Need food ideas
- Thread starter .Kencs
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Soldato
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I think it's important if you're going to stick to a healthy eating plan to make food as flavourful as possible - sitting down to some brown rice and veg every night, while you'll lose weight, you'll also lose the will to live and will be more likely to give up.
You say you want to lose weight quickly AND healthily as possible but I don't know if those two are particularly compatible... The things I've suggested, you should lose weight, not rapidly, but I guess it depends what you are currently eating and how much exercise you're doing.
Healthy dinners I can think of right now:
Pork chops with some spices rubbed on, grilled, with some roasted veg done in oven with some olive oil and seasoning on - we like to do butternut squash/sweet potato, cherry tomatoes, red onions, peppers, mushrooms, courgette and sometimes asparagus.
Make yourself a burger using lean steak mince, serve it in a brown roll, or by itself, with salad
Vegetable frittata - can throw what you like in. I like to do courgette and peppers mixed with egg and a thinly sliced potato.
Teriyaki tuna steak, done with some brown rice and oriental veg - I do spring onion, broccoli, pak choi, asparagus, in a wok with some red chilli and soy sauce.
Salmon tray bake from Jamie's 30 minute meals - salmon, prawns, cherry tomatoes, asparagus, lemon, coriander, bit of pancetta to add a little saltiness and some anchovy. All done in a roasting tin under the grill. Brilliant.
Chicken salad - get yourself some interesting things such as olives, artichoke, roasted peppers to throw in. Coat your chicken in some interesting herbs/spices before you cook it. I sometimes use a fajita mix on the chicken.
Simple mediterranean fish stew - some white fish such as haddock, cod or river cobbler is fine, done with some shallots, peppers, 2 x tins of tomatoes, some frozen mixed seafood (prawns, mussels, calamari) thyme, parsley, capers, white wine (optional) bay leaves, s+p. Simple but awesome.
Chicken cacciatore - tin of tomatoes, skinless chicken breasts, olives, capers, onion, can't remember what else, sure you could find a recipe - serve with brown rice or pasta if you like.
Substitute any recipes with mince in (such as chilli etc) with turkey mince - not as good but with a good whack of chilli powder in you might not notice
Lunch-wise, how about things such as wholemeal pittas with chicken and salad, bit of sweet chilli sauce or low-fat caesar dressing to pep it up a bit?
Soup? Covent Garden soups are good, and filling, or make your own - any veg you like, start with an onion and some garlic, sweat them down, throw in your veg, cook till soft, then add tin of tomatoes, bit of veg stock, half a chopped chilli if you like, then simmer for about 20 mins, blend with a stick blender, voila.
Baked potatoes are always good. I don't like them straight from microwave so I'd be tempted to cook it in the oven at home then reheat in microwave at work.
All I can think of right now!
You say you want to lose weight quickly AND healthily as possible but I don't know if those two are particularly compatible... The things I've suggested, you should lose weight, not rapidly, but I guess it depends what you are currently eating and how much exercise you're doing.
Healthy dinners I can think of right now:
Pork chops with some spices rubbed on, grilled, with some roasted veg done in oven with some olive oil and seasoning on - we like to do butternut squash/sweet potato, cherry tomatoes, red onions, peppers, mushrooms, courgette and sometimes asparagus.
Make yourself a burger using lean steak mince, serve it in a brown roll, or by itself, with salad
Vegetable frittata - can throw what you like in. I like to do courgette and peppers mixed with egg and a thinly sliced potato.
Teriyaki tuna steak, done with some brown rice and oriental veg - I do spring onion, broccoli, pak choi, asparagus, in a wok with some red chilli and soy sauce.
Salmon tray bake from Jamie's 30 minute meals - salmon, prawns, cherry tomatoes, asparagus, lemon, coriander, bit of pancetta to add a little saltiness and some anchovy. All done in a roasting tin under the grill. Brilliant.
Chicken salad - get yourself some interesting things such as olives, artichoke, roasted peppers to throw in. Coat your chicken in some interesting herbs/spices before you cook it. I sometimes use a fajita mix on the chicken.
