Lost perspective...what is normal food???

[daisiesdahlias]

So, I am obese and always eaten big portions of high calorie foods really. My parents were v young when they had me and have said they regret the food they raised me on, they didn't know how to cook and never thought about health. Not to blame them, just to give context of my idea of normal growing up.

So, I need to change how I eat. But I feel like I have no perspective on what is normal. A (slim and healthy) friend yesterday said she couldn't make dinner without going to the shop as she had no veg in. I thought - so?? Cheesy pasta, toasties, sausage and mash? I've lost all perspective.

So please tell me - in a normal busy week (not an 'ideal' or 'healthy' week) what are some normal things you have for breakfast lunch and dinner?

Have you looked at any of Rukmini Iyer's Roasting Tin books? There is a veggie one which has some great simple recipes in it.

You have probably nailed it there. Eating enough protein (and making sure your carbs are slow release) is a great way to stop yourself wanting to snack. I generally have a poached egg, ideally on wholemeal toast, for breakfast as it means I never want a snack before lunch.
Pulses are also great - one of the people in my house does a lovely lentil lasagne.

Try the Green Roasting Tin cookbook, helps you to start thinking about meals as 'vegetables with something', not plain carbs and fat with maybe a touch of veggies on the side.

I agree with above that trying a gousto box etc could be good.

I wouldn't eat dinner without veg either.

Normal day for me

Breakfast
Porridge with nuts, flax seeds, blueberries, raspberries and apple

Lunch
Salad with spinach, Aubergine, Cougette, tomatoes, chickpeas, feta, yogurt and lime

Dinner
Chicken or fish with 2-3 veg and rice

I'd usually eat about 7-10 portions of fruit and veg, it's the main bulk of my meal.

I am quite mentally unwell at the moment but I am still managing to cook meals with lots of veg by using the slow cooker - stews and curries with beans or lentils and tons of veg cook themselves, so you only do the initial peeling and chopping and then nothing else. Mine is small, but cooks four really hearty portions of stuff like this so there would be some days where you don’t have to think about it at all, because dinner is all ready for you in the fridge. Using the pulses gives you the protein you need, and all the veg is already alongside. You can add a slice of whole grain bread or a small amount of brown rice if you really need a carb.

Breakfast for me is always porridge made with milk, and some sort of fruit - frozen fruit is cheap and convenient because it’s always there. Lunches are more difficult without carbs, I find, but you could have some in a salad of a bit of pasta with lots of veg, and some cheese for your protein. Or eggs and toast, or beans on toast. Packed lunches can be leftovers or something you’ve prepared specially.

You’ll soon get into the swing of it!

Yes! Green Roasting Tin is brilliant. Some of the recipes are vegan but so filling you don’t even notice 😂

If you're used to large portions you could look at slimming world.

All meals are made from basic ingredients including lots of veg and pulses, and eggs but only a small amount of cheese as high fat. You can eat as much as you need to be full, as suddenly eating 'normal' portions might be a struggle.

Have a look at the pictures on the website. Pinch of Nom and Two Chubby cubs also have SW friendly recipes on their website.

You don't say whether you want to lose weight but you'll be able to try new meals with fruit and veg in which will be healthier anyway.

Breakfast - either something like poached egg or beans on toast, porridge with some fruit, or leftovers from dinner the day before if we have any that are easily reheated.

Lunch - occasionally a sandwich (cheese/ham/tuna and salad) but only really if I didn't have toast for breakfast - not for health reasons, just because I get bored of too much bread. Possibly a veg omelette, or egg fried rice made with those microwave packs of frozen veg and rice, or a microwave jacket potato with some form of protein and salad. Sometimes soup.

Snacks - usually chocolate in some form, grapes, other fruit.

Dinner - either a curry/chilli type dish with meat and veg, or something like steak/salmon/pork fillet etc with rice/pasta/jacket potato/sweet potato and either salad or some other form of veg (broccoli, green beans, cauliflower etc).

I definitely eat too much and am overweight but (other than the chocolate!) I eat pretty healthily - loads of fruit and veg and lean protein. A meal without any veg makes me feel pretty crappy and sluggish tbh.

Can I recommend a cook book for you instead? ‘The Hairy Dieters Go Veggie’ written by the Hairy Bikers duo. A lot of vegetarian meals tend to be heavy on the cheese and carbs so I found this book useful to give me other ideas.
The sort of things I would eat are a bowl of sugar free muesli for breakfast (weigh out the portion size it says on the pack). Homemade vegetable soup and crisp breads or toast for lunch followed by a fruit salad. (Make enough to last a few days).
Evening meals - Chickpea and veg curry with rice and popadums, Stir fry noodles, veg and cashew nuts, fried eggs with baked beans and fried potatoes, quiche with salad and new potatoes. Greek salad with feta cheese and pitta bread. Coffee and chocolates afterwards ( only a few).

Introducing you to this. It's in the oven now and possibly the best thing I've made in a while!

