I don't want to change?

TheDoctor_13

Hey everone, I recently joined MFP to start and loose some pounds. I switched to Rice Cakes for a little snack. It's not the best taste, but its reasonable enough, not terriable, and started drinking more water. But getting more healthier freaks me out.
Eating raw veggies, and nuts, and other normal stuff you eat when you go eat healthy.
I have been able to curb my food intake a lot, and maybe could go a full day of fasting (Ok probably not.)

What would you reccomend when you don't really like the idea/taste of raw veggies? I could probably do some nuts, like pistachios, peanuts, and cashews, maybe almonds. I should stock up on fruit. I mainly eat TV Dinners, and frozen products like chicken burgers, pizza rolls. taquitos. Obviously I need to change that up. Would still eating like that maybe once a day be that bad?

kiwitechgirl

TV dinners and frozen foods like you described tend to be high in fat and sodium. You could fit those into your calorie count for the day, but I wouldn't think you'd be able to eat much else. Teach yourself to cook - it's not hard to grill a steak and steam some veggies, and it's so much better for you. Veggies don't have to be raw either - steam them, boil them, chuck them in the microwave, it's easy. However, I'd say don't try to change everything at once - get used to logging everything, then start making small changes (swap a lunchtime pack of chips for an apple, for example). A couple of small changes a week will add up pretty soon.

serendipity57

Hi there, you will get some good avice here from people more qualified than me, however I can tell you I haven't given up anything at all to lose my weight, I just make sure I stay within my calorie allowance and the rest takes care of itself. I certainly don't eat raw vegies other than a salad and still enjoy potato, bread, and small treats of chocolate..lol.You do find in time your tastes change and you start to really enjoy more healthy food and make. better choices. Good luck to you though and I hope you find what you are looking for here.

laurynwithawhy

Change is hard and a slow process so don't feel bad. First off, don't set some insane goal and let MFP tell you to only eat 1200 calories a day. Check out these threads for help on your calorie count: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/975025-in-place-of-a-road-map-short-n-sweet and http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/974888-in-place-of-a-road-map-2k13.

The number one thing to focus on is portions. Yes, it's okay to eat taquitos and burgers and french fries, but be aware that those foods are high calorie so you may not be able to eat as much of them or as frequently. Try to cut down the amount of bad foods you are eating and substitute in the good (Instead of 6 taquitos, have 2 taquitos and a salad).

Learn to love fruits and veggies. They are so healthy for you and so low and calorie, so they fill you up without blowing your calorie allowance for the day. Things like nuts are very healthy - high in protein and good fats - but very caloric. They are a good supplement to your diet but be careful not to eat too much.

Also, even though you can't out-exercise a bad diet, try to get some activity in, even if it's just walking. Cardio and weights would be even better but you can build up to that. Good luck! Remember it's not a race and it's not a diet. This is the rest of your life.

andysmom

Congrats on making the decision to take care of yourself. I'm not a nutritionist, so can only speak for what is working for me. Like you, I'm not a huge fan of raw veggies (unless I have a ton of dip! LOL) I start my day with Oatmeal with some peanut butter stirred in. It took a couple of weeks of reducing the sugar, but I've developed an appreciation for this without sugar. I feel like the protien and fat in the peanut butter offset the carbs in the oatmeal and usually I'm good till lunch. Lunch I have a sandwich thin from Oroweat with some lean lunchmeat and light mayo. I stay away from chips and crackers because I'm trying to keep my carb intake down. Often I will have fresh fruit with my sandwich. Afternoon snack is sometimes a 100 calorie pack of almonds, or apple or celery with some more peanut butter, or maybe some beef jerky. For dinner, I try to stick to lean meats and steamed veggies or salad with light dressing.

