Help I think I am addicted to eating out!!!!!!

proctor78
proctor78 Posts: 51
in Food and Nutrition
Hello,
My husband and I want to get real serious about our health, but I hate to cook and we eatout way to much I know it has to stop, any tips for me from you pro's????
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Replies

  • Rocbola
    Rocbola Posts: 1,998 Member
    FRUIT!!!! It's so easy to prepare, so good for you, and has no addictive chemicals in it, unlike restaurant food. Salads are easy to make too, especially if you both get to chopping at the same time. My girlfriend and I can have a huge salad made in a few minutes, and clean up is really easy too.
  • hazelovesfood
    hazelovesfood Posts: 454 Member
    I love love love to eat out too but ive cut it way down in the last 4 weeks, simply because there is not enough nutritional info out there for my fav places, which is so annoying, I dont go to chiquitos anymore as i cant get the info for what I like to eat.I make alot of my own food and make some fab meals and mostly im quite happy I didnt go out and eat lol.
  • snowbike
    snowbike Posts: 153 Member
    If you dont like cooking, get your Husband to cook.

    I could not cook when I started to lose weight. I took over the cooking and now love cooking.
    Keep things really simple. example ; Get some already mixed spices like schwartz cajun or jerky. Throw it on some meat (like chicken), cook and then just garnish with some prepack salad and few tomatoes or some rice, pasta or put in a wrap or pita bread.
    80% of my meals are like this.
  • jinglett
    jinglett Posts: 69
    There are many wonderful prepared fresh options at the grocery store these days--pre cut fruit, pre cut veggies, pre made salads. They cost more than the whole foods but are significantly less than eating out. Start with those and work your way in to the kitchen or not as you see fit. The whole steam in the bag line of vegetables are quick and easy to go with grilled meats. Once your taste buds acclimate to eating at home eating out won't be such a treat anymore. Good Luck!
  • lwdllc
    lwdllc Posts: 234 Member
    Make the effort together to learn to prep foods, you can prep for a whole week on a sunday adding make eating out a reward. Cooking doesn't have to be complicated, simple is better! a piece of meat, a fresh veggie and and a salad or starch. Good freezer foods you can make in batches and freeze are chilis, soups, enchilladas, lasagnas, meatballs. The hardest part is getting started!
    Good luck!
  • melsinct
    melsinct Posts: 3,512 Member
    There are many wonderful prepared fresh options at the grocery store these days--pre cut fruit, pre cut veggies, pre made salads. They cost more than the whole foods but are significantly less than eating out. Start with those and work your way in to the kitchen or not as you see fit. The whole steam in the bag line of vegetables are quick and easy to go with grilled meats. Once your taste buds acclimate to eating at home eating out won't be such a treat anymore. Good Luck!

    I agree. Start slowly....buying a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken at the store is a good start and very versatile. You can use it in "pulled chicken" sandwiches, chicken salad, wraps, etc. Then work your way to grilling or baking chicken- cook a bunch at once and you can work on quick and easy leftovers all week.

    Don't overwhelm yourself in the beginning and start simple. Once you feel a little more comfortable in the kitchen, check out easy recipes. There are many beginner-type cookbooks at the library you could check out.
  • TriciaAllen7251
    TriciaAllen7251 Posts: 283 Member
    The crockpot is your friend if you don't like to cook. Just throw everything together in the morning, turn it on and dinner is ready when you get home.
    Also the Ziplock Steamer bags. Put your chicken breast in, a little salt and pepper or seasonings and pop in the micro. Done in seconds/minutes.
    You could buy your husband a grill. Something about men and fire......that's all I'm saying about that.
  • proctor78
    proctor78 Posts: 51
    Thanks guy's
  • Darkskinned88
    Darkskinned88 Posts: 1,177 Member
    i thought you meant.....well never mind...theres changes you can make as to what you order out, a veggie pizza, white rice and steamed veggies instead of pork fried rice, a wrap instead of a sub etc
  • fraser112
    fraser112 Posts: 405
    i thought you meant.....well never mind...theres changes you can make as to what you order out, a veggie pizza, white rice and steamed veggies instead of pork fried rice, a wrap instead of a sub etc

