I need serious food help! :(

jbretz
jbretz Posts: 43
edited September 28 in Food and Nutrition
I'll be blunt. I have an addiction to fast food and soda. I'm a college student. I have enough money to pay for "better" food, I'm just lazy. It's so much easier for me to drive down to McDonald's than it is for me to make a healthy meal for myself. I've been incredibly stressed out lately. It's come to a breaking point and I am using this moment to finally commit myself to start exercising and to start eating healthy. I need help though.

I'm a moderately big guy. 6'3", 200 pounds. If I were to eat better and exercise though, I could easily cut that down to 170. I need a bit more food than average to fill me up. I am having a very hard time visualizing what I need to eat. I go to the grocery store and become overwhelmed by all of the choices. Organic, whole grain, low fat, low carb, it's all so confusing to me. I try it for a few days and slip right back into my usual fast food routine. I need help getting a proper kick start. Are there resources for me to find relatively inexpensive, well portioned and healthy meals? I'm very willing to try new things, learn to cook and eat healthily. Previous experiences have left me starved with virtually no motivation. I know I can do this. If someone can help me out, you have no idea how grateful I would be. I don't really have anyone in my life who can guide me with this. So, thank you for taking the time to read this! If you need to know anything else about my situation, just ask! :-)

Replies

  • QueenHanifa
    QueenHanifa Posts: 180 Member
    add me..and take a look at my food diary..simple eating that don't take a lot of time nor money..and good luck on your journey!
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
    Fast food is always easier, it's why it's called "fast food". :smile: I think we've all had times in our lives where we've been where you are now: too tired when we get home from work and/or school to have any motivation to cook, dialing Domino's is just easier.

    What is your kitchen situation like? Do you have a full stove/oven? A microwave? A crock pot? I ask because it's sometimes easier to cook enough for several meals and then freeze the rest in individual portions for easier and faster eating on another night. You might find that very helpful.

    I'm sure you'll get a lot of good ideas here, but I think what you should do is start slowly. Try one new thing at a time. If you try to make too many changes too quickly you're going to get overwhelmed and are more likely to slip back into your current routine. Set a goal to cook one meal for yourself each day, to cut out one soda each day and drink a glass of water instead, etc. Add a new goal every week or so or just up your current goal (cut out two sodas, for example) until your new lifestyle is second nature.
  • jbretz
    jbretz Posts: 43
    I have a full stove/oven and a microwave. I may have a crock pot somewhere. I haven't thought about the idea of freezing leftover food, that would be great for not having to take a chunk of time out each time I would like to eat. That's actually fantastic. I was a bit overwhelmed by the thought of having to fully prepare something each time I wanted to eat. I could see myself having some (healthy) cereal and fruit for breakfast, a sandwich and a salad (or something similar) for lunch and a prepared meal for dinner. If I could possibly ask for any more help, it would be to find resources that could show me what I could actually eat. The internet is very overwhelming, so much information all over the place.

    The first change I do want to make is to cut down on soda. I have made a great first step in getting all of the soda out of the house. Now, of course, I keep driving to get it. Is there something healthy that I could use to sweeten up water? I don't have a problem with substituting water, sometimes I just crave a sweet taste. If that were possible, I could cut out soda completely very easily.
  • mrudzinski
    mrudzinski Posts: 17 Member
    Hey! I'm a college student too. I'm not anywhere close to a "Chef" but heres a few things i've tried/learned.

    First off, I have a group of about 10 friends at my school and we pair up and each pair makes a meal on one day of a certain week. We do it on Tuesdays. I just have to cook one tuesday (with a partner, so it makes it fun) for all 10 people. Then I have the next 4 tuesdays covered, because they cook. It also makes a fun social gathering during the school week. You learn new recipes, and you def. get better acquainted in the kitchen.

    Next, I've discovered the miracle of a crock pot. Most of the ingredients you can just throw in the pot before you head to class and when you're done with the day dinner is ready. Pretty basic stuff. (basic is really all I'm capable of)

    I was addicted to soda too. At first I had to put mio (a pretty awesome 0 cal flavoring liquid) into my water in order for me to drink it. Consider it a step down from soda. After a while, you don't even need the flavor and can just drink plain water. Unsweetened iced tea is also good and 0 cal. It is really difficult to get rid of the soda, but I felt a LOT better after it was out of my system.

