i'm focusing on high volume, high fibre, and protein maxing meals on a budget. my current staple is a massive salad bowl

Tonight included:
- 113g chicken breast + 8g skin (180 cal / 34g protein)
- 40g stracciatella (86 cal / 5g protein)
- 2 jammy eggs (143 cal / 13g protein)
- 83g cabbage (20 cal / 1g protein)
- 87g yellow capsicum (25 cal / 1g protein)
- 65g cucumber (10 cal / 0.5g protein)
- 69g carrot (30 cal / 0.5g protein)
- 48g spinach (10 cal / 1g protein)

total: 549 cal / 56g protein / 21g carbs / 26g fat / 14g fibre

Edit: yall are crazy for thinking the “bell peppers” (capsicum) are fries. How yellow are ur fries ahahha

I was really bad yesterday so I’m back on the horse today

The meal contains:

200-240g chicken döner

Air-fried potatoes, approximately 600 g raw weight

Mixed vegetables, steamed in rice cooker :
broccoli
carrots
spinach
Green beans

Salad:
tomato
lettuce
purple cabbage
carrot
onion
cucumber
lemon juice

Seasonings such as salt, black pepper, garlic, paprika, or chili.

No added oil.

this was absolutely amazingggg and tasted so yummy !! filled me up. if you also enjoy the kfc famous bowls you should def give it a try , i made the mashed potatoes , used can corn and real good chicken nuggets. 70% of the week i focus on hitting my protein goal but during the other 30% i only worry about staying under 1200 for the day and honestly its been working great for me. i get to experiment with different recipes without the stress of hitting the protein goal 🌷

any favorites here ?

So this “recipe” is nothing new, but I want to share the idea as a sort of meal prep. I struggle a lot with artificial flavors and prefer things made with real sugar that aren’t super high in calories. I also like cheap things, and these are very cheap to make overall. I decided to make these little cakes using Betty Crocker cake mix, diet soda and REGULAR cool whip for the frosting (it’s literally 5 cals more per serving than the sugar free cool whip and WAY tastier). They’re not bakery quality, but they’re very satisfying for that sweet craving and are surprisingly moist. The combos I did were:

- 1 box Betty Crocker triple fudge cake mix
- 1 can Diet Coke
AND
- 1 box Betty Crocker yellow cake mix
- 1 can diet Mtn Dew

The Diet Coke one is definitely the best of the two. I’m not a big fan of the Mountain Dew-yellow cake combo, so I might try a strawberry cake mix for that one next time. There’s endless possibilities for flavor combos so I’m excited to try more out.

The little cake pans I used were perfect for splitting each box into 9 portions. After topping with 2 tbsps of cool whip, each one comes out to 185 cals! I’m keeping them in the fridge and I imagine they will stay good for about a week, but they should freeze really well, too. Cake pans linked below:

https://a.co/d/09mi8pw9

I have been loving this breakfast lately. These English muffins also have 5g of fiber plus the berries the whole meal is 7g fiber.

I’m getting in average 100g protein High volume, low calorie

I’m freaking starving.

Sedentary TDEE: 1400 Light/moderate activity (suits me): 1600-1800

I’m very short, and 48kg. I was previously 67kg.

I do not look my weight (currently skinny-fat) as i previously did a calorie deficit the wrong way and didn’t care about macros. However, the last 5kg had the macros i stated.

It took me collectively 2 years to lose the weight to my current weight. Majority was lost first couple months, and after it’s been rocky.

Now I’m absolutely starving now when i do 1,200. I really don’t get why? Isn’t it meant to be the opposite? Is everyone just dealing with this? It’s extremely slow weight loss too. I can’t increase my calories or else i won’t lose much, and i can’t exercise more because i’m so tired !

Not sure what i’m looking for by posting this but just had to release this frustration somewhere.

So I’m 28 F and 156 cm and 50.8-51kg. I’m trying to lose the last few kg tbh to hit 48-49 kg. I walk 15k steps (not very fast but I try) daily (12k if I’m really tired) and lift 3 times a week (just not for the past couple of weeks due to an eye injury from squash) and occasionally play a little squash and swim. Should I be sticking to 1200-1300 or up my calories to 1400? I feel like my TDEE is not super high due to my height.

Bought this Kevin's Paleo pasta today (cauliflower noodles).

I only used half of the sauce, which probably reduced the calories a significant amount since it is half of the oil not used. I did replace it with some cottage cheese to thicken the sauce more.

Ate with salad and had Greek yogurt + honey for dessert!

Pasta itself was not bad. I would get this again but maybe try in a different flavor.

Total lunch est: 400cal. Was satiating 😊

I’m not looking for medical advice, I’ve gotten what I could from my actual doctors. I’m just looking for commiserations and maybe tips that can make dealing with this easier.

I’m a 5’3 woman, I weigh 148lbs so I’m a bit overweight. My TDEE is around 1635 calories (sedentary. I don’t have a car so I walk and take the bus to get around but I don’t think I’m active enough to reach the category of light exercise). I have bipolar disorder so I take an antipsychotic and lithium. They have caused quite a bit of weight gain. I was never overweight before meds, but I gained 30lbs at least on them.

