I make smoothies for breakfast - frozen fruit, banana, lowfat yogurt, milk, protein powder. They can vary from 200-450 cals depending on the type of fruit, how much banana, how much protein powder. I never ate breakfast before, and got the smoothie suggestion from someone on this board when I asked what was something healthy I could do for breakfast.
I also got a suggestion of steel cut oats, but I never figured out how to fix those exactly.
grass-fed beef, free range chicken, raw fruits and veggies, nuts. Try avoiding most packaged foods (they usually have extra sugar and salt added) and trygetting as many varieties of foods in your life as possible.
Well that all depends on what you consider healthy. Not everyone agrees. Here are some of the things I eat and consider healthy.
Breakfast
- 2 organic eggs with the yolks
- 1 piece of Ezekiel bread (this has NO sugar or flour but it isn't low carb either)
- 1tbsp organic, trader joe's butter
Lunch
- organic bean burrito
or
- apple with natural peanut butter
Dinner
- chicken & rice
- beef stew with potatoes, carrots, onion and celery
- chili
- turkey, mash potatoes, vegetable
- baked fish, homemade whole wheat mac & cheese
- chicken stir fry with carrots, onions, zucchini, and snow peas
Snacks
- apples
- grapes
- tuna from a can
- raw cheese (it's so freakin delicious)
- peanut butter
- peaches
- triscuit with cream cheese (not all that healthy)
- cottage cheese and pineapple
Last edited by LandonsBaby; 01-14-2009 at 11:58 PM.
One of the simplest ways to think of "healthy" in terms of foods, is a wide variety of foods as close to their natural state as possible. I tend to think of it as "food my great-great-great.... grandparents would recognize as food." The further back I can go, the healthier the food (that is it would be better to choose a food that a Neanderthal would recognize than one that would stump my great grandma).
There are thousands and thousands and thousands of foods that can be included in a healthy diet, so it's very difficult to provide a list. There's no one food that you need to eat to be healthy, you can get any nutrient that exists from multiple sources. Also, no food is "healthy" except in combination with everything else you are eating. So to be healthy, you have to eat a wide variety of foods: fruits, vegetables, proteins, fats, (grains and dairy) I put grains and dairy in parentheses because some people argue that grains and dairy may not be particularly healthy, at least not in large quantities, because our early ancestors and even some aboriginal people's today generally haven't included many if any grain or dairy foods.
I really think a book on basic nutrition and superfoods would help you get a better understanding of the bigger picture, and healthy foods can only be understood by understanding the bigger picture. You can eat too much or too little in any food group.
No list of meals (unless it's hundreds of pages long) is going to provide a healthy, balanced diet. The more variety you can include the better, so when choosing veggies for example, aim for variety - the more colors the better (because color often indicates particular nutrients). Eat them in a variety of ways (raw, lightly cooked, well cooked) because there are studies that different levels of cooking make different nutrients more available. It isn't always true that raw is always best (though it's generally a decent rule of thumb).
It's too big of an answer unless you help narrow it down. What do you like to eat? What do you dislike? If I tell you to eat steel cut oats for breakfast and you hate oatmeal, it won't be very helpful. Are you following any sort of plan?
For starters, you can check these out of the library:
5. Low fat yogurt (Greek is especially good), with a measured serving of granola, a few berries
Snacks
1. Fruit
2. String cheese
3. Measured servings of nuts/trail mix (a serving is 1/4 cup, that's 200 calories
4. Hummus with whole wheat pita dip
5. Cottage cheese
6. Veggies (baby carrots, grape tomatoes, pepper strips, celery, sugar snap peas, edamame, cauliflower, etc etc) maybe with a lite/fat free ranch dip
7. pickles
8. Soy chips
9. Whole grain crackers and a wedge of laughing cow cheese
10. Low fat yogurt
Lunches
1. Sandwiches - whole grain bread, low calorie spread (mustard instead of mayo), piles of veggies, protein (turkey, chicken etc)
2. Wraps
3. Salads - watch the cheese, croutons and dressing. Add beans, edamame, sugar snap peas, turkey, egg, tuna, salmon etc etc for a good protein source. Tons of veggies, a sprinkle of nuts (sesame seeds, cashews), lite dressing on the side
4. Soup
5. Healthy dinner leftovers
Dinners
1. Veggie stir fry with a protein (chicken, shrimp, etc) over a measured portion of brown rice
2. The standard - protein + veggie + healthy carbohydrate (small steak, steamed green beans, baked sweet potato) or (maple glazed salmon over brown rice with steamed broccoli)
3. Chili (made with lean turkey and beans, lots of veggies) with whole wheat crackers
4. Home made spaghetti sauce over a measured serving of whole wheat pasta
5. Burgers - whole grain bun, lots of veggies, lean protein (salmon burger? tuna burger?) with home made oven fries
6. HOme made pizza - Trader JOe's makes a great whole wheat crust, spicy marinara, lots of veggies, lite on the cheese (a little feta has a lot of taste for not a lot of calories)
7. Omelette - stuffed with veggies, topped with salsa
8. Quesadillas - 2 whole wheat tortillas stuffed with filling (I like spinach or BBQ chicken), served wth salsa (a little cheese to stick everything together)
9. Veggie tacos - 3 blue corn shells, spicy lean ground turkey, tons of salsa, lettuce, tomatoes, light on the cheese, side of refried black beans
10. Salads - lots of protein! add a little bit of fun stuff for crunch (a few tortilla strips, etc)
Basically - I try to picture a plate divided into 4 quarters. 1/2 is vegetables, 1/4 is a lean protein, 1/4 is a complex carbohydrate (and I add a little bit of healthy fats).
Healthy.. I just eliminated all grease and such out of my eating patterns.. No more butter..greasy fries, fast food, salt.. try to eat 2 salads a day.. and just proper food without grease.. Only been doing it for alittle over a week, and alreay feel much better for it..Don't have ascale.. so just measure my stomach once a week..
What to eat...Specifically???
