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How do?

So since we’ve been on Lockdown, I’ve become a bit more aware of my eating habits, especially as just day to day, I’m not getting as much exercise as when I’m commuting to work.

And so thoughts have inevitably turned to being a bit more discerning when it comes to food.

I wouldn’t say I’m on a diet as such, more just exercising better moderation? Examples include actually eating breakfast (cereal. Not necessarily healthy ones though), and swapping crisps for things like rice cakes (which I genuinely enjoy).

But I’m still pretty weak when it comes to my Tea. I’m too reliant on takeaway, having fallen out of the habit of cooking. When I can work up the effort, I’m pretty good rattling them pots and pans, so it’s not lack of ability. And when it comes to ready meal type options? Looking at the nutrition labels is pretty scary! Especially the sodium.

So I’m looking for tips from fellow Dakkanauts. Not a meal plan. Not a nutritional breakdown. Just....hints and tips for stuff that’s worked for you. Whilst I’m not fat fat, I could do with shedding some lard - but it needn’t be speedy. Quite happy with slow and steady weight loss.

Start cooking again. It's so easy to cook a bunch of different meals so you eat differently each night. It's cheaper and healthier.

Some of our staples include:

Chilli
Stir fry
Curry
Fajita wraps
Quesadilla
Spaghetti bolognaise

Theyre all very easy to cook, most not even requiring an oven, and give you tons of variety. Then if you do have a takeaway once a week it's not so bad.

My wife has been indisposed for three weeks now (almost home, thank God), and I have a newborn son that I’m looking after by myself. So I have been LIVING out of the crockpot. Discovered that Caribbean Jerk and Carne Asada marinades mix well with apple cider vinegar and your choice of meat for pulling after 4-6hrs in the crockpot. My stomach has been shrinking this lockdown, but I haven’t gone hungry even once. Steamed veggies and boiled chicken? Hell no. But definitely healthier than fast food and takeout. I think I’ve lost a good 5-10lbs and serious visible drop in the belly I had (wasn’t ever big, I’m 5’10” and 195lbs at my heaviest). But I feel better and I’m taking good care of myself.

Since I've started working from home with all the recent craziness, I've pretty much just been picking up premade packs of salad for every meal along with precooked and precut grilled chicken and having that for most every meal M-Th, along with a couple bananas for each morning, and some sort of relatively low cal snack each day (~250 cal low cal ice cream, fruit popsicles, or a rice krispy treat) and then basically getting takeout of whatever I want Fri-Sunday (this can include gyros and curly fries and cake ) from places within walking distance to break up the monotony and help keep the places I like in business, though I'm also usually not eating 3 meals each day fri-sun the way I do M-Th.

So far, I've actually been edging slightly downward in weight even with less exercise (I've been keeping on getting about 6 miles of walking in a day, but no fencing practice or workout really), where I was floating more 175-180, I'm now more 170-175. Weight control (as opposed to fitness) is mostly about controlling intake than exercise, and without office snacks, people bringing in baked goods to share, food related office events, lunches paid for by suppliers, leftovers, etc and fewer hangouts with friends and family, it's been a lot easier to manage intake.

I’m 6’2”, and the last time I was weighed (four years ago?) I was just shy of 17 stone. Which....times by 14 would be...erm....238lbs

So I’m definitely a big fella. And definitely overweight. But not exactly flabby. At the risk of TMI, everything is firm, flesh wise.

According to BMI calculation, I’m apparently obese. But that simply doesn’t match my body shape. If I was to hit the upper scale of ‘normal’, I’d need to be 193lbs, or 13.7 stone....

Yeah, pretty sure I’d be skin and bone if I got to that weight, let alone the median (range is 145-193lbs) of 12 stone......

But hey. That’s the base calculation, not the full measurement stuff.

Wouldn’t mind losing a stone or two over time.

Back about 10 years ago, I was heavier then I would have liked. Was at the point where my “big” pants were getting tight. The phrase that kicked it of was when I saw the doc for a checkup. “You know how tired you get carrying your son around? Think of how much energy you would have if you were not carrying that around all the time?”

I didn’t do anything fancy.

Moderate increase in exercise. Just walking around the neighborhood once a day. It’s activity and calories burned. But not “I dread going to the gym so am going to skip it and feel bad” levels.

Cut the crap out of your diet. You don’t need soda. Drink more water. Cheese is evil. Most resultants and pre-made foods are PACKED with bad stuff. Makes it taste good, not good for you. Learn to cook, save money, loose weight.

