Eating Healthy

[Guest Moses]

i know there's already a food thread, but i'm looking for advice, recipes, whatnot for healthier eating. recent minor/hopefully not major health concerns have led me to realize i need to get healthy.

 

so my problem is that i'm not finding much variety in my "healthy" diet. due to this lack of variety, i find that i just absolutely fall of the wagon and eat terribly for days at a time because i'm so fucking sick of just plain chicken breast.

[bleedorange]

If you embrace any and all vegetables, you will never have a boring meal again. I'm not a vegetarian (I admit, I like beef, lamb, pork, etc. too much), but there are plenty of ways to create a diverse and exciting diet just with that. Also, fish and seafood are great ways to eat healthier, too.

 

The most important thing I've found is that whatever you eat, it's best to eat in moderation. My wife has done very well on Weight Watchers which assigns points to everything you eat. They even have a feature online where you can put in your favorite recipes and see how many points they are worth.

 

We've also found great recipes in various healthy cookbooks that are extremely tasty (one from Weight Watchers and a couple from Williams-Sonoma have been the best).

[mfwahl]

I relate with you. I ate chicken ceasar salad for dinner every day until I couldn't take it anymore and ate nothing but Pizza Rolls for a week straight.

 

Fruit salad is good. Where I live (FL) the grocery store (Publix) has it already made for cheap. Watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, grapes, strawberries, pineapple. It tastes like candy, fills you up, and hydrates me pretty good too.

 

I got sick of salads. I switched to spinach instead of lettuce and back in the game. I've also learnt to mix them up with things like sunflower seeds, walnuts, different cheeses.

 

Fish: Tuna and Salmon. Really good for you and really tasty. These two don't taste like fish either in case you don't like it.

 

I'm not real creative with the food, so hopefully someone has some good recipes. Eating right is hard. My problem is if you drink more pale ale than water, there is no way to burn that many extra calories.

[austrya]

These are the food rules in our house:

 

If it has high fructose corn syrup in it, don't eat it. We opt for things that are sweetened with honey or some other unrefined sugar. You really have to read labels, it's in just about everything.

 

If it has partially hydrogenated (or fully) oils in it, don't eat it. Hydrogenated oils are a bad thing. We eat real butter and real whipped cream, we just use less of it. Your body doesn't know how to metabolize proccessed food the way it does natural foods.

 

If it's made with enriched flour, pasta, rice, etc, don't eat it. Opt for whole grains.

 

If it's not something that your great grandmother would recognize as food, don't eat it. Processed cheese, margarine, vegetable oil spreads, yogurt in a tube, are all off limits. Use real cheese, real butter, and real yogurt. Real yogurt doesn't need fillers. Better yet, sweeten it with fresh fruit or mix in some granola.

 

Eat organic when you can. Not just because of the pesticides, but organic food is grown in naturally nutrient rich soil which makes the fruits and veggies much more nutritious. Also, opt for 100% pasture raised meats and free range eggs. They have less fat and taste a lot better.

 

Most were taken from various foodie books I've read (thank you Michael Pollan).

 

Find a local farmers market and try some new veggies. You can mix things in if you don't like the taste. I make spaghetti and lasagna with tons of veggies and even my kids don't know they're there.

 

Check out foodie blogs and "eating local" blogs for lots of good recipes using fresh veggies.

[NightOfJoy]

Lentils, my friend, lentils!

[mfwahl]

For pasta, the best thing I've found is Barilla plus. It's better than whole wheat. It's made from all types of grains and legumes. It's the best tasting pasta I've ever had and it's high in protein, omeg-3's and fiber.

[Mr. Kinsley]

I love that as of this posting the two threads at the top of the TTL forum are this and the cheese thread!

[cryptique]

For pasta, the best thing I've found is Barilla plus. It's better than whole wheat. It's made from all types of grains and legumes. It's the best tasting pasta I've ever had and it's high in protein, omeg-3's and fiber.

I like that stuff. I also like Barilla's roasted garlic pasta sauce. As I recall (sorry, don't have a label handy), it has a pretty short ingredients list and nothing too awful in it.

[bjorn_skurj]

I discovered the can-of-crushed-tomatoes method of making spaghetti sauce recently and will never buy sauce in a jar again.

The method:

Get skillet, heat on medium or so. Pour some olive oil into it. Saute 2-3 cloves of crushed or sliced garlic for just under a minute. Add one 28-oz. can of crushed tomatoes. Add a little salt, crushed red pepper if you like and lemon zest if you like. Heat up for a few minutes. Pour over pasta. Enjoy the goodness.

[isadorah]

i second everything austrya said above!

 

i'd recommend going to the market and browsing the various sections (stay to the perimeter of the store), go with no ideas of what to eat in mind and get what looks best or the most interesting, or that you've never had before. ask the employees working those sections for suggestions of what to get, how to select it, and most important how to cook it. a lot of times they have great suggestions and good tips. that might help change things up for you and give you some new variety while sticking with healthy foods. as long as you stick to the perimeter of the grocery store, you're a huge leap ahead in buying healthy food.

