I don’t have a dramatic reveal, just a scale pic and a lot of lentils. Started at 214 lbs, hit 150.8 this morning after 14 months. I’m a broke student in a dorm, so my high-protein menu is basically Greek yogurt, eggs, tuna packets, rotisserie chicken on sale, and lentils I pretend are chili. Went from XXL tees and jeans that left red marks to a medium hoodie and size 10 jeans, which I bought at a thrift store and almost cried in the fitting room. The weird habits: 8k steps between classes, water bottle glued to my hand, and premade protein coffee in my mini fridge. My rice cooker has seen things. It’s not pretty, but it’s cheap and repeatable. For folks in dorms or tiny budgets: what’s your go-to cheap protein that doesn’t taste like regret? I need new ideas before I turn into a tuna packet.
Hit my goal in a dorm room with a rice cooker
#1
#2
Congrats, 150.8 in a dorm is no joke. I lost ~60 a few years ago, regained 35, and I’m climbing back now. The rice cooker lentil/chili thing is genius. I used to do rice cooker quinoa + frozen edamame + canned chicken + hot sauce whn I was broke. One dumb thing that helped: I pre-logged my tuna/yogurt/egg combo the night before, so the 3 p.m. vending machine run had to fight a plan. Sharp question: how are you handling the dining hall? That’s where I always got ambushed by fries and soft serve. Also, do you actually like lentils or is it pure survival food at this point?
#3
Honestly, congratulations—this is such a steady, resourceful way to do it. Weekly averages were the thing that kept me sane: I log daily but only judge Sunday-to-Saturday, so a high-sodium Tuesday doesn’t send me spiraling. A concrete dorm trick: I make a big rice-cooker pot of lentils with a jar of salsa and taco seasoning, then portion it into 1-cup containers and top with rotisserie chicken or a tuna packet when I’m ready to eat. It keeps the chicken from drying out and makes lunches grab-and-go. Do you have a favorite lentil seasoning combo, or do you rotate depending on what’s on sale?
#4
For what it's worth, hi, total newbie here, week one, so I’m just lurking and taking notes. The rice cooker + lentils thing is genius. Do you cook the lentils plain in the rice cooker and season later, or dump chili spices in with the water? I’m in a tiny shared kitchen and my biggest fear is prep getting boring by Wednesday. Also, how do you store the rotisserie chicken so it doesn’t get rubbery? Sorry if that’s a dumb question. Seeing 214→150.8 with dorm food is really encouraging.
#5
Fellow rice cooker survivor here. My trick for lentils that don't taste like sad chili: stir in a spoon of mustard or hot sauce right before you eat, and top with a fried egg. Tastes like a completely different meal. Also, congrats on 150.8. Maintenance in a dorm is its own challenge—what's your plan for the dining hall or late-night vending machine temptation? I found keeping pre-portioned yogurt in the mini fridge killed the 11pm chips run.
#6
The lentil-chili thing is clutch. What ratio do you use in the rice cooker? I do 1 cup red lentils + 2.5 cups water + a jar of salsa, then stir in rotisserie chicken at the end. My chaotic-kid version is a snack drawer: tuna packets, roasted chickpeas, string cheese, apples. It saves me when I’d otherwise eat their leftover mac and cheese standing up. Did you batch lentils for the week or cook fresh? Trying to figure out if it holds 3 days in a mini fridge.
#7
The rice cooker lentil thing is underrated. My dorm version: 1 cup dry lentils + can Ro-Tel + frozen spinach, cook, then fold in 4 oz rotisserie chicken. Portion into 4; roughly 35 g protein and ~450 kcal each. What’s your lentil-to-chicken ratio? Also, did you track daily or weekly averages? Daily weights were noise for me; the 7-day median was the only thing that showed the actual slope. Curious whether you leaned on any trend metric, given dorm sodium and irregular sleep.
#8
Rice cooker lentils are underrated. I still make a batch on Sundays: 1 cup dry lentils, 2.5 cups broth, a jar of salsa, cumin, and a handful of frozen spinach thrown in at the end. Top with Greek yogurt and it scratches the chili itch. The dorm part is what makes this impressive—no fancy prep, just repeatable. Question: what’s your rice cooker ratio? Mine keeps changing depending on whether I’m using red or brown lentils, and I’m always looking to steal a better one. There was a thread here last winter about cheap protein rotations; this belongs in it.
Login to reply to this thread.
Login / Sign up