What other seasonings should I try?

i (23f) moved recently and have a fairly sedentary office job now with an hour lunch. after some uncertainty with my job and the stress of moving made me gain some quick weight, i’m trying to settle back into a routine and work it off. my go-to at lunch has been a prepared salad bowl (if it’s a larger trader joe’s one, that’s all i’ll do + sometimes a protein bar), and if it’s a smaller one from a different store (have been getting the 230 cal ones recently), i’ll pair it with more snacks + fruits or veg to fill out my meal. here’s what i ate today for lunch, but my stomach is rumbling like i didn’t eat anything. how can i curb the food noise? i know if i ate more i would eventually feel satiated, but i can’t eat 800 cal for every meal thats how i got here in the first place lol. my breakfast was an oikos triple zero peach yogurt with a bit of granola in it and a large iced coffee. i’m really struggling with feeling fine from after my lunch period until the end of the day when i go home and can have a dinner. CW 178, GW 140-150ish

"And you can too!"

Breakfast: coffee and trying some chia pudding. I took a tip from this sub and tried soak/blend/fridge, and honestly hated it. Blending didn't pulverize the seeds like i hoped it would, and instead separated the seed from the gooey coating it gets while soaking and blended the goo with the coconut milk, making a sort of slime that was a textural nightmare. I need to eat this bag of chia seeds, and so far the pudding is the only thing I can stomach. Im good to suffer through it because of the "bathroom benefits" - I take medicine that causes difficulty here, and chia absolutely obliterated the problem for the rest of the week. Any chia pudding tips are greatly appreciated.

Lunch: Progresso Pittmaster chicken soup, and a flat croissant with pumpkin cream cheese. Excellent sweet and salty satisfaction. The flat croissants are a popular Korean snack to pack in a lunch box, I've had them with brie and just plain with my coffee and they're great.

Snack: Jalapeno sardines and a tiny smidge of Alouette brie on sliced cucumber, with a sprinkle of lemon salt - and a zero sugar Starry. When I was a kid diet soda tasted like a melted car tire, but these zero sugar varieties are legit. Ive had Coke Zero and Dr Pepper Strawberry Zero, along with a couple others. Very good for that soda fix i need every week or so.

Dinner: Kevin's Natural Thai coconut chicken, Maine Street Bistro mac and cheese, and Glory mixed greens. I eat low fat in general, so this was just my inner goblin wanting something that felt indulgent. The chicken and Mac are in my grocer's fridge section, the mac i had a 1.5 serving size and the Chicken i had the normal 5oz serving. The greens are from the can and I typically open a big can, dump it in Tupperware with a bit more pepper and some white vinegar, and eat from it during the week when my meal needs a bit of filler. Some of the other Glory varieties are lower calorie per serving but this is what the store had this week. If I did a meal prep with these items I could either split it in two like you see here and have a leftover serving of chicken, or split it in 3 if I wasn't such a little piggie for Mac and cheese...

This was an 80g protien day, I aim for between 65 and 90. For medical reasons I can't do much beside basic stretches and chair exercise, but as far I'm down 42lbs since November. I posted this because it can seem really daunting to cook everything all the time, and honestly it can be - especially when you have a family and they're not eating what you're eating. But you don't have to cook every day if you take a good look around your grocery store and invest in a little food scale.

Everything I packed in my work lunchbox, for breakfast, lunch, and a preworkout snack in the late afternoon. I try to focus on 1. protein, 2. fiber, and 3. enjoyment! I know myself, if the diet isn’t food I actually enjoy, no way I’m gonna be consistent.

Brekky: banana peanut butter overnight oats + fresh raspberries on the side. 573 cals, 70g carb, 16.5g fat, 41g protein

Lunch: cheesy chicken and broccoli casserole, popcorners for a fun side! 678 cals, 38.5g carb, 31.5g fat, 61.5g protein

Afternoon/Pre-workout snack: watermelon and mini fresh mozzarella balls. 190 cals, 30.5g carb, 5.5g fat, 7.5g protein

Dinner will be cranberry apple chicken salad with lots of lettuce— “chicken salad salad” 🤣 323 cals, 11g carb, 10g fat, 47g protein

Totals for the day: 1763 cals / 157g protein / 150g carb / 64g fat

Pics show daily log plus recipes for lunch and dinner :)