    I was about to giggidy also
  • Contrarian
    Contrarian Posts: 8,138 Member
    Lots of people suffer from an addiction to eating out. It gives people so much pleasure, that it is difficult to stop. It isn't necessarily harmful, in moderation, though.
  • jesusHchris
    jesusHchris Posts: 1,405 Member
    You could try attacking it from a different angle and set a monetary budget for eating out. Sites like mint.com will automatically track and tag any purchases made with your debit (or credit, but those are evil) card and send you a notification when you are at or near your limit.

    It might also help get on top of your finances, if that is a goal of yours. Two birds one stone kinda deal.
  • SofaKingRad
    SofaKingRad Posts: 1,592 Member
    I love eating out. One of my favorite things to do! It's addicting like contrarian said. My kids are staying at my parents house this weekend, so odds are I'll be eating out that night. Just be sensible when you do it!
  • definitelyval
    definitelyval Posts: 104 Member
    Something that helps us (other than having no money to eat out, lol) is planning out meals for the week. I love to cook, but don't have the time, so on Sundays my husband and I sit down and decide what we're gonna eat each night for the week. On the days I exercise after work, we choose something easy like a frozen lasagna or leftovers. Since I already know what I'm going to cook and when I'm going to cook it, I don't feel pressured each night to create a fabulous gourmet meal, and don't fall back on just grabbing a burger.

    P.S. when you start seeing how many calories are in fast/restaurant food, you will change your mind!! :laugh:
  • isa75
    isa75 Posts: 156 Member
    Cooking classes? It's a fun thing you guys can do together and might spark your interest in cooking.
  • CoryIda
    CoryIda Posts: 7,870 Member
    I need to find a man who loves to eat out.
  • BigDaddyBRC
    BigDaddyBRC Posts: 2,395 Member
    Simple. Make the decision to stop what you are doing. Then act upon that choice.
  • WillPowerYes
    WillPowerYes Posts: 103 Member
    Hello,
    My husband and I want to get real serious about our health, but I hate to cook and we eatout way to much I know it has to stop, any tips for me from you pro's????

    "Eating out" is not the culprit. You can "eat out" and still eat healthy if you make wise choices. Take your own spritzer salad dressing along (its nearly calorie free, yet yummy flavors for both salad and veggies). Eliminate the cheese and mayo on foods (flavor instead with ketchup or mustard or other lower-fat condiments). Drink water or diet soda (not exactly healthy, but at least low-calorie) or 100% fruit juices instead of regular soda (empty calories) or high-calorie milkshakes.

    If you like to eat out, do so, just plan ahead what restaurants will allow you to make good choices, and then stick to those places.
  • yustick
    yustick Posts: 238 Member
    I'm lucky my husband cooks dinner (I do dishes), but I still try to keep it really simple so that cooking isn't overwhelming. We grill our meat and use those ziploc steam bags in the microwave for veggies. If I have a potato, it just goes in the microwave too.

    Other meals are simple too. Fresh fruit, veggies, yogurt, nuts and eggs. I would prefer scrambled eggs in the morning, but it is too hard (I know how sad that sounds), so on the weekend, we hard boil enough for the week.