    Hope I helped a little!

    OH! PS!

    I've had to do McDonalds a few times since I've been dieting. Sometimes you don't have time or money. I usually order a kids meal. I don't recommend doing it often, or at all really. But if you ABSOLUTELY MUST

    4 Pc Chicken Nuggets and sauce: 260 calories
    Apple Dippers (Don't eat the caramel): 35 Calories
    Unsweetened Large Iced tea: 0 Calories
    PLUS A PRETTY SWEET TOY
    Total: 295 calories
  • stepbystep6
    stepbystep6 Posts: 88 Member
    I was in your shoes once and I found the best thing for me was to have a plan! Menu plan, grocery list, and quick health choices in the fridge at all times to grab and go.

    I chose 5 meals that I liked each week, And truethfully I ate the same basic meals over and over again. I often made double of each meal and used them for lunches or days when I didn't feel like cooking. I got recipes from my mom, asked friends for cookbook recommendations and occasionally searched online for recipes using the ingredients I actually had on hand, you can even choose 'fast-food-like' meals and 'healthify' them at home (ie use whole grains, low fat dairy,double the vegetables, bake not fry). I'll tell you what my 5 meals were: I remember I used to make taco salad every week (lots of leafy mixed greens, tomatoes, green peppers, baked brown beans, lean ground beef/chicken/turkey, bit of cheese, low fat sour cream or better yet salsa and avacados) I used to use canned soups often as meals but I would double the vegetables by dumping in frozen veggies as it was heating up or throwing in my leftover veggies. Omlets with red pepers, green onions,mushrooms, low-fat deli ham and a bit of sheddred cheese on top. 1 pot tuna noodle casserole - with whole wheat noodles, low fat cream of chicken soup and tuna in water with nutmeg and garlic powder and frozen vegetalbes thrown in. At the end of the week I would often make stirfry with whatever vegetable was left in the fridge, with rice noodles. (but now I would suggest quinoa - it is just as easy and even yummier) Oh and I would cook up 3-4 chicken breasts, dice and throw into the freezer so I could add to vegetable soup, salads, quick stir fries.

    Figure out a grocery list so you buy what you need and can navigate the grocery store choices better, I would count the number of meals in the week and buy a peice of fruit or serving of vegetables for every meal.


    You don't have to figure out everything at once - if you start by having healthy whole foods at home and eating more meals at home - that's a good nano step. If you gather a few recipes or ideas for meals and learn how to make them, another nano-step. Then maybe you'll start comparing lables of things you have come to use regularily and see if there is a better choice - meaning packed with more nutrients for the number of calories, Trying to do and learn it all at once is much too overwhelming. You can't do everything now but you can do something - choose that something and build from there.
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
    Stir fry is a fabulous, easy and healthy meal. I just made one last night, in fact, because it was late when we all got home from work. You can't really freeze it for leftovers because it gets mushy but it's so easy you don't really need to. Here's the "how to" for one person:

    Leave a frozen 4 oz. chicken breast in the fridge during the day to thaw.
    When you are ready to start dinner in the evening, start the rice or pasta you'll serve it with on a back burner of your stove.
    Take out the chicken, nuke a little if it's still too frozen, then slice it up into thin strips.
    While cutting up the chicken, heat up a frying pan and add a tablespoon or two of olive oil.
    Put the chicken in the pan then sprinkle it with granulated garlic and onion to taste and cook the outsides.
    Add a few teaspoons of soy sauce (to taste) and stir everything around. (Don't add it sooner or it'll splatter from the oil!)
    Grab a package of frozen stir fry vegetables from the freezer and put half into the frying pan. Clip the package and put back into the freezer for next time.
    Toss any leftover fresh veggies you like in there, too. (I'll sometimes use cabbage, broccoli, carrots or last night it was sliced yellow squash)
    Heat everything through. If you add spaghetti noodles toss them in at the end. If using rice, keep them separate until serving.

    Last night I used Miracle Noodles which have no carbs or calories and don't require cooking so a serving of stir fry was less than 200 calories and very tasty!
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