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CoaVgRFocsV/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

We eat mostly vegetarian, so breakfast would be eggs or Greek yogurt or maybe oatmeal, lunch is at work/school and for dinner we cook something from the abovementioned Roasting Tin books, and I also love Meera Sodha East and Joe Wicks Lean in 15 Veggie. Tonight we're having this: meerasodha.com/recipes/kale-and-chickpea-curry/

Jacket potato with tuna salad, no butter, use dribble of good olive oil if potato too dry

Rice with raw onion and cooked frozen peas, with some chicken, but of soy sauce for flavour.

Spaghetti Bolognese, sprinkle of parmesan, again reduce the cheese, have the flavour in the passata, add fresh basil, onion, sun-dried tomatoes, fresh tomatoes.

Cheesy pasta, toasties, sausage and mash

I'd eat all of those things but not usually on their own.

Sausage and mash with peas and carrots.

Cheesy pasta with a big side salad. Or cheesy pasta and leek and/or cauliflower bake.

I do not hand build my eggs ! hard boiled

I think one of the most useful things I learned from my parents was to start each main meal with a salad. It means you get a couple of portions of your 5 a day and it fills you up, so you don't overeat.

My parents' salads were very boring, but I have always experimented with different vegetables and dressings. I'd suggest getting a book about salads and/or browsing online for inpiration.

Amongst my favorites are things like tabbouleh, fatoush, Asian salads, variations on salad nicoise. I often have just a salad and half a Mediterranean flatbread for lunch.

Snacks are things like melon, cantaloupe, grapes, a banana, an apple, mango etc - or a carrot. Or a boiled egg (just 70 calories but very filling).

Another trick that helps: no UPF or other crap foods, or booze, in the house. Go shopping only once or twice a week, and never when you're hungry or feeling miserable. Try not to drink calories.

Agree re. Meera Sodha. She has a regular recipe column in the Guardian.

Must look up the Joe Wicks book, @Orangello . Looks interesting as one of my ambitions is to be lean...

Which reminds me: I would recommend working out with weights, i.e. building muscle and strengthening bones. Very important as we age!!

We are a fairly skinny family, and we eat loads of homemade soups. So, yesterday we had a Middle Eastern soup made with red lentils, onions, tomatoes, spices, and a small amount of vermicelli. I'm not a huge fan of red lentils, but in soups they taste amazing. I also make a really tasty green lentil soup. Any vegetables that are lurking at the back of the fridge also tend to end up in a soup. Right now I have some sad looking broccoli and some spinach, so I'll just simmer them in a bit of stock, maybe add one small potato, and then use a stick blender to make a nice green soup. If I've got a can of white beans, I might add this too. And maybe some coconut milk.

If you have a huge bowl of soup, you won't have room for anything else.

Today's dinner was chicken peanut tray bake, chicken marinated in a mix of crunchy peanut butter, soy sauce and lime juice then added to, gnocchi red peppers, red onion and broccoli, baked for 35-40 minutes. Tomorrow will be sweet potato and chick pea curry with spinach. Try starting off by buying frozen birdseye steam fresh microwave bags, these are little bags of mixed veg.

Is the chicken a recipe you found or just a made up one? I want to try that, it's all my fave things!

Everything you mentioned in your original post - just add veg!
If you have a cheese toaster - tomato in it
Cheesy pasta, add spring onion, some greens for example.

You could branch out to more different types of protein/ carbs for sure but to get your head around eating healthier the best thing to do would be to add x2 vegetables to the mix.

Breakfast two weetabix with skimmed milk.
Dinner a ham salad sandwich (brown roll or two slices of brown bread).
Tea a chicken fillet and two veggies.
I don't always eat dinner though as I'm hardly ever hungry at lunchtime.
And bonus is I don't like sweet things or cheese so less calories.
I do drink at least 2 litres of water per day and lots and lots of coffee 🤣

Any chance of a link to the marmalade sausage thing please 😋

Plenty of vegetarian protein sources to fill you up.

Our typical meals are a bit carby but with lots of veg.
Roast veg with tomatoes and chickpeas is very filling
Lentil based curries, stews and hotpots
Silken tofu blitz up with a bit of mushroom stock makes a brilliant and healthy mushroom stroganoff or creamy mushroom sauce which is high protein
Egg and veg fried rice (more veg then rice)
I love smoked tofu so will fry this and have with a noodle soup or add sweet chilli dipping sauce and veg stirfry

It's quite hard to make dinner without veg in it! Roasts, stews, soup, lasagne, chilli, fajitas all have veg in. Even burgers, you'd add some lettuce, tomato and onion. Hello Fresh is a great idea for you OP.

Veggie meals we have are jacket potato, salad and cheese; stir fry with quorn pieces; bean stew (loads of veg and ginger in that); vegetable and chickpea tagine; chick pea curry. Toastie is a rare treat for lunch, sausage and mash would not feel complete without veg and cheesy pasta we'd have with a load of sweetcorn. I'd never have a main meal with no veg.