Weightloss Diary

Try this thread for an explanation of how to cook aimed at me back when I didn't know how to cook (and it sounds like you know more than that): http://weight-loss.fitness.com/topic/48217-how-cook-beginners.html

I also posted this on another thread- it's one of the first recipes I was making when I started cooking for myself (so it's not very hard at all):

Tuna mornay (my mum's recipe)
Serves about 4- if these numbers are right (you may have to adapt) about 290 calories per serve. Serve with toast or rice.
2 tins of tuna in brine (370g)
1 tin sweetcorn (325g)
one brown onion, chopped into smallish bits (say 100g for the purposes of my calorie counting measurement)
olive oil (to be used twice, one being stingy and once erring on the generous side. I said 20ml for the purposes of the calorie counting)
approx 2 tablespoons flour
approx 500ml milk (these are about what I think I'd use, but your mileage may vary)

Drain tuna and corn. Get a large saucepan, put a stingy amount of olive oil in (can use low cal cooking spray instead, but not for later use), add onion, cook until soft and/ or caramel coloured (depends how you like it). Remove onion, put to one side. Turn the heat down to medium-low. Add rest of olive oil in, and flour (about 2 tablespoons does the job, again, your mileage may vary). Mix the flour around until it starts to brown a little. Slowly and gradually add milk, stirring. (The amount of milk you need is until you've got a sauce consistency, no lumps, but not too liquid). Don't let the milk boil. Turn the temperature back up to medium-high or high. Dump in tuna, corn, and onion, bash the tuna with a wooden spoon so it isn't in massive lumps, mix it all together, heat through. Serve. (Is nice with a bit of pepper, some people like to add salt but I don't think it's necessary).
 
Eating as little as you have been is going to SERIOUSLY damage your body in later life. We are not telling you this for the sake of telling you this. Amy has been incredibly patient and helpful trying to encourage you to eat healthily but you need to start putting it into practice.

I know you've realised that eating too little is bad but have a look at these links to understand why:


"when you drastically cut your calorie intake (fuel supply), your metabolism will slow down and burn less food to convert into energy.

"Why does a very low calorie intake slow down weight loss?

Quite simply, your body goes into 'starvation mode'. This mechanism, which is thought to have evolved as a defence against starvation, means the body becomes super efficient at making the most of the calories it does get from food and drink. The main way it does this is to protect its fat stores and instead use lean tissue or muscle to provide it with some of the calories it needs to keep functioning. This directly leads to a loss of muscle, which in turn lowers metabolic rate so that the body needs fewer calories to keep ticking over and weight loss slows down. Of course, this is the perfect solution if you're in a famine situation. But if you're trying to lose weight, it's going to do little to help you shift those unwanted pounds."



You need to be willing to help yourself. Your calories today were FINE. Good, even! But if you don't feel hungry, then that's fine too. Eat something high in calories that wont fill you up too much. Nuts/bananas are perfect for this.

I hate veggies as well. But you just have to get on with it--It's part of a healthy diet. Not *all* vegetables can make you sick. Which ones have you tried?
 
Sunflower said:
Eating as little as you have been is going to SERIOUSLY damage your body in later life. We are not telling you this for the sake of telling you this. Amy has been incredibly patient and helpful trying to encourage you to eat healthily but you need to start putting it into practice.

I know you've realised that eating too little is bad but have a look at these links to understand why:


"when you drastically cut your calorie intake (fuel supply), your metabolism will slow down and burn less food to convert into energy.

"Why does a very low calorie intake slow down weight loss?

Quite simply, your body goes into 'starvation mode'. This mechanism, which is thought to have evolved as a defence against starvation, means the body becomes super efficient at making the most of the calories it does get from food and drink. The main way it does this is to protect its fat stores and instead use lean tissue or muscle to provide it with some of the calories it needs to keep functioning. This directly leads to a loss of muscle, which in turn lowers metabolic rate so that the body needs fewer calories to keep ticking over and weight loss slows down. Of course, this is the perfect solution if you're in a famine situation. But if you're trying to lose weight, it's going to do little to help you shift those unwanted pounds."



You need to be willing to help yourself. Your calories today were FINE. Good, even! But if you don't feel hungry, then that's fine too. Eat something high in calories that wont fill you up too much. Nuts/bananas are perfect for this.