Portion control. Read the box. Measure out one portion and see how many calories it it. Figure how how many calories you want in a day. You are not going to starve. But awareness is HUGE. Also measuring out keeps you from just grazing.

I viewed weight loss at a balance. Calories in vs calories burned. Make sure your ledger is slanted the way you want, and your body will find the new equilibrium.

That’s pretty much it. And I lost ~50 pounds.

I could have lost more, but didn’t want to make the lifestyle chances it would have taken. I like a drink from time to time. I have treats. But I try to keep the numbers of them down. And when I am bad, I try to compensate.

Another thing that helps is a buddy. My joke was my goal weight was 5 pounds less than my brother. We’re wargamers here. Harness that competitive spirit.

But I’m a narrative gamer

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
But I’m a narrative gamer

Give in to your inner WAAC. Game the system. Exploit the rules. Min/Max your flavor/calories.

The only thing you have to loose is weight.

But seriously. It helps to have company on the road. It’s one of the reasons I keep a blog here. I’m OK with letting myself down and missing goals. But I am NOT ok with failing others. So if I tell someone I’m going to finish painting that model by the end of the month, by the Emperor I will get it done. Left to my own devices, I’d just veg in the recliner and watch the goals drift away.

In my case it helped that my brother was doing Weight Watchers, and was convinced it was the only way. So I lost 50 pounds just to prove him wrong. Brothers do that.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
I’m 6’2”, and the last time I was weighed (four years ago?) I was just shy of 17 stone. Which....times by 14 would be...erm....238lbs

So I’m definitely a big fella. And definitely overweight. But not exactly flabby. At the risk of TMI, everything is firm, flesh wise.

According to BMI calculation, I’m apparently obese. But that simply doesn’t match my body shape. If I was to hit the upper scale of ‘normal’, I’d need to be 193lbs, or 13.7 stone....

Yeah, pretty sure I’d be skin and bone if I got to that weight, let alone the median (range is 145-193lbs) of 12 stone......

But hey. That’s the base calculation, not the full measurement stuff.

Wouldn’t mind losing a stone or two over time.

BMI is bupkis. It loses focus after 5'11". I'm 6'4" and my BMI says I am borderline obese at 220# with a 35" waist. It also doesn't differentiate between fat and muscle, John Cena, Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) and the current Mr. Universe all fall into the "overweight/obese" category.

Cooking your own food helps a lot, "Set and forget" type dishes in a crockpot/slow cooker are an easy way to make dinners, as mentioned elsewhere in this thread. A rice cooker can help fill out a meal. Knowing a few basic cooking techniques opens a lot of possibilities.
YouTube has tons of vids available to help you learn: This has a lot of good basic info and simple recipes, as well as links to substitutions and such...
Daily Dinner with Michael Symon | Cook #WithMe

And this guy is a riot to watch and has some good info on some basics.... but SERIOUSLY NSFW.
Nat's What I Reckon

As for exercise, again a few basic can go a long way. Crunches, sit ups, squats, playing with the dog, washing the car, any activity that has you moving burns calories.
Don't recommend washing the cat, weight reduction might be from blood loss.

I’ve got various toys for the kitchen.


Off the top of my head? Deep fat fryer, George Formby Grill, Dehydrator Cabinet, Soup Maker, Steamer, Rotary Meat Slicer, Slow Cooker.

Only problem is, the slow cooker is a family slow cooker. With just the two of us in the flat, that’s.....too much. The food is of course tasty, and pretty decent health wise as there’s no added fat - but it’s wasteful, as you can only eat a certain dish so many days in a row.

Should probably seek out a new, smaller one. Pretty sure I can find a family I know who’d be happy to take the big’un off my hand.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also, smaller Slow Cooker May help with portion control!

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
I’ve got various toys for the kitchen.


Off the top of my head? Deep fat fryer, George Formby Grill, Dehydrator Cabinet, Soup Maker, Steamer, Rotary Meat Slicer, Slow Cooker.

Only problem is, the slow cooker is a family slow cooker. With just the two of us in the flat, that’s.....too much. The food is of course tasty, and pretty decent health wise as there’s no added fat - but it’s wasteful, as you can only eat a certain dish so many days in a row.

Should probably seek out a new, smaller one. Pretty sure I can find a family I know who’d be happy to take the big’un off my hand.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also, smaller Slow Cooker May help with portion control!