Simple mediterranean fish stew - some white fish such as haddock, cod or river cobbler is fine, done with some shallots, peppers, 2 x tins of tomatoes, some frozen mixed seafood (prawns, mussels, calamari) thyme, parsley, capers, white wine (optional) bay leaves, s+p. Simple but awesome.
Chicken cacciatore - tin of tomatoes, skinless chicken breasts, olives, capers, onion, can't remember what else, sure you could find a recipe - serve with brown rice or pasta if you like.
Substitute any recipes with mince in (such as chilli etc) with turkey mince - not as good but with a good whack of chilli powder in you might not notice
Lunch-wise, how about things such as wholemeal pittas with chicken and salad, bit of sweet chilli sauce or low-fat caesar dressing to pep it up a bit?
Soup? Covent Garden soups are good, and filling, or make your own - any veg you like, start with an onion and some garlic, sweat them down, throw in your veg, cook till soft, then add tin of tomatoes, bit of veg stock, half a chopped chilli if you like, then simmer for about 20 mins, blend with a stick blender, voila.
Baked potatoes are always good. I don't like them straight from microwave so I'd be tempted to cook it in the oven at home then reheat in microwave at work.
All I can think of right now!
Associate
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- 25 Jul 2011
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My friend is doing the Ducan diet which seems to be fairly healthy and not one of these 'fad' diets - essentially it's lean protein (think fish,chicken,turkey and lean cuts of red meat) combined with vegetables. No additional fats (olive oil, butter, marge) and no starch carbohydrates. This isn't the Atkins as that is pure protein- you still get carbohydrates from vegetables but not in such a huge blob as you do with bread and rice
An example meal could be meatballs made from lean mince, onion and spices in a homemade sauce of finely chopped onion, tomatoes and herbs (bay: king of the herbs).
He lost 2 st easy - combine this with some exercise and you should be sorted. Once at target weight start introducing starchy carbs occasionally but keep junk, nuts, sugary drinks and also importantly alcohol to maybe just once a week treats
An example meal could be meatballs made from lean mince, onion and spices in a homemade sauce of finely chopped onion, tomatoes and herbs (bay: king of the herbs).
He lost 2 st easy - combine this with some exercise and you should be sorted. Once at target weight start introducing starchy carbs occasionally but keep junk, nuts, sugary drinks and also importantly alcohol to maybe just once a week treats
Of course it's a fad diet, it's blindly restricting foods to give you some of the benefits of a healthy diet without actually knowing what a healthy diet is.
Learning about nutrition would be far better advice, it isn't as easy but to be honest neither is losing weight.
Losing weight purely through dieting will be a long long journey, the best way is to have a balanced healthy diet combined with an appropriate amount of exercise. On the assumption that you are planning to exercise a couple of general points:
Avoid / reduce certain food types: Potatoes in almost all forms (chips, crisps, roasted, mashed etc), Bread (especially supermarket white), too much Pasta / Rice.
Make sure you are always hydrated, whenever you feel hungry have a glass of water to see if you were really thirsty as opposed to hungry.
Before any meal have a couple of glasses of water.
Eat slowly as opposed to rushing it down like you are in a family of 50.
Substitute swede/turnip and carrots for mashed potato.
Trim fat off meat that you are eating.
Stews and casseroles are great ways of packing lots of veg into a really tasty meal.
Grains and pulses are brilliant and the Merchant Gourmet ranges make it really quick and easy.
A couple of tins of chickpeas will go into almost any tomato based pasta dishes or curries.
Use smaller plates to help reduce your portions.
Find something healthy that you like to snack on: seeds, nuts, fruit etc. One of my favourites is to buy carrots, cucumber, baby sweetcorn etc and slice them up and have a tomato salsa dip to eat with them.
Ultimately the easiest way is simply to choose a healthier version of the foods you like today and also cut out alcohol as much as possible.
Avoid / reduce certain food types: Potatoes in almost all forms (chips, crisps, roasted, mashed etc), Bread (especially supermarket white), too much Pasta / Rice.
Make sure you are always hydrated, whenever you feel hungry have a glass of water to see if you were really thirsty as opposed to hungry.
Before any meal have a couple of glasses of water.
Eat slowly as opposed to rushing it down like you are in a family of 50.
Substitute swede/turnip and carrots for mashed potato.
