Seriously, what is everyone eating to stay healthy?

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Jeff V
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Re: Seriously, what is everyone eating to stay healthy?

Post by Jeff V »

The less elite athletes among us spend considerably more than 1:33 to run a half marathon and expend commensurately more calories doing so. The fitness app on my phone credited my fat ass with over 2000 calories burned as I lumbered through an 11 mile run in 1:50 last week.
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Re: Seriously, what is everyone eating to stay healthy?

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Jeff V wrote:The less elite athletes among us spend considerably more than 1:33 to run a half marathon and expend commensurately more calories doing so. The fitness app on my phone credited my fat ass with over 2000 calories burned as I lumbered through an 11 mile run in 1:50 last week.
He quoted 133 minutes (2:13), not 1:33. And you are not a 5'7", 145 lb woman, so it makes sense you burned more calories.
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Re: Seriously, what is everyone eating to stay healthy?

Post by Jeff V »

stessier wrote:
Jeff V wrote:The less elite athletes among us spend considerably more than 1:33 to run a half marathon and expend commensurately more calories doing so. The fitness app on my phone credited my fat ass with over 2000 calories burned as I lumbered through an 11 mile run in 1:50 last week.
He quoted 133 minutes (2:13), not 1:33. And you are not a 5'7", 145 lb woman, so it makes sense you burned more calories.
Oops, reading fail at my part. :oops: That's about the time I hope to run the half next month, but I also expect to earn a good dozen beers doing so (Two Brother's Brewing is making a special beer just for this race).
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Re: Seriously, what is everyone eating to stay healthy?

Post by Jaddison »

one thing to be aware of is the growing body of data that says that apps are not very accurate at estimating calories burned during cardio. Almost all apps tested reported more calories burned than actual. I am pretty sure Garmin is over-estimating just based on my experience.

All that said, obviously any exercise is better than none and it really only takes 5 minutes for adaptations to start with 20 minutes being the most critical number for exercise. Strength/Resistance training also makes it so that you don't become skinny fat.

PBS did a documentary where they asked 20 people to volunteer to train a year for the Boston marathon. None were current runners. Almost everyone, and all the women, underwent full body scans to determine body fat including visceral fat. Almost everyone had a BMI that was decent and almost everyone was skinny fat with large deposits of visceral fat which surrounds the internal organs.

For men there are a lot of endocrine disruptors that surround us especially in the bathroom. Paraben in any form is a known testosterone killer and so many products from shampoo, soap, moisturizers, use paraben as a preservative. I now look at ingredients for all products. Low Vitamin D also affects T levels.....and soy promotes estrogen production.
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Re: Seriously, what is everyone eating to stay healthy?

Post by Jaddison »

In case you are using soy of any kind

Estrogenic acitivity of soy and soy isoflavones makes male mice on low fat diet fat, study shows.

Even at "nutritional doses" soy and genistein at induce fat development in mice on a low fat diet (which would usually keep them lean) and adipogenesis in 3T3-L1 cells, with a mechanism that involves, at least in vitro, ERβ and is dependent on cell differentiation stage.

| Zanella, Isabella, et al. "Soy and the soy isoflavone genistein promote adipose tissue development in male mice on a low-fat diet." European journal of nutrition (2014): 1-13.
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Re: Seriously, what is everyone eating to stay healthy?

Post by Jeff V »

Big tofu is going to crush you.
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Re: Seriously, what is everyone eating to stay healthy?

Post by Xmann »

I just ordered a set of the Bowflex adjustable dumbbells and bench. Had these a few years ago and really loved them.
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Re: Seriously, what is everyone eating to stay healthy?

Post by Jeff V »

A few weeks ago, I added my wife as a full member to my LA Fitness membership, so now at $100 per month, we damn well better go frequently.
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Re: Seriously, what is everyone eating to stay healthy?

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Jeff V wrote:A few weeks ago, I added my wife as a full member to my LA Fitness membership, so now at $100 per month, we damn well better go frequently.
I've done memberships and really loved Lifetime Fitness. I'm just being realistic in that I would never, or rarely go.
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Re: Seriously, what is everyone eating to stay healthy?

