I’m on my 4th bag of vanilla 2.3 Huel now. I am having 3 scoops for breakfast and 3 for lunch, and it’s really helping me cut cravings at work, I haven’t reached for any treats once!
At this point I haven’t lost any weight as I have been on holiday a couple of times and to a few parties, so I know I have had too many calories in social settings.
However I am now about to start trying to lose a stone by end of June. My height is 5”8, starting at 13st. I have been keeping track of everything on my fitness app, and am looking to reduce my calorie intake to about 1400 a day.
My question is, what are people having for their “normal” real food meal?
I am not the world’s best cook and like to keep things simple, so any suggestions would be welcome
Well done Curly! Re the normal meal, I try to make sure that in colder weather I have plenty of frozen greens in the freezer (leaves inc Kale & Brussel sprouts, broad beans and peas etc) so I can really quickly and simply have a big plate of veggies maybe with some nutritional yeast flakes or chili sauce or add some pulses/lentils for a bit of added protein. A really quick burger recipe is this https://www.thespruce.com/vegan-mushroom-bean-burger-recipe-3378623 when I want something that feels more of a treat (works well with less fat too). Or a couple of juicy portobello mushrooms fried with a ‘spray’ or two of fat, add a little salt and they feel very substantial popped onto a salad or pile of greens!
In warmer months it may be an over reliance on bagged salad if in a hurry, again add pulses and or wholegrains (think fast superfood salad) or a quick green smoothie if the old jeans start groaning at the seams;))
Instant pot soups are great - just chuck in a load of veggies, perhaps some pulses/grains - add stock, switch on walk away, and it’ll keep the soup warm after cooking finished. No need to add any fat and requires very little seasoning as all flavours kept in.
Good Luck!
oh, and don’t forget sweet potatoes in their jackets or roasted in orange juice instead of fat or mashed without fat…makes a salad/pile of cabbage very hearty!
I am fortunate that my wife is put off by fatty meats or butter-heavy meals, otherwise my dinner would likely be much worse than it is now. We always have frozen veggies in the freezer; typically broccoli or some medley of broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, etc. I’ll steam that in a pot while grilling marinated chicken breast or a leaner red meat. To combat tough, dried out chicken, my all-time favorite kitchen accessory is the mallet. Flatten those babies out to one uniform thickness and grilling becomes a breeze. You won’t have to dry the hell out of the thinner bits to cook through the thick part. My wife also doesn’t appreciate a good steak and she can happily grill up some tough beef chuck and enjoy it because she’s only interested in seeing as little fat as possible on the cut. I, on the other hand, LOVE a well cut fatty steak. Since that type of steak is often much more expensive we stick with a middle-ground cut that is a little more flavorful and meant to be grilled, but not so savory that it’s going to be a 1000Cal cut of beet.
To summarize: My family eats a lot of frozen veggies and either greek-marinated chicken breast or some lean(ish) steak. We will sometimes have some rice or mashed potatoes as well, depending on how hungry we feel. Every once and a while I’ll buy some lean ground beef and make tacos, but it’s infrequent enough that I don’t sweat those calories when the time comes around for something like that. I also like to make a huge pot of chicken corn soup due to the massive quantity of Amish-grown produce (especially corn) where I live (Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA). This is typically a great meal considering it’s only boiled chicken breast with loads of veggies.
Thanks for your response! I am definitely going to try the burger, sounds yummy!!
And put some mushrooms in the fridge, it’s not something I would usually choose to pick up but I do like them so I’ll give them a go, also sweet potatoes:yum:
I have never heard of using a mallet on meat before (I haven’t really watched any cooking shows or books) but it sounds like a great idea and I will be giving it a go because it makes a lot of sense!!
Yea it works nicely on chicken breast due to it being so thick in the middle but thin on the edges. Making it one uniform thickness lets you cook it evenly throughout.
Thai-style curries/soups are big in my house. Dead simple to make and pretty healthy.
Basically just dump a couple of tins of coconut milk into a pan, add some ginger, galangal, lemongrass, soy sauce, fish sauce and then whatever meat or prawns (or veggie is just as good). Maybe even a cheeky tablespoon of PB.
Chuck a bunch of green beans, peppers and pak choi in at the end and either serve over rice or noodles (udon works great) or on its own as a soup. Add plenty of lime right at the end.
Plus, if you leave out the meat (and fish sauce), it’s vegan.
