32 Year old man in need of motivation!

zitrael

Good day,
I've always been active when I was younger. Soccer, baseball, biking, ect. Now, with a family and obligations, I do not take the time to do as many activities. But sadly, Im still in a habit of eating like I used to. After our 1st kid, I gained ALOT of weight. from 170 lbs to about 200. And Im around 220 now. My goal is to be around 190 or so.

With 2 kids, I come back from work and want to make something fast for dinner. Pasta or processed food is my go to dinner, which is what kills me! I started with MyFitnessPal last week and already feel a bit better about myself. I bike once or twice a day with a stationary bike, stopped drinking cola, reduced the alcohol considerably (another no-no)

Anyway, Hopefully I can find good tips here and the motivation I need!

Chris

rand486

I do Sunday cook-offs, tupperware it all off for the week, and freeze it. When you get good at it, it takes no longer than a typical meal, and you're set for the week.

You can even use the kids to help if they're old enough, as you can lay the food out assembly line style for stuff like burritos, salads, etc. Edit: Bonus, you're teaching your kids healthy eating habits!

Slow cookers are your friend here. Large amounts of food, and little to no attention needed. Again, you could prep the entire thing ahead of time, throw it in a ziploc bag, and before heading out to work, toss it all in the slowcooker, so it's ready for the whole family when you get home.

zitrael

I need good recipes for slow cookers. Getting tired of the same 2-3, and kids are really picky. Im going to try to swap Spaghetti with Spaghetti squash tonight and see if the kids like it!

rand486

* Chili
* MarthaStewart.com has a very bland curry recipe that you can start with, and modify to your tastes)
* Chicken Saag (another curry, very different flavour)
* Pulled Pork/Chicken (Good for sandwiches for work/school lunches)
* Roasts (I like to cook them in red wine & broth, with carrots & potatoes filling the rest of the pot)
* Whole Chickens (no sauce, just put it on top of some tin foil balls, and do a spice rub)

Basically, pick a meat, a liquid (broth, wine, coconut milk, whatever), and fill the rest of the space with vegetables. Spice as you like, set on low for 4-8 hours, and come back when the smell leaves you drooling.

hmcbride68

Hey Chris! You are definitely going in the right direction. Giving up soda and alcohol is right on the money. Whole foods are always preferable, but, and I know this might sound weird, not all processed foods are bad. Deli meats are processed, but can be part of a sound diet, same with breads and pastas (the keto and paleo people will not agree, and while those eating styles are fine, ask as many fitness models as you can how many of them don't eat starchy carbs, and the answer is pretty clear). There's also tons of prepared dishes at most grocers that are very healthy (rotisserie chicken is awesome!). Heck, even some of the frozen stuff, like the Lean Cuisine things, aren't bad. The thing is you want to go for better, not perfection. With kids and job, you have a life that demands practicality. You got a lot of choices out there, just gotta look for them

If there's any way you can split the exercycling with lifting weights, I HIGHLY recommend that. When I lost weight before, I started out mostly doing cardio, and it helped, but the changes really kicked into high gear after I started doing resistance exercises

BatmanNinjaDude

I agree with the idea to add resistance training. I also found that exercise wasn't very taxing physically. I would suggest downloading the app C25K on your phone and trying the metered approach to running. Running will burn a ton of calories quickly and the work your legs will do will continue to burn calories for awhile after that.

zitrael

Im doing stationary instead of running mainly because of a bad back (half of the reason I regained weight in the 1st place. I have a Herniated disk) But resistance would be a good idea. Maybe start doing the biking while doing weight at the same time? Thanks for the idea, I dont know why it never dawned on me. That is why I am here! Thanks!