Mefites, what does your healthy yet simple diet look like?
August 24, 2015 6:15 PM Subscribe
I'd like to get some tips for changing my diet to something that's based around a handful of core healthy ingredients, if possible.
To make a long story short - when I first started Office Life a few years ago I quickly gained a lot of weight. After finally getting tired of buying bigger pants I cut out a lot of the junk from my diet - too much fast food, soda, cookies, etc. and lost a decent amount of weight - hooray!
However, I'm still not where I want to be and the truth is while I did manage to cut out most of the bad stuff, I didn't truly change my core eating practices like I should have.
I don't particularly enjoy cooking and I don't think that will change much, but on the plus side I'm one of those people who doesn't mind eating the same thing for weeks on end. Variety is the spice of life of course so I'm not saying I want to eat the same thing everyday till I'm 80- but I feel like if I could identify some basic healthy staple foods then I could use them as a foundation for a new diet. So I'd love to hear from people who manage to eat relatively healthy without spending 2 hours in the kitchen every night throwing 20 different ingredients around.
The only guidelines I'm trying to follow is low-sugar and not a lot of meat.
My knowledge of food in general is at perpetual-bachelor level - so feel free to explain your food choices to me as you would to a child, I won't be offended.
To make a long story short - when I first started Office Life a few years ago I quickly gained a lot of weight. After finally getting tired of buying bigger pants I cut out a lot of the junk from my diet - too much fast food, soda, cookies, etc. and lost a decent amount of weight - hooray!
However, I'm still not where I want to be and the truth is while I did manage to cut out most of the bad stuff, I didn't truly change my core eating practices like I should have.
I don't particularly enjoy cooking and I don't think that will change much, but on the plus side I'm one of those people who doesn't mind eating the same thing for weeks on end. Variety is the spice of life of course so I'm not saying I want to eat the same thing everyday till I'm 80- but I feel like if I could identify some basic healthy staple foods then I could use them as a foundation for a new diet. So I'd love to hear from people who manage to eat relatively healthy without spending 2 hours in the kitchen every night throwing 20 different ingredients around.
The only guidelines I'm trying to follow is low-sugar and not a lot of meat.
My knowledge of food in general is at perpetual-bachelor level - so feel free to explain your food choices to me as you would to a child, I won't be offended.
Breakfast is a protein shake. Two cups soy or almond milk, some pb, frozen blueberries, cinnamon, cocoa powder, and a few leaves of kale without stems.
Lunch is normally a store bought salad. Greens, a few basic veggies like peppers, tomatoes, cukes and some protein like eggs, sardines, chickpeas etc. the other standard lunch is zucchini noodles using a spiralizer with tomato sauce and canned fish or chickpeas.
Snacks are:
1)yogurt with frozen raspberries, cocoa powder, and a bunch of sunflower seeds
2)a green apple with either cheese or peanut butter.
Dinner is a grab bag but I typically eat all of the aforementioned meals at work. My sweet snack is 90% dark chocolate and raw almonds.
My goal is always to eat at least one second of fruits or veggies with each snack and two with each meal.
posted by neematoad at 6:28 PM on August 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
Lunch is normally a store bought salad. Greens, a few basic veggies like peppers, tomatoes, cukes and some protein like eggs, sardines, chickpeas etc. the other standard lunch is zucchini noodles using a spiralizer with tomato sauce and canned fish or chickpeas.
Snacks are:
1)yogurt with frozen raspberries, cocoa powder, and a bunch of sunflower seeds
2)a green apple with either cheese or peanut butter.
Dinner is a grab bag but I typically eat all of the aforementioned meals at work. My sweet snack is 90% dark chocolate and raw almonds.
My goal is always to eat at least one second of fruits or veggies with each snack and two with each meal.
posted by neematoad at 6:28 PM on August 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
Do you or can you grill? You have to work very hard to grill unhealthy sugar- or carb-laden food.
* pick out a protein: fish, shrimp, pork chop (bad rap but very lean!), chicken pieces (give thighs a chance - fat isn't the devil), beef, very firm tofu.
* pick out one or two grillable vegetables. This conveniently excludes potatoes. Okra, asparagus, summer squash, corn, Brussels sprouts, bell peppers, onions, what have you.
* olive oil, seasoning, acid (lemon, lime, vinegar, etc), plenty of salt.
Cook it all and eat! Simple, very low ingredient count, very low dishes count. You can also put some greens under the protein, they're very non-calorie-dense and will soak up Any extra meaty deliciousness.
posted by ftm at 6:34 PM on August 24, 2015 [2 favorites]
* pick out a protein: fish, shrimp, pork chop (bad rap but very lean!), chicken pieces (give thighs a chance - fat isn't the devil), beef, very firm tofu.
* pick out one or two grillable vegetables. This conveniently excludes potatoes. Okra, asparagus, summer squash, corn, Brussels sprouts, bell peppers, onions, what have you.
* olive oil, seasoning, acid (lemon, lime, vinegar, etc), plenty of salt.
Cook it all and eat! Simple, very low ingredient count, very low dishes count. You can also put some greens under the protein, they're very non-calorie-dense and will soak up Any extra meaty deliciousness.
posted by ftm at 6:34 PM on August 24, 2015 [2 favorites]
I eat a diet bordering on what they're calling "paleo" these days. My diet consists almost entirely of meat, fish, fruits, nuts, leafy green vegetables, dairy (milk and fat-free natural yogurt), eggs, granola, and rice. Occasionally I splurge and eat a sandwich or a burger, usually when I'm out with friends, but for 95% of the time, this is all I eat.
Chicken is your staple meat. Lots of ways to prepare it, and it has a neutral flavor profile, so it's easy to season. For dinner I usually cook chicken breast, either in a roasting pan or on the stove in curry. It keeps well but you have to eat it within 1-2 days so don't make too much.