Trim fat off meat that you are eating.
Stews and casseroles are great ways of packing lots of veg into a really tasty meal.
Grains and pulses are brilliant and the Merchant Gourmet ranges make it really quick and easy.
A couple of tins of chickpeas will go into almost any tomato based pasta dishes or curries.
Use smaller plates to help reduce your portions.
Find something healthy that you like to snack on: seeds, nuts, fruit etc. One of my favourites is to buy carrots, cucumber, baby sweetcorn etc and slice them up and have a tomato salsa dip to eat with them.
Ultimately the easiest way is simply to choose a healthier version of the foods you like today and also cut out alcohol as much as possible.
Soldato
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- 3 Mar 2008
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meatballs and rice is fairly healthy
i have my own recipie, but i suppose you could use the bbc one
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/meatballswithtomatos_74759
i have my own recipie, but i suppose you could use the bbc one
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/meatballswithtomatos_74759
Do some reading on different diets and the benefits and why they work and what happens. This will give you some general knowledge, all though some of it will be wrong. But it's a good place to start, for a general feel.
And sign up to something like http://www.livestrong.com/thedailyplate/ and calorie count. I would say this is the most vital. It'll give you an excelent idea what different foods are. That tablespoon or three of oil to brown meat of in, soon piles the calories on. You'll be surprised if you are honest what it all adds upto. Once you get a general idea, then the need to do it reduces, unless you want to do a calorie count diet.
The first 3-4 days are the hardest as your body adjusts and craves the usual, after that it gets easier. But it always ends and don't do what I do. Thats oh I've been out for a birthday got smashed, had a kebab. Wake up next day and go well I blew it last night, so I might as well blow it today, I'm hungover I'll start again tomorrow and it never happens. This IMO is the hardest bit, which I've never conquered.
Also ignore these must have three meals, must have 6meals. Do what suites you, everyone's different.
Meat is also high in calories. So try reducing that and upping veg so you still feel you've eaten a lot. Like in a chili replace half the meat with grated carrots. Or have stir fry a massive pack of vegetables is very low. Just be carefully what you have in it.
And as someone else said make tasty satisfying stuff. Get on goodfood website, or any of the others and look for new recipes you think you would love, just remover portion size and calories.
And sign up to something like http://www.livestrong.com/thedailyplate/ and calorie count. I would say this is the most vital. It'll give you an excelent idea what different foods are. That tablespoon or three of oil to brown meat of in, soon piles the calories on. You'll be surprised if you are honest what it all adds upto. Once you get a general idea, then the need to do it reduces, unless you want to do a calorie count diet.
The first 3-4 days are the hardest as your body adjusts and craves the usual, after that it gets easier. But it always ends and don't do what I do. Thats oh I've been out for a birthday got smashed, had a kebab. Wake up next day and go well I blew it last night, so I might as well blow it today, I'm hungover I'll start again tomorrow and it never happens. This IMO is the hardest bit, which I've never conquered.
Also ignore these must have three meals, must have 6meals. Do what suites you, everyone's different.
Meat is also high in calories. So try reducing that and upping veg so you still feel you've eaten a lot. Like in a chili replace half the meat with grated carrots. Or have stir fry a massive pack of vegetables is very low. Just be carefully what you have in it.
And as someone else said make tasty satisfying stuff. Get on goodfood website, or any of the others and look for new recipes you think you would love, just remover portion size and calories.
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Soldato
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I'm sure that ducan diet requires you to sign up and pay monthly to something online where they send you 'inspirational' advice and individualised eating plans - it was on Watchdog, all a total rip off and waste of money, everyone got the same emails nd the eating plans didnt match up with the info people had given.
Associate
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Id define a 'fad' diet as one that is highly restrictive (like the 'eat like a bird diet' or Atkins). Its fairly well established that a reduction in complex carbohydrates, alcohol, junk food and sugar combined with an increase in activity results in weight loss. Im not advocating signing up to anything - the Ducan diet is simply a framework for people to follow.
Ducan is just a variant ketogenic diet, same as Atkins and all the rest. The marketing is different and the timing and restrictions vary slightly, but the modus operandi is the same. Restriction of carbs to less than about 50g per day which will push you into ketosis after a couple of days (you can test this with urine sticks).
