Eating healthy for a picky eater?

Paradox1985

Hi all.. i recently been diagnosed with NASH and have slightly high blood pressure.. biggest thing i can do for both is lose weight i am at about 260 right now.. i would like to be 210 (i have a big frame in general so this is a realistic goal i feel for me)

Cardio for 30 minutes 4 times a week on a bike i plan in the mornings before my daughter gets up and stopping diet soda and replacing with water and eating healthier (less frozen foods like encore and pizza.. stuff thats easy for me to make for my kid and i.)

Can someone make any suggestions for easy meals for me and my kid that are healthy? .. my wife is currently in school for RN as is not home that much at night so this is all on my "own" type stuff

Heres the catch - I am picky as in i don't like Onions, Tomatoes Peppers or Mushrooms.. and unfortunately my daughter takes after me in this sense and not her mother.. i do not mind salads (And by salads i mean just lettuce and some dressing lol)

For awhile i was bringing a salad to work with banana and apples.. would have fruit about an hour before lunch... have salad for lunch and fruit with it.. then one more fruit about 2 hours before i go home it seemed to curb my appetite quite well for awhile i was doing this for about a month and lost 9lbs with working out 3 times a week.

One weekend came along and i said i been doing so well i can treat myself to a dominos pizza - needless to say ever since i ate that pizza i have gone back to my old habits

Any help or advise would be greatly appreciated.. i really NEED to make this work i don't have a choice.. just looking for my best options for.. the way i am and i obviously dont want my daughter (will be turning 4) to live with my bad habits.

socioseguro

Hi

I am on maintenance now. I got rid of 20 lbs with MFP tool help.

what it worked for me:

start with your favorite food and trying to evolve them to make them healthier. I believe on replacements, like you have done already

Replacing soda and bottled juices with water, green tea and my own fruit juice on a blender.
Replacing "fried" items with baked ones.
Replacing butter, margarine and blended oils with 100% vegetable oils (extra virgin olive oil, soy oil,etc)
Replacing desserts with raw fruit
etc,etc.

I suggest you try your local library and ask the librarian for healthy recipes. There are many books out there. Choose the recipes you like with ingredients you can find.
Measure and weigh all your food. Buy measure cups, measure spoons and an inexpensive kitchen scale at your local supermarket.

I also include here a MFP link that was very helpful to me. I hope it helps you too.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/912920-in-place-of-a-road-map-3-2013

Good luck in your journey

Mokey41

Eat what you like and track your calories. The foods you don't like really aren't hard to work around. You don't have to eat "diet" foods to lose weight. It's all about portion control. Invest in a digital food scale, weigh and measure all your food and you will lose weight. You can't count on exercise to offset a bad diet.

SoDamnHungry

If onions, tomatoes, peppers and mushrooms are the only foods you dislike, consider yourself very lucky. There's all sorts of vegetables you can add to your meals for nutrients and fiber. Just look up recipes online and you'll find a lot of things that either fit your taste requirements, or are easy to modify so that you and your daughter will be able to enjoy them.

misslynds

I'm much the same as you- onions, peppers and mushrooms are not for me at all!!

It can be very difficult eating out when you don't like these, because most low cal restaurant options have 1/all of them in. I'd definitely advocate for asking for the low cal options without those options you don't like. I always found it quite embarrasing but now I just don't care.

I found making green smoothies at home and having them for breakfast was brilliant for kick starting weight loss. I put it down to the stuff in it being so healthy that it gave my metabolism a well needed kick in a morning. I was making 320z/1l smoothies as meal replacement. If you make it at home you can also miss out any fruit you don't like and it's a good way of getting greens if you're picky about them. I was using about 3 cups of baby spinach (which I'd never eat usually), with 4 cups of any sort of fruit you think will taste nice. Using red fruit made it an unappetising brown colour, but it tasted lovely. My fave was 3cups spinach, 1 banana, 1 cup pineapple, 1 cup mango (can't remember off hand, but about 2-300 cals).

Now it's colder weather, I'm eating a lot of soup. Again, home made so I don't have to put mushrooms/onions in. I have a lovely spicy sweet potato and butternut squash recipe that makes quite a lot of soup for less than 200 calories.

I also do the swapping. If i want crisps (chips, if you're american) I have the baked variety rather than normal which saves upwards of 70 calories per pack. If i'm eating out and want chips (or fries) with my meal, I always see whether they have sweet potato fries which are lower cal usually.

My main thing has been calories from exercise though. The things i like to eat aren't necessarily low cal, so i work out what i'd like to eat, how much i'd have to work out to get those calories. Think is it worth it? Then if it is, head to the gym, if not change what i eat.

Good luck, it's doable!

AlysonG2

Feel free to add me and check out my diary. We sound very similar in our tastes