I'm finding homemade is the way

b6bloke

I have not long been a member of this site as have let things go over the past 7 months due to too many reasons but I thought I would share what I am finding to be pretty helpful.

About 3 years ago I was 20 stone and done every diet going, lost weight and as usual put it back on plus more and found losing the weight wasn’t the hardest thing but maintaining it because most of these diets are difficult to maintain. I had started a house share with a friend and she was disgusted that I ate sauces out of jars and made it her mission to educate me in cooking. I was shocked how easy it was to make tasty sauces that beat jars which took 5 minutes to make and really got into it.

I also found that cooking from scratch without buying low fat ingredients had me fuller longer with smaller portions and looking back, that low fat Bolognese I brought filled me up for about an hour and I ended up picking.

After 6 months of eating "normal" homemade food and 3 to 4 gym sessions a week I lost 4 stone, not only that but I really enjoy cooking and baking now and maintained that weight easy and without thought up until 7 months ago where my work and home life changed and I was eating out a lot.

After starting my cooking again 2 weeks ago I have found I am back on track, I have 30 lbs to lose to get back to where I was and lost 6 on my first week, my gf has joined me and can’t believe what we are eating and staying within our calorie limitations.

As an example,
Spaghetti bolognaise without the pasta is 122 calories a portion, we use quorn mince as find that the mince and the meatballs of quorn is pretty good and not all that different.

A chilli con carne is 136 calories a portion without the rice, again with quorn.

I started using this app for the food diary only as a diary really helps but found the counting of calories highlighted how much my portions had got out of control.

Good luck!

almondgirl00

I've found the same thing. I was shocked at how reliant I became on processed food at one point in my life. Unless you buy a really lovely jar of pesto (I admit, I do keep one on hand just in case) the stuff you buy from the supermarket is usually full off canola oil, peanuts, flavours and funny preservatives. It takes about 10 minutes to wizz up some basil, olive oil, garlic, parmesan and pine nuts in my blender. And I can control the sodium. I can also add spinach to bulk it out and cut the calories. So for me less processed foods mean more calories to spend on stuff like full fat edam and dark chocolate (my two great loves). It's the same with curries, even the low fat, low cal sauces are full of salt. And the ingredients! For me a curry is spices, garlic, ginger and onions plus whatever vegies/protein I want that day. Not fillers and sugar.

MelsieK

I've got 2 kids with intolerances, so have always had to do a lot of homemade. But would cheat with jars and processed foods for hubby and I. My PT is trialling my diet with clean eating at the moment. And besides my protein powder I'm off all food that comes from a packet. And I'm feeling the difference already, had a good loss this last week, have more energy and am saving $$$ as well, which is always a bonus.

Mel

JekJekums

i love love love this post!! i think cooking is one of THE most important things we can do for ourselves, whether we're trying to lose weight, maintain, or every for the lucky few who are naturally fit. i totally agree with you that cooking and eating depend soooo much on your knowledge and your experience. when i was in high school, my mom was buying a lot of convenience foods (frozen, processed, high fat/cal) and when i would go to school or out with friends, i would be eating out at restaurants. this left me with the impression that food just COMES ready-made. i think it's SO interesting how we can become so divorced from our food - not knowing (and not caring at all) how it's made, what's in it, where it comes from, whether it's plant/animal/mineral... it was only after i went to school and made friends with health conscious people that i learned to care about what was in my food and to make it myself.

anyway, over the past few years my love of food and cooking has grown to the point that i watch the food network constantly and i will look up a recipe for anything before i consider going out to buy it prepared. and i'm certainly not perfect (sometimes i use my cooking power for evil!) but having the skills to put together a healthy meal for myself has made all the difference in the world for me. i'm really happy for you for being able to find an interest in cooking, and i wish you the very best of luck!!

popchex

I'm doing it the same way. I started cooking for intolerances, and now it's just so much more economical to make it all myself - but luckily I have the time at home to do it. I haven't gone for any "diet" foods as I seem to justify doubling the amount I eat! I find I definitely eat less, but still get more calories - something I needed to do, as I was a starve/binge eater for a long time. It has helped to take away the guilt I've associated with food and the "bad" or "good" food labels. It's all just food, but does it give me what I want/need is the question. Obviously cake isn't going to do that, so I only enjoy a little bit. That sort of thing.

rheiah

I'm a serious foodie and one of my favourite hobbies is cooking, so I often find myself in the kitchen all evening long, instead of watching TV, preparing that day's dinner, next day's lunch & (most of the time) next day's breakfast.

For me it's a way to relax & enjoy something I love doing. Plus it gives me the chance to control what goes into my food.

