Healthy Eating --faves?

[liubotflittyfud]

I've noticed when I'm dieting/eating healthy to lose some weight, I usually stick to the same types of food. For example: snacks I will eat yogurt, fruit, kind bars, and make smoothies for breakfast with fruit, yogurt, protein powder (i have been adding kefir too).

Dinners usually consist of a bowl of healthy cereal (special k, cheerios, shredded wheat), and fruit, or a salad with tons of veggies and tuna or chicken. I've been experimenting with whole wheat pasta and sauteeing eggplant with garlic and a little evoo and having that with fish or chicken.

What are some of your favorite healthy foods? I need ideas

[theycallmeliz]

We all mostly know that sugar = carbs. Well, as pp said, even some of the most healthy cereals have sugar. Same goes for frozen dinners like WW and Healthy Choice.

Additionally, you'll find that the fruit you're having for snacks and the morning can be heavy in sugars, even though they're natural ones. Some of the hard core dieters will limit the amount of fruit they have because of this.

Be sure to change things up. if you want, you can make yourself an eggwhite omelette for dinner with veggies or consider looking at vegetable pasta instead of whole wheat, like squash spaghetti. Remember, even the tomato sauce, if you dont make it from scratch, will have sugars.

[achase123]

I love to use as many fresh ingredients/colorful veggies in dishes as possible.

For breakfast I usually have steel cut oats that I make in the slow cooker. You can add the ingredients, turn it on low, and it's done in about 7 hours. Make sure to spray the inside of the crockpot with non-stick spray. I usually do 2 cups of steel cut oats and about 2 cups of milk and 2 cups of water (sometimes more, this is what keeps it from sticking). Then you can add whatever you want. I just did a recipe with fresh cherries and a little cinnamon and vanilla. I've also done shredded carrot with nutmeg which made it taste kind of like carrot cake.

For snacks I have lots of protein-raw almonds (limit to about 15-100 calories) or Greek yogurt and fruit. I also like celery sticks with almond butter or peanut butter.

Lunch I generally do a sweet potato (can microwave for about six to seven minutes and it's good just on it's own) and maybe a chicken salad or leftovers from the night before.

I've been big into quinoa lately too. I do a salad with cooked quinoa (cool it first) then add whatever veggies you want (I have done cucumber, corn, tomatoes, red onion, mixed colored peppers, spinach, etc) and then grilled chicken. Toss with fresh lemon juice, a little olive oil, and a little balsamic vinegar. Done!

[missbetty1]

I agree with MCC cereal isn't really "healthy". I like plain oatmeal with fresh blueberries/strawberries and one packet of sugar. Also an egg with spinach and like 2 strips of turkey bacon. For lunch I'll eat tacos, I can eat those everyday lol or a lean cuisine (rare), or a salad. Today I had a pulled bbq chicken sandwich but I ate 1/3 of the sandwich. You can eat things you really enjoy, portion control is key, though. For a snack I'll just eat fruit, I prefer apples, oranges, and nectarines. Personally feeling hungry is not an option, so I choose foods that will help me feel full longer.

I wanted to clarify the way I eat my snacks: if I'm hungry during the day, like 3p or earlier, I'll eat fruit as a snack. If I feel hungry in the evening I will eat alot of vegetables instead of fruit...

[roselis]

Try grilling veggies too. My friend makes delicious grilled asparagus mixxed with a little oil, salt and pepper. There wasn't a piece left!
Try making kabobs with chicken, steak, or shrimp, and a mix of fruit or veggies.
Try nuts or unsalted popcorn for snacks as well.

[achase123]

I use sparkpeople.com to track what I eat and my workouts too.

[letyourselfgo]

I love Steamed Spinach.

[usedtobebear]

You have recieved some good ideas. I don't eat meat so my suggestions are vegetarian.

Great snack, cut up veggies with hummus, carrots, celery, bell peppers.
Frozen grapes.
Raw nuts like Almonds mixed with raisins.
Salads, the more color the better, I always put garbanzo beans or kidney beans for protein and any veggies I have.
Hard boiled eggs, I usually eat the egg white, I don't eat the yolks becasue I don't like them.
Green smooties, any greens mixed up with some almond milk or coconut milk and some sort of fruit for sweetness.
Ditto on the Quinoa, add to any veggies with some balsamic and cilantro or basil, yum!
Now I'm hungry
Soups, veggie soups, super easy to make, inexpensive, and healthy.

