Two threads in one? Any dietitians here?
 

Hi, I'm male, pushing 40, was a skinny kid (skeletal, actually), then for reasons I won't trouble you with I went up to ~300lbs, from ~150 (I'd gotten to my lightest-ever weight while unable to eat solid food after a car accident). I'm 6'4", but that was still WAY too much for my skinny frame. I doubled my weight and became basically half fat (extremely unhealthy, especially since it was mostly around my middle). I've lost ~120lbs now, and am at my perfect BMI weight (~180lbs), so I'm happy about that (but I still have a LOT of toning to do). Anyway, I've nearly lost something else with that weight: the desire to eat for pleasure. I'll elaborate on that below. It's nice to be here! :carrot:


Here's the part that would've been another thread, if I knew the appropriate sub-forum to post it in...

I'm here looking for help to create a single, easily-prepared meal, which I will prepare in large amounts, weekly, and eat only that, every meal, every day (please read to the end before telling me that's a bad idea :) ). I'd like the meal to look something like this (amounts are daily):


--fat: max 40g; min 1/2 monounsaturated; max 1/4 saturated; no trans-fat

--carb: about 200g (whatever amount is necessary for desired calories, depending on fat & protein); max 1/4 sugar; lots of fiber

--protein: max 160g

--cholesterol: max 300mg

--sodium: max 2400mg

--omega-3: min 2g

--omega-6: max 4x omega-3


That'll give me about 1800 calories (I don't seem to need even that much to maintain my weight, despite moderate daily exercise... it's very strange), with a fat/carb/protein ratio of about 20/45/35.

I realize this goes against all conventional wisdom, which says that variety is absolutely necessary. But I'm determined to do this. I've heard about hardcore athletes who do this, so it's at least plausible that conventional wisdom is wrong (I'm convinced that it is). Suppose you logged your varied food intake for a week; now suppose you prepared all that again in advance for the next week, combined it all into one giant meal, and divided the results into actual meal-sized portions. Well, there's your variety, in the form of seemingly uniform meals. That's what I want to do: create a single meal of diverse ingredients and be done with it. Food is fuel to me now; I've just about tackled the mental aspects of treating food as pleasure (I understand that many people relish this aspect of food and don't find it detrimental to their dieting; that's great for them, but I no longer see food that way and I'm not going to question it); now I just want healthy fuel -- and easy shopping and preparation!

Thanks to anyone able and willing to help!

Hi and welcome to 3FC.

Good luck with your goals.

Hugs
Michelle

Not a dietician:

I think what you're looking for here is something that is a base that would include cooked grains, legumes, and cut up fresh or frozen vegetables. Then it could be treated as a salad, olive oil, (vinegar) and topped with grilled chicken or fish daily. Or heated (stir fried or roasted with olive oil) and topped with grilled chicken or fish.

The underlying mixture could vary weekly - or just stay the same.

You'd want 200(grams/day) x 7(days/week) x 4(calories/gram) calories in the basic mix. 5600 calories for the carb base

2 cans black beans, drained (3 cups) (690 calories)
4 cups cooked brown rice (865 calories)

(Below listed as raw unless indicated differently)
3 cups carrots 157 calories
1 cabbage cut up 1285 calories
10 medium tomatoes 221 calories
4 medium onions 176 calories
6 cups green beans 186 calories
15 stalks celery 123 calories
6 stalks broccoli 308 calories
4 10 oz bags raw spinach 261 calories
1 large head cauliflower 210 calories
1 package frozen shelled edamame (green soy beans) 475 calories
2 cups snow peas 53 calories
1 large green sweet peppers 33 calories
1 large green sweet peppers 25 calories
2-10 oz packages frozen Brussels Sprouts 232 calories
1-12 oz package sprouted mung beans (what you find in Chinese foods) 102 calories.

That gives you 5602 calories. Divided into 21 meals it's 267 calories per meal; or 800 calories per day.

14 appropriately sized servings of (George Foreman) grilled chicken breast
7 " " " " " " " salmon

or 18 chicken and 3 fish servings - served separately or proportioned out.

Adjust olive oil/add olives

And that's a good start!

You'd have to be careful that the vegetables and meats wouldn't spoil. The meat you could cook and then freeze days 4-7 until you're ready to use.

The beans and rice would be kept separate.
I think the rest could be mixed except I'd keep the spinach separate until ready to use or cook.

Again, I'm not a dietician.

I got most of the calorie counts from the USDA database here:
http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/

You could make a spreadsheet with the nutrients you listed and adjust until you get the combination you're looking for.

Welcome to 3FC and we are glad you are here, glad someone was able to chime in and offer you some information.

Hello and welcome to 3FC. Good luck to you in your journey and in reaching all your goals.

Welcome and good luck!

:queen: Dhani :queen: