How to not get bored with eating healthy

Blueeyed1985

My problem with sticking wtih a healthy eating plan is I get bored with it so fast. I do really well for like a week or two and then get bored with it. I need some ideas on healthy foods that are tasty and what you all do to not get bored with it in a short amount of time. Thanks!!

Sidesteal

The best solution is to not eat healthy ALL THE TIME.

Eat healthy MOST of the time, and occasionally have things that society typically labels as "unhealthy".

The only food you should try to avoid would be artificial trans fats and any food that you have an individual intolerance/aversion to.

You should still be able to fit a small amount of junk food into your daily or weekly budget of calories and macronutrients while still having the majority of your foods come from whole and minimally processed sources.

AwesomelyAmber

Change it up every day... walk a different route or try a different machine. There are a million ways to cook chicken, and other things... don't eat the SAME thing day in and day out. Constant change is the only reason that I am still here after 5 months. I too, get super bored super easy. And talk about it!!! ALL the time! IF your family or friends get tired of hearing about your journey, blog about it on MFP... none of us EVER get tired of hearing about people's successes, struggles, etc. Good luck to you! :drinker:

Dave198lbs

The best solution is to not eat healthy ALL THE TIME.

Eat healthy MOST of the time, and occasionally have things that society typically labels as "unhealthy".

The only food you should try to avoid would be artificial trans fats and any food that you have an individual intolerance/aversion to.

You should still be able to fit a small amount of junk food into your daily or weekly budget of calories and macronutrients while still having the majority of your foods come from whole and minimally processed sources.

I respect Sidesteals posts ..but this (imo) is not "the best solution". There are literally thousands of posts here about this very topic. It is a great question. The idea that occasional junk food is ok can work for most but dont let it be an excuse.

Blueeyed1985

Thanks! I have issues with "binge eating" so that is why I'm trying to avoid unhealthy foods as much as possible. I have a hard time eating only a small amount of the foods I really enjoy. I just need to find more healthy foods I enjoy.

Sidesteal

Thanks! I have issues with "binge eating" so that is why I'm trying to avoid unhealthy foods as much as possible. I have a hard time eating only a small amount of the foods I really enjoy. I just need to find more healthy foods I enjoy.

^ That being the case then you should do what you feel is best. I should have clarified that if you are not capable of only eating a small amount of junk food, then you shouldn't.

Sidesteal

The idea that occasional junk food is ok can work for most but dont let it be an excuse.

An excuse for what specifically?

Coltsman4ever

Healthy food doesn't have to mean boring food. There are so many great helthy recipes out there that have all kinds of taste and flavors. You can even take your favorite meals and add a healthy twist to them.
I eat all kinds of lean meats and vegetables and never with a shortage of great flavors.

jenlarkin300384

Use websites for there recipes so you can cook and try something different for dinner. I'd say plan you meals weekly/fortnightly/monthly so then you know whats planned for the week ahead and not having to think about what you can cook. Also I find with doing this, the cost of my shopping goes down as I am not buying food for the sake of it.
x

Shoechick5

I agree, healthy doesn't have to mean boring. You just have to find ways of keeping it interesting and not live off lettuce. I've been craving wings so tonight we're having faux wings made with boneless skinless chicken thighs and lots of Frank's hot sauce.

dls06

Healthy food doesn't have to mean boring food. There are so many great helthy recipes out there that have all kinds of taste and flavors. You can even take your favorite meals and add a healthy twist to them.
I eat all kinds of lean meats and vegetables and never with a shortage of great flavors.

THIS!

MinnieInMaine

I can relate! In fact, I think it's the reason why most of us (including myself) have failed with diet attempts in the past. You go all in and stop eating junk and that's just not fun. I'm a foodie so if I'm not happy with the foods I'm eating, I'm not happy.

For me, the key was to keep eating the same types of foods that I enjoy but tweak the recipes a little so they're healthier. Like cutting the amount of pasta and adding more veggies or using leaner meats and using less (instead of 1.5 lbs of 80% ground beef, use 1lb of 90%), etc.

And like sidesteal said, have the occassional junk if it makes you happy. But maybe consider making it more healthy junk - like dark chocoalte instead of milk chocolate.