It's not too exciting, I know, but I think the sameness kind of takes away some of food's magical appeal for me and that's a good thing, because I can find any reason to eat if I have enticing food around. Anyway, it's working for me and I hope that you find something that works for you! Good luck and keep logging!

millerll

Rats! Kiwi beat me to it! I was just about to say don't try to change everything at once. Rome wasn't built in a day, ya know? You don't need to fast, and you don't need to eat nuts, although they do contain healthy fats. For now, I would just concentrate on meeting your daily calorie goal. Once you get comfortable with that , you'll probably find that you want to improve your diet for health reasons. When you're ready for that, then the recipe section here has plenty of easy and tasty recipes you can try. And why eat raw veggies if you don't like them? Steam them, or roast them with seasonings, or whatever. Don't eat food you don't like - find healthy food you do like. Good luck!

songdogshooter41

First off, and I am sure that I will not be the only one to tell you this, but you need to talk with your doctor about changing your diet and exercise routine.

Second, eating healthier is really easier than you might think! especially with MFP!!!

For the first week, be diligent about logging what you are currently eating. This will show you how you are eating now.

after the first week, look and see what foods are pushing your calorie intake through the roof, and try replacing them with something better.

I used to drink a lot of Monster energy drinks. After logging them for weeks, I replaced them with plain ole coffee. I got the same engery boost that I needed, and I didn't get the "crash" when my suger wore off. Plus I opened up over 1680 calories a day for me (I was drinking two big cans a day!!)

Apples and Oranges, Grapes, Watermelon, Cantelope, Pears are all great snacks! I try to eat them in the morning so my body can use the sugars to help me wake up.

Steamed Vegies are also a great snack! They make single serving packets that you put in the microwave and eat.

If you don't like something, you will not stay with it! Try replacing foods with better alternatives.

Try to switch from soda to water. It will be hard! your body is addicted to the bad stuff, and you will have to break some habits.

That is were MFP really shines. There are other people who are in you place, and others who have made the change.

Keep it up, and GOOD LUCK!


(Wow, when I started typing, there were no other comments, by the time I hit enter, your page was full.!!! Like I said there is a lot of support here!)

Lleldiranne

Rats! Kiwi beat me to it! I was just about to say don't try to change everything at once. Rome wasn't built in a day, ya know? You don't need to fast, and you don't need to eat nuts, although they do contain healthy fats. For now, I would just concentrate on meeting your daily calorie goal. Once you get comfortable with that , you'll probably find that you want to improve your diet for health reasons. When you're ready for that, then the recipe section here has plenty of easy and tasty recipes you can try. And why eat raw veggies if you don't like them? Steam them, or roast them with seasonings, or whatever. Don't eat food you don't like - find healthy food you do like. Good luck!

^^ All good advice here.

"By the yard, it's hard, but by the inch, it's a cinch."

Focus first on getting your serving size the right amount. It's perfectly possible to lose weight eating any type of food, as long as you eat the right amounts. Of course, for overall health, you want to shift to eating more of the healthy, nutrient-packed foods and less of the high calorie low nutrient "junk foods." (But note, you don't have to cut them completely if you don't want to).

As far as vegetables, I agree that you don't have to eat them raw. You also don't have to eat them plain. I personally love steamed broccoli, by itself, but not everyone does. A small amount of sauce or dressing (measured!) can fit into your diet, if it helps to get those veggies in. Also, try a variety. Look for vegetables with a lot of color; they will be better for you than the bland, pale ones, and often have more flavor, too.

serendipity57

Also check out the recipe section here you will get some great ideas.

OsricTheKnight

Try reading "the hackers diet". Google it.

Frozen food - buy 400kcals or less and 700mg sodium or less. Lean cuisine and healthy choice have plenty of entrees which meet these criteria. I'd supplement with salad to feel fuller.

Osric

Myhaloslipped

Everyone has to do what is best for them, but the best advice someone could have given me is to have one weekly cheat day and to make it on a weekend day. I also allow myself to have a treat when I want one here and there, but I just make the portion size is small and fit it into my calorie goal for the day. I have found that allowing myself to do these things keeps me on track and also keeps me from saying, "Screw this!" and overindulging because I have been depriving myself and am also a defiant person by nature.

