Hey, I need some food advice

R

Reedy

New member
So, I'm trying to lose weight because I just feel like crap lately. I know diet and excersise is important, and i know how to do both, but heres my problem.


I work two full time jobs, 70+ hours a week, and its rare when i get to actually have the time to make myself something that takes prep time or anything. Im also trying not to spend alot of money. I need some healthy food ideas that i can make like, really quickly. Something in between shifts, or when i get home right before bed. maybe some healthy mircrowaveables?\


Anyways, Let me know. :)
 
I have spent the last 9 months unemployed. Nerves took the best of me and I got fat, then I took control of it by exercising and getting back to cooking. Here are a couple of things I would suggest for inexpensive ways to mind your health, waistline and time.


1) Buy whole chickens instead of some legs or breasts. It is cheaper and roasting or baking two at a time has several advantages. The first one you can have as a meal with some veggies and 1 carb like potatoes. The second one I would let cool until after you have the first one at dinner then pull most of the meat off of the bone and store in a container in the refrigerator for quick sandwiches on whole grain bread, with lettuce tomato and mustard. I suggest mustard because it aids in digestion and sometimes it aids getting bread down your throat.


The rest of the bones and drippings can be put in a pot of water large enough to cover the bones 75%. Boil for 1-3 hours to create chicken stock. Remove the bones, add some chucky cut carrots, celery & potatoes with seasonings to make a quick soup. Cook rice on a separate burner but try to use less rice as it adds to your waist.


2) There is a book I fell in love with as I am single and cooking for 8 would create more waste in my life. Cooking for Two was a very helpful start. The recipes are organized by less than 30 minutes and some that take prep time. They are healthy & fast. http://www.amazon.com/Cooking-Two-Recipes-Special-Nights/dp/B0009A0GUK/ref=sr_1_1?s=outlet&ie=UTF8&qid=1333514997&sr=8-1


My favorite is the Oven Baked Chicken. The only thing on that recipe I would change is no using breast but instead using lower fat Thighs. 8oz of chicken thighs is 60 calories less than 6oz of chicken breast say Rocco Dispirito.


3) Cooking a pot of beans with ground meat or ground turkey is a perfect high protein meal with some stock to fill your stomach. I will look through my recipes to see some additional ways to make sauces that go great with chicken.


I went on 1500 calories while I was suppose to be on 2200. Drinking water several times a day or with a protein powder added to the water helps me cut the appetite. I like Muscle Milk bc its high protein/low carb minimal sugar - Banana flavor tastes best to me. I lost almost 2 inches in 2 months and I am finally starting to see my abs again.


Most important things I can pass along is :The Darker the Vegetable the Higher the Vitamin" Green vegetables, then purple, reds, orange, yellow and final option is white. The exception to this rule is onions and garlic because both increase metabolism and sex drive.
 
Hi! and welcome.
Making chili, and soups, and stirfry when you have the time and briging them for lunch is quick, easy and fairly inexpensive, soup and chili also freeze well, id sugest a "one meal" container for on the go. Also going vegitarian once or twice a week is good for you as well. (I have an AMAZING lentil soup recipe. my husband whos a "steak and potatoes kinda guy even loves it, if you want it just say so) another thing is CHIA SEEDS! i swear by them. they swell when in liqued making you feel fuller longer, plus are high in fiber, calcium, magneseum, omega3 ect. look them up. THEY ARE GREAT! you can just put them in water (with lemon i use) and drink it all day to curb hunger. they are also very low in calories. hope my adcive helped. Take care.
 
lol @ Dana and your chia seeds! (I still have to look for them!)


Usually Sundays are a slow day for me so I try to prepare a lot of my meals then. Frozen dinners are great IN A PINCH but there is a lot of sodium and additives in those. Try making your own, they will be healthier AND cheaper!


If you don't already have a crockpot, GET ONE! Not sure if you have a family or just are cooking for yourself but you can make a ton of food and don't have to stand by the stove all day!


The best investment I ever made was my foodsaver! Yes the bags are more than ziploc but I used to throw away TONS of produce and meats every week because they would spoil. Now my stuff last wayyyyyyyy longer!
 
Hi Reedy. I'd like to give you my opinion on losing weight. Something that took me 20 years to learn. I now have lost 40 pounds. But the principle is the same regardless if you need to lose 20 pounds or 200 pounds. Here is my opinion for what it's worth.