When I tire of chicken, I throw in salmon or bison. Both are really high in protein and low in fat, but also a little bit expensive.
Leafy green vegetables are your friends. Lots of folic acid and fiber in there, and they're cheap as dirt. Get yourself some broccoli, romaine, spinach, or Brussels sprouts. The trick with LGVs, however, is that they wilt. Don't buy prepared salads. As tempting as they sound, prepared salads go bad 1000% faster than if you were to buy a whole head of lettuce. Iceberg lettuce can be used as bread but otherwise has no nutritional value to speak of.
Speaking of salads, if you make a salad, don't use standard bottled dressing. Those dressings often hide a lot of oil and sugar. Instead, use balsamic vinegar. Pro-tip: strawberries + spinach + balsamic = deliciousness.
Fruit is also delicious and nobody eats nearly enough of it. It's like eating candy, except you get fiber AND a ton of vitamins, PLUS it's often cheaper than candy. Apples, peaches, grapes... I mean, I could just name a bunch of fruits but you get it. The trick with fruit is to buy them before they're ripe and let them sit in your house for a day or two until peak ripeness is achieved, then make sure you freeze everything before it rots. I keep a constant stock of berries for mixing in yogurt or putting into protein shakes.
I am a bachelor dude as well and while I do enjoy cooking for friends I have no motivation to make a fancy meal for myself after a day at work. I manage to keep myself fed and healthy using this diet. Since you mention not wanting to eat a lot of meat, you can probably tone down the meat and throw in more vegetables or some whole-grain bread.
posted by deathpanels at 6:46 PM on August 24, 2015 [2 favorites]
Chicken is your staple meat. Lots of ways to prepare it, and it has a neutral flavor profile, so it's easy to season. For dinner I usually cook chicken breast, either in a roasting pan or on the stove in curry. It keeps well but you have to eat it within 1-2 days so don't make too much.
When I tire of chicken, I throw in salmon or bison. Both are really high in protein and low in fat, but also a little bit expensive.
Leafy green vegetables are your friends. Lots of folic acid and fiber in there, and they're cheap as dirt. Get yourself some broccoli, romaine, spinach, or Brussels sprouts. The trick with LGVs, however, is that they wilt. Don't buy prepared salads. As tempting as they sound, prepared salads go bad 1000% faster than if you were to buy a whole head of lettuce. Iceberg lettuce can be used as bread but otherwise has no nutritional value to speak of.
Speaking of salads, if you make a salad, don't use standard bottled dressing. Those dressings often hide a lot of oil and sugar. Instead, use balsamic vinegar. Pro-tip: strawberries + spinach + balsamic = deliciousness.
Fruit is also delicious and nobody eats nearly enough of it. It's like eating candy, except you get fiber AND a ton of vitamins, PLUS it's often cheaper than candy. Apples, peaches, grapes... I mean, I could just name a bunch of fruits but you get it. The trick with fruit is to buy them before they're ripe and let them sit in your house for a day or two until peak ripeness is achieved, then make sure you freeze everything before it rots. I keep a constant stock of berries for mixing in yogurt or putting into protein shakes.
I am a bachelor dude as well and while I do enjoy cooking for friends I have no motivation to make a fancy meal for myself after a day at work. I manage to keep myself fed and healthy using this diet. Since you mention not wanting to eat a lot of meat, you can probably tone down the meat and throw in more vegetables or some whole-grain bread.
posted by deathpanels at 6:46 PM on August 24, 2015 [2 favorites]
I'm 5'9", a healthy/thin weight, and work in an office. I walk a lot and am breastfeeding, so YMMV. I eat every day (usually):
1 diced piece of fruit and a small handful of nuts mixed with a Ping-Pong ball sized scoop of whole plain Greek yogurt and a small handful of granola on top. Coffee with a few tablespoons whole milk.
A café near my office does a lunch salad bar thing - choice of leafy greens/spinach/rocket with six toppings. For my toppings I get a couple fresh veg, and some more mezze-style things (sun dried tomatoes, cheese, etc.). Day One I eat the leafy greens and veg (cucumbers and whatnot). Day Two I eat the other things on really nice whole-grain seeded crackers. I also eat an apple every day, and usually some sort of treat - I tend to get those big bags of tiny packets of M&Ms or something. Before this I'd usually get 2/$5 veggie handrolls, but they closed.
If I was up a lot with the baby I might have a second cup of coffee.
Try not to eat office biscuits. Success various wildly.
Dinner is a bit more hodge-podge. We cook a lot, though not as much as we used to - pasta with lots of veg, breakfast for dinner, roasted veg with couscous, frozen lasagna, baked potatoes... sometimes we'll make a big pot of curry, soup, risotto or something over the weekend for later use. Only sweet snack at home is very very dark chocolate - 70% or higher.
(If the baby is having a growth spurt all bets are off and it's burger time...)
posted by jrobin276 at 6:48 PM on August 24, 2015
1 diced piece of fruit and a small handful of nuts mixed with a Ping-Pong ball sized scoop of whole plain Greek yogurt and a small handful of granola on top. Coffee with a few tablespoons whole milk.
A café near my office does a lunch salad bar thing - choice of leafy greens/spinach/rocket with six toppings. For my toppings I get a couple fresh veg, and some more mezze-style things (sun dried tomatoes, cheese, etc.). Day One I eat the leafy greens and veg (cucumbers and whatnot). Day Two I eat the other things on really nice whole-grain seeded crackers. I also eat an apple every day, and usually some sort of treat - I tend to get those big bags of tiny packets of M&Ms or something. Before this I'd usually get 2/$5 veggie handrolls, but they closed.
If I was up a lot with the baby I might have a second cup of coffee.
Try not to eat office biscuits. Success various wildly.
