Fix my Diet!

DufraisFTM said:
Nee bosh.
Take a look at FuelPrepUK. They might be of interest to you.
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Thanks mate.

AndrewP said:
First step is to see how much you're eating mate. It could be that what you're having isn't inherently bad, just you're having a portion twice the recommended size.
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That's later. First of all, I want enough options at mealtimes so that I'm cooking decent food every day and not relying on crap.
Healthy food in

Once I've got step 1 sorted, we can look at what's actually in those meals, and have a think about the calories etc.
Until I've got a baseline, it would be wasted effort, because anything I look at now probably won't be being eaten this time next month.

I'm fairly sure its the crap food in combination with the snacking that's going to be the key. Making good, filling, healthier foods should fix both of those issues.

oROSSo said:
I'd suggest if its to drop weight then I'd work your cals out first. The weight won't come off if you're eating 'healthier' but larger portions than you need.

If you're tight on time then batch cooking is the way to go IMO, ragu with a fresh soffrito base, tomato based curries with onions, chillis with a holy trinity base and beans, tagine with onions, peppers, chickpeas. I do a spicy lentil dish with mirepoix, tomatoes, green lentils (50p a can) you could freeze that and I just hoy a couple of decent sausages on top. All of these are one pot dishes that can freeze, have plenty of fresh veg and fibre in them.

I've been eating a lot of pork loins lately, lean source of meat, half a bag of microwave rice and half a big head of brocolli. Less than 600 cals, big protein hit and can do done in about 15 minutes. I do mine on my Traeger.
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Long term, yeh, need to drop weight. Short term, I need to make that lifestyle change that I can stick to forever.
Just cutting down on what I normally eat won't be sustainable. That's why I need to eat better meals - stuff that's more filling, but less calorific. Less packaged, processed etc. Less refined carbs, foods that will keep me full and won't have me reaching for snacks later one. Know what I mean?

I just don't know where to start - there's almost too much info out there, so I can't see the wood for the trees.

The stuff you mentioned is EXACTLY what I mean. Got any good links to places to make stuff like that? As it happens, that's the type of stuff we do eat, but there's variations and other things out there that we can add.

D.A said:
Struggling to help, but i use the Maggi bags to cook chicken, brown rice and veg. Very easy meal.
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Funny enough, that's exactly what I walked into tonight. With home made coleslaw, salad and "slimming world chips" (tiny spray of oil then baked in the oven). tbh, I could skip the chips (I could easily stop eating all potato products, they're all only as nice as a sauce that's on them)

Last night I made Al's Chicken Teryaki (its amazing, but tbh, full of sugar) on jasmine rice
The night before, and theres a theme here, Al's lamb rogan josh curry, with rice again

Funny, I always thought of rice as healthy, but it isn't is it?

I'm cooking more this week as I took a week off work - that's why I've got the time to post on here more than usual etc.
 
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PTR said:
Thanks mate.


That's later. First of all, I want enough options at mealtimes so that I'm cooking decent food every day and not relying on crap.
Healthy food in

Once I've got step 1 sorted, we can look at what's actually in those meals, and have a think about the calories etc.
Until I've got a baseline, it would be wasted effort, because anything I look at now probably won't be being eaten this time next month.

I'm fairly sure its the crap food in combination with the snacking that's going to be the key. Making good, filling, healthier foods should fix both of those issues.


Long term, yeh, need to drop weight. Short term, I need to make that lifestyle change that I can stick to forever.
Just cutting down on what I normally eat won't be sustainable. That's why I need to eat better meals - stuff that's more filling, but less calorific. Less packaged, processed etc. Less refined carbs, foods that will keep me full and won't have me reaching for snacks later one. Know what I mean?

I just don't know where to start - there's almost too much info out there, so I can't see the wood for the trees.

The stuff you mentioned is EXACTLY what I mean. Got any good links to places to make stuff like that? As it happens, that's the type of stuff we do eat, but there's variations and other things out there that we can add.


Funny enough, that's exactly what I walked into tonight. With home made coleslaw, salad and "slimming world chips" (tiny spray of oil then baked in the oven). tbh, I could skip the chips (I could easily stop eating all potato products, they're all only as nice as a sauce that's on them)

Last night I made Al's Chicken Teryaki (its amazing, but tbh, full of sugar) on jasmine rice
The night before, and theres a theme here, Al's lamb rogan josh curry, with rice again

Funny, I always thought of rice as healthy, but it isn't is it?

I'm cooking more this week as I took a week off work - that's why I've got the time to post on here more than usual etc.
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i tend to find the bbc website is great for recipes. All of the meals I mentioned in my post are staples for us. Kind of hard to suggest meals as you’ll have your own tastes, just google recipes you fancy trying or think would work for you.

You need to get out this idea of certain foods as healthy or unhealthy though, you need to look at your diet as a whole, yes certain foods are nutrient dense but portion control is everything. Rice can be perfectly ‘healthy’ when portion size is correct, buy a cheap pair of digital scales for a tenner and weigh everything. Can be a ball ache at first but soon becomes second nature.

Look for recipes that use lean protein sources, plenty of veg and pulses for fibre and stay away from calorie heavy additions such as double cream
 
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Reet. Progress.

BBC Good Food had a handful of things I'll have a pop at.
Started a list
The missus will add all her stuff
I've added the stuff I do

One thing I could do with, is a really really good chilli. The one I make is ok and all that, but there must be a f***ing mint one out there somewhere?
 
PTR said:
Reet. Progress.

BBC Good Food had a handful of things I'll have a pop at.
Started a list
The missus will add all her stuff
I've added the stuff I do

One thing I could do with, is a really really good chilli. The one I make is ok and all that, but there must be a f***ing mint one out there somewhere?
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Experiment!!
 
