Foodie in trouble

AZ_Danny

I LOVE food. I have tastebuds that grew up in Wisconsin (and now are in Arizona), which isn't known for dining on lighter fare. I'm used to cooking in bacon grease (wasn't always a Muslim), either rice, pasta, or potatoes with every meal, cheese (and lots of it)... and my big weakness... ice cream. So while I don't eat a whole lot, in volume, I eat a TON calorie-wise. Having moved to Arizona, the diet and food availability hasn't really changed (it's actually HARDER to find healthy options here), probably because half of Arizonans are from the Midwest. I try dieting and always fail because replacing my potatoes with salad just doesn't feel like "food". Any tips for someone that basically needs to rethink food?

I need to add that a lot of those "eat this instead of this" things just don't work for me. Home-made low-sugar sorbet in place of ice cream (though frozen, blended bananas DOES seem to work as an acceptable substitute)?! Just tell me to stop eating ice cream, it would be easier.

What are you eating that's filling and doesn't consist of salad every day.... that I could get my non-adventurous wife to eat?

jessicawrites

Rice, potatoes, pasta, and ice cream are all perfectly acceptable foods. Portion control and preparation make a difference. Here's what my husband and I are eating this week (each meal indicates what one person would be eating):

Monday: "junk food day" -- leftover pulled pork (2-3 oz), 1 tbsp BBQ sauce, 1.5 oz cheddar, and sliced jalapeno on 2 small flour tortillas (90 cals each). If we had wanted to make things more well-rounded, our favorite vegetables are spinach, broccoli, green beans, and bell peppers. We steam or saute for a side (if sauteing, use 1-2 tsp of olive oil in a nonstick pan).

Tuesday: 2 oz spaghetti, 5 oz shrimp, and half a bag of spinach sauteed with garlic, 1 tsp olive oil, and red pepper flakes. Tossed pasta with an extra 3/4 tbsp of olive oil

Wednesday: 4 oz tilapia and 1/2 avocado mashed with garlic and lime, served on 1 small flour tortilla; gazpacho made with tomatoes, celery, cucumber, lime, hot sauce, olive oil, and vegetable juice

Thursday: 4 oz venison meatballs, about 3/4 cup potatoes roasted with olive oil and rosemary, broccoli

Friday: 5 oz chicken breast cooked in 1 tbsp butter, with 3/4 cup couscous and a pile of string beans with lemon juice and sliced almonds

Saturday: wedding--he's eating steak, I'm eating salmon. Will probably leave half the starch on the plate so I can enjoy cake.

Sunday: mussels cooked in white wine, french fries (will probably have about 4-5 oz of fries instead of a restaurant serving, which can be more than twice that), salad.

Tips for veggies: roasting, sauteing with a smidge of oil, and making soups or chilis is typically more flavorful than salads
To make salad more flavorful, add peach, grapefruit, avocado, or an ounce of feta or blue cheese
Bulk up noodles/rice/couscous with veggies. A zucchini and a pint of tomatoes sliced into couscous still gives you starch in every bite, but you can spread a small serving much further.

For ice cream, I like the slow-churned, lower fat stuff, but the main thing is I always measure a serving into my cup and just eat that. The knowledge that I can do that every day if I want (and if I am willing to give up an afternoon snack to make it fit) helps me limit my serving.

Lizzy622

How about baking that potato and putting some black beans and salsa on it instead of butter and full fat sour cream?

emirror

I've gone to frozen lunches, the "Healthy Choice" ones are high in protein, low sodium. That helps me diminish my calories at one meal, so I can be more frivolous on another, say, family dinner. Adding in more exercise will increase how much food you can eat in a day and still lose weight. You can eat that steak and cheesy potato if you just jogged and lifted weights for an hour.

I go for high-protein breakfast (lots of scrambled eggs with a little bit of gravy for more flavor), high-protein snack (pineapple greek yogurt is my current favorite), and don't drink your calories. Meaning, drink water or unsweetened beverages (like iced tea). Protein keeps you feeling full; calories in sugary drinks don't usually do anything to satiate hunger (not for me, anyway).

Basically, if you don't want to change your eating habits, you are going to have to change something else... in this case, it comes down to getting a lot more exercise. If you don't want to do more exercise, then you are going to have to change your eating habits. If you don't want to do that, then you are going to have to be fat. I hope that doesn't sound mean, because I do not intend it to be. That is the internal dialogue I had when I had to cut out some foods, and add in a lot more exercise to keep the foods I want.

c_tap77

My husband and I still eat potatoes, rice, pasta, cheese, and ice cream. It's just about the way you prepare them and eating the correct portion sizes. We live in the midwest so I hear you about our crappy eating habits and lack of selection when it comes to healthy food sometimes.

We're very lucky in that we have 3 different major grocery chains near us so if we can't find it at one, it's likely one of the other two will have it.

If I have icecream, I get out my food scale and measure it very carefully. I've also developed a love for frozen yogurt. When it comes to cheese, you can get lower fat cheese virtually anywhere (I've yet to see a store that doesn't carry it) and again it's all about portion sizes. Measure everything carefully.

Bake potato slices instead of frying them if you're craving french fries. Eat half of a baked potato instead of a whole one. Buy whole grain pasta and bread (again I've been able to find it almost everywhere).

Get turkey bacon or make turkey burgers and eat it with half the bun (or they make these awesome things called sandwich thins that have way less bread than a normal bun but are still delicious).

You don't have to give up all of the things you love, in fact if I never at my favorite foods I'd probably be more likely to fall off the wagon and give up completely. You just have to eat them occasionally instead of all the time, prepare them in a different way, and really watch your potions.

AZ_Danny

Thanks guys. Lots of great ideas.

Definitely going to start meal planning, which I think is the most important step... harder to give in and order pizza if you already had something planned that day.

daltem

Lots of salad.....

I don't usually get enough protein so I eat a protein bar every day.... ( Come Ready Performance Caramel )- Yes, I know they should be just for when you work out but I want " sweets"- they taste like a candy bar, have 195 cal and lots of protein. I find they fill me up- which is HARD TO DO!

daltem

Thanks guys. Lots of great ideas.

Definitely going to start meal planning, which I think is the most important step... harder to give in and order pizza if you already had something planned that day.

So true!

kem05

It can be really daunting to start with, but don't let it put you off. Track everything and you'll be surprised how much you can eat sticking to your calorie goal. My advice... Go a touch hardcore in the first couple of weeks. Once you get the hang of counting you'll find you can squeeze in things like ice cream and still remain under your calorie goal. Plus, you will instantly be motivated by your loss and your tastes will start to change. Take advantage of the forums and the support they can offer or add a few friends so you can see their trackers and successes.

Good luck