That works better if you like wet, stewy proteins, alas for me. And also, if you don’t care a lot about variety.
That’s true, but i imagine it’s easier to buy a lot of frozen entrees instead of cooking your own. (And less healthy.) Or getting home delivery, which is how most of my young friends “eat out”.
Hmmm, good point, a lot of freezable protein dishes are the stew/soup kind. Unless you like the chunks of roast animal thing, which I adore, mind you, and get a lot of use out of, but many people avoid them. Hmmm. Burger patties or quiches, veg or non-veg?
I like roast chunk-o-meat. Tonight i roasted a chicken. I probably roast some chunk-o-meat at least once a week. The leftovers are often better as something else. The leftover chicken will be chicken with ginger and scallions. But that means cooking a second meal out of it.
Hmmm, yeah, I got nothin’ except maybe cooking a portioned batch of the planned sauce/topping for the second meal and freezing that too.
You need to figure out what’s healthy and what works for you, and try to stick to it as much as possible. It takes effort to prepare your meals with enough variety so you don’t get bored. Whether it saves you money depends on what you prepare at home and what you eat when you’re out. I’m willing to put in the effort to eat as healthily as I can, as often as I can. That means making almost all my meals at home with fresh ingredients, and eating the leftovers. Whether that would work for someone else, I can’t say, since I’m mostly concerned about my health, not anybody else’s.
I love the idea of being a health buddy, walking with a slower neighbor who needs encouragement. I’m going to do that with my neighbor.
It can be frustrating to walk at a pace too far from your own pace, though. Until recently, i lived with my husband and my daughter. My husband doesn’t like walking with me, because I’m too slow. And i understand, because i don’t enjoy waking with my daughter, because she walks so slowly.
Once a week, i walk with my TV buddy, who lives a half hour drive away. We take a walk and then we watch TV together. We enjoy it, because we chat and we have similar natural paces.
This thread started the day before my multi-state holiday road trip, so this is the first chance I’ve had to sit down and outline what has worked for me.
Thru my early 40’s I managed to keep my weight below 200 lbs. (6’00" frame), but a combination of living in new digs less amenable to exercise (apt. vs. our old house, with pool), working in a white collar office, slowing metabolism (maybe), and just getting complacent resulted in my weight ballooning up to 243 by age 45. I did manage to take 20 off just by dieting, but abhorred exercise just for the sake of exercise. I simply assumed I would be torturing myself daily and feeling like total crap afterwards…
When a combo of a caffeinated soft drink and chocolate ice cream triggered irregular heartbeats at age 48, I finally got my wake-up call. Lost 40 lbs. in 6 months after adjusting my diet (no more Little Debbie) and finally getting onto a cardio machine at the local gym. Totally contrary to my prior expectations, I found that exercise massively energized me–in a Dope poll I was the only person, out of 60+, to vote “Yes, oh yes, the endorphins are so amazing! Love the endorphins! Such a high. Mmmmm, exercise!.” Note I am 63 now, and that most definitely remains the case; my endurance level is such now that spending 12 hours in constant stop-and-go traffic the other day didn’t tire me out one bit (mentally yes). Also note that my birth mother, a huge running nut, also has deeply inspired me.
My weekly regimen is usually 150 minutes of a pretty intense pace on the elliptical machine at the apt. office (I seem to be the only person in the entire place which uses it, but the population is heavily skewed towards retirees note). I’ll alternate rest periods with high-speed intervals and slow-speed rowings using the handles. I have now gotten to where I can sustain 160 BPM for at least 30 minutes. My body actually seems to crave the bloody thing. During COVID I tried to jog one day, but using a bunch of muscles that the elliptical doesn’t work got me sore as fook for a week, and weirdly my heart rate would quickly zoom close to 190 after just several hundred yards, so I went back to the machine.
Diet-wise I am now 173, 70 below my peak. I never let myself go for more than +5 pounds, at which point I’ve always managed to drop them back over the following 2-4 weeks. I almost always have a yogurt or small bowl of cereal for breakfast, with fruit and multigrain cereal. Lunch is typically either a sandwich (I have avoided mammal meat for several decades now note) or a salad. Dinner is usually a prefab one from the freezer, 200-500 calories; I very rarely eat out while at home. I’ll snack moderately for the rest of the day, and once-twice a month I’ll allow myself a “binge” day and some Ben and Jerrys, cheesecake, or other crap. I don’t pay any attention to the “carbs vs. proteins” war, note. Usually take a 1-2 hour nap in the midafternoon–not from fatigue per se, just a chance to recharge.
Vacations are my biggest nemesis; yes, most hotel rooms now have fridges w/ freezers, and a microwave, and I do try to buy my usual home staples, but often I have to eat out a fair amount of the time, and will likely gain 5 pounds over this current trip. It will all be gonzo by the end of January in any event.
That’s awesome!
Ditto! That’s amazing results. I find the same issues with being on vacation, as at home, we (family of four) eat about 95% home cooked meals, and I can set appropriate portion sizes and my preferred meals. When I’m away, I still try to be sensible and maybe just order off the appetizer menu or doggy bag the rest and stick it in the hotel fridge for breakfast, but it’s still going to be far more caloric. (And I will give myself a couple of cheat days.) So back home, it is often, like you said, close to a five pound swing (but some of that is water weight from the extra salty food.) It does take awareness and discipline, but I’ve found over time it becomes second nature. Oh, and holidays (like now) it’s tougher not to overindulge.
I generally walk at least 5 miles/day for exercise + my regular walking around during the day. I’m a fast walker, I don’t stroll.
I do not keep track of anything and unfortunately I don’t always make good choices when it comes to food. I eat quite a bit of fruit, but I know I eat too many carbs. They’re my favorite! I don’t want to cut out everything that I enjoy. Eating is kind of an event for me - I’m Italian, enjoying food is important!
Five miles a day makes you an active person, so pat yourself on the back for doing it regularly. As far as tracking food goes, it’s a nice-to-have, but not required for most people. I do it because I got into the habit when I was on Keto. I needed to know how many net carbs I was eating so I would go into ketosis. Nowadays, I still track everything, so I know my macros and fiber intake, and because I don’t trust myself to stay below my daily maintenance calories. If, for some reason, I do go over, I have nobody to blame but myself, since it shouldn’t happen if you are tracking things carefully enough. I’m retired, so I have the time to walk a lot and track what I’m eating. It sounds like you have things well under control without monitoring everything. Bravo.
Excellent work! it’s exactly where I want to be, eventually. Eating less and moving more. Mileage is a lot of walking!
But I always make sure I enjoy what I am eating. I don’t like salads much nor do I like fish, so I won’t eat either of them. If we get a pepperoni pizza, I will dive in! I’ll eat my favorite fruits. Life is too short, no matter how healthy you are, to deny yourself good food that you enjoy.
I always listen to audio books while I’m walking. It makes the time go by so fast, which is a very good thing this time of year when it’s cold and dark in the morning.
Good luck!
Another one of my little experiments. I basically let myself go on my recent vacation, and gained 5 pounds as a result. But as I’ve done so many times before (note I have never done huge yoyo’s in these past 15 years of being in shape, and +5 is the max I’ve ever gained), I’ll cut out most crap, go back to modest main meals, and get back into my workout routine (which I was partially able to maintain while on the road). Will report back in a few weeks if I get back to 170.
Let us know what happens. If you were at 170 for the past 12-24 months, you should be able to return to that level relatively easily with caloric restriction and additional exercise. Still, I would recommend reducing your carbohydrate intake for a while to maintain fat-burning mode while you lose weight. It can only help.