struggling to lose weight

[aliumbear]

Learning to cook has been too difficult for me and losing weight is therefore tricky. Especially because of health issues I need to lose weight and am very aware I eat too much. I have talents but not in cooking. Maybe there is a way to make eating vegetables more enjoyable.

Why is learning to cook too difficult? Basic, healthy recipes are not too tricky. That aside, weight loss is about consuming less calories - whether that food is home cooked or not. It would be easier to help if you post what a typical day look like for you in terms of both food and exercise.

How do you cook them? I love veg but hate it if overcooked. We use a steamer and serve veg firm.

You can eat healthily without doing lots of cooking. Salads can be very varied and don't involve much more than chopping things up.

Then, the trick is to eat the veg that you like the best, and cook/prep that as healthily as you can.

Have some frozen ready meals that aren't full of processed ingredients for days when you don't have the energy or enthusiasm for cooking. Cook Food do decent ready meals, if you look at the ingredients there are very few additives, preservatives etc. They do a range of lower calorie meals too.

I agree with the previous posters that posting here what you would typically eat might help people with suggesting how to change things to help you lose weight.

What recipes have you tried and what kind of healthy foods if any do you like?

Have you considered meals like salmon and grilled or steamed/boiled veg? If you have an air fryer you can just toss salmon or chicken in, add seasoning, spray with a little oil then add the vegetables in just before you’re done with the meat. You can also do this with an oven.

Or how about lean beef or turkey mince with black beans, lettuce and other vegetables?

And you can buy frozen sweet potato chunks and bung them in the oven to eat with meat and veg.

Throw in some beef strips with seasoning and stir fry veg.

Eat oats or eggs and avocado for breakfast.

If you need to make it a bit easier and have have the money to then do - buy prepackaged vegetables, microwave brown rice, frozen sweet potato chunks, cooked mackerel, stir fry vegetables.

Fage fat free Greek yoghurt is high in protein and lovely with berries/apple, etc.

Eggs - boiled or scrambled, or an omelette and add in tomatoes. Serve with salad below,

Cook a chicken or a few chicken fillets and keep it fridge for lunches for a few days. Serve with salad below.

Make a chopped salad and it will keep in fridge for a few days - tomatoes/onion/cucumber/olives/radish/whatever fresh herbs you like/lemon juice - add in a can of chickpeas if you like them. Have a bag of salad leaves in fridge.

Salmon baked in oven is lovely, include cherry tomatoes too. Serve with green beans or peas.

Keep a supply of frozen veg in freezer - French beans, peas, broccoli and lightly steam, don’t over cook.

Is OP coming back ? 🤣

So I'd start with increasing the amount of vegetables you eat. Whatever diet you choose, eating more veg isn't going to be against it unless you're going for the really wacky ones. The general rule of thumb is green veg to simmer in boiling water for c. 5 minutes. Most green veg is pretty much the same. I cook cabbage, asparagus and brussels sprouts differently but that's more personal preference. Carrots, c. 12 minutes. People swear by steaming instead, I don't think it makes much difference. Frozen vegetables like peas, broad beans, edamame beans and sweetcorn all work well and just need to be brought to a boil for 1-2 mins. Other frozen veg (apart from chopped spinach I'd add to curries) I don't think work very well as they tend to be a bit soft whatever you do.

With vegetables, I think it's a combination of not overcooking them and finding ones you like. When my son was little, if he didn't like something, I'd offer it again but perhaps cooked slightly differently. So even I as an adult swear that carrot batons taste better than sliced carrots. 😂

So start simple. If you are having a low calorie ready meal, say, then cook some vegetables to go with it so it really fills you up. Or get something like a yellow fin sole fillet from Lidl, they sell them coated with breadcrumbs in the frozen section. They're pretty tasty and at less than 200 calories each, with some cooked broccoli, cauliflower, peas, you'd have a really low calorie but filling meal.

Then also think about fruit. Again only bonkers diets ban it. The apple season last year was brilliant so even stored British apples are doing well and cheap. Grapes you can get pretty cheaply and strawberries are just coming into UK season. If you feel peckish, eat fruit.