A healthy diet for someone that can't stand salad or veg

Gilly

Gilly

Gilly

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So, I've managed to get to 28 years old, 6'2 and 14 stone without any decent diet at any point throughout my life. I'm pretty quick and pretty strong, with stamina enough to carry me through a footy match and a bit more, I want to improve this though. I also want to bring down my recovery times.

I'm pushing hard to address this but I'm struggling. I've tried to eat salads, veg and fruit but it just doesn't work. I can't keep forcing myself to eat stuff I don't like.

I've been thinking about structuring a diet so that I know what I'm having and when, around what I think I'll be able to get myself to eat.

I'll be able to manage the following:

Sultana Bran (love this stuff, if a bowl as a snack later can work I'm all for it)
Poached/scrambled egg (massive fan or both of these as well as fried, but love scrambled egg with proper butter whereas poached is in water with a tiny bit of vinegar to help it congeal so might be the best option?)
Asparagus (but only with butter else I won't manage it)
Toast/bread/muffins/bagels, etc
Potatoes (any and all, roast, baked, chipped, etc)
Chicken
Turkey
Steak (I know how to pick a good tasting steak, but what do I need to look for in a lean/healthy one?)
Ham/gammon
Apples
Bananas
Raisins and sultanas
Pistachios
Cheese (fairly bland stuff, edam, cheddar and red leicester, none of that french gone-off rubbish ;))
I can usually manage to get some lettuce and tomato down me when alongside cheese and ham in a sandwich. It is a struggle though, because they ruin it.
Pasta (love this stuff, could eat it all day, can get tomato and onion inside me this way through the sauce)

After that I'm struggling. You can probably see my problem!

I can survive on other stuff and not gain too much, but I'd like to cut out all fatty foods and replace them with a healthier option. I usually go to pieces during the non-footy period of the year, but I want to hit pre-season running this coming season and I want to be at peak fitness by the start of the season proper rather than taking 3 or 4 games to get back up to fitness.

If anyone has any healthy eating tips (other than cut out BK and Maccy Ds) then post em here :)
 
Initial thoughts

Breakfast (8am):

Toast with marge (x4), apple juice

Snack (11am):

Sultana bran with skimmed milk

Lunch (1pm):

Pasta salad with chicken

Snack (2:30pm):

Apple, some raisins and sultanas

Then a proper evening meal.
 
What about a healthy indian (chicken?) curry?

It's a bit confusing as you put you don't like fruit and veg, then stated you would eat apples, bananas, raisins..etc.
 
I found I did this during exam week because due to lack of time and imagination. Tomatos, garlic, onions with all sorts. Could be meat, veggies etc. It tasted ok if you spiced it up slightly but when it had 3 different types of veggies added on top it's a pretty healthy casserole.

Also try eating in smaller amounts.

Change your oils to olive oils. Boil, steam or bake your vegtables, no roasting tbh.

Everything in moderation too. If you have a BK once a month it's not really going to harm you.

Hope this puts you in the right direction. Try cutting out unhealthy foods so what remains is healthy. Then try creating meals (and snacks) out of what you have left. One (of many) reasons why people fall apart is because they weren't really up for e.g. Weight Watcher's new meals in the first place, therefore associated a good diet with food they didn't like the taste of, stopped the diet...you can see where this is going..
 
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Lydzor said:
What about a healthy indian (chicken?) curry?

It's a bit confusing as you put you don't like fruit and veg, then stated you would eat apples, bananas, raisins..etc.
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I think its clear he means he doesn't like most fruit and veg, looks like salad items are a no no
 
Lydzor said:
What about a healthy indian (chicken?) curry?

It's a bit confusing as you put you don't like fruit and veg, then stated you would eat apples, bananas, raisins..etc.
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Those are the only fruits I can eat is what I meant :)

I can't stand curry. I won't ever eat them. They repulse me.

Anewbe4u said:
Soups?
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Yep, soups are fine :) Can incorporate them. Got loads actually.

Cybermyk said:
Can you manage salad in a kebab? or salsa?
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Ruins a good kebab :p Its all the crap I can't stand, celery, grated carrot, cabbage, etc

I should add that I love garlic.
 
There must be some veg you like? You could make a very abnormal salad.

For example, I love peppers (red, green and yellow, not chilli). Carrot (raw) goes down well, Lettuce I like if it's very fresh and crispy. Boiled egg in there (maybe you could do salads containing some of the things you already eat), cucumber, plenty ground pepper on top, drizzled with some of that Newman's Salad dressing (or home made equivalent If I've done some). Can't buy that combi. anywhere, but it's nice.

Not saying that's the recipe for you, but try and build your ideal salad.


As for how it helps stamina, I have no Idea, my sport requires outright strength (which I don't really have) and the ability to fight the cold. Although if there is something I can do to keep my lungs from aching as I catch my breath after a blast on the push-bike I'm all ears (I find cycling REALLY helps my stamina).

Not sure how my salad works on a waistline either, I've still not hit that point where you actually gain weight when you pig out.
 