Yesterday for example I didn't bring lunch with me but bought a chilled vegetable soup from a supermarket. Quite healthy, I thought. The calories were ok, but - oh my - the SUGAR!
Experiences like that just confirm what I already knew/felt: homemade food all the way!

jackieGC

Hi Everyone !! Has anyone got a good recipe website for Low - Cals, carbs & cholesterol ? Good luck everyone !! x Jackie

b6bloke

great to see I am not alone:-)
Home cooking and baking in the UK is taking off and you will quite often find in a workplace little "cook off" competitions going on.

I really don’t feel like I am dieting, the only thing I am struggling with is bread as I make my own in a bread maker but the calories for even homemade bread is pretty high :-(

After cooking most of my own food now I find if ever I am in a position where I am eating a pre made frozen meal it tastes as though someone has poured sugar into it! I would rather go hungry. How many McDonald’s burgers could you eat before being satisfied? If you made your own out of mince how many you would you need to eat to be satisfied? As I found in the book I mention below, these foods are made for palatability, the easier they make it to eat, the faster you eat it and less satisfied you become so eat more.

At the same time as getting into cooking I was given a book written by an American guy called David Kessler called "The end of over eating" he was part of the FDA.

The book was not what I thought as I was convinced by the title that it would be a diet book but it was an insight into the food market and how in the 80's in the US that if you get the correct mix of sugar, fat and salt it is addictive as cocaine. To say this book was brilliant is an understatement as most pages were an eye opener. Most companies now employ food designers and an un-named one in this book tells a few things that don’t go over old ground by making you feel sick about how food is produced but make you feel angry that these food companies are trying to get you addicted to foods which are proven to make you eat more and become over weight.

For example, he was at a meeting with Mcdonalds who had already had success with the sugar, fat and salt combination and wanted to take this further by getting it into breakfasts, here is where they invented the "sausage and egg mcmuffin" which is effectively a burger of a morning. Reading it will really help those reading this who are unsure if the effort of cooking from scratch is worth it for the weight loss and those who want to break this chain of obesity that we are facing beginning with our children.

saracoulson

I've always cooked from scratch, because there is me, my husband and six children, convinience foods just don't feed us all! Baking is my real passion. I really believe that anyone with children should cook proper food, what is the point of having them if you're not going to feed them well? It's a preventative medicine, feed yourself right and you'll feel healthy and won't get ill as often as you should. At the end of the day you only get one life and you should really enjoy it, making good food and caring for your body is part of that. And you're right about the sauces, for every jarred sauce there is a simple one you cn make that tastes infintely better.

fteale

I have always cooked all my own food. On the rare occasion I get something pre-made I am always horrified by how many calories they have managed to pack in. Even pizza! My home made pizza is 430 cals for a whole one. In the supermarket and restaurants they are about 700-900!

b6bloke

Can I have your recipe for your pizza please?:-)

Mine is purely flour, yeast and olive oil yet astounding calories!

nml2011

More whole foods is definately the way forward.

You'll probably find that not eating processed grains such as pasta and rice is having a huge impact on your weight loss too.

I like to keep it simple (meat, fish and lots of veg) apart from when I cook for someone else;

I am in love with my foreman grill!!

kattia1973

I am of the thought here, that with everyone raving about making your own food, they need to share the recipes with those of us who want to try it. Maybe even share a web site?
For general recipes I go to www.allrecipes.com and try the ones that have the most votes/stars.

cramernh

Food allergies and sensitivities here so cooking from scratch has been a long-life ritual. I enjoy going to my local markets and loading up on fresh produce all the time.... I butcher my own meats, filet my own seafood - Ill prep enough vegetables for a few days at a time that way its "get-home-pull-out-the-prepped-foods-and-cook" routine.

I also do alot of bulk cooking and prepping as well ....



Working as a chef and using those skills at home are wonderful! But my second job in healthcare makes it even better because I have a nutrition background that comes in handy!

Eating what he does, makes my husband a happy boy too! LOL!!!!!!

Proud to hold a no-junk-processed-food-related home....

cramernh

I am of the thought here, that with everyone raving about making your own food, they need to share the recipes with those of us who want to try it. Maybe even share a web site?
For general recipes I go to www.allrecipes.com and try the ones that have the most votes/stars.

Not really... people dont have to share recipes....

jessicasloan91

This makes me wish I could cook!!

fteale

This makes me wish I could cook!!

Anyone can cook. Haven't you watched Ratatouille?

MaraDiaz

I don't like to cook and I'm not very good at it, either. I got the little grill to work for hamburgers great. No oil, no butter, just throw on the patty and a few minutes later, tasty burger. But I tried chicken the other day and it didn't cook all the way through until the outside was burnt. Made me ill after I ate it and about destroyed my poor teeth trying to chew! But I will say that even eating hamburgers cooked at home seems to help compared to eating them from a paper bag with a Mc on it!

cramernh

For those who feel like they dont know how to cook ... go grab some Youtube.com videos on some of the basics... its free, easy to use/watch... and you can get some GREAT ideas on recipes as well!

Videojug.com is awesome for that also - and again, free!

