I want a healthy lifestyle

[markum9]

People have been giving good advice, but my main advice is to do everything in moderation. Realize that going from eating fast food 5x a week to maybe eating it once a week is a HUGE step.

After that advice, the main reason people eat fast food is laziness, so you have to get the motivation to cook for yourself. I don't know if you live alone or with roommates/girlfriend or whatever, but if you have people around you, start switching off who cooks so you're still getting a decent meal without having to prepare it every night. It's as easy to cook for one as for two. Or, if you live alone, make something that will give you leftovers for a couple of meals.

Try to find a couple of recipes that are reasonably healthy, but also easy to make and you enjoy eating (ie pasta with jar of sauce, some sort of chicken+rice meal, tacos, etc). Keep the ingredients on hand if you're lazy that night. Then start branching out once a week and trying out different recipes to see what you like and what you don't.

Not everyone likes her, but i have rachel ray's 30-minute meal cookbook, and you really can make most of the things pretty fast, and it all has basic ingredients that you can easily find.

[illeagle]

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Wow. Excellent work you guys.

I've still got a couple questions though.

I've never been a huge soda drinker and for the last couple years I drink only diet soda. Is this still detrimental or can I have a diet Coke w/ my lunch?

What about coffee in the morning?

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The aspartame in diet drinks is very bad for you. It actually helps to make you fatter as it preps your brain to expect sugar and then doesn't deliver the goods. It also breaks down into methanolin your digestive system which is toxic. It boggles my mind as to why so many people guzzle this crap down.

[patrick_mcmurray]

Increase the amount of money that you spend on food. Buy yourself pretty much anything you fancy as long as it's healthy. eg some supermarkets sell really nice chopped fruit salad.

[Girchuck]

Can soda be substituted with fruit juice/Seltzer mix?

[Blarg]

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Another question.

Can I eat as much fruit and veggies as I want to?

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Basically yes if the fruits and veggies are not saturated in butter, whipped cream, and salad dressing. There are a few that are high in fat (avocados which are good fat and coconuts which are bad fat, for example), and should be eaten in moderation. Otherwise you can pretty much eat all you want and all your digestion can handle. The darker in color, the better the fruit and veg are for you (spinach is better than iceberg lettuce, for example, and blueberries are better for you than apples)--but basically they are all good.

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Yup. Starchy veggies like rice and potatoes, and starchy fruits like bananas, can still make you very fat, but the rest of them won't.

That's actually one of the very cool things about making fruits and vegetables a large part of your diet. You can eat like a pig! Just keep the dressings reasonably light -- a bunch of bleu cheese on a salad is basically like eating a cheeseburger as far as calories and fat go, though at least you still have the fiber and vitamins there.

If you can eat steamed veggies with a bit of rice, bread or potatoes perhaps and a light dressing, and vegetable salads(throwing in some chicken is fine!) with a light dressing, and vegetable soups, for a fair number of meals per week, you will never be hungry and indeed can stuff yourself silly, but you will definitely notice the weight coming off, and surprisingly quickly too. It's a very cool thing that you can eat so many veggies and fruits and not get fat at all, but actually lose weight while fairly stuffing yourself.

[Blarg]

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Okay, cool.

I've often wondered that. For instance right now I'm hungry enough to eat the bark off a tree, but I've already had lunch. I'd like to eat some fruit until I'm not hungry anymore, and that might be more than one apple.

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I'll often have a "mini-meal" of one or two apples PLUS one or two oranges late at night, and even close to bedtime. So much of it is water and roughage(cellulose), and it has so few calories, that it barely makes a difference to an even remotely active person. But it still fills the stomach nicely, and hey, I love apples and oranges, so I'm happy.

[LBJ]

1. Watch "Supersize Me"

2. Easily become repulsed by fast food.

3. Exercise daily.

[Blarg]

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People have been giving good advice, but my main advice is to do everything in moderation. Realize that going from eating fast food 5x a week to maybe eating it once a week is a HUGE step.

After that advice, the main reason people eat fast food is laziness, so you have to get the motivation to cook for yourself. I don't know if you live alone or with roommates/girlfriend or whatever, but if you have people around you, start switching off who cooks so you're still getting a decent meal without having to prepare it every night. It's as easy to cook for one as for two. Or, if you live alone, make something that will give you leftovers for a couple of meals.

Try to find a couple of recipes that are reasonably healthy, but also easy to make and you enjoy eating (ie pasta with jar of sauce, some sort of chicken+rice meal, tacos, etc). Keep the ingredients on hand if you're lazy that night. Then start branching out once a week and trying out different recipes to see what you like and what you don't.

Not everyone likes her, but i have rachel ray's 30-minute meal cookbook, and you really can make most of the things pretty fast, and it all has basic ingredients that you can easily find.

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In these threads I always recommend getting "lazy man's cooking equipment," like rice steamers, rotisseries, slow cookers, or even pressure cookers. They all take virtually zero effort but can make fantastic food.

If you can make really good food with virtually no effort, you will be far less likely to say ah, I'll just go get a burger, or, Hey, why don't I just eat this brick of cheese for lunch? Good lazy-man cooking tools are hugely helpful parts of trying to lower your calories and eat more healthy.

And if they make you eat in, they'll save you a couple bucks too. The way I see it is, would I rather eat a garbage burger at a fast food dump, or a great roast or rotisseried chicken or casserole or stew or even a steak at home? Because the food at home will be both MUCH better and almost always cheaper. If I want to get out of the house, I don't need to sit down in Burger King to do it.

[Blarg]

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Can soda be substituted with fruit juice/Seltzer mix?

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Seltzer water is fine; just read the ingredients to see if they're slipping anything weird in. Fruit juice can be very high calorie. It's also often pretty good for you, if it's pure fruit juice, but don't use it as a substitute for water.

[Bucky-Dat]

Is unsweetened instant tea mixed with water as good for you as drinking the water only?