My diet stinks - can you recommend changes and recipes?

VoodooAborisha
VoodooAborisha Posts: 147 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I am happy with my calorie intake, so I don't want to talk about that (I feel better, look better, and am healthier than I have been since I was 17, my skin is clearer, etc. and I am losing 1-2 lbs a week, so I am happy with my calories and do not intend to change them until I reach maintenance stage).

The problem is that I am at home on my own for breakfast and lunch, PLUS we don't have much money (I only work 1 day a week, hence why I am home most days for breakfast and lunch) so I don't want to cook an elaborate meal just for myself.

So for breakfast I have my coffee with skim milk, a banana, and that's about it. I have never been a big breakfast eater, and if I eat a lot at breakfast, even one with good protein, it makes me SO much more hungry throughout the day, I can't stay under my calorie goal, so I avoid eating in the morning if I can.

Lunch, I'll have an apple with 2-3 tablespoons of peanut butter. If I get hungry in the afternoon, I have a piece of cheese and another piece of fruit, or maybe a square of chocolate.

Supper, I eat a small portion of whatever I want, even horrible things like lasagna with cheese and cream, or pizza, (but I keep it within my calorie limit) plus either 2 cups of salad or 2 cups of some green vegetable. Usually we have things like a vegetarian buffalo "chicken" sandwich with lettuce, tomato, and homemade blue cheese dressing, or veggie fajitas, that sort of thing.

Then I usually have 1-2 squares of chocolate or about 1/3 a cup of chocolate cake.

Problem: I eat darn near the same thing every day. There is no variety. And I am not getting enough portions of necessary foods. Problem is, I am having a hard time seeing what I need to add. I know I need to eat cruciferous vegetables, dark green leafy veggies, and red/orange ones with the carotine, and beans and lentils, but my husband really doesn't "dig" veggies, so at supper we have green beans or peas, every night, over and over. No variety. I don't think my husband even KNOWS what a butternut squash is. And I don't know how to get those things into lunch without a lot of effort. Anybody know a good website with easy recipes, preferably with many vegetarian options? I have exhausted the 10 or so vegetarian recipes on skinnytaste.com, and I would love a website that gives simple and QUICK ideas for breakfast/lunch.

Back home I would normally have a bowl of veggie soup for lunch however I live in Denmark now and all the soups are meat-based and I don't want to eat melted chicken or pork fat, frankly - I have too many family members with clogged arteries, so I just can't stand to eat that stuff very often. I guess I am just too lazy, maybe I should make a big batch of soup homemade and freeze some, and maybe even start cook a little something at breakfast and lunch. Is that what I have to do? Sounds lazy, but I have to ask: do I have to cook 3 times a day?

Thanks for any tips, suggestions, on what to add to make my diet more "well-rounded."

Replies

  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
    Make your own vegetable soup. Do a big batch once a week, and portion it out into single serve containers and freeze. Use whatever veg is cheap and in season, but onions carrots and celery are a good basis. Add a tin of tomatoes and some spices for variety. Add a tin of beans if you want something more substantial. If you do this over a month or so you should have your own range to choose from each day so you dont get bored.

    Stir fry veg for lunch - chop onions, mushrooms, peppers, thinly, and cook them quickly over a high heat.

    How are you with eggs? Scrambled egg in the microwave for breakfast - add in spinach, tomatoes, mushrooms
  • VoodooAborisha
    VoodooAborisha Posts: 147 Member
    Mmm that sounds great - I think I can do that! Those are great ideas, thank you!
  • jardin12
    jardin12 Posts: 62 Member
    Keep it simple - don't overdo the preparation I reckon. For lunch I sometimes have a lettuce leaf rolled around thin slice carrots, tomato, cucumber. lately I have been on coleslaw - thin sliced carrot, radish and Chinese cabbage with a natural yoghurt dressing (and tsp mustard), and put a tablespoon of that into a lettuce cup. Can add some cooked chicken if you like. Yes it is hard to always be thinking up new meal ideas! Goodluck ????
  • MoiKarina
    MoiKarina Posts: 139 Member
    For dinner I usually make stews, they are tasty and low fat. I start by putting a tbs of olive oil at the bottom of the pan and add tomato paste with it that I turn into a stew base with vegetable broth. Then add what you want. My mixes are :
    - Courgette, carrots, onions and chick peas with chicken (coriander and cumin)
    - Cauliflower and brocolli with white beans and white fish ( paprika, dill and chives)
    - Lentils with onions, carrots and turkey saussages (parsley, cinnamon and ginger)

    But you can do your own mix as well. For me it works perfect as it's very tasty and filling.
  • Satiable
    Satiable Posts: 121
    Great question! I have a couple of dietary ruts that I need to dig myself out of too, so thanks for the reminder. :flowerforyou:
    Lunch, I'll have an apple with 2-3 tablespoons of peanut butter. If I get hungry in the afternoon, I have a piece of cheese and another piece of fruit, or maybe a square of chocolate.
    Lots of raw vegetables taste great with peanut butter. Snow peas, carrot sticks, celery, cucumber, capsicum, broccoli stems… maybe try a couple of these in place of the apple, to get a bit more variety?

