Changing up my eating habits

Jonathan Brown

Ok, so i am thinking about changing up my eating habits.  This is for two reasons:

1) i have been trying to drop this weight for the last year (8 to 10 lbs) and no matter how much i workout i still stay the same weight.

2) Cost... we eat out way too much... and that is always bad

 

So can anyone recommend a food plan or healthy website that can just give me ideas on what to eat and when?  Since cost is really factor two, i do not want to spend any or very little money on this website or plan.  Please let me know if you can help.

[Deleted User]

Jonathan, have a read through this thread:

http://members.endurancenation.us/Forums/tabid/57/aft/2824/Default.aspx

Should get you started in the right direction.

Leslie Schneider

Hi Jonathan, I too need to drop some pounds. I was planning on using Matt Fitzgerald's Racing Weight because it's not too radical. It's more focused on a healthy balanced diet. I've only read the first couple of chapters but I like what I've read so far. Haven't started following the plan yet so I can't speak to its success yet. It might be worth checking out. Good luck!

Steve West

Jonathan,

My suggestion is what I do - eat clean. Meaning avoid junk, processed food and dining out. It really isn't complicated to dramatically improve your diet by doing that.

Eating crap is OK when you have to, but often it is a conscious choice (even if it is hard to make) and other options are around.

In our house staples include steel cut oats, Greek yogurt, fruit, smoothies, lots of veggies, lean meats and dairy.

The more strict you get the harder it is to incorporate as a lifestyle change and the harder it is to implement.

Peter Noyes

Over the past year I have lost almost 40 pounds and I have kept it off so far. What worked for me is basically coming up with 5 or so good dinner recipes that are quick and easy, and that is basically all I ever eat for dinner. For lunch I have a 4 option rotation. For breakfast and snacks I eat the same exact thing every single day. This takes all the guesswork out of eating, yet I still have some options.

Dinner options are things like:
1) Salmon, Quinoa, and Steamed Vegetables
2) Omelette with baked Sweet Potato
3) Taco Night (Basically just put 3 chicken breasts in slow cooker with half a jar of salsa), and then I have it with corn tortillas, onion, cilantro, etc... I also have a zesty quinoa salad recipe I sometimes make to go with this.
4) I make some big batch of stew or soup on Sunday to have during the week for leftovers

For Lunch I typically eat out at places like:
1) Chipotle, I have a ~600 calorie burrito bowl configuration I get
2) Tender Greens, a local chain that has good healthy options, again around 600 calories
(A few more local places where I know exactly what I am getting)

Breakfast
Always the Nature's Path Pumpkin flax granola with milk

Snacks
Bar in morning (If I worked out that morning, a protein bar, otherwise a lower calorie bar such as Vann's)
Fruit in afternoon
Greek yogurt at night with honey

*Note that I basically do not eat bread anymore, but I don't follow a strict paleo diet. I also let myself cheat every now and then, I do like to bake, but I try to bake with almond flour, coconut sugar, carob chips, etc..., basically anything to make it healthier and lower calorie. Another thing I did is completely stop drinking soda, even diet. I also drink black coffee, no more sugary starbucks drinks.

ezellrh

what Steve said. I'm the grocery shopper for my family (wife, kids x2, and me). I've found a lot of success in making sure that there are lots of healthy options (fruits, fish, yogurt, nuts, etc) in the house and very few (if any) bad choices. There's no magic formula, you know junk food when you see it. We set a family goal of no more than 1 what we call "dinner in a bag" (i.e. fast food) a week. Set a limit on sit-down meals out (restaurant) and then stick to it. We fire up the grill almost every night. I've found that on the weekends, when there is a large breakfast of relatively healthy stuff, we tend to not scrounge for junk food for lunch and dinner. We also have a subscription to Rachel Ray's cooking magazine. Its great and offers lots of recipes (some healthy, some not so much). We like to get outside of our comfort zone dinner-wise at least 1 every other week.

One caveat - don't take it to the extreme. I'm not a pro and my next mortgage payment doesn't depend on my next race. Having an actual dessert or whatever your 'that thing' is now and then won't kill you.

Coming into the OS, I'm looking to nail this aspect of life as well. So I wish you the best of luck!

John Stark

I am in the process of working my body comp.  One thing you should consider besides just food is the "why" you are doing it.  State specific reasons (get lean, look better, be healthier or whatever).  In EN-speak, find a "One Thing" and when you are tempted remember that One Thing.

Just my .02.

John

Woody Freese

What are the thoughts on a 2 week juice cleanse prior to OS?

Jonathan Brown

OK, so i have NO will power!!! My partner brought home cupcakes for Halloween... yup, i had 2. maybe after NYC marathon, i will start to eat better...

Thank you all for the messages. I am honestly trying to eat in and cook more.

Woody, the Cleanse has been on my mind and i am really considering it over the next week.

jaleslie

I just inhaled about 10 of my kids' trick-or-treat "fun sized" candies.  Crap.  Wish I had read this first.  

Hard to say no when your kids are giving you stuff out of their "hard-earned" bag of treats though? (things they KNOW I like and can't resist) 

Why are they called "fun-sized"? (the little snack sized ones).....shouldn't "fun-sized" be a really huge candy bar?

 

Brenda Ross

I hope Scott Dinhofer weighs in on this. He has lost some weight recently and may have some insight. Calling Scott Dinhofer. I eat clean, like the others have stated, but I also do not eat dairy, try to limit corn and no gluten, and no animal protein, but this is because of allergies. I have not eaten any recreational sugar - cookies, cake, muffins, etc... (A term coined by John Wiithrow) since January of this year. If I am craving something sweet I find a banana does the trick for me. I love the idea of putting together breakfast, lunch and dinner options, so when you are not feeling energetic or less than motivated to cook you have some staples in your house. If you want Racing Weight my Matt Fitzgerald, I have the book and would more than happy to send it to you in the mail. Just let me know.

Mark Maurer

Jonathan, of I were to give you any advice about nutrition it would be to stop eating out a much as you can. I do most of the cooking at our house and I always cook enough so that I have leftovers and I take those for lunch. find recipes that are quick or spend some hours on the weekend making meals that you can heat up during the week. i,I've been a vegetarian but now I'm an omnivore but still eat mainly a plant based diet. Mark Bitman's book How To Cook Everything and America's Test Kitchen cookbook are the one I go to the most. Quick meals at our house are fritattas or omelets, burritos (we cook up a put off beans and have several meals), stir fry veggies with tofu, chicken, or beef, pasta with a salad and grilled chicken breasts. if you like rice get a rice cooker if you don't have one and a show cooker comes in handy too. Good luck.
I found that if I made small changes I lost weight over time and it wasn't so drastic so I stuck with it. Try doing on thing different a day or a week. For instance, I started drinking my coffee black and lost 5 lbs over a couple of months without doing anything else. If you drop 100 calories a day you will lose about one pound a month! That's 12 pounds a year and after several years it starts to add up.