Low calorie dinner ideas

[disney1st timer]

I MUST MUST MUST get back on track with my eating. I wanted to lose a stone for Florida (check countdown, not enough time now) but either way I must start now so I can enjoy all the lovely food and not feel as bad.

Have decided calorie counting suits me best but dinners are my downfall, does anybody have any quick and simple low calorie ideas? I’m back in the studio now so don’t start cooking my dinner until about 6.30, DH sorts the kids earlier so something that he could do for us (that isn’t too taxing) or that I could start once home. Welcome to hear other dieters ideas. Thanks 😊

[lcm23]

Stir frys are really quick, simple, filling and low calorie if you don't laden them with calorific sauces. I use the blue dragon stir fry sauces that come in the little pouches. They are tasty but I always fry up my meat and veggies then drain off all of the excess water before I put the sauce in so it's not all watery from the veggies. I usually add in some rice or a nest of egg noodles.

Spag bol made with either lean beef mince, turkey mince or veggie mince with a small portion of pasta.

Marinated chicken breast with some roasted veg and rice.

Naked burrito

Naked fajita bowl

Full english brekkie (turkey or chicken sausage, turkey bacon, scrambled eggs, mushrooms and tinned tomatoes) less than 600 Cal's

[unixgirl]

Have a look at Mindful chef recipes, I think you can access them even if you don't subscribe. Lot's of healthy recipes.

[Princess Alison]

Basically you want to ideally cut down on carbs as they add a lot of calories.

So avoid bread, pizza, rice, pasta and potatoes. Or eat very small portions.

Stick to meat, fish and veg.

Alternative:

Rice - try grated cAulifower boiled - even if you do part rice part cauli, you won't notice the difference.

Substitute pasta for spiralised courgette of swede.

Potatoes - just cut them out.

Bread - trickier but you could have eg cheese on crackers for lunch instead of sandwiches

Cut down alcohol

Keep a good track of your calories and focus on the endgame! It will be worth it

So salads, stir fry but with the cauli rice, fish pie but with swede mash made with creamer fraiche not butter and no potatoes

I thoroughly recommend the hairy bikers books called the hairy dieters. There are three main books and one vegetarian diet book. The recipes are brilliant and will help you keep your calories down - just keep an eye on portion sizes

[minimandymouse]

Pinch of Noms books
We have lost 77lbs in 12 weeks between the 3 of us using just these books. The recipes are amazing, especially the last book (yellow) Steak and Chip pie is our ultimate favourite.

[Beth_Disney]

I lost nearly 3 stone in 6-months last year using a combination of Weightwatchers, Pinch of Nom and exercising. I also need to get back on it as I've started to slip into bad habits like snacking and drinking wine!

Pinch of Nom is fab; I have 2 of the books and also use their website. Hello Fresh is good too as it needs less advance planning. I'll have Hello Fresh for a few weeks for new ideas and then re-create the ones that we like best.

[spongebob10]

Philadelphia "lightest" cream cheese is a really nice pasta sauce alternative. Cook mushrooms, onions or any veg you like and add in turkey bacon (low cal yet very tasty). Then mix in half of a tub of the cream cheese and a bit of milk to loosen it up and some herbs or pesto. Really nice meal very filling but guilt free pasta treat

[wanye]

i've been doing 5:2 (or some sort of variant) for years now, so not really eating on mondays and wednesdays is pretty much my standard. i can maintain my weight without doing any exercise at all easily (i had a back operation a while back, so exercise at the time was difficult), or with a little bit of effort (cutting out booze and doing some sort of exercise), i can lose 3-4lbs a week and easily keep them off. i aim for 500 calories on diet days, but try not to go over 700.


packet soups with added veg/pasta/etc is my go-to diet day meal

packet of hot and sour soup, add tomato paste, garlic and chilli, plus any spare veg/protein that needs using out the fridge/freezer. at the end, crack an egg and whisk

packet minestrone soup, add half a tube of tomato puree and extra veg. measure out an amount of pasta too. i like orzo or tiny little shapes, a handful of them goes a long way

packet thick vegetable soup - add in lots of pepper, extra veg and measure out some macaroni tubes for a lower calorie mac and cheese style meal

also, cut out bread, potato, booze where possible. pasta too, but you can avoid that by measuring the amount you put in something you make. you'll soon get an idea of how much you can add that comes up to less than however many calories youre aiming for

stir fry and salads are a good easy meal too, just be careful on the sauces you add, and/or how much rice/noodles you use. eating veggie/vegan one or two days a week also helps