    Anybody know a good website with easy recipes, preferably with many vegetarian options?
    The links below should be a good start.

    http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/quick-veggie
    http://www.babble.com/best-recipes/20-vegan-meals-you-can-make-in-20-minutes-or-less/#make-a-spicy-meal-in-20-minutes-or-less
    http://webecoist.momtastic.com/2008/10/28/14-quick-vegetarian-recipes-for-the-hopeless-cook/
    http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes_menus/recipe_slideshows/quick_vegetarian_recipes?slide=5#view_toggles
  • Susiiiie
    Susiiiie Posts: 5 Member
    I agree that you could make your own soup easy and cheap, but if you don't feel like doing that you could buy knorr's cup-a-soup as a very easy lunch (tomato, minestrone, curry and others).. Those are not meat based like Mou's frozen soups.. I enjoy them often and they are pretty low cal.. (I live in Denmark too)
    Also Karolines køkken's soups are really good..
    http://www.arla.dk/Produkter/Brands/Karolines-Kokken-/Produkter/karoline-s-tomatsuppe/
    They are not meat based and they have different varieties :) yum yum
    Good luck!
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
    Try this if you want something quick and homemade---I buy carrots, celery, onion and parsely. I clean and wash them all. Then I grate the carrots. At this point I pull out the food processor. I run them all through-raw- until they are minced fine. Then I pull out the ice cube trays and fill them up with the mixture-freeze. Now when you want a fast and tasty veg soup, pull out a pan, add water and some diet broth, add at least 2 frozen cubes of minced vegetables and boil for 10 minutes. You can then add whatever you want--cooked barley, cooked rice, small pastas and cook another 5 min. Put in bowls with a tablespoon of grated parmesean cheese. It's fast, homemade and gives you vegetables. Good luck!
  • RawCarrots
    RawCarrots Posts: 204 Member
    Just bookmarking this to read later!
  • kimosabe1
    kimosabe1 Posts: 2,467 Member
    u are doing well with your loss so far, but i'd eat more. At least get to 1200 calories & i'd do an increase to 1350... This would help your loss..... I got stuck in a rut with 1200 & raised it to 1350 & my loss started again. 1200 is very minimal. Another weight loss website called Sparkpeople has u starting from 1300-1500 calories....
  • JustAnotherGirlSuzanne
    JustAnotherGirlSuzanne Posts: 932 Member
    Cook carrots with your potatoes and mash them. You can't taste the carrots but you're getting all the goodness still. :) If you want, slice up some sausage and toss that in too. It's called "pigs in the garden". I guess the carrot garden.
  • kellybellyjellyn
    kellybellyjellyn Posts: 83
    Omelettes are great !! And really quick too ! Love them

    I do 1 whole egg and 3 egg whites, mushrooms, red onion and tomato


    Frozen fruit, cheaper than fresh mix in natural yogurt and make smoothies.

    Stir fries.

    Lentils... really cheap and add bulk and protein to meals.

    Could add some lentils to your soup.
  • in4nomz
    in4nomz Posts: 230
    Breakfast - try making some protein muffins http://www.cookinglight.com/food/top-rated-recipes/quick-bread-recipes-00412000074980/page13.html?crlt.pid=camp.Asy4CzLs21QM

    Protein pancakes http://www.pbfingers.com/2010/08/08/versatility-of-oats/

    Oatmeal, 1-2 fried eggs, slice of cheese. I would eat this everyday if I had the time in the morning to make it.

    Lunch - TUNA! Canned tuna is cheap, and paaacked with protein. Mix it with half an avocado or a little mayo and dill. Eat it straight from the can or put it in a whole wheat wrap and munch on!

    Chicken breast and half a sweet potato....also very delish. I eat this for dinner a lot too with some cottage cheese.

    Dinners I like doing crockpot meals, that way I don't have to do much work and there's usually always leftovers for lunch the next day :) Chili is always a good option, soak your own beans and it's even cheaper!

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