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?

Oooh, and lentil Bolognese. We have that at least a couple of times a month. We make it with carrots and peppers.

So for breakfast I had overnight oats with berries (for each portion of oats I do half cup porridge oats, half cup almond milk, quarter cup plain yogurt, 1 tbsp maple syrup, 1 tbsp chia seeds); lunch was leftover veggie fried rice (so that had broccoli, pak choi, mangetout, baby corn, spring onions); dinner might be something quick like omelette and beans. Tomorrow’s dinner is spicy meatballs, that has onions and peppers and tinned tomatoes. We have pasta quite a lot with tomato based sauces. Curries and stir fries with both protein and veg in (Friday’s curry had lentil dhal as a side).
So thinking about it.. lots of meals that incorporate veg into them rather than just serve it on the side.

I'm not sure meal boxes are that good an idea unless you do Green Chef as the others can be VERY heavy on the carbs and I always end up doing one extra veg!!

Next time you are doing cheesy pasta, (halve the amount of pasta you cook) add loads of frozen veg half way through the cooking. Empty a tin of beans into the colander when straining the pasta. Add to cheesy sauce.

Bangers and mash, cook some cabbage and peas.

Little steps will get you there.

It’s harder if you’re vegetarian to not fill up on stodgy things (I imagine).

An average weekday for me and dh would involve no processed carbs. This has become our norm and it works for us both to stay slim. Since I became peri menopausal, I’ve found it harder to stay thin and processed carbs, even small amounts, make me gain weight.

I skip breakfast as I fast for at least 16 hours. Dh doesn’t - he’ll have overnight oats or similar. A late lunch for me might be soup (no bread) or a scrambled egg. I rarely snack, but if I do, it’ll be a banana or some blueberries.

For dinner, we’ll have protein and vegetables. Tonight for example we’re having baked salmon and vegetables. Last night we had sausages (98% pork!) with lentils and spinach.

At the weekend we might eat pasta, rice or potatoes if we fancy them.

Gentle nutrition approach for those with eating disorders (not saying you have one, OP, but could still be useful) is to always add rather than subtract. So if you're having a sandwich, think about what you could add to make it more nutritious - salad maybe, or hummus or an egg. If you're having some biscuits, add some Greek Yoghurt and fruit. You get the idea. It's a gentle way to make your meals more nourishing and get into the kinds of behaviours you feel better support your health.

Follow the Dr. Michael Mosley Mediterranean-style low carb diet. The website has lots of recipes and tips on how to implement it successfully.

Plate size is a big thing. I have a dinner plate that I always use that has a big rim but the actual surface to put food on is about the size of a side plate. I don't feel that it is a smaller plate as it stacks perfectly with the other dinner plates. Its only a cheap thing from either Sainsburys or Tescos but it has made a huge difference to my portion size.

Tonight we had bolognaise. I hide veg in things (a habit formed from when the children were small). I dry fried spinach, carrots and broccoli and then zuzzed it up in the food processor to make a paste (basically I use anything that is in the bottom of my fridge and needs using up). Then added this to my veggie mince with mushrooms, onions and peppers along with tinned tomatoes and tomato puree. I folded in a big portion of cooked tagliatelle in with it. And spinach (I add spinach to everything).

Then at least a quarter of my plate with chopped salad (I always have chopped salad in the fridge), two pieces of garlic bread and my tagliatelle bolognaise concoction.

It looked a huge portion but was probably half the size of hubbies because of the plate.

I couldn't eat it all!

alpha.lollipopai.com/s/zrszncpndw

My usual days menu is porridge or overnight oats for breakfast with berries (at this time of the year frozen berries), home made soup for lunch. Lots of snacks to keep me going through the day - combination of fruit, hard boiled eggs, babybel, carrot and hummous, chocolate coated rice cakes.

Dinners tend to be curry, bolognaise, chops with baked potato and salad. I put veg in everything, often hidden, and spinach bulks everything out! If we have chips its usually home made chips with a drizzle of oil done in the air fryer.

I've got around 5 stone to lose - am 2 stone down.

