What are healthy meals?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you can afford it, OP, I highly recommend working with a nutritionist. They can provide really tailored advice to you. It's not that the advice on here is necessarily bad (I myself follow a Michael Pollan-type approach to eating) but a specialist can help you assess your particular habits and suggest changes that are sustainable for you.

A dietician should be covered by an ACA complaint health insurance plan. Mine is with a $20 copay. And it was also covered 20 years ago, before the ACA, when I talked to one during my 2 nd pregnancy (my first one was very hard and although I did not have gestational diabetes, my OB felt excess carbs might have played a role). You might need a referral, depending on your plan. But what PCP is going to refuse a referral to a dietician? It’s an easy, non-medication way to improve your health in a variety of ways. There is no downside if you see someone legit (big downside if you see someone pushing fad diets and expensive supplements. If your PCP balks, it’s time to find a new PCP.

I’ve lost almost 90 pounds in a year with a bariatrician and dietician and GLP-1. And very little of it is muscle mass, because I’m being instructed to do 120 of strength training a week and am eating lots of protein and nutrient dense food. I could not have pulled this off, even with the meds, without good, ongoing, nutrition advice.

120 of strenth training per week - does this mean 1 hr 20mins? I dont think it does.

Good job

Thank you not sure where “GLP-1s are cheating” comes from- it’s hard work. And, 2x 60 minute strength train sessions a week (with a trainer, so no slacking off) — so 120 minutes a week. Also 2x 60 minute yoga sessions. And cardi, although the strength training comes first. Easy to lose too much muscle during rapid weight loss if you don’t take strength training seriously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you can afford it, OP, I highly recommend working with a nutritionist. They can provide really tailored advice to you. It's not that the advice on here is necessarily bad (I myself follow a Michael Pollan-type approach to eating) but a specialist can help you assess your particular habits and suggest changes that are sustainable for you.

A dietician should be covered by an ACA complaint health insurance plan. Mine is with a $20 copay. And it was also covered 20 years ago, before the ACA, when I talked to one during my 2 nd pregnancy (my first one was very hard and although I did not have gestational diabetes, my OB felt excess carbs might have played a role). You might need a referral, depending on your plan. But what PCP is going to refuse a referral to a dietician? It’s an easy, non-medication way to improve your health in a variety of ways. There is no downside if you see someone legit (big downside if you see someone pushing fad diets and expensive supplements. If your PCP balks, it’s time to find a new PCP.

I’ve lost almost 90 pounds in a year with a bariatrician and dietician and GLP-1. And very little of it is muscle mass, because I’m being instructed to do 120 of strength training a week and am eating lots of protein and nutrient dense food. I could not have pulled this off, even with the meds, without good, ongoing, nutrition advice.

120 of strenth training per week - does this mean 1 hr 20mins? I dont think it does.

Good job

120 minutes?

Yep. 2x 60 minute sessions per week. Maintaining muscle while losing at lot of weight is tough for 50 year old women!

[Anonymous]

I’d go to a nutritionist- someone who can advise you based on y or r goals and what u like to eat.

[Anonymous]

It’s great you want to eat healthier. My advice is to meet with a nutritionist. If that’s not in the budget, do NOT cut entire food groups from your diet (whole grain bread, especially homemade is healthy) like some posters suggest. My doctor advised me to start by reducing processed foods and foods with added sugars but to freely eat fruits, veggies, whole grains, lean meats, fish, nuts, beans, etc.

[Anonymous]

For me the following are important:

1) Portion control--I realized that a lot of the time I just want the taste of something and don't need any more than that. I allow myself one square of a chocolate bar at a time where I used to eat the whole bar at once. It takes me a whole day now to eat less than one bar instead of maybe eating two a day.

2) Find healthy snacks that you really like a lot. For me, it's apples and cashews and pistachios and cheese. It's easy to make these things a habit that will replace a cookie or ice cream or whatever habit. Again, I use portion control, never bringing an entire bag to the place where I'm sitting. I'll cut one or two slices of cheese, or count out 10 cashews.

3) Find simple recipes and cook dishes using only very basic ingredients that you like the taste of. Learn to use spices to make vegetables taste more interesting to you. No precooked meals with 20 ingredients, half of which you don't know what they are.

I've made these changes over the past decade or two and am in much better shape.

I would also add that I always walk anywhere I can get to that's within a mile or two instead of driving. And I bike wherever I can go within 4-5 miles. Having a destination in mind makes doing exercise much easier, and it saves money plus impact on the environment. It gets a lot easier the more you do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't listen to the nutsos here. Store bought pasta is fine, if you make your sauce. Don't be going around making homemade pasta.
Pad Thai sauce from a jar is also ok. Rice noodles from the store are also ok.
But cook it at home. No canned crap ever.

