Work 8 hours, come home tired, don't feel like cooking, eat fast food. Help?
Violator_Rose
Posts: 31 Member
So I've been trying my best to stay within my calorie goals, and succeeding, but for the past few days I haven't been making the healthiest food choices.....I've been consuming way too much sodium and saturated fats than recommended, and nearly not enough protein or potassium..... Fast food is the obvious culprit, but I just can't bring myself to muster up the energy to cook food at home after working 8 hours..... I don't even have groceries to prepare any food with at the moment, so that makes things even more discouraging..... I absolutely hate shopping. And I'm not a fantastic chef. I'd rate myself a D+ when it comes to cooking.
How do you motivate yourselves to prepare healthy meals at home?
How do you motivate yourselves to prepare healthy meals at home?
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Replies
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Try cooking all your dinners and prepackaging them on Sunday. Other than that, if you must do fastfood, try kookooroo chicken or el pollo loco. But steer clear from the regulars.0
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Do you have a crockpot? I use mine all the time during the week. Most of my favorite recipes are only a few ingredients. Try searching some websites for different recipes. Right now I have a hamburger potato soup cooking for dinner tonight. Last week we had beef stew. I think tomorrow I will do a pork tenderlion with some mexican seasonings, a can of rotel and make pork soft tacos.
There is nothing better than coming home after a busy day and dinner is pretty much ready.
HTH!0 -
Last Sunday I cooked a box of high fiber pasta. Then I mixed it with low calorie dressing. Next I divided it into bowls for meals. Cheap and easy!
Here is my favorite one. I put chicken breasts in a crock pot with a jar of salsa. Very easy and that should last you a couple of days.0 -
Spending the time to prepare your meals would be best but you can do way better than fast food in a pinch - you'll still need to make that trip to the grocery store. When I lived alone I stocked up on single-serve items like Chobani yogurts, granola, pieces of fruit, bags of frozen veggies, rice, and chicken breasts (you can divide these yourself to save $). One benefit to this is all of these items are easy to find on MFP so portioning and logging is a breeze. The most time I would spend is cooking meats - sometimes I'd spend about 20-30 minutes to prepare 4 or 5 chicken breasts for the week. Keep hot sauce, mustard, balsamic vinegar around to dress up any meals that turn out bland.0
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Google freezer meals. Here's a site to help you get started http://happymoneysaver.com/freezer-meals/
They may not be all the recipes that will be good for your diet but you can always find healthier versions. Once a month or once a week make a lot of the meals. Freeze them and take out what you want and put them in a slow cooker in the morning or take it out to defrost so it will be ready for you to cook when you get home. The websites usually will tell how best to prepare them.0 -
Second the idea of a slow cooker or even just preparing food that you begin the night before - like marinating chicken or something. Tonight all I'll do is throw a chicken breast on the George Foreman and bake some frozen french fries.0
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Definitely recommend batch cooking and freezer meals. I have lods of stock cupboard and freezer items that can be cooked quickly and easily in the microwave or oven with minimal effort and within half an hour. I also use lots of frozen and fresh pre-chopped vegetables. On line supermarket shopping is also a god send.0
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I agree with the crock pot recipe, now that it's getting colder I plan to make chili in it soon & found an apple pork recipe online. I also dislike eating the same thing all week, so I prep the regular portion meal, but only put half in the crock pot and freeze the other half to have in a couple of weeks. I have a really small crockpot so this helps with that too! I feel the recipe's in a crockpot tend to be pretty forgiving too. The other suggestion is host a freezer meal session - where you pick out meals with friends & buy the items in bulk. You then create freezer meals with your friends. I'm not a great cook, but am friends with someone who is so they usually have great suggestions for meals/ techniques.0
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meals to me don't mean a fully prepared meal...so if i don't feel like cooking, i eat things like mix nuts, apple & peanut butter, granola cereal, dense fruit/seed energy squares, or whatever foods/snacks i have on hand that meet most of my nutrient needs.. i do however always make extras when i do cook meals and foodsave portions of it for future lazy days where i can just throw a bag into boiling water to reheat and eat..0
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I never feel like cooking. Here is what I often do. Buy bags of frozen vegs. Buy a variety of sauces like orange, ginger, teriyaki, sweat/sour etc. Buy large amounts of chicken (ham slices work also, for variety, and they are pre-cooked). On the weekends, cook the chicken (I boil mine), divide into 1-meal-size portions, freeze them.
After work, throw a whole bag of vegs into microwave. Thaw 1 portion of chicken (I boil again, just until thawed but can also microzap.) Add sauce to chicken (or mix and add to all). Log. Eat.
Takes 8 minutes total -- faster than driving to fast food and waiting in line.
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I use my Crock Pot. I work two jobs so I don't have time to cook every day. Every week I choose a recipe for the Crock Pot, make it, and then put it in tupperware to eat on the rest of the week.0
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A whole 8 hours?
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Agree with the Sunday cooking and crockpot tips.
Make 2-3 casseroles and use a recipe so your cooking skills won't matter. Divide each casserole into servings for easy meals. Freeze some of the servings so you'll always have a backup if needed.
