Need help eating right

Rosettarose2011

Hey I am having such a hard time finding foods that are quick and easy to make but are healthy. Any ideas?

queenliz99

Hi and welcome!

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10257474/starting-out-restarting-basics-inside/p1

RodaRose

The recipes on the my fitness pal blog include calorie counts:
https://blog.myfitnesspal.com/category/eat/recipes/main-dishes/

Rosettarose2011

Thanks!!

BrianRepreza

Have you tried meal preparation?

kommodevaran

Home cooking doesn't have to be very time consuming or elaborate. It won't take any more time than takeaway and convenience food, if you plan ahead. And home cooked is almost always better nutritionally than readymade. All these claims about convenience and "need for speed" are made by manufacturers who want to sell their products, and they create a feeling that cooking is boring, and too difficult for ordinary people to mess around with.

Cooking is basically very simple. Pick a meat, a starch, and a veg, heat them up, and you have dinner.

Rosettarose2011

My biggest ordeal is that I go to the store an look around not knowing what is really beneficial to me and I am not a very good cook cause with my past jobs I always just grabbed something quick like microwave meals and chips. I just get so lost in a life of quick, and easy.

MommyMeggo

Rosettarose2011 wrote: »

My biggest ordeal is that I go to the store an look around not knowing what is really beneficial to me and I am not a very good cook cause with my past jobs I always just grabbed something quick like microwave meals and chips. I just get so lost in a life of quick, and easy.

When I read this I immediately thought "PLAN". Before you shop think about things you want to eat. Look at easy recipes, think about your schedule. How do you eat your meals? 3 big? 6 small? Do you snack?

Boiled eggs, Yogurt, Oatmeal, Protein Shakes, Baked chicken w/ veg, Ground turkey tacos or taco salad, chili or soups. Get baggies and portion out snacks. Pretzels, nuts, lower calorie crackers. Portion out high calorie treats too. Look into a steamer or crock pot. Bake and shred chicken for salads, wraps, sandwiches.

Search this forum, there are TONS of posts about planning and members with open diaries and the recipes are plentiful.
Build your grocery list in the order that you walk the store. There is an app for that I think as well.
Start small. Plan a couple of meals/snack. Plan for a couple of days vs an entire week.

PiSquared

Rosettarose2011 wrote: »

My biggest ordeal is that I go to the store an look around not knowing what is really beneficial to me and I am not a very good cook cause with my past jobs I always just grabbed something quick like microwave meals and chips. I just get so lost in a life of quick, and easy.

I've taught myself to cook, mostly out of magazines. I mainly use Cooking Light these days. The Dinner Tonight and Super Fast sections are usually the first things I look at in the magazine. After a while of following recipes, I found I could wing it, using flavors I had seen before.

Cooking a healthy, tasty meal does not need to be time consuming. There are lots of options for ingredients that you can use to throw something together in a flash. Canned beans, canned diced tomatoes, jarred minced garlic, and low sodium chicken broth are stocked in my pantry. Throw in a protein and a vegetable and your done.

During the week, I don't have a lot of spare time in the evening, so I try to limit my cooking time to less than an hour, start to finish. I've got quite a few dishes I can have on the table in 20 - 30 minutes. It can be done. You don't have to make a gourmet meal every night.

As for wandering the store and being lost in a sea of ingredients and good intentions, I have found that I need to go to the store armed with a grocery list. On the weekend, I do a meal plan for the coming week. I make my grocery list from that, add in some other necessities like my breakfast cereal, fruit, snacks, and my Diet Coke, and off I go. I really need the list to keep me on track so I'm not wandering the aisles sticking random junk in my cart.

Good luck. I'd be happy to help out with any cooking questions. I am in know way a professional chef or dietician, but I am a pretty decent cook who manages to get a reasonably healthy meal on the table most nights.

PiSquared

If it helps at all, I am planning on making this for dinner tonight.

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/one-pan-broccoli-bacon-mac-n-cheese

Need2Exerc1se

Rosettarose2011 wrote: »

My biggest ordeal is that I go to the store an look around not knowing what is really beneficial to me and I am not a very good cook cause with my past jobs I always just grabbed something quick like microwave meals and chips. I just get so lost in a life of quick, and easy.

Stir fry is a simple and quick method of cooking almost anything. Just pick a protein and some veggies, toss in a hot pan with a little oil and dinner is served in 10 min or so. Serve with instant rice if desired.

Roasting vegetables and meat/fish takes a little more time but the prep time is just as quick. Just coat/spray with a little oil and whatever spices you like, put on baking sheet and roast until caramelized and delicious.

Crock pot meals are quick and easy and all the rage right now. The internet abounds with healthy delicious recipes.

TrickyDisco

You could make a cold pasta salad, maybe make enough for a few servings as it keeps well in the fridge for a day or two. Just cook some pasta shapes till they're done how you like them, drain and cool in cold water before draining again, then add whatever you like ... I chop sweet pepper and celery, add some cheese cut into bite-size pieces, a few cold cooked peas, cooked carrot slices and broccoli florets, sesame seeds, salt and pepper, then add a dressing made out of a couple of spoonfuls of oil, French mustard and balsamic vinegar.

Rosettarose2011

Thanks everyone. I hope I can keep on track and really get healthy.