I started sprinkling. So far so good.

[HaoZi]

The whole grain wheat spaghetti takes a little getting used to, but it's not bad. Healthy Start taste pretty good. Whole grain lean pockets are pretty decent. Expensive to do exclusively, but just browsing the section could give you some ideas of meals to make at home and maybe freeze extra individual portions for yourself. If you have one of those George Foreman grills you could use a table or other lower place to grill the meat while you sit. Ditto making whole grain waffles if you have a waffle iron, and you can freeze extras of those, too.

ETA: Try Molly McButter on whole grain pasta, mixed with Parmesan and maybe some herbs or Italian seasoning.

 

[InsaneCdn]

Meal ideas...
Man, what I wouldn't give for a nice cut of venison!... pot roast - you can work on the veggies sitting down, only do a bit at a time if you have to... once its in the pot, its into the oven and then you go have a nap!

If you get chicken parts (legs, thighs, etc), put them in a single layer on a pan - if its not non-stick, use a tad of oil on the bottom. Then toss some spices over top (lemon pepper, OR seasoned salt, OR honey+lemon juice+Worchestershire sauce+black pepper, etc.). Add some meat tenderizer (trust me on this one). Then bake for 1.5 hrs at 350F. You can toss some potatoes in alongside later, for baked potatoes to go with.

(i'll keep thinking of more ideas... I'm a lazy cook but do mostly from scratch...)

 

[DammitJanet]

Yeah, we do wonderful deer stuff. Even deer sausage. I am pretty good most of that. When Tony kills a deer, the first thing as he is cutting it up, he chops up a bunch of stew meat for me and I cook up a huge pot in a dutch oven with just cream of mushroom soup and a packet of onion soup mix and stick it in the oven on low heat for hours. probably about 3ish. At the end, we normally take a portion out for stew that evening and put in some frozen stew veggies (taters, onions, carrots, celery) and then cook them on the stove. The rest is cooled and put in freezer bags for meals later of either stew or beef and rice or something like that.

That chicken with honey sounds divine. what kind of tenderizer. Do you use bone in? I love to get ahold of boneless chicken thighs. They are so much better tasting than boneless chicken breasts.

 

[InsaneCdn]

I just use "normal" meat tenderizer... comes in a bag or spice jar, in the spice section. I think the base is papain (from papaya).

Bone in, bone out, skin off, skin on... depends on what's on sale.

Another quickie is greek-style chicken... put chicken pieces in pan as for honey-lemon chicken; mix equal parts olive oil and lemon juice (at least 2T each), plus dried oregano, crushed garlic optional... mix as for salad dressing, pour over chicken. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, a bit of meat tenderizer, if you didn't use crushed garlic, add some garlic powder. Bake as for lemon chicken. You're supposed to be able to do this with thick pork chops too, but I haven't tried it.

(are you seeing a pattern here? grab chicken pieces, arrange in pan, toss some stuff over top, bake it until really tender)

Yes we eat a LOT of chicken.

 

[Hound dog]

Janet, I'm so proud of you!

Getting started is often the hardest hump to get over. And Star is right, you're not dieting. It's a lifestyle change. If you start thinking diet it is like shooting yourself in the foot.

As long as this sprinkling has no bad side effects, then more power to it. (I'm thinking of your medications, have you consulted with your various docs to make sure it's safe?)

Exercise while sitting is a wonderful idea. Moving......even if it's tapping your foot is better than not moving.

I have to lol at the eat when you're hungry thing. I can't do that. I'm hungry about every 3-4 days. I eat to prevent passing out or other nasty things. But the vast majority of the time my appetite is zilch. Which messes with my metabolism. So I force at least one meal a day. Side effect of the CRF. You'd think I'd be skin and bones, but you know I'm not.

You can do this, you're off to a good start.

 

[DammitJanet]

I am thinking maybe one of the reasons I hold on to my weight so horribly is that I dont eat my meals correctly. I eat wrong. I dont eat like normal people. I dont eat all day then I am starving starving starving late at night when Tony gets home so I basically eat the house down when we eat supper. He isnt ready to eat until he gets home which is normally around 7 to 7 :30 so that is when I eat. Now granted I dont get up until around 10 ish either so my mornings dont start at a normal time either. My breakfast would be around 11 or so and lunch would about 3 or 4 so dinner at that hour isnt so bad. I dont go to bed until at least midnight or better either. I am searching the web right now for new recipes. Right now Im searching for bulgur wheat. I saw something on the Food Network that just looked good. LOL. I have to try it. Might be nasty or good. who knows. I simply cannot believe Tony hated sage. Ugh. Oh well...he is gonna have to get over it.

 

[InsaneCdn]

Just something to think about, maybe try... when you eat, whatever you eat, make sure you include a balance of a different sort, too: protein, carbs, fat. If all you have for breakfast is coffee and a muffin, you get a blood-sugar spike fairly fast. If you add an egg to that, or a bit of cheese, or some PB... you've added protein (and fat)... and your blood sugar will go in a curve rather than a spike. If you want a pick-me-up between meals, grab a glass of milk - no leaner than 2%. It gives you protein, carbs and fat, all in one... even works before going to bed.

Easy breakfast... IF you can eat this much!
Micro-oatmeal... 1/3c quick-cooking rolled oats or porridge oats, 2/3 c boiling water, pinch of salt. Cover for 10 min or more. (we toss a dishtowel over top) Then, heat in micro until bubbly (45-60 seconds usually). Add milk and sugar to taste.
Soft-boiled egg.
Glass of juice.
Coffee/tea if its your usual.

