good food choices to lose weight

[Anonymous]

I have lost 60 lbs this year just by changing my diet to very low carb / cutting out most added sugars. (No drugs used.) Here are some of the meals that make it into my rotation very regularly:

- Taco bowls with ground beef, shredded lettuce, avocado, salsa, tomatoes and corn (sometimes sub beef with chicken and sometimes include rice or tortillas)
- Large salads with rotisserie chicken (I usually buy a chicken on Sunday and add it to my salads throughout the week)
- Chicken parm baked in the oven w. veggies as a side
- BBQ chicken thighs with various veggies
- Salmon with various veggies
- Chicken soup with no noodles
- Mexican tortilla soup (with chicken, beans, corn, onions, peppers, tomatoes)
- Eggs scrambled with cheese and spinach
- BLTs with the low calorie Keto bread (yes, I realize this bread is highly processed)
- Turkey meatballs with sauce and ricotta cheese
- French fries homemade in air fryer with air-fried breaded shrimp with cocktail sauce or with unbreaded/lightly dressed chicken wings

Nothing particularly exciting, but try to keep a decent amount of variety and keep no type of food completely off-limits. Also, every night I have sugar-free Jello pudding with peanut butter and Cool Whip - again, I know this is highly processed but helps make the diet sustainable for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have lost 20 recently, no added sugar and low’ish carb are key for me.

Breakfast is plain Greek yogurt with berries, walnuts and cinnamon most days, every so often oatmeal mixed with peanut butter.

Lunch is almost always a big salad with various veggies, seeds, and a protein (chicken, hard boiled egg, shrimp), avocado, maybe a small amount of whole grains mixed in or whole grain crackers on side

Dinner is whatever I make for the family but I go heavy on the protein and veggies and try to avoid big portions of white carbs

Fruit for dessert and a bit of dark chocolate

Hummus and veggies for snacks, or hard boiled eggs, or pistachios

I also WFH and stick to the same dinners my family enjoys while focusing on very healthy fare for other meals. My routine is similar to this PPs. Also I find that whole I get bored of the same dinners all the time and change those up often, I am happy to eat more routine breakfasts and lunches. It is easier both time-wise and mental load.

Breakfasts are usually plain greek yogurt with berries and a sprinkle of nuts (esp in warmer weather) or plain oatmeal prepared the same way (esp colder weather). Some days I might have cereal or an egg or a homemade superhero muffin.

Lunches are usually big salads with chickpeas (or sometimes leftover protein from dinner) or homemade soups. I have a couple regulars I like that I make in batches and freeze like lentil soup, black bean soup, gazpacho, butternut squash soup, etc. Sometimes I’ll do half a sandwich with smaller serving of the salad/soups.

Dinners I also pay attention to portions of the family meal. I might make myself one alternate side sometimes too like spaghetti squash instead of pasta or an extra veggie/salad in lieu of a carby side.

I also find it helps to keep a few easy snacks on hand that are healthy. It’s just too easy to snack when you WFH. If that is something you struggle with pay attention to that.

I do best if I focus on just providing myself healthy choices I genuinely like, versus a list of food to avoid or what not to eat. I might think about how much fiber, colors of produce or servings of veggies I have in a day rather than the idea of limiting carbs, sugar, etc. Just a better mindset for me. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I want to lose about 20 pounds. I wfh and am looking for weight-loss friendly and healthy breakfast and lunch ideas (for dinner I’m planning to keep with what I’ve been serving my family, which are chicken or fish based meals, and cutting down my portion). Today will be my big grocery shop day and if I have the foods present and ideas of what to eat, I’ll be much better off than when I need to scramble between meetings and wolf down leftovers or make a frozen mac and cheese “because it is there and quick.” Thanks for ideas!

Are you prepared to do this for the rest of your life? If not, than you will quickly gain back those 20 pounds or more when you stop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have lost 20 recently, no added sugar and low’ish carb are key for me.

Breakfast is plain Greek yogurt with berries, walnuts and cinnamon most days, every so often oatmeal mixed with peanut butter.

Lunch is almost always a big salad with various veggies, seeds, and a protein (chicken, hard boiled egg, shrimp), avocado, maybe a small amount of whole grains mixed in or whole grain crackers on side

Dinner is whatever I make for the family but I go heavy on the protein and veggies and try to avoid big portions of white carbs

Fruit for dessert and a bit of dark chocolate

Hummus and veggies for snacks, or hard boiled eggs, or pistachios

Do you know what low carb means?

