Eating healthier

[Nell2ThaIzzay]

So, unfortunately I am a very picky eater, and I spend a lot of my eating time eating things that aren't exactly good for me; burgers, hot dogs, fried food, cheese, burritos, tacos, pizza, etc...

I took a frozen pizza to work the other day to eat on my lunch break, one of the Red Baron singles... while eating it I was checking the nutrition facts and saw that the pizza had 94% of my saturated fat intake. 94% for a little tiny pizza.

So I decided thanks to that that I want to start eating healthier things.

I don't really like to eat salads (mainly because they don't even come close to filling me up), but I'd like to get some ideas on some other types of dishes I could cook myself that are pretty healthy.

Snackwise, I like to try to snack on carrot sticks while I'm at work, instead of a bag of chips. Instead of a soda, I try to have ice water (tho I still often drink sodas with my dinner), so I do have some of my bases covered. And I'm trying to munch on a salad while I'm cooking dinner. The only problem is, when I'm cooking dinner, my range is pretty limited, so I often end up with hot dogs, burritos, mac & cheese, or fettucine alfredo. I just need some ideas for some good tasting, filling, but healthy dinner dishes that I could cook up for myself. (p.s.: I don't do seafood)

 

[Carcharodon]

Try buffalo meat instead of beef. That's one tip.

If you need to do things like boxed meals, then read the entire box for nutritional information. Look at the amount of saturated fats, sodium, and avoid hydrogenated vegetable oils and high fructose corn syrup...the last two are more common than we'd like to think. Hopefully by reading the box, you'll be put off from the less healthy options. You experienced that earlier; so make a habit of it!

As for specific meal ideas, I'm not really sure. :-/

 

[Wiseman]

Grilled chicken breasts, if you don't have an outside grill buy a George Forman grill. Steamed vegetables can be really tasty if you just add the right seasonings. Experiment with various seasonings to see what you like on what, you'd be suprised how much better food can taste by adding little to no calories with just some herbs. Make yourself wraps instead of sandwiches, it's much healthier and you can turn any leftovers into wraps very easily too. Smaller portions is another key, if you eat smaller meals throughout the day and try to stick to around the same times for your meals then your metabolism adjusts and works much faster. I've been a chef for several years and learning how to cook isn't as hard as it seems, it's all about having fun and being creative. Don't worry about messing up when making something new cause there's always a way to fix it. Also, going to sites like food network will teach you the fundamentals. Don't cook crap like hotdogs and mac + cheese anymore. I wouldn't recommend anyone eating those except on rare occations. And if you make Alfredo do not load the pasta with it, that is a lot of calories.

 

[The Guard]

I'm curious. Why is a wrap healthier than a sandwich, exactly? Is it because there's more lettuce, etc on a wrap than the average sandwich?

 

[Alexia Dark]

Lately, I've been replacing ordinary bread with whole wheat English muffins, which makes a smaller serving size and only 1 gram of fat as opposed to the 2.5 grams of fat (per slice!) in my normal 12-grain Healthy Harvest bread. Tuna sandwiches are good... great for protein and good fats. I haven't in awhile due to my current living situation, but I'm also fond of getting these bags of refridgerated vegetables that are meant to be cooked, but instead, I divide them into small servings with carrots and low-fat dressing (hey, I can't eat it plain.)

Also, I've stopped drinking cola entirely the past 3 weeks, and replacing it with mostly water, some juice (for vitamin C; I'm not that much into whole fruit) and occationally chocolate milk (though I get most of my calcium from low-fat yoghurt).

 

[Wiseman]

I'm curious. Why is a wrap healthier than a sandwich, exactly? Is it because there's more lettuce, etc on a wrap than the average sandwich?

because there is a lot more calories and carbs in a bun, or slice, or loaf of bread. Plus you can also get the wrap tortillas from the store in several different varieties like ones made with spinach or tomato for added flavor without extra calories. And wraps are made whatever way you want so there isn't more lettuce on a wrap unless you put it there

 

[Carcharodon]

Tuna sandwiches are good... great for protein and good fats.

