Need a little help!

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Ladonnahall22
Ladonnahall22 Posts: 9 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Until I started using MFP I was honestly never really concious of what healthy eating was. I have been on here for 3 weeks now and I have learned the most from all of you wonderful people. I have been really struggling with understanding what exactly I am supposed to be doing. I have stayed under my calorie counts but i know i can eat much healthier. Although I have a few dilemmas. First, i work full time and then go to school part time as most of us do. I am married with 3 children and its sometimes really hard to find time to prepare. I dont eat Cheese, eggs, and i dont drink milk. So my Question is should i be taking supplements? I know for sure i need to drink more water. I just recently started walking the stairs at work twice a day. (18 floors) but that is not enough I am ready to have more energy and feel more comfortable with myself. I am going to the grocery store on Monday to hopefully start fresh and change everything that i buy for the entire family so that we can all change our eating habits together. Knowledge is power so any suggestiions are greatly appreciated.

Replies

  • c7eat2live
    c7eat2live Posts: 308 Member
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    Congrats to finding and getting involved in MFP! It really has some amazing tools to make your goals a success :) I also work and go to school, although i dont have little ones at home, I am a nanny so I know how it feels to just not have any time! I always pack food where ever I go, especially to school. In the morning I usually take a yogurt and piece of fruit and then for lunch I pack a wrap or something similar. The best advice for adding in some health food I can give would be to pack fruits and veggies wherever you go. I like a mix of baby carrots, snap peas and grapes, but other good things are apples sliced, cucumbers, bell peppers. that way if your hungry or running into a craving you have a nice little healthy stash and honestly it takes about 3 mins to prepare in the morning.as far as supplements go, calcium may be a good one since you dont eat dairy, and it has been shown to aid weightloss, just make sure yours includes vitamin D. other good sources or calcium are dark green leafy veggies. I am kind of a get-your-vitamins-from-health-food kind of person, although I do occasionally take a multi if I am feeling like I missed out on some fresh food... good luck!
  • tim_fitbuilt4life
    tim_fitbuilt4life Posts: 301 Member
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    I often have that same problem with my busy schedule and all. You should pack at least 24oz of water with you and some small healthy snacks to eat. Also, try the shakeology mix at my web site (www.fitbuilt4life.net) on the right hand side under products. You can get all of your daily fruits and veggies in a shake. Stay with it and watch the weight fall off. Hope this helps.

    Tim
  • Nkwebb
    Nkwebb Posts: 3
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    I agree that it is SUPER difficult to plan, purchase and prepare healthy foods with a family and moving at the speed of light in which we do nowadays.

    My only advice is Yoplait yogurts - tons of variety, fat free options, great flavors and is EASY. Also, putting together a nice salad is easy if you buy the packaged lettuce and some Purdue shortcuts of chicken. Another idea is buying fruits (strawberries, blueberries, watermelon - whatever) and slicing them all up into a huge tupperware. Then you have nice fruit salad snacks ready for the week.

    Lastly, I'm a sucker for pumpkin seeds. I sit at a desk for 9hrs a day and have been popping those bad boys for a few weeks now and it definitely helps me not eat nonsense all day.

    Good luck!!

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  • Holton
    Holton Posts: 1,018
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    I firmly believe in eating the perimeter of the grocery store to be healthy. This means stay away from the processed food you find on the interior aisles. Buy fresh vegetables (I do use frozen as well), fresh fruit, lean cuts of meat, and dairy (though I realize that you don't eat that). You can prepare fresh vegetables so easily by steaming or roasting and even eating raw. Time is not a factor as steaming and roasting take 20 minutes or less.

    I prepackage my lunches at night after I eat dinner, using leftovers so can usually log my day's food in the am since I know what I am taking to work to eat.

    FYI...I do use foods from the inner aisles, as it becomes necessary, but they are certainly restricted (too much sodium which highly affects weight not to mention other health factors).

    I try to limit my intake of white flour and white sugar, which of course means no baked goods, but it has probably made the biggest difference in my weight loss.

    These are just some of the things that I have found that works for me. Glean from it what you think you can and good luck to you on your journey!

    And always drink LOTS of water!

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