You really don't lose weight by eating. You lose weight by not eating. Sooner or later any diet you are on that causes you to lose weight will make you hungry and or crave certain foods. You're body will do this because it thinks it's starving. You have to push through that. In the end losing weight really all comes down to some good old fashion will power.


Now I would like to go one step forward even at the risk of annoying people. Anyone that tells you differently is either wrong or is trying to sell you something related to losing weight.
 
.....Its not about NOT eating its about what you eat. its about burning more calorier then you take in. If you dont eat and your body goes in to starvation mode when you do eat it will be stored as fat.
 
Hmm, working two full-time jobs is very hard, for a while I carried a 60 hour/week job while attending college full-time, it was quite grueling but I managed well enough.


While the rest of the team opted for pizza or chinese food during lunch (I worked at a dealership selling cars, probably worst/hardest job on the planet) I always carried oatmeal packets. Oatmeal is great because it's highly portable and requires very little preparation. Also, it's one of the best foods humans should consume, it's filled with complex carbs for energy, fiber to keep you feeling full and to help with digestion, and of course protein to build lean muscle (which helps you burn more fat).


Another really great food you can pack during your busy work week are nuts, my favorites are peanuts and almonds. Like oatmeal, these are also packed full of fiber, but these also have essential fatty acids, which aids in overall weight loss and good health. (removed)


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In response to the person who said you shouldn't eat to lose weight, I'd have to disagree. Food is not the enemy, it's our eating behavior that is the problem, many people love to eat sugary foods, which leads to unbalanced levels of insulin, a hormone that promotes weight gain.


Food is the fuel to achieve better bodies, by eating smart, you are already 80% of the way to your goal. I'm serious.


Reedy, let me know if this helps.
 
Hi Reedy, I took a look at your blog as it was quite helpful I'm basically on a strict diet which prohibits me from ingesting most of your list, but I do usually on the wknd.The diet I'm on is only temporary as I don't think that it's sustainable but I have seen drastic improvements and I have no choice but to stick it out for another month or so, or until I get to my weight goal. Thanks again.
 
Ernie...same old, same old. This belief that eating one food as opposed to another will cause you to lose weight. Here's what happens. You substitute oatmeal for a higher calorie breakfast. Great.....but do this for a few days or a week. Keep eating these lower calorie foods. See what happens....your body will realize it is losing weight and make you hungry....most will give in because they've been told by people like you that they need not be hungry to lose weight. Ridiculous. Ideas like yours have been around for decades. Where's the evidence that it works? Are Americans thinner? No Americans are fatter than ever.


You want to lose weight. You have to eat a heck of a lot less....and what foods you eat is irrelevant. Want to lose weight on a cheese cake diet....here's how. EAT 2 PIECES OF CHEESE CAKE A DAY AND NOTHING ELSE. But you will be hungry.


That is what it took me years to realize! You have to be willing to walk around being hungry and craving food. Now for the good news.....WILL POWER IS BUILDABLE! In otherwords everytime you resist eating your will power strengthens making it easier to resist food next time. Everytime you walk a couple miles your will power to do so strengthens making it easier to do next time as well.


More baloney is this idea you need to eat enough so you don't go into starvation mode and lower metabolic rate. This is one of the most healthy states the body can ever be in. Resting pulse rate drops, blood pressure drops and the whole aging process slows down markedly. Why would anyone in their right mind be against such a healthy thing?


People who are serious about antiaging medicine know that reducing calories to the bare minimum to sustain life is the secret to longevity.


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The point I'm making is that losing weight takes will power. Telling people it doesn't only sets them up to fail when they try to do so. WILL POWER IS THE KEY. WE HAVE TO BUILD IT, STRENGTHEN IT. We have to consistently eat less calories than we are burning but as soon as the body senses it is losing weight it is going to make you hungry. YOU HAVE TO PUSH THROUGH THIS!
 
I agree it does take a lot of will power, determination to see it thru and perserverance to stay the course, at times you may falter and get disappointed but that's where the perserverance part comes in, no matter what get up dust yourself off and keep on truckin, keep your eyez on the prize.
 
