clueless/cooking/healthy

[PeteRoy]

hi, im a long time lurker and decided to post because i have no clue what im doing.

background: i recently moved out and joined a gym and i am trying to eat healthy. i do not know how to cook. i have been eating a lot of eggs and whole wheat bread. i normally have turkey/cheese on whole wheat with milk for dinner.

i want to start cooking healthy chicken/meat/fish for dinner. i dont know what kind of meat to buy. i dont know what kind of seasonings i need. when i figure out what to buy, i wont know how to cook of any this

cliff notes: the main goal here is to learn how to cook and more importantly learn how to eat healthier.

[TheBlueMonster]

there are many healthy cookbooks here

[Ron Burgundy]

The Professional Chef

Don't be intimidated by the title. This is simply a huge book with all of the basic skills of preparing and cooking food that you'll need. It's written very clearly with lots of pictures. There's also a ton of easy recipes, and some more complex ones. You'll be amazed at the amount of knowledge you gain from this book.

In terms of eating healthy, it starts with learning the differences between good and bad fats. Saturated fat is bad, and you should try to eat as little of it as possible. Saturated fat comes mainly from meat and dairy products. Try to use extra virgin olive oil (evoo) instead of butter wherever possible.

Just as bad as saturated fat is hydrogonated oils. Read the labels on all the processed food that you buy. If it says "partially hydrogonated oil" anywhere, then don't eat it. This stuff has absolutely no nutritional value, and it will lead to heart problems.

Don't eat food if salt is one of the main flavors. Use salt to season food, you shouldn't be able to taste salt right away when you put something in your mouth. People only crave salty food because that's what they're used to eating.

Same thing with sugar. If you stop eating extremely sweet foods, you'll stop wanting to eat them. Try not eating any sweets or anything with added sugar or corn syrup for 2 weeks. Then eat a Snickers or Twix bar. I gaurantee you won't like it because it's too sweet. People only crave extremely sweet food because their mouths are desensitized by their normal food, which usually has tons of sugar and/or corn syrup added. Get sugar from fresh fruits and veggies. If you're adding sugar to a recipe, use a natural sweetener like maple syrup, honey or agave nectar instead of processed white or brown sugar.

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with milk for dinner.

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Are you a baby cow? If not, then stop drinking milk and replace it with something healthy, like water or fresh juice.