How to not get bored with eating healthy

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

Try not to get caught up in eating exactly the same things over and over. When my hubby was dieting he would only eat chicken and broccoli and I was SO sick of it that I had to start making my own food. I also second trying to make substitutes for your favorite foods that are healthier. There are tons of recipe sites where you can learn substitutions and you'll learn your own with practice.

Athijade

There is no reason to get bored! There is a wealth of healthier eating recipes out there to try. I literally have 100's of lower calorie recipes between cookbooks, magazines, and online resources. Plus, once you learn the tricks of swapping things out (by using recipes you find), you can start experimenting on your own.

I also refuse to eat the same things over and over again. So each week has a mix of meat free, red meat, chicken, seafood, and pork. I also mix up how things are prepared. Really, it is all about having resources and planning ahead (in my opinion).

OP, I also sent you a message!

anyonebutmehaha

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.

huh? from a site called "WannaBeBig- serious about muscle" w/ pics of extreme body builders all over home page? sorry but i *think* that is a site aimed at body builders, certainly isn't on the average person's bookmarks.

oh please on the "dogmatic" crap, the question was about how to not get bored w/ eating healthy and the response i gave is what has worked for me the 51 years i have been on this planet.. i'm not allowed to do that w/o being labeled dogmatic? maybe you believe like that link that eating healthy 80% of the time and "rewarding" yourself 20% of the rest of the time w/ "unhealthy food" is a good way to live, i happen not to believe that, to me it sounds like a horrible way to spend the rest of your life and maybe even destructive to the vast majority of the ppl on this forum that already have an unhealthy relationship w/ food. maybe why most ppl fail to keep weight off after losing it is because that 20% reward turns into 30% and 40% etc.? i dunno, i'm no expert on that, i've never had to deal w/ weight issues before in my life (and only am now because of the accident and immobilization for so long and being unable to shop/cook/eat like i normally did) so maybe what you had to do to lose weight w/ a reward system of unhealthy food is what worked for you, even though it makes no sense to me.
maybe it just stems from a life philosophy that good behavior (for some of us 'eating clean' isn't just about our own health but includes the carbon footprint we leave on this planet) is a reward unto itself and doesn't need some external reward, esp not something ("unhealthy food") that in my world would feel like a punishment :sad: not a reward. just a different way of living. but its all good- you live in your world, i'll live in mine and our differences is what makes it all interesting. just please refrain from calling someone's life choices 'dogmatic' and the negative connotations that implies if they opine on what has worked for them. thank you.

margojr4

I can never get bored, I love to eat! haha We plan meals ahead of time, sometimes make in bulk and can be creative with leftovers. (garbage quiche anyone? lol) I like what the previous poster said about designating days for meals. Sometimes we'll have 'meatless Mondays' or 'Stir fry Saturdays' stuff like that. Make it fun!

If you have a favorite food that you crave, say a cheeseburger - just prepare it leaner? We can get two burgers for the caloric intake of one fast food burger!? More food for the calorie buck? Heck yeah! French fries? Make them fresh? Buy generic frozen and add seasonings. My favorite 'healthy' food is taco salad - SO much food for little calories! *nom nom*

There are so many yummy healthy food options out there! Just gotta search for recipes and prepare

cramernh

I can never get bored, I love to eat! haha We plan meals ahead of time, sometimes make in bulk and can be creative with leftovers. (garbage quiche anyone? lol) I like what the previous poster said about designating days for meals. Sometimes we'll have 'meatless Mondays' or 'Stir fry Saturdays' stuff like that. Make it fun!

If you have a favorite food that you crave, say a cheeseburger - just prepare it leaner? We can get two burgers for the caloric intake of one fast food burger!? More food for the calorie buck? Heck yeah! French fries? Make them fresh? Buy generic frozen and add seasonings. My favorite 'healthy' food is taco salad - SO much food for little calories! *nom nom*

There are so many yummy healthy food options out there! Just gotta search for recipes and prepare

My grandparents used to do that.. it was always fun to come up with ideas with them!

Tonight I did some bulk cooking on the "American" side of things.... Found a honkin-HUGE deal on fresh turkey that the butcher cut in half... I bought two full turkeys-halved at .99 cents per pound! Im breaking it down here in a few minutes and will get the stock pot going with the roasted-turkey bones for fresh stock, will break the meat down for future meals, but will be cooking up a nice Turkey-Cordon Bleu casserole and freeze it into individual meals.... I also plan on prepping up my vegetables (MAJOR mise en place) for that meal, and for future meals including tomorrow..

For our dinner tomorrow, we are having Argentinian with some gorgeous well-seasoned steaks accompanied by homemade chimichurri sauce to go with it, roasted vegetables, garlic-mashed potatoes for my husband, Ill have a faux noodle side dish made with zucchini....

vs1023

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..

Couldn't agree more. It's a mindset though and I don't think many people can handle it for whatever reason and i think that making your mind up about it is probably 80% of the battle. I'm not perfect at all, but I choose to eat a certain way for my health.

vs1023

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.

huh? from a site called "WannaBeBig- serious about muscle" w/ pics of extreme body builders all over home page? sorry but i *think* that is a site aimed at body builders, certainly isn't on the average person's bookmarks.

oh please on the "dogmatic" crap, the question was about how to not get bored w/ eating healthy and the response i gave is what has worked for me the 51 years i have been on this planet.. i'm not allowed to do that w/o being labeled dogmatic? maybe you believe like that link that eating healthy 80% of the time and "rewarding" yourself 20% of the rest of the time w/ "unhealthy food" is a good way to live, i happen not to believe that, to me it sounds like a horrible way to spend the rest of your life and maybe even destructive to the vast majority of the ppl on this forum that already have an unhealthy relationship w/ food. maybe why most ppl fail to keep weight off after losing it is because that 20% reward turns into 30% and 40% etc.? i dunno, i'm no expert on that, i've never had to deal w/ weight issues before in my life (and only am now because of the accident and immobilization for so long and being unable to shop/cook/eat like i normally did) so maybe what you had to do to lose weight w/ a reward system of unhealthy food is what worked for you, even though it makes no sense to me.
maybe it just stems from a life philosophy that good behavior (for some of us 'eating clean' isn't just about our own health but includes the carbon footprint we leave on this planet) is a reward unto itself and doesn't need some external reward, esp not something ("unhealthy food") that in my world would feel like a punishment :sad: not a reward. just a different way of living. but its all good- you live in your world, i'll live in mine and our differences is what makes it all interesting. just please refrain from calling someone's life choices 'dogmatic' and the negative connotations that implies if they opine on what has worked for them. thank you.

Yes thank you! Couldn't agree more and I agree with the line you quoted in that artcile that people always throw out the instant someone mentions "clean eating". When I eat that way I never feel deprived. I bought cold cuts the other day and it tasted bad to me. McDonalds makes me gag.

Anyway, thanks for this post