I hate veggies as well. But you just have to get on with it--It's part of a healthy diet. Not *all* vegetables can make you sick. Which ones have you tried?
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thankyou for commenting.
I have had carrots, sweetcorn and i think its colliflower, it looks like a tree? I hate them, But maybe I should make veggie smoothie's? :) is that an idea? thanks :coolgleamA:
 
Okay, so mushrooms, courgette, onion, spinach, lettuce, cucumber, aubergine, broccoli, tomatoes, beans (baked beans are a veg), asparagus, celery, garlic, chives, peppers, watercress. The list goes on!

I find the ones I can stomach are when cooked are tomatoes, garlic and spinich as they just mix in with everything else. Raw, lettuce is lovely with ham in a sandwich. Celery is nice with low-fat cream cheese, hummus or another low-fat dip. Peppers as well.

Give some of the ones I've suggested a try. Cook them, fry them, bake them, roast them, have them raw. You WILL find one you can tolerate.

Veggie smoothies probably aren't a good idea if you hate veg. Mixing them in with other stuff is a better idea as the other flavors (example, chicken, beef) will over-power the veg.
 
Sunflower said:
Okay, so mushrooms, courgette, onion, spinach, lettuce, cucumber, aubergine, broccoli, tomatoes, beans (baked beans are a veg), asparagus, celery, garlic, chives, peppers, watercress. The list goes on!

I find the ones I can stomach are when cooked are tomatoes, garlic and spinich as they just mix in with everything else. Raw, lettuce is lovely with ham in a sandwich. Celery is nice with low-fat cream cheese, hummus or another low-fat dip. Peppers as well.

Give some of the ones I've suggested a try. Cook them, fry them, bake them, roast them, have them raw. You WILL find one you can tolerate.

Veggie smoothies probably aren't a good idea if you hate veg. Mixing them in with other stuff is a better idea as the other flavors (example, chicken, beef) will over-power the veg.
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Okay, thanks.
I will try your list, I didnt know that many existed mmmm. Im clueless when it comes to veg, I guess it takes time 'ey.
I also do agree with you. Amy has been very patient by trying to guide me on the right path of a successful diet. I will look in a recipe book to see what I can cook what is healthy and tastes nice.
I can't wait to weigh myself on monday to see if Ive lost anything, I mean my diet has changed so much, normally im binging on chocolate and crisps and unhealthy foods like chicken bites cooked in the oven with loads of mayonaise.

Hows your diet going? x:coolgleamA:
 
See, there are LOADS of veg! Chose one and cook it. If you don't like it, add it to sauce or pasta! Just TRY! This is the fun part of diets! You get to experiment. Ask your mum if she'll buy you a different type of Veg each each and you get to cook it with different types of food. It'll make you realise that you CAN eat veg and enjoy them! I'd be really interested to see how you got on with it :)

Giving up the junk is awesome, but now comes the part to experiment! See what you like and what you don't. Amy has a TON of recipes and I'm sure we can help you figure some out :) Veg with noodles/rice is lovely as well.

My diet goes so so. Need a kick up the bum as well :p Just don't be afraid to try new things. It's part of growing up and it's part of being healthy xx

Have a look here:

Cheap, easy and very yummy :p They have meat recipes as well!
 
Sunflower said:
See, there are LOADS of veg! Chose one and cook it. If you don't like it, add it to sauce or pasta! Just TRY! This is the fun part of diets! You get to experiment. Ask your mum if she'll buy you a different type of Veg each each and you get to cook it with different types of food. It'll make you realise that you CAN eat veg and enjoy them! I'd be really interested to see how you got on with it :)

Giving up the junk is awesome, but now comes the part to experiment! See what you like and what you don't. Amy has a TON of recipes and I'm sure we can help you figure some out :) Veg with noodles/rice is lovely as well.

My diet goes so so. Need a kick up the bum as well :p Just don't be afraid to try new things. It's part of growing up and it's part of being healthy xx

Have a look here:

Cheap, easy and very yummy :p They have meat recipes as well!
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Thanks, Ohhhh I like the sound of that egg friend rice. I suppose I might try that out with onion and mushrooms, I can cut them how ever small I want and I wont even notice they are there! great help! The first recipe I looked at and I love it already!