MinnieInMaine

sorry, duplicate post

Dave198lbs

The idea that occasional junk food is ok can work for most but dont let it be an excuse.

An excuse for what specifically?

that eating healthy is too hard or too boring or that "I am depriving myself if I dont eat that twinkie" and those types of excuses. IMO, they are not reasons to eat unhealthy, they are excuses reinforced by the idea that its ok. I am not saying that occasional junk food will ruin your health. I am saying that eating junk is not necessary to sustain a long term healthy diet.

The main justifcation to eat junk on most health sites is the self fullfilling prophecy that "if I deprive myself of my favorite treats I will get bored or mad or whatever" . That does not have to be true. Again...I am not anti junk food per se. But it isnt required to maintain this lifestyle unless you allow it to be.

We are not depriving ourselves by avoiding junk food. We are rewarding ourselves by avoiding junk food..

dls06

I agree, healthy doesn't have to mean boring. You just have to find ways of keeping it interesting and not live off lettuce. I've been craving wings so tonight we're having faux wings made with boneless skinless chicken thighs and lots of Frank's hot sauce.

http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/homemade_hot_sauce.html

You can make you own hot sauce without all the salt.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup diced onion
2 medium chile peppers, such as poblano, New Mexico or Anaheim, diced
2-4 habanero peppers, or other small hot chile peppers, stemmed, halved and seeded (see Tip)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound tomatoes, diced (about 3 cups)
1 cup distilled white vinegar
2 teaspoons salt
1-3 teaspoons sugar


Preparation
Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, chile peppers, habaneros to taste and garlic and cook, stirring, until the onion is soft and beginning to brown, 3 to 4 minutes.
Reduce heat to medium. Add tomatoes, vinegar, salt and sugar to taste. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes begin to break down, about 5 minutes.
Carefully transfer the tomato mixture to a food processor or blender. Puree until smooth. (Use caution when pureeing hot ingredients.) Set a fine-mesh sieve over a medium bowl; pour the pureed mixture through the sieve, pushing on the solids with a wooden spoon to extract all the liquid. (Discard solids.) Let the sauce cool to room temperature, about 1 1/2 hours.

twogoots

This is something a friend suggested. For dinners: Take 30 note cards, put a different meal on each of them (try to incorporate new meals you have not tried, but are on the healthier range). Put them in a shoe box and shake them up. Pull one out each night for the NEXT nights dinner. She also said to pick only once a week with 7 cards in each pick. That way you can set a grocery list to what you need for that weeks meals.

I am going to try this starting January 2nd. Sometimes she suggested it be a night out meal too. Challenge yourself to find healthier alternatives at restaurants. I am going to allow myself 5 to 7 days of "eat out meals" for the month (if I pick more than two in one week, I'll put that back in the box and repick). I have not tried this, but it sounds good to help have a plan in place each week.

Sidesteal

that eating healthy is too hard or too boring or that "I am depriving myself if I dont eat that twinkie" and those types of excuses. IMO, they are not reasons to eat unhealthy, they are excuses reinforced by the idea that its ok. I am not saying that occasional junk food will ruin your health. I am saying that eating junk is not necessary to sustain a long term healthy diet.

The main justifcation to eat junk on most health sites is the self fullfilling prophecy that "if I deprive myself of my favorite treats I will get bored or mad or whatever" . That does not have to be true. Again...I am not anti junk food per se. But it isnt required to maintain this lifestyle unless you allow it to be.

We are not depriving ourselves by avoiding junk food. We are rewarding ourselves by avoiding junk food..

Thanks for your explanation. We can agree to disagree.

Sublog

The best solution is to not eat healthy ALL THE TIME.

Eat healthy MOST of the time, and occasionally have things that society typically labels as "unhealthy".

The only food you should try to avoid would be artificial trans fats and any food that you have an individual intolerance/aversion to.

You should still be able to fit a small amount of junk food into your daily or weekly budget of calories and macronutrients while still having the majority of your foods come from whole and minimally processed sources.

