Those of you using my fitness pal/calorie counting

[Wenchelda]

If you're calorie counting and sticking to 1500 calories or less per day, what are you typically eating? I've been using mfp since early January and based on my current weight and the weight I want to be, it calculated I need to stick to 1580 calories per day. But I'm really struggling with this and go over most days. I am slowly losing a little bit of weight so I guess it is still working as even going over, I'm eating less (and better) than before. But some inspiration on what others are eating within the calorie limit would be most appreciated

I'm on 1200 per day.

I have yoghurt and museli or a bacon sandwich for breakfast

Lunch is soup usually or something like an omelette. If I'm in work than a tube soup or a tuna sandwich.

Tea is curry/rice/thin pizza/roast veg. That sort of thing.

If I've got spare calories left then I have some fruit and yoghurt.
Mine tracks to my steps done, so I squally have an extra 200 calories or so, taking the amount up to nearer to your daily amount

I am on 1200 per day. I only go over if I have a snack, or cant resist a handful of nut or almonds, or the day I discovered that ONE date is over a hundred calories, bad me, I had 4.

I am only losing weight the weeks I manage to fit in the gym 2-3 times in the week, or when I am very active.

I am in the 300 mark on breakfast and lunch, and around 600 for dinner, so it just about balances.

Oh, sorry did not see you wanted suggestions!

Breakfast is usually 30g rude health muesli, 0% fat and low calorie yeo valley greek youghurt, with some chunks of pineapple and mango on top.

lunch is salad with either tuna or smoked/poached salmon, or whole meal multi seed brown bread with - 2 slices, with a tin of mackerell in tomato spread across both slices.

Dinner, chicken breast with rice and veg, or cod and chips with veg/salad, or a moroccan chicken tagine, or home made bacalao with cod loins, home made burger with potato wedges and salads. Home made spag bol. That sort of thing.

A piece of fruit for "supper". Like a plum, or a pear. Or handful of almonds.

I generally feel I eat well.

if I was foolish enough to live on 1200 cals a day (it has been known!) I'd have:

breakfast - porridge (25g jumbo oats 92 cals) with water, flavoured with cinnamon, nutmeg, stevia (prob negligible cals but say 100 for the whole breakfast) with black coffee or green tea
10:30am snack: apple 55 cals (microwaved, yum) with a cadbury's highlights hot choc (40 cals) or a banana (about 100)
lunch: omelette - tsp olive oil (40 cals) 2 small-medium eggs (150 cals) 200g frozen spinach (55 cals) 100g 10% fat feta (175 cals) - 420 cals
4pm snack: something from graze light box (100 cals or under)
supper: roast veg (spray with olive oil 1cal a spray thing and season well) 200g of the frozen mediterranean veg is usually about 110 calories with a salmon fillet (150 cals), or a tuna steak (waitrose frozen yellowfin = 205 per steak), or up to 100g of chicken breast fillet (140), or 100g of feta (175) - none of those options should come to more than 350 cals
10:30pm snack - fage 0% total greek, 170g pot is 97 cals, you can add stevia or a whole tablespoon of honey (65 cals)

if that comes up a bit short you can add things to the porridge in the morning, the whitworths 'shots' of mixed seeds and berries (they are sweetened) are just under 100 cals or obviously you can add drinks if you take milk in hot drinks but it should be around 1200

Why is it foolish?

why is it foolish to eat below my basal metabolic rate?

if I was about 3' tall or completely sedentary it would be ok, but nobody should eat below their BMR, it's really bad for you

obviously the MFP thing is structured so you get a generous allowance of extra calories from exercise so hopefully most people will end up eating enough but if you were just living on 1200 cals a day for any length of time and you were reasonably active that probably wouldn't end well - you could end up binge eating or something

Breakfast - I don't always have breakfast as I don't usually wake hungry but if I do.
Greek yogurt and berries from the freezer occasionly a sprinkle of granola and a squeeze of honey.
Lunch. Half a pita bread - longways not two pockets. With two boiled eggs and tomatoes mashed with loads of salt and pepper.
Afternoon. The other pita toasted with cherry tomatoes and balsamic vinegar.
Dinner. Chicken skewers sometimes fish, or a vegetarian dish like a veg lasagne rarely red meat. With veg. I love veg but will look for recipes to make it feel less boring.

If I fancy a couple of vodkas with ginger ale. And maybe home popped popcorn.

And I have a weekly calorie count so some days I will be under others over but I don't beat myself up. And just look for a weekly deficit.