Take care x
 
Cut them up SUPER small and cook them with some low-cal oil and maybe some garlic and a little bit of a salt. Will be delicious, promise :) You'll hardly taste the veg. Mushrooms absorb the flavours they are cooked with so they'll merge in with the rice if you mix it all together! Ask your mum--I'm sure she'll help you do it :D
 
Sunflower said:
Cut them up SUPER small and cook them with some low-cal oil and maybe some garlic and a little bit of a salt. Will be delicious, promise :) You'll hardly taste the veg. Mushrooms absorb the flavours they are cooked with so they'll merge in with the rice if you mix it all together! Ask your mum--I'm sure she'll help you do it :D
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Yeah she will, ahhhh I want to cook it now! But ive just realised my eating has stopped now! its past 7 ahha.
Im looking forward to it. If i dont have it tomorrow ill surely be having it sometime over the weekend, it sounds too yummy! x
 
Good :) Post again if you want some help with recipes or cooking ideas for veg. When I do rice and veg I usually do enough for the whole day (or even a couple of days). The longer you leave it in the fridge (within reason ;)) the better it tastes!

Good luck hun x
 
Sunflower said:
Good :) Post again if you want some help with recipes or cooking ideas for veg. When I do rice and veg I usually do enough for the whole day (or even a couple of days). The longer you leave it in the fridge (within reason ;)) the better it tastes!

Good luck hun x
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Ohhhhh, I may make a big dish of it then. So i can have it a few days, then it will atleast get some veg in.

Appreciated! x
 
Leftovers are great, I do them all the time. Some meals taste better as leftovers, some not so much (try not to leave leftovers more than a week, or else they'll get a bit... funky. Or fuzzy. :ack2: )

Have you tried steamed carrots? I find them to be sweet, very different from raw (or boiled. If you've only ever had boiled vegetables, I can understand why you hate them :puke: ) In fact, steaming is one of the lower calorie ways of cooking veg (not onion or potato- get a microwave safe container- or microwave safe bowl- chop up veggies, put in bowl, add a couple of teaspoons of water, cover up the container with a lid or cling film, microwave for at least a couple of minutes. You'll need to experiment with time because microwaves and types of veggies vary)

The tuna mornay recipe I gave you also works without the corn- try it with some veggies (if you find some you like) on the side, or maybe even put in a chopped up pepper (you might want to reduce to one tin of tuna in that case).

I find most of my recipes from these two sites: (go to "refine your search", select main meal, and then select calorie range. I typically search 400-600), and (go to advanced search, hit low kilojoule, and search from there. I recommend once you've done the search to switch to highest rated recipes. Remember that it's an Australian site and the energy is in kilojoules- divide by 4.2 for calories- and some of the terms are different. For example we call courgettes "zucchini"). In both instances you can use more specific searches, to specify what kind of food you want to find. You're welcome to ask me if a recipe is easy or difficult to make- although I cook quite a bit, I taught myself to cook and I don't do anything terribly fancy (it might look it, but trust me, I mostly just follow instructions)
 
amy1985 said:
Leftovers are great, I do them all the time. Some meals taste better as leftovers, some not so much (try not to leave leftovers more than a week, or else they'll get a bit... funky. Or fuzzy. :ack2: )

Have you tried steamed carrots? I find them to be sweet, very different from raw (or boiled. If you've only ever had boiled vegetables, I can understand why you hate them :puke: ) In fact, steaming is one of the lower calorie ways of cooking veg (not onion or potato- get a microwave safe container- or microwave safe bowl- chop up veggies, put in bowl, add a couple of teaspoons of water, cover up the container with a lid or cling film, microwave for at least a couple of minutes. You'll need to experiment with time because microwaves and types of veggies vary)

The tuna mornay recipe I gave you also works without the corn- try it with some veggies (if you find some you like) on the side, or maybe even put in a chopped up pepper (you might want to reduce to one tin of tuna in that case).

