Healthy Eating Advice

[Bow Tie]

All right. I need some healthy eating advice! I'm trying to lose belly fat and with a combination of healthy eating and exercise, I could get that flat tummy again. I'm pretty comfortable with my weight (136 pounds; 5'5"), but I wouldn't mind losing about 10 pounds. Anyways, I'm looking at possible vegetarian dishes to help. I am by no means a vegetarian, but meat can get pretty expensive so cooking a bunch of meat dishes is not really possible for me. I love love LOVE carbs, but I'm trying to cut out a lot of it. Especially the pasta dishes. Carbs aren't helping me lose that belly fat. I've cut down on the snacking a lot and that has helped me lose a few pounds already and I've completely cut out soda. I've been drinking more juices, water and lemonade. I can be a picky eater, but I'm willing to take a look at all kinds of suggestions. I really want to lose the belly fat and if I can shave some of it off just by eating healthier, it will help me start exercising more. I really appreciate any help. Even if it's just support. Thanks!

[LuvlyMelody]

Looks like you're doing great at 136 lbs! I was gonna suggest completely cutting out the Sodie pop, but it looks like you already have!

As for dishes, you can try making vegetarian fried rice (brown rice since you're trying to cut down on the carbs and brown rice isn't as bad as the other white rice).

Olive (or any kind that you're using) oil in pan, toss in the cooked rice, add frozen veggies (peas, carrots, corn, all those frozen kinds you'd see in the frozen section) add any kind of seasoning to add flavor (soy sauce, seasoning, etc.) Stir around a bit, then crack in an egg or two, stir around until the eggs are cooked. You know, a typical fried rice recipe, replaced with brown rice and no meat added.

If you're also trying to control about meat, try replacing fish for meat or even tofu! (there's the squishy kind, and the fried kind. Squishy kind goes best with soups or dishes where it doesn't break so easily. Fried kind goes best with fried dishes or dishes that require tofu to not break so much. [Or at least in my personal opinion, anyway])

Carbs, try to cool down on, but if it's like one of those nights where you're like "OMG Gotta have it!!" Stop it! And if that don't work, at least try to go for Whole Wheat carbs (whole wheat bread/pasta, brown rice, etc) more fiber in those than all that starch in regular pasta. >,<;

Candy, try to cut out. Have a fruit instead or even a veggie.

Peanut butter is healthy, just don't over do it, but JAMS, some you might need to watch out for, several of them use High fructose corn syrup and that is what makes that belly fat stay unless burned from exercise. >,<;

[Eviecorn]

Load your diet with filling veggies - leafy greens especially.  They keep you full for a good amount of time and as far as the calorie vs. nutrition ratio, they're the best foods you could possibly eat.

Vegetarian eating will absolutely skim pounds off you, but don't replace meat/animal products with sugar and carbs.  That's a big pratfall for the vegetarian.  Focus on lean proteins and completing proteins (brown rice and lentils, for example, is how to do carbs and protein right.)

[Chrissytree]

Not sure if you get Quorn products there but they can replace meat and have a lot less fat.  Or veggie mince which I find more flavoursome. 

I've found a great free app "My Fitness Pal" and it gives you an aim for carbs, fat, protein, sugar and calories.  I think it's available online too.  I'm having far too much sugar and carbs it seems! 

I'm not a very good fish eating veggie (can't spell the P word) though so don't have very good advice on foodstuffs I mean I don't eat meat but I don't cook many things.  Just fajitas, pasta bake, pizza, tuna pasta, prawn thingies, lasagne, bolognaise.

[Bow Tie]

Thank you so much for the advice! I've been trying to eat more veggies, fruits and salads. I have never cared for asparagus, but the asparagus my boyfriend's mom cooked for Easter was delicious! I'll have to find out what she did because it was so good and crunchy! I've enjoyed grilled veggies as well. Grilling has actually helped me enjoy certain veggies that I wouldn't have otherwise enjoyed.

I've been trying to do better about sweets. Instead of having a bowl of ice cream or cookies every night, I'm having one or the either maybe a couple of nights and have yogurt the other nights. I have a pretty decent metabolism (I've been able to stick to 140 pounds with eating whatever), but it's not as good as when I was in my teens when I was like 110 pounds and a size 0 was a little big for me. But here in Illinois you are required to have 4 years of gym in high school so that helped me not have the belly I gained after graduating high school. Instead of sneaking that one cookie, I'm trying to grab a cheese stick or some fruit.

I'm not going to cut out meat completely, but only have it maybe a few times a month. I know I'm going to be grilling hot dogs in the summer and my mom makes a great brisket and pot roast, but we don't usually have meat dishes all that often due to price. I also love sushi which my boyfriend and I have about once a month.

I love tofu! It is really delicious! I especially love it in soups like Tonjiru and Miso.

