[kristine25]

So, lots of food/dieting posts lately. Here is an interesting one. So I have been battling the needed 15lbs weight loss since before highschool. Actually there have been times it was more like 25lbs but it's been 15lbs for the majority of it.<br><br>
No miracle diet here. No need to spend the money on prepackaged food, books that tell you what to eat and what not to eat, or anything like that. Who needs to spend the extra $$$$. We all know we need to make healthy choices and exercise. That is the key to weight loss. Simple. I know what my strenghts are and what my weaknesses are.<br><br>
We went on a 7 day cruise last month. A dieters nightmare right? NOPE. Not for me. I worked out one day on the boat. That is it. In total I lost 1 pound that week.<br><br>
I have been trying to figure out why for weeks and suddenly today it hit me: It's really about the cooking. When the food is prepared for me, it's easy to make great choices and other people tend to make healthy food taste so much better than I do. At a resturant I will always choose the grilled salmon over a greasy burger for example. So, now to get rid of that extra 15lbs I need to learn how to cook yummy healthy food that isn't hard. Honestly, I just don't like to cook so it needs to be easy and tasty.<br><br>
Any suggestions?? My only "no way" food is any type of bell peppers. Other than that I will eat anything.

 

[LeftRightRepeat]

Fish is pretty easy - and healthy and tasty. Being in Seattle, you should have access to plenty of fresh fish. I keep my grill shoveled year round and grill fish at least once a week. You can season it with all kinds of stuff - cumin, five spice, commercial spice mixes, a drizzle of olive oil. (Watch out for those spice mixes and the commercial sauces - many have HUGE amounts of salt/sodium.) Takes like ten minutes. Easier than a burger!! You can grill "steaks" - or I'll buy a big fillet of whatever looks fresh, grill it all up at once, and eat it for like three days.

 

[TriBob]

Grilled chicken breasts with different marinades. Nuke frozen veggies.

 

[Tri-Tammy]

I have to admit that I love to watch the food channel. I'll watch what they're making and then I'll alter the recipe to make it healthier- choosing a different type of meat or oil for example.

 

[jroden]

I like to make blackj beans and rice for breakfast and smetimes eat the leftovers later in the day or make a batch as a side for dinner of add some meat and serve as the main course--here's how I do it:<br><br>
brown an onion (I use green pepper myself, but you don't like) in a litle olice oil in a 12 inch skiller<br><br>
add a can of black beans, a can of water and about a cup of cooked rice, I just cook mine in the microwave and store in fridge.<br><br>
Seasoning salt and hot sauce cover, simmer 15 mins and eat. To reheat just add some water and cook.<br><br>
One thing that helped our diet a lot was I learned to make bread a few years ago and make all our bread, pizza and rolls from scratch using fresh ground wheat.<br><br>
The best thing in my kitchen is my stand mixer, you can make your breads, grind fresh wheat for flour, run a pasta maker to make real pasta and run a meat grinder off it--I use mine multiple times a day.

 

[Kate60]

Turkey chili is easy and low fat, homemade soups, grilled marinaded chicken with salad or veg. Check out a few websites, I like <a href="http://allrecipes.com" target="_blank">http://allrecipes.com</a>. Cooking healthy takes more time so you do have to plan but it need not be expensive.

 

[melistic]

there are many post in what they call the water stop.<br><a href="http://www.kickrunners.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=13" target="_blank">http://www.kickrunners.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=13</a><br><br>
I've found buying the healthier foods makes all the difference. I don't buy junk all that often. Every shopping cart is filled with sensible options and healthier choices. Then I buy one bag of chips or such. Strangely enough when I see the chips being eaten I know they've plowed through all the fresh food in the house.<br>
Cooking clean involves much less prep and time. How about you tell us what food you had on board, how you think it was cooked and we'll give you the 1-2 to getting it on the table.<br>
Whoever was right, fish is easy, quick and should be highly available

 

[BethR]

I love my crockpot, especially in the winter. Very easy to make nutritious and delicious soups and stews.<br><br>
I also try to make salads every night - and to make it easy, I buy the big plastic container of Earthbound organic mixed greens and just spinach, and mix them. Then, I add all kinds of stuff: pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, mushrooms, pomegranete seeds, carrots, tomotoes, jicama, raisins, cranberries, avocados... the possibilities are endless, and it's fun to try new things. And, still VERY easy.<br><br>
Voila, you have dinner for a couple of nights.<br><br>
I eat a lot of bean/grain mixtures for lunches, and sometimes dinner too. I cook a bag of dried beans (2-3 hours until done), then mix with cooked wheat berries, or quinoa, or rice, millet, any grain will do. Add a can or two of diced tomatoes with chilis or onions and I have lunch for an entire week or a side dish for dinner.

 

[hobey]

A good idea is to have a well stocked pantry with whole grains, different oils, spices, etc. I also plan, plan, plan. I plan a weekly dinner menu and focus on having a max 3 meals/week of meat, at least one meal of those three is fish. All other meals are vegetarian and I get inspiration from food mags and my copious cookbook collection.

 

[LookiLoo]

One rule that I always try to follow is to get most of my calories earlier in the day. This way I am not so starved at night when it's time to make dinner, and I will tend to make healthier choices. When I come home with a rumbling tummy, steamed veggies with a healthy protein and grain just ain't cutting it <img alt="wink.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/wink.gif">

 

[MBannon]

Like LRR, we do fish at least once or twice a week. Just rub a bunch of dill on it and throw it on the grill or in the frying pan. Any type of fish will do. Serve with a small salad or other veggies. Use a small plate so your dinner doesn't look so small. It's amazing how small the piece of fish can be and still fill you up.<br><br>
Skinless chicken breast is our other go-to weekday staple.

 

[Heather H]

Kristine-- cool topic! one solution- just eat out all the time <img alt="smile.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/smile.gif"> But if I ate out all the time I wouldn't have any money to do tris. For me it's more about how hungry I am, if I'm really hungry all bets are off whether I'm eating out or at home.<br><br>
Heidi-- I completely agree! but I have a hard time following that rule and often end up ravenous when I get home, gotta have a snack right away, then eat half of dinner while it's cooking, then have some more...obviously not the best way to do it. So better planning is my goal, if I plan well, I usually eat really well, when I don't plan and get really hungry, well it's just not pretty!