I Only Eat Food I Like

Topher1978

I have fruit smoothies daily. This is quite variable as there are so many fruits and then fruit combos to choose from.

I make my own veggie filled beans and wild rice blends. Delicious.

I cook up chicken thighs, and other meat when it is on sale.

I make stews, and pastas, and roasts and all my food is generally really healthy.

Why do so many people eat nasty, tasteless food when trying to lose weight? Isn't that a set up to failure? I mean, when you are done losing weight, do you go back to the foods you were eating previously? It seems like a secret that good, healthy food is super tastey. Why is that?

Babeskeez

Totes.

This is why I love this place. Specifically when seeing Dan's posts. It is pounded into you that this is a lifestyle. Not a diet. If I had to eat quinoa (which I HATE), chicken breasts and broccoli the rest of my life to lose weight, well I would have HAVE failed miserably. Have I had to change my eating habits? Sure. Eating in my caloric goal and I have switched to whole wheat because its healthier. But I wont restrict myself.

AS a matter of fact, when my bratty children go to bed, I am going to have me some m&m's/

Alatariel75

Many people just don't have the knowledge of how to cook good, healthy tasy food. Let's face it, alot of us are here because we got fat eating processed nasty crap, and now we turn to processed, low cal nasty crap to reverse the damage.

Changing a lifestyle to lose weight can take the long way or the short cut and the short cut is to stick with the processed food, albeit now low cal, and the long road is to completely re-educate yourself on food, cooking and nutrition.

Now, I'm here not because of eating processed nasty crap, I'm here because I looooove to cook and experiment and bake and make tasty things, but I spent a long time missing the "healthy" out on that descriptor. So now I cook and experiment and make and make tasty healthy things but I already had that knopwledge, I just needed to apply it.

ninerbuff

My rule of thumb is 80/20. 80% of the day I'll eat "well" meaning I'm getting in quality protein, carbs, and fats to meet my macro/micro nutrient goals. Then the other 20% I'll eat whatever I want, but not exceed my calorie limit. This is what I attribute my physique and happiness to.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Topher1978

Many people just don't have the knowledge of how to cook good, healthy tasy food. Let's face it, alot of us are here because we got fat eating processed nasty crap, and now we turn to processed, low cal nasty crap to reverse the damage.

Changing a lifestyle to lose weight can take the long way or the short cut and the short cut is to stick with the processed food, albeit now low cal, and the long road is to completely re-educate yourself on food, cooking and nutrition.

Now, I'm here not because of eating processed nasty crap, I'm here because I looooove to cook and experiment and bake and make tasty things, but I spent a long time missing the "healthy" out on that descriptor. So now I cook and experiment and make and make tasty healthy things but I already had that knopwledge, I just needed to apply it.

I bet some of your favorite recipes are a lot healthier than you are thinking. Pit them in the recipe builder. Some of my favorite recipes are so much lower in calories than I thought, and they are packed with nutrition as well. I was sure something like my ettouffe, cooked in butter, was totally fattening. Turns out a bowl of it is 300 calories. It is super filling as I use a wild rice blend, but it is not loaded with calories. Other recipes I have entered have all shown me the same thing. I have not entered my alfredo yet though... kinda don't want to see that one until I am making it!! hehehe

Alatariel75

Many people just don't have the knowledge of how to cook good, healthy tasy food. Let's face it, alot of us are here because we got fat eating processed nasty crap, and now we turn to processed, low cal nasty crap to reverse the damage.

Changing a lifestyle to lose weight can take the long way or the short cut and the short cut is to stick with the processed food, albeit now low cal, and the long road is to completely re-educate yourself on food, cooking and nutrition.

Now, I'm here not because of eating processed nasty crap, I'm here because I looooove to cook and experiment and bake and make tasty things, but I spent a long time missing the "healthy" out on that descriptor. So now I cook and experiment and make and make tasty healthy things but I already had that knopwledge, I just needed to apply it.

I bet some of your favorite recipes are a lot healthier than you are thinking. Pit them in the recipe builder. Some of my favorite recipes are so much lower in calories than I thought, and they are packed with nutrition as well. I was sure something like my ettouffe, cooked in butter, was totally fattening. Turns out a bowl of it is 300 calories. It is super filling as I use a wild rice blend, but it is not loaded with calories. Other recipes I have entered have all shown me the same thing. I have not entered my alfredo yet though... kinda don't want to see that one until I am making it!! hehehe

Actually, you're right, many of my savoury meals are nowhere near as bad as I'd think, even my enchiladas are 700 cal a large serve and that is with NO effort made to lower the fat content.