Jars and a freezer. I’ll make a big pot of stew/chili/soup whatever. Jar and freeze most of it, and just leave a couple days in the fridge for leftovers. Build up a stock of assorted stuff that you can thaw when you want something different later.

Saves you from eating the same thing for a week solid.

I think the key thing is be reasonable about your expectations and try to do things in small increments; I weaned myself off sugar in tea by gradually reducing it over a couple of months and it’s now at the point where I can’t drink it if someone accidentally sugars mine. I tried the same with coffee and I can’t quite do it, but I got myself down to half a teaspoon, so I took that as a win (~70% reduction), rather than having “failed” to stop using sugar.

Similarly, we were eating too many takeaways, so started limiting ourselves to one a week (at most). It’s a lot easier than saying “none at all”, but still much better than where we were.

Finally, and a little bit more technical, when cooking, try using smaller amounts of intense flavour; stuff like chorizo or smoky bacon can add a hearty, meaty flavour and texture to a dish, even if you’re only using a small amount. My wife is a non-strict vegetarian and I’m a full-on carnivore, but I find a lot of otherwise pure vegetarian meals fully satisfying with just a little bit of crispy bacon crumbled on to add a bit of flavour and crunch.

Do what i do.
Keto
Eat only fat and protein, so you body learns to burn fat.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
I’ve got various toys for the kitchen.


Off the top of my head? Deep fat fryer, George Formby Grill, Dehydrator Cabinet, Soup Maker, Steamer, Rotary Meat Slicer, Slow Cooker.

Only problem is, the slow cooker is a family slow cooker. With just the two of us in the flat, that’s.....too much. The food is of course tasty, and pretty decent health wise as there’s no added fat - but it’s wasteful, as you can only eat a certain dish so many days in a row.

Should probably seek out a new, smaller one. Pretty sure I can find a family I know who’d be happy to take the big’un off my hand.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also, smaller Slow Cooker May help with portion control!

Ok, well, i do a lot of slow cooker meals.
I personally LOVE breeakfest burritos, so i make those in a crock pot, make a slurry, boom, breakfest burittos.
I also cook just shredded chicked too in it and save it for a simple lunch.

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
Do what i do.
Keto
Eat only fat and protein, so you body learns to burn fat.

Jesus, you must be constipated, your poor bowels. When you get home do me a favour and eat some fruit and vegetables it's most important food group for a reason, you need fibre ASAP.

Me, I love ovendishes, but those can be a lot of work. When I want something simple, I generally turn to either soup (chuck some veggies and pasta into a pot of broth. Add herbs and chicken or other meat to taste) or ye olde omelet.
Not egg-only omelet. What we call a farmer's omelet. Throw paprika, onions, mushrooms and whatever other vegetables you feel like in there. Some bits of bacon and/or ham are also nice. Eat with some bread.
And when I do get a craving for junk food, I generally make my own fries and burgers. It's extremely easy, and tastes better tgan anything you'd get at your preferred fastfood joint of choice anyway.

Chilis, pasta and stuff like jambalaya are also a favorite. Easy to make, and will last several days.

A number of principles of quitting smoking also apply to dieting. Make a routine that its easier to eat well than it is to eat poorly, and you will find its FAR more likely to happen. For example, (while most people don't consider it perfect) the macdonalds egg macmuffin is actually pretty healthy, as food breakfasts go. A cup of coffee with one taken through a drive through on the way to work isn't the worst diet breakfast in the world -- and its such a minimal effort level, its almost harder NOT to do it.
By comparison, if you set up a schedule where you have to lose an hour of sleep to get up early, clean some fracking vegetables, cut them up, slowly grill them in a zero fat skillet (which you will then have to clean) and add them to ultra low fat pork and egg whites (carefully throwing each egg yolk out, because you still believe that canard about yolks being bad dietetically) .. and create some flavorlessly bland zero fat high protein food. Oh, then get all the fruit out of the freezer and set up the blender -- can't do it without a protien shake -- and then you got to plan a perfect, healthy lunch...

Its almost like 40k, and doing something high effort that takes a lot of command points in a busy daily routine is a bad investement if the return is really marginal compared to something very low effort that gives you MOST of the same benefit. Sure, there will be days you can say "meh, I am up 2 hours early, maybe I want to make superfood breakfast today" but you don't have to force it every .. damn ... day ..

