Living The Lifestyle, July 27, 2021

88olds

We meet here to explore, share, celebrate and (sometimes) agonize over how we do (or don't) incorporate weight loss guidelines into our daily lives. "It's a lifestyle, not a diet" is easily and often said, but sometimes not so simply put into practice.

This is a thread for everyone. If you're new to GoaD, or to weight loss, your questions and comments are always welcome. If you're maintaining, or a long-term loser, your thoughts on the topic may be just what someone else needs to hear. If you're reading this, join in the discussion!

Each weekday, a new topic is offered up for discussion.

Monday -Crewahl (Charlie)
Tuesday – 88olds
Wednesday -
Thursday - misterhub (Greg)
Friday - whathapnd (Emmie)

Today's Topic: Produce and Eating Healthy

How do you think you do in terms of “eating healthy?” What roll does produce play in that? Are you fresh or frozen? Is decent produce available where you live? Is it expensive or extremely expensive? (Those seem to be the only two prices for produce.)

crewahl

An interesting question. On reflection, it seems I don’t think in terms of eating healthy, but rather in terms of not eating unhealthy. In other words, I’m not focused on “I should eat more X or Y”, but rather on “I should eat less fatty or fried foods, or sweets that are high in calories.” I guess for me, healthy eating is still primarily about eating to manage weight.

Produce? I’ll eat a Granny Smith apple for a snack maybe four afternoons a week, and baby carrots in the evening. Fresh strawberries go into my breakfast six days a week, and I’ll have a salad at home as part of a meal a couple of times a week. I don’t think I have any frozen produce in the house. For the comparatively low volume of produce I do buy, I guess I’m pretty oblivious in terms of price.

Al_Howard

Fresh? 2-3 apples a day. Lettuce for sandwiches, carrots, onions, potatoes, and occasionally zucchini, summer squash, cabbage, salad stuff, and (in season) local corn, tomatoes, cukes,
We eat a lot of frozen stuff, green beans, corn, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, peas, butternut squash, spinach. We also do canned wax (yellow) beans, no salt added beets, and many lower salt beans (kidney, black, pinto, etc.).
The majority of "fresh produce" in markets is 1-4 weeks old when it arrives in their warehouse. And the majority of frozen vegetables is frozen within an hour of picking, maintaining most of their nutrients.
For dinner TOL and I will cook about 2# of veggies, and no leftovers.
Frozen is also less expensive per pound, and no waste, and almost no prep. Works for me.

steve0mania

Produce is important for my healthy eating. When I started WW, some of the guidance suggested "stretching" meals by adding healthy fillers, like vegetables. I really took that advice to heart, and realized that I could be satisfied with a lot less meat (or other less-healthy items) if I added lots of veggies in. These days, for example, if I have pasta, it's probably a half of an official serving, with lots of veggies, and maybe two small meatballs (1.5 oz each?). That turns out to be an incredibly filling meal!

So, now, most of my meals have more veggies than meat and other tsuff.

We eat a lot of fresh produce. I like melons (watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew), pineapple, and regular apples of all sorts, and I have one or two servings of fruit per day.

For veggies, these days I eat a lot of broccoli (and broccoli slaw), onions, mushrooms, red peppers, etc.

The quality of the produce varies both by times of year and by store. My wife does all of the shopping so she is often on-the-hunt for the best produce at any given moment. I have no idea how expensive it is.

88olds

Yesterday was another trip to Publix, 90% produce and the rest diary. Seemed like a pricy little stop. The produce here on the FL mainland is a lot better than what we had at Key West. That extra 150 miles makes a difference.

I never started out to eat healthy. And I still don’t think about it so much. I think of myself as being funneled into by the WW shrinking points budget. Fresh veggies, fresh fruit and lean protein was the only way I could get enough to eat. Seems like we’ve all had similar experiences.