I do calorie count - using the app Nutracheck. But I have to admit I'm not great at weighing out my portions and usually estimate - life's too short to weigh your food!!

I do have sausage and mash, cheese and ham toasties, etc but I try to include them within my calorie limit.

A regular week for us includes meat & fish which helps make it easier to vary.

Tomorrow we are having mushroom stroganoff & later in the week will have butternut squash pasta. Fajitas with black beans instead of mince is an easy option & you would eat with salad normally.

Also vegetarian! I really have to think about it to ensure protein needs are met without to much cheese. I was obese but loosing it steadily and now just a little overweight.
I usually skip breakfast
Lunch: sandwich thin/bagel (some form of cream cheese and tomato usually) salad, lots of homemade soups. With at least 1 portion of veg and 1 portion of fruit as a side.
Dinner: tonight was fajita bowls (all the fajita toppings minus the wrap) with tofu cooked in fajita spices. Also this week bean chilli, soup with a bagel/toast, ramen in a satay broth with poached eggs, veggie sausages with mashed swede and Yorkshire puds, cheese and potato pie with salad and a roast on Sunday.
Always have 2 full portions of veg with my dinner alongside whatever veg is in the dish.
No snacks ever. Lots of water. Occasionally have a protein shake if I feel like I'm really lacking in protein for the day.

alpha.lollipopai.com/s/mqfn9wdhyd

It's one from the app. I've actually not had a bad recipe from there yet.

So if I was cooking vegetarian I'd do something like a 5-bean chilli with rice, quorn fajitas, halloumi salad, omelette/quiche with chips and peas, vegetarian sausage pasta bake. I always include 2 portions of veg, protein and carbs.

For lunch eggs are a good protein source. I'm not working currently so I often have 2 fried or scrambled eggs in a roll. Then 2 pieces of fruit and a cake.

That looks so good! 😋 do you think the baking and turning it into a sausage shepherd's pie is worth it, or would it be just extra faff? 🤔

I've been obese for many years. I've had some health issues over the last year which has meant my food intake has had to change and I have dropped weight. I used to not eat much veg but now I try to get it in every meal. My daily diet is something like this (I don't count calories or worry about portion sizes too much but I can't eat a lot at one time anymore anyway) -

B - I used to not eat this at all but now I have a portion of fruit (if I am hungry I will have eggs and mushrooms too)
L - Chicken and vegetable soup (lot of veg in there)
D - Salmon fillet with jacket pot (butter and cheese on the potato) and lots of salad (shredded lettuce, red cabbage, carrot and sweetcorn with mayo as a dressing)

I no longer eat after 7pm (digestive issues mean I can't without ending up in pain overnight). I think this is a decent diet although I keep trying to get more veg and variety in there!

@Tekkentime I've made it tonight and it's genuinely delicious. Did add pancetta and onion marmalade as I had some to use up

There's another few of his I've bookmarked to try

Chili with brown rice/tacos/sweet potato and salad is our go to meatless dinner - roast lots of veggies, eg onions courgette peppers aubergine sprinkled in cumin and paprika and a little olive oil. Put in pot w 1 tin black beans, 1 tin tomatoes, 1 tin water, 4 cloves sliced garlic, some vinegar. Cook for ages, serve w jalapeños and salad.

Tonight we're having homemade quiche with peas and kale on the side.
Last night was quickie pasta pesto (jar pesto) with wilted spinach
The night before was halloumi, spiced cauliflower and roasted red pepper wraps. I made some of the leftover cauliflower into a toasted sandwich with a bit of cheese for my lunch today.
I have veggie burgers in buns served with sweet potato wedges lined up for tomorrow's dinner.
Lunch is usually a sandwich but if I'm at home I sometimes toast it or occasionally make some soup or similar.
We don't eat meet but I always serve at least one vegetable / salad even if it is a stodgy carby, cheesy dinner.

Do you actually enjoy eating veg op? Because if not look for 'hidden veg' recipes. One of the reasons veg is so key for weight loss is because it's generally high volume for calorie, so eating plenty of veg at every meal reduces the amount of carb needed.

