise I don’t get the benefits of things like natural appetite suppression or improved insulin function. As in, if IF is working you’ll naturally eat less, but if like me you override the ‘not hungry’ and eat anyway, it isn’t as effective 🤦‍♀️

my shopping is done, my fridge looks really inspiring and motivatingly healthy. Some things on the menu this week: baked halloumi with salad, sausage ‘lasagne’ with chicken sausages, and lime and coriander chicken. I’m going to batch cook a bit as well today.

@Summerscomin @thenewaveragebear1983 I hear you there with once you start eating you can't stop. I love ALL the naughty foods.

Find attached the recipe for raw tomato ketchup and a gluten free banana bread, which I'm not sure of the calories but I have a slice here or there when I am craving chocolate or cake. The whole loaf has last me a week and I've still got half left. It just takes the edge off

Sorry it won't let me attached pictures very easily here is banana bread recipe

Sorry
Last post but I also added a gherkin to my tomato ketchup

@WeirdPookah I love the idea of katsu with broccoli, that will mean I can still eat it but have fewer calories. Thank you!

Thank you @bluebottle23 I feel so good when I don't eat after dinner time. I need to remember that feeling when the sugar and wine cravings hit though! I think I automatically leave more than 12 hours between my last meal of the day and the first meal of the following day, so long as I don't eat after dinner.
I eat dinner around 6.30pm and don't eat breakfast until around 7.30am. So unintentionally fasting!

@thenewaveragebear1983 I've picked some veggies this morning, so my fridge looks really inspiring and full of healthy stuff. Now I just need to make sure that it actually gets eaten! Could you share the recipe for lime and coriander chicken, please?

@Bookaholic73 It was originally one I found on Pinterest but this is pretty much what I usually do: first I brine the chicken (definitely worth doing if you have time)- get a bowl of cold water and add a lime juice, salt, dried coriander and put the chicken breast into it, cover it and fridge ideally for 24 hours. It’s honestly worth it.
Then when you’re ready to cook, I make a dressing out of olive oil, lime juice, fresh coriander, salt, pepper, sometimes a bit of chilli. I do the chicken in the oven and after ten mins or so I start to baste them every 10 mins with the lime/oil/coriander dressing (don’t reuse the brining water, that has to go down the sink) until they are cooked.

It is so juicy because of the brining, it’s definitely worth doing.

you can do lemon and basil as well if you prefer instead of lime/coriander.

Hi everyone, just catching up on this thread. My weekend went haywire. We had family come and visit. We also had some nice weather for a change so we didn't spend much time at home.
I'm planning to weigh myself in the morning and start fresh while also eating well today.
I notice quite a few people eat full fat Greek yogurt, is there a reason it's full fat over fat free?

@Happymama24 i eat full fat usually because i only really eat yoghurt if I’m low carbing, so full fat everything is recommended. The taste and texture is totally different to fat free, but it’s a lot more costly in the calories!

@Happymama24 full fat is also meant to keep you full for longer.
We have had a nice chill day. Still grim weather so we took little one to a soft play for a couple of hours. Resisted snacks and had only tea.
B. Toast and tea
L. Homemade chicken kebab (one pitta bread that was not very nice unfortunately. )
D. Probably just weetabix. (I have cravings)
1407 cal.
I might add some berries and a bit of honey to the weetabix to reach 1500

I fell down an Instagram rabbit hole and found a personal trainer that said to work out your daily calorie allowance to lose weight all you need to do is take your weight in lbs and multiply it by 10. I wondered how accurate that sounded to everyone? Just out of curiosity really.
I'm anticipating a big failure for my 900 day it was perfect BBQ weather- not too hot, not too cold and no wind- so we took the opportunity.
I mostly had meat, fish and salad but it came to about 600 altogether, I think. I'm not convinced I could track everything that accurately and I do try to do that on low days.
I don't think a 300 cal dinner will cut it, so I might try again tomorrow.

Thank you @thenewaveragebear1983 I'll definitely give that recipe a go, it sounds like just the kind of thing I like.

Hi, @Happymama24 glad to hear you had a fun weekend. I personally don't eat full fat, I eat the Fage 0% one as it's high in protein. It keeps me so full!

@Summerscomin it turns out that I am eating that amount! 11st 6lbs is 160lbs, and I'm eating 1600cals. That wasn't actually intentional. But I'm still losing on 1600 so I must be doing something right.

@Lalanbaba well done on resisting the snacks at soft play, that is a serious challenge! I used to get chips and cheese when mine went to soft play.

I've had a good day. I think increasing the protein and reducing sugar in my diet is helping me significantly, as it's almost dinner time and I'm not at all hungry. However, I will eat my dinner as I have 560cals left and want to make sure I'm not hungry later on, as that will end up in me eating junk food.

Dinner is spaghetti bol, but I'm just having a small amount of spaghetti with mine.

Hi all 👋 I'm starting counting from tomorrow, have about 4st to lose, history of yo-yo dieting, calorie counting works for me just takes me time to get my motivation and head in the right space... I'm there though!

