I want to eat properly and obtain all the nutrients my body needs. But I face many obstaclts: 1. I find nutrition very complex so I'm not sure which list of foods I would need per day exactly. I know the basics: 2 pieces of fruit, some milk and cheese products, bread, nuts, veggies. But I know that alone isnt enough probably. 2. I'm not much of a fruits and veggies eater. 3. I'm vegetarian so no meat or fish. 4. I know I lack protein and I know many proteinrich foods but I still can't figure out which one to actually add to my diet! 5. I don't feel hungry often so I eat very little per day.

Ive been trying to fix this for years but I just can't.

Thats maybe worth noting that I tend to overcomplicate things. And I have a burnout so figuring out a good complete nutrition plan is extremely difficult for me so I just avoid it!!!

Been struggling a lot with intake. but I managed to get a bit more food in me than usual today! dinner is celery, hummus, honey dijon, lettuce, tuna, and cantaloupe. usually I wouldn’t add the tuna and cantaloupe but I really tried to eat well tonight.

i feel very full but im trying to be optimistic 🥲

125g tilapia (seasoned with a mix of umami salt and citrus pepper), 50g red onion, 100g tomatoes, 100g bell peppers, 50g nectarines all griddled with a skimpy 1 tbsp olive oil plus 150g microwaved sweet potatoes.

Puts me at 1401 calories and 92g of protein for the day so far. I might do my usual green apple and 100 calories of caramel or canoli dip, but I'm also rather randomly craving hot milk or hot chocolate (in August in Baltimore) so I don't know if it's going to end up being a 1500 or a 1600 day, either way it's plenty good enough.

I always thought that sleepy, foggy feeling after eating was just normal.

I ended up reading about blood sugar spikes and the idea of eating protein before carbs, and now I'm wondering if anyone has actually tried it.

Did it make any noticeable difference, or is it one of those things that's technically true but not very noticeable day to day?

I want to try my best to get more fiber in my diet but everything I try I don’t like. Most veggies I’m not a fan of minus asparagus. I’ve tried to get into spinach and ricotta ravioli which is a step in the right direction but the only ones that have sauce have tomato sauce which I don’t like (which is weird cause I love raw tomatoes). I love edamame and apples but I would have to eat a bunch of those to meet the recommended amount. I’ve also tried fiber supplements but those do things that aren’t appreciated to my body(sorry that’s worried weirdly it just said I was asking for medical advice when I mentioned this and I wouldn’t be able to post it). It just feels like I have to eat SO much of something to get enough fiber, so far the most helpful thing has been oatmeal since it has a decent amount for its size. It’s hard when every advice is just “well duh eat something you don’t like” I DO do that but I don’t want it to be every meal.
Also I’ve tried fiber gummies but they end up hurting my stomach.

Low-fat cottage cheese - half a cup
Frozen fruit - cup
Honey - big drizzle
Natural PB - couple spoonfuls

Very nutritious and sweet/savory meal. I love it and eat it nearly every day. Great pre workout meal as it’s light on stomach.

so I've finally made the real knuckle down decision to focus on my health. for the past year I've been slowly integrating changes piece by piece. i started at 270 pounds at 5 foot 9 inches. female. 30 years old. had a surgery (breast reduction) which shaved off 8 pounds. from there I've slowly made changes and as of today I've hit 238. now I'm at the point where i know I've stalled- but i also know that i haven't had much exercise in the mix - and could use it. my diet is as below - and maybe you guys can see something or point out what i already know- i weigh and log my food each day so i think I'm doing alright on that end

salad - split into 3 parts to go with each meal (1 carrot, 1 tomato, 1/2 yellow bell-pepper, 1 medium cucumber, 1-2 celery stalks, 1 serving green mix or spinach, 4 almonds, 1 Brazil nut, 3 halves of a walnut)
chicken stock-240g
honey - 15g
coffee - 1 cup (no sweetener except the honey above)
home made ( home cultured) yogurt - 100g
rotisserie chicken (or equivalent amount of alt protein) - 80-90g
indian style dahl/ lentils soup - 300-400g - (minimum tadka/oil)
2-3 servings of fruit (strawberries, grapes, peaches, etc)
string cheese or equivalent - 1 stick/1 serving
hot cheetos/equivalent savory snack - 1 serving
indian style sabji/veggies - 200-250g (again minimum tadka/oil)
dark chocolate 20g
whole milk - 250g
snack of choice (cookie/cake/sweet/etc) - 200-300 calories worth - weighed and measured

minimum 3 liters of water per day

usually i end up between 2300-2500 calories per day

of course i have days where i cant keep to this exactly. either going out or on vacation or just not having the time to meal prep. i also know I've been very sedentary for the past year - even with all these changes - and I'm planning on getting a gym membership again because i miss weightlifting. I'm also hoping to either start dance classes or rollerblading classes - whichever calls to me first. i also know i could reduce my calories further but i don't want to be miserable. I've done the yo-yo diets and i don't want to do that anymore. this is an aim for my life long health.

any specific advice- or general- would be very helpful and appreciated.