Dinner is a bit more hodge-podge. We cook a lot, though not as much as we used to - pasta with lots of veg, breakfast for dinner, roasted veg with couscous, frozen lasagna, baked potatoes... sometimes we'll make a big pot of curry, soup, risotto or something over the weekend for later use. Only sweet snack at home is very very dark chocolate - 70% or higher.
(If the baby is having a growth spurt all bets are off and it's burger time...)
posted by jrobin276 at 6:48 PM on August 24, 2015
Love this question. It's really going to depend on what works for you. (I've been amazed to see what different eating patterns have worked for me over the years and just went through a major shift in preferences. Anyway.)
Breakfast: Oatmeal or six-grain cereal made with almond milk + bananas + other fruit or nuts. In my more paleo days, this was eggs plus whatever was easily at hand in the fridge (like a chopped up tomato). Eggs used to be a huge staple, as they take like 5 minutes to cook .
Lunch: I go out for salad or tacos. Or I bring a head of lettuce to work + some cherry tomatoes + a chicken-apple sausage and/or an avocado. (Sometimes, that salad lasts me two days, and sometimes just one.)
Dinner: A batch of something I cooked over the weekend (like bean stew or chicken casserole). Or, some of the pre-chopped veggies from Trader Joes + a protein.
The other trick is having snacks on hand that are healthy. 4 pm is dangerous, and so is whenever I finally leave work and have a whole bike ride home to do. Cooking dinner is much easier if I'm not starving. I've been troubleshooting the snack thing by asking "what else would fill this craving?" for my unhealthy desires. Gummy bears can be replaced with an orange, that sort of thing. It takes awhile to consistently have healthier options on hand, but maybe start by buying a mix of sweet and salty healthy snacks. Hopefully someone will have some more ideas here.
For me, it also helps to make a game of trying to get my nutritional needs met by food (and once that's easy, to not count the "fortified" products). Once I realized that one serving of cantaloupe has only 60 calories but over 100% of the Vitamin A and C I need, whereas the gummy bears are truly empty calories, the choice became a lot more obvious, and cutting up the cantaloupe felt less like wasting time and more like beating the system.
Last tip, which probably goes without saying, but sugar is super addictive, and even carbs convert to sugars fairly rapidly. When I was eating a low fruit version of paleo, I was hungry much less often. The more you can get off the blood sugar roller coaster, the better.
posted by salvia at 7:50 PM on August 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
Breakfast: Oatmeal or six-grain cereal made with almond milk + bananas + other fruit or nuts. In my more paleo days, this was eggs plus whatever was easily at hand in the fridge (like a chopped up tomato). Eggs used to be a huge staple, as they take like 5 minutes to cook .
Lunch: I go out for salad or tacos. Or I bring a head of lettuce to work + some cherry tomatoes + a chicken-apple sausage and/or an avocado. (Sometimes, that salad lasts me two days, and sometimes just one.)
Dinner: A batch of something I cooked over the weekend (like bean stew or chicken casserole). Or, some of the pre-chopped veggies from Trader Joes + a protein.
The other trick is having snacks on hand that are healthy. 4 pm is dangerous, and so is whenever I finally leave work and have a whole bike ride home to do. Cooking dinner is much easier if I'm not starving. I've been troubleshooting the snack thing by asking "what else would fill this craving?" for my unhealthy desires. Gummy bears can be replaced with an orange, that sort of thing. It takes awhile to consistently have healthier options on hand, but maybe start by buying a mix of sweet and salty healthy snacks. Hopefully someone will have some more ideas here.
For me, it also helps to make a game of trying to get my nutritional needs met by food (and once that's easy, to not count the "fortified" products). Once I realized that one serving of cantaloupe has only 60 calories but over 100% of the Vitamin A and C I need, whereas the gummy bears are truly empty calories, the choice became a lot more obvious, and cutting up the cantaloupe felt less like wasting time and more like beating the system.
Last tip, which probably goes without saying, but sugar is super addictive, and even carbs convert to sugars fairly rapidly. When I was eating a low fruit version of paleo, I was hungry much less often. The more you can get off the blood sugar roller coaster, the better.
posted by salvia at 7:50 PM on August 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
I eat sauteed veggies and feta on couscous for dinner multiple days a week. Couscous is little tiny pasta-grains and you can cook it just by boiling some water in the kettle, pouring the water into a bowl of dry couscous, and covering it for a few minutes. It soaks up the water and becomes fluffy. It's just a carb, so very far from the last word in healthy eating, but it's as easy to make as cereal and it turns pile-of-veggies into something that feels like more of a meal to me and therefore keeps me eating piles-of-veggies consistently. It's easier than pasta, easier than rice, etc.
So generally this is my approach: put the kettle on. Chop veggies (I like asparagus and tomato together the best, but you can do all kinds of veggies; the advantage of including tomatoes is it makes a sort of sauce). Toss veggies in pan with some olive oil and chopped-up garlic, salt and pepper to taste. Pour boiling water in couscous and cover. Stir veggies till tender, then stir in a bit of crumbled up feta (for excitement). Fluff couscous with fork and pour veggie concoction on top.
posted by somedaycatlady at 7:52 PM on August 24, 2015 [2 favorites]
So generally this is my approach: put the kettle on. Chop veggies (I like asparagus and tomato together the best, but you can do all kinds of veggies; the advantage of including tomatoes is it makes a sort of sauce). Toss veggies in pan with some olive oil and chopped-up garlic, salt and pepper to taste. Pour boiling water in couscous and cover. Stir veggies till tender, then stir in a bit of crumbled up feta (for excitement). Fluff couscous with fork and pour veggie concoction on top.
posted by somedaycatlady at 7:52 PM on August 24, 2015 [2 favorites]
Congratulations on remodeling your nutrition! That is major, major stuff, and good for you stacking the deck to keep it that way.
Looks like you're getting good advice here. Here's my extremely lazy two cents:
5 Can Chili:
2 cans black beans (or one big one)
2 cans diced tomatoes (or one big one)
1 can corn
2 packets of chili seasoning.
