Need help with finding new foods
bmblair041
Posts: 35 Member
So I usually have fast food for lunch because when I only get a 30 minute break from work there's not many options unless I make something at home before I leave. So I decided to kick the fast food a few days ago. I tried to eat some salad thing with rice and cucumber the other day that the grocery store clerk told me was healthy. I tried to eat it and it tasted awful to me, but since I knew I needed to eat better, I forced myself to eat it. About 3 bites in, my body decided to give my motivation the middle finger and throw it back out. So now I'm not sure what to do. My body freaks out whenever I try to change my diet, but I can't keep eating fast food. I want to find something that I can tolerate but will still be at least somewhat healthy.
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Replies
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Hi there,
First off, Welcome.
Have you had a look yet on the recipies forum?
(I've found that really helpful)
Also a good site for ideas is www.Skinnytaste.com
I personally found that initially a good lunch which isn't
too scary but can be as healthy as you want is a sandwich.
I at a snack at work this eve which was a soft roll, a little
light butter, salad and sweet chilli sauce.
'Cause of the butter and chilli sauce, it tastes good but it's
still quite a good choice for me.
Good luck and feel free to add me if looking for some friends.
Nicola x0 -
A lot of people like to buy those frozen healthy food meals-- which could be a good transition for you from fast food to something healthier.
Personally, I love to cook, so I may not be the best person to give advice, but take away what you think will work for you!
-I buy lots of fruits (mangos, kiwis, pinapples, strawberries, etc (basically what's on sale)) and chop them up on Sundays. You can put them in small tupperwares so you have them throughout the week.
-BUY TUPPERWARE! This will seriously be one of the best investments for your health!
-I also buy veggies (my vegs of choice: red peppers, carrots, cherry tomatoes) and pre-package them into little tupperware containers on Sunday. I also make a dip (chobani greek yogurt mixed with ranch powder) and keep it at my work in a fridge-- I don't know if this is possible for you)
-Most of the time my "main dish" is just leftovers from the night before (homemade pizza, enchiladas, stir-fry, w/e)
-I also have yogurt (fage 0% with strawberry) that I take to work, I buy the small portion-sized ones.
Other things to try:
Pita and Hummus (I love flatout flatbread --rosemary and olive oil)
Chips and Salsa
Apples and PB
Tuna/Chicken Salad with Crackers (Once again, buy a can or a roasted chicken-- or roast the chicken yourself!-- and mix up in advance to have throughout the week)
Cheese sticks
And nothing wrong with plain old fruit-- apples, oranges, bananas, etc!0 -
Don't try eating things right now that you don't like just because they are healthy. If I do that, I end up feeling unsatisfied with the meal and binge shortly afterwards to feel like I ate.
Start by making small changes. Take the foods you like and make a healthier version. If you find that you just cannot stop from eating out all the time, just work on replacing 1 fast food meal a day/week/whatever with a meal from home. Or make the fast food you do get healthier. Get a burger or chicken sandwich minus the mayo or other high calorie toppings. Instead of a large fry, make it a small. Or get a side salad instead of fries. Replace soda with water or tea. Then replace 2 or 3 meals a week with food from home.
The little changes will add up and you will eventually be eating fast food less and less.0 -
Don't try eating things right now that you don't like just because they are healthy. If I do that, I end up feeling unsatisfied with the meal and binge shortly afterwards to feel like I ate.
Start by making small changes. Take the foods you like and make a healthier version. If you find that you just cannot stop from eating out all the time, just work on replacing 1 fast food meal a day/week/whatever with a meal from home. Or make the fast food you do get healthier. Get a burger or chicken sandwich minus the mayo or other high calorie toppings. Instead of a large fry, make it a small. Or get a side salad instead of fries. Replace soda with water or tea. Then replace 2 or 3 meals a week with food from home.
The little changes will add up and you will eventually be eating fast food less and less.
I don't mind eating non-fast food type stuff. Like I make PB&Js or just cheese sandwiches sometimes, but when I try to eat healthy, I sometimes throw it all back up or I get diarrhea. Obviously I haven't tried every healthy food out there so I can't say all healthy food does this to me, but I'm just nervous about my insides falling apart again (and wasting my money on upchucked food).0 -
What kinds of foods do you like? Salad and rice don't really sound that great to me! Eat what you like, just use common sense and leave out the butter, cream, fats etc. If you find yourself falling back to fast food, try the diet menus. They all have lo cal options now thanks to the dude who sued McD's for him being fat!
You can eat healthy at fast food places. Subway is awesome. Wendy's and McD's have all kinds of salads. Taco Bell has a Drive Thru Diet Menu that is great, I eat there sometimes. Also, Sheetz and Wawa have great salads and sandwiches.
