Itās a nice slogan but I need details. And that is my problem.
Maybe not details, but some tips:
Donāt do anything drastic out of the box. Small steps over time.
Figure out the ādietā you want to follow. Will it be temporary to lose some weight, of longer lasting for a health concern? Are you going to cut calories? Cut down/out certain types of foods or nutrients (cut out carbs, cut down on saturated fats or sodium or sugars?).
Do some research. Check out ādietsā that seem to match your needs. Speak to your doctor; what do they have to say about it?
What ever plan it is, start slowly. just donāt flat out stop eating things with sugar in them. Cut back, like a third or so for a week or two, then another third.
If you are cutting calories, donāt go from 3,000 a day to 1,400 just like that. Week one, try 2,800 a day. Then for a week or two vascilate between 2300 and 2600. Then 2000. 1800. 1600, etc.
Let your body get used to functioning without the things itās used to.
If you wanted to get in shape for a 10k from a near couch potato, you would just go out and try to run 6 miles. Even 3 or 4. Gotta get your body used to it.
At first, plan ācheat days.ā This way, if something too tempting comes along at first, no big deal. thereās your cheat day. (Just donāt make cheat days all the ones that end in a āyā). After a bit, you can plan a cheat meal. After a while, it wonāt be planned, youāl be just grooving along.
But donāt excise anything totally out if you like it. Make it a special treat a few times a year. Have that slice of cake at your nephewās birthday party, have that glass of champagne at your cousinās wedding. Grab a slice or two of pizza at your kidās end-of-season baseball party.
But youāll have to have some will power. And keep yourself accountable.
Write down everything you eat, however inconsequential it may seem. A lot of time, if you are eyeing that can of Diet coke at 7-11, youāll be less apt to grab it if you are thinking about adding it to your journal.
Iām with Aj on this one. Iād like to try a plant based diet for example. But I need to figure out meals and prepare food in ways Iāve not done before and probably use ingredients that Iāve not used before. The recipes that I find take way more time to prepare then the things I tend to make now and appear to have smaller portions which means less leftovers which translates to making more meals per week. I enjoy cooking but it feels like Iām tripling the amount of time I spend in the kitchen each week. Then I have to worry about my family actually eating what I make (and me too!) or Iāll have to make a second meal at the same time as Iām making my meal or Iāll feel guilty that Iām not feeding them. I just donāt see how it doesnāt take over your life.
Position your life so that āhealthy choicesā are easier to make and ābad choicesā are more difficult to make.
Iāll give you a few examples.
I tend to get hungry every 2-3 hours, so itās important that I have āhealthy foodā nearby me in advance so that I donāt make a mindless trip to the candy-vending-machine.
One thing I struggle with is that having food nearby me makes me think of that food and then I eat it right away, so now all of my āhealthy foodā is gone and itās 1:00 pm and thereās a whole lot of day left where those candy bars are not-literally screaming my name.
In my house now, I have very little ājunk foodā (or frozen pizzas or the like). If itās not in the house at 10:00pm Iām not going to eat it at that time, either. Those late night snacks are just empty calories. It takes some focus to remind myself, āIām not actually hungry. Iām just eating because [Iām bored, the food is there, itās just what I do at this hour, etc.].ā Again, having āhealthā alternatives helps out a lot when you truly feel you are hungry & need to eat something.
Also, Iāve made efforts to focus on portion control & mindful eating.
AlsoĀ², I try to remind myself that five minutes after eating whatever ājunk foodā this is, youāre not even going to be enjoying it anymore.
In a way, though, I think it will take over your life in that you change your āattitudeā and āfocusā on how/what/when/how much you eat.
These are just my random thoughts to your random question. You may feel free to ignore them. Iām just an actuary on the internet.
You are talking about a complete revamping of your diet. Making any major change in your life is going to take a significant amount of time, effort, and/or money (pick 2) until it becomes familiar.
I am assuming most people know this, but maybe not so the options basically range from most $$, least time to most time, least $$.
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There are meal subscription services where you can get complete, ready-to-eat/heat meals.
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The next level would be a meal subscription service that provides the ingredients and cooking directions. This takes some of the effort of meal planning and research off your plate while providing a reasonable variety of meals (depending on the service) and introduction to cooking techniques for different types of foods, and is generally cheaper (and probably tastes better) than option 1.
2b) A company like Hungry Root also gives you options for purchasing additional groceries in addition to just whatever is needed for X dinners and lunches or whatever subscription you register for, so it get a 2b label rather than 3.
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There are also meal plan services that provide a weekly meal plan with grocery list and recipes based on your dietary preferences (like plant based, keto, etc) and number of people eating. Then it is up to you to hit the grocery store. This may or may not be cheaper than option 2, I think it depends on your local area and what is generally available. Sometimes this can be more difficult if certain ingredients arenāt available.
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Obviously the 100% DIY approach is going to be the most time consuming but takes the least amount of money. However, you can find some cookbooks that include complete meal plans which will take some of the additional effort off your plate (I think Whole 30 actually has meal plans included, but canāt remember).