TheDoctor_13

Wow I see that theres a lot of support. I know to take it slow, which is why I decided maybe a week I'll change something. Like last week I decided to snack on a rice cake instead of a piece of chocolate. The former really feels much better.

When I started I was going over my calorie allowance that MFP set for me, but after 2-3 days I actually am usually 200-400 under. Is that good or bad?

I always heard raw veggies, generally I'm not a fan of them at all. Family was never that health (We never made veggies or salads with our meals). I will defiantly check out the recipe section! I was kinda thinking of doing more of that when I moved out, but I will look into stuff I can do now.

I have quite out energy drinks quite a while ago, and am pretty glad for that. They never even tasted that great either!

I think I'll actually raise my exercise up a bit 4-5 times a week 30min to a hour each.

tenilleless

You don't have to change everything. Start small and start smart.

First of all: Getting into veggies:
The easiest way to start is to start mixing them into what you do eat. If you have a chicken burger, load it up with lettuce/onion/tomato/etc. Maybe look into making sweet potato fries with it.

Pizza rolls- I'm guessing these are like pizza pockets or something? Cut up a head of cauliflower and stick in the microwave with a tbsp of milk and a tbsp of butter/margerine. Heat 3 mins, stir, 3 mins, stir, until its soft. Mash the heck outta it. If you've got a clear casserole dish thats microwave safe, dump it in that and mix in some mozza and garlic. If not just mix it all in your bowl. Top with more mozza (should be 3/4 cup mozza maximum for full dish) and then stick in microwave 5 mins. = "Garlic cassarole" (goes well with pizza)

Taquitos- maybe fry up some peppers and onions to eat with this. Buy a tex mex spice blend and toss veggies in a frying pan with 1/4-1/2 cup of water. Once the veggies are soft go mad with the seasonings.

Baby carrots and dip is easy to eat. Cut up a ton of peppers/celery/brocolli and have some ready to munch on.

If you eat a TV dinner thats asian try stirfrying "coleslaw mix" (with maybe beanspouts) and mixing it all together. Mushrooms, green bell peppers, and onions are easy to hide into pasta.

If you're not into fruit, try buying 1 of every fruit you like. At least then after a week you'll know what fruit you'll wanna eat and what fruit won't be touched.

I don't like the idea of fasting. I'm a "eat as much as you can and still lose" sorta thinker now. Different things work for different people but for a young guy, cutting back too much isn't necessary. Check out: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

Its very obvious that you're starting this off thinking "Oh **** I'm going on a diet and its gunna suck. I'm gunna have to eat _____ and feel hungry and hate life." Its better if you just think of this as "I'm going to try and get healthier, lose weight, and still eat what I want in moderation". The main goal I think shouldn't be what you'll weigh in 1 week or 1 month if you follow the rules, it should be that you can do you plan for three months without feeling tired, hungry, grumpy or feel like you've been a failure, and you certainly don't wanna burn yourself up and quit.

Siansonea

What are "vegetables"? :drinker:

Lynnaroo

The only time I have been able to make changes, have them stick and enjoy them is the slow and steady approach. I sneak vegetables into my food. In the morning I've been making smoothies with apple, orange blueberries, spinach, baby kale and carrots with either herbal tea or water as a base and some protein powder. They taste really good, have a good combo of nutrients and are really easy to make. Getting my weekday breakfasts in order was the first step. Some days I switch up the ingredients a bit but that the base formula.