Try making a veg soup with everything you dont like (broccoli,cauli,swede,cabbage,carrot or whatever) and then liquidise it ;)
 
Lydzor said:
Yeah i guess. :)

Do you like fruit drinks, like orange/pineapple/apple juice?
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Yeah, on the whole. Without bits though :o

I like pressed apple juice which I think is generally the best stuff (not from concentrate)
 
Do you like veg in stews and casseroles and things?

I am in much the same boat as you but I can't abide certain things without veg; stews, soups and casseroles being the very main bulk of that.

I think the best approach I have found is to change HOW I eat the crap diet I have - I will avoid having potato that has been fried somehow (chips, rosti etc etc) in favour of healthier options like mash or boiled (but I bloody hate boiled potato!).

Grilling meats rather than frying them is another good way to swing things back towards the healthy end of the scale.

I do enjoy salad in certain sandwiches and things like that but I could never eat a salad on its own!

To get the bulk of my vitamins I did start to take suppliments in recognition of the fact I probably don't get enough but I have also started to cook myself a better range of foods and not to be quite so fussy about what I have with things.

Perhaps branching out into food areas that you've never really explored before? For me at the moment this is seafood - I absolutely detest certain fish which had put me off seafood as a whole but then I know I like certain other fish and things like prawns and lobster are good too, so I have decided to try out more and more fish dishes which by and large tend to be a lot lighter and healthier than red meat based meals :)
 
Due to the kids being fussy, I hide a lot of salad and veg in cooking, I'll add finely chopped celery and mushroom in pasta sauces and I use fennel a lot in lasagne and fish meals. Chinese food is where it's at though, I can get away with allsorts in that.

You could hide a fair amount in an omelette too :)
 
Fish is probably an area that I could explore more too, but I can't abide the seafood I've already encountered (mussles, prawns, etc. turn me off straight away). Trout, salmon and seabass I've tried and liked in the past.

Oh, and I can't abide fungus either.

Whats the best stuff to add to pasta sauces without it being too strong? I can't abide the smell or taste of cucumber so as I'll be doing the cooking they're out alongside fungus :p
 
Salmon Rocks!!

So long as you don't ruin it with naff sauce.

Wrap it in aluminium foil, with a little olive oil, some lemon juice, and a bit of [insert herb here]. Stick it in the oven/BBQ. for 20 mins.
 
Massive fan of poached eggs, but you don't need the vinegar.

Use a cup, clingfilm over the top (about 8" square) and drop an egg into it, twist corners of clingfilm together and put in a pan of boiling water for 4 minutes, unwrap clingfilm.

Perfect poached egg, no extra ingredients and more importantly, a perfectly clean pan :)

I generally have 2 slices of toast and 2 poached eggs for breakfast, carries me through til lunch. Doing this I've lost around 1/3 stone in the last month as it cuts down my snacking, that's with just playing 1 game of football a week and no excercise too.
 
Gilly said:
Fish is probably an area that I could explore more too, but I can't abide the seafood I've already encountered (mussles, prawns, etc. turn me off straight away). Trout, salmon and seabass I've tried and liked in the past.
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Hunt down some fish like swordfish - awesome fish! Seabass I like, Trout and Salmon were the fish that I dislike the most (so far!). I think for me it is the oilyness of the fish which somehow comes through. Not a fan of Tuna either, for much the same reasons.

Have you tried Sole? Easy to come by and easy to cook with a huge variety of veg that goes with it to make it "complete". Asparagus is one thing that springs to mind which would go with Dover Sole well. Baby varieties of carrots and cabbage also go with (from a quick google) but bleurgh @ cabbage and I'd rather not eat carrots on their own.
 
You put the egg into the water in the clingfilm?

But then your white doesn't congeal around your yolk! Don't you end up with your yolk on one side and your white on the other? :p There's nothing better than cutting into a poached egg for the yolk to run out of the white :)

DRZ said:
Hunt down some fish like swordfish - awesome fish! Seabass I like, Trout and Salmon were the fish that I dislike the most (so far!). I think for me it is the oilyness of the fish which somehow comes through. Not a fan of Tuna either, for much the same reasons.

Have you tried Sole? Easy to come by and easy to cook with a huge variety of veg that goes with it to make it "complete". Asparagus is one thing that springs to mind which would go with Dover Sole well. Baby varieties of carrots and cabbage also go with (from a quick google) but bleurgh @ cabbage and I'd rather not eat carrots on their own.
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I can't abide tuna, not even in steaks - which I was told I'd probably like. Seabass was my favourite though (probably because, as you say, its not as oily).

Never tried Sole I don't think.
 
NokkonWud said:
Massive fan of poached eggs, but you don't need the vinegar.

Use a cup, clingfilm over the top (about 8" square) and drop an egg into it, twist corners of clingfilm together and put in a pan of boiling water for 4 minutes, unwrap clingfilm.

Perfect poached egg, no extra ingredients and more importantly, a perfectly clean pan :)
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I just use lightly salted boiling water and turn the egg over with a big spoon a couple of times til it stays together, there's really no need for anything elaborate :)
 
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