Eating Healthy

[jsx730]

I have a question for all you health nuts out there, especially the busy ones on a budget.

 

How can my girlfriend and I eat healthy, without spending alot of money, and without sepnding alot of time cooking/preparing food ourself?

 

We both work full time, have long work commutes, and take 2 college courses at a time. We're on a somewhat limited budget, and have hardly any spare time. On top of that, we visit our parents out of town every Wednesday, so we either need to eat out or eat whatever our parents cook (my parents dont cook anything healthy, hers usualy do). Tuesday/Thursday we don't get home from work/school until 8:30 or so. By this time we're so hungry we dont have time to spend cooking a meal. She usually prepares a big pot of soup on sunday (chicken noodle, Portugese Kale, Chili, or Beef Soup). On Friday's we're back out of town (straight from work) to hang out with friends, and again get stuck eating out.

 

We fit in excercise when we can. DDR during the winter, she has a cardio machine she uses sometimes, during the summer we run. Usually only 1-2 times a week though.

 

We generally have time on the weekends where we could prepare food ahead of time for the week.

 

Any ideas? We're both gainin more weight then we'd like to, and we know alot of it is diet related. Thanks for your help!

[Jetta]

One suggestion I have is to eat smaller portions of the unhealthy food. Eat half of what you'd usually eat (for a start). I know I lost weight when I ate Lean Cuisines for lunch and dinner, plus snacks. Really it was the fact I was eating about 1000 calories a day (if that). So eat less of the hearty stuff. The benefit of eating healthier is you get more food for less calories.

[jengh]

avoid refined sugars and white flour as much as possible. They make you think you're full, but in a very short amount of time, you'll be left unsatisfied. Eat as much fiber and whole grains as possible. These are much more complex and take your body MUCH longer to break down.

The thing with eating a lot of fiber is if you're eating A LOT of it, your body will 'ignore' fat and sugar and you'll just digest it, instead of storing it. The reason being your body is too busy trying to break down the fiber. (I learned this in my anatomy and physiology class last semester).

[jsx730]

My girlfriend recently stocked up on lean cuisines. The only problem is that she's left hungry afterwards and has to eat something else.

 

Let me say that my girlfriend and I are in relatively decent shape. I'm 5'8" ~150lbs, and she's 5'10" ~150lbs. Summer of 05 we actually had time to run on a 5 day a week basis and we were both in the best shape of our lives, even eating unhealthy as we do. It's been a downhill slope every since =/

 

Another question, what do you guys do about lunch when you only get a 30min lunch break? We pretty much go to subway every day and each get a 6 inch sub. How unhealthy is it considering we do usually get dressing put on it (ranch or vinagraite)?

[jengh]

ranch is HORRIBLE! I worked in a restaurant where we made our own ranch (most everywhere does) and this is how it's made: 1 packet of ranch seasonings, 1/2 gallon of mayonaise, 1/2 gallon of buttermilk.

 

If you go to subway most everyday, be sure to get whole wheat bread. And maybe try getting the 7g of fat or less sandwhiches. If you like it, get mustard. It has virtually no calories and definitely no fat (all it is is mustard seed and vinegar)

[jsx730]

I kinda figured, how bad is the vinaigrette? we usually get that over ranch.

 

My girlfriend is a big wheat bread eater too, always has been. She's slowly converted me. Anything that can be whole wheat, she goes for (bread, pasta, etc).

[jengh]

it all depends on what kind of vinaigrette it is. It's pretty fattening. basically just canola oil and vinegar, although they do make a fat free balsamic vinaigrette that is AWESOME! (I dont know how they make that...)

Subway also has the option of putting your sandwhich on a wheat wrap, which would cut down on the carb count quite a bit. They're not too bad

[jsx730]

Eh, it's bad enough I'm going for a 6" inch sandwhich (I was eating two foot longs during the summer of 05), no way I'm cutting out the bread. I'd starve. I'm usually still hungry as it is.

 

Do you think the vinegar and oil is much healthier then the vinaigrette dressing?

