2011 Exercise Challenge: Healthy Eating & Recipes =D

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Benvenuto! ("Welcome!") :hi:

This thread will be a separate discussion and entity unto itself, symbiotic with but not completely dependent upon the 2011 TypeC Exercise Challenge & Soirée.

Here is where we shall share information, recipes, tips, and discuss all that which has to do with healthy eating, especially in regards to the Challenge itself. The purpose of this thread is not to keep track of or update progress in the 2011 TypeC Challenge, however. Please keep all official updates and progress reports within the boundaries of the original challenge's thread, linked above.

 

[Antimony]

Guten Tag!

I'm really excited to see this thread kick off. I'd like some new ideas to include in my diet, that is healthy. I'd love to know how to make good green smoothies.

 

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Guten Tag!

I'm really excited to see this thread kick off. I'd like some new ideas to include in my diet, that is healthy. I'd love to know how to make good green smoothies.

Ye could start reading here, where [MENTION=10491]mmhmm[/MENTION] begins having a discussion regarding the topic, which she is fairly passionate as well as knowledgeable about.

(Did the linky bit to her name in case she wants to chime in. )

 

[Qlip]

I eat too much in the evenings. I've been thinking about eating, in terms of being an ENFP. It makes a lot of sense from the perspective, it's pretty much when I'm bored and am looking for stimulation. So I was looking for a stimulation substitute. I switched to drinking diet pop, and it helped for a bit.. but I started feeling like my body was permiated with aspertame and then I get too wound up to sleep at a decent hour with the caffeine. Anybody else have any strategies for this sort of situation? Of course.. I can just buckle down and will power through. :/

 

[Udog]

I've been drinking soda, especially diet soda, again. I'm thinking about making it one of my "cheats", because I really need to stop drinking that crap.

So to stop drinking diet soda is one of my main goals over the next couple of months. To start eating a more low carb diet is going to be the other, but I haven't figured out how I'm going to do that just yet.

 

[Beargryllz]

Smoke a huge bowl of weed

Get in the car or put on some shoes. Go to the store

Buy a jar of peanut butter, then eat it. Buy another jar, eat some of it, then save the rest.

Open a can of tuna and an entire sleeve of saltine crackers. Put the tuna on the crackers.

While you are doing this, make sure you are next to a sink that dispenses potable tap water. Drink a massive gulp of cold water after every bite.

Your body will become strong, your muscles will become tough. In time, the muscles in your tongue (and there are a lot of those) will become strong enough to scrape the peanut butter from the roof of your own very mouth. This is when you know you are strong

 

[kyuuei]

I've always been a HUGE fan of minimal calorie intake diets -- Cooking yourself thin, great example. The point is, you eat the amount of calories that will sustain the body weight you WANT to be in a healthy way. Simple math as follows: x * 10 = y where x = the amount of weight you desire to be.

The way I did it:
- Try to follow the simple, better tasting recipes in the Cook Yourself Thin Cookbooks. While many of the recipes are impractical (especially when it comes to the desserts), the breakfasts and dinners always seemed to come out great. Hungry Girl is another calorie-slashing cookbook that tries to make the foods taste great, and they usually work.
- Spices are free reign.
- Vegetables & fruits do NOT count as calories, nor do non-carbonated beverages (juices, waters, tea, etc.) These two elements, for me, helped keep me on track. Less counting and worrying, and it also brought up the calorie count a bit so I didn't feel hungry during the adjustment phase. Catch to this: If the recipe's calorie count calls for veggies, they count as calories.
- Substitute things you cannot cook for things of equal or similar calorie counts. (Example: the cheap chocolate muffin mixes for breakfast muffins came out to only 150 calories per muffin. Way easier than trying to create custom low-calorie zucchini-cup-cake..whatever it was.)
- Pick the simplest, tastiest things possible. (I also used a freezer-cookbook for this.. Where you create meals meant to go into the freezer for quick oven-dinners.)
- Treat yourself out once a week. (Your body adjusting to a diet too fast could mean plateauing.. I liked to go eat something tasty, but with no confirmed calorie count, once a week and it helps keep you on track.)

 

[redcheerio]

I eat too much in the evenings. I've been thinking about eating, in terms of being an ENFP. It makes a lot of sense from the perspective, it's pretty much when I'm bored and am looking for stimulation. So I was looking for a stimulation substitute. I switched to drinking diet pop, and it helped for a bit.. but I started feeling like my body was permiated with aspertame and then I get too wound up to sleep at a decent hour with the caffeine. Anybody else have any strategies for this sort of situation? Of course.. I can just buckle down and will power through. :/

I often have the temptation to munch late at night, too. If it's because I'm just in the mood to eat, sometimes I can kill the urge by chewing diff fav flavors of gum instead (I like the sugar free "dessert" flavors by Extra like key lime pie, yum), or drinking some yummy gingerbread tea. If it's because I'm actually hungry, sometimes I'll snack on something like turkey and broccoli w ranch dressing, since it is both satisfying and not fattening. Unfortunately, other times I get into my husband's chips instead. Other times I'll compromise and have something that isn't as healthy as turkey and broccoli, but is still much better than chips. Like a square of super dark chocolate, or strawberries with vanilla milk.