Post by Jeff V »

Xmann wrote:
Jeff V wrote:A few weeks ago, I added my wife as a full member to my LA Fitness membership, so now at $100 per month, we damn well better go frequently.
I've done memberships and really loved Lifetime Fitness. I'm just being realistic in that I would never, or rarely go.
It helps paying the extra $15 per month for access to the baby prison. Even if we're feeling lazy ourselves, we still want him to socialize with the other inmates so we drag our butts down there.
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Re: Seriously, what is everyone eating to stay healthy?

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Jeff V wrote:
Xmann wrote:
Jeff V wrote:A few weeks ago, I added my wife as a full member to my LA Fitness membership, so now at $100 per month, we damn well better go frequently.
I've done memberships and really loved Lifetime Fitness. I'm just being realistic in that I would never, or rarely go.
It helps paying the extra $15 per month for access to the baby prison. Even if we're feeling lazy ourselves, we still want him to socialize with the other inmates so we drag our butts down there.
Lol, true
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Re: Seriously, what is everyone eating to stay healthy?

Post by Jaddison »

Soy is everywhere. A lot of protein products use soy. Lots of snacks use soy. Soy and paraben are not our friends but are everywhere.

I have Powerblocks and a Powerblock kettlebell. Love them.

Started doing kettlebell swings since they are easy and almost a full body workout. After a couple weeks I can tell the difference though I am one weak SOB. Most of the workouts I see as examples talk about 45KG kettle bell......I am using half that and it is an ass kicker.
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Re: Seriously, what is everyone eating to stay healthy?

Post by Jaddison »

Thought some of you may be interested in the the article and the data.
Resistance Training, Not Starving Yourself or "Cardio" is Key to Successful Fat (!) Loss -- Metabolic Stress Appears to Determine Improvements in Body Composition & Health
http://suppversity.blogspot.com/2015/10 ... rving.html
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Re: Seriously, what is everyone eating to stay healthy?

Post by Max Peck »

This sort of fits here. Although the study involved children, the commentary I've seen indicates the results have implications for all ages.
Abstract
Objective
Dietary fructose is implicated in metabolic syndrome, but intervention studies are confounded by positive caloric balance, changes in adiposity, or artifactually high amounts. This study determined whether isocaloric substitution of starch for sugar would improve metabolic parameters in Latino (n = 27) and African-American (n = 16) children with obesity and metabolic syndrome.

Methods
Participants consumed a diet for 9 days to deliver comparable percentages of protein, fat, and carbohydrate as their self-reported diet; however, dietary sugar was reduced from 28% to 10% and substituted with starch. Participants recorded daily weights, with calories adjusted for weight maintenance. Participants underwent dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and oral glucose tolerance testing on Days 0 and 10. Biochemical analyses were controlled for weight change by repeated measures ANCOVA.

Results
Reductions in diastolic blood pressure (−5 mmHg; P = 0.002), lactate (−0.3 mmol/L; P < 0.001), triglyceride, and LDL-cholesterol (−46% and −0.3 mmol/L; P < 0.001) were noted. Glucose tolerance and hyperinsulinemia improved (P < 0.001). Weight reduced by 0.9 ± 0.2 kg (P < 0.001) and fat-free mass by 0.6 kg (P = 0.04). Post hoc sensitivity analysis demonstrates that results in the subcohort that did not lose weight (n = 10) were directionally consistent.

Conclusions
Isocaloric fructose restriction improved surrogate metabolic parameters in children with obesity and metabolic syndrome irrespective of weight change.
tldr: Cutting back on sugar, even if you don't cut back on calories, is probably a good idea. Who knew? ;)
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Re: Seriously, what is everyone eating to stay healthy?

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U.S. cracks down on Americans' intake of sugar, saturated fat
New U.S. dietary guidelines on Thursday urged Americans to cut their sugar and saturated fat intake to less than 10 percent of daily calories, but consumer advocates said the curbs did not provide clear guidance on the need to lower consumption of meat. The government guidelines, which are issued every five years, are a roadmap for U.S. dietary policy, and some groups suggested the recommendations should have better reflected the World Health Organization's view that processed meat can cause cancer. Kari Hamerschlag, senior program manager with the advocacy group Friends of the Earth, said in a statement the new guidelines by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Agriculture ignored strong scientific evidence presented by its own advisory committee on the need for Americans to eat less meat for health, food security and environmental reasons. “The administration has clearly put the financial interests of the meat industry over the weight of the science and the health of the American people,” Hamerschlag said.