Similarly, its quite easy to get a fairly healthy (from point of calories and protien/fat/etc) lunch at places like "subway" if you pick a specific sandwich out, like a turkey with lots of vegetables. That way you don't find yourself struggling to cross town on the lunch break (ok, so that part isn't really an issue now!) to eat at a vegan ultra health food place that charges 20 bucks a plate for stuff they source from the farmers market. Is that marginally more healthy? Maybe. Farmer's market organic food isn't actually better for you than just food, in any way that science has ever been able to measure, with the possible exception of legacy fruits and vegetables carrying a slightly higher nutrition density than their grocery store (optimized for storage) equivalents.

But the point I make is, if you have fixed 2 meals a day that you don't have to put any effort into, you are already 2/3 of the way to victory, and you still have all your effort to do something healthy for dinner.

The most effective dieter I ever met was a guy who had dropped some 300+ lbs in fat by dieting alone. Long story short, his advice was.
1) start with salads and soups, but do not put high calory/greasy salad dressing on the salad. Use this phase of the meal to deliver high nutrient density food to your stomach but not high energy. This volume loads -- and will also give your body a chance to recognize and react to the arrival of the nutrients that grease/salt prevent you from sensing on the tongue as well, and prevent your GI tract from absorbing as fast. I more or less have to give a guy who lost more than I weigh credit for some wisedom there.
2) delay the rest of the meal a bit. Then eat, avoiding the greasy/salty combos that are so prevalent in fast cuisine. Suppressing satiation by suppressing recognition of the food's various trace nutrition (things like vitamins and such) on an empty stomach is a recipe for packing massive extra calories in, but preloading such things lets you feel adequately fed faster as your body signals "got enough B12, check! got enough volume, check!"

We have as a culture been socialized to place speed of consumption as a high value, and it destroys such internal signalling of satiety's normal value in telling us we have eaten enough. "Empty" foods can be quite nutritionally balanced from a protien and carb and lipid perspective, but still lack all the micronutrients, and thus you can eat your way through a diet of cheese, meat, bread, even a carefully orchestrated one, without feeling full, while a slightly differernt diet of the same things + dark green leafy vegetables and various other vegies in a salad with just a little vinegar and oil on it before, greatly reduces total caloric intake for the same feeling of being full.

Or so, anyway, that's what the guy said, when he was bragging about how he dieted down some 22 stone.

So the upshot is, maybe you get one partner to do "the salad" and the other one to do "the main course" .. so nobody feels overloaded cooking.

As far as exercise, while everyone thinks the gym is the standard, the "standard" for reasonable exercise is a half hour walk a day, usually, right after a meal. That, too, is a long and technical discussion, but the upshot of all this is.

walking is adequate baseline exercise for most humans, or if that is impossible, I know of some economists who pioneered a technique for calory reduction by ice baths.(1)

(1) That one sucks. Don't do it. Its frigging literally also a way the SS used to break prisoners in the steppes of Russia. Just trust me, it looks better on paper than it feels.

If you want to lose weight, cut down on the carbs. (the result enemy, not fat) Not totally mind. You need some, but reduce the amount. I lost 1.5 stone by keeping carbs to breakfast, and lunch, with dinner being mainly meat and vegetables. If you eat more veg in the evening, especially fibrous root veg like broccoli and cauliflower, you will feel full but have fewer carbs for your body to turn into fat overnight.

For my wife and I we made a conscious decision to just cook more meals now we're both at home. Just cooking more can be a huge help if you're currently relying on takeaways for a lot of your meals. Even if you cook the same sort of thing you might et as a takeaway you'll likely be eating healthier. We also found just the act of drawing up a menu for the next 3-5 days was very useful because it gives you a much better idea of what you're eating and you can plan to not have too many days eating unhealthy food.

You do need to watch how much fat and carbs you're eating but, as others have said, you don't want to cut anything out completely. Healthy diets require a balance of nutrients so I'd be extremely wary of anyone telling you to completely cut out carbs, or fat, or anything else. Cut down, yes.

We also started cutting up carrots to snack on as we were finding we were raiding the fridge too often or buying chocolate bars to eat while we worked. That's helped quite a bit.

Slipspace wrote:
We also started cutting up carrots to snack on as we were finding we were raiding the fridge too often or buying chocolate bars to eat while we worked. That's helped quite a bit.

I eat a lot of carrot sticks for snacks.

Part of the awareness and portion control. A few months ago I was talking to The Boy about eating habits, as he needs to loose a few pounds himself. One thing he used to snack on was trail mix. Nuts/dried fruit/chocolate. We did some math, measured out some stuff into dish. It was crazy high, like 300 calories for barely covering the bottom of the bowl. (Makes sense, as it’s origins were to be light weight and calorie/nutrient dense) We then looked at some carrots. it’s like 30 calories for a good sized one. You could eat a whole bag of them for the same calories as a handful of nuts and fruit.

