This is too difficult.

I made a sausage casserole tonight with tonnes of veg in it, I had only a spoonful of rice with it and I've just worked out that it's been about 600 calories.



So of course I've gone over my allowance for today and now can't eat anything else until tomorrow.

I can't start making entirely separate meals for myself, that's just not going to work.

If you can't make meals, can you make food? I eat plain baked chicken breast for dinner every night--sometimes I eat it with Salsa, sometimes with mustard, sometimes with low-sugar spagetti sauce, sometimes with hot sauce, sometimes with lemon pepper . . . you get the point. It can be dressed up different ways. But I only have to bake chicken once a week and then weigh out a portion. You could then eat whatever veggie sides you made for the family.

Cookiebell, you're learning! That's the important thing. Now you know that when you make that dish, you need to weigh or measure your portion. A good thing to know!

Sausage is high in calories because of the fat, so that's why it's easy to go over. Just be careful with it.

You can always have something light for the later meal--it would be a mistake to think you "can't" eat until tomorrow. It's unrealistic. You'll get hungry and want to eat, and might even go overboard because of it.

Just plan something for yourself like a big bowl of mixed-green salad and a whole drained 6 oz. can of water-packed tuna. Use only a Tablespoon of regular salad dressing, or two Tbsp of light dressing. This will probably be close to 200 calories and won't do that much damage in the week's scheme.

Hang in there!

Jay

I make them eat what I eat. I've greatly changed all our menu's to include less fatty meat, more veggies, and barely any pasta/rice/potato dishes. That is not to say that we don't have spaghetti or mac-n-cheese sometimes, I just refrain. I have some chicken breast and veggies instead. Good luck!

See, I think this is maybe what I need to do but then my hubby and my toddler are going to be starving hungry!!

I think I'm just stuck in a rut and don't know how to make filling meals that aren't based on pasta, rice or potatoes.

So I'm making up big tasty meals for my family then making myself eat some chicken?

Don't let this get you down. It is part of the learning curve. Maybe you can lighten some of the dishes you make your family. I make several casseroles that use canned soup. I went to the low fat versions, reduced the calories and my family has not noticed. Same goes for cheese, use a low calorie version. Maybe you can use turkey sausage or just read labels to find a brand that is lower in calories.

I also cook up several servings of my lower calorie foods so that I can heat and eat when necessary.

You sound like me. I had to relearn how to cook because my southern style meals weren't good for any of us. There are lots of good recipes here at 3FC that can help you. Also, the Cooking Light web site has been a life-saver for me.

Lean meats (chicken being the cheapest example) are really pretty good and really easy to prepare (which was my point--it doesn't involve cooking a whole separate meal).

And yes, weight loss means sometimes not getting to eat the most tasty option. That's ok as long as the thing you are eating is still pretty damn good.

Oh yes, I am the cook and they will eat what I serve them. I revamped the entire familys food choices.

And besides, only I should eat healthy fare - the rest of my family should continue to eat unhealthy foods? Nope. It was time to clean up the whole environment.

Instead of fried chicken we do stir fries, taco chicken, lemon chicken, chicken with mushrooms and wine. The list is endless. I make a huge pot of soup every week and that's a third of the dinner right there. I serve it with a protein, like the chicken I just spoke of or some other protein - teriyaki salmon or some other fish and a huge amount of usually roasted veggies.

They might whine and moan for a minute or two, but they will quickly see that this food is DELICIOUS. Nothing at all to moan about.

Give them time - they WILL adjust. Not only will they survive, but they will THRIVE.

Be creative. Search the web for healthy tasty fare. It's out there.

As my grandmother always said, "if you don't like what were having, you can go a house further."

If I'm the one that plans the meals, goes to the store, gets everything, does the coupons, pays for it, cooks it and serves it.... And all they have to do is eat it? They will eat what I want.

My husband has learned over the past few months that he doesn't need all those calories, either. He does, however, need all those veggies.

Those good things are good for him, too!

Thank you, that's really helpful. I suppose I could always make our meal and serve up carbs with theirs but not mine? With extra portions of veg for me etc?

Wow - this really is a life changing thing isn't it? I think this is the first time I'm actually realising how much I have to change in terms of my eating habits.

So, for example - I love my spaghetti bolognaise... It's a pretty healthy version that I make anyway, but I could pad it out more with tonnes of veg to make it even better. They probably wouldn't even notice much of a difference and would certainly still be full. As far as the spaghetti goes, as long as I weigh out a portion that's sensible for me, that should be fine..?

Does that sound about right?

YEs, I sometimes (though not that often), supplement for them.

I've said it often, I didn't change my lifestyle - I completely overhauled it. It needed it. It was time. I wasn't doing right by my family. It gives me much joy to feed my family so darn well. They get only the best. Just what they deserve. Many of us strive to live in the best neighborhoods, send them to the best schools (& try to get them the best teachers in those schools), we want them to have great clothes, great friends, good manners, etc. and then we feed them inferior foods. It just doesn't make sense to me (anymore). My family deserves the best of everything.

It takes time to develop these new recipes, but it's easier and faster than you think. Make a game of it. I actually look at all of *this* as my hobby.

What about using (for that recipe) lower fat versions of sausage? Like maybe a turkey sausage? I would think with all the spices in sausage, a lower fat substitute might not even be noticed. Or maybe some low fat turkey kielbasa?