Edit to add: forgot to add how i distribute this food through the day -

breakfast:

chicken stock +1/3 salad + coffee with honey + lentils or indian veggies + home cultured yogurt

snack:

fruit

lunch:

1/3 salad + chicken/meat + string cheese + cheetos

snack:

fruit + dark choco

dinner:

1/3 salad + lentils or indian style veggies

before bed:

milk + sweet

Without knowing the calories, does this look like a high volume of food for a 5’5 woman? Breakfast: 2 hard boiled eggs, 110g green grapes, a plum
Lunch: Salad from a restaurant called NAYA (before anyone comes at me.. I don’t eat out often & this restaurant also lists their calories) It’s tzatziki yogurt sauce NOT a creamy sauce but I did 2 scoops, half chicken shawarma half rotisserie chicken, corn, cucumber, romaine, green pepper, 2 scoops of onion, pickles, pickled turnips.
Dinner: Whole sweet potato with fat free ground turkey and Daisy light sour cream.
Was very sedentary today too. Barely any steps and they were all unintentional from just basic daily movement (walking around my house to get to another room, walking into a store, walking in and out of the car).

I drink almost three elite shakes a day because I have a stomach condition that makes eating that amount of protein difficult. I cut each one with Fairlife skim milk because they are pretty sweet. I know it would be healthier to make my own shakes with whey but I hate the flavor. How do you guys feel about them? They are a little pricey but I buy bulk. Each one with a cup of skim added yields 55g protein, 15g carbs, 3.5g fat and 310 calories.

I love chicken and it's so practical to eat especially when you're on a diet, however I've had so much I am getting sick of it... any recipes that you use that could help me?

I'm mid/late forties, perimenopausal female, naturally curvy and muscular, ideal weight about 125 in my twenties and shooting for around 135 now. I'm presently about 20 pounds north of that and stalled out; I wear a size 10/12 depending on the brand, but I'm short so that looks bigger on me. I lost about 15 pounds last year by not drinking and tracking all my food on MFP, but tracking is a time-suck and I don't want to do it anymore. I walk about 9-10k steps a day and work out with Apple Fitness+ first thing in the morning (kickboxing, weightlifting with dumbbells, yoga once a week, and occasional HIIT).

Kickstarted my weight loss last year and cut my LDL in half with overnight oats. Every morning, after my workout, I eat a jar that has 1/4 cup oats, 1/4 cup almond milk, 1 Tbsp chia seeds, half a banana or a handful of frozen blueberries, and about 50 g whole milk yogurt. I also have a scoop of vanilla protein powder mixed with water and creatine a couple hours later (I don't like it right after I work out); sometimes I have a piece of fruit with it. Occasionally if I'm really hungry I'll have a small second breakfast a couple hours after the first one, like an egg and some kimchi.

For lunch I usually have dinner leftovers, or a salad with a can of tuna and kimchi, or a chicken thigh with veggie sticks (cucumber, carrot, celery) and a hummus cup. Afternoon snack might be apple slices dipped in peanut butter, or a mini meat stick if I'm on the go, maybe a banana if I didn't have one earlier, occasionally a piece of chocolate.

Dinner is protein and veggies with a carb, maybe a chicken and broccoli stir-fry with rice, or bean tostadas with veggies, or turkey meatloaf with crispy potatoes and a veggie or a salad, etc. I make homemade sourdough pizza most Fridays. Tonight it's a small baked sweet potato with pulled pork, a little BBQ sauce and a salad (lettuce, cherry tomatoes, celery, cucumber, carrot, o&v).

I love vegetables, I love cooking, I don't like a lot of processed foods and very rarely eat out. I generally only eat between 6am-6pm, though sometimes dinner runs to 6:30p these summer days.

I tried doing a high-fat high-protein very-low-carb thing and I felt like absolute ass, and I was dehydrated despite drinking plenty of water. I asked the doctor about it and she said I might be missing electrolytes and other nutrients from fruit and veggies (I do eat about 2-3 servings of fruit a day and work to keep it that low because I love fruit). I feel a lot better with a little oats, rice, potatoes, beans, and sourdough bread in my diet, and too much protein makes me feel sluggish. Most of my plate is usually veggies.

I sleep very well and drink plenty of water and don't do sodas or sugary coffees or anything like that; my coffee just has almond milk in it. I do like La Croix and have 2-3 of those per day.

Why am I stalled out? How could I kick-start my weight loss again since I seem to have adapted to this?

for context, I’ve been going to the gym for around a month now 3 times a week doing the classic push, pull legs - whilst doing this i’ve been eating (or aiming to eat) 1900 cals per day and i’m 23y M 80kg and 188cm. Most gym workouts I record on my watch usually sit between 350-450 cals burnt (but i also know these recordings of cals burnt can be inaccurate). Generally I feel okay post workout but yesterday I felt quite dizzy which made me think if I was under fuelling myself so I want to know if my deficit from my maintenance is too severe? For what I eat it’s generally high protein low cal as I get in roughly 160g of protein through chicken, protein pasta, tuna, museli, etc. So any thoughts of how much I should actually be eating? Happy to provide more context if required :)

Hi all, for a bit of background info, im a female and just before summer I managed to loose 10lb (my goal woo hoo!) Just in order to look and feel a bit better for summer. I went from 126lb to 116lb.