[Anonymous]

I’ve seen a massive difference just by eating 3 scrambled eggs and 2 pieces of hormel bacon for breakfast.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You'll get very different answers on the Food forum than you'll get on the Diet forum. Check both.

I found some success with a combination of the two.

Focus on whole grains, not protein. I have oats for breakfast nearly every day, and a greens and grain bowl with legumes for lunch. It works for me.

It has to taste good. If it doesn't, you won't stick with it.

I think this is different for everyone. I can't eat oatmeal in the morning, even the high protein one, because it makes me ravenous all day.

OP, I like to make a big batch of healthy soup once or twice a week. Recent ones have been a refried bean soup, a spicy vegetable soup with ground chicken meatballs, and a chicken tortilla soup. I eat these for lunch. Breakfast, which I don't always eat, is usually a couple eggs and some sauteed spinach, cherry tomatoes or avocado, and sometimes a chicken sausage or bacon. If I think of it I will add collagen powder to my oat milk cappucino. Dinner is a protein with a vegetable and maybe a baked or roasted potato. Snacks are an apple or some berries, with a couple nuts or a piece of cheese or one slice of salami, or a hard boiled egg. Hummus and celery.

I recently had E coli and am afraid to eat salads!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I want to lose about 20 pounds. I wfh and am looking for weight-loss friendly and healthy breakfast and lunch ideas (for dinner I’m planning to keep with what I’ve been serving my family, which are chicken or fish based meals, and cutting down my portion). Today will be my big grocery shop day and if I have the foods present and ideas of what to eat, I’ll be much better off than when I need to scramble between meetings and wolf down leftovers or make a frozen mac and cheese “because it is there and quick.” Thanks for ideas!

Are you prepared to do this for the rest of your life? If not, than you will quickly gain back those 20 pounds or more when you stop.

I don't interpret OP as looking for a crash diet. Most suggestions here are reasonable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have lost 20 recently, no added sugar and low’ish carb are key for me.

Breakfast is plain Greek yogurt with berries, walnuts and cinnamon most days, every so often oatmeal mixed with peanut butter.

Lunch is almost always a big salad with various veggies, seeds, and a protein (chicken, hard boiled egg, shrimp), avocado, maybe a small amount of whole grains mixed in or whole grain crackers on side

Dinner is whatever I make for the family but I go heavy on the protein and veggies and try to avoid big portions of white carbs

Fruit for dessert and a bit of dark chocolate

Hummus and veggies for snacks, or hard boiled eggs, or pistachios

Do you know what low carb means?

I said low carb “ish” - I’m not trying to be keto or on Atkins. This has worked for me. I really limit white carbs, have added sugars or sweeteners sparingly, etc so like if I make meatballs and spaghetti for dinner I have the meatballs and veggies over spaghetti squash or cauli rice. My breakfast and lunch are fairly low carb as are snacks but sometimes I’ll have some roasted potatoes at dinner. This works well for me and I’ve lost weight and I’m not hungry.

[Anonymous]

Skip breakfast.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I want to lose about 20 pounds. I wfh and am looking for weight-loss friendly and healthy breakfast and lunch ideas (for dinner I’m planning to keep with what I’ve been serving my family, which are chicken or fish based meals, and cutting down my portion). Today will be my big grocery shop day and if I have the foods present and ideas of what to eat, I’ll be much better off than when I need to scramble between meetings and wolf down leftovers or make a frozen mac and cheese “because it is there and quick.” Thanks for ideas!

Are you prepared to do this for the rest of your life? If not, than you will quickly gain back those 20 pounds or more when you stop.

You win for most helpful and enlightening post 🙄.

[Anonymous]

I have tried everything and am have only been able to lose weight if I switch to brothy soups for dinner since I hate weighing and measuring food, and clearly I eat too much otherwise. So I eat a high protein breakfast, my main meal for a late lunch (always leftovers from the night before) and soup for dinner.

[Anonymous]

Skip breakfast. Sensible lunch and sensible dinner. No seconds. No gluten. No sugar. And absolutely no snacking.

[Anonymous]

^ forgot no alcohol.

[Anonymous]

I lost 70 lbs and never skipped breakfast or stopped eating carbs.

Look up the Mediterranean diet and follow that. It's healthy and sustainable. I try to stay between 1200-1400 a day. Before you berate me on how that's too much, I'm 46, 4 foot 11 inches.

This notion that we need to starve ourselves or go keto is so bogus. Eat healthy and move and you'll lose weight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Skip breakfast. Sensible lunch and sensible dinner. No seconds. No gluten. No sugar. And absolutely no snacking.

This is SUCH a load of crap. Please don't listen to this person.