I'm afraid nothing is going to redeem my recipe for Heart Attack Brownies, however....

sissiluv

Many people just don't have the knowledge of how to cook good, healthy tasy food. Let's face it, alot of us are here because we got fat eating processed nasty crap, and now we turn to processed, low cal nasty crap to reverse the damage.

Changing a lifestyle to lose weight can take the long way or the short cut and the short cut is to stick with the processed food, albeit now low cal, and the long road is to completely re-educate yourself on food, cooking and nutrition.

Now, I'm here not because of eating processed nasty crap, I'm here because I looooove to cook and experiment and bake and make tasty things, but I spent a long time missing the "healthy" out on that descriptor. So now I cook and experiment and make and make tasty healthy things but I already had that knopwledge, I just needed to apply it.

Yep, this. And it is a gradual learning process as well-you're not going to roll out of bed one day a 5star chef who knows exactly what to do and make it damn good when you've spent years going to the pre-made frozen processed foods.
On top of that you need the RESOURCES to learn as well. If money is low I'm not going to want to experiment as much, lest I end up wasting valuable food because I screw up and it becomes unsalvageable.

I'd rather eat broccoli stalk on a leaf of cabbage than go to the chicken nuggets in my freezer if I can help it. : P

ChancyW

Over time my tastes have seemed to changed and healthier food tastes good. I don't get major cravings for Jalapeno poppers and nachos every night anymore. {Thank God!}

Maybe it's a progression...

Ultragirl2374

My rule of thumb is 80/20. 80% of the day I'll eat "well" meaning I'm getting in quality protein, carbs, and fats to meet my macro/micro nutrient goals. Then the other 20% I'll eat whatever I want, but not exceed my calorie limit. This is what I attribute my physique and happiness to.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

This is a pretty good philosophy! I like it!

Ultragirl2374

Over time my tastes have seemed to changed and healthier food tastes good. I don't get major cravings for Jalapeno poppers and nachos every night anymore. {Thank God!}

Maybe it's a progression...

I agree! I am finding more and more that things I used to think we're nasty are actually quite good and tasty!! And more and more it is the other stuff that is the nasty stuff!

QuietRain

Since starting this lifestyle change [though I cut out a lot of processed food before this] I've been having a lot of fun learning new recipes and 're-creating' old ones.
And what I'm eating now, is pretty much what I ate before, but better knowledge of portion control has made most of the difference.

Topher1978

Over time my tastes have seemed to changed and healthier food tastes good. I don't get major cravings for Jalapeno poppers and nachos every night anymore. {Thank God!}

Maybe it's a progression...

With some of the fast food I used to like, this has happened moreso. Fast food burgers are just gross. I do not even remember the last time I had one. But the last several times I did, I was grossed out....

wrests

Many people just don't have the knowledge of how to cook good, healthy tasy food. Let's face it, alot of us are here because we got fat eating processed nasty crap, and now we turn to processed, low cal nasty crap to reverse the damage.

Changing a lifestyle to lose weight can take the long way or the short cut and the short cut is to stick with the processed food, albeit now low cal, and the long road is to completely re-educate yourself on food, cooking and nutrition.

Now, I'm here not because of eating processed nasty crap, I'm here because I looooove to cook and experiment and bake and make tasty things, but I spent a long time missing the "healthy" out on that descriptor. So now I cook and experiment and make and make tasty healthy things but I already had that knopwledge, I just needed to apply it.

I bet some of your favorite recipes are a lot healthier than you are thinking. Pit them in the recipe builder. Some of my favorite recipes are so much lower in calories than I thought, and they are packed with nutrition as well. I was sure something like my ettouffe, cooked in butter, was totally fattening. Turns out a bowl of it is 300 calories. It is super filling as I use a wild rice blend, but it is not loaded with calories. Other recipes I have entered have all shown me the same thing. I have not entered my alfredo yet though... kinda don't want to see that one until I am making it!! hehehe

http://iowagirleats.com/2012/03/22/skinny-chicken-broccoli-alfredo/

I will swear UP AND DOWN on this recipe for Alfredo. It will literally blow your mind how delicious it is, and how indistinguishable it is from the full fat/whipping cream versions!

jenilla1

...Why do so many people eat nasty, tasteless food when trying to lose weight? Isn't that a set up to failure? I mean, when you are done losing weight, do you go back to the foods you were eating previously? It seems like a secret that good, healthy food is super tastey. Why is that?

No kidding. I think some people are just ignorant about health and nutrition, but at some point they need to educate themselves. Ignorance about "dieting" is probably the main reason people eat poorly and fail at weight loss.

marsellient

Many people just don't have the knowledge of how to cook good, healthy tasy food. Let's face it, alot of us are here because we got fat eating processed nasty crap, and now we turn to processed, low cal nasty crap to reverse the damage.