I find most of my recipes from these two sites: (go to "refine your search", select main meal, and then select calorie range. I typically search 400-600), and (go to advanced search, hit low kilojoule, and search from there. I recommend once you've done the search to switch to highest rated recipes. Remember that it's an Australian site and the energy is in kilojoules- divide by 4.2 for calories- and some of the terms are different. For example we call courgettes "zucchini"). In both instances you can use more specific searches, to specify what kind of food you want to find. You're welcome to ask me if a recipe is easy or difficult to make- although I cook quite a bit, I taught myself to cook and I don't do anything terribly fancy (it might look it, but trust me, I mostly just follow instructions)
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Thanks!
I have checked out them websites, I find the too difficult to use! (im a little slow, well i think so). I will definitely try steaming them instead as ive never tried them steamed.
I know fish is very good but unfortunately I cant stand ANY fish :(

x
 
Have a play with them, see what you come up with. Remember to look at the calorie or kilojoule rating on things. Even just go to them, go to the search bar, and type in "chicken" (I know you don't like a lot of meat, it's just an example). Then check out what comes up, whether you think you can make it, and what the calories or kilojoules are (aim for 1250-2510 kilojoules per serve if you use the Australian site- that's 300-600 calories)
 
Eric, do you have a slow cooker (aka crockpot) at home, or a very large saucepan that can go in the oven (something like this: - side note, oh my word that's gone up since I bought it)? It's not ideal nutritionally (some of the nutrients leech out, but it's better than nothing), but if you put veggies into a casserole they should take on the flavour of the sauce. I made this awhile ago in the slow cooker, and it was very nice: I adapted it- I used casserole beef (much, much cheaper), added a second tin of chopped tomato (Tesco value ones are about 20p), took out the olives, and added the aubergine and courgette suggested for the vegetarian version. I cooked the onions, garlic and meat as suggested in the recipe, threw everything in the slow cooker, and put it on low for 6 hours. Came out beautifully (and the vegetables had virtually disintegrated, which I wasn't happy about, but would probably suit you). You'll find more if you go back to BBC Good Food and type "stew" in the search (then look at the calories- under the instructions- to work out whether it's appropriate). I don't know if this'll work, but this is my search for "stew" 400-600 calories:

This recipe looks relatively easy (if you can get your hands on the ingredients) and I suspect will hide the taste of the vegetables almost entirely:

This one also looks quite nice (and not terribly difficult), will hit your veggie needs nicely (depends on if you like chorizo and chicken though, I'm bad at veggie substitutions), and if you're having trouble with your calories is at the high end of low calorie:

I like the look of this too (although given your dislike of some of those veggies I'd replace with a stir fry mix, such as this: - sorry, yes it has carrot in it, I can't find any without. Alternately, add your own stir fry vegetables instead of the mix)

This looks very, very simple, and there shouldn't be anything in it you don't like: (for more of a kick, add 1/2 teaspoon chili powder)

Hope you get something out of that.
 
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Oh crap! i just lost a long post. I can't do it again.

I wanted to say Eric you are doing great now. I commend you on your efforts to meet our demands.

You are a growing boy so your calorie demands are much greater than for even an adult man. I do not agree again with Amy about the mashed potato and pasta under the circumstances.

But rather than hang around and disagree continually with Amy on the finer points of nutrition, i am going to bow out of this thread in the interests of not causing confusion for you.

Eric, i still strongly urge you to get some help from a dietician via your doctor. Also if that proves difficult, seek out a local youth group and ask them to help you learn more about nutrition. And they might be able to help you with cooking skills too. Don't let anyone, especially doctors fob you off. If one person is not willing to help you, find another person.

I wish you much success. :waving:
 
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Day five! :(

Breakfast - 30g trim flakes, 125ml milk - 161 Calories
Snack - 6 x Jumbo snackerjacks - 240 Calories
Dinner - didnt have any! :(:(:(
Tea - Egg Fried rice, with onion (Didnt have any mushrooms:() - 661 Calories
Snack - 2 Jaffa cakes!! - 96 Calories
Snack - Pack of quavers - 88 Calories

1Litre + of water!

Today was hard, I kind of lost motivation :(. It didnt help I didnt prepare any dinner to take to school eeeee.

I have been so tempted to eat mars bars and bags of crisps, mm. But I didnt!

I hope this doesnt effect my weigh in on monday!

How's everyone else going?
x
 
I'm still reading. I'm just not commenting on what you eat. So i guess it means i am going back a little on what i said i'd do.

Could you please tally your calories Eric? My brain is too old and demented.

Hang in there Eric. We're all rooting for you as they say in America. One day at a time. Keep the goal in sight. You can have a bad and recover the next.
 
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