How do you get organised for weight loss?

[peppermintteagirl]

I'm a typical yo-yo dieter and I need to get some weight off. At the moment I'm having way too many takeaways and 'quick food' basically because I CBA cooking or I don't have stuff I want to eat in the house.

I know I need to get more organised. I've never tried actual meal planning because I worry that I won't want to eat what I plan and then will end up with food going off. At the moment I usually go to the supermarket every day or two. I've tried batch cooking in the past but end up with loads of meals in the freezer that I never eat. I guess I can be a bit picky with what I eat which doesn't help.

Ideas? Does anyone meal plan successfully for weight loss?

Nothing to do with meal planning, but I'm a big advocate for 16:8 fasting. I didn't change what I eat, just when and lost weight quickly and it's stayed off even when I'm not following the 16:8 rule

Discipline!

meal plan for meals you love! Have things ready to go in the fridge. variety.

Batch cooking your own 'ready meals',, so when you get in from work everything is portioned up, ready to pop in the microwave, all calorie counted

Also having a lot of snacks, like mini baby bels, nuts, mini pepparami, dried fruit etc so that they are all portioned up

Ah yes I have tried this actually. I struggled a bit because it's such a change in routine but might try again. I eat really early in the evenings (usually 5 or 5.30pm) so it's not so bad. Thanks for the reminder.

Yes not great on the discipline - that's why I need to lose weight (again).

I just always worry about buying lots of food at once in case I decide I don't want to eat it. Funnily enough variety doesn't work so well for me - I hate cooking and am picky, so I'm more likely to eat the same easy meals over and over, but I do get bored after a while.

Not a fan of batch cooking. It's better for me when I have elements ready to go (rice in the freezer, chicken already diced but not cooked) but that requires organisation which I don't have.

Can't do snacks because I eat them all in one day.

I guess you just eat what you've planned. I plan the whole week and go shopping once. I sometimes eat things on different days to what I planned. If you plan stuff you like why wouldn't you eat it?

What about something like gusto? You can have 2-4 meals a week and choose a low calorie option. It’s all measured out and comes with detailed instructions.

A very good question that I don't have an answer to 😅Which I guess is the problem.

Ah so I've tried such things, and find them too fussy to cook (I HATE cooking). But recently I have been getting some fresh ready-meals delivered (which taste like homemade) and that has been helping a bit. But I still sometimes 'don't feel' like eating them, even though they're really nice.

The more I think about it, the more I think I've given my brain too much control and just need to plan meals and eat what I've planned.

I’ve lost over 2stone (slowly but I am thinking of it as a total lifestyle change by taking up an exercise etc and I don’t want to put it back on)

i batch cook my work lunches so I don’t have to think about those (I just want to be full rather than needing something really tasty) a Diet Coke on the way home to curb my old habit of stopping in a shop

then in the evening I have stir fry mushrooms and pak Choi and salmon or chicken or an omelette with salad and beetroot

a gin and slim in the evening

yesterday I got the app my fitness pal as I was starting to snack outside of what I’m allowed (I weigh in once a week at a local slimming club)

I need to knock sugary tea and coffee on the head though

Sorry in answer to your question I would but lots of chicken fillets, salmon and steak or Turkey burgers and bacon medallions - a lot of eggs and some nice seasoning and get the app and log everything

things like chestnut mushrooms and nicer veg to make the food as nice as you can - I’m working longer hours to pay for better food

You just need to stop making excuses and get on with it as blunt as it sounds.

I'm very like you. I was the same and very resistant to meal planning/prep. Then I realised that when I 'wasn't dieting' I would eat the same dinner for 5 days in a row. I always ate the same breakfast and same lunch. What I really meant when I said I didn't want to meal plan was that I knew I didn't want to stick to my healthy plan.

Do you do a lot of emotional eating? When I 'don't fancy' something, it's less about actually satisfying my hunger and more about filling an emotional need. (Had a shit day, want to face plant a domino's type thing).