    We ate out a lot this past week because we are working on a big project and I wanted to save time. It turned out to be a mistake, aside from the cost of eating out, I over ate. And going out to pick up food takes just as much time as it does to cook. I shouldn't have used this project as an excuse. Next time, I will make a meat/veg stir fry to last several days and just heat up left overs.
  • Cathy7794
    Cathy7794 Posts: 223 Member
    This whole thread is making me giggle. :laugh:
  • Scott613
    Scott613 Posts: 2,317 Member
    I'm addicted to eating dried out peaches.

    images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSXAUePS2kSXEmNgXDxGAkeejzS66L5CGFk_6XpklLHBDsl6BPk
  • _Timmeh_
    _Timmeh_ Posts: 2,096 Member
    I'm addicted to eating dried out peaches.

    images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSXAUePS2kSXEmNgXDxGAkeejzS66L5CGFk_6XpklLHBDsl6BPk

    That looks more like the backside of a peach than the front.
  • Cathy7794
    Cathy7794 Posts: 223 Member
    I'm addicted to eating dried out peaches.

    images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSXAUePS2kSXEmNgXDxGAkeejzS66L5CGFk_6XpklLHBDsl6BPk
    OMG! :laugh: I love eating those too!! :tongue:
  • Trail_Addict
    Trail_Addict Posts: 1,340 Member
    I'm addicted to eating dried out peaches.

    images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSXAUePS2kSXEmNgXDxGAkeejzS66L5CGFk_6XpklLHBDsl6BPk

    Mouth watering! :love: I can never get my hands on one of these when I'm craving one! :sad:
  • Scott613
    Scott613 Posts: 2,317 Member
    I'm addicted to eating dried out peaches.

    images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSXAUePS2kSXEmNgXDxGAkeejzS66L5CGFk_6XpklLHBDsl6BPk

    Mouth watering! :love: I can never get my hands on one of these when I'm craving one! :sad:
    Be careful where you get yours from. You don't want to get a bad batch!
  • jjjohnson31
    jjjohnson31 Posts: 108 Member
    giggity.gif
  • AbbeyRysMom
    AbbeyRysMom Posts: 101 Member
    I have a "take out" or "fast food" addiction too! I try to remind myself that I could be buying ALL of my groceries for the amount my husband and i used to spend on take out. Before we got a better handle on our finances, that was $600 a MONTH! ridiculous.

    trying whats called "once a month cooking" or OAMC - it helps me to have shortcuts prepared ahead of time. I always have ziploc freezer bags of onions, celery, carrots and green pepper. I also like to make a whole chicken in the crock pot and eat some for dinner, shred the rest and freeze for chicken tacos, casserole, etc. Then I use the bones and giblets to make stock which is wonderful and sooooo much better tasting than store bought chicken broth (i'm allergic to MSG).. I also have in my freezer right now, homemade cream soup, specifically, cream of celery, than can be used the way I'd use a can of it (again, MSG in canned soup).

    For me, not a very good cook, it helps to have shortcuts on hand :)
  • stratusofkiser
    stratusofkiser Posts: 54 Member
    If you eat out a lot, pick meals carefully. Normally restaurants give a double(or triple) portion so eat half. You should be fine just make good choices. Also you can buy rottissary(?) chicken at stores add a bad of salad and some low cal dressing and voila dinner is served :)
  • JBHawaii
    JBHawaii Posts: 94
    I hate to say it but the most simple way to stop eating out, is to just stop eating out! Maybe take a cooking class or two as well and make good food at home for 1/3 the price. I hate to sound harsh but this really isnt a problem anyone can help yu with, it's just something you have to do on your own by staying digent and disciplined.
  • EAlexandraB
    EAlexandraB Posts: 98 Member
    Honestly, I do very little cooking, but I still eat mostly whole, healthy foods. Last night, I made a sirloin, yams, and broccoli. It took less time than I would have waited for the pizza guy, and was far healthier.

    It's not rocket science, either.

    To bake a potato or yam, all you have to do is wrap it in foil and pop it in the oven.

    A rotisserie chicken, as others have suggested, is awesome.

    Fish and steak can be seared in a pan quickly and easily.

    To steam veggies, all you need to do is pop them in a pot with a steamer basket on the stove for 5 mins.

    Salads come in a bag. Add dressing and go.

    Eat fresh, raw fruits and veggies. Zero cooking.

    Have instant oatmeal and Greek yogurt for breakfast.

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