Drain corn and beans if you feel like it. Throw it in a crockpot, stir it up. Add enough water so you can see some water on top. Leave it on low overnight.
If you feel fancy, add cheese and sour cream.
Great way to use up any leftover meat. Frozen corn works great, too, and is lighter to carry around the supermarket.
Too Lazy to Add Dressing Salad
Version 1:
Avocado, mango, and halved cherry tomatoes. Mix up with some greens. Kale lasts longest in the fridge IME but it's not everybody's cuppa.
Version 2 because finding good avocados was too hard:
Halved grapes and cherry tomatoes + crumbled feta cheese or goat cheese or whatever cheese. Mix it up with some greens.
Raisins are good, too, if grapes are a hassle.
Chicken I Guess
Frozen chicken breasts + BBQ sauce + crock pot on low all day
Oh Yeah I Have A Rice Cooker
Cook quinoa and/or brown rice with raisins and chicken broth. Once it's cooked and cooled, mix in some torn-up greens, halved cherry tomatoes, and feta cheese. Add your favorite vinegar and olive oil to taste.
Pork Butt is On Sale
Make Kalua pork (pork + sea salt + liquid smoke + crock pot)
Snack
Shot glass of almonds (they make seasoned flavors that are very satisfying)
Dessert
Sugar-free chocolate pudding + raisins + a little spoon of peanut butter. For some reason this makes me take my time and appreciate what I'm eating, and when I'm done, I feel satisfied. If it was just a cup of pudding, I'd have three. YMMV.
Weekday breakfast is almost always two protein bars. Oatmeal and two hard-boiled eggs is good, too.
Hope this helps. Knock 'em dead!
posted by AteYourLembas at 7:59 PM on August 24, 2015 [10 favorites]
Looks like you're getting good advice here. Here's my extremely lazy two cents:
5 Can Chili:
2 cans black beans (or one big one)
2 cans diced tomatoes (or one big one)
1 can corn
2 packets of chili seasoning.
Drain corn and beans if you feel like it. Throw it in a crockpot, stir it up. Add enough water so you can see some water on top. Leave it on low overnight.
If you feel fancy, add cheese and sour cream.
Great way to use up any leftover meat. Frozen corn works great, too, and is lighter to carry around the supermarket.
Too Lazy to Add Dressing Salad
Version 1:
Avocado, mango, and halved cherry tomatoes. Mix up with some greens. Kale lasts longest in the fridge IME but it's not everybody's cuppa.
Version 2 because finding good avocados was too hard:
Halved grapes and cherry tomatoes + crumbled feta cheese or goat cheese or whatever cheese. Mix it up with some greens.
Raisins are good, too, if grapes are a hassle.
Chicken I Guess
Frozen chicken breasts + BBQ sauce + crock pot on low all day
Oh Yeah I Have A Rice Cooker
Cook quinoa and/or brown rice with raisins and chicken broth. Once it's cooked and cooled, mix in some torn-up greens, halved cherry tomatoes, and feta cheese. Add your favorite vinegar and olive oil to taste.
Pork Butt is On Sale
Make Kalua pork (pork + sea salt + liquid smoke + crock pot)
Snack
Shot glass of almonds (they make seasoned flavors that are very satisfying)
Dessert
Sugar-free chocolate pudding + raisins + a little spoon of peanut butter. For some reason this makes me take my time and appreciate what I'm eating, and when I'm done, I feel satisfied. If it was just a cup of pudding, I'd have three. YMMV.
Weekday breakfast is almost always two protein bars. Oatmeal and two hard-boiled eggs is good, too.
Hope this helps. Knock 'em dead!
posted by AteYourLembas at 7:59 PM on August 24, 2015 [10 favorites]
Oh yeah! For a starch, I like some little potatoes--fingerling or Yukon Gold or red or anything. Potatoes are the #1 super best at filling up a hungry gut.
Take a handful of little potatoes, wash 'em off, wrap 'em in plastic wrap, microwave them for 4 minutes or whatever makes them soft.
Mash them a little to let the steam out and increase topping-able surface area. Sprinkle on some salt and some cheese and sour cream and anything else that sounds good.
You know what else is good on them? 5 Can Chili.
posted by AteYourLembas at 8:07 PM on August 24, 2015
Take a handful of little potatoes, wash 'em off, wrap 'em in plastic wrap, microwave them for 4 minutes or whatever makes them soft.
Mash them a little to let the steam out and increase topping-able surface area. Sprinkle on some salt and some cheese and sour cream and anything else that sounds good.
You know what else is good on them? 5 Can Chili.
posted by AteYourLembas at 8:07 PM on August 24, 2015
Here's my casserole recipe, by the way. I make this on the weekend while listening to podcasts. At Trader Joes, I buy ... I forget what they're called -- chicken breast fingers or something. The advantage? They're small enough that you don't have to cut them. Get a big enamel saucepan or casserole dish and put olive oil in the bottom, then a layer of red pepper or cumin and salt. Lay down the chicken, then sprinkle with more cumin and salt. Now fill the rest of the saucepan with chopped up veggies. I use tomato, onion, and this three-pepper color medley they sell at Trader Joes (one red, one orange, one yellow). If you want greens, buy one of those pre-washed bags of spinach or chopped kale. Mix in a little salt, cover the pan and stick it in the oven at 350 degrees for...maybe 45 minutes? This takes maybe 15-20 active minutes, but you end up with several meals of food. And it takes me awhile to get sick of this, so I can actually eat all the leftovers.
Another good one for me when I don't feel like cooking (i.e., always) but am not yet hungry is root vegetables. I can flip on the oven, rinse a sweet potato or beet and throw it in, then go read Metafilter for 45 minutes. Add some protein (eggs? chicken-apple sausage?) and/or some greens (pre-washed spinach cooks up in like 9 seconds), and that's a well balanced meal.