Do you have any cookbooks you would recommend? My boyfriend got me a cook book for Christmas a couple of years ago, but if I could get one that's more health-based, I would love that!

I appreciate all your help so far! Great suggestions!

Not sure if you get Quorn products there but they can replace meat and have a lot less fat.  Or veggie mince which I find more flavoursome. 

I've found a great free app "My Fitness Pal" and it gives you an aim for carbs, fat, protein, sugar and calories.  I think it's available online too.  I'm having far too much sugar and carbs it seems! 

I'm not a very good fish eating veggie (can't spell the P word) though so don't have very good advice on foodstuffs I mean I don't eat meat but I don't cook many things.  Just fajitas, pasta bake, pizza, tuna pasta, prawn thingies, lasagne, bolognaise.

It looks like I can get Quorn at Whole Foods. I haven't been to a Whole Foods, but I believe they have organic foods. There's one across the street from where I work so I'll have to check it out as well as that app! Thanks!

I'm really excited to start trying healthier foods! It will overall be good for me since I've always just eaten whatever I want. My mom used to use organic foods when I was younger, but it got expensive very quickly after she had my youngest brother and sister. It's hard to do that with a family of 6. I appreciate everyone's help so very much!

[LuvlyMelody]

Oh yeah, here's some other rules to go by/food for thought:

Try not to eat anything past 8-9, and if you do, get something really light, like an apple, banana or something.

People tend to fall off the wagon once or a few times throughout/during a diet and tend to think that all of a sudden their diet is ruined or all their progress is gone, NO! Say you were at a bbq and ate like...3-4 more ribs, burgers and/or hot dogs than you should've eaten, all the progress you made isn't ruined, your commitment isn't broken and all the weight you worked so hard to lose is gonna come back overnight. If you were to pig out one day (lets say Thanksgiving for example) the following day(s), exercise more than you usually do to burn off the extra calories you've consumed on that day to make up for those extra calories consumed and you'd still lose weight and stay on track with your diet/goal!

[Bow Tie]

Oh yeah, here's some other rules to go by/food for thought:

Try not to eat anything past 8-9, and if you do, get something really light, like an apple, banana or something.

People tend to fall off the wagon once or a few times throughout/during a diet and tend to think that all of a sudden their diet is ruined or all their progress is gone, NO! Say you were at a bbq and ate like...3-4 more ribs, burgers and/or hot dogs than you should've eaten, all the progress you made isn't ruined, your commitment isn't broken and all the weight you worked so hard to lose is gonna come back overnight. If you were to pig out one day (lets say Thanksgiving for example) the following day(s), exercise more than you usually do to burn off the extra calories you've consumed on that day to make up for those extra calories consumed and you'd still lose weight and stay on track with your diet/goal!

Late night snacking is a killer for me. I so need to stop doing that. It's hard to be on a regular eating schedule when working retail because my schedule is so random, but luckily the latest I work 'til is 9:30pm so I try to make sure I have some sort of meal before that or even a healthy snack depending on how long my break is. I also never eat breakfast so I need to try and eat something then. Even if it's just some fruit.

I appreciate that advice if I break my diet for a day. I know there are going to be times when I'm just going to eat more than I'm supposed to, but doing a little more exercise that night or the next day will definitely help! Thanks!

[kaoskat]

There's some great advice in this thread! I hope you are able to lose the weight!

[MonstarNomNom]

Great advice here! It was pretty helpful for me too since I also want to lose some weight. I recently went the vegetarian route but I haven't weighed myself in a while so I'm not sure if I've lost any. I have also been making an attempt at cutting out soda and so far so good! But good luck with your weight loss journey! ^^ I know you'll be able to do it :3

[SourdoughStomper]

Eliminating wheat, lowering carbs, and increasing healthy fats are general guidelines that get people eating healthier.

[Sarahlacewing]

The biggest hits for me are soda, juice (b/c of sugar a tea or lemonade is often better), and salad dressing (its so bad, guilty pleasure).  I usually try to encourage myself to drink some water before I eat so I feel fuller.  I try to eat slowly so I don't over eat before I realize I am full. I am 140 right now... aiming for 120. (pre pregnancy weight)

[LuvlyMelody]

Oh yeah, that's another thing: do not weight yourself every day or too often. Some people will do that and think it'll help...it won't. Losing weight is a "long" process that will take time to accomplish and when people always weigh themselves all the time and see "no" progress is made, it discourages them from going on.

[Bow Tie]

Thanks so much everyone! I'm going to try and stick to weighing myself once a week so I don't get too excited about whether I lost weight or how much. All the advice and support means so much to me! I've always told myself I'm going to eat healthier and exercise to lose weight, but never went through with it, but I'm finally kicking myself in the rear to get a move on and go through with it! I know overall it's going to be great for me for my health and for my happiness.