Hey! Saw your thread and just had to jump on this wagon!
I am quite a healthy eater in general. I did not grow up this way - having been raised in the South on fried foods at practically every meal and lots of sweets. My folks did not like seafood, and on Dad's income - we ate a lot of starches. Hamburger Helper was the American way!
I did *like* healthy foods, but we just didn't eat a lot of them. At some point in highschool, I decided to begin buying my own food and kept a small frig in my room. I ate a lot of fruit though I wasn't too into veggies at that point. What fruit I ate, I ate raw. Easy enough. But I still ate my "healthy" Southern Breakfast of two scrambled eggs, toast w/Mom's sweet apple jelly, (fried) potatoes, and Jimmy Dean sausage.
Yum!
In my early 20s, although my weight was lower, I found my cholesterol was in the 300 range! Whoa! With a family strong in history of heart attacks, I decided that needed to change immediately. For three months... I dropped my "healthy" breakfast for cold, high fiber cereals, switched from 2% milk to skim, dropped all other dairy products except a morning yogurt with live cultures (I like fat-free yoplait but it is quite sweet), and began eating more veges and broiled, lean meats. I had also always enjoyed salads, so I began eating these more - sometimes as a meal unto itself - just double the lettuce with red cabbage, carrots, and some raw veges. I barely used dressing (which I now do not use - just a good Italian dry seasoning) and ate fruit also when I needed something.
In three months, I dropped from the 300s to 168 in cholesterol count! Talk about reinforcing! I slowly added back cheese and some dairy products, but I made sure they were good quality, real cheese, not American processed, pasteurized, cheese food spreads, sauces, slices, or the like. :P
I travel a lot, so sometimes it's just tough to eat healthy. Esp. in someone else's home when they are serving a buffet of carbs with mac 'n' cheese and cheesy potatoes as the side dishes. Cheese sauces on everything. I skip out. They don't taste good anyway.
The other huge difference was that I began drinking more water. I was one of those who "never liked" drinking water. It just didn't taste good to me, so I began with a flavored water - at the time, Clearly Canadian (which now to me just tastes like sugar). But anyway...
I have found - surprise, surprise (not!) - when I eat healthy and drink my 8 glasses of water daily, I feel healthy, am in better health, and am more prone to working out. When I begin eating pastas, carbs, sweets, and other unhealthy or less healthy items, I feel sluggish and don't feel like doing much of anything - much less the running that I enjoy so much when I'm feeling lighter and healthier. Duh!
Obviously, if I'm feeling heavier (even though I'm still a small person), then exercise will be more of a chore rather than something you enjoy doing, and the cycle perpetuates itself.
When I'm eating healthy, here's what I eat:
Morning: Active, Live cultured yogurt. I buy fat-free Yoplait - it's only 100 calories which is good for the protein and calcium you get. It's amazing - I also (in my 20s began reading all the labels on store products I bought - makes a HUGE difference - literally!)
Even a lowfat yogurt can have twice the calories and sugar. Ppl will think they are eating healthy when they aren't. Maybe healthier than when they weren't eating "healthy", but still not...
I've gotten to where i'll put it in a little dish or bowl and mix in some fruit - berries, mostly - they are tasty and colorful. OR peaches - all fresh and raw.
And I begin my water routine .... I buy Aquafina in 16 oz. bottles. $5/24 ct. case. I found it was MUCH easier for me to get in *four* bottles than *eight* glasses! Lol. But it works for me.... one in the morning, one by mid-day, one with lunch, and one with dinner. Then any extra is just that - bonus!
And when I run, it's also much easier to drink more - I sip it, carrying one in each hand while I'm running/walking and tell myself I have to finish both bottles before I get home. Easy to do while you're sweating it off, and you feel great!
I have found when I'm eating healthier, that I often miss lunch - I just am not that hungry. Once a week, I'll shop for what I'll eat that week and immediately prepare it. I enjoy slicing and dicing, so that part is relaxing for me, and if you do that once or twice a week, then you'll be less apt to snack along the way. And if you snack on *this* food, it's healthier anyway... much more than pulling out a box of mac 'n' cheese (one of my acquaintances used to do this when she'd feel hungry... and wonder why she was struggling with her weight.... anyway),
I have worked from home for a long while, so it's easy for me to take a break - and I when I can eat like that, I "graze" through the day and eat just two "meals". I ensure that the food on which I'm grazing consist of approx. 100-calorie "snacks" such as:
a piece of fruit - or mixed fruit which I've sliced into a bowl; I try to eat a banana daily for potassium, and it's easy to eat - plain or in cereal.
a granola bar - one that's not as full of sugar, or if it is... it's not much in comparison to a day's eating. I like the Fruit & Nut ones. I used to buy the crunchy ones, but now I like them chewy... more sugar, but still not bad.
a plate of veges - I either buy them fresh or fresh frozen (Freshlike brand is good - nothing in the bag but frozen veges - not a single preservative, and no salt)
a large plate of lettuce mix with colorful veges and/or fruit! (I don't use dressing - I found a great Italian seasoning which I like - supposed to be for meat, but it's great on salads!