On preview, AteYourLembas' post reminded me that my tolerance for cooking used to be even lower than it is now. I shared my old approaches (can of chickpeas over some couscous) in this great thread: almost instant meals.
posted by salvia at 8:18 PM on August 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
Another good one for me when I don't feel like cooking (i.e., always) but am not yet hungry is root vegetables. I can flip on the oven, rinse a sweet potato or beet and throw it in, then go read Metafilter for 45 minutes. Add some protein (eggs? chicken-apple sausage?) and/or some greens (pre-washed spinach cooks up in like 9 seconds), and that's a well balanced meal.
On preview, AteYourLembas' post reminded me that my tolerance for cooking used to be even lower than it is now. I shared my old approaches (can of chickpeas over some couscous) in this great thread: almost instant meals.
posted by salvia at 8:18 PM on August 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
We have a super fancy Korean rice cooker (Cuckoo Brand) that we bought second hand for a great price - it keeps brown rice hot and safe to eat for up to three days. That means that, in a pinch meals can revolve around rice that's hot and ready to go:
Fried tomatoes and egg with garlic, sesame oil and soy sauce, on brown rice.
A can of lentils, stewed with curry powder/spices, chopped onions, diced carrots, chopped kale, whatever, on rice.
A handful of sprouts/salad/greens, and a can of tuna fish (packed in oil, delish) on rice.
Simple stir fry.
Wanna make the brownrice super healthy? Through a cup of lentils/beans in to cook with it (the Cuckoo rice cookers will adjust accordingly).
Lately I've been very into BLTs made with Tofu bacon.
Snacks: Stovetop popcorn with olive oil, salt, garlic powder, nutritional yeast. Also Nori.
Lots of fruit for lunches and what not.
Breakfast: An egg. Avocado on toast with sriracha. Peanut butter on toast.
posted by stray at 8:43 PM on August 24, 2015 [3 favorites]
Fried tomatoes and egg with garlic, sesame oil and soy sauce, on brown rice.
A can of lentils, stewed with curry powder/spices, chopped onions, diced carrots, chopped kale, whatever, on rice.
A handful of sprouts/salad/greens, and a can of tuna fish (packed in oil, delish) on rice.
Simple stir fry.
Wanna make the brownrice super healthy? Through a cup of lentils/beans in to cook with it (the Cuckoo rice cookers will adjust accordingly).
Lately I've been very into BLTs made with Tofu bacon.
Snacks: Stovetop popcorn with olive oil, salt, garlic powder, nutritional yeast. Also Nori.
Lots of fruit for lunches and what not.
Breakfast: An egg. Avocado on toast with sriracha. Peanut butter on toast.
posted by stray at 8:43 PM on August 24, 2015 [3 favorites]
Breakfast-- granola with soy milk or skim milk. I don't fuss too much about what brand granola-- mix it up with different flavors, and just make sure not too much sugar.
Lunch-- leafy green salad with either feta or chicken. No dressing on the salad, or just light oil/vinegar.
Snacks-- nuts or dried edamame, fruit, or popcorn without butter.
Dinner-- Black bean salads, chickpea salad with feta, orzo with veggies, rice with stir-fried bok choy. Nthing the suggestion of a rice cooker. Once I had one I have no idea how I ever lived without it. I tend to cook once every 2-3 days so I have dinner on hand. I also bake chickpeas with whatever-spice-I-like as a snack.
Fruit or a small bit of ice cream (on workout days) as a dessert
posted by frumiousb at 9:04 PM on August 24, 2015
Lunch-- leafy green salad with either feta or chicken. No dressing on the salad, or just light oil/vinegar.
Snacks-- nuts or dried edamame, fruit, or popcorn without butter.
Dinner-- Black bean salads, chickpea salad with feta, orzo with veggies, rice with stir-fried bok choy. Nthing the suggestion of a rice cooker. Once I had one I have no idea how I ever lived without it. I tend to cook once every 2-3 days so I have dinner on hand. I also bake chickpeas with whatever-spice-I-like as a snack.
Fruit or a small bit of ice cream (on workout days) as a dessert
posted by frumiousb at 9:04 PM on August 24, 2015
Most days my breakfast is half an Italian sausage sliced up and sautéed in olive oil or coconut oil with a handful or four of greens (I get the huge bag from Costco), mushrooms maybe, and some sauerkraut on top. Plus two scrambled eggs (cooked with a lot of butter). And coffee. I know it sounds like a lot, but I've been doing it for a few years and it really is easy once you're used to it (or, uh, if Mr. Corpse usually makes it for you). That means I've got a breakfast that won't put me back to sleep, and I've had a bunch of greens and can blow them off for the rest of the day.
Lunch is usually Straus Greek yoghurt, and berries (either fresh or frozen) or granola. The yoghurt is one bazillion dollars but it's amazing.
Afternoon snack is usually heavy on the chocolate, or cheese and crackers, or cheese and apple slices.
Dinner isn't much. By this point in the day I've had greens and protein and berries and I'm pretty full. I have dinner but it's nothing to write home about. I might eat some of what I made for the kids, or what I made for Mr. Corpse, or I might repeat lunch. Tonight it was a small bowl of spaghetti from the kids' dinner, with half a mashed avocado, olive oil, and salt.
I have one drink most nights -- cider recently, but it switches around.
I'm a good weight, I have energy, this works for me.
posted by The corpse in the library at 9:05 PM on August 24, 2015
Lunch is usually Straus Greek yoghurt, and berries (either fresh or frozen) or granola. The yoghurt is one bazillion dollars but it's amazing.
Afternoon snack is usually heavy on the chocolate, or cheese and crackers, or cheese and apple slices.
Dinner isn't much. By this point in the day I've had greens and protein and berries and I'm pretty full. I have dinner but it's nothing to write home about. I might eat some of what I made for the kids, or what I made for Mr. Corpse, or I might repeat lunch. Tonight it was a small bowl of spaghetti from the kids' dinner, with half a mashed avocado, olive oil, and salt.