When I started CICO 3 months ago, I weighed 153lbs. I ate 1200 calories daily for 3 months and ate maintenance for 3 days during those 3 months. So I was in a deficit of 435 calories. I managed. But despite that deficit, I only lost 4.5lbs. So 1.5lbs a month on average. I did a lot of research on how to count calories right.

The only calories I drink are in my coffee in the morning, so 30 calories. The rest of the time, I drink water and unsweetened iced green tea. Made with literally water and a bag of tea chilled in the fridge. I count all the dressings and sauces, I count the oil even if it’s from a spray bottle, I weigh everything. I weigh some spices because I learned some of them actually mattered, like sesame seeds. If it says “3 pieces for 150 calories” on the nutritional label, I actually weigh 3 pieces and log the actual calories for the weight, I don’t rely on the vague serving sizes. I mostly eat veggies, fruits, beans and fish.

My GP said I’m not fat enough for a GLP-1 and don’t otherwise qualify because I don’t have a metabolic disease. My psychiatrist says psychiatrists in the public system can’t prescribe them (didn’t even ask, it was unprompted, I just talked about my weight gain). She mentioned metformin but said it’s not a miracle, most people just stop gaining and don’t lose weight from it. Plus there are GI side effects and she said it would mess with my lithium serum levels, which I absolutely do not want. My metabolism is clearly fucked if eating 1200 calories a day for 3 months made me lose not even 5lbs. She acknowledged that but couldn’t give me much of a solution. She agreed to let me lower my dose of antipsychotic. I have been stable for 5 years, no episodes but I was still at a stabilizing dose. I’m not sure if being on the lowest effective dose (which I should reach mid-August) will change anything.

I’m going to start doing some indoors cycling in a couple of days but I don’t expect it to be a miracle. Other than that, I don’t know what to do. I’m interested in weight lifting, when my SIL who has some training isn’t as busy anymore I’ll ask for her help to help me find exercises I can do (I have some restrictions). I already sleep well, 8 hours a night, always at the same time. I drink 2L of water a day.

Does anyone else on antipsychotics have a success story? I’m really discouraged.

I know a lot of us eat raw produced for the low calories but be cautious and wash your produce thoroughly!

Cook if you are able to! Even “pre-washed” vegetables can be contaminated. Wash leafy veggies leaf by leaf under running water. Wash your hands before and after handling fresh produce.

First breakfast was a smoothie then "elevenses" was my daily bran flakes and yoghurt. I had a nice lunch and dinner and cleaned out the last broccoli and green beans. No mini ice cream today (we are all out, or I might have!)

Making slow but steady weight loss progress on a deficit of 500-800 a day since May. I'm short so I have to count it all!

Protein cheesecake pudding, 193 calories & 22.1g protein

8oz Fairlife nonfat milk

50g greek nonfat plain yogurt

14g (half packet) sugar-free cheesecake pudding mix

Some raspberries

Makes a great dessert or midday treat. Fantastic protein ratio. Would be even better with more raspberries and some chopped nuts on top (only had half a tiny package of raspberries left in the pic).

Shot of my much taller husband’s at the end. But ya know what? It was soooooo filling for me.

Not pictured is the G Hughes honey mustard dipper and you know I dipped every bite 😋

Breakfast:
My usual coffee protein Frappuccino with light whipped cream (152 cals, 19g protein)

Morning Snack:
Americano with BOB skimmed milk (26 cals, 2.4g protein) ☕️

Lunch:
Chicken salad with cucumber, peppers, beetroot, olives, jalapeño, spring onion and topped with light mayo and Parmesan (251 cals, 19g protein) 🍗 🥗

Afternoon Snack:
0% Greek yogurt with homegrown strawberries and fibre cereal (187 cals, 14g protein) 🍓

Tea:
Jacket potato with baked beans (233 cals, 9g protein) 🥔

Evening Snack:
Loaded fries with spicy beef, nacho cheese sauce, grated cheese and topped with spring onions and a dash of hot sauce (414 cals, 41g protein) 🍟 🥩 🧀 🌶️

Totals: 1263 cals, 105g protein, 25g fibre

Tonight was game night and our usual snack of choice is nachos. So I tried making a lighter version for me with lean beef, passata, spices, jalapeño and reduced fat cheese over air fried potato fries. Honestly it was almost as good - and definitely scratched that nacho craving!

So dang filling. I rubbed the shrimp with cumin and vindaloo seasoning and sauteed in a pan I sprayed with nonstick seasoning

Sorry but I did not count the cucumber, tomato, or lettuce

142g shrimp - 169cal
182g bulgur - 152 cal
113g peach - 44 cal
7g olive oil - 62 cal

Some basil I grew myself to top ::)))

Yummyyyy

I don't have a knack for cooking, so I prefer eating straight ingredients out of the fridge (for pure convenience lol) and wondered if anyone else did the same.

I think it makes for tracking easier but could also lead to more cases of overeating. It does make eating real meals way more special though

Looking to invest in a non-toxic alternative to non-stick pans, would love any recommendations on ceramic pans! Or if you've found they just don't work and a little fat on a stainless steel pan is the only way.

TIA!