Loosing weight, eating healthy and bulk natural foods order

[ssexton]

Sorry, I posted this first over on the curriculum board by mistake!

 

And, of course I mean losing weight in the title. Not doing well today with this post, huh?

 

Ok, I'm going to make a confession here. I'm needing to loose some serious weight--about 50 lbs. I'm also needing to learn to eat healthier. I've made some progress. I've cut back dramatically on sodas. I've gone from a 2L a day of diet coke to two small glasses a day while drinking more water. We've planted a garden, and we are learning how to eat more fresh veggies. My children, especially my youngest, love the garden and seem more open to trying new things if we've grown them ourselves. We are also going berry picking this weekend, and plan to visit the farmer's market regularly this summer. We tried sugar snap peas from the garden last night, and they went over reasonably well. :)

 

But. I still need lots of help. I grew up in one of those pbj sandwich, chips and cookies homes, and I've let mine become one. It's so easy to fall back into those old ways, you know? So, I'm trying to change. I'm the only one in my family with a weight problem. My dh and children have wonderful metabolism and are slim. DH likes to snack a lot, and wants chips and cookies around the house.

 

So, how to approach this? Do I put the emphasis on learning to cook more naturally or on watching calories? I guess I can do both, but focusing on both seems overwhelming. I also have a budget to watch.

 

I'm working on an order for our local natural food coop. Foods I'm considering ordering:

 

Coconut oil

flax seed

raw almonds

organic rolled oats

popcorn

dried fruit (apricots, bananas, papayas? Sweetened or nonsweetened?)

wheat germ (what do I do with this?)

quinoa (again, what to do with this?)

Anything else I should look for? They have a very long list, so I'd love all suggestions! Any other ideas or encouragement would be appreciated. Thanks!

Edited May 26, 2011 by ssexton

[MeaganS]

I know exactly what you mean. This was my home growing up, and my husband struggles with weight and I could stand to lose some as well. We work better as an "all or nothing" kind of family. So here's what we did. Since January, I've lost 25 lbs and my hubby has lost 65 doing this:

 

We sat down and discussed how important this was for our health, especially my husband's. Once we had decided that we were going to do this, we looked at what failed for us in the past. One was that we would fall off the wagon for a few days and then not get back on, losing all our inertia. So with our plan, we needed to make built-in fail safes. The other was the amount of work it took to cook and eat healthily. I knew this was mostly going to fall on me, so I had to come up with ways to make it work for me as well.

 

So here's what we did. We allow ourselves one dessert a week. Compared to our dessert every day, this was significant. We also allow ourselves one "whatever day" per month, where we can eat our favorite foods without guilt. And we have one "eat-out" meal a month as well, where we don't really worry about the health. Other than that, we stay within our caloric limits and try to eat whole foods whenever possible.

 

Then we sat down and came up with 3 weeks worth of healthy meals, so I wouldn't be able to get lazy with meal-planning. I could just look back at those and pick from them. My husband downloaded an app for his iPhone called LoseIt, and tracks every single thing he eats. I mostly wing it. We track our weight on our Wii-fit. It's really exciting to see your Mii getting skinnier! Then we went through the house and threw away everything junky. Because I do the shopping, we knew it would be much more difficult to eat junk food if I just stopped buying it and it wasn't available when we are bored. I HAVE to make dinner because we don't have anything easy and unhealthy to eat instead, you know? We can't snack on cookies because we don't have any. If I buy cereal, it is a healthy non-sugary kind, but we also eat lots of oatmeal and egg-white omelets and turkey sausage.

 

We love junk food at our house, as well as fatty foods, but we have had to change the way we think of food to be successful at this. I'm so proud of my hubby, and although he has a ways to go still, this is a lifestyle I feel like we can maintain.

[ssexton]

Thanks, Meagan! If I could get dh on board this would be so much easier. While he is thin, he's not as healthy as he could be, and his immune system could use a boost. I found a recipe for peanut butter balls using protein powder, oats, and honey. Something like that might satisfy his need for snacking in a better way. And, it would keep the cookies out of the house! Planning is also something I need to work on. I think I need to learn what to eat first, though.

 

Congratulations to you and your dh! You guys are doing great! I think I need Wii fit, just to watch my Mii get smaller!

[ocelotmom]

From a budget perspective - if you're not sure what to do with it, or even if you do have ideas but haven't used it much, don't place a big order for it! Buy just enough to try it out and see if it's something you really want a lot of.

 

Quinoa can be used pretty much anywhere you'd use rice. You can also grind it and use it as a flour. It's a little tricky because it's coated with saponins, and has to be rinsed before cooking or it'll be bitter. Some brands are pre-rinsed, some aren't. If you can find someone experienced with quinoa to prepare it for you (some natural food stores may have quinoa salads or something in the deli section), you may be able to get a better idea of whether you like it or not.