I have one drink most nights -- cider recently, but it switches around.
I'm a good weight, I have energy, this works for me.
posted by The corpse in the library at 9:05 PM on August 24, 2015
I have trouble dealing with greens that aren't in the bag so I just get them bagged. My favorite salad is a half a bag of spring mix with two or three tablespoons each of crumbled blue cheese, dried cranberries, and sunflower or pumpkin seeds with 1.5 tablespoons of bottled balsamic vinegarette. I used to try to buy fresh greens on the head and wash them and make my own dressing but that was too much of a barrier and I wouldn't actually eat them - sad but true. I eat one of these salads or a similar variant daily for lunch. Breakfast is a small container of greek yogurt with stuff in it (a Chobani flip cup thing). For dinner I make chicken breasts using the kitchn's perfect recipe at the beginning of the week and I eat it cold with salad or sometimes quinoa or brown rice or a microwaved sweet potato. I deviate and eat out about once every week or two weeks but this has been my diet for quite some time and it works for me. I love not having to think about what's for dinner.
Also I love Nature Valley granola bars for snacks, and I eat a scoop or two of real ice cream almost every evening.
posted by sockermom at 10:32 PM on August 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
Also I love Nature Valley granola bars for snacks, and I eat a scoop or two of real ice cream almost every evening.
posted by sockermom at 10:32 PM on August 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
Eggs and avocado for breakfast every day. Sometimes bacon too.
Greek yogurt with berries for a morning snack.
Lunch is usually leftovers from last night's dinner.
Afternoon snack is usually a handful of nuts or a Pure Protein bar (chocolate chip and chocolate peanut butter are the best flavors). I like them because they are higher protein than most, low glycemic index, and don't totally taste like sawdust. They are processed though, so not whole food legit.
Dinner is a rotation of:
Chicken thighs in the oven for 45 minutes with some salt, pepper, and garlic powder, if I'm feeling fancy I'll throw some carrots and onions in with it, maybe even some potatoes. Served with salad.
Chili! Pound of ground beef, diced onion, can each of kidney beans, black beans, diced tomato. Chili powder, oregano, thyme. Put the beef and onion in the pan and push them around until the beef is brown, then put everything else in, cover and simmer on low until you want to eat.
Pork chops, applesauce, green beans.
Salmon!!! With asparagus sauteed with garlic and butter.
Some kind of leftover meat and peas in a tikka masala simmer sauce over rice.
Some kind of leftover meat in a stir fry with broccoli, peppers, and bok choy (minced garlic, minced ginger, soy sauce, honey, fish sauce, sesame oil is my easy stir fry sauce) over rice.
Pork shoulder in the slow cooker all day with bbq sauce. Chop up some cabbage for cole slaw (dressing is just mayo, vinegar, and sugar).
Occasional pasta, pizza, or hot dogs if I'm feeling too lazy or busy to cook.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 10:45 PM on August 24, 2015 [2 favorites]
Greek yogurt with berries for a morning snack.
Lunch is usually leftovers from last night's dinner.
Afternoon snack is usually a handful of nuts or a Pure Protein bar (chocolate chip and chocolate peanut butter are the best flavors). I like them because they are higher protein than most, low glycemic index, and don't totally taste like sawdust. They are processed though, so not whole food legit.
Dinner is a rotation of:
Chicken thighs in the oven for 45 minutes with some salt, pepper, and garlic powder, if I'm feeling fancy I'll throw some carrots and onions in with it, maybe even some potatoes. Served with salad.
Chili! Pound of ground beef, diced onion, can each of kidney beans, black beans, diced tomato. Chili powder, oregano, thyme. Put the beef and onion in the pan and push them around until the beef is brown, then put everything else in, cover and simmer on low until you want to eat.
Pork chops, applesauce, green beans.
Salmon!!! With asparagus sauteed with garlic and butter.
Some kind of leftover meat and peas in a tikka masala simmer sauce over rice.
Some kind of leftover meat in a stir fry with broccoli, peppers, and bok choy (minced garlic, minced ginger, soy sauce, honey, fish sauce, sesame oil is my easy stir fry sauce) over rice.
Pork shoulder in the slow cooker all day with bbq sauce. Chop up some cabbage for cole slaw (dressing is just mayo, vinegar, and sugar).
Occasional pasta, pizza, or hot dogs if I'm feeling too lazy or busy to cook.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 10:45 PM on August 24, 2015 [2 favorites]
I make the veggie jambalaya from Leanne Brown's Good and Cheap cookbook. It lasts for days and basically amounts to 'chop things up and throw in pan'. Also so cheap. Basically everything in that PDF I linked is healthy, cheap and easy to make.
posted by thebots at 12:56 AM on August 25, 2015
posted by thebots at 12:56 AM on August 25, 2015
"So I'd love to hear from people who manage to eat relatively healthy without spending 2 hours in the kitchen every night throwing 20 different ingredients around."