All the different variations offer different things, but the underlying principle is that while you are in ketosis, you will burn fat.
All the different variations offer different things, but the underlying principle is that while you are in ketosis, you will burn fat.
Associate
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Yes I wouldn't sign up to anything. However my friend lost a couple of stone and a year on is looking healthier. The results speak for themselves.
Ignoring Ketosis which ducan doesn't really concentrate on, eating more protein does 2 things, it helps to save muscle while on a caloric deficit and it helps to make you feel full without eating too many calories.
Just get all the nutrition you need and maintain a caloric deficit - once you've got your nutrition (protein, good fat, vitamins+minerals) you can fill the rest with bread, pasta or potatoes, anything you like - it doesn't matter one jot.
The simple fact is it's easy to consume a lot of calories very quickly eating bread, pasta, potatoes. If you are aware of the calories you are eating though that isn't a problem.
I don't think fad diets are the answer to life long healthy eating - you need knowledge not a few rules.
S'not really that black and white. You can't really ignore the ketosis aspect, since it's the cornerstone of all of the high protein, low carb diets (the ones you call fad diets). When you strip away all the marketing and the waffle in the books it's the thing that is allowing people to lose weight.
They are faddy in the sense that they tend to be relabelled and re-marketed every few years, but people do find them more effective than traditional diets that rely on calorific deficit because rather than reducing the amount that you eat, you're just eating the same amount while avoiding certain foods.
I actually find it all pretty interesting, but I wouldn't be too hasty to discard the "fad" diets. They've been around for 40+ years and I don't think they're going anywhere.
you really. Don't, you still very much need a calorie deficit. It's just easier as you pr body doesn't get cravings, body feels fuller. On protein. No carbs means there's nothing to absorb sauces and fat on the plate! Which means everything tastest very greasy unless you minimise the fat. Which means you drastically cut calories out. It does work short term. But like all diets, you put the weight back on. Long term the only way is to change your lifestyle.
Not true. I tested different styles of diet for a paper I wrote last year. While on a ketogenic diet for a few weeks I ate a large amount of food that was incredibly high in calories and still managed a pretty steady 2-3 lb of weight loss provided I maintained a ketotic state. The spiel about cravings and fullness is a fallacy. Most people in the developed world eat out of habit or desire rather than hunger or fullness.
The long term success is a different discussion entirely and is dependant on many other factors. Ostensibly, people use dieting to get to a weight point at which they are happy (if they can manage it), and then re-evaluate their eating habits from there. Reference to lifestyle change really does go without saying.
It might seem high calorie, but it isn't due to how little you eat.
It's quite easy calories in less than calories out. Different diets can marginally Change you metabolism. But it's not a lot.
On Atkins type diet you would be shocked how few calories are in it.
As for cravings, it really isn't spoil. You blood sugar levels drive a lot of cravings. When you cut out sugar spikes. Up you'll have far less cravings.
It's quite easy calories in less than calories out. Different diets can marginally Change you metabolism. But it's not a lot.
On Atkins type diet you would be shocked how few calories are in it.
As for cravings, it really isn't spoil. You blood sugar levels drive a lot of cravings. When you cut out sugar spikes. Up you'll have far less cravings.
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You were in caloric deficiency because of the increase in mbr to process the food you were eating - if ketosis was the most efficient way of metabolising calories it would be the default. What was your calorie count out of interest and how accurately did you measure it>
Emotional eating is a huge issue but if you give up on 'atkins' or 'ducan' diets then you start to learn about calories, portion control and nutrition. That is long term. It puts *you* in control.
Guys, with respect, I feel like we're going around in circles here.
Yes, calories in being less than calories out results in weight loss.
Yes, knowledge about nutrition and portion control is the route to a healthy diet.
These are very obvious and go without saying. They are not, however, the primary mechanism of action for low carb/ketogenic diets, which is what we're talking about, isn't it?
Yes, calories in being less than calories out results in weight loss.
Yes, knowledge about nutrition and portion control is the route to a healthy diet.
These are very obvious and go without saying. They are not, however, the primary mechanism of action for low carb/ketogenic diets, which is what we're talking about, isn't it?