BMI is only a very rough guideline, its popular because its really simple to calculate, but its very crude and, as noted above, works only on weight rather than on the proportion of muscle to fat in a body.

It's also balanced around modern life-styles which likely promotes lower muscle mass than if you were physically working every day.


That said it can be a helpful, if crude measure.


I'd also say the big trick with losing weight isn't actually losing weight. It's shifting your life-style (your diet, activity, etc...) into a long term change. The big risk is that you go on a diet, lose loads of weight and feel really good* and then you "relax" because you've lost the weight and you reward yourself. The problem is before you know it you're living like you were before the diet and your weight piles back on once again.

Sometimes gradual changes, shifting one or two elements of what you eat; adding in 10 more mins to a walk a day etc.... These can all add up and become part of your normal life which encourage you toward a healthier lifestyle. Along the way you might then have a push every so often to help burn off fat and build up body condition; but the shift in life style is what will help maintain things.



Of course this assumes someone of fairly moderate overweight issues. Those who are into extreme situations will have to follow different advice and likely have more benefit to accelerated weight loss programs. Again best medical advice comes from a doctor not a mad person on the internet.


*a bigger risk yet again if you go on one of those diets that's basically built around not eating much so you end up losing weight, but also muscle and overall fitness.

 Overread wrote:



I'd also say the big trick with losing weight isn't actually losing weight. It's shifting your life-style (your diet, activity, etc...) into a long term change. The big risk is that you go on a diet, lose loads of weight and feel really good* and then you "relax" because you've lost the weight and you reward yourself. The problem is before you know it you're living like you were before the diet and your weight piles back on once again.

Absolutely this. I work with someone who's constantly dieting then gaining weight then dieting again. It's a vicious cycle. The best way to break it is changing your habits and lifestyle long-term. If you just want to fit into your suit for your wedding or look good on the beach in the summer (probably not this summer!) a short-term diet might work but if the goal is to change your health overall you need to change your outlook on food and exercise, not just cut out takeaways for a month or two.

Reduce alcohol, expunge sugar from your life, avoid fried things and butter like the plague.
Add a lot of salads. Exercise. Reduce the bread intake. Avoid rice and potatoes. Fatless meat is your friend. Learn to love lentils and beans.Remember that fruits have a lot of sugar so no more than 2-3 per day. Salt is not such a problem unless you don't exercise at all. So add exercise, walking or going places with the bicycle. Learn to poach eggs, you will need it. Try to eat a least 5 meals a day, avoid feeling hungry. Rye bread is your friend. Mushrooms are good. Drink a lot of water, tea and coffee are dehydrants so yo need to avoid them.
These things will set you on a good path.
And then you have to keep it going... That IS a bitch...
Good Luck.

A simple thing I as a massive pasta junkie have managed to achieve: Replace your pasta with whole grain pasta. It's weird at the beginning, but by now it doesn't bother me anymore.

I also reduced my meat consumption by only getting organic/high quality meat instead of cheap meat from discounters. This means less meat overall, but better quality without potentially harmful additives.
Look for protein alternatives to compensate. Legumes are cheap and tasty.

Find a surrogate for white sugar, especially if you regularly drink sweetened coffee or tea.

Fermented food does wonders for me: Miso and Kimchi in particular have become regular ingredients for my everyday meals. My bowels have never been better.

Baby steps. Determine what macros you need. Literally any calculator will be sufficient to get started. You're not trying to win Mr Universe. Just google calculate my macros.

Download a calorie tracked. Off you go.

Actually knowing your precise intake isn't the important bit. Knowing what you're eating is. Quite quickly you'll find you have a solid idea of how calorific, and how calorie efficient, lots of foodstuffs are, and you'll be forced into avoiding foods that you can't find data for - which are generally empty ones. Having a solid grasp of that stuff, and the patterns that encourages, is half the battle. If you just want to eat a bit healthier and cook more (and save money on takeaways!) it's pretty much the whole battle.

Ignore any advice about low carbs, low fats, or whatever else. There are no fundamentally bad macronutrients or food groups, there are just more or less calorie efficient ones.

I had some issue with my weight and an inability to lose any despite working out for over an hour a day and eating what I thought was healthy.

