Optimal Calories?

They say you should shop on the outside aisles of the grocery store, that's where the good stuff is. Once you get to the center, that's where most of the processed food is, all the canned and box foods.

...how do I tell what's processed and what's not?

Well, the more they have to do to it to get it into that form, the more processed it is. A tomato isn't processed - it comes that way right off the vine. Canned stewed tomatoes are more processed, but still barely, it's just cooking them down. But check ingredients, for salt and preservatives. Ketchup, obviously making that is a more involved PROCESS. It's pretty intuitive, really. If you eat grains, well, they have to mill and bleach flour for white bread, that's heavily processed. For whole grain, there's less milling and no bleaching.

A pork chop isn't processed. An Italian sausage, much more so. Just take a minute to think about what had to happen to the ingredients, to make them into the food you're holding.

In a similar vein, you said you don't know how to prepare colorful veggies, for example. Keep them pure and simple, as much as you can. Steam them, sautee them in a little oil with spices, keep them looking like the gorgeous whole foods they are. Serve alongside whole protein - a chicken breast that still looks like a chicken breast, spiced nicely, or a piece of fish that is recognizably fish. Food tastes wonderful, once you've gotten over the sugared, salted, greasy, preservative-filled crap so many of us are used to.

Food blogs are a godsend. I love skinnytaste.com, and primal-palate.com. And don't be afraid to experiment, see if things go well together. Food can be fun, I promise!

I have a few suggestions that I think will help you.

1. Make sure you are drinking at least 8 glasses of water.

Not necessary if you are drinking other liquids or eating food high in water content. But it is a good starting point

2. Space out your meal to 3 hrs apart.

No reason for this at all. Eat at the times that it best fits your lifestyle, whether 1 meal/day or 7 meals/day, just hit your calorie goal each day.

3. Choose foods with fiber.

A high fiber high protein snack or meal should keep you full for longer.

4. Incorporate Miracle Noodles into your diet, you can add chicken broth or sauce or whatever, I buy mine on ebay. Its all fiber and no calories.

Why, unless you really like noodles and cannot finish your day without going over cals there is no point.

5. Save about 50 calories for the end of the evening and when you get hungry eat a 1/2 cup of egg whites. That will stop you from being hungry.

Or you can just do trial and error to you get use to eating your new way so you aren't hungry late at night, but this is a good tip, and will up your protein too.

6. Drink a couple of glasses of coffee. Its a natural appetite suppresant.

Coffee is also good as it can give you a boost of energy and help get you though the day, or a through a workout.

It's really, really easy to prepare veggies. A stir-fry is a go-to meal for me. Sometimes I buy the bagged frozen stir fry and sometimes I mix my own fresh veggies. I put a bit of water (or olive oil) in a skillet, add the veggies and just let them go! I honestly prefer my veggies a little more on the over-cooked side, but you can leave them with a crunch (they're better for you prepared that way). My thoughts are, it's better for me to eat veggies that are a bit overdone, than not to eat veggies at all! I will add some vegetable stock or some soy sauce for something different, although they are totally optional.

You can add meat to the stir-fry for your protein. I don't eat a lot of meat, so I will prepare quinoa on the side which contains protein or I will add a bit of scrambled egg to my stir fry.

Also just search for vegetable recipes on here or suggestions for recipe blogs. I like happyherbivore.com. Her recipes are all vegan so there are plenty of veggies to be had on that site! I modify them to include dairy or eggs if I want and I will serve meat on the side for my dad.

Good luck!

Wow...got the quinoa someone recommended (only ever heard of it on Top Chef) and wowzers is that ever sweet! It was great! I made just enough for my husband and me to eat together. I was super excited, I've never had brusselsprouts, yellow bell peppers, green onions, or asparagus. Very rarely have I ever had broccoli. Over all, I told my husband we'll have this over and over

Now...what of these veggies can I make with chicken? I guess I'll experiment tomorrow...

This made me smile, for 2 reasons.

You are exploring new horizons, finding new food, not only excited about it, but finding it great to.

The other reason - you are the one eating extra vegetables - not me! ha.