Plenty of articles that discuss different services for 1 and 2, probably 3 as well. If you want suggestions for #4, I can look to see if any of the cookbooks (plant based or otherwise) we have have meal plans included at some point.
Am I the only person for whom writing everything I eat is counterproductive? BTDT, not going back. Iām REALLY good at following a diet. I just canāt do it forever and I always gain back the weight.
Currently not focusing on weight but Iād like to get my bp down before my dr adjusts my meds again. Using the DASH diet as a general guide but not counting stuff. I am trying to figure out what foods are generally low in sodium and generally high in potassium. It turns out Ranch dressing is lower sodium than the vinegar and oil I just bought. But I think the key there is gonna be to use less.
And Iām still eating the Pepperidge Farm pumpkin cookies I bought last week. Just not all at once.
Hello Fresh took more time to cook than my normal meals. Their ā30 minuteā meals were all things I could easily make without their help. Just wasnāt a good solution for me.
Once again, Iām with you. I find subscription services to be onerous and expensive. The ones that arenāt super time consuming, I didnāt need their help in making. Not my solution.
Most of the meals I make take 30-45 minutes because I donāt want my after work life to be just cooking and cleaning up the kitchen. On average, probably around 10 different ingredients per meal. Picking two meals at random out of my plant based diet book (which does have some tasty recipes) the first has 17 ingredients and the second has 27 ingredients. Just looking through the recipes, it looks like 60-90 minutes to make the dishes, maybe more for the second one. Then there will be the whining from spouse and kids or passive aggressive picking at the food and then eating something else (that Iāll probably have to make) or getting, āI guess you donāt need to make this crap again.ā OMG, Iām getting stressed just typing this out. Any dietary change comes with so much anxiety that I. Just. Canāt. Maybe you have a super supportive family that can deal with this kind of thing, I donāt.
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My daughter who lives with us is grown and understands why Iām doing this. She can eat with us or cook her own.
Plan for lunch and supper:
Lots of chicken and salad. Can cook chicken & prep salad on weekend, or if on a weeknight just cook a bit extra for lunches.
Baked potatoes/sweet potatoes: also weekend prep.
Increase fish from one time a week to two. Need to find out good kinds of fish besides salmon. Weāll cook fish on the nights we have a bit more time.
Figure out how to incorporate more beans in our diet. Iām thinking a vegetarian burrito bowl.
Iāll probably do some kind of egg bites for breakfastsāor oatmeal with nuts. Need protein or I will be starving.
For now I bought some prepackaged raw almonds for snacks along with fruit or veggies.
We make a lot of meals in the crock pot. Largely hands-off cooking outside prepping some things.
Makes the house smell yummy, too.
Usually leftovers for either another dinner in a day or two or a couple lunches.
We also make a lot big portions of like pasta sauce and meatballs or chili that can last for several days.
And when it gets warmer, lots of soups.
Again, lots of hands-off cooking.
I donāt know yet what I can make in the crockpot that will be low sodium. My recipes are mostly a can of this and a can of that. My soups all start with prepared broth.
I know I can reduce the sodium in my soups, but that will take a little time. Iāll work on it. Those will be good lunches.
I make chicken taco bowls in the crock pot. Thereās a jar of salsa in it, which must have some salt, and whatever is in the can of black beans. But you could buy dried beans and soak them overnight in the crock pot for a lower sodium alternative.
Those two ingredients plus 1.5 pounds boneless skinless chicken (breasts, thighs, tendersā¦ whatever you like) and 8 oz frozen corn and a bunch of seasoning that you can make as spicy or as mild as you like. You can obviously just skip the salt. The spicier it is the less youāll miss the salt.
I serve it over rice, but when hubs was on a low carb kick Iād make riced cauliflower for him. And cheese. And optional cilantro.
It makes a ton so youāll probably have leftovers. And everyone likes it.
Look for no sodium added cans of beans and corn. Some brands have them. I believe Swansonās has lower sodium broth options.
For broth, I like Kitchen Accomplice reduced sodium broth concentrates. Much cheaper than buying broth, and keeps a while. I just always have chicken & beef in my fridge.
I donāt know how āreducedā the sodium is though.
Home-made is the best on that score, of course, but aināt nobody got time for that.
I do frozen corn rather than canned. Itās a lot cheaper and lower in sodium too. For beans, I think dried and then soaked overnight generally works, but yeah, there are definitely lower sodium cans out there too.
Note that āreducedā sodium doesnāt necessarily mean much, so you still need to read the label. āLowā sodium actually has some sort of guideline as to how low it has to be to call itself ālowā. āReducedā just means they have another product thatās higher.
https://www.betterthanbouillon.com/ low sodium versions
This is super easy to make in the crock pot or instant pot as well. Toss in some bones, veggie scraps stored in the freezer from something else you have done, a bit of seasoning and some seaweed. Leave it on low 12-24 hours and strain.
ETA: Hereās a simple recipe Easy Crockpot Bone Broth
Salmon is gross.
I make my own broth.
My wife does not.
On random weekends, Iāll make a few gallons of chicken or turkey or vegetable or beef broth. Save them in 1/2 gallon containers and keep them in the freezer for later.