No more "I will start tomorrow" BUT .... I am suffering from a lack of inspiration!

[laura_1987]

Hi all .. So today is that day! I keep telling myself that I will start a weight loss plan tomorrow and the everyday the lbs are still piling on! Has anyone got any ideas for LOW COST meals that the family will enjoy but are still low in calories? Also breakfast and lunch ideas that I can have while on the go. I don't always get time to sit and eat breakfast or lunch so tend to skip them and then snack on unhealthy quick easy options instead. Just seems to be that all the healthy options in the supermarkets are double the price of the unhealthy ones. Thank you in advance for any advice

[walkthisway Maintainer 2st 7lbs]

Hi laura_1987 well done on using this site and on making the decision to start a healthy eating plan. If you haven't already sign up for the NHS 12 week plan - it puts a structure to your healthy eating, there are lots of tips on exercise and what to eat and it will motivate you. Use the free app myfitnesspal - it gives calorie values for most foods and you can log what your are eating to keep track. Planning ahead is the key to healthy eating, when you are very busy and don't have a minute to think and still have to feed a family and yourself on a budget. The lowest cost and healthiest way to eat is to cook from scratch - basic ingredients - particularly vegetables - are the cheapest food you can buy from supermarkets. Avoid the foods advertised as 'healthy options' - as you say they are expensive, often tasteless or full of sugar and salt. Sit down and work out a whole weeks worth of food for you and the family. Try and make time to sit down and eat - not on the go - it will help your brain and stomach realise you have eaten and stop you snacking later - or make the snacks healthier. For breakfast, some cereal or porridge with fruit, or wholemeal toast, or egg and lean bacon. Lunch perhaps you could pre pack a salad with loads of veg and plenty of protein, egg or ham, chicken or pulses or beans. Or take a small portion of leftovers from dinner the night before - at my desk job my habit has been to snack for England - a very hard habit to break. Good luck and look forward to hearing about your progress!

[burntsun Maintainer Restart Feb 2024 6kg]

Hi laura_1987,

Welcome to the forum! As walkthisway has already explained, the 12 week plan gives you structure and guidance which will help with the changes to your eating/exercising that you'll be making.

Re healthy low cost meals, check out the "eat 4 cheap" nhs pages: nhs.uk/Livewell/eat4cheap/P... All those pages have been written recently, and there does seem to be an emphasis on health as well as low cost.

For lunches and snacks, I love taking in carrot and cucumbers sticks, little salads made of shredded beetroot and seeds, hard boiled eggs, and corn cakes. You're right that often the healthy choices are more expensive than the cheap rubbish, but sandwich fillers like cottage cheese, humus and tuna are fairly inexpensive. Also seasonal veg is pretty cheap: you could prepare a veg soup at home and then take it to work in a thermos flask or heat it in a microwave (if there is one at your work). Have it with weight watchers wholemeal pittas or oatcakes.

Best of luck on your weight loss journey!

burntsun

[Wheeliewoman]

Having never really cooked from scratch myself and only eaten the same old boring things, I had this dilemma myself and found the bbc good food website invaluable for inspiration and recipe suggestions. You can specify the ingredients even - so if there is something that your family loves in particular you can put that ingredient in and look at the suggestions. They even have the nutritional data for you - not all of them are "healthy" to have on a regular basis - however I like to tweak recipes so I recalculate using the recipe bit on myfitnesspal which another poster has recommended. Using herbs and spices and "low fat" versions of things like creme fraiche can help keep flavour up and calories down but, like others have said, it isn't worth going for the so called healthy ready meals if you can avoid it.

[returner]

Hi Laura, the basic reason why you will want to lose weight will be quite personal to you.

It might be to fit into size XYZ jeans/dress or whatever. It might be because of the associated higher risks of ill-health. Perhaps you want to be more active / mobile, e.g. able to run around with the kids / grand-kids.

Whatever it is for you, as you lose weight you will gain a fabulous extra bonus. Your body will become lighter, slimmer and less effort to move around.

If you know how overweight you are. Think of that as a rucksack that you HAVE to wear 24 hours a day. Every movement you make is weighed down by that heavy rucksack, no exception.

Just think what it would feel like to be able to take that rucksack off.

Well, I'll tell you - it feels absolutely terrific. It's like moving around in someone else's lighter, slimmer body.

So, just go for it.

[queenbx]

hi...I was the same never eat breakfast or dinner then really eat for tea and onwards...for me and my family we have started making stir fry's just veg ones or with some fish...egg noddle's with some soy source..also pasta tuna peppers sweetcorn all like this. Or home made soups really filling and can be prepped night before and kept for two days...I do hope...also for snakes I east dry nuts and fruit or even rice crackers with some chesses spread...I do hope you find some thing that's good for you and all your family...all the best...x