This.... #^^^

http://www.wannabebig.com/diet-and-nutrition/the-dirt-on-clean-eating/

getsveltEagain

This is something a friend suggested. For dinners: Take 30 note cards, put a different meal on each of them (try to incorporate new meals you have not tried, but are on the healthier range). Put them in a shoe box and shake them up. Pull one out each night for the NEXT nights dinner. She also said to pick only once a week with 7 cards in each pick. That way you can set a grocery list to what you need for that weeks meals.

I am going to try this starting January 2nd. Sometimes she suggested it be a night out meal too. Challenge yourself to find healthier alternatives at restaurants. I am going to allow myself 5 to 7 days of "eat out meals" for the month (if I pick more than two in one week, I'll put that back in the box and repick). I have not tried this, but it sounds good to help have a plan in place each week.

That is an awesome idea! I will be stealing that for sure!!!! :bigsmile:

rainbowbow

When I changed my diet slowly I started to notice I no longer craved "junk food". Now when I eat junk food it tastes pretty crappy- makes me wonder if it was always that way... But, I agree like SS said. Eat MOSTLY "healthy", hell, I treat my self to two slices of Freschetta pizza here and there, as long as it fits into your macros who cares?

If you are a binger, I suggest you don't completely deprive yourself of "tasty" food. This will only make you want to eat 3 boxes of eggo waffles with a jar of nutella.

Check out healthy recipes and create good eating habits slowly... Maybe you'll start to crave "healthy food".

DMinCT

My trick is that I give myself three meals, anytime during the week, to eat whatever it is I want. I lost 40 pounds last year doing it this way. This way I don't feel like I am depriving myself.

Blueeyed1985

Thanks for the wonderful responses!

Shoechick5

I agree, healthy doesn't have to mean boring. You just have to find ways of keeping it interesting and not live off lettuce. I've been craving wings so tonight we're having faux wings made with boneless skinless chicken thighs and lots of Frank's hot sauce.

http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/homemade_hot_sauce.html

You can make you own hot sauce without all the salt.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup diced onion
2 medium chile peppers, such as poblano, New Mexico or Anaheim, diced
2-4 habanero peppers, or other small hot chile peppers, stemmed, halved and seeded (see Tip)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound tomatoes, diced (about 3 cups)
1 cup distilled white vinegar
2 teaspoons salt
1-3 teaspoons sugar


Preparation
Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, chile peppers, habaneros to taste and garlic and cook, stirring, until the onion is soft and beginning to brown, 3 to 4 minutes.
Reduce heat to medium. Add tomatoes, vinegar, salt and sugar to taste. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes begin to break down, about 5 minutes.
Carefully transfer the tomato mixture to a food processor or blender. Puree until smooth. (Use caution when pureeing hot ingredients.) Set a fine-mesh sieve over a medium bowl; pour the pureed mixture through the sieve, pushing on the solids with a wooden spoon to extract all the liquid. (Discard solids.) Let the sauce cool to room temperature, about 1 1/2 hours.

Thanks for posting, I'll give it a try.

shakybabe

I make healthier versions of favourites.. eg on fridays i like fish.. instead of having battered fish with oven chips and mushy peas (less cals than chip shop but still not healthy) I do plain coley fillets baked in oven with either parsnip chips or sweet potato chips and green beans... today had it with carrot & swede mash and mixed broccoli and spouts instead.

I do chilli with cauli in place of rice, a low cal chilli sauce and quorn mince instead of beef mince (although I do eat meat) and a corn tortilla wrap instead of wheat one. Also use same soft corn tortilla's for wraps or in place of naan bread/chapatti's with home made curry.

I'm thinking of trying Quinoa next, but keep forgetting to add it to my shopping list! I found making adaptions to my favourites so can still have them ie i found gluten free choc brownies and rhubarb crumble with oats on instead of a pastry crumble so can have favourites whilst still cutting high amounts of wheat out of my diet.. I've stuck to it 6 months.. most successful diet I've ever tried!

anyonebutmehaha

We are not depriving ourselves by avoiding junk food. We are rewarding ourselves by avoiding junk food

^^^ THIS.
if you eat 100% truly "clean" or whatever you want to call it- you will find that your sense of taste will change over time and no longer want or crave "junk" food. there is no depriving oneself going on. (you should see the rocking all organic meals here- full of lovely tastes and colors = excellent, not depriving)
imho, if you use "junk" food as a reward then you're forever forcing yourself to live in a state of having an unhealthy relationship w/ food.