[NightOfJoy]

Congrats Bjorn, you have indeed discovered a key component to a well made sauce.

 

A second, well less known component is red pepper sauce. I havent been able to find it lately so I make my own. Once you start putting pureed red pepper in spaghetti sauce, you'll never go back. Shhhhh, its a secret!

[John Smith]

Two words...portion control. You can eat almost anything if you control the size of the portion. Other than that I love to eat steamed veggies all kinds.

[fatheadfred]

Look at it holistically; not just this type or that type of food. You must gain an understanding of food sources, as well.

 

1 good book I recommend is Omnivore's Dilemma. It is entertaining as it is educational. Pollan's talks are also on TV. I believe it is UCTV. I think that is U of Cal.

 

Fear meat, unless you or someone you know raises it. Pretty much everything else, too. I really wish federal subsidies would cease so that small farmers could lend a hand in producing local food for small towns as well as metropolitan areas.

[watch me fall]

Two words...portion control. You can eat almost anything if you control the size of the portion. Other than that I love to eat steamed veggies all kinds.

 

Agreed. But I'm also a huge proponent of exercise. I never would've said that in my 20's but now that I'm older, I can definitely see the health benefits.

[Guest Moses]

Agreed. But I'm also a huge proponent of exercise. I never would've said that in my 20's but now that I'm older, I can definitely see the health benefits.

 

i couldn't agree more regarding both portion control and exercise. strangely, i have an easier time exercising than i do eating in moderation.

 

thanks for all the suggestions, and keep 'em coming if you think of anything more. especially if you have any specific recipes.

[jff]

My wife and I have enjoyed the recipes we've tried from this book:

 

Volumetrics Eating Plan:

http://www.volumetricseatingplan.com/

 

The basic idea is that certain meals with very low calories will make you feel as full as a large feast. The recipes we've tried have been delicious and they aren't of the bland baked chicken breast and steamed carrots variety. These recipes are like something you'd get in a restaurant and they don't require a high level of cooking skills.

 

Obviously, you'll see results MUCH faster if you not only improve your diet but increase the amount of exercise you get.

 

Best of luck!

[Mrs. Peel]

The other key to good tomato sauce is a can of paste, browned in the bottom of the pot with olive oil, onions and garlic before you put the crushed tomatoes or regular sauce in. The browning of the paste gives even a quickly made sauce taste like it had been cooking for 10 hours like in the old days.

 

And that is just about the only thing I can offer this thread.

[austrya]

Another incentive to avoid processed food

 

And

 

To eat local

[NightOfJoy]

The other key to good tomato sauce is a can of paste, browned in the bottom of the pot with olive oil, onions and garlic before you put the crushed tomatoes or regular sauce in. The browning of the paste gives even a quickly made sauce taste like it had been cooking for 10 hours like in the old days.

 

And that is just about the only thing I can offer this thread.

 

I like that 'brown the paste' idea!!

[Mrs. Peel]

My whole family swears that is the most important step. And they're Italian, so it has to be right.

[Lammycat]

My whole family swears that is the most important step. And they're Italian, so it has to be right.

Absolutely. This is how I was taught to make it from my dad, who's mom taught him, etc, etc. I forego the onions, though.

 

And we're of Irish lineage.

[Mrs. Peel]

You're right, the Irish side of my family does it too.

 

I'm not a big onion fan, but I make my mom's sauce, which was her mom's sauce, which was essentially her mom's sauce, just updated for the introduction of canned tomato paste and sauce base. The onions just add a bit of chunkiness. I may start using a can of crushed tomatoes instead, just to give it a try. But I love the taste of the sauce so much that I don't really want to mess with it. It's one of those recipes that's like "sprinkle enough sugar to cover the surface of the sauce, then sprinkle enough parsley to cover the sugar...." No measurements. I love it.

[bjorn_skurj]

The other key to good tomato sauce is a can of paste, browned in the bottom of the pot with olive oil, onions and garlic before you put the crushed tomatoes or regular sauce in. The browning of the paste gives even a quickly made sauce taste like it had been cooking for 10 hours like in the old days.

 

And that is just about the only thing I can offer this thread.

That's good, though. I will give that a shot.

[watch me fall]

Here's a pretty cool list of healthy supermarket foods by Men's Health. It mentions some of my fave brands including Amy's, Drew's and Annie's Naturals. Oh and Laughing Cow cheese. Good stuff.

[Happiechick]

I believe Dr. Andrew Weil recommends most Americans take the following 3 supplements... In moderation, and obviously according to the dosage listed on the bottles, he claims they are safe for everyone. Omegas, digestive enzymes and probiotics. My integrative heath doctor says a good "over the counter" brand for them is the UDO brand. A lot of alternative health doctors today are focused on your "gut health." If your tummy is healthy, you will feel healthy.