Who out there is trying to eat healthier?

[CuddleMe4Eva]

Recently my family and I, well okay, me, decided that it was time to really start eating healthier. I have read tons of reading material on the topic and spoke with lots of individuals who are actively participating in smarter food choices on a daily basis. In other words--fast food is on the way out! (Well, maybe a little something once in a while won't hurt either!) lol

First, I am finding it rather expensive to eat healither, but I am hoping that in the long run it will be "cheaper" to do this now as opposed to what might happen to our health in the future. I really do not want to spend the rest of my life in the doctor's office or hospital when I could be out enjoying life. Second, the financial budget has had to be rearranged in an area or two, but again I feel it is worth the sacrifices we are making. Third, finding the time to actually read the labels and then prepare the food in the healthiest manner has been a bit of a struggle for me. Like everyone else, life is fast paced for me, too. But once you make the committment, it does get a bit easier! And fourth, since I have been doing this now for several months, I can tell a difference in how I feel and look. If I do not eat correctly, my body tells me that, also.

We are actively participating in not only making smarter food choices at the market, but we have planted our own garden this year. I will be canning all summer, and that is okay with me because I know that my foods are organic--all natural with no pesticides. I want my family to eat as healthy as possible. At least this is an effort, which is a good place to begin! Oh yes, exericse has definitely been included in this overall healthy lifestyle!

I am curious to know how many of you out there are also in the process of trying to incorporate healthier foods into your meal planning or perhaps you are already doing this. Do you find it to be more expensive financially? What about time? Do you find that you have the time to prepare and cook the food yourself and pack it with you when you leave for work? Are you eating out at restaurants who made it their mission to provide healthier food choices?

Let me know what you are doing to meet your dietary needs.

[Comrad]

Good for you. Eating healthy is a challenge these days, and I commend you for making that decision. As long as you stick with it, you'll find that the time and money is well spent.

For me: I'm not. Well, not anymore.
I used to eat extremely healthy up until I decided to quit gymnastics.
Now that I'm not restricted on my dietary intake, I eat pretty much whatever I want. And it'll stay that way until I move out - I live with lardasses, so it's incredibly difficult to muster up the willpower to say, 'I'm going to eat this tuna salad and V8,' while everyone else is chowing down on Sonic and strawberry lemonade.

One thing is for sure: it's much easier when everyone is in on it. If you have to buy certain things for certain people, it's harder to abstain from that particular item, but when it's not there at all, it's easier to say no.

As long as I exersize, I'll be 'okay'. Not as healthy as I used to be, but I shouldn't be having a heart attack anytime soon.
[Hopefully that'll change once I move.]

[+slide+]

yay for healthy food!!

[briefsboi18]

im a health freak. =D
well...thats lie.
im a health freak most of the time =X

yah...fast foods really disgusting.
i looked up the the fat and stuff for a couple of em and
its really horrible for you =/

[CuddleMe4Eva]

Thanks guys for the responses as of to date. It does seem that a few of you at least are trying to eat healthier or have at least practiced better eating habits in the past.

To the silly one who posted about eating--well let's just say something else?----lol for your sake I really really do hope it is healthy!!

However, let's dont get off the topic. I am interested in knowing whether or not others are making a serious effort regarding their health.

[Cherryz]

I have heard my mom say it is more costly to eat healthier...As for time consuming..It definetly would of been around our house cause, she was making two different meals everynight for dinner. One for herself and one for the people who wouldn't eat healthy...(Plus two seperate lunches for herself and dad for the following day..)On the positive side she lost I guess about 30 pounds..Although she was never very big anyways..but, now she can wear my jeans I dont think she did it for health reasons though. Anyways that was a few years ago...She went back to eating with all of us but stuck with the change in only drinking diet soda and hasnt put any of her weight back on...Haha so I guess two two liters of soda a day makes her a semi fat ass.Lol. Yeah NVM.

[The Girl From Ipanema]

Oh eating healthier is more expensive for sure...especially with things like salad where you need to eat a lot of it in order to feel full so you run out of produce faster.