Later when I have time, I'll post some easy healthy meals that are mostly paleo and low carb.

 

[Udog]

My diet coach once told me that excessive hunger cravings in the later part of the day are a common result of not eating enough beans, veggies, and protein throughout the day.

 

[redcheerio]

My diet coach once told me that excessive hunger cravings in the later part of the day are a common result of not eating enough beans, veggies, and protein throughout the day.

Yep, sounds about right in my experience, thanks for pointing it out! (Goes for some chickpeas to snack on....)

 

[Zoom]

I eat too much in the evenings. I've been thinking about eating, in terms of being an ENFP. It makes a lot of sense from the perspective, it's pretty much when I'm bored and am looking for stimulation. So I was looking for a stimulation substitute. I switched to drinking diet pop, and it helped for a bit.. but I started feeling like my body was permiated with aspertame and then I get too wound up to sleep at a decent hour with the caffeine. Anybody else have any strategies for this sort of situation? Of course.. I can just buckle down and will power through. :/

Well... is the type of stimulus ye are looking for mental or physical? Could the stimulation of drinking a caffeinated beverage be replaced by some kind of mental or physical activity, perhaps?

 

[Qlip]

Well... is the type of stimulus ye are looking for mental or physical? Could the stimulation of drinking a caffeinated beverage be replaced by some kind of mental or physical activity, perhaps?

Something to do while I'm chilling, not activating. Or when I'm doing computer stuff. I think I'm a gonna go with non caffinated tea, and those pickled veggies. It's still eating for the sake of it.. but, not so bad.

EDIT: Also, I think I'll do my workout straight when I get home. I want to do nothing but lie around when I get home from work. But, doing my workout straight out will energize me for the evening and suppress appitite.

 

[redcheerio]

So I'm now making green protein shakes for workouts, and green soups as a side dish for dinner.

For the green protein shakes, I'm using lots of berries, a bit of banana, spinach (or other greens), ground flaxseed, protein powder, and water.

(They look strange cuz the berries mixed with greens turns it a strange color, then the protein powder makes it even stranger, but they taste pretty good and I feel good after drinking them. They also seem really filling, so I'm hoping they might help me lose a bit of weight, but it's too soon to tell.)

For the green soups, yesterday I tried a cream of spinach soup that [MENTION=10491]mmhmm[/MENTION] gave me a link for http://thesunnyrawkitchen.blogspot.com/2007/09/simply-raw-soups.html, and it was nice and creamy, and pretty tasty. I used extra spinach and the garlic clove I used was pretty huge, so I think next time I'll use a bit less of both. My hub had some and liked it well enough to eat it and enjoy it, but didn't love it. He agreed it was nice and creamy, and that it would be better with less spinach and less garlic.

Today I invented a green tomato bisque that I was really happy with! I used buttermilk in addition to avocado to make it creamy, but combined with water, it made a bit of a weird texture. But it made a nice, rich green tomato bisque. I think next time I'll just use avocado and no buttermilk so the texture won't be weird. Here's the recipe with avocado instead of buttermilk:

1/2 bunch spinach, 5 medium tomatoes (your fav kind), 1 avocado, bit red onion, 1 garlic clove, bit fresh basil, bit fresh thyme, bit black pepper, bit sea salt, 1 cup water. Blend it all together in a blender, heat it up, and eat it!

PS - ^ Makes about 3 4 large bowlfuls.

 

[ChocolateMoose123]

this is a single person recipe enough for a couple servings.

1 or 2 baked chicken breasts diced
1/2 cup halved red grapes
2 sticks chopped celery
1 tsp curry powder
2 or 3 tbsp of fat free or low fat mayo
1 tbsp mango chutney
salt and pepper to taste

mix mango chutney, mayo and curry powder in a bowl then add chix, celery and grapes and mix. It makes a delicious, low fat chx salad.

I just wing it with the measurements but I figured that's about what I use.

 

[Aquarelle]

I just need to go back to tracking my nutrition. I've said it many times, but when I focus on getting enough of the "good" nutrients and not too many of the "bad" ones, the calories usually fall into place on their own. If I go a little bit over my goal, I don't worry about it.

 

[Antimony]

[MENTION=4939]kyuuei[/MENTION], I love what you wrote. I don't often count calories in things like vegetables, tea, etc. But I like the idea that I might not have to feel guilty about it. Following that will probably make it a little easier for me. Has this worked for you? In any case...