This might sound ridiculous, but life got a lot easier (and my waistline got smaller) when I had the sudden realization that, you know, dinner didn't have to be the conventional (American) meat + veg + starch. Most importantly, I guess I saw suddenly that my dinner plate didn't have to have three items on it to be dinner. Two was just fine! I could prepare a protein (I might pick from: nice piece of fish, chicken breast or thigh, pork chop, or a handful of shrimp) and a side of veg (steamed broccoli, brussel sprouts, asparagus, or maybe a little salad of just spinach dressed with balsamic vinegar) and, voila: dinner! This wildly simplified my life in the kitchen and the cognitive load I carried about what to make for dinner. It's a simple routine-like two-piece pattern, but has a lot of potential for varying combinations that don't require elaborate ingredients or preparation.
posted by pinkacademic at 5:54 AM on August 25, 2015 [5 favorites]
This might sound ridiculous, but life got a lot easier (and my waistline got smaller) when I had the sudden realization that, you know, dinner didn't have to be the conventional (American) meat + veg + starch. Most importantly, I guess I saw suddenly that my dinner plate didn't have to have three items on it to be dinner. Two was just fine! I could prepare a protein (I might pick from: nice piece of fish, chicken breast or thigh, pork chop, or a handful of shrimp) and a side of veg (steamed broccoli, brussel sprouts, asparagus, or maybe a little salad of just spinach dressed with balsamic vinegar) and, voila: dinner! This wildly simplified my life in the kitchen and the cognitive load I carried about what to make for dinner. It's a simple routine-like two-piece pattern, but has a lot of potential for varying combinations that don't require elaborate ingredients or preparation.
posted by pinkacademic at 5:54 AM on August 25, 2015 [5 favorites]
Food Rules by Michael Pollan is a great place to start if you want a more theoretical basis for your diet. His advice, based on scientific consensus on what makes a good diet as well as thousands of years of oral tradition about food, famously condenses to the sentence: "eat food, mostly plants, not too much."
For practical advice, I offer some examples from my own life: my wife and I eat a lot of variations on eggs for breakfast. Sometimes scrambled or fried on their own, sometimes omelettes, sometimes breakfast sandwiches, sometimes quiches—we do one for a month or two at a time and switch it up. We do similar repetition for lunch, lately, bulk-cooking two weeks worth of burritos that we freeze and take to work. For dinner, we have a weekly calendar with some variations built-in to it. Mondays are enchiladas, Tuesdays a Thai curry. Our grocery list is based on these recurring dishes. Oh right, and since we sometimes get hungry in between meals, we keep healthy snacks like nuts and greek yogurt.
These regular meals are not inflexible. If we're too busy one night and need to eat out, that's fine. If I have 2 hours and (since I love cooking) want to throw 20 ingredients around in a new way, I can. But when we buy groceries, we get stuff for the above because it makes planning so much easier. And I never have to think, "oh no, what am I going to make tonight, what do we have?"
The question, then, is how do you populate your life with these regular recipes? You're going to have to develop the skill of cooking, and that takes practice. People getting started often fret over getting the best cookbook for beginners, but I never really use cookbooks except as one would a dictionary or encyclopedia (reference). Ask friends and coworkers who cook about their favorite easy recipes. Explore the web and find the sites that have recipes for food you like (I recommend The Kitchn and Serious Eats).
posted by whiterteeth at 6:39 AM on August 25, 2015
For practical advice, I offer some examples from my own life: my wife and I eat a lot of variations on eggs for breakfast. Sometimes scrambled or fried on their own, sometimes omelettes, sometimes breakfast sandwiches, sometimes quiches—we do one for a month or two at a time and switch it up. We do similar repetition for lunch, lately, bulk-cooking two weeks worth of burritos that we freeze and take to work. For dinner, we have a weekly calendar with some variations built-in to it. Mondays are enchiladas, Tuesdays a Thai curry. Our grocery list is based on these recurring dishes. Oh right, and since we sometimes get hungry in between meals, we keep healthy snacks like nuts and greek yogurt.
These regular meals are not inflexible. If we're too busy one night and need to eat out, that's fine. If I have 2 hours and (since I love cooking) want to throw 20 ingredients around in a new way, I can. But when we buy groceries, we get stuff for the above because it makes planning so much easier. And I never have to think, "oh no, what am I going to make tonight, what do we have?"
The question, then, is how do you populate your life with these regular recipes? You're going to have to develop the skill of cooking, and that takes practice. People getting started often fret over getting the best cookbook for beginners, but I never really use cookbooks except as one would a dictionary or encyclopedia (reference). Ask friends and coworkers who cook about their favorite easy recipes. Explore the web and find the sites that have recipes for food you like (I recommend The Kitchn and Serious Eats).
posted by whiterteeth at 6:39 AM on August 25, 2015
It depends on how much protein you're trying to get, but I personally find it easiest to make most of my meals vegetarian buddha-bowl-type things, which just means mixing everything up in one bowl rather than making meat+protein+starch separate.
This means most of my meals (including breakfast) are some combination of:
whole grain/legume (canned chickpeas or cooked quinoa, brown rice, wheatberries, or lentils)
+
vegetable (sauteed kale, kimchee from a jar, sauteed cherry tomatoes, roasted root vegetables, roasted brussels sprouts, fresh parsley, fresh arugula, sauteed asparagus)
+
something protein-y (feta, fried egg, hard boiled egg, rotisserie chicken, canned sardines)
Sprinkle with salt and drizzle the whole thing with lemon juice and olive oil.
Putting this in a small cereal bowl (or a medium-sized tupperware if you're brown bagging it to work) also keeps portion size reasonable. If you make a few cups of grain and roast a bunch of veggies at once, you can just combine them in various ways for the next few days and it's fine cold or hot or room temperature. This system also reduces decision fatigue for me, since I don't have to figure out what's for dinner, it's just whatever grains and veggies are in the fridge. To get fancy, buy some tasty additions at the store to put in (sun dried tomatoes, capers, pesto, roasted peppers)
posted by LeeLanded at 6:42 AM on August 25, 2015 [3 favorites]
This means most of my meals (including breakfast) are some combination of:
whole grain/legume (canned chickpeas or cooked quinoa, brown rice, wheatberries, or lentils)
+
vegetable (sauteed kale, kimchee from a jar, sauteed cherry tomatoes, roasted root vegetables, roasted brussels sprouts, fresh parsley, fresh arugula, sauteed asparagus)
+
something protein-y (feta, fried egg, hard boiled egg, rotisserie chicken, canned sardines)
Sprinkle with salt and drizzle the whole thing with lemon juice and olive oil.