Cheese - try a variety - some cheeses are better for you, and you'll never know until you try a few of them which ones you might like! I crumble them on food, eat them on crackers sometimes, or
Nuts - I buy them in bulk at places like Costco or Sam's and put them in the freezer - much cheaper! (Have you tried Pine Nuts - excellent!)
Boiled eggs - I don't eat many eggs, but now I have a pup... and feed him a raw diet, including eggs (*just the yolks) so I eat a few now and then...
I treat myself to crackers - watch the serving size! It's amazing how much crud is actually in them (esp. salt), but most ppl eat half a box in a single sitting! While if you eat the serving size or less - maybe with melted cheese on top, then you'll be better off.
Then for dinner... which I eat around 4 - 4: 30 p.m., I'll have a the salad as noted above, a small serving of broiled (not raw) chicken breast or salmon or other fish, some steamed veges unless I eat them raw in the salad, and maybe some fruit for dessert. And... finish my 4th bottle of water. On the meat, I also put nuts - almond slivers, pine nuts, cashews, English walnuts (Black walnuts are just too strong for my taste), ... and sit with a cup of hot tea afterwards. Yum!
In the winter I eat less salads and *do* eat more soups and carbs, but I'm not a purist, although if I lived in a warmer climate, then I probably would be moreso. I also eat more hot cereal rather than yogurt for breakfast. Try not to add a ton of sugar to your hot cereal! And if you add butter, keep it to a minimum.
I have tried juicing, and it's fun... once. But like you, I prefer to eat things in their natural state rather than in a green or grosser mix of what looks to me like something one might feed to a pig. Lol. But some ppl love it! I guess if I didn't look at it and just drank it, it wouldn't be so bad. But...
When I have juiced, I put a little apple to sweeten it, and don't mix it with banana - for some reason it seems to overwhelm the rest of whatever's in the blender. For blending I prefer: citrus, some berries - not too many or it will end up dark and vomity-looking (!), pineapple, a little apple to sweeten it, and crushed ice or a little skim milk. I find I like these also better in summer than winter. I just can't "do" more cold in winter than what is already out there staring at me for five long months!
I also drink a LOT of hot tea... Unfortunately, I now drink it with Splenda and skim milk, but for several years I enjoyed herbal teas plain. I find that my allergies are much better when I drink a lot of Echinacea and chamomille tea. There is a brand I like: Traditional Medicinals. I get it from my grocerer's - in the organic section. It's about $4.50/16 ct. box. More than you'll pay for other brands, but it just seems to help more, and if you have ever experienced seasonal allergies, anything that helps is "worth" the cost!
Okay... now that I've said *all this*... I'll share this reinforcement. Last year I found a pup who was started on Science Diet by the vet. The pup was sick when I got him but always throwing up and having the runs after he ate. I really didn't want him on S.D., but I didn't know *what* to feed him, so I began reading and trying all kinds of different dog foods... Then I came across a diet recommended by my pet store called the BARF Diet... B.A.R.F. - Biologically Appropriate Raw Food aka Bones and Raw Food.
Remember ... I travel a LOT, so while I did have him on a mix of two great kibble blends (no grain, no byproducts), on one particular trip, we ran out. I had to drive two hours to find one bag of one of the blends. That was enough for me to make the switch to B.A.R.F.! Here's what I found:
When my DOG eats bagged food, he barfs! OR has the runs. He also has to "go" more, and he's not as lively.
When my dog eats the B.A.R.F. diet - I make it myself... it's very easy... he is healthier, eats only two meals/day, "goes" regularly, and is trim, fit, healthy, and happy!
So... once he was well and off the other diets, it only served to reinforce that .... hey! If I ate as well as my DOG... Lol - then wow! How great I'd feel and how much healthier I'd be! Everyone we meet comments on how much energy he has, how trim and fit he is, how nice his coat is, etc. And when I ate more of a raw diet myself (barring broiling my meat for about 10 minutes tops), even my doctor was impressed with my blood panel! And they *guessed* exactly what I was eating! (That was a bit weird, but true!)
So... "you are what you eat." Eat healthy, feel and look healthy. Eat garbage, feel like garbage.
Okay - I've said enough. Hope some of this helps. Experiment! You'll never know until you try...
Have fun, Live Healthy, & Be Happy!
Dr Billinghurst books
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Raw - Barf! ;)
A few store brands...
The thing with eggs and fish...
