If you're counting calories, the good news is that you can have anything you want, provided the portion size is kept under control. The bad news is that it's sometimes overwhelmingly tough to control portion sizes of some foods.

If you can eat a smaller portion of calorie-dense mashed potatoes and find them satisfying, go for it! For some people, though, white potatoes present a problem because their starchiness triggers a desire for more starchy goodness. Keep an eye on your food journal and if you're feeling particularly hungry, check what you've eaten lately and see if there are lots of high-glycemic-index carbohydrates on there.

Potatoes aren't inherently bad, though. Really, no food is--"badness" and "goodness" is all relative and it's often more productive to think of them as better-suited or less well suited to your plan. If you find that potatoes don't bother you, but want them to pack less of a caloric wallop, try mixing up your cooking methods.

Roasted fingerling potatoes are still just potatoes, but you get a lot more fiber (from the skins) and much fewer calories from them than you would from mashed potatoes. Mashing your potatoes with turnips or cauliflower will also lower the calorie load without affecting taste or texture much; plus, mixing your veggies will supply you with a broader variety of nutrients.

White potatoes used to constitute about 80% of my vegetable intake during any given day. Now they're just an occasional thing, maybe once every couple of weeks, because there's such a wealth of other great stuff to eat with meals that I just don't get around to them that often. If you have an adventurous palate, I encourage you to try roasting or mashing some other good stuff--not because potatoes are "bad," but because so many other things are delicious. :)

Oh, and please don't feel as though you need to choke down fish just because it's "healthy." Eating stuff you dislike just makes you feel deprived. You should only have to hold your nose to swallow nasty medicine, not dinner. :D

Check out daily burn http://dailyburn.com/locker_room I like this website WAY better than spark people. I found spark people to be too complicated. Daily burn tracks your calories, fat, proteins, carbs, it sets you up with daily goals that you can adjust, tracks your workouts and it's simple.

Edited to add ~ I try to stay around 1500-1800 calories a day. I also workout 6 days a week.

Originally Posted by beerab:
Introduce the kids to sweet potato fries omg YUM :) Also when I make things like meatloaf I mix in ground up veggies (onion, tomato with the peel cut off, zucchini) and everyone eats it and loves it. My husband says I make the beat meatloaf, little does he know it's full of veggies along with ground turkey ;).

This is exactly what I do, and while I have always put veggies in meatloaf (I don't grind them up though), I just recently just started cutting the meat 1/2 beef and 1/2ground chicken or ground turkey. My family likes it fine, and I'm sure will come to love it. The first time I did it, I added taco seasoning (my family loves taco meatloaf) so no one would notice the different meats, but no one did anyway.

I have no problem with my kids eating veggies.The picky eater prefers her broccoli raw with dip, the other likes hers cooked, but I try and put veggies in everything I possibly can!

Nola, that is really some food for thought. I like the idea of "hiding" cauliflower or turnips. "Hiding" is a method I have had to resort to with a picky child, as well I have a diabetic husband who is in denial, and sort of on an "anti-health" kick right now. I'm not going to let it slow me down. I may slip from time to time, but i will not give up.

I am hoping by "choking down" some fish, maybe I will, in the end, find I like it (it's been years). But, if I really dislike it, I won't end up eating it, seriously, if I really disliked it, I just wouldn't eat...lol Bad habit, but it's mine to own.

Lauren, I will go right now and check out Daily Burn and see how it compares. I actually resisted using Spark People because of it's complexity. Now I have gotten used to it some, and can use the basic functions at least.

Ummmmmm Daily Burn has my caloric intake as DOUBLE what SparkPeople had it at.....I don't know what to do with this info :(

when I do grocery shopping I buy lots of vegetable such as, asparagus, green pepper, red pepper, squash, baby artichokes, zucchini, sweet potatoes. Then I prepare them for the whole week. This way I always have a side dish of vegetable. I roast all the vegetable in the oven with a little olive oil, thym, sea salt and pepper.

If I want to do an omelette, I only have to chop a few pieces and add to the eggs.

If I want a wrap sandwich I included some of them inside.

I can add them to salads.

I serve them with pasta and tomato sauce.

And the leftover are great to in soups.

Onions, cauliflowers, turnips :), brussel sprouts are excellent also ove roasted.

You can serve quinoa instead of rice, great source of protein.

I always have on chick peas or Lima bean salads also. They keep well jn thé bridge.

This way you still feed your child what she likes and you can have the roasted since they are ready and who knows she might be interested in trying them when she sees you eating them every day.

I forgot, I dont like fish either but I eat scallops instead and crab meat. I supplement my need in Omega 3 by adding 2 tablespoon of chia seed in my oatmeal in the morning. This way I meet the daily requirement.