Other health advocates lauded the guidelines, which aim to reduce obesity and prevent chronic diseases like Type 2 diabetes, hypertension and heart disease. "If Americans ate according to that advice, it would be a huge win for the public's health," said Michael F. Jacobson, president of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell said the recommendations were based on the latest scientific evidence, input from the public and other factors. For the first time, she said, they did not include a specific limit on dietary cholesterol consumption. The North American Meat Institute, an industry group that represents companies including Cargill Inc, Tyson Foods Inc (TSN.N) and Kraft Heinz Co (KHC.O), said the recommendations were an “affirmation of meat and poultry nutrition.”

The guidelines were specific on sugar, encouraging Americans to keep consumption below 10 percent of daily caloric intake, while consuming more fruit and vegetables. In the past, the U.S. has offered more vague recommendations on limiting sugar consumption. The advice would translate to a sharp reduction in the consumption of sugary drinks, snacks and sweets for many Americans. Teenagers age 14-18 on average consume about 17 percent of their calories in added sugar, according to the guidelines. Those aged 14 and younger were advised to consume less than 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day.
Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2015-2020, Eighth Edition
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Re: Seriously, what is everyone eating to stay healthy?

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"Over my dead body!"
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Re: Seriously, what is everyone eating to stay healthy?

Post by Jeff V »

wonderpug wrote:"Over my dead body!"
What they are saying is that fats and sweets should be 10% of your diet. So if you are currently consuming 4000 calories eating a whole pizza and a whole pie, you merely need to consume 36,000 calories that aren't fat or sweet.
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Re: Seriously, what is everyone eating to stay healthy?

Post by JSHAW »

Dirt, I'm eating nothing but dirt of the earth. I dig it up from the backyard, avoiding
the chunky bits left by the neighbors dog. I use my ninja blender and fix up the healthiest
of healthy dirt drinks. I like em' extra dirty... :liar: :dance:
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Re: Seriously, what is everyone eating to stay healthy?

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Jeff V wrote:
wonderpug wrote:"Over my dead body!"
What they are saying is that fats and sweets should be 10% of your diet. So if you are currently consuming 4000 calories eating a whole pizza and a whole pie, you merely need to consume 36,000 calories that aren't fat or sweet.
After eating those 40,000 calories do I wait 20 days until my next meal?
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Re: Seriously, what is everyone eating to stay healthy?

Post by Jeff V »

wonderpug wrote:
Jeff V wrote:
wonderpug wrote:"Over my dead body!"
What they are saying is that fats and sweets should be 10% of your diet. So if you are currently consuming 4000 calories eating a whole pizza and a whole pie, you merely need to consume 36,000 calories that aren't fat or sweet.
After eating those 40,000 calories do I wait 20 days until my next meal?
No, you do this every day for a month then waddle your colossal ass into your congressman's office and scream, "LOOK WHAT YOU HATH WROUGHT!"
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Re: Seriously, what is everyone eating to stay healthy?

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Hey, look! This thread! What a great reminder that I have been needing to post in this thread.

Here's the problem: I was eating healthy up until I got cancer. The six months or so that I was recovering from that threw my diet to hell, and I've been gaining weight and feeling like crap as a result. I've tried to get back to where I was, but I've hit one major hurdle: I can't eat a significant number of the foods I used to rely on.

My mouth and tongue are just fine now. I can even eat hot sauces. The problem is my throat. Whether due to the surgery or the radiation, I have trouble swallowing grainy things. It is hard to describe, but my best guess is that the texture of the flesh at the back of my throat has changed, and small particles get stuck. It is like when a pill gets stuck in your throat, but with anything with lots of small, hard pieces. Peanuts, for example, when chewed, are almost guaranteed to become stuck.

I used to eat oatmeal for breakfast. I can't anymore. I at a lot (lot) of lentils with my meals. I can't anymore. One of the biggest problems is that almost every snack I used to eat is a problem now. I ate popcorn and apples almost every day, and now both choke me.