But nothing beats eating at home. Study recipes and make your own food. Good luck.0 -
What kinds of foods do you like? Salad and rice don't really sound that great to me! Eat what you like, just use common sense and leave out the butter, cream, fats etc. If you find yourself falling back to fast food, try the diet menus. They all have lo cal options now thanks to the dude who sued McD's for him being fat!
You can eat healthy at fast food places. Subway is awesome. Wendy's and McD's have all kinds of salads. Taco Bell has a Drive Thru Diet Menu that is great, I eat there sometimes. Also, Sheetz and Wawa have great salads and sandwiches.
But nothing beats eating at home. Study recipes and make your own food. Good luck.
Unfortunately the foods I like are pretty much all the stuff that's bad for you.
so that's why I'm trying to force it down because I know I have to regardless of if I like it or not. 0 -
It is possible to eat fast food and cut back on calories and fat. I don't know which fast food places you are frequenting. Get "regular" sized items not large. Try grilled chicken or double burgers rather than big burgers (whoppers or big macs) so you elinimate some of the bread. Eliminate special sauces and mayo. If you can't skip the fries, get the smallest size. Look online at the nutritional info. All the fast food places have it available and plan what you will order the night before. You can doi it! It won't be easy but it will be worth it! Good luck!0
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The key to starting to eat healthy food is to ease into it. Your body has to adjust.
Try Subway and get tons of veggies on it. Lunch meat sandwiches with veggies can easily be made at home. It's a stepping stone.
Once you make the transition move to grilled chicken w/salad, etc. Salads don't have to be boring or just lettuce. As someone mentioned, there are salads at fast food place. Just avoid using the dressings.0 -
It is possible to eat fast food and cut back on calories and fat. I don't know which fast food places you are frequenting. Get "regular" sized items not large. Try grilled chicken or double burgers rather than big burgers (whoppers or big macs) so you elinimate some of the bread. Eliminate special sauces and mayo. If you can't skip the fries, get the smallest size. Look online at the nutritional info. All the fast food places have it available and plan what you will order the night before. You can doi it! It won't be easy but it will be worth it! Good luck!
For fast food I generally eat at Wendy's. I'd get a plain (no lettuce, tomato, sauce, anything) single cheeseburger and maybe a diet coke. I've never gotten a large. I rarely get the combos just because the fries take too long to eat during a 30 min break to drive down the street and back and eat. Most of the time I just get a regular size, but sometimes I get a small depending on how hungry I am.0 -
The fact that you're getting sick from eating vegetables and rice says one of 2 things are true... either you hate the taste so much that it's psychologically making you ill.. or, you've been eating the same foods for so long that your body isn't used to trying anything new.
The solution: start small. The other poster had the right idea. Start with things you know and make them healthier. Buy lower 94% Lean hamburger meat and make your own hamburgers at home at night and then put them in small tupperwares to bring to work the next day. Instead of a hamburger bun, use wheat bread and add some lettuce, tomato, pickles, onion, and some mustard if you like. (There are no calories in mustard.) Stay away from Mayo & cheese. Keep all the toppings is a separate tupperware so you can microwave the burger and then put the sandwich together. Bring some baked chips to replace the fries.
Eventually, you can switch to turker burger instead of beef. One step at a time.0 -
Well, I've realized my other suggestions might be too extreme for you right now.
One idea-- give up soda. I know someone who lost 10 lbs right off the bat from just switching completely from soda to water.
Another-- try a chicken sandwich? I'm not sure if its any better (since its fried), but perhaps getting your body on a bit of variety will help.
Also-- talk to a doctor! Do you think anxiety about changing diet is causing this? Stress and Anxiety can do a doozy on the body.0 -
Well, I've realized my other suggestions might be too extreme for you right now.
One idea-- give up soda. I know someone who lost 10 lbs right off the bat from just switching completely from soda to water.
Another-- try a chicken sandwich? I'm not sure if its any better (since its fried), but perhaps getting your body on a bit of variety will help.
Also-- talk to a doctor! Do you think anxiety about changing diet is causing this? Stress and Anxiety can do a doozy on the body.
Could be. Back in 08 when I was in college the first time, I got so stressed out I started getting sick. Starting to think the poster who suggested seeing a dietician may be the best thing...0 -
Try making a healthier version of fast food that you like. Or try making sandwiches to bring into work. If salad scares you, don't start with that. Start with something you might enjoy more.
As for frozen food, there's a lot of stuff in the organic section at the grocery store. You can buy burritos (I like Amy's), or Kashi meals (I don't think they're organic, but they're pretty good).