Porridge oats: vary to taste... 3 c quick oats, 1/3 c each: wheat germ, oat bran, ground flax (or any other combo that = 1c)

 

[Hound dog]

Janet, you could do a brunch not long after waking up.

Kidney doctor had a fit that I couldn't do his 5 meal a day plan even with them being small meals. I told him it was going to be a challenge for me to eat 3 a day, 5 was impossible. It turned out to be 2 is my best. So one is not too long after I wake up, the other is supper.

When I'm doing good my first meal looks something like this:

Hard or soft boiled egg (2 since I'm combining 2 meals)
whole wheat toast (1)
fresh fruit of some sort or a 8 oz glass of V8 fusion - gives me the veggie / fruit portion

Now I can't it that all the time or I'd get sick of it. So it can vary with cream o wheat or oatmeal or just a bowl of cereal in place of the eggs. Milk in the cereal substitutes the protein from the eggs. I'll do scrambled or fried eggs maybe once a week each. Doesn't hurt you as far as cholesterol as much as they'd like you to believe.

Gives me enough from each food group to be ok until supper, is a small enough amount that it doesn't gag me when I am not the least bit interested in food.

And if I can keep the 2 meals a day going.........I lose weight even if I'm not trying.

By waiting all day and eating at night..........well, at night your body is more sedentary, which gives you little chance to burn off what you've eaten. If you're starved by the time you do eat, you're going to eat a lot more than you would if you didn't wait so long.

 

[DammitJanet]

well I just managed to get at least two recipes for each of the main types of meat. Deer I got 3 new ones, ground beef I only got one since we mostly use deer, chicken I got 4, shrimp and fish I got 3, and I got two for Bulgar wheat. For just veggies for side dishes I am going to stick with the regular either canned or frozen ones for now, I will have too much on my plate just chopping up the stuff going into these new recipes right now to attempt to learn new veggie recipes too right now...lol. Maybe later. I like those steam and eat or peas and pearl onions anyway.

 

[Numb]

I just wanted to pop in with some things that have worked for me.

Drink a lot of water. I used to hate water and would have to force myself to drink it. When I started paying attention to the calories in what I was drinking, I started forcing myself to drink it. I realized that the calories in my drinks were almost equal to two meals. It’s difficult at first, but after about a month I wanted nothing but water, and nothing else works (now) when I am thirsty. Also, drink a full glass before you sit down to eat. You will be amazed at how much less you eat.

Someone else mentioned the George Forman’s Grill. My friends and family say I should be a spokesperson for that; I love it that much. You can cook something really quick,healthy, low calorie and yummy.

Eat breakfast! Force yourself if you have to. I am not a breakfast eater, but I lost 20 pounds(in two months) a few years ago, just by doing this. I couldn’t figure out how adding another meal to my daily intake made me lose weight, but I was told it’s extremely important to jump start your metabolism.

I’m not sure if you like salad, but I use to not like it. I started dicing everything - tomatoes,onions, celery, egg, peppers, chick peas or kidney beans, carrots, cucumbers,broccoli, cauliflower and any other veggies I could find (I also shredded the lettuce) added them all together and sprinkled it with italian seasoning and garlic powder (sometimes dill). It is a mouthful of flavor without any salad dressing added to it. On occasion, I add a boneless, skinless (seasoned and diced) chicken breast, cooked on the George Forman’s Grill.

If it’s in my house, I will eat it. I can be found on the chip, or cookie aisle at the grocery store, waging a war with myself about whether or not to buy them. I will stand there reading the boxes and bags and weighing the consequences of buying them; I win, when it doesn’t go in my basket. You will get over any craving you have much quicker, if what you crave isn’t in the next room, and you have to make a trip to the store to get it.

Sleep is also extremely important. I know how difficult getting a good night sleep can be for the parents who are on this forum (sleepless night, here), but it will help a lot if you can find a way to do that.

Losing weight is so difficult because you have to eat to survive. ‘Training’ yourself to eat the right things is the hardest part, but with time (I’m sure it doesn’t seem possible now) you will start to only want the healthy food; getting there(and seeing that as possible) is the hardest part. You’re cravings will change.The first time I craved a salad instead of macaroni and cheese (that’s a tuff one for me), I was so proud of myself.

Don’t look at it like it’s a diet, it is a lifestyle change; you’re not dieting, you’re changing the way you eat.

I see where you mention arthritis. I’m not sure what type you have, but I discovered, at the age of 32, that I have arthritis in my lower spine. I can’t begin to tell you how losing weight made such a difference for me. When I lost the 20 pounds a few years ago, it made the difference between being immobile (because my back would go out on me); to not even knowing I have it anymore. I have to add though that, that is in part to core strengthening exercises my doctor gave me to do, and they were extremely painful at first; now, no problem.

I wish you the best of luck, and I hope some of that helps. I could keep going on, and on, about different foods for you to try, but this was long enough.

 

[HaoZi]

When you make your baked chicken, used crushed corn flakes as part of the coating, it gives it that crunchy fried chicken texture.

 

[TerryJ2]

I had to read nearly all the way down to figure out what sprinkling was, lol!
I totally agree, that anything that makes you more aware of what you eat, and encourages smaller portions, is a great idea.
Way To Go, Janet. I'm wishing you lots of luck. This is great.