It is driving me nuts. I am trying to eat healthy the way I used to, but my list of choices has become so reduced that I can rarely make it more than a week or two before I get burned out. Remember, I don't have access to 'health food' stores, can't shop by the day locally (I do my shopping every couple of weeks), nor do I have the money in my budget for expensive 'specialty' foods.
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Re: Seriously, what is everyone eating to stay healthy?

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Would farina/cream-of-wheat work as a substitute for your oatmeal? The graininess is much lower there.

For fruit, what about bananas (should keep for a week or so post-purchase, depending on ripeness) and then oranges for longer storage options?

Can you do hummus? That might be good with some veggies (not sure how raw carrots work for your throat, but you could also use celery or sliced cucumbers).
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Re: Seriously, what is everyone eating to stay healthy?

Post by LawBeefaroni »

What are you eating?
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Re: Seriously, what is everyone eating to stay healthy?

Post by Isgrimnur »

When my tonsils were swollen for close to three months straight prior to removal, I had food sticking back there. My coping mechanism was that pretty much every bite of food was chased by a drink. My fluid consumption went way up and stayed that way for months after my surgery.
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Re: Seriously, what is everyone eating to stay healthy?

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Yep, with my reduced saliva, I drink constantly. I can actually eat most of those things if I chew them up and then swallow them with water like a pill, but that makes most of the foods disgusting.

Cream of wheat I haven't tried, but generally despise. I may give it a whirl again. Hummus is actually a good thought (although it is a pain finding flatbread around here, and it would turn healthy into unhealthy.) I already do bananas.
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Re: Seriously, what is everyone eating to stay healthy?

Post by LawBeefaroni »

Homemade flat bread is great. And you can even make it without yeast if you want to, for much cheaper.


What unhealthy foods are you eating now? The idea is to find a healthier analog.
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Re: Seriously, what is everyone eating to stay healthy?

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Soup. Yogurt. Scarmbled egg whites. I know they're not exciting, but they're low effort swallowing and not high in calories typically.
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Re: Seriously, what is everyone eating to stay healthy?

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LawBeefaroni wrote: What unhealthy foods are you eating now? The idea is to find a healthier analog.
Microwave crap. Frozen burritos. Ramen. Hot dogs. That sort of thing.

Eating healthy has never been a question of taste for me. I actually prefer healthy foods. I do have things I work around.

First, I hate cooking. Well, I don't hate cooking itself so much as I always have something I'm working on. I'm a project person. The idea of taking a half an hour or an hour out of my day to stand and stir is abhorrent to me. Once every couple of weeks, on the weekends when the kids are here, I cook. Other than that, I heat. I can get myself to do some quick things (stick a chicken breast on the Foreman grill, boil some vegetables, put something in the oven, leave, and wait for the beep), but if it is going to take longer than that, I'll eat some garbage I can have ready in three minutes so I can get back to (whatever.)

I've usually countered that by finding foods that require minimal prep, or that can be prepared once and doled out (I make salad in a five gallon bowl, then eat salads out of it for the next ten days or until it starts to turn.)

Second, logistics. I don't have easy access to a grocery store I can afford to shop at (the only local place is 30% higher than anywhere in a normal town), and I don't have the space to store ingredients. That means no fresh stuff on the day of cooking, and no keeping a supply of X on hand unless I use it all the time. I don't keep flour, sugar, or salt in the house, for instance. Money falls into this category, too, and has been a lot of the reason I've been eating crap lately - crap is cheap.

I've gotten around both of these, and pretty happily, in the past, and can do so again. I'm actually fairly well educated on what is healthy and not. No putting a tomato on Whopper and calling it healthy, or thinking that iceberg lettuce covered in ranch is a vegetable.

The only real new hurdle is that my inability to eat gritty/grainy foods has killed about half of what I used to include in my meals. I no longer have the kind of variety I used to have. I used to make about two pounds of lentils and keep them in a bowl, heating up a cup or so of them every couple of days. I used to rely on oatmeal for a lot of my fiber and to add variety to my breakfasts (I'd alternate oatmeal and yogurt.) Peanuts used to be a good snack, as was air popped popcorn. I went through two apples a day between meals - I can't swallow the damned things now.
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Re: Seriously, what is everyone eating to stay healthy?