Don't be so hard on yourself at first. Sometimes it's easier to change one thing at a time.0 -
Look up your favorite fast food sandwiches, burritos, etc. and make them with low cal substitutes and freeze them. I make breakfast burritos (mc donalds knock off) for my husband that he loves and eats for breakfast and lunch. I freeze them 2 to a quart size ziplock.
-2 Mission carb balance medium white tortilla
-1 turkey sausage patty warmed so you can cut into pieces(wal-mart great value turkey patties in a bag in the frozen section)
-1/4cup of egg whites (egg beaters)
-1/3cup of great value sharp cheddar cheese finely shredded
-4tbsp of great value chopped green chile's
I cut the turkey patty into little pieces and heat them in a pan with the green chili's and sprinkle pepper and onion powder in it. When it's nice and warm i pour in the eggwhites and stir and cook till I like the look of it. I then let it cool a little put in tortillas top with cheese, fold and put in a ziplock to freeze. I usually make 10 days worth (20, 2 per bag).
I found the recipe on line when I was looking for a healthier version of the McDonald's burritos he was always eating. I just looked up their recipe and substituted a healthier tortilla, turkey sausage, egg whites and the lowest sodium shredded cheese and green chile's I could find. I even found a great hot salsa " Clint's Texas Salsa" that is way lower in sodium than the others that he loves to put on them.
Usually a carton of egg whites, 7 sausage patties, 1 can of green chile's and a half a bag of shredded cheese makes 14 burritos.0 -
I saw something like this on TV. I think it was called My Strange Addiction and this guy was addicted to pizza. He ate pizza for every meal for several years. His body finally started rejecting the pizza so he knew he had to do something about it. I'm pretty sure when he tried new foods, he got sick too. I"ll have to see if I can find the episode online or something that could possible help you.0
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You can eat at McDonald's, Wendy's, Subway and Chick-fil-a and they have healthy choices for you to choose. I love Wendy's chili. Get a small chili and a side salad. Or a baked potato with a little bit of butter (not much!). At Mcdonald's you can have a grilled chicken salad and a yogurt parfiet. I love their yogurt!! They also have apples there. Subway, get a 6 inch turkey sub w/no mayo......Chick-fil-a, you can have them grill the nuggets instead of fry them. Then you can have fruit and a salad there too. Or order your cheeseburger, but take off 1 slice of bread. It took me years to learn to eat veggies, but I eventually have learned to like Brocolli, zuccinni, squash, mushrooms, asparagus....I still don't like a lot of veggies, but I try to eat a lot of the ones I do like. Try low fat or fat free yogurt too. Look for high fiber cereal....some are tastier than you would ever imagine! Good luck...changing your habits can be hard at first but it gets easier as you go! I promise!0
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Oh, if you have time to check out books at the library, a couple are pretty good for making better food choices, and they even have sections on fast food.
Eat This, Not That.
Volumetrics (by Barbara Rolls)
The 400 Calorie Fix.
Pictures included in all three books. Shows basically how you can eat well and healthier (and sometimes MORE food) by making choices. Nothing crazy either.0 -
Watch this video and let me know your thoughts. My daughter shared this with me...very interesting!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHKCb0_2oD0 0 -
Fried chicken sandwiches usually have almost double the calories if not more then fatty burgers. Don't go that way. I make and freeze meals to throw in the microwave. Any recipe can be made lower cal and more healthy you just have to look at the ingredients and see what you can omit or change to make it healthier. Some small things are leave out butter and oil and use pam cooking spray instead that saves you a couple hundred cal alone. Try Miracle noodles as a pasta. That's 0 calories so theres another couple hundred cal. Once you get into the swing of things its really easy.0
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It was called Freaky Eaters but all I found were video clips. But I definitely would seek a dietician or doctor or something. Last May I did a detox diet for 21 days through a clinic and it was the best thing for me. I've gone from a major veggie hater (besides potatoes, corn and occassionally green beans) to eating raw carrots, salads, raw spinach, asparagus, squash, etc. Your taste buds do change and things that used to taste awful start to taste good!0
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Watch this video and let me know your thoughts. My daughter shared this with me...very interesting!!!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHKCb0_2oD0
I love that documentary, Super Size Me. It's really an eye opener. Fast food as always grossed me out (being a vegetarian) but it's even more disgusting after seeing the reality of what it does to your body.0 -
I am a very picky eater also!!! I have been eating thin sliced honey ham on wheat bread (the 45 calorie) for lunch. I eat them plain because I don't really like condiments. I have been eating popcorn for snacks. When I do have to eat fast food I decrease the amount and drink more water. So instead of eating a quater pounder super sized, I will eat a cheeseburger and small fry with a large water!0
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Don't try eating things right now that you don't like just because they are healthy. If I do that, I end up feeling unsatisfied with the meal and binge shortly afterwards to feel like I ate.