Changing a lifestyle to lose weight can take the long way or the short cut and the short cut is to stick with the processed food, albeit now low cal, and the long road is to completely re-educate yourself on food, cooking and nutrition.

Now, I'm here not because of eating processed nasty crap, I'm here because I looooove to cook and experiment and bake and make tasty things, but I spent a long time missing the "healthy" out on that descriptor. So now I cook and experiment and make and make tasty healthy things but I already had that knopwledge, I just needed to apply it.

I bet some of your favorite recipes are a lot healthier than you are thinking. Pit them in the recipe builder. Some of my favorite recipes are so much lower in calories than I thought, and they are packed with nutrition as well. I was sure something like my ettouffe, cooked in butter, was totally fattening. Turns out a bowl of it is 300 calories. It is super filling as I use a wild rice blend, but it is not loaded with calories. Other recipes I have entered have all shown me the same thing. I have not entered my alfredo yet though... kinda don't want to see that one until I am making it!! hehehe

I've put a lot of recipes on the recipe builder here, too, and have found the same thing. I have an abundance of healthy recipes, just need to watch the portions.

Topher1978

I have been into cooking most of my life. Probably started to cook a little when I was 16. But we grew up on home cooking. When I started living on my own at 18, I really started cooking more. Got some Mexican recipes from my coworkers, who were all from Mexico. And then I became a vegetarian, and that opened me up to a lot of foods, because, heck, if you don't eat meat, what do you eat? Right? So I learned a lot more about ethnic foods. This was about age 20. I joined a monastery, and found that I was a natural. We all had one night to cook. Eventually I was cooking almost every night, as the rest of the brothers would eventually come to me during the day and ask me to cook for them. When I left the monastery, I went to culinary school for 2 years and worked in some awesome restaurants. A year after that I started working offshore in the Gulf of Mexico on boats. I often went out as a cook. I learned Cajun food to the point that that is my specialty, along with Italian.

I also started eating foods I did not like until I acquired a taste. I was the pickiest kid in the world. My burgers were meat and cheese. Period. My burritos were beans and cheese. Period. Onions were a never for me. Period. I proceeded to realize that I needed to broaden my horizons. So, I would revisit foods again and again that I did not care for, such as onions, lamb ond a slew of others. Food is my thing. That is why I am here as well. I LOVE good, quality food. I love food of most cultures. If there is a cultural food I dislike, I will do the above. I like to learn the history of my foods. The purpose for the use of ingredients in certain foods, etc. That is what lead me to finally embrace the taste of chipotle peppers.

I have had my times of processed foods as well, but they were never the norm for me. I have been a fast food junky on and off, though. So, I guess that is not very normal. I did not realize people lived off of processed foods, if they indeed do. We grew up poor, and that wasn't a choice. There was 7 of us in the home I grew up in. Me. my 3 brothers, mom and grandparents. We always had a garden and we had 4 fruitful fruit trees, and one dud. (tangerine, lime, naval orange and another fruit I have never seen since).

Topher1978

Many people just don't have the knowledge of how to cook good, healthy tasy food. Let's face it, alot of us are here because we got fat eating processed nasty crap, and now we turn to processed, low cal nasty crap to reverse the damage.

Changing a lifestyle to lose weight can take the long way or the short cut and the short cut is to stick with the processed food, albeit now low cal, and the long road is to completely re-educate yourself on food, cooking and nutrition.

Now, I'm here not because of eating processed nasty crap, I'm here because I looooove to cook and experiment and bake and make tasty things, but I spent a long time missing the "healthy" out on that descriptor. So now I cook and experiment and make and make tasty healthy things but I already had that knopwledge, I just needed to apply it.

I bet some of your favorite recipes are a lot healthier than you are thinking. Pit them in the recipe builder. Some of my favorite recipes are so much lower in calories than I thought, and they are packed with nutrition as well. I was sure something like my ettouffe, cooked in butter, was totally fattening. Turns out a bowl of it is 300 calories. It is super filling as I use a wild rice blend, but it is not loaded with calories. Other recipes I have entered have all shown me the same thing. I have not entered my alfredo yet though... kinda don't want to see that one until I am making it!! hehehe

http://iowagirleats.com/2012/03/22/skinny-chicken-broccoli-alfredo/

I will swear UP AND DOWN on this recipe for Alfredo. It will literally blow your mind how delicious it is, and how indistinguishable it is from the full fat/whipping cream versions!

I would be hard pressed to leave out my heavy cream... It looks good... I just really LOVE my recipe!! My sauce has a lot of onions and garlic... sometimes portobellos, sometimes bell peppers. (onions, bells, and garlic minced and cooked down on the side in water.) And I usully use some dried oregano and basil in with the veggie mixture and also add fresh basil and oregano right before serving! It has been to long since I made it!