I tend to eat canned sardines. Yum!

 

[Lighthouse]

Question already answered.

 

[simplysuperhero]

The book that changed the way I eat: Fit For Life

It reads like an infomercial but if you can get past this style of writing, it's worth reading and re-reading.

 

[ross2287]

I'd replace your favourite cola with its diet counterpart.

You burn more calories by eating an apple than there are in the apple. Same for celery. Fact.

 

[chaseter]

I know that is true for celery but I don't know about apples. They are filled with sugar.

 

[Manic]

One word: Lunchables

 

[Heretic]

Another word: Baconator

 

[Eric Brooks]

now you don't want to stop intaking fat altogether though, a GOOD fat intake would be peanut butter, cashews, peanuts and the like

when you drink milk, drink Fat Free Skim Milk over 2% or Vitamin D

if you want flavor, get the chocolate or strawberry POWDER and not syrup, the syrup has High Fructose Corn Syrup and more sugar than the powder.

Chicken (not fried though) and Turkey are good

bologna, salami, ham, are all bad

 

[Eric Brooks]

also, drink a full glass of water before every meal to decrease the amount of food intake needed to fill you up.

Dill Pickles are good too, they have hardly any calories, fat or carbs and they fill you up easily. Same with Bananas

I usually snack on Bananas, Water, and Dry Rice Chex cereal throughout the day

 

[Majic Walrus]

Another word: Baconator

 

[Victarion]

I recommend a bi-weekly luncheon of the double-pounder.

 

[Immortalfire]

When it comes to eating healthier, and snacking better...you cannot go wrong with fruit.

 

[redmarvel]

I'm not fond of cooking and I really hate the cleanup that follows cooking so I tend to make super simple meals.

1. Preheat oven to 375. Take a skinless chicken breast and place it in a small roasting pan with a little spice (Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme). Slice up a potatoe and a carrot, add mushrooms if you like them and put them on top. Cover. Place in oven for 15 minutes. Take out, flip over chicken and stir everything else up. Add a can of mushroom soup. Put back into oven for another 15 minutes to half an hour (until chicken is well cooked). You only get 1 pan dirty and it's a healthy filling meal.

2. Scrambled eggs. I tend to make mine with onions, mushrooms, diced sandwhich meat and sometimes cheese.

 

[Immortalfire]

You're slipping Red, you didn't make any kind of flirty remark in that post.

 

[redmarvel]

sorry, I have to work harder to light your fire, my Immortal one.

 

[Carcharodon]

When it comes to eating healthier, and snacking better...you cannot go wrong with fruit.

There's such a thing as too much fruit...remember that the primary sugar you find in fruits is fructose. It's the same stuff that's bad for you (in large amounts) found in soda. Fruits are also known to either thicken or thin the blood...I don't remember which. So people with certain health considerations need to watch what they eat (or balance their fruit diet with a leafy-green diet).

 

[mrvlknight21]

When it comes to eating healthier, and snacking better...you cannot go wrong with fruit.

Actually you can. If you are having fruit at every meal, thats actually a lot of sugar. Obviously fruit is full of vitamins and good stuff, but it does have fructose.

 

[blueharvest]

Take one can of tuna, drain the water. Put the tuna into a bowl. Then add two egg whites, a tablespoon of self-rising flour and, if you want, a litte bit of Mrs. Dash seasoning. Mix thoroughly.

Coat a skillet with a non-stick spray, then make two equally-sized tuna burgers. Fry on medium heat.

I saw that in a fitness magazine a number of years ago. It's supposed to have a little more than 200 calories, I think. And about 40 grams of protein.

 

[Majic Walrus]

Take one can of tuna, drain the water. Put the tuna into a bowl. Then add two egg whites, a tablespoon of self-rising flour and, if you want, a litte bit of Mrs. Dash seasoning. Mix thoroughly.

Coat a skillet with a non-stick spray, then make two equally-sized tuna burgers. Fry on medium heat.

I saw that in a fitness magazine a number of years ago. It's supposed to have a little more than 200 calories, I think. And about 40 grams of protein.

This sounds excellent.