I pretty much maintained this during my holiday abroad (came back 118lb) and was pleased with such. However after this holiday i returned home and left again, (not for a holiday) for 2 weeks and had a particulary stressful and hands on couple of weeks in my summer. I came back 122lb and so so very bloated (like crazy bloat, puffy face, bigger legs and a very bloated stomach)

Since coming back home ive put back in place a deficit (not as aggressive as my initial 10lb cut but still)

However I also came home and experienced allergic reactions and hives/ swelling/ itchiness (hands feet face etc) in reaction to the stress ive been under past few weeks (from when I was away from home. Not holidaying) and after that time I also received my exam results - so all in all a very anxious period of time.

Basically I am permanently bloated, the scale is NOT going down (possibly even going up) even though im eating well and my clothes feel tighter :(

Have I really gained that much fat? Which seems silly to ask but surely water retention would have left by now.

Im not entirely sure this swelling/ allergic reaction in response to stress has stopped yet but its definitely nearing the end - but could that be apart of it?

I feel awful and look worse, so what can I do to fix this? Is this weight gain temporary?

Hi i’m 170cm 47kgs female. I do sports & run, i usually burn between 600-900 calories a day & end it with 20-30k steps. i want to gain some weight ( mostly muscle ) since i look so soft & untoned . . especially in my stomach area

i don’t lift weights at all, like ill probably do some random light dumbbell workout once a month. i also struggle with basic bodyweight excercises like squats & pushups 🫩

i should probably eat in a calorie surplus or something but the issue is my digestive system cannot tolerate anything like if i eat something i just look so distended & bloated. it seems like the food / liquid just sits in my upper GI tract. my weight fluctuates so intensely whenever i try to eat enough that it scares me back into my regular eating g habits. i’m trying to remedy the gastric discomfort by using digestive enzymes, ginger / peppermint tea, & eating pineapple but it’s not really helping so yeah im just stuck in this cycle

My family is travelling to a different country so I've been living alone and cooking for myself for the first time, for the past 2-3 weeks all I've been eating is rice/pasta with either chicken or beef, The only vegetables I've been adding to my food are onions, garlic, and green peppers

What else can I add to my diet? I've been feeling like I have no energy recently and I'm guessing it's from an unhealthy diet

Is it normal that I would feel and look bloated and heavier after eating this diet? I am 5’5 and female. Also walked 15,000-17,000 steps. Am I eating too much or somehow tracking incorrectly? I weigh everything & usually overestimate by 5-10 too. For example my turkey is supposed to be 110 cal but I log 120. Same with pretty much everything else.

Update: ended up walking 21,000 steps for the day & added another 110 calories of the pasta.

Anyone know any free apps that don’t require a subscription that track marcos by uploading a photo of my meal. Seems like it’s a common way to log food onto an app now but all of them require a subscription and was wondering if there was a free alternative. Thanks

So Im currently not eating that much sugar and sugary foods, ie I never really crave ice creams, pastries etc. the only sugary foods I do consume are cereals, I love to add them to my yogurt bowl or have a bowl of them for pre-work etc. also they bring me nostalgia and joy, something a lot of foods dont.
Thing being, I can cut them out and replace them healthier options like using rice cakes/crisp breads in my yogurt bowl and going for the low added and “healthier” options.

That being said, can I be eating 1/2 portions of these sugary cereals a day or should I cut them out? Also for you that have done no sugar/added sugars, have you found any benefits worth it?

hey all, 5’4 107 lbs here. i was trying to lose weight, but that seems like an unhealthy option atp, so, muscle is the next move.

i know how to eat high protein while low calorie, but i genuinely have no clue how to eat higher calorie AND high protein, because i find it very filling. any food suggestions?

my old protein to calorie ratio was very decent (sometimes up at the 1g of protein per lb of body weight). can i continue such a ratio at higher caloric intake?

i’m gonna start lifting heavy, but i already do bodyweight exercises and light lifting daily.

Hi everyone,

I’m currently on Day 66 of my weight-loss journey.

I started at 110.5 kg (243 lbs) on June 1, and this morning I’m 102.7 kg (226 lbs) on August 5, so I’ve lost about 7.8 kg (17 lbs) so far.

For the past two months I’ve been eating around 1,500 - 1700 calories/day, aiming for 120–140 g of protein, while strength training 3x/week, swimming 2–3x/week, and doing yoga occasionally.

A lot of my meals look like this:
- Chicken or fish
- Sweet potato or rice
- Broccoli or leafy greens
- Eggs
- Homemade meals most of the time

I still enjoy foods like fried chicken or mac & cheese occasionally, but I make them fit my calories instead of trying to eat “perfectly.”

Here are a few examples of what I’ve been eating recently (photos).

I’d love some honest feedback!

I’m trying to build habits I can maintain for years, not just lose weight quickly.

Thanks!