RR -- I've been following this topic and lurking. Good on you for making changes. They aren't always easy. I've found, in my life, that I need to do them in little bunches, otherwise it's overwhelming.
One thing you can do, which should help quite a bit, is learn to cook. It does not have to be anything fancy -- just enough to get you through most weeks. I saw you had had Quiznos and, while they aren't the worst fast food out there, they're fast food just the same, plus you're looking to watch salt. So, the less processed food, and the more control you have over everything, the better. Plus, hey, you save $$.
But it's a transition that takes some time. A few years ago, I really, honestly, looked at how much restaurant, takeout and processed meals were costing us, and the annual figures were depressingly into the thousands -- and for only 2 people! Hence I decided to learn to cook.
One easy thing you can do, it takes very little time and is extremely versatile, is make Sunday night cooking night. Get thinly-sliced skinless chicken breast (Perdue sells this, or ask your butcher; if these are unavailable, get boneless skinless chicken and cut it up yourself; be sure to watch your hands, knife and cutting board with hot soap and water afterwards). These are little chicken strips with absolutely nothing on them.
Grab a cookie sheet (if you don't have one, buy one; they're cheap and can be found in most grocery stores or Walmart or the like), cover it with tinfoil and spray the whole thing with Pam or its equivalent. Put chicken on sheet, one layer deep (e. g. don't pile it on, if you have more than the sheet will hold, make 2 batches). Sprinkle a very little amount (a few pinches for the entire batch, no more) of ground pepper on each strip. Do not add salt (trust me, you'll get salt later, but don't add any right now; we're just looking to make a base). Bake at 350 degrees in the oven until the chicken is white through its thickest part. For thinly-sliced pieces, this takes maybe 10 minutes.
Take out, let cool, toss into individual plastic bags or plastic containers. Divide up however you like: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, whatever. Freeze some if you have too many for the week.
How do you use this stuff? It's easy. You have the base, all you need is a sauce. And you have sauces in your fridge already, I'll bet, such as -
* soy sauce
* salsa
* margarine or butter
* spaghetti sauce
* salad dressing/mayo
Except for soy sauce and the margarine or butter, all of these sauces are probably going to be low-salt, but check labels just to be sure. And, except for butter, regular mayo and regular salad dressing, they are mainly low-fat, but again take a look at labels to be sure.
Toss the chicken with salsa, slap a tortilla around it and call it Mexican. Make pasta, put the chicken and spaghetti sauce on it, and you've got Italian. Add salad dressing, raw veggies and wrap it all in a pita or lavasch bread and it's a wrap. Make rice, add canned Asian veggies and soy sauce, and voila - instant Asian. You get the idea.
As you do this more, you'll get more confidence to try new things. And, you don't need to cook every single night. Just make it a point of cooking, say, one more night than you normally do, or two, if you're up for it, and this will help re salt, fat and $$.
If I can do it, you can do it. I used to hate to cook. Now I truly love it, and I've actually gotten good at it. We go out only once per week and I make my own breakfasts and lunches during the week for work -- and my husband gets most of his breakfasts from home, too. Therefore, except for the one restaurant meal out, and my husband's lunches at work, everything else is made at home -- and we save $$, calories and salt. Plus it's kinda neat to know what's going into your food. There's a real sense of accomplishment, I've found, in doing this yourself.
But baby steps first, and keep in mind that this journey follows a meandering road.
All the best to you, Fellow Traveler.
Phoenix32890 wrote:
As far as the foot-long, why not try cutting it in half, and putting half of it away in the 'frig for the next day? In that way you ge "two for your money", and are consuming less.
I work a 12 hour shift so I eat twice while I'm at work. Once at 5pm and once at about 11pm or midnight. Since everything is closed at midnight I buy everything at 5:00. The other half of the foot long was consumed at midnight. Soggy thoughÂ…
I have noticed that food is starting to taste better to me without all of that salt. And when I go to a restaurant it seems a little too salty for my taste. I have no more salt left in my kitchen so I don't add it to anything. And I try to by foods that say "no salt added". Those are hard to find thoughÂ…
I suppose I could start bringing healthier lunches to work. I've just been trying to pick up healthier thing at restaurants. No more hamburgers and fries. It only takes one burger for my blood pressure to sky rocket. I've been trying things like salads (without the dressing) and I finally tried sushi for the first time last week. It's not bad, and definitely better for you than a burger or a hot dog, I buy the cooked sushi, and I think some of it can be pretty high in sodium. The stuff I got tasted kind of salty.
Bottom line is I do need to start making my own lunch and bringing it to work. I was doing that for a while but I slacked off I guess. But I'm still no where close to eating as badly as I was before.
Jespah, I will definitely try that recipe. I have tomorrow off, so I'll pick up some things to make it. I guess I could be making stuff like that and taking it to work with me.
Funny how these threads work. I woke up and decided to go get a snack. I have to pass my computer on the way to the kitchen so I decided to check A2K on the way. Now that I've read this thread I don't want a snack. I'll go back to bed with a glass of water instead.
<smooch>
I know this road very well (not the blood pressure thing, but certainly the change in eating style part of it).
I just checked my Magic 8-ball, asked if you would succeed, and it said "No doubt". That's a good enough endorsement for me.
RR--
Consider adding fruit to your lunch. At this time of year if you aren't an apple/orange/pear person you can get cans of fruit with peel off tops.
Its no mystery to anyone which foods are healthy and which foods are not. The hard part is finding the healthy foods in the stores. Its there, but its not screaming at you like all the junk type food.
I've learned in my life that whatever you really believe in will work best for you.
Sometimes its better to merge diets, than to do just one diet. Take the best information from several diets and incorporate them into your health plan.
Some people do better at losing weight if they are in a group that's competing.
Some people do better if they think of it as a game - like "I'll see how many days in a row I can eat right" or "I'll see how many ways I can cut sugar out of my meals and snacks."
Some people are more enthused about exercising at home, and others like to be a part of a health club, because its nice to workout with people.
What makes getting healthy hard? --- When your family isn't joining in, and instead they are eating junk food in front of you all the time.
When you aren't really serious about it.
When you train yourself to forget when you've already snacked today - so you snack again.
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Its never a quick path to getting healthy, its not even a steady climb. There are plateaus that you will get to, and you have to just stay focused. Realise that with every healthy meal and snack you eat, the better your body feels afterward. And even if you slack off or cheat here and there, don't fall into a back slide - just take it one day at a time, one meal at a time.
Good advice, Mr., uh, Stick.
Its Mrs, ha ha. Mrs. Stick - that just sounds hillarious!
I'm an Izzard fan, what can I say?