I'm doing Slimming World currently. I meal prep and plan more now. I cook separately to my family for a start. I tend to batch cook four portions of something and eat that for lunch and tea over 2/3 days. I might not always have it for lunch IYSWIM. I do most batch cooking by throwing everything into the slow cooker because I am lazy. Or I do minimal cooking pasta bakes etc. When I do a food shop, I get lots of frozen chopped veg, frozen mince and chicken breasts, passata, herbs and seasonings etc. So I can always throw together something like a bolognese or chilli in the slow cooker. One of my favourite meals is actually the tiktok baked tomato and feta pasta.

My food isn't exciting, but meals are quick and easy and fill me up. They don't fill the emotional hole. But then food shouldn't be doing that anyway and I'm working on that. I don't know if I've explained myself every well with what I'm trying to say. But I've basically come to accept if I want to lose weight (I need to due to my health) then this is what I need to do.

I think you've been in my head! Dammit, you're right 😩

Still not convinced about batch cooking but willing to try more meal prep.

We've been having Green Chef meals since November last year. All cooked in 30 minutes, no real messing about, really, really, nice food and all portioned for us. My one big takeaway from Green Chef is that for years my portions have been far too large. Satisfying meals don't have to be big meals.

Spring and Summer, early Autumn we normally just eat a protein source - cheese, tuna, chicken, steak, chops occasionally sausage etc plus a huge salad which is made a couple of days in advance and kept in the fridge - pea shoots, rocket, lambs lettuce, toms, baby cucs big salad onions (I hate plain old lettuce). Then we have a variety of extras like boiled eggs, kimchi, artichokes, olives, mushroons in oil, sauerkraut, avocado, beetroot sun-dried tomatoes that get heaped on the top depending on what you fancy that day. All topped off with a spoonful of oil/balsamic dressing. It's easy, healthy and filling. I occasionally swap the salad for Mediterranean roast veggies or a stir-fry but not often. I could happily live on salad nicoise all summer though.

@mumwheresmyribena that sounds amazing. Adopt me please.

@peppermintteagirl even just having a well stocked freezer and cupboards with staples I can quickly make a few different dishes out of helps. Loads of pasta, low syn sauce, frozen microwave veg bags and quorn mince are a life saver.

Peppermintthegirl is spot on. You are making excuses which tells me your head isn't in the right place to be serious about losing the weight.
You have to be really determined to permanently change your eating habits to permanently keep off the weight. It's not a temporary effort so that once the weight has gone, you can go back to the old ways.

Sorry, I meant Rollercoastergirl is spot on! 🙄

Dump bags?

fill a zip lock bag thus-

chicken strips, sliced onions and peppers and add in fajita seasoning. You have a bag ready to go for fajitas/enchiladas/ Mexican salad. Just freeze and cook when desired.

look it up there are loads of dump bag recipes on line

I think part of having a healthy diet is being a confident and competent cook.

I batch cook but I also prep snacks. I buy a box of fulfil protein bars from amazon, 1 calorie jellies and squirty cream, prep veggie snacking boxes each morning, high protein mousse from aldi.

Oh and tinned chickpeas to roast, low calorie hummus and the skinny food company chocolate spread.

You don't need to organise in any particular way, you just need to make healthy choices when you shop and when you cook/eat (easier said than done, I know only too well!). All the time spent thinking about how to tackle/organise it is just procrastination. What actually makes the difference are all the little everyday food decisions you make every time you put food into your shopping trolley or your mouth (whether you're a daily shopper or a long-term meal plannder and batch cooker), not the big theoretical plans you make when you're putting off starting!

Now time to follow my own advice...

Keeping away from any type of rubbish in the shops / take-away. I kept slim when I said no, but steered to whack the weight back on once I started “treating” myself again. You can still have variety / not batch cook, just stick to the healthier stuff at the supermarket.