Putting this in a small cereal bowl (or a medium-sized tupperware if you're brown bagging it to work) also keeps portion size reasonable. If you make a few cups of grain and roast a bunch of veggies at once, you can just combine them in various ways for the next few days and it's fine cold or hot or room temperature. This system also reduces decision fatigue for me, since I don't have to figure out what's for dinner, it's just whatever grains and veggies are in the fridge. To get fancy, buy some tasty additions at the store to put in (sun dried tomatoes, capers, pesto, roasted peppers)
posted by LeeLanded at 6:42 AM on August 25, 2015 [3 favorites]
The one dictum in my head that helps keep my diet on the rails: Decrease the sugar/carbohydrates and increase the fibrous plant matter when possible. The more colorful the plant matter- the better.
posted by incolorinred at 7:47 AM on August 25, 2015
posted by incolorinred at 7:47 AM on August 25, 2015
I'm with pinkacademic on dinner: A simple protein with a vegetable side works very well for me, and helps me limit carbs. (About twice a week I'll have a pasta with some kind of olive oil-garlic-vegetable sauce.) And usually a bit of bread, but not just to have bread--only when I can get a nice crunchy sourdough baguette or the like. And two glasses of wine. An omelet--maybe with spinach and feta--works great too. With two glasses of wine. (Didn't Elizabeth David live a long time?)
posted by fivesavagepalms at 9:26 AM on August 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by fivesavagepalms at 9:26 AM on August 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
Breakfast: 1/2 cup cottage cheese with a bit of chopped seasonal fruit—half a banana, or a fig, or some cherry tomatoes—and 1.5 eggs, microwaved (my microwave has an "omelette" setting that's too handy to ignore). This, plus a 12oz nonfat latte (acquired from a professional) makes for a ~350 cal breakfast.
Lunch: If not leftovers from last night's dinner, then a soup or interesting salad from the grocery store. Maybe a kombucha to drink. Around 400 cal tops.
Dinner: Chop up an 8 oz boneless, skinless chicken breast, sear it all over, then cook up a mess of veg (pick from: onions, peppers, zucchini, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, etc) tip in a jar of simmer sauce (Patak's Vindaloo does the trick), cover and cook on low for about 15 minutes. Divide the result into 4 portions. Served with 1/2 cup of brown rice (from the rice cooker), this pegs in around 350 calories. Alternately, sautee a 6 oz portion of an inexpensive white fish (rockfish, sole, cod) and serve with a lettuce, red onion, tomato salad.
… which, ultimately accounts for around 1200 calories. Unless you're a very small bachelor, you probably need to eat more than that, but this leaves room for you to have another latte, a handful or two of almonds, a glass of wine, a second helping of dinner, and even (perhaps ill-advisedly) a scoop of gelato, all within a 2000 calorie day.
posted by mumkin at 11:10 AM on August 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
Lunch: If not leftovers from last night's dinner, then a soup or interesting salad from the grocery store. Maybe a kombucha to drink. Around 400 cal tops.
Dinner: Chop up an 8 oz boneless, skinless chicken breast, sear it all over, then cook up a mess of veg (pick from: onions, peppers, zucchini, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, etc) tip in a jar of simmer sauce (Patak's Vindaloo does the trick), cover and cook on low for about 15 minutes. Divide the result into 4 portions. Served with 1/2 cup of brown rice (from the rice cooker), this pegs in around 350 calories. Alternately, sautee a 6 oz portion of an inexpensive white fish (rockfish, sole, cod) and serve with a lettuce, red onion, tomato salad.
… which, ultimately accounts for around 1200 calories. Unless you're a very small bachelor, you probably need to eat more than that, but this leaves room for you to have another latte, a handful or two of almonds, a glass of wine, a second helping of dinner, and even (perhaps ill-advisedly) a scoop of gelato, all within a 2000 calorie day.
posted by mumkin at 11:10 AM on August 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thanks everyone for the great answers! This is exactly the type of advice I was looking for.
posted by ajax287 at 3:30 PM on August 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by ajax287 at 3:30 PM on August 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
Damn, I work at a TJ's, and I have no time at all for cooking, so my meals are basically scrambled eggs (duck eggs if I can find 'em, cuz they're SO good), my homemade seedy bread with a side of fruit (berries, grapes.) For lunch I might have canned tuna or herring with crackers and cheese, and dinner is pretty much the protein/veg mix mentioned above. But since my access to nuts like sunflower, brazil or hazelnuts is so easy, I find I do most of my snacking on those. Stay away from frozen meals, obviously because they're so often sugar/salt bombs (even at TJ's-- it's NOT a health food store!)
posted by biddeford at 10:43 PM on August 26, 2015
posted by biddeford at 10:43 PM on August 26, 2015
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- Medium protein breakfast - this means either a cup of Kashi (or other high protein cereal, there aren't many) and skim milk (people Have Opinions about skim milk but it's ok with me) and maybe a banana, or a (turkey) sausage on an english muffin or some light bread. Coffee with half and half.
- Very light lunch - this means either a few rice cakes with peanut butter and an apple, or a handful of almonds and some greek yogurt with maybe some coconut in it. A few raw veggies for snacking. A salad if I am feeling fancy, light on the dressing
- Afternoon coffee with some small snack (piece of dark chocolate, chocolate rice cake, I try to keep it under 100 calories)
- Dinner is 1/4 cup quinoa + 1 cup-ish veggies + 1/2 tbsp olive oil + 2 oz. meat in various forms (diced chicken, chourico, turkey sausage, something else) with different spices. Some sort of bread/cracker with hummus on the side
- After-dinner something: cinnamon apple, tofutti cutie, tangerine
The key for me is a lot of small meals so while I'm not eating a lot I am always eating which works for me and what I am working on. I sometimes suck on licorice or cough drops in-between if I am feeling peckish. If I work out, I eat more.
posted by jessamyn at 6:27 PM on August 24, 2015 [2 favorites]