We're a vegetarian family so typically (we'll ignore snacks because they're much more varied in nutritional value)

Breakfast

• scrambled eggs, toast, fruit
• granola, greek yoghurt, fruit
• branflakes/blueberry wheats with milk, fruit

Lunch

• leftovers from dinner
• homemade roast veg pasta with cheese
• falafel, hummus, carrots, cucumber wraps
• eggs on toast with cherry tomatoes if not had for breakfast
• peanut butter sandwich with carrots/cucumber/cherry tomatoes
• jacket potato with cheese and beans

Dinner - we get gousto when it's on offer which has definitely reduced out use of proccesed protein

• Thai tofu curry
• chilli with Quorn mince and lentils for bulk
• bolognaise with Quorn mince and lentils for bulk
• stir fry with tofu/Quorn pieces/what the cluck chicken
• paneer and cauliflower curry
• vegetable and bean fajitas (sometimes with Quorn/what the cluck)
• Planner and roast veg tray bake
• broccoli and cauliflower pasta bake
• roast veg gnocchi bake
• muchroom stroganoff

Years ago I was vegetarian and eating too much cheese and carbs and I reset by doing a carol vordeman ‘detox’. I’m not a fan of the whole detox fad and actually did it to prove it wouldn’t do much yet had to eat my words as I felt so much better afterwards. It changed my eating mantra from one of ‘I shouldn’t eat so much’ to ‘I need to eat as many veggies as I can’.

I’m currently in the ‘OK’ weight range for my height and eat what I want except I try to eat as few processed foods as possible. So I tend to eat less but full fat ‘real’ versions of things rather than ‘low fat’ and more processed. I do eat a lot of cheese, some meat but I also eat a lot of vegetables. On any day you can add on some chocolate or a couple of biscuits. Not great to have them that regularly but it’s rare I don’t have something - more likely on days I skip a meal (I sometimes combine breakfast and lunch)

Week:
Breakfast: glass cold pressed smoothie, fruit yoghurt
lunch: felafel, hummus and salad - salad with olive oil and pomegranate syrup.
Tea: (wasnt that hungry as lunch was big and I’m feeling lazy): 1 slice cheese and tomato on toast, homemade coleslaw, 2 satsumas

Breakfast: blueberries and natural yogurt with honey, 1 big slice toast with butter, marmite and 2 small poached eggs.
(no lunch)
Tea: egg fried rice with cashew nuts and varying veg, eg onion, peas, broccoli and baby sweetcorn.

Breakfast: as other days
Lunch: chicken salad sandwich (2 slices bread), crisps
Tea: 3 x thin but large pancakes with homemade chunky guacamole, cheese and lettuce - I make the pancake mix more eggy to get a bit more protein into the DC

Weekend:

Breakfast: granola and a banana, semi skimmed milk
Lunch: oatcakes with cheese, homemade coleslaw
Tea: roast chicken, roast potatoes and parsnips, Yorkshire pudding, honey carrots, broccoli cheese, sugarsnap peas, wilted spinach with chilli and lemon. I ate too much! But did have a good selection of veg.

I make something very similar to this, but include carrots and peas in the pie, so it's all in a one-er. Makes a pack of sausages go a long way.

@daisiesdahlias What sort of things do you currently eat on a daily basis ? if you tell us we can make suggestions to tweak that or offer other easy alternatives ? Is there anything you really don't like ?

Exactly this.

Just think ‘meat and 2 veg’ and cook a nice big portion of it. Get plenty of different meats/fish and veggies in so you can mix it up but not think about it too much. Get into the pattern.

When you feel like it start adding more varied stuff like nuts, seeds, herbs and spices to improve your gut health.

Some ideas:

Pork chops, cabbage and peas
Salmon fillet, carrots and courgettes
Chicken breast, mashed butternut squash and green beans

Breakfast should be savoury - think eggs, mushrooms and tomatoes - and lunch can be similar to dinner.

It doesn’t matter if you eat the same things for a few weeks, the important thing is to get into the habit.

Good luck OP!