[Soror]

I agree don't order it if you don't know what/how to use it, it will just be wasted. I think the easiest thing is to just start changing things you already eat to healthier/less processed versions. So, if you eat oats now or cereal then whole oats would be an improvment from that. If you use vegetable/soy oil coconut oil would be a good replacement. Homemade popcorn is better than microwaved version. Dried fruits should be unsweetened, save for cranberries, they should be plenty sweet on their own. Start small with changes and foods you can stick with, don't try to do too much it gets discouraging.

[Random]

ssexton,

It sounds like you are off to a wonderful start!

 

If I were you, I'd focus on cooking naturally first. It seems like almost everyone eats less when they are eating whole foods that taste really good and have a lot of fiber. You may not ever need to count calories.

 

I like the list of things you have to order from the co-op, and I second the advice that you should get small quantities until you know it's something you will want to eat a lot of.

 

Good for you!

[ssexton]

Thank you, Ocelotmom and soror, I think that was sheer desperation leading me to throw money at the problem. I do think I'll order the coconut oil, oats and popcorn as I know how to use those. Then I'll shop at the grocery store and farmer's market and experiment on a smaller scale with healthier items. The coop does a dry goods order every two months, so no need to go overboard this time. Thanks for the voice of reason!

[ssexton]

Random, thanks so much for the encouragement! I really want to do better, but it seems so daunting and so very easy to fall back into old habits. I think I'm going to make a master list of foods I think we'd like and want to try. Then I'll start at the grocery store and proceed to a whole foods/Trader Joe's if necessary. I can pick a couple of things each week to try, and then perhaps it won't be so overwhelming. Things we really like can be added to a future co-op order. I've been searching the archives here for healthy snacks and have some good ideas.

 

Cooking whole foods seems like the place to start. I love your thoughts on everyone being more satisfied by eating nutritious food. Just need to work on retraining my taste buds. :)

[mnemom]

It is a very hard transition to go from eating processed, unhealthy foods to foods that are more healthy and natural. I think going gradually will make it easier and more doable.

 

Maybe step 1 could be only eating fresh fruits or veggies for snacks. Another step could be having a breakfast that is made of a whole grain, a fruit, and some low-fat dairy. I have found these pretty easy to do. Another step could be making dinners that have no processed ingredients (for example, a rotisserie chicken, fresh broccoli, and some oven roasted potatoes). Or here is a recipe that I love (I use boneless, skinless thighs): http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Crispy-Rosemary-Chicken-and-Fries/Detail.aspx

 

We eat pretty healthy and I'll be honest, I can't find a quinoa recipe that anyone in my family loves. This is the best I've found: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Quinoa-with-Asian-Flavors/Detail.aspx

 

I think making slow and easy changes, like those I mentioned, will make it easier than suddenly making your family eat unusual things they are not used to and probably won't like at first. It just makes them long for the junk food more.

 

Also, when I go to the grocery store, I strictly stick to my list and I also don't buy things that are processed. Then I am forced to snack on things and cook with foods that are healthy because that's pretty much all I have.

 

You might want to try some other nut butters. I like almond butter on whole wheat toast with honey on top. Cashew butter is also good.

 

I like the cookbook The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters. It has given me lost of ideas on how to cook fresh, unprocessed foods.

 

Good luck, it has been very hard for me to make healthy foods that everyone in our house likes.

[FriedClams]

I would skip a large coconut oil, and maybe get a little one. I've been doing ww and since starting I've eaten very little fats. I have my daily healthy fat - with avocado or olive oil - but other than that, none. I would work on ratios: 1/2 plate veggies, 1/4 carb and 1/4 lean protien. I measure EVERYTHING now. Mostly I eat fruit, veggies, lean meat and whole grains. I agree with leaving room for a treat every week. Wednesdays I eat 1/2 of a bakery cupcake and Saturdays I sometimes eat a donut or two. So far I've lost 20 pounds in 6 weeks on the program. I still have a long way to go, but it's doable now!

[ssexton]

Mnemom, that recipe looks great, and I think it will go over well here. Thank you! I'm checking out the recipe book. Quinoa is off the list as that appears way out of my league. I took your advice on making incremental changes while I was at Aldi today and looked for things for healthy snacks. I picked up some almonds and dried apricots, and they are good together. Of course, I got the roasted almonds and they probably aren't as healthy as the raw ones, but it's a start. I also bought yogurt covered raisins, pineapple, and bananas for snacks. We already have yogurt and mozarella cheese sticks. They may not be the best choices available, but they must be better than grabbing a few chips ahoy cookies, right? Then I'll go from there. I don't think I'll be losing weight this way--only making better choices than I was.

 

SWM, I'm going to be very transparent here and say that the thought of eating a 1/2 plate of veggies at a meal seems very intimidating. I like veggies, but not the good ones. :) Peas, corn, potatoes...And, I like those with butter! I've got so much learning to do. Thanks so much for your help!

ETA: Congrats on your weight loss!! That's very inspiring!

Edited May 26, 2011 by ssexton