I then needed to find some lunch alternatives that were tasty and easy and also included vegetables. Soup has helped there too. My blender has a soup setting. I have discovered that if I put two or three vegetables (onions, cauliflower, carrots fennel, etc) on a baking pan and grill for 30 minutes I then toss them in the blender with chicken broth, beef broth or vegetable broth and hit the soup button and my blender heats the soup to 200 degrees on the soup setting. I then pour into my bowl and might put some cubed ham, chicken, turkey, etc with it. This can be really tasty and pretty east. You could then probably fit a TV dinner or something like that in and still hit your nutrient and calorie numbers in the day.

In any event just keep working on one change at a time till you get that mastered and then mine on. Rome wasn't built in a day

Naener

I don't like the idea of fasting. I'm a "eat as much as you can and still lose" sorta thinker now.

LoL! thats about where I am also.

Naener

oh yea.. OP- like others have said... slow is perfectly fine!

Dont make any changes you couldnt stick to for the rest of your life. Trying to go "Whole Hog" and "Cold Turkey" will usually end in failure.. were human, were set up to fail in modern society haha. little changes like portion control.. have that morning cereal.. but just ONE serving as suggested on the box lol. instead of drinking the milk after, just eat the cereal and pour the milk out when youre done. all the little changes add up!

OH.. try the AMY'S Light and Lean brand of frozen meals... theyre GOOD and usually between 240-300 cals a peice.

TArnold2012

bump

Happymelz

Hey everone, I recently joined MFP to start and loose some pounds. I switched to Rice Cakes for a little snack. It's not the best taste, but its reasonable enough, not terriable, and started drinking more water. But getting more healthier freaks me out.
Eating raw veggies, and nuts, and other normal stuff you eat when you go eat healthy.
I have been able to curb my food intake a lot, and maybe could go a full day of fasting (Ok probably not.)

What would you reccomend when you don't really like the idea/taste of raw veggies? I could probably do some nuts, like pistachios, peanuts, and cashews, maybe almonds. I should stock up on fruit. I mainly eat TV Dinners, and frozen products like chicken burgers, pizza rolls. taquitos. Obviously I need to change that up. Would still eating like that maybe once a day be that bad?

Having stuff you like to eat but in moderation will help you not go over so much.

But, as for what to change in your diet, maybe try experimenting more this week. If you don't really like raw veggies try steamed veggies. If you don't like veggies at all, then maybe pick one to try out and if you can tolerate it, add it to your list of foods that you can eat to lower your calories. Then, try another one.

It is hard to know where to start if you've never been a "healthy" eater, but switching foods out for lower calorie options like you've been doing is a good start.

elainecroft

My best advice is do one thing at a time - track your food and be mindful of what you eat every day, and then figure out what you can do to be healthier. So focus on eating one healthy meal a day, or swapping chips for nuts, or water instead of soda, etc. Every time you do something like that, you are on the road to building healthy habits which is what you will need to do this long term.

PikaKnight

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1105036-article-on-flexible-dieting-by-armi-legge?page=1#posts-17068746

seltzermint555

I wrote a longer response earlier and there was a technical problem. But you have received tons of excellent advice already.

I'm another one who would balk at the idea of eating raw veggies and ordering salads every time I went out to eat...that just was not realistic for me nor will it probably ever be!!

In the past for a typical quick dinner I would eat 2 or 2.5 frozen burritos from Aldi topped with Spanish rice, at least 1/3 cup of cheddar cheese, black olives and a dollop of sour cream.

Now I switched to eating 1 frozen burrito, with a little bit of salsa and tiny bit of cheddar cheese (maybe 1/8 cup), and a big pile of shredded lettuce on top of it. Maybe some avocado slices and/or a few (6-10) tortilla chips with it if I'm hungrier.

In the past I went to Starbucks for a white chocolate mocha 2-3 times a week on my way home from work.

Now I go to Starbucks for a white chocolate mocha, no whip!!! once or twice a year and make it my lunch when I've had a late breakfast or something.

In the past I would have 4 slices of deep dish pizza and then go out for ice cream. Thought I was doing well ordering the small shake when actually it had nearly 700 calories in the shake alone.