Slow-cook 2 meals on the weekend. Divide those meals in the same manner. A super-duper easy recipe is to just take a couple chicken breasts, throw them in the crockpot with a can or two of your favorite salsa. Cook on low for 6-8 hours, shred the chicken. BANG - enough pulled chicken for 3-4 meals.
ETA:A whole 8 hours?
And, seriously, this. I'm plugging in 60+ hours a week right now with 2 kids. My wife works about the same. We eat home-cooked meals pretty much on a daily basis. It's hard. It doesn't get any easier as your responsibilities pile up. It just comes down to how much you want it to happen.0 -
I bought a crock pot with a timer on it. It was money well spent. I can throw in frozen chicken, frozen veggies, some broth(I use Rachel Ray's boxed broth) and set it and come home to a hot and ready meal.0
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It's about attitude - if shopping feels like hell, if you hate your cooking, if it isn't an enjoyable activity ... well, yeah, you aren't going to do it.
If you want to change that, the single most important thing is the hunt. You like eating? Make getting the food enjoyable.
Make it a fun or at least an interesting outing to go shopping - buy produce you like, take a moment for a coffee, meet friends out. For me it is time with my girls or gf or ex or as I step into the store I'm thinking about something good I'm going to make or eat.
Sure there are days when, meh, frozen pizza is all you can muster for, but how about doctoring it with dried tomatoes or artichokes or Serrano ham. I like my farmers market or even coming to America there are a few brands I really enjoy going out for.
Learn to use spices - add curry, colombo, thyme, oregano, etc... to your mix and see how it works - learn to use searing. Everyday cooking doesn't have to be complicated.0 -
EvgeniZyntx wrote: »It's about attitude - if shopping feels like hell, if you hate your cooking, if it isn't an enjoyable activity ... well, yeah, you aren't going to do it.
If you want to change that, the single most important thing is the hunt. You like eating? Make getting the food enjoyable.
Make it a fun or at least an interesting outing to go shopping - buy produce you like, take a moment for a coffee, meet friends out. For me it is time with my girls or gf or ex or as I step into the store I'm thinking about something good I'm going to make or eat.
Sure there are days when, meh, frozen pizza is all you can muster for, but how about doctoring it with dried tomatoes or artichokes or Serrano ham. I like my farmers market or even coming to America there are a few brands I really enjoy going out for.
Learn to use spices - add curry, colombo, thyme, oregano, etc... to your mix and see how it works - learn to use searing. Everyday cooking doesn't have to be complicated.
We do this when the day is too hectic. Our 4-cheese frozen pizza ends up being a 5-cheese with pepperoni, chicken, fresh peppers, tomato, onion, and mushroom!0 -
You gotta do what you gotta do. That is, as an adult, there 's a certain amount of stuff you need to do whether or not you enjoy it. Paying bills, cleaning toilets, grocery shopping, etc. I don't even know what to suggest as motivation for those things other than avoidance of eviction, filth, and starvation.
It really just comes down to being a grown up and taking care of business. Figure out a few foods you like to eat, learn how to cook them, and buy the ingredients. Eat them over and over until you get tired enough to learn a few new recipes. Lather, rinse, repeat.0 -
If you want to eat fast food during maintenance too......it can be done. There are thin people who eat fast food regularly. But, your choices are going to be more limited than before you lost the weight. You will have to cut back on something or the weight will come back.
Lifestyle changes......you need to decide what's right for you. Learn to cook ...... or limited choices (forever).
I like stir fries. Lean meat, veggies (even frozen bags work).....sauce & rice. Sauce is broth, thickener (corn starch) and seasonings.
Crock pot soups & stews are great. Crock pot chicken (TinCanonaString).....so easy. Seasoned meat for so many things.....burritos, tacos, taco salads.
Even buying ready made pizza crust....then do it yourself toppings. Turkey pepperoni is flavorful & lower fat.0 -
Eating fast food doesn't have to derail your progress, just research the restaurants ahead of time and figure out what you can order at them.
As for cooking at home, there's a lot of sauce packs and things out now that work well and don't take a lot of time or effort to use. Crock pots are another good investment; just toss your ingredients in before you leave for work and it'll be ready for dinner. There's TONS of good crock pot recipes online, too, so it's easy to arrange. I personally don't want to spend a weekend day just prepping food for the week, so I would say take the crock pot route 3-4 times a week to make things easier on you. If you want to spend one day a week prepping, you can basically put the ingredients in a ziploc bag and store in the freezer. From freezer to ready takes not much more time in a crock pot than putting them in unfrozen, and it will save you even more time in the mornings.0 -
Agree with all that everyone else is saying. We also sometimes do prepped stuff from the store rather than fast food. (We have a large grocery line item and a much smaller restaurant line item in our budget, haha.)
Generally we do a big meal on Sunday (enchiladas, lasagna, chili, whatever) since we work during the week. And then we usually do quicker meals during the week. We love leftovers and if we cook, we try to get at least 2-3 meals each out of it. We are a 2 person household (2 adults).