Post by gilraen »

Blackhawk wrote: Hummus is actually a good thought (although it is a pain finding flatbread around here, and it would turn healthy into unhealthy.)
What about using pieces of tortilla instead of flatbread?

Also , instead of apples, what about apple sauce?
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Re: Seriously, what is everyone eating to stay healthy?

Post by Max Peck »

Hummus is also good as a vegetable dip (with carrot sticks, celery, etc), so you don't have to eat it with bread. Technically, if you think of food as fuel, you don't need to eat it with anything, I suppose -- it's pretty nutritious in and of itself.

How do you feel about smoothies? Prep and cleanup are generally a snap. At least some of what you mentioned as healthy food that you used to eat can be blenderized quite handily. For example, I sometimes add a serving of cooked oatmeal to a yogurt/banana/strawberry smoothy, and the internet tells me that lentil puree is a thing of some sort. In general, you can sneak all sorts of healthy things into a smoothy alongside a banana and some fruit and it ends up perfectly palatable (to some extent, I've had a misfire or two :) ).
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Re: Seriously, what is everyone eating to stay healthy?

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Blackhawk wrote:I used to rely on oatmeal for a lot of my fiber and to add variety to my breakfasts (I'd alternate oatmeal and yogurt.)
Have you ever tried combining them to make Bircher-style Muesli / Overnight Oats? Since it's typically made with yoghurt and milk, it may help oatmeal go down easier for you (and you can always add more milk/yoghurt as necessary to acheive the optimum texture for your needs). You can also add or remove other ingredients as you see fit (e.g. I've always preferred to include a handful of frozen berries myself, which typically thaw out perfectly by the following morning). It's vastly superior to traditional porridge-style oatmeal, IMO.
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Re: Seriously, what is everyone eating to stay healthy?

Post by LawBeefaroni »

Blackhawk wrote:
First, I hate cooking. Well, I don't hate cooking itself so much as I always have something I'm working on. I'm a project person. The idea of taking a half an hour or an hour out of my day to stand and stir is abhorrent to me. Once every couple of weeks, on the weekends when the kids are here, I cook. Other than that, I heat. I can get myself to do some quick things (stick a chicken breast on the Foreman grill, boil some vegetables, put something in the oven, leave, and wait for the beep), but if it is going to take longer than that, I'll eat some garbage I can have ready in three minutes so I can get back to (whatever.)
Cooking is a project. But I don't have much if you can't devote a bit of time. It's the old choose three scenario:
Cheap
Healthy
Fast

If you want cheap and healthy, you'll probably have to spend time cooking. If you want fast and healthy it probably won't be cheap. And if you want cheap and fast, it will probably be unhealthy. Not by rule, of course, you can get there eventually.

Lately if I'm in a hurry I'll marinate a chicken breast in oil/lemon/herbs in the fridte for 30 minutes (or the night before) and grill it up. Goes well over pasta, over greens, in broth, whatever you have laying around.

For example, I worked until 5 today, took the train to the kiddo's school, picked her up, walked home with her, and cooked a dinner of lemon pepper chicken and brie bruschetta (for me) and Boboli pizza (for her) by 6:40. It's nothing to brag about, the chicken (purchased a few weeks ago on sale and stuck in the freezer for a rainy day) was marinating from yesterday, the brie was left over from New Years (on sale for like $8/lb, you can substitute any cheese you want really, cheddar would have worked well), and the baguette I picked up at lunch for $2.99 and still have over half left. Most of the time was spent waiting on the oven and we were able to play cards and do homework while I was "cooking." So chicken, cheese, bread = meal. Cheap, fast (if you can partially devote 30 minutes or so), and healthier than fast food or Swanson.

The more you spend time in the kitchen the easier it is and the more you can improvise with what you have. Look at it as a project. Especially if you cook in batches to eat throughout the week.
Blackhawk wrote: The only real new hurdle is that my inability to eat gritty/grainy foods has killed about half of what I used to include in my meals. I no longer have the kind of variety I used to have. I used to make about two pounds of lentils and keep them in a bowl, heating up a cup or so of them every couple of days...I went through two apples a day between meals - I can't swallow the damned things now.
That does put a sabot in the gears. But you could puree the lentil soup with an immersion blender maybe ? We make a creamy lentil soup occasionally, good stuff (if you need an immersion blender I can mail you one, we have like 3 extras). Also a good way to get other vegetables into the soup.