Turns out high sodium intake can really have a negative impact on how your body manages a multitude of different things and it can inhibit weight loss.

 helgrenze wrote:


BMI is bupkis. It loses focus after 5'11". I'm 6'4" and my BMI says I am borderline obese at 220# with a 35" waist. It also doesn't differentiate between fat and muscle, John Cena, Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) and the current Mr. Universe all fall into the "overweight/obese" category.

Muscle? The BMI doesn't even differentiate between fat and BONE. My wife, for example. She's of around average height, but has quite broad shoulders and hips. These are BONE STRUCTURES, not fat. She was down to 175 pounds when we met, and was positively skeletal. Her doctor was trying to get her to lose another 20 pounds, and the only way that was going to happen was by removing internal organs. I took her to another doctor, and he wanted to hospitalize her for malnourishment on the spot. His advice was for her to PUT ON 20 pounds, preferably muscle of course, to get back to a healthy weight for her height AND BUILD.

Never took BMI seriously again after that. It makes no distinction between a waif with 12" shoulders and someone like my wife with 20" shoulders. We won't even discuss differences in pelvic bones.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
I’ve got various toys for the kitchen.


Off the top of my head? Deep fat fryer, George Formby Grill, Dehydrator Cabinet, Soup Maker, Steamer, Rotary Meat Slicer, Slow Cooker.

Only problem is, the slow cooker is a family slow cooker. With just the two of us in the flat, that’s.....too much. The food is of course tasty, and pretty decent health wise as there’s no added fat - but it’s wasteful, as you can only eat a certain dish so many days in a row.

Should probably seek out a new, smaller one. Pretty sure I can find a family I know who’d be happy to take the big’un off my hand.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also, smaller Slow Cooker May help with portion control!

Seek out a deep freeze instead. Freeze the extras and have them next week. In the meantime, you can also save money by buying in bulk on sale and portioning at home, instead of paying extra to have it portioned for you.

Mad Doc, toss the deep fryer. Get an air fryer. Works even better, as you can do more with it. And I promise your wings will be even crispier in that than in the oil. Unless you like breaded wings. My favorite wings are made in the air fryer. And about 50% healthier. If not more. No oil, just the chicken’s natural fat.

I think 90% of my meals are either insta-pot or air fryer.

We really need to get one of those air or 1 tablespoon fryers at some point; even if just to cut down on the cost of replacing the oil. Though never really looked into a good make/model of them.



Though this talk of fat and chicken reminds me of when I was living alone and decided to get one of those ready-cooked supermarket chickens. MY GODS it was soaked in oil! Dripping with it! It was a distinct disappointment.

My day job is a sport science lecturer, and whilst that is a fairly diverse field, and to be fair I am fairly diverse in my skills within it, diet and training is some of the domains I am fairly knowledgable and have experience and applied knowledge. For fighters at my gym, it's me that usually devises and manages the nutrition program they go on to make weight (or even put on size).

So any specific questions fire away.

Absolute basic advice I can suggest following is an optimum macro nutrient breakdown. Try and ensure you are having 1.1 -1.4g of protein per kg of weight as a minimum, more is better as protein has a thermic digestive effect (takes a fair amount of calories to digest it), however that gets super expensive.

Calorie control is the ultimate one, and unfortunately that means tracking food, and mainly calories, if you get into it, it becomes habit and you start being able to guesstimate fairly accurately in the end but yeah, calorie control is king to lose weight.

In terms of practical advice in terms of food, slow cookers are great, just be mindful of putting too much fats and oils in. Then if you make extra get some containers like these and clear a few shelves in the freezer https://www.amazon.co.uk/Small-Microwavable-Reusable-Plastic-Dishes/dp/B07TJ6TCB6/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?crid=1KXTO8O3KCMZP&dchild=1&keywords=food+containers+with+lids&qid=1589470837&sprefix=food+contain%2Caps%2C145&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUE4U0Y0TlRJNkdZNkomZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTAwNDE1MTIyTEVPVU0wTjJQT0tIJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTA2NzMwNzQxNTM0RUxEVDdTN1dZJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

I make a new slow cooker meal every day for about 4 days then freeze the rest, I then have a choice of 4 meals to choose from over a few weeks that I know are correctly portioned and have the right macros I need. I just get them out the freezer the day before to defrost and heat them up on the following evening, most usually taste better as well after the reheat. I freeze the rice, or cooked potato etc with them as well so the meal is complete.

It's easy to do, it just takes planning a little effort and the will power to stick to it.

And then, if you want to eat more, make sure you are doing exercise to maintain the calorie deficit.