 

[kyuuei]

[MENTION=4939]kyuuei[/MENTION], I love what you wrote. I don't often count calories in things like vegetables, tea, etc. But I like the idea that I might not have to feel guilty about it. Following that will probably make it a little easier for me. Has this worked for you? In any case...

It worked beautifully. I did do a lot of exercising, so that accounts for the rapid weight drop, but the diet made me lose 25 lbs within a year's time. It's just too much: you start counting EVERYTHING and you get discouraged, feel too structured, and food stops being enjoyable.. being knowledgable on the vague calorie counts, and avoiding the obvious (ex: This donut is 500 calories, but I can just skip dinner....) mistakes, you'll be fine.

Any diet effort is better than no diet effort, so if all you do is committ to eating more veggies during dinner, or cooking more meals at home instead of going out, you'll be on the right track. Start out easy, and just get more complicated. You have nothing but time when it comes to food.

 

[Randomnity]

My food goals are to drink at least 2 glasses of water/day (did that today), make at least one healthy meal from scratch every week (did that today), and eat a good amount of green vegetables for at least one meal a day (sorta did that today, a bit on the low side).

what I made tonight: quinoa with bok choy (on the side). immortalized here mostly so I can make it exactly the same next time.

For the quinoa I improvised based on a couple recipes from online:

-diced 1 large carrot, sauteed with garlic and onion while chopping up mushrooms (about 1 pint), added mushrooms, added lots of cilantro and 2 capfuls of lemon juice, cooked a few mins, added rinsed quinoa (1 cup), added some concentrated chicken stock (by eye - maybe 1-2 tsp?) , stirred and cooked for a minute or two, then added water (2 cups), brought to a boil, covered and put on min for ~15-20 min (until water is absorbed).

The bok choy was the old standby, sauteed in butter with garlic and pepper (stems first then leaves). I made 1 stalk of baby bok choy (~fist-sized before cooking) which wasn't much after it was cooked.

Verdict: , mostly the quinoa. Mushrooms are key to deliciousness. The bok choy was ok too. Leftover quinoa for a couple meals now too.

 

[violaine]

Love reading all the tips.

These are some of my tips and tricks.

For anyone who experiences cravings in the evening, make sure you have enough protein during the day as [MENTION=4722]Udog[/MENTION] said. Protein makes you feel full and when you're full you don't think about eating. I think evening hunger pangs can be a habit of the body and mind too, and eating enough protein soon breaks the habit.

I think a big breakfast and big lunch and light dinner is the way to go. I even think if you're going to binge, do it in during the day rather than at night.

I have converted a few of my friends from breakfast cereal eaters to die-hard morning protein shakers. They all used to get hungry mid-morning after eating breakfast cereal. I drink my shake within a half hour of waking, that may boost metabolism according to things I've read.

My protein shake recipe is:
- almond milk (cos I don't eat dairy)
- banana or strawberries or blueberries
- an egg which is 6 grams of protein - I only add it 3-4 times a week due to it's cholesterol content. (Also *salmonella warning* be careful that your eggs are sourced and refrigerated correctly as [MENTION=13844]redcheerio[/MENTION] alluded to in a later post. Or just skip the egg. )
- protein powder which works out to about 35grams of protein. I buy whey isolate and not soy protein. I don't think soy protein is a good protein. I get vanilla flavored, but sometimes I'll have chocolate on hand too, which tastes wonderful with blueberries.
- psyllium powder for fibre (add this just before blending as it thickens on standing)
- tsp of honey in the vanilla and banana shake
- an omega 3-6-9 oil (not necessary but I like to stuff my shake with goodies)
- I also add a little all-spice or cinnamon, (which is supposedly good for my own metabolism but not necessary.)

It's delicious.

Protein, protein, protein. I carry whey protein bars around with me so that I snack on that if I get hungry.

You have to make sure you increase water consumption when you up your protein intake too.

I have a whole jag about water and it goes like this. I don't drink cold water. (blah, blah, I read that it puts out the digestive fire, yeah, kooky I know. But I've since read elsewhere that drinking cold water can solidify the oils in our food and make them harder to digest). So I drink warm beverages. Jasmin tea with lunch. I drink hot water with lemon all the time. Just boil the jug, pour a cup and toss in a slice of lemon.

And at night, to stave off any cravings for sweets, after dinner I drink warm water with lemon juice and a little honey. It's become my night time ritual. I would swear by warm water, lemon juice and honey as a little wonder drink for those who crave sweets at any time during the day. Add the honey after the water has cooled a little though, to keep it in best condition.

 

[violaine]

Oh! And don't do your grocery shopping when you are hungry. Do it when you are protein-shake-style full. I breeze past anything but the true essentials when I'm like that.