How to not get bored with eating healthy

Change it up every day... walk a different route or try a different machine. There are a million ways to cook chicken, and other things... don't eat the SAME thing day in and day out. Constant change is the only reason that I am still here after 5 months. I too, get super bored super easy. And talk about it!!! ALL the time! IF your family or friends get tired of hearing about your journey, blog about it on MFP... none of us EVER get tired of hearing about people's successes, struggles, etc. Good luck to you! :drinker:

The idea that occasional junk food is ok can work for most but dont let it be an excuse.

An excuse for what specifically?

Use websites for there recipes so you can cook and try something different for dinner. I'd say plan you meals weekly/fortnightly/monthly so then you know whats planned for the week ahead and not having to think about what you can cook. Also I find with doing this, the cost of my shopping goes down as I am not buying food for the sake of it.
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Healthy food doesn't have to mean boring food. There are so many great helthy recipes out there that have all kinds of taste and flavors. You can even take your favorite meals and add a healthy twist to them.
I eat all kinds of lean meats and vegetables and never with a shortage of great flavors.

THIS!

sorry, duplicate post

I agree, healthy doesn't have to mean boring. You just have to find ways of keeping it interesting and not live off lettuce. I've been craving wings so tonight we're having faux wings made with boneless skinless chicken thighs and lots of Frank's hot sauce.

http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/homemade_hot_sauce.html

You can make you own hot sauce without all the salt.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup diced onion
2 medium chile peppers, such as poblano, New Mexico or Anaheim, diced
2-4 habanero peppers, or other small hot chile peppers, stemmed, halved and seeded (see Tip)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound tomatoes, diced (about 3 cups)
1 cup distilled white vinegar
2 teaspoons salt
1-3 teaspoons sugar


Preparation
Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, chile peppers, habaneros to taste and garlic and cook, stirring, until the onion is soft and beginning to brown, 3 to 4 minutes.
Reduce heat to medium. Add tomatoes, vinegar, salt and sugar to taste. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes begin to break down, about 5 minutes.
Carefully transfer the tomato mixture to a food processor or blender. Puree until smooth. (Use caution when pureeing hot ingredients.) Set a fine-mesh sieve over a medium bowl; pour the pureed mixture through the sieve, pushing on the solids with a wooden spoon to extract all the liquid. (Discard solids.) Let the sauce cool to room temperature, about 1 1/2 hours.

that eating healthy is too hard or too boring or that "I am depriving myself if I dont eat that twinkie" and those types of excuses. IMO, they are not reasons to eat unhealthy, they are excuses reinforced by the idea that its ok. I am not saying that occasional junk food will ruin your health. I am saying that eating junk is not necessary to sustain a long term healthy diet.

The main justifcation to eat junk on most health sites is the self fullfilling prophecy that "if I deprive myself of my favorite treats I will get bored or mad or whatever" . That does not have to be true. Again...I am not anti junk food per se. But it isnt required to maintain this lifestyle unless you allow it to be.

We are not depriving ourselves by avoiding junk food. We are rewarding ourselves by avoiding junk food..

Thanks for your explanation. We can agree to disagree.

This is something a friend suggested. For dinners: Take 30 note cards, put a different meal on each of them (try to incorporate new meals you have not tried, but are on the healthier range). Put them in a shoe box and shake them up. Pull one out each night for the NEXT nights dinner. She also said to pick only once a week with 7 cards in each pick. That way you can set a grocery list to what you need for that weeks meals.

I am going to try this starting January 2nd. Sometimes she suggested it be a night out meal too. Challenge yourself to find healthier alternatives at restaurants. I am going to allow myself 5 to 7 days of "eat out meals" for the month (if I pick more than two in one week, I'll put that back in the box and repick). I have not tried this, but it sounds good to help have a plan in place each week.

That is an awesome idea! I will be stealing that for sure!!!! :bigsmile:

My trick is that I give myself three meals, anytime during the week, to eat whatever it is I want. I lost 40 pounds last year doing it this way. This way I don't feel like I am depriving myself.