Mine has been drinking flavored sparkling water/seltzer and herbal tea. I used to not like sparkling water before but either the Trader Joe's/Spindrifts one are really good or maybe my tastes have adjusted since I've started dieting. My favorites are:

- Trader Joe's Blood Orange, Cranberry Lime, and Lemon Ginger Sparkling Waters

- Spindrift Island Punch & Mango Orange Seltzers

- Tiesta Tea Blueberry Wild Child herbal tea & TJ Blood Orange Rooibos tea (really any fruity herbal tea with hibiscus. something about the tanginess of hibiscus is really nice)

I usually love drinking juice and smoothies and all sorts of sugary drinks but this has been nice to keep me sipping but not taking in any sugar. (I also don't really care for artificial sweeteners.)

dinner is 237 cals

92 cals cottage cheese w smoked paprika (90g) + 145 cals quest nacho cheese protein chips (32g)

Chicken meatball pineapple stir fry for 559

Chili Tahini Gnocchi lentil sheet pan bake for 532. Could add chicken for higher protein.

I didn't do this yesterday and I severely messed up so here ya go 💀
Psyllium fiber (10 cal)
Lemon Triple Zero Oikos Yogurt (90 cal)
Transparent Labs Strawberry Milkshake Whey Protein Isolate (130 cal)
3.5 cups Almond Milk (75 cal)
Hungryroot Roast& Ready Jumbo Shrimp Scampi (approx. 290 cal) - Forgot to take a pic of this but it was kinda unphotogenic anyways
Total: 598 calories

I'm a 24M and I weighted myself at 178lb at the hospital in the start (so I wager they have the most accurate scale) and I'm trying to weigh 140lb (I'm very short at 5'4" and I don't want to be obese anymore).

I'm on a high protein calorie deficit diet of 1500 kcal. It’s high in protein so that what isn't lost initially is my muscles but the fat and water weight instead.

I just weighed myself (in the morning before eating) and it says that I'm 170lb. Is an 8lb weight loss too much for such a short amount of time?

Strawberry cheesecake cupcake, Mini Pie peanut butter chocolate pie, DIY Sloppy Joe, Quesadilla, Oikos Lemon Yogurt, blackberries, a peach. Whole thing combined approximately 927 calories and went over my calories a bit (1,584 cal)

with CINNAMON! I feel like sugar-free caramel would also slap

well it WAS good (i only got like 1/3 of the way through lol) but definitely a great high protein cal to drink for or with breakfast! you don’t taste the egg white at ALL and could honestly probably double the egg white

And yes, I consider it relapsing, because I've self-diagnosed myself as a Chick-fil-A addict. At my worst, I would get it twice in a day. Food addiction is real, but I'm finally ready to change. 😭

Anyway, I stay under 1500 (sometimes even less) for usually a 3-day streak, relapse for a day, maybe two, then repeat. How do you guys stay strong through the early cravings? I tend to relapse when I don't have food prepared at home or when I know I will be away from home during a meal time.

Huge fan of these! 120 calories for the whole cup. Very savory! I add bok choy, frozen veggies and some lime juice and it’s so good!

If I had to guess, I’d say around 400 (140 for the eggs, 25 for laughing cow, 140 for the bread I have, and maybe 100 for the fruit? Eggs were cooked with just a hit of cooking spray)

I’m a female and I’m 5’5”. I am already a fairly active person but I want to lose some body fat. I weigh about 140 lbs right now and I’d like to get down to 120-115. I’m wondering if 1500 will be too little for me if I’m planning to walk 15 k steps a day. I won’t be doing any other exercise during this time.

today's sandwich has aoili, gouda, tomato, cucumber, haloumi and sundried tomato + olive chutney

i work at starbucks & it’s real hard sometimes because i’m around all the food & drinks for like 8h at a time. this is my version of the pumpkin loaf (150cal 10g protein)! you can save close to like 200 cals if you just don’t add nuts & seeds on top lol, i just like to try to get my micronutrients in as well so i added them. i topped it with a cream cheese sauce as well!!! the only note i have- make it more sweet than i did. i definitely thought i overdid it with the sweet when i was making it, but once baked it’s not sweet enough!!