Now I will have 2 slices of thin crust pizza loaded with veggies and then get one scoop of ice cream or have a square of good chocolate instead. Actually now I would probably never eat pizza and a dessert in the same meal but you get what I'm saying. Replacing really rich, calorie-laden favorites with slightly better choices.

It is a HUGE difference in calories, fat, sugar, etc. But over time it doesn't really seem like a difference at all.

mscote12

A little tip on the rice cakes...I buy them once in a while but I dont just eat a plain rice cake. I put a little peanut butter on the rice cake, it gives it more flavor and the peanut butter will help give it a little "oomph"....also, add an apple or a cup of fruit to that snack....eating just a couple rice cakes isn't going to fill you up...

I work two jobs...I like quick and convenient. Another little tip I just learned---buy rotisserie chicken from the grocery store (like $7) already cooked and good to go. Go home and take it apart--the amount on one chicken lasts as my protein for 3 dinners....I add 3oz of the chicken to some steamed veggies/potatoes or rice (bags of steamers, you just throw it in the microwave!) and boom...there is a healthy dinner that you really didn't have to cook!

Hope this helps! Good luck

GamerGirly

I used to be incredibly lazy and love love LOVE frozen meals and takeaway because of the convenience. Screw cooking!!

Knowing your weakness is your biggest advantage. Is it the convenience or is it he type of food?

If it's the convenience then trust me.. you can still eat frozen meals. Atkins makes frozen dinners and they are not too bad.

When I started losing weight they were like the holly grail of no carb and laziness!

Of course I don't eat them so much now unless I am just really busy and short on time but, know that eating healthy doesn't have to be incredibly drastic.

Make small changes.

1st month switch the kind of frozen meals or entrees you eat.

2nd month eliminate soda

3rd months eliminate ALL takeaway (fast food)

4th month get off your *kitten* and start moving

Etc etc... I am sure you get my drift.

This isnt a diet.. it's a lifestyle change. Plan it accordingly. Remove a bad habit every month or add a good one

terri_journey

You have gotten a lot of good idea's here. I think the main thing is to log All your food, even if you have something that's isn't good for you. it helps keep you accountable. Add friends that will support and encourage you !
As far as exercise, if you don't like to exercise, start by walking. Everybody can do that! It will improve. You can do this if you want to bad enough.
I'm sending a Friend Request and feel free to message me if you have any questions.

CuriousGem

I find cherry tomatoes to be a good snack, I like the fancy on the vine ones because I think they're sweeter and you still get something picky.

sepulchura

Hey everone, I recently joined MFP to start and loose some pounds. I switched to Rice Cakes for a little snack. It's not the best taste, but its reasonable enough, not terriable, and started drinking more water. But getting more healthier freaks me out.
Eating raw veggies, and nuts, and other normal stuff you eat when you go eat healthy.
I have been able to curb my food intake a lot, and maybe could go a full day of fasting (Ok probably not.)

What would you reccomend when you don't really like the idea/taste of raw veggies? I could probably do some nuts, like pistachios, peanuts, and cashews, maybe almonds. I should stock up on fruit. I mainly eat TV Dinners, and frozen products like chicken burgers, pizza rolls. taquitos. Obviously I need to change that up. Would still eating like that maybe once a day be that bad?

Let me suggest something to you. It can be hard to suddenly switch to healthy food. Why not try replacing unhealthy things with healthy things slowly, over a great deal of time? That's what I did. As far as how to do it, I suggest going to Whole Foods or your local equivalent (grocery store that specializes in healthier food) and see if you can find "transition" foods that have junky qualities you like but some healthy qualities. Like healthier cookies.

skinnyinnotime

About vegetables, roast them and you will find you love them, so sweet and juicy!

My quick to go for lunch is a can of tuna (in water) , spring onion and marinated peppers, mixed with a little mayo. Either add some lettuce and eat or wrap in a tortilla.