Start by making small changes. Take the foods you like and make a healthier version. If you find that you just cannot stop from eating out all the time, just work on replacing 1 fast food meal a day/week/whatever with a meal from home. Or make the fast food you do get healthier. Get a burger or chicken sandwich minus the mayo or other high calorie toppings. Instead of a large fry, make it a small. Or get a side salad instead of fries. Replace soda with water or tea. Then replace 2 or 3 meals a week with food from home.
The little changes will add up and you will eventually be eating fast food less and less.
I don't mind eating non-fast food type stuff. Like I make PB&Js or just cheese sandwiches sometimes, but when I try to eat healthy, I sometimes throw it all back up or I get diarrhea. Obviously I haven't tried every healthy food out there so I can't say all healthy food does this to me, but I'm just nervous about my insides falling apart again (and wasting my money on upchucked food).
Have you tried keeping a detailed food and symptoms diary? You might just have a food intolerance or something there.... There might be a common factor. I'd keep a food and symptoms diary for a month or two, and head to the doctor if you can't see for yourself one or two things that seem to consistently make you sick. (Actually, I *did* do just that, and I do have food intolerances, but they do run in my family.)0 -
(Double post, sorry.)0
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Make a batch of low fat chili at home. Then microwave half a potato and cover in the chili. Bring it to work and re-heat it.
Sandwiches are great.
Grill a portebella mushroom. Put in a container. put in a baggie, peppers, onions, spices to taste. Another baggie with a bit of cheese, I like asiago or parmesan. At work, put everything on top of the mushroom and microwave until cheese melts.
Make some turkey balls at home, pack a few in a container and separately pack half of a pita. Also pack a bit of cheese, grilled onion, whatever else you like on a meatball sandwich. When ready for lunch, heat meat balls and put everything in the pita.
Cottage cheese with fresh fruit as a side.
Egg salad and crackers is always tasty.0 -
Since you specifically asked for non fast food ideas here are a couple. Another poster talked about preparing things on Sunday so they are ready to grab and go. I could never eat the way I am now with my busy scedule with out taking that prep time.
Bake or grill up a few skinless boneless chicken breasts. Do not over cook. Well prepared white meat is tender and jucy, over cooked and its chewy and dry and flavorless. Use lots and lots of spices. I am big on garlic, oregano and basil.
Cut up some veggies and fruits that you like. (it takes us at least 3 times to go from not liking something to liking it. If you do not think you like veggies figure out a dip to eat it with that you do like. There are lots of good ideas under recipes.
Not sure if you like to cook or not. I was really not much of a cook when I started this journey two years ago but I have learned. I can always make things tastier and healthier than I can buy them. I make a big pot of something on sundays to be the mainstay of my work lunch. I almost always do a veggie soup. If you want the recipe let me know. I have made lots of additions over the months for variation. I have also made Chili-white chicken or regular. My daughter loves tacos so I often do taco meat with a pound of lean beef (I should go to turkey but have not gone there yet) and some black beans. She has soft tacos and I have a taco salad. I measure out an ounce of low fat cheddar and 2 tablespoons of fat free sour cream and lots of saulsa (one of those things that is very low in calories but full of flavor)
Turkey from the deli works-You just have to be careful with deli meat because its full of nitrates and sodium but its still better than McD's. I use the peperage farms thin wheat bread and add lettuce, tomatoes and sometimes cucumbers for bulk and flavor.
Leftovers work well too. The challange is adding something to the small amount of meat to make it bulkey enough to fill you. I almost always have a piece of fruit with whatever else I am having or I eat it as a snack a few hours later.
Another poster said this too but Its good to hear it twice. Even making one little change is a start. One change will lead to other changes as your body adjusts to a better diet. Good luck. Before you know it you will be desgusted at the very foods that you like the best now. Just the thought of even going into McD is enough to turn my stomach.0 -
Hi. I took a look at your food diary to see if I could get an idea what kinds of food you like so that I could think of ways to make it more healthy. I was alarmed to see that, for the three days you have been tracking food, you average only 1088 calories--and ate less than 1000 calories one day. Are you not recording everything you eat, or are you really eating that little? Your diary shows that your target range is 1600-1783, so that's a huge deficit.
If that is really what you're eating, I don't think that's enough. I am a woman who just turned sixty and I'm eating more calories than you (and continuing to lose weight). A twenty yearold male should be eating MUCH more. Have you been depriving yourself of food for a while? Could you have an eating disorder? That might explain the vomiting when you try to eat outside your current level. I ask only because I'm concerned you might have a medical prolem that you need to address.
I'm hoping others who know more about nutrition than I will see this post and offer some advice.0
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