Try and stay away from anything processed.

[udscoobychick]

Roasted or grilled veggies! They really help tame my salty cravings--I swear roasted broccoli is as good as popcorn! And grilled fruit is an excellent guilt-free summer dessert!

My go-to breakfast is basically a homemade Egg McMuffin--I use a multigrain English muffin, a turkey sausage patty, a slice of reduced-fat cheese, and an egg. Lots of protein and fiber to keep me full! I scramble 6 eggs, then pour them into a muffin-top pan sprayed with non-stick spray--each well holds about 1 egg. Bake for 12 minutes at 325*F. I make 6 sandwiches at a time and package them up to take to work during the week--they reheat well in the microwave. It takes me a half hour from start to finish to make them, too, so they're quick and easy!

I tend to stick to lean cuts of meat, cook with minimal oil, make sure that the oil that I DO use is healthy (i.e. olive oil instead of butter!), use reduced fat dairy products, and bulk up my meals with lots of veggies. Your plate should be 1/4 meat, 1/4 grains, and 1/2 veggies--and potatos don't count as a vegetable! I aim for high protein and high fiber meals, to help keep me full. I read nutrition labels all.the.time. It's important to know what you're getting!

You can dice just about any vegetable that you like and throw it in pasta sauce. Curries with lots of veggies are a fun change of pace. Frittatas are a great way to repackage leftovers--throw any leftover meat and veggies into a pan to head up, pour some srambled egg over it, sprinkle with a bit of cheese, and bake it until it's done--voila! Stir frys are another great way to get veggies, and they're quick to make once you get the prepwork done, too! Chili is great with lots of added veggies--I like zucchini or yellow squash in there. The possibilities are endless, really...I'm making an enchilada casserole thing tonight, and I'm adding some kale in to bulk up the veggie content.

[dakotadangerdog]

For breakfast I sautee a bunch of veggies, usually sliced up zucchini, yellow squash, bell peppers, mushrooms, onions, and then add 2 or 3 eggs.

I bake or grill a bunch of chicken breasts and/or steak and pre-portion them so that I can just grab a baggie for my lunch/snack. I keep a bunch of different bags of frozen veggies at work so I just heap my bowl full of veggies and microwave it, add my chicken/ steak/ whatever and call it good.

For the majority all I eat is meat and vegetables. I eat some macadamia nuts to add in fats, and apples on occasion also.

I'll sautee ground beef/pork/chicken with onions/mushrooms/etc.

My favorite veggies are sweet potatoes (I only eat them post-workout), onions, zucchini, yellow squash, spaghetti squash, butternut squash, ASPARAGUS, brussel sprouts, cauliflower (you can make "rice" with it, it's amazing) broccoli, green beans, carrots, red/orange/yellow bell peppers.

I love roasting veggies in the oven, they are great with balsamic vinegar. Last night I ate an entire bunch of asparagus drizzled with balsamic. I will do the same tonight

Even if you aren't interested in going Paleo there are a TON of great recipe blogs out there, all made with all natural healthy ingredients. My favorites are Nom Nom Paleo, Health-Bent, PaleOMG (she has a lot of desserts, stick to the regular stuff. Even Paleo desserts are not weight loss-friendly)

[liubotflittyfud]

Thank you!!

[hobs209]

I hate most healthy food, but do love me some roasted broccoli. You definitely need to try that!

[liubotflittyfud]

Last night I made a great meal. I roasted eggplant with balsamic in the oven, cooked some salmon filets, wilted baby spinach in garlic and tossed it all together with whole wheat pasta and drizzled with balsamic and a little evoo. SO good.

[dakotadangerdog]

Jun 22, 2012 12:42:17 GMT -5 @liubotflittyfud said:

Last night I made a great meal. I roasted eggplant with balsamic in the oven, cooked some salmon filets, wilted baby spinach in garlic and tossed it all together with whole wheat pasta and drizzled with balsamic and a little evoo. SO good.

Awesome!

[blackkitty]

I love sweet potatos, black beans and fruit (cherries & berries mostly)

[lookingup]

This morning for breakfast I made a (delicious) combination of Bob's Red Mill brown rice farina (it's like cream of wheat, but it's made from rice) and quinoa. I threw in some dried cranberries and a chopped banana and added just enough brown sugar to make it a little sweet. It's so easy and good for you!