[shes2smart]

Another question, what do you guys do about lunch when you only get a 30min lunch break? We pretty much go to subway every day and each get a 6 inch sub. How unhealthy is it considering we do usually get dressing put on it (ranch or vinagraite)?

 

It's much cheaper and healthier to make and pack your lunch. If there's no refrigerator at work, you can get (and re-use) an insulated lunch bag or a small cooler.

 

It doesn't take a lot of time to make your own sandwhich, and put it in your lunch bag with a piece of fruit, some carrot or celery sticks, crackers, etc.

[jengh]

Eh, it's bad enough I'm going for a 6" inch sandwhich (I was eating two foot longs during the summer of 05), no way I'm cutting out the bread. I'd starve. I'm usually still hungry as it is.

 

Do you think the vinegar and oil is much healthier then the vinaigrette dressing?

 

it depends on the oil. If it's olive oil, then yes. Canola/veg oil...not really going to be much of a difference.

[sddeaston]

For running to be effective, you need to consistantly run 3-7 times a week. 1-2 times does not give you the consistency you need to gain the full benefits. I run in the mornings before work, (may not be possible for you) at 6 a.m. and since I started running three weeks ago, I can tell a difference in my body already. I can lose weight very easily though, and you may or may not differ.

 

As far as eating, I can't really be of any assistance. I, myself, am trying to implement a healthy diet on a limited budget with small amounts of time as well. In fact, that is why I wanted to read this thread

 

I have not changed my diet yet, and can only say that if I start doing this stuff in conjunction with one another, I can only speculate as to how good I would feel!! Good luck.

[confused25]

When I was in college I used to eat Kellogg's Special K cereal a lot in place of regular meals and I lost a lot of weight from that. I also ate a lot of fruit and those Lipton noodle and rice packets. They fill you up and they aren't too fattening. Sometimes I'll cook pasta with just regular tomato pasta sauce and instead of ground beef I'll use shrimp or grilled chicken.

[shes2smart]

Unfortunately, I suspect you're going to have to get over the hurdle of food prep/cooking if you are serious about eating healthier.

 

The vast majority of restaurants don't put a lot of effort into ensuring 'healthy.' That doesn't sell meals -- things that taste good draw people in and keep them coming back. Making things taste good generally involves goodly amounts of fat, since fat is what carries flavor in foods. Fat is also what makes you feel "full" after you eat. (Hence the reason you can inhale a box of "fat free" cookies and feel unsatisfied and like you haven't had anything.)

 

Food prep doesn't have to take a lot of time, it's just a matter of finding simple, quick-to-fix recipes, and perhaps altering them a bit to adjust your personal tastes and adjusting things like the amount of oil, salt and so forth.

 

If you are not used to cooking, it may take a little more time at first, but over the long haul, doing your own cooking/food prep is going to save you money and be better for you...since you have full control of what's going into your food and in what amounts. You are not going to get that with prepared take-out/restaurant food.

 

If you want some tips, I'd suggest looking at Rachael Ray's recipes on Food Network's website. link removed I like to cook, but have a 2 minute attention span, so a lot of the things she makes on 30-minute-meals are perfect. They're also very simple recipes with a lot of room for variation and experimentation.

 

Scout, the RM team leader, has a number of vegetarian recipes I'm sure she'd be happy to share with you if you would prefer to go that route. You can PM her for details if you're interested.

 

One other suggestion, and I freely admit I'm biased on this, avoid the stuff I like to call "Frankenfood" -- that would be processed foods that are reduced calorie, fat-free, made with sugar substitutes etc. Stick with the "real" food...you will find that it takes LESS of it to satisfy you, it tastes better, and it's generally cheaper than the stuff that's been altered.

[rocio]

I would recommend cooking more food from scratch. Eating out is both expensive and usually less healthy. So is that pre-made junk you throw in the microwave for 2 minutes (like frozen burritos and pizza pops). Cook huge amounts of food and freeze them.

[jsx730]

I understand, and would definitely prefer preparing my own food, as it's usually cheaper and obviously better for you. The only problem is that atleast 2 days out of the week, we aren't at home until late at night.