Does anyone tracking on MFP want to link up? I used to find it useful for accountability on the app itself, sharing diaries etc, I'm LondonSuz 👍

I’ve had a really good day today, ending up on 1159 cals, 75gcarbs, 110g protein. I ran a tough hilly 9km and did 4km walk after dinner with ds.

my food has been good, my protein works bundle arrived and I had a shake in place of my lunch, it was nice (although more breakfast than lunch really)

my kids are sitting either side of me eating Easter eggs while we wait for BGT and I want some so much I could cry 😢 but I know I must remain strong.

Hi @Suzysuz welcome. Do you know how many calories you’ll be aiming for?

@thenewaveragebear1983 you can resist! Can you get yourself a piece of fruit or something instead, or do you not want to eat anything in the evenings?

My evening is going well. I feel seriously snacky after dinner, but that has now passed. I am getting another headache though, so am planning an early night.
I’m totally exhausted again this evening, despite having had a rest day and not really doing much. I’m convinced it’s sugar withdrawal now.
I’ve had my Bovril, so I know I’m doing what I can to help myself.

This is evening 5 of not drinking alcohol and 3 of not eating after dinner, and I’m already noticing the differences. Crazy how quickly the bloating is subsiding.

Sounds like a great day @thenewaveragebear1983 I hope your resolve is still strong!
Nearly over the worst of it now @Bookaholic73 and so good you're feeling/seeing a difference too.
I'm finishing the day on a very approximate 1100 so not completely disastrous.
Does anyone fancy a little motivational "what are we doing this for?" thing? I can feel myself slipping a bit as my short term targets approach.
I'm away for a night next weekend where swimwear is required. I wanted a little confidence boost for that. Then the following weekend I'm going to a wedding where I don't really know anyone! I'd love to get 2.5lb off in time for that, it's the reason I started this in the first place really, as well as slimming down a bit for summer.

I love that idea @Summerscomin

My main goal is to look better in swimwear this summer than I did last year. I don’t want to be hot and sweaty all summer again.

Most importantly I don’t want to feel bloated all the time.

this is probably very vain but I’m doing this because I am 40 this year and I am tired of seeing my reflection and seeing a tired, lumpy thing staring back at me. I work really hard at the gym and running and quite frankly, I don’t deserve to be fat anymore. It’s not fair. So I absolutely will be fit and skinny for 40. And I want to have nice photos for my children and for myself where I don’t hate the way I look.

Main goal for me is feel better.
The weight have creep up slowly and the main part of my clothes fit really tight. I think this extra weight makes me feel slower than usual.
I have been looking for some exercise to do to help too, I have discovered some local pilates class and getting my mind to join it.
I know it will make me feel better, but I haven't done exercise in soooo long I hate the idea of joining in (does anyone else has this feeling?)

Good morning.

How is it Monday again already!? Today I’ll have to go to the gym after work as I didn’t get up early enough this morning.
Does anyone subscribe to a fitness plan that you’d recommend? I’m specifically looking for weight training plans. I don’t mind spending a little money on it.

Todays food for me looks like:

Breakfast- protein pancakes with fruit & yogurt (480 cals)
Lunch- Turkey salad in a pitta (380 cals)
Dinner- leftover pork ribs with salad (570 cals).

That leaves me with 170 cals for a snack mid afternoon.

I’ve woken up this morning with a much flatter stomach than normal, that bloating is reducing every single day.

@thenewaveragebear1983 i can 100% relate to what you’ve said, but I’m almost 45. I refuse to look like this and feel like this at 45. I want to like what I see in the mirror.

@Lalanbaba i totally understand what you mean about the extra weight making you feel slower than usual. In regards to the exercise, can you see if there is a beginner class to join?

Have a great day everyone.

Hello! Can I join. I’m 196lb (5’4” so BMI 33.6) and am back on tracking. My initial goal is to lose 22lb so I am “just” overweight and not obese. I use LoseIt as it gives you a barcode scanner for free (unlike MFP). I have it set to 1500 but that’s because I don’t track weigh the milk in my tea etc, so it creates a little buffer up to 1600.

Today’s plan is
B: full day greek yogurt, frozen raspberries and muesli 260
L: chicken and chickpea salad w/ greek yogurt and mint dressing 350
T: chicken Kiev’s, veg and new potatoes 600
Snacks: skyr yogurt 120, walkers squares 100
1430 in total but I might have some more fruit.

Can I ask what you find helpful to help you feel truly satiated. I find full fat higher protein yogurt etc is better for you, plus lots of chicken, eggs etc, but I wondered if you could share any hints and tips that have helped keep you on track.

Hi @ForSaleChesterDraws welcome. I definitely find that a high protein diet keeps me full.
So I focus my meals around protein. If I want pancakes, I make sure they are protein pancakes. I make sure I have lots of protein at each meal (salmon or chicken are my favourites).
For me, it’s important to eat 3 meals a day and 1 snack, even if I’m not particularly hungry. Because it’s when I’ve skipped a meal that I’m most likely to binge on sugary foods like sweet, puddings and chocolate.