PTR said:
One thing I could do with, is a really really good chilli. The one I make is ok and all that, but there must be a f***ing mint one out there somewhere?
Click to expand...

Depends what you prefer really. Have you ever had a really nice chilli when eating out?
 
PTR said:
Reet. Progress.

BBC Good Food had a handful of things I'll have a pop at.
Started a list
The missus will add all her stuff
I've added the stuff I do

One thing I could do with, is a really really good chilli. The one I make is ok and all that, but there must be a f***ing mint one out there somewhere?
Click to expand...
Lardons
Chunky cut onions
Green and red peppers
Fry off in oil
Add cubes of beef (I tend to buy a joint and cube it myself) none of this mince shite
Loads of cumin
Dried Ancho chilli
Paprika
Dried Chipotle chillis
Cook out
Tin of tomato’s
Cup of coffee
Beef stock
Kidney beans

Serve with white rice
Chipped coriander
Sour cream
 
AndrewP said:
It tends to be really bland to me whenever I've had one out (not often), catering to the masses perhaps. Personally, cumin and nice fresh chillis make/break it for me.
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Yeh, I don't think of it as an "impressive" food, but more of a day to day thing - so I'd never think to pay for it when I'm out. But I'm sure there's better options out there than the decent enough one I make.
 
PTR said:
Ok, so I've finally got a little bit of time to work on my quite crap diet.

I've got a wife and 3.5 yr old in the house, and with me being out from 7am-6pm most days, its a bit tough to really do much meal planning, and my missus does most of the cooking.
The bairn eats at the childminders 3 times per week, and I'm planning to start working 2 times per week at home, which does open up some extra chances to add some better meals.

As it happens, I'm riddled with GERD, so I need to eat 2hrs before I go to bed (usually 10pm ish). The probable way this is going to work is that one of us will bath and bed the bairn while the other cooks. I know this is obvious, but I've found it pretty hard to walk in the door after a long/hard day at work and do anything but collapse on the sofa. I tend to crash pretty hard about 6pm and only really wake up about 8 - which is too late to start cooking........ but I'm going to try.


I'm not looking for uber-diet scran here. It needs to be stuff we enjoy, or we'll go back to our old ways pretty quick - we've both done fixed diets before where you eat shit meals from books that you tell yourself are "ok while we're on this diet", but truthfully would never eat otherwise. This needs to be a middle ground that we can do long term.
Quinoa instead of rice is something I'd try. Quark instead of cheese? Fuck that.

We like loads of different stuff. Curries, Mexican, Stews, pizza, BBQ. She loves salads whereas I'm really not keen on anything of that type - its ok as a garnish, but its rare I enjoy a salad (although she does a bean and avacado salad that I enjoy from time to time).
I really really hate celery and courgettes - as in, I can tell if they've been blended into a sauce!

We're not skint, and happy to buy shortcuts to make things easier.
Would be great if anyone could throw suggestions into the thread - thanks in advance.
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stop thinking about food so much, it is just the fuel you need to do stuff
prep your food in advance and keep it in the freezer then just take it out when it is time to eat
once a week eat what you like for your tea
 
PTR said:
Yeh, I don't think of it as an "impressive" food, but more of a day to day thing - so I'd never think to pay for it when I'm out. But I'm sure there's better options out there than the decent enough one I make.
Click to expand...

Use "nice" tasting peppers like scotch bonnets/naga etc - they give more taste as well as heat. Plenty of onion/garlic, simmer for as long as possible.
 
oROSSo said:
Lardons
Chunky cut onions
Green and red peppers
Fry off in oil
Add cubes of beef (I tend to buy a joint and cube it myself) none of this mince shite
Loads of cumin
Dried Ancho chilli
Paprika
Dried Chipotle chillis
Cook out
Tin of tomato’s
Cup of coffee
Beef stock
Kidney beans

Serve with white rice
Chipped coriander
Sour cream
Click to expand...

My mate did one with a beef shin that was quite nice. chunks of beef does sound interesting. I guess I could whack it in the instant pot too, and add some other mexican style beans to really fill it out. I need to learn to make guac too, love that stuff.
Chipotle chillis - not sure I've had them before. Nor Ancho's.
Your recipie does looks like another one I saw yesterday actually. The coffee was a new one on me. I'd heard of chocolate before, but not coffee

Thanks everyone, this is what I was hoping for. Still looking for full meal suggestions though - things I might not have tried before.

carboncat said:
stop thinking about food so much, it is just the fuel you need to do stuff
prep your food in advance and keep it in the freezer then just take it out when it is time to eat
once a week eat what you like for your tea
Click to expand...
If I don't plan properly, we don't get round to anything and we'll fall back into eating less than good stuff. I think the opposite, we need to think about it as a one-off to improve our range of foods - THEN, as you say, make it simple.
 
AndrewP said:
Use "nice" tasting peppers like scotch bonnets/naga etc - they give more taste as well as heat. Plenty of onion/garlic, simmer for as long as possible.
Click to expand...
Tips like that are great, thanks. I've moved away from chillis over the years, especially since the bairn eats the same food as us. But she eats at the childminders 3x per week, so that's 3 times we don't need to consider her food.

AndrewP said:
Probably one of the easiest things to make.
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Missus made it once, was crap, never tried again. Need a man to do it properly ;)
 
PTR said:
Missus made it once, was crap, never tried again. Need a man to do it properly ;)
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Episode one of queer eye on netflix had an easy guac recipe. They said it was really nice, it's not something I make though so can't offer any tips.
 

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