help! i can't choose my meals!

ruth1104

Hi, so I realise that I'm in quite a specific situation and not many will be able to relate but maybe you have suggestions? I'm doing an internship in the netherlands for the next 2 months. I'm staying with my in laws and my mother in law cooks most nights and most of what they eat is not insanely unhealthy, but very processed and always fried! (eg. vegetables, rice with sauce from a powder and a quorn fillet, all lightly fried.) She is always 'on a diet' and desperately wants to lose weight but does it by just cutting out the carbs, which just isnt going to work for me, but if i asked for anything else she would be offended. I cook when I can but often she starts before I get home.
Next - 4 days a week I'm at my internship, where my lunch is included, again not crazily unhealthy but its a lot of bread and cheese and I've found from losing weight before that I need to eat a lot less bread, or make it at home. Again, I'm not in a position where I can bring in something else.
So that really only leaves me my snacks and breakfast to choose from! I have a very long day so I do need some healthy snack ideas, does anyone have any good cereal bar recipes? But the thing is really that knowing I've eaten much more calories than I would choose, from food I don't particularly like, really de-motivates me and then I just feel like giving up Maybe this is more of a rant than a request for advice! But if anyone has any I'd appreciate it! I exercise 3-4 times a week, walking, swimming and Davina McCall workout dvds.

dlaplume2

Seeing how you have the option yourself for breakfasat, I would make that your main meal. It will keep you from being hungry and caving in to temtation during the day.

I don't know what you will have access to for foods there. for snacks you could do almonds, hardboiled eggs, peanut butter with cracker, apples. Those aren't light snacks, but I am thinking if you have a hearty snack you may not be too tempted to eat somehting for lunch that is going to leave you less than satisfied. When you do get to lunch if you are not as hungry you will eat less or just have another snack. I would alos plan to have a hearty snack before dinner so you will eat a lot less then too.

Best of luck to you
Don't give up. It would be better for you to track and gain so you know what no to do when you get back. Keep notes in you food diary.

ruth1104

Thanks! I hadn't thought of almonds, maybe I just need to get up a bit earlier to make a healthier breakfast that nasty processed cereals..

rebecca_goss0

You are in a very hard spot! I would eat a very hearty breakfast, oatmeal, eggs, or cereal. I would also have good snacks such as protien bars or if you can not get those then some lean meat. Make sure you have a mid morning and mid afternoon snack so as to not eat as much of the lunch and dinner that may not be as good for you. Don't give up, even if this internship has you putting on a few pounds at least you have kept up with your food diary and try to keep up with you exercise. This will keep you in the habbit of doing it so when you are able to do your own meals again you can see the changes! Best of luck and keep it up!

PureAndHealthy

My advice would be...
1) Offer (politely insist) on helping with dinner some because "it just isn't fair for her to do all the work even though she's so sweet to be willing". You can at least buy a giant bag of frozen broccoli to add to the meal or make a salad or pick up fresh fruit from the market on your way home or something along those lines. Always frame it in the context of wanting to help her because she does so much... that's a lot easier to hear than "You make crappy food that will kill me slowly through obesity and related diseases so I'm taking over meals around here." And VERY SMALL amounts of her lightly fried saucy foods won't kill you when accompanied by steamed broccoli and raw carrots with hummus with an apple for dessert which actually fill you up.

2) Those workouts are essential. Sometimes you've just gotta burn a few more calories to make everything work. Workout every day even if you have to walk in place in your bedroom waving your arms around like an idiot for 15 minutes in the morning and before you go to bed.

3) Cheese is a great protein source - don't knock it! But eat half the bread they give you at the internship. When you're filled sufficiently with your healthy snacks you won't need it. Which brings me to....

4) I'm all about some snacks. Here's a short list -

Apples
Carrots
Hummus
Grapes
String Cheese
Cottage Cheese
Peaches
Pears
Natural Granola Bars (Kashi, Nature Valley)
Almonds
Banana
Natural Peanut Butter
Yogurt (esp Greek Yogurt!)
Triscuits
Oranges
Strawberries
Broccoli
Red Bell Pepper
Hard-Boiled Eggs


Any of that help? Good luck! :flowerforyou:

ruth1104

Thanks for the advice everyone! I think, as you suggest, the solution might be to fill up on healthy things so I don't eat too much at meals, although that does take quite a lot of self control! It's crazy how different the idea of healthy eating is here, it's not uncommon for a family home to not have an oven or grill! Just a hob and a microwave!No thank you.. Thanks so much for the support!!

ruth1104

Thanks for the advice everyone! I think, as you suggest, the solution might be to fill up on healthy things so I don't eat too much at meals, although that does take quite a lot of self control! It's crazy how different the idea of healthy eating is here, it's not uncommon for a family home to not have an oven or grill! Just a hob and a microwave!No thank you.. Thanks so much for the support!!

ruth1104

One more follow up question.. So I'm cooking healthy when I can, but when I dont my mother in law does, and then im not sure how to log all the stuff she fries? It's not deep fried but she puts quite a lot of oil, and obviously that will add a lot of calories but i dont know how many? Even an approximation would be helpful.

PureAndHealthy

I would just guesstimate... get as close as you can in logging and get a very small serving until you've had a chance to get some sort of idea of how many calories you've taken in... or you can always ask for her recipe for what she's made. That's a sneaky way to discreetly get the ingredients so you can log.