Reinventing_Me

I've found the same thing. When I first started trying to lose weight, I primarily cooked clean, simple meals for myself and packaged, processed foods for the rest of the family. Then I asked myself why I was short-changing my family. I began cooking for all of us. The first thing was a simple meatloaf...instead of buying the typical meatloaf seasoning packet, I put a slew of veggies in the food processor until they were finely chopped and combined them with ground turkey and my own seasonings. My family raved that it was the best meatloaf they had ever had. Since then I've made my own rice pilaf, fried rice, salad dressings, pasta sauces, etc. I'm starting small, but I'm making big strides. My husband and kids say we should have been cooking like this a long time ago. Last evening my daughter asked me to show her how to make ranch dressing. She did an awesome job!

Reinventing_Me

This makes me wish I could cook!!

Anyone can cook. Haven't you watched Ratatouille?

Ratatouille grossed me out! Rats in the kitchen?? Oh, the horror!! LOL

margo36

I always cook from fresh ingredients. I find you get more for your calories. Processed food makes me feel unwell quite quickly so I try and avoid it :flowerforyou:

b6bloke

My Chilli

1 onion chopped
3 cloves of garlic chopped
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
1 tin of red kidney beans
2 tables spoons of tomatoe puree
150 grams of Quorn mince
salt
pepper
teaspoon of cinammon
teaspoon of coriander powder
teaspoon of cumin
chopped fresh coriander
half a teaspoon of chilli powder
juice of squeezed lime

works out to around 135 to 150 calories a portion not including rice

My bolognaise sauce
Throw all these into a bowl and use a blender on it

tin of chopped tomatoes
tomatoe puree
garlic
mixed herbs but some fresh basil too
salt and pepper
a splash of olive oil
lemon juice
splash of balsamic vinegar

the rest:
1 onion chopped
mushrooms
150g of quorn mince

this is between 120 and 130 calories per portion

jessicasloan91

This makes me wish I could cook!!

Anyone can cook. Haven't you watched Ratatouille?

Haha don't get me wrong I could follow a recipe but some people can just throw things together naturally and make a good meal! Its the timings that get me.. I'll cook something and the veggies will still be hard so I'll have to wait for them to finish and the other part of the meal by this point is either burnt or cold cause I've had to stop it cooking.. just too confusing for me! lol

Its bad but I'll stick to my microwave meals!

m_wilh

I'm loving this thread! Several of you have said that you began cooking this way because of intolerances/allergies, which I believe develops from eating so much processed food IMHO. Also to the one who commented about she finds that eating the full calorie foods rather than low fat/no fat variety keeps her fuller longer, my doctor had something to say about that at my last visit in December. He said to stay away from no or low fat anything because when the fat is removed, it is replaced with sugar to give the food flavor. Fat doesn't make you fat, but lots of sugar does. So I always eat the full fat version of anything although I rarely eat out of a box or a can. In my situation, I'm talking about full fat organic Greek yogurt, butter, or sour cream. That's about all I eat that comes already prepared.

cramernh

I'm loving this thread! Several of you have said that you began cooking this way because of intolerances/allergies, which I believe develops from eating so much processed food IMHO. Also to the one who commented about she finds that eating the full calorie foods rather than low fat/no fat variety keeps her fuller longer, my doctor had something to say about that at my last visit in December. He said to stay away from no or low fat anything because when the fat is removed, it is replaced with sugar to give the food flavor. Fat doesn't make you fat, but lots of sugar does. So I always eat the full fat version of anything although I rarely eat out of a box or a can. In my situation, I'm talking about full fat organic Greek yogurt, butter, or sour cream. That's about all I eat that comes already prepared.

I was born with my allergies and sensitivities... so eating clean has been an all-my-entire-life situation...

b6bloke

Just copied this from another post I put on another thread to show even curry is withing your calorie target.

Another thing to spice it up a bit is Curry! Yes, having a takeaway will kill your calories as its full of Ghee but make your own and you will have yourslf a low fat meal. I use the recipes of Anjum Annad as she is a strong believer of healthy eating and have yet to make a curry of hers without using more than a bit of oil to fry the onions, garlic and ginger. I have put below a recipe for for her punjabi chicken, now if you work out the calories on those ingrediants and divide it between 6 you will see that curries are within your means and you can even reduce the amount of chicken or use quorn.

Serves 6

15g fresh ginger, peeled and cut into large pieces
10 large cloves of garlic, peeled
4 small black cardamom pods
4 cloves
5cm piece of cinnamon stick
5 tbsp vegetable oil
1 bay leaf
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
2 green chillies, whole but pricked with the tip of a knife
750g chicken joints, skinned
5 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
¾ tsp red chilli powder
½ tsp turmeric
1 ½ tsp garam masala
salt, to taste
3 medium tomatoes, cut into small wedges large handful of fresh coriander, chopped