I just bought these great lentil and bean vegetarian burgers. They have no preservatives, no additives, no artificial crap added. They taste SUPER good...they have curry added to them as well. And they're low fat too.

I always have plain non fat yogurt in my fridge and I mix fruit in it or All bran (yeah I know it sounds gross but I like it). The great thing about all bran is that you can sprinkle it over anything....you can mix it with beef when you cook hamburgers (i know it sounds weird but youd be surprised).

At the moment I have carrots, spinach, apples, celery, pineapple, bananas (be careful with these...they're the fruit with the highest number of calories).

I eat brown basmati rice and whole wheat bread....right now I have pita bread in my cupboards.

A great way to make health food taste great is bring back junk food ideas in a healthy way...
FOR EXAMPLE:

Take half a pita bread....and stuff it with low fat cheese...like mozzarella or a mix of different types of cheeses and add pasta sauce to it....then bake it and its like a pizza pocket....except much less calories and fat.

I also love eating cottage cheese and salsa in pita bread....those 3 foods are some of my favorites.

Fish is VERY healthy....very expensive too might I add...but the health benefits you reap from it are great. Meat of any kind is astronomically expensive which is partially why I've been living veggy lately.

If you want to be super healthy in a cheap way, buy black beans, plain yogurt, salsa, rice and tortilla wraps. You can mix black beans with salsa and yogurt and serve it over rice or in a wrap. Black beans are like $1-2 a can, salsa is about $2, yogurt is like $3 ...you get like 9 grams of protein out of a serving off black beans plus the yogurt has a decent amount of protein as well. If you opt for a yogurt with more fat then you can get your fats in that way. And the wrap or rice gives you your carbs....so fats, carbs, protein and you're all set to go

[CuddleMe4Eva]

Wow, thank you for such great recipes. I will certainly be taking some of your suggestions and trying to implement them into my menus. I sort of do the pizza thing using whole wheat wraps and utilize low fat cheese and spinach on it. They cook in no time and everyone loves them. Spinach is always a staple in my fridge. Thanks again.

[CuteBlackBoy]

Originally Posted by CuddleMe4Eva

Recently my family and I, well okay, me, decided that it was time to really start eating healthier. I have read tons of reading material on the topic and spoke with lots of individuals who are actively participating in smarter food choices on a daily basis. In other words--fast food is on the way out! (Well, maybe a little something once in a while won't hurt either!) lol

First, I am finding it rather expensive to eat healither, but I am hoping that in the long run it will be "cheaper" to do this now as opposed to what might happen to our health in the future. I really do not want to spend the rest of my life in the doctor's office or hospital when I could be out enjoying life. Second, the financial budget has had to be rearranged in an area or two, but again I feel it is worth the sacrifices we are making. Third, finding the time to actually read the labels and then prepare the food in the healthiest manner has been a bit of a struggle for me. Like everyone else, life is fast paced for me, too. But once you make the committment, it does get a bit easier! And fourth, since I have been doing this now for several months, I can tell a difference in how I feel and look. If I do not eat correctly, my body tells me that, also.

We are actively participating in not only making smarter food choices at the market, but we have planted our own garden this year. I will be canning all summer, and that is okay with me because I know that my foods are organic--all natural with no pesticides. I want my family to eat as healthy as possible. At least this is an effort, which is a good place to begin! Oh yes, exericse has definitely been included in this overall healthy lifestyle!

I am curious to know how many of you out there are also in the process of trying to incorporate healthier foods into your meal planning or perhaps you are already doing this. Do you find it to be more expensive financially? What about time? Do you find that you have the time to prepare and cook the food yourself and pack it with you when you leave for work? Are you eating out at restaurants who made it their mission to provide healthier food choices?

Let me know what you are doing to meet your dietary needs.

I dont try to eat healthily, i do. I take the recommended 30 mins walk a day, 5 portions of fruits and veg and my 8 glasses of water daily . I never have fast food, nor do i drink fizzy drinks. Am i a freak?

[blah-di blah]

Originally Posted by Charise

Guess my kitty is safe. She weighs 27 pounds so she's not really healthy.

I tell you what...

I can put it in a blender and make a shake out of it.