Read the labels and decide.

[Anonymous]

I think the Pollan advice about real food is the best guiding principal.

If you need something simple, I agree with PP that shooting for 25 grams of fiber per day will naturally direct you to more healthy whole grains and fruits and veg.

I also try to shoot for 5-9 fruuts/veg a day, as that’s just easier for me to count. I don’t have any trouble getting enough carbs! Protein sort of falls through the cracks there though.

[Anonymous]

How do you know the correct portion size? I have greek yogurt with blueberries every morning, but I think I must be having too much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do you know the correct portion size? I have greek yogurt with blueberries every morning, but I think I must be having too much.

Measure or weigh your food. Then log it in an app like my my fitness pal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yep Op. My eating was also disordered. What you do for yourself and what you do for your kids may need to be different though. You’re getting mixed messages here. So, I recommend two things. One, make a few appointments with a nutritionist— to get ideas and answers about how to meet your own nutritional needs and your kids nutritional needs in a healthy sustainable manner.

And two, talk to a therapist who specializes in disordered eating. You recognize your own issues. What you might need help with is how to be a healthy example to your own kids. You want to feed them nutritious foods and teach them healthy eating. But that’s impossible if you don’t know what healthy eating looks like. You really don’t want to do a massive, all at once diet overhaul for your kids and strictly limit them— because how did that workout for your dad? A therapist can help you recognize bad patterns from your childhood and find a path to doing better by your kids without turning them into teens who binge unhealthy foods in private.

I would see a dietician rather than a nutritionist.

I don’t get why people phrase it this way. A dietician is a highly educated nutritionist. You want to see a nutritionist who is a registered dietician.

[Anonymous]

If it comes in a package (outside of fresh vegetables like kale, spinach, etc.) avoided it. Includes drinks.

At this point in your journey it isn't about super healthy meals and tracking macros, it is about calories.

[Anonymous]

My advice to start is to KEEP IT SIMPLE.
Breakfast - make a couple eggs and a piece of toast and fruit
Lunch - a sandwich and salad or something like that
Dinner - pasta with chicken or a meat/carb/veggie option.

Don’t be afraid of carbs or cheese and if you want a dessert, have one per day but have an ice cream bar or one brownie or one serving of cookies (be careful of overeating the sugar)

Don’t worry about carbs right now - just being “pretty healthy” will let you drop weight and get into a rhythm. Then as you do that you can learn more and get more complicated. There is too much to learn and you are just starting so take it slow, cut out chips, sweets, junk food, etc and try to eat more nutritious foods. You will do great!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry. Explain it to me like I am 5.

I am realizing I grew up with a family with disordered eating patterns. As a child, the whole family would eat "fun foods" like pancakes and pizza for a while and then would be on whatever strict fad diet my dad was excited about at the moment. I have some food aversions from being forced to eat certain vegetables as a child. I was a thin athletic kid, but there was a lot of criticism of my body when I hit puberty and gained weight. I hid food and ate it alone in my room to avoid criticism and conflict when my parents were fighting and going through a divorce.

I am very overweight now, and basically eat whatever I want without trying to diet at all. Counting calories is maddening and I have no idea what an "appropriate portion" is.

There is so much conflicting information that seems untrustworthy/antiquated, like the food pyramid heart-healthy whole grain carb load advice, vs paleo, and then there are threads where people say eating 4 eggs for breakfast is terrible for you.

I'd like to do better for my kids, but it's hard when I feel like I don't know what is a disordered remnant from my upbringing.

Right now, I err on the side of judgment-free, enjoy food for the taste, with no foods as off limit, but trying to encourage eating the nutritious foods first, like go-ahead and have the ice cream, but first have the chicken/steak or vegetables or fruit.

Please go easy on me. I am trying to do the best I can to feed my kids well, without causing shame and damage, while still having my own hang ups to deal with.

My rule: If it comes out of a bag or a packet, it's not healthy. If you have to microwave it, not healthy.

Tofu is an exception to this rule. We eat primarily plant based, we have a large garden where we grow almost all our fruit and veg, and when we do eat meat it is always organic, free range, etc. I make our own butter and yoghurt, as well as jam and bread. I mill the grains for our bread so it is always fresh and whole wheat. We don't eat a lot of cheese.

[Anonymous]

Go to youtube chanel and listen to these people:
1. Dr. Suneel Dhand
2. Bobby Parish
3. Dr. Sten Ekberg
4. Dr. Eric Berg
Once you start listening to their videos, you will get an idea what the real foods are.

[Anonymous]

Meat. Just eat meat. Grass fed meat. That’s it. And eggs. Pastured eggs. The end.