15 years...down the drain!

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  • souchie
    souchie Posts: 18 Member
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    Food and feeding those you love, is nothing to be ashamed of. The best memories of family and friends probably center around food, get togethers/holidays..... the important thing is to find balance. Know that if you're making lasagna for dinner, you need to plan for a smart breakfast/lunch, and great workout that day. When you establish that balance, you'll glow and others will notice. Do some tweaking of your recipes if you feel you need to, but more importantly, stop being so hard on yourself.
  • lbelfrey
    lbelfrey Posts: 63
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    Hey! Cheer up :)
    @Familiar is right! I have found ways of tweeking my old family favorites so even I can enjoy them. It doesn't have to be the end of wonderful tasting foods. I have found that MFP's have great ideas for great tasting foods. So let us know some of your favorite recipies so that we can enjoy them too! It'll be just like you're cooking for us, your extended family!
    Louisa
  • rwroble1
    rwroble1 Posts: 4
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    I known what you mean, but it isn't true!

    I have been cooking since I was in the 6th grade. I too have been told to open a restaurant. A few years ago, I was diagnosed with Celiac disease and had to cut out all gluten, ie wheat, barley and rye!!! At first I was depressed. I remember walking in the grocery store, looking at the pasta and breads on the verge of tears! Now I still get to spend time cooking, I just have to be more creative. It has actually been fun and I feel so much better!

    Hang in there. You'll find your niche. Remember, losing weight isn't all about diet, but exercise too. When I want to eat a decadent meal, I workout an extra time so I can eat to my hearts delight!!!
  • whatsyour1020
    whatsyour1020 Posts: 29
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    Thank for all your encouragement guys :heart:
  • DRJJ2004
    DRJJ2004 Posts: 186 Member
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    My heart hurts for you. I agree with everyone else when they say you should just try to change up the good recipes that you have. Good cooking doesn't have to be full of calories. I'm sure you're up for a good challenge, are you not? :O) No one has to know that they are low cal or good for you...at least until after they eat it. :O)

    Hang in there!!

    Hugs!
  • MissyFit08
    MissyFit08 Posts: 274 Member
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    You could publish a cookbook....one side will have the original recipes then you turn the book over and that side will have the same recipes but changed up to be healthier. I SO would buy a cookbook like that....
  • trishlambert
    trishlambert Posts: 213 Member
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    I don't know if anyone else has mentioned it (lots of responses here!), but you might get inspiration from the Hungry Girl site (http://www.hungrygirl.com). And I'm sure there are other similar sites out there.

    Hungry Girl has "swaps," where she takes a calorie-laden dish and comes up with a facsimile with significantly fewer calories. For example, with lasagna, she recommends substituting thinly sliced aubergine/eggplant for alternate layers of noodles.

    Check out what she does with "fatty" recipes, and then maybe you can come up with similar "swaps" for many of those recipes you have.

    And if you're successful, please share your "new" recipes with us!!!
  • Sarahdangerfox
    Sarahdangerfox Posts: 38
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    I LOVE to cook, and I LOVE to cook for my friends and family, and they LOVE eating at my house :)

    I also used to love to cook with a lot of butter, cheese, cream sauces, pasta and rice...it's amazing how far a few little substitutions will take you. Try just getting inspired by a farmers market, letting veggies and lean meats speak for themselves instead of covering them up with heavy sauces. What are your favorite things to make? Can you substitute half shredded zucchini or spinach for the ground meat? Can you substitute half turkey for pork? I love to use fat-free greek yogurt instead of butter, cheese, sour cream or cream in a lot of my recipes. Your crock pot or dutch oven will be invaluable to you in the way it infuses your food with flavors and richness that don't come from a quick fix on the stove top.

    Good luck- this is an exciting new adventure for you! You are not throwing away fifteen years of experience, you are using them as inspiration for the next fifteen. Those years and recipes will inform your new lifestyle in a way that a brand spankin' new cook's wouldn't be.
  • shell1580
    shell1580 Posts: 2
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    I just happened to see your post and I wanted to share something with you. Since the time I could talk my grandmother had me in her kitchen. I read your post and I thought, wow that is me! I love to cook and bake like you wouldn't believe. You don't have to change that. You don't have to give up feeding people. I made it a challenge to myself and spent four weeks learning how to shop, comparing nutrition facts and implementing those things into my favorite recipes. My boys would NEVER touch something healthy, so I had to make things that they, too, would eat. I surely wasn't cooking two seperate meals :) Two of their favorites I make with morning star farms veggie products and they have NEVER questioned it or said it tasted funny. I make enchilada's and chicken quesidilla's for them all the time! I even had one of my hubby's buddys over for dinner, whom I fed all the time, and he had no idea the meat in my spaghetti was meatless! As for the baking, I make healthy bran banana muffins for me and I still bake all of my favorites, I just pawn them off and get them out of my house so I'm not tempted :)
  • Patchworkperson
    Patchworkperson Posts: 151 Member
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    I'm so with you on this. I love to cook & felt bereft when I seriously started on MFP. But I've taken our fav recipes & tweaked here & there & the calories are down to reasonable levels. The main thing I found was portion size! My portion control was out of control! We still eat the same great food (ok, not so much bad fat), have increased the veggies - I grate carrots & zucchini in to many dishes. The best thing is no-one has noticed & I still get told how great my cooking is.

    Please look at you recipes again, see how you can make them part of your healthy lifestyle & carry on enjoying them. The other thing is, please share some!!

    Geri
  • JoelleMonique
    JoelleMonique Posts: 107
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    I love, love , love cooking! I love slaving away all day in the kitchen to feed my family and friends. If you can cook and have a passion for it there is NO reason you can't develop low fat recipes. It's all about flavour. Challange yourself to relook at your old favourites and give them a makeover. Don't give up something you enjoy doing.

    I'll give you an example, bolognaise sauce can be very high calories. Use only half the ussual amount of extra lean mince, grate carrots, baby marrows and onion, mix with the mince and brown in a little oil. Add chopped mushrooms and your tinned tomotoes and tomato puree. Remember your fresh herbs and no one will know that it's mostly veggies they're eating. I use this to make lasagne too.

    Good luck.

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