Thanks Gettindeere. Yea I think the media, Weight loss "experts" have perpetuated a belief in the minds of Americans that losing weight can be easy. That way they can sell you on their latest and greatest new way to weight loss and fitness. I believe this has actually made us fatter than ever. When you tell people losing weight will be easy....and then they find out it's not....they quit the whole idea. They have actually been convinced that they can lose weight and never be hungry! RIDICULOUS!


But when you push through the hunger.....when you tough it out.....you eventually get much tougher emotionally. As each day goes by you get tougher and tougher. As each day goes by it gets easier and easier. So now when my stomach is growling and I'm craving a certain food I simply dismiss it in my mind and do something else. But that's because I have a tuned up sense of willpower.


Take yesterday as an example. I woke up. Ate no breakfast...simply had a cup of coffee. Then I went out a jogged 7.2 miles. Then cut my lawn and worked around the house all day long. Then around PM I ate my dinner. Then a few hours later I went to bed. What I did yesterday I would have once considered impossible. What I did yesterday would be considered impossible for most people. But it's not. These are the things you are capable of if you strengthen your will power. It takes time. In my case it took a few months to jog that far. But each day you get up and you do the things you know you should do....but don't feel like doing. That's how you strengthen will power.


One other point about metabolic rate and this "starvation mode" everyone's so afraid of. One of the best ways to naturally increase our levels of growth hormone is by eating a great deal less. Exercising while you are hungry is even more effective at raising human growth hormone levels. Want to get healthy? Want to lose weight? Increasing growth hormone is another way to do so. You can even physiologically regress your age when you get human growth hormone levels up. Sexual vitality and libido improves. Fats loss rates improve. Human growth hormone is also condusive to increasing muscle mass, kidney, liver, heart function. Even improvements of hearing and regrowth of lost hair has been attributed to increasing human growth hormone.


All these good things because you entered what people call "starvation mode". Starvation mode is a good thing! Our bodies are designed to spend some time in this mode. Weight loss, fitness has and always will be about WILL POWER!
 
That's pretty good Max, I'm striving to get where you're at! I know what you mean about starvation mode, I had to fight thru it this morning myself woke up around 3:30 am and my mind was telling me to eat something but I know my body and if I eat too early, then I could ruin my whole day. So instead I got up and drank a little bit of lean shake and went back to bed.


Keep up the good work Max, and keep the posts coming! One of these days I'll be up there with you on those 7mi (but not for a while yet, I jog like a turtle.)
 
"I jog like a turtle".


So do I. I do what I call "sleep jogging". That is I run at a very slow pace. So slow I can sort of almost close my eyes and sleep. The calorie burn really doesn't have much to do with how fast you jog. 7 miles burns approximately 1,000 calories whether you run fast or not. Now to gain in cardio fitness I am inserting some wind sprints during my jog. Those will really help you with your fitness. But to start with I wouldn't recommend this. Just sleep jog....this is really easy to do and easy on your body and joints.


That battle you fought this morning helped strengthen your willpower still further. I will get easier as time goes on. Trust me on this. It's amazing what you can accomplish once you have "tuned up" your willpower.
 
Originally Posted by Reedy


So, I'm trying to lose weight because I just feel like crap lately. I know diet and excersise is important, and i know how to do both, but heres my problem.



I work two full time jobs, 70+ hours a week, and its rare when i get to actually have the time to make myself something that takes prep time or anything. Im also trying not to spend alot of money. I need some healthy food ideas that i can make like, really quickly. Something in between shifts, or when i get home right before bed. maybe some healthy mircrowaveables?\



Anyways, Let me know. :)
Click to expand...




Originally Posted by Reedy


So, I'm trying to lose weight because I just feel like crap lately. I know diet and excersise is important, and i know how to do both, but heres my problem.



I work two full time jobs, 70+ hours a week, and its rare when i get to actually have the time to make myself something that takes prep time or anything. Im also trying not to spend alot of money. I need some healthy food ideas that i can make like, really quickly. Something in between shifts, or when i get home right before bed. maybe some healthy mircrowaveables?\



Anyways, Let me know. :)
Click to expand...



These are the some tips for weight loss:



1. Skip potatoes/rice most nights.

2. Take more vegetables.

3. Don't eat white bread.

4. Make bread/desserts, using oatmeal

5. Check ingredients, to eliminate corn syrup
 
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