If we don't want to cook or have time to cook:
We will buy a bagged salad and a Newmans Own frozen pizza. That makes a meal.
Or...we have a great Italian specialty store around the corner. We will buy freshly made pasta and sauce and all you have to do is boil the noodles and heat the sauce. Add a bagged salad again for some veggies.
Or...a quick meal we can fall back on is a can of vegetarian refried beans, spread on a tortilla. (Use pinto or black if you prefer.) Sauté onion and bell pepper together, add a dash of spices, and top on the tortilla. Bam, fajitas. Dice up some avocado for some healthy fat if you wish. They are not restaurant quality but it gets the job done.
It really can be a pain to make meals, but it's so important to carve that time out. We also usually designate one weekday evening to be tv/media-free and it's amazing how much we can get done when we are not parked on the couch.0 -
It is about attitude, but it's about making things work for your schedule. I don't have a real stove/oven. I have a microwave and a George Forman grill. Meat, even frozen (turkey burgers, ground buffalo,fish, etc.), takes about 5 minutes to cook (and I am forever overcooking it) and frozen veggies take about the same amount of time. Very rarely do I spend even 15 minutes preparing a meal.0
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I use Soylent, which is a meal replacement powder, for the times when I'm just too tired or lazy to procure "real" food. Its definitely not as enjoyable as real food, but it's nutritious and healthier than fast food, and gets the job done.0
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tatjanak87 wrote: »I use Soylent, which is a meal replacement powder, for the times when I'm just too tired or lazy to procure "real" food. Its definitely not as enjoyable as real food, but it's nutritious and healthier than fast food, and gets the job done.
I cannot get over the name of this product. Every time I see it mentioned I think of Soylent Green.0 -
tatjanak87 wrote: »I use Soylent, which is a meal replacement powder, for the times when I'm just too tired or lazy to procure "real" food. Its definitely not as enjoyable as real food, but it's nutritious and healthier than fast food, and gets the job done.
I cannot get over the name of this product. Every time I see it mentioned I think of Soylent Green.
Well, one is called Soylent and the other is called Soylent so I can see how that might happen.0 -
tatjanak87 wrote: »I use Soylent, which is a meal replacement powder, for the times when I'm just too tired or lazy to procure "real" food. Its definitely not as enjoyable as real food, but it's nutritious and healthier than fast food, and gets the job done.
I cannot get over the name of this product. Every time I see it mentioned I think of Soylent Green.
The creator specifically had that in mind when he named it. There was a great interview with him on NPR.0 -
I am struggling with the same. I buy a ton of Amy's cheese and been burritos are Target for $2 and eat them for lunch, they are 310 calories. Frozen bags of veggies are quite frequent in my house. Sometimes I get a 7 layer burrito at Taco Bell and they are 470 calories...Eating out I usually pick a salad and always get the dressing on the side. I get a lot of Costco salads and use only half the dressing. Frozen chicken breast strips at costco are easy to heat up in the oven or microwave - then I add them to a salad. Every time you do make dinner, make extra for your lunch at least the next day if not meals for the next 2-3 days. Good luck!0
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tincanonastring wrote: »tatjanak87 wrote: »I use Soylent, which is a meal replacement powder, for the times when I'm just too tired or lazy to procure "real" food. Its definitely not as enjoyable as real food, but it's nutritious and healthier than fast food, and gets the job done.
I cannot get over the name of this product. Every time I see it mentioned I think of Soylent Green.
The creator specifically had that in mind when he named it. There was a great interview with him on NPR.
Did he really? I'm going to have to look up the interview.0 -
The hubs cooks on the grill several items and we use the vacuum sealer and portion meats out and freeze them. Same thing with crock pot meal. I always have chicken, lean burgers, soups, stew, chilli, spaghetti sauce in the freezer. To me with my meat done and just needing heating is half the battle and can get supper on the table quick and healthy.0
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lauries8888 wrote: »I never feel like cooking. Here is what I often do. Buy bags of frozen vegs. Buy a variety of sauces like orange, ginger, teriyaki, sweat/sour etc. Buy large amounts of chicken (ham slices work also, for variety, and they are pre-cooked). On the weekends, cook the chicken (I boil mine), divide into 1-meal-size portions, freeze them.
After work, throw a whole bag of vegs into microwave. Thaw 1 portion of chicken (I boil again, just until thawed but can also microzap.) Add sauce to chicken (or mix and add to all). Log. Eat.
Takes 8 minutes total -- faster than driving to fast food and waiting in line.
Great idea!!!0 -
JanineAytekin wrote: ».................................., if you must do fastfood, try kookooroo chicken or el pollo loco. But steer clear from the regulars.
Chipotle (my daughter calls is Chi-poodle, lol) is a good one to. The food is near organic, definitely high grade, and tastes really fresh and light. Just had it for lunch and total calories were 545 (mostly because of the brown rice, but I need some type of grain for my colon.) I could eat this every day of the week.
I make a home made version on Sundays when I have time. Beans and rice a very good quick meal, add grilled/baked chicken, add red onions, salsa, and that is some serious good eating that you will get full on.
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