It's that time again

[escargot]

I don't do diets.

I have however definitely overindulged during the festive period so a period of healthier eating most definitely won't go amiss. Perhaps we could use this thread to detail our 'detox' recipes over the forthcoming days weeks months?

First up for tonight, pasta with a little sun dried tomato paste, olives, fesh basil & a little bit of mozzarella (for texture you understand).

[yorky500]

Add a bit of double cream and you are away

[XJSJohn]

reduce beer intake, replace with wine.

Eat a bit less and move a bit more.

that should cover most bases

[Mobile Chicane]

Much as it pains me to say this, give up alcohol and you won't need to diet.

[Tumbler]

For me, it's limit the alcohol to the weekend or going out. No pastry or cooking with butter, no cheese except a little gratted parmesan (cheese is always my downfall having it in the house is a recipe for disaster) Ramp my fibre up and try to drink more water.

[escargot]

It's the beer intake that gets me. I do like a drink though - what's the healthiest booze?

[Pferdestarke]

I'm going to buy lots of fresh lean white meat and portion it up, marinade it in various rubs, place in to bags and freeze. I find that if I stay away from doing daily/weekly shops and switch to bi-weekly or even monthly, I eat less and save lots of money.

The plan is to then defrost the meat during the day and grill/roast it with vegetables.

If I stick to this 4 days per week and go to the gym two or three times, I'll be able to reach my target weight.

After that, I can then eat pork belly, chicken wings, beef rib and chips for breakfast, lunch and dinner until I put it all back on again.

[simonej]

escargot said:

It's the beer intake that gets me. I do like a drink though - what's the healthiest booze?

Gin and slimline tonic is probably one of the better ones.

Basically I'm going to have rule everything I like out of my diet; beer, cheese, cream, white bread, pork crackling. There's no way I'm dropping my 5 coffees a day though!

Here's yesterdays sample menu and similar to what I used to shift 3 stone last time (about 1800 calories);

Breakfast
Bowl of fruit and fibre w/ semi skimmed milk
Coffee

4 mile run (more like a stagger)

Snack
Handful of cashew nuts
Coffee

Lunch
Tuna sandwich in wholemeal bread w/ side salad & tomatoes
Coffee

Snack
2 plums
Coffee

Dinner
Pheasant breast casserole in cider and low fat creme fraiche w/ boiled potatoes and homegrown sprouts
Decaf Coffee

Snack
2 pieces of Bourneville chocolate

[shirt]

sod the diet, just wait until its your turn with flu. I lost half a stone over xmas because of it.

[escargot]

Just to be clear - I am not dieting. Simply, eating a bit healthier. This thread is for those middle of the road type of recipes that don't involve half an ounce of grilled chicken breast with 2 small lettuce leaves and a jus d'eau, or indeed, deep fried, fried breakfast topped with ice cream and pork scratchings.

It's for the mid-ground.

Tonight is sushi night.

[Pothole]

There's no such thing as detox. Why would anyone think pasta is 'healthier? If you want to drop some weight there are better ways than shoving a portion of carbohydrates down you at every meal.

[escargot]

It's a st site healthier than pie egg & chips pal.

[Del 203]

escargot said:

It's a st site healthier than pie egg & chips pal.

Not half a nice though

[DeadMeat_UK]

1. 1 tip. Don't eat takeway food, or pre-packaged/made food, cook as much from scratch as you can. With the right recipes time isn't an issue (We both get home at 7:30 in the evening and 3 nights a week out at the gym or doing some activity).

Veggie Curry (home made so I know what's in it, and tomato/stock based rather than coconut milk).
Mushroom, Onion, Roast Pepper pasta with tomato based sauce.
Salad with Fresh Fish, Chicken and a few pots.
Roast veg with cous cous.

All very easy to cook, and tasty if you get the right spices and herbs in the equation.

Weekend: All bets are off.
Steak and home made chips.
Roast Chicken Dinner.
Lamb Stew.
Thai Curry.
Beer, Whisky, Wine.
YUM YUM YUM.

Them back to the top during the week.

[Balmoral Green]

Pothole said:

Why would anyone think pasta is 'healthier? If you want to drop some weight there are better ways than shoving a portion of carbohydrates down you at every meal.

Correct. Just cut out the carbs, job done.

Carbs, or rather the sugar in carbs, makes you fat. Virtually sod all else does, and certainly not fatty foods.

A good example would be cereals like Special K, which will make you fat, whereas a fry up of bacon & eggs won't.

[Pothole]

escargot said:

It's a st site healthier than pie egg & chips pal.

Not necessarily. A quality pie and a reasonable amount of chips with an egg is more of a balanced meal than the pasta described above consumed till near bursting which is I suspect what happens after the first couple of days' zeal is exhausted. It's the automatic hype-believing assumption that past is 'healthier' by default which grates, tbh.

[escargot]

Excellent, so no 'middle of the road' recipes here then. Just a lecture from a grilled-chicken-breast-and-lettuce-only crusader.

[Pothole]

escargot said:

Excellent, so no 'middle of the road' recipes here then. Just a lecture from a grilled-chicken-breast-and-lettuce-only crusader.

You'll be happy to point out, or indeed quote any mention on my part of either of those items, I'm sure.

The reason why most people do not succeed in keeping weight off lost through a huge change in diet/lifestyle is simply because it's a huge change in diet/lifestyle which is difficult to sustain. Portion control is the key, it doesn't really matter what you eat.(of course, if you want to be healthy as well as slim, balance is also key.)

[srob]

This is an interesting thread!

Like many, my post chrimbo healthy eating kick started this week. I leave for work at 6am every morning, stop for tea-break/brekkie at 9:30am, lunch at 12:30 and home about 5pm to start cooking tea. Gentle grazing is allowed in between, but on the sly!

My healthy plan is this:

Banana about 8am. Cereal, plus a bit of fruit 9:30. Salad plus cereal bar lunch, then a bit more fruit in the arvo. Sensible tea (not mentally healthy; spag bol, stri-frys, grilled meat and veg kinda things but regulating the protion size). I drink water all day and have the odd cup of vending machine coffee. I'm trying my hardest to resist the leftover chrimbo beer too!

I thought the above was reasonable for potential weight loss, but sounds like the cereal and stuff may not be the way to do it?!

Any suggestions for improvements would be greatly appreciated, as would a healthy idea or two for salad dressing. I couldn't believe how tight my leathers have got

BTW I work in a workshop kind of environment, plenty of lifting, walking etc so not sat on my arse all day

[DeadMeat_UK]

srob said:

Gentle grazing is allowed in between, but on the sly!

there's ya improvement area, right there. If it's biscuits, chocolate, cakes, crisps.