And maybe sauce or smoothie the apples?
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Re: Seriously, what is everyone eating to stay healthy?

Post by Isgrimnur »

Casseroles, lasagna, etc. take a day to cook - couple, eat off them for days.
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Re: Seriously, what is everyone eating to stay healthy?

Post by Blackhawk »

See, that's the thing. I actually managed cheap, fast, and healthy for a long time, mostly by preparing things in advance, like a big bowl of lentils or five gallons of salad, or by finding foods that don't require much prep, like chicken breasts or eggs. I buy ten packs of chicken breasts, halve them, put two each in bags and freeze them. Then I thaw them out two at a time, dump some marinade in there, and I'm good to go. That's 20 meals worth of meat for ten bucks.

I plug in the grill. I grab a chicken breast, throw it on there, throw a handful of frozen peas in water, put a couple of handfulls of salad in a bowl, and stick some lentils (just lentils, not soup) in the microwave. Ten minutes after I start I've got a full meal. And I do cook. I just don't prepare complex dishes with a big time investment.

I lost about 50 pounds this way a few years ago, living on about $50 a week and getting plenty of nutrition.

I was mostly just looking for some new ideas to add some variety as I lost quite a few items, especially snacks. Hummus on vegetables, for instance, is a great idea. I love hummus, but always considered it a special thing, not an everyday thing. I am going to experiment with just that now.

Smoothies are a possibility, too, although a lot of the recipes I am seeing would end up too expensive.
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Max Peck
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Re: Seriously, what is everyone eating to stay healthy?

Post by Max Peck »

If you have a food processor or a good blender (I use a Vitamix), then home-made hummus is cheap and easy to make. The basic recipe just has 6 ingredients (chick peas, tahini, olive oil, garlic, lemon juice and a bit of salt).
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Re: Seriously, what is everyone eating to stay healthy?

Post by Kraken »

LawBeefaroni wrote: Cooking is a project.
Very much this. During the harvest season I sometimes spend 2-3 hours making meals that we'll eat all week, and I enjoy doing it. I'm still taking the spaghetti sauce and chili that I made last fall out of the freezer.

What else you got going on that's more important? Could you conceptualize cooking as a Thing That You Do rather than a chore that interrupts things that you do?
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Re: Seriously, what is everyone eating to stay healthy?

Post by Jeff V »

BTW, many smoothies are high in sugar; they are pretty much banned from my diet (although my wife is rather addicted to avocado smoothies). Healthy things processed into a less healthy form does not equal healthy product.
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Re: Seriously, what is everyone eating to stay healthy?

Post by Max Peck »

Jeff V wrote:BTW, many smoothies are high in sugar; they are pretty much banned from my diet (although my wife is rather addicted to avocado smoothies). Healthy things processed into a less healthy form does not equal healthy product.
It depends on what ingredients go into them, doesn't it? I'd avoid using things like fruit juice, but if kefir, banana, strawberries and carrots are healthy before going in a blender, how do they become unhealthy after being slurried?
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Re: Seriously, what is everyone eating to stay healthy?

Post by Daehawk »

Im not healthy and Im not eating . Ive gone for two days without food about twice now in 2 weeks. And this third time ...lets see....today will be my 3rd day with no food unless I eat which I plan to. Oh I eat chips and candy in those days and a bunch of cokes. But no meals. Today I may eat a burrito or soup. Im just not hungry. But I make myself eat when I get sick of shaky. Im weird this month.
Last edited by Daehawk on Fri Jan 08, 2016 9:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Seriously, what is everyone eating to stay healthy?

Post by malchior »

I'm glad they are finally turning the corner *sorta* on sugar...the guidance on saturated fat is still plain old wrong. Especially for men...testosterone levels are heavily influenced by it. Cutting the sugar will reduce the effects that they are ascribing to the sat. fat anyway in many insulin resistant folks.

Anyway blanket guidance was fine before we had better diagnostics and genetic testing available. Honestly I wouldn't mind seeing a nutritional Manhattan project to tie genetics and nutrition together.
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