Breakfast. Nowt
Lunch. Soup/omlette/salad/small sandwich.
Tea: Chicken with lots of veg and rice or similar
Snacks. Low cal crisps, biscuits, fruit or something.
Drinks, almond milk, options, coffee.

Not currently on it, but when I was losing weight I was on 1200 cals a day (I'm short - don't need much!)

Breakfast was normally:

Egg on toast (microwave egg in ramekin dish for 30seconds, low fuss) - less than 200 cals

Porridge - small portion made with milk, with banana and blueberries - less than 300 cals

Lunches: sandwiches without Mayo and lots of salad, or small pasta salads - again, not cream or mayo based.
Baked sweet potato with salad and a topping that's not too creamy.

Dinner- whatever I was doing for everyone, but a smaller portion or bulking up on veg.

Snacks were fruit, cocktail sausages or rich tea fingers when sugar cravings hit - the waitrose own brand ones are only 22 cals each, 2 with a cup of coffee felt like a nice treat.

The biggest change was drinking only black coffee or water in the day, that makes it easy!

I logged again recently without "trying" - my now normal diet is around 1500-1600 a day, so I have managed to retrain myself - although really not today!

How do you set it up so it tracks your steps?

I do 1500 cals a day. I'm on my fourth week and I've been finding it really easy. My main trick is holding off eating breakfast for as long as possible as it stops me snacking through the afternoon. My dd has a nap at 11ish and that's when I usually eat breakfast (I do have a coffee with milk first thing though).

I generally have:

Breakfast - banana, oat, honey, yoghurt and almond milk smoothie or porridge with honey

Lunch - wholemeal pitta with pastrami or some other meat with light mayo/mustard and salad

Dinner - just an example from what we have eaten recently. Mushroom stroganoff with brown nice, soy ginger garlic and honey marinated salmon with noodles and stir fried veg, chicken korma with brown rice, spicy lentil and carrot soup with naan bread, Moroccan chicken stew with cous cous

I also have a couple of white coffees and maybe a yoghurt, hot chocolate or kitkat etc depending on if I have the calories left at the end of the day

I find the key to doing well calorie counting is planning. I had a weekend away from home recently and hadn't planned for the following week and ended up eating way over my calories for a few days as i wasn't prepared. I usually sit down on a Sunday and search for some new low calorie recipes to try to add to my meal plan. Bbc good food and allrecipes.com are good sites to use. Then we have a couple of new things to try with some old favourites. The Hairy Dieters books are also great if you enjoy cooking.

I have porridge oats with a banana and almond milk for breakfast

Wrap for lunch grilled portobello mushroom and sweet chilli sauce

Three bean chilli with brown rice for dinner

Homemade apple crumble for dessert

If I want snacks I have fruit.
I have 1200 calories a day but if I go a bit over I don't worry as I eat pretty healthy. So far have been losing about 1lb a week.

Porridge for breakfast, sometimes a microwaved egg as well.
For lunch I have a tin of tuna, two boiled eggs, a tbsp of salad cream and a tsp of pesto all mashed up. OMG, it's lovely.
Supper is a mountain of veg plus two chicken breasts or two fish fillets.

I don't really snack (and never have) and this doesn't reach 1200 cal, it's about 1100 so I could have a piece of toast maybe if I was that way inclined.

I walk at least 10km a day and to gym/circuits usually every other day, drinking lots of water helps as well and I've got some great pukka teas which I have throughout the day as well.

I'm 5'5" and was 79kg on 5 Jan. I've lost 4.3 kg (about 9lb) so far. I'm moving onto 1500 cal a day for three weeks and when lent arrives, I'll go back to 1200. So losing 2lb (one kilo)ish a week and feeling really good.

I'd like to get down to 65kg which is my healthy BMI apparently but I look really slim if I go under 70kg which is still quite heavy but I look like a lollypop! I went to the Dr last week and she asked my weight, I told her and she was shocked, she'd underestimated by almost a stone.

Sorry for rambling!

I'm on 1200 cals net, though as I burn a minimum of 400 cals a day through exercise (usually a long run, weights or circuits) I tend to eat around 1600.

Two scrambled eggs and coffee for breakfast,
Chicken salad sandwich, or salad, or soup for lunch
Anything healthy and veg-based for dinner, eg chickpea curry, veg pasta, veggie tortilla wrap. Or chicken/ fish with veggies.
Have dessert perhaps once or twice a month, 2-3 glasses of wine two or three times a week.

Have lost almost a stone since July, going from BMI 24 to 22.