ps. eh, the link posted on this thread "the dirt on clean eating" was written for mainly body builders and professional athletes which the vast majority of ppl on this forum are not.... plus doesn't everyone have an instinctual inner sense what constitutes "clean" vs "junk" eating? (i don't know the answer to that- maybe the typical modern diet as been so corrupted that ppl really do not?) the only useful takeaway line from that link that i saw was : "If someone strives to consume 0% of calories from any food that’s been processed or refined from its original state, then that’s perfectly fine – as long as this is the person’s genuine preference, and not a painful battle of will." that is correct. the trick is to change your taste buds by eating 100% "clean" until you find that things like McDonald's or whatever truly taste just plain old gross and is not something you ever want and your body will not feel right if you are forced to eat that.

every last one of us is worth more than anything in aisle 6 (ya know the one i mean) at the typical grocery store. :flowerforyou: your (and your family's) health is the most important thing you can own.

Sidesteal

ps. eh, the link posted on this thread "the dirt on clean eating" was written for mainly body builders and professional athletes

Actually, I believe it was written for anyone who is rather dogmatic about clean eating.

mellymclaughlin

I agree, healthy doesn't have to mean boring. You just have to find ways of keeping it interesting and not live off lettuce. I've been craving wings so tonight we're having faux wings made with boneless skinless chicken thighs and lots of Frank's hot sauce.

http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/homemade_hot_sauce.html

Thanks for this, I'm going to try it!

weaverfit

Try a culinary 'trip around the world.' It'll take some google-ing to find great dishes that sound interesting but think of it this way, while you're searching on the computer, you're not eating. Indian food, largely vegetarian, has some great flavor profiles and ingredient combinations, even for standard veggies found in the average supermarket (nothing exotic). There are all sorts of alternatives to rice or noodles that you may be tempted to use for filler too - like carrot or zucchini spaghetti. The goal is to make your new fare so interesting and so flavorful that you won't miss your all standbys. Pump of the Flava!

mellymclaughlin

My trick is that I give myself three meals, anytime during the week, to eat whatever it is I want. I lost 40 pounds last year doing it this way. This way I don't feel like I am depriving myself.

I think it's really important to allow yourself to have whatever you fancy every now and again. Even though I aim to lose more weight and eat less crap, nothing will stop me enjoying good food and I wouldn't want to.I

As for getting bored - I find cooking for myself is what keeps me interested in healthy food. I find the whole process interesting - picking the ingredients, analysing portion sizes etc and when you make something that is healthy, tasty and all your own work, there's a sense of pride as well (for me anyway).

Keeping garlic and chilli in the house is pretty important too! It's amazing how much difference some chopped up fresh chilli or garlic to make to an otherwise plain dish. I've recently got into vegetable soup in a big big way and it's partly because I've realised how great it tastes when seasoned. Normally I assumed soup was just to be eaten as it is. Sooo wrong!

SarahBrown1979

BUMPING TO READ LATER, HAVING THIS ISSUE TOO!

cramernh

You really have to make meal planning part of the whole weight-loss concept.... To avoid getting bored, why not designate each day of the week with a dish from another country?

Monday - Mexican
Tuesday - Thai
Wednesday - Italian
Thursday - American
Friday - Asian..

...yadda yadda yadda...

Look up recipes based on that culture, and give them a try! I gotta tell you... Chile Rellenos are freakin' AMAZING! They can be made reasonably healthy or ultra healthy - its all up to you and what you like. Ive made chicken-stuffed poblanos - relleno style with some zesty vegetables on the side. Ive even made a breakfast style chile relleno, stuffing the roasted pepper with a scramble of eggs, onions, peppers, tomatoes, salsa, cheddar-monty shredded cheese, did a quick pan-fry on them once they have been dipped in egg again.... side of ham and OH MY GAWD they are awesome!


EDIT: you can change up the different countries week-to-week, OR if you really get hooked on one particular country, keep it going!

Tomorrow we are doing up steak fajitas with a homemade chimichurri sauce on the side, fresh made tortillas (low-carb for me), lots of vegetables to choose from..... and of course, cheese! LOL!

I bet you could have some fun with this!