[shes2smart]

I understand, and would definitely prefer preparing my own food, as it's usually cheaper and obviously better for you. The only problem is that atleast 2 days out of the week, we aren't at home until late at night.

 

 

Advance planning, like hazey amber suggested, is your friend.

 

Do you have a microwave? It only takes a minute to heat up leftovers from the fridge.

 

With most recipes, it's not a problem to double or triple the original amount. A lot of things freeze well. You can make, say, a big batch of your own spaghetti sauce when you have time. After it cools, you can portion it out to what you'd need for a single meal (zip top bags are great for this) and throw the bags in the freezer.

 

The morning of your long day, just put the bag in the fridge to thaw (or use the nuker to thaw it), boil some pasta, heat up the sauce...that should only take about 10-20 minutes tops.

 

You can do the same thing with ground beef. Buy a couple pounds, form it into patties when you get home from the store, then stick individual patties into those zip top bags and freeze them separately. Leave them to thaw in the fridge on those long days, then broil, grill or fry when you get home. Again, we're talking maybe 10-20 minutes of cook time.

 

I've worked all sorts of screwy schedules and still managed to cook for myself most of the time....even when I was single and lived alone. It wasn't necessarily because I wanted to, but because I work in a notoriously low-paying field. I kid you not...at one point in my history, I'd only have $20 to spend on 2 weeks worth of groceries after paying my bills.

 

And I managed to do it without eating ramen noodles or box mac & cheese all the time. How? By planning ahead and buying the stuff most people think of as "ingredients" (veggies, meat, flour) rather than "food" (frozen dinners, canned ravioli, etc).

[luvursmile]

Yeah, I agree. My husband & I usually get home late from work, so theres no time to cook. So usually on the weekend, we'll cook up 2-3 varities of dishes, freeze em & pack em up for our lunches. Its way healthier because you know what you put into it, and its cheaper too. If I was to go out for lunch everday, I'd spend like $6. Thats $12/day for me & hubby. That works out to about $360/month just for lunch. I prefer to pocket that...

 

I would also recommend using a cooking spray, as opposed to oil or butter. Pam is pretty good, and you can get it butter flavor and stuff.

[Ash]

We practice food combining as much as possible, which basically means we only eat certain combinations of food. As a broad description we aviod carbs and protien in the same meal. The good part we find about doing this is we eat in total largely the same food we used to, we just combine differently. Often it means bread and veggies for lunch, and meat (protein) and salad for dinner. Omelettes with meat and cheese are okay for example, but you don't eat them with toast or potatoes. Also means we don't really buy "health food" as such. For lunch I take leftovers which is a far easier way to stick to the combining since I eat what I decided to put in my lunch bag (before I was hungry for lunch!!) and it saves a lot of time since it really only takes 10 - 15 minutes to eat. If you're interested look it up on the web.

[luvursmile]

Another thing you can do is sustitute, say, ground beef with ground turkey. I always use ground turkey when I make spaghetti sauce, and in MHO, it actually tastes better. I also make chilli with it...yummy!

Always include fresh veggies with your meal, but avoid salad dressing (unless its low fat). Those things have soooo much fat & calories, you might as well eat a burger!

[rocio]

Make your own salad dressing... Mixing together olive oil and balsamic vinager is soooo good. You can also add garlic, dill, or other spices.

[shes2smart]

Always include fresh veggies with your meal, but avoid salad dressing (unless its low fat). Those things have soooo much fat & calories, you might as well eat a burger!

 

A way to do this and still use regular dressing is NOT to dump the dressing on the salad. Pour a small amount in a little dish or souffle cup, dip your fork into the dressing, then spear up the greens. You get the full flavor of the real stuff (which is generally enough to be satisfying for most people) without drowning the salad, and without eating the frankenfood.

 

When we do go out to eat, I order salad dressing on the side and use the "dip the fork" method. I find I use significantly less dressing than I would had I poured it on the salad....let alone what a waitress or prep cook would've dumped on it.