No breakfast (I am not hungry).
Lunch is usually salad or homemade vegetable soup with 100g of ham and 20g of bread.
Dinner is what the family is eating, but with a very small carb portion. So tonight I had the same (homemade) chicken tikka masala and DH and the DCs, but I only had a heaped tablespoon of rice. + A piece of fruit.

I allow myself a 200kcal sweet snack in the afternoon (usually a small piece of homemade cake) + a slice of ham and a carrot about 1h before dinnertime.

I've been calorie counting since the start of October and have lost 3st 8lbs so far. About 2 more to go. I started on 1600 calories and found it manageable, and reduced to 1200 in December.
Breakfast- low fat natural yogurt with 20g granola and a drizzle of honey with an apple. sometimes eggs or weetabix instead.

Lunch- salad with boiled eggs and some carrots and hummus.
sometimes a sandwich with salted popcorn and a banana.

Dinner- chicken thighs with loads of veg.
or sweet potato jacket with tuna and salad
or soup and a couple of slices of bread.

Generally don't haveany calories left but if I do I have a few snacks.
rice cakes with cream cheese and salsa
nakd bars
strawberries and almonds

Make sure i drink lots of water especially before meals so don't think I'm hungrier than I actually am!

what do you normally have?

im nearly 6ft tall and still deal well with the calorie allowence while having an active job.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I think my main problem is I always feel hungry a couple of hours after eating (always have done, not just since starting mfp) so even if I have what should be a filling breakfast (porridge or eggs for example), by mid morning I want something else. My DCs are early risers so breakfast is done with by 7:30 (if not long before) and there's no way I could skip breakfast as I'm always hungry when I wake up. The same goes for lunch or dinner, it doesn't seem to matter what I have, a couple of hours after I want something else. I do have a sweet tooth so "bad" snacks have been my downfall in the past - I have majorly cut down on all biscuits/chocolate etc since calorie counting though so am proud of myself for that. Its finding low calories things that still satisfy me that is the problem!

Wenchelda, I think you've got to stop thinking of food as "low calorie" and just look for healthy, nutritious food.
I never think of calorie content now, I just fill up on veg, eggs, whole milk and non-processed fish/meat and know that will bring me in under my calorie limit.
I never touch low calorie snacks such as Muller lights as generally they just make me hungrier.
I think you get used to not snacking. Your body doesn't need food every two hours, you've just conditioned it to think it does. Fill up on water instead - often what you perceive as hunger is really thirst anyway.

If I really do want a snack, say after a long run if I'm genuinely hungry, I have a cereal bar (not a diet or low fat thing, an ordinary flapjack sort), a glass of whole milk, a small jump of cheese, a buttered slice of wholemeal toast or a banana. All around 100-150 cals and far more filling than biscuits etc.

I agree with Runningupthathill - most "low-calorie" things are packed with sugar which makes you even hungrier a couple of hours later. Are you eating enough protein and fat?

I think I eat a varied diet - definitely not as good as it could be but not awful either. To be honest I don't know which is the best "diet" to follow - they are all so confusing and contradictory. All I know is I want to lose about a stone and whatever sort of diet I do, I end up feeling hungry (even when I did slimming world and there was loads of "free food" I could eat)

maybe a smaller calorie deficit over a longer period of time would suit you?

this should give you an idea of how much to eat over how many weeks and months to lose a stone

The best "diet" is one where you eat proper, nutritious, wholesome foods, in appropriate portion sizes.
Forget anything processed, anything branded, anything that says "low fat" or "weight watchers" on it.
Set your MFP calorie goal to 1200, aim for at least 30 mins exercise a day and eat proper food, cooked from scratch.
That, imo, is the only way to lose weight, healthily, in the long term. It's not a diet, it's a healthy lifestyle, where you eat the same nutritious food as your family, for ever.

I find MFP keeps me focused, and it helps me check if I "can have" a snack or not. Like now, I had such a small breakfast, and a salad for lunch, I allowed myself a chelsea bun. First cake in 3 weeks.

Logging the meals I eat makes me more aware of the relationship between diet and exercise, and it spurs me on to be more active, to achieve more calories to eat. It also spells out to me the difference in healthy nutritious meals, and junk.

If I had not logged a pret a manger lemon and poppy seed muffin to see the dent in the "budget" it would make, I would never realized that one single muffin had more calories than most of the dinners I eat! Nearly 500 calories!

In time, while I learn to eat better, I think it will come natural.

Agreed, Quintless - MFP is great for keeping on track and ensuring that you're always aware of what you're eating.

For example, over Christmas I ate various chocolates that were in the office - just the odd one here and there, but they really added up. Four Quality Street - which seems barely nothing over 8 hours - is 200cals, which is more than my usual breakfast!