In the other post I wanted to write in the fridge not bridge LOL, darn french brain of mine.

Michou

What a fantastic idea. I am the queen of "cook in batches". I am the LAZIEST person when it comes to making food just for myself, so I try and cook stuff up in batches, then freeze in portion sizes. I never thought of doing it with roasting veggies!!

I am trying to broaden my horizons with veggies, there are so many I just walk by in the produce section, now I am slowly trying them. I tried eggplant, and wasn't overly thrilled, but will still eat the things it's cooked into.

For example, how the heck does one cook artichokes (or leeks for that matter)??

I have never heard of quinoa, I will have to give it a try!

LOL Michou,

My french is limited, my husband has NONE, but both my girls (5 years, and almost 7 years) go to a completely french school and are now bilingual. I knew what you meant ;) LOL

Mmm... leek soup. It's delicious.

Quinoa is great, especially if you cook it with dried cranberries. Just cook the quinoa like brown rice ( 2 water x 1 quinoa ) and add the dried cranberries. Add some fresh Italian (flat) parsley and it's a great side dish.

I love mashed cauliflower. Steam it first, then put it in a food processor or blender, then add a little bit of "i cant believe its not butter". Soooo yummy. And its got the same texture of mashed potatoes. Best substitute ever, and fairly low in calories.

Originally Posted by OhMyDogs:
Ummmmmm Daily Burn has my caloric intake as DOUBLE what SparkPeople had it at.....I don't know what to do with this info :(

Those sites can only give you guidelines; it'll take a little experimentation and patience to determine your best calorie level.

If you're feeling energetic, healthy, happy, and craving-free on your current calorie level and are losing about 1% or less of your body mass per week, you probably have it right already, in which case--yay! :)

If you're feeling hungry--really hungry, not just a little "nibbly" occasionally--you probably need to raise your caloric intake. Don't think that hunger's the only sign, though; pay attention to other things like lassitude, crankiness, inability to concentrate, an overall "blah" feeling. Subtler symptoms can also mean hunger even if you're not overtly feeling hunger pangs.

To some extent, you kind of have to accept that calorie intake is a work in progress. Some patterns will take weeks or months to emerge. Right now, for example, I'm fighting the urge to cut back from 1500 because I've seen a four-day stall on the scale. Four days isn't enough to call a pattern; four days isn't even enough for some to call it a stall. Sometimes we just have to be patient and listen closely to our bodies.

Look at you all with your awesome ideas!

Is it just me? Or did everyone feel a little "stuck" trying to sort this stuff out?

I keep buying poultry breasts with NO plans for what to do with it. I pulled turkey breast out of the freezer for tonight, but have no idea what to make with it! I may just end up being "turkey breast" lol.

Originally Posted by Nola Celeste:
Those sites can only give you guidelines; it'll take a little experimentation and patience to determine your best calorie level.

If you're feeling energetic, healthy, happy, and craving-free on your current calorie level and are losing about 1% or less of your body mass per week, you probably have it right already, in which case--yay! :)

If you're feeling hungry--really hungry, not just a little "nibbly" occasionally--you probably need to raise your caloric intake. Don't think that hunger's the only sign, though; pay attention to other things like lassitude, crankiness, inability to concentrate, an overall "blah" feeling. Subtler symptoms can also mean hunger even if you're not overtly feeling hunger pangs.

To some extent, you kind of have to accept that calorie intake is a work in progress. Some patterns will take weeks or months to emerge. Right now, for example, I'm fighting the urge to cut back from 1500 because I've seen a four-day stall on the scale. Four days isn't enough to call a pattern; four days isn't even enough for some to call it a stall. Sometimes we just have to be patient and listen closely to our bodies.

What if you're not hungry, are feeling lively, energetic etc, but are losing more than 1% of your body weight weekly? I have only done 1 weigh in, yesterday, and I lost 6lbs in a week. Do I need to be concerned?

I just started my change of lifestyle on Jan 11...supposedly the first week is usually pretty big anyway?

Artichoke if they are big you boil them with a few slice of lemon. If they are babies roasting them is perfect.

Leek are similar to onion, you need to wash them well because they are full of earth. Slice them, wash, dry and cook like onions. They are great in soups and stews.

Quinoa is a grain, you must rinse it well because there is a coating that taste funky LOL and then you cook it like rice.

If you need vegetarian recipes just tell me, I have tons of lebanese and armenian recipe, great healthy food packed with vegetable, beans and grain.

Chicken breast LOL ahhhhhh.....

Chick Taouk

1 container of plain yogourt in food processor with 6 cloves of garlic, the juice of one lemon and a tablespoon of olive oil. Mix the marinade. Cut the chicken in cubes or the turkey and marinate a few hours. Put cubes on skewers and grill in thé ove or bbq, delicious.