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Ready to eat meals
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But I’ve been converted, to Fresh Food Heaven. Yes it takes longer, but I cook massive batches of food then freeze them.
I still have some ‘student’ type food like: Tuna, pasta, sweet corn, and low fat salad cream for sauce, that’s a good packed lunch, perhaps with some salad.
Or buy a cooked chicken from any of the big supermarkets and have some pasta, veg or salad with it. Frozen veg is ok you can even get good microwaveable frozen veg. These are quick and easy ideas.
But as I’ve learnt over time, don’t get hung up about your weight, in fact DITCH THE SCALES! You should eat healthy, exercise regularly and if you ‘treat’ yourself now and then well that’s ok as long as its in moderation. Stick to this basic rule and you’ll have no problems dealing with army life.
Good luck
Some of the above suggestions are great. Plus the more you get used to making things yourself the quicker and easier it is. Esp. if you have your fridge well stocked.
I lost two stone with the support of a personal trainer, I worked hard in the gym and ate a sensible healthy diet. Its not rocket science, 5 fruit/veg a day, low fat, unrefined carbs and protein. Plenty of water to drink and avoid the beer!!!
I found that keeping a diet diary was useful, buy writing down what you eat and drink for a couple of weeks it is easy to see where changes can be made.
BUT don't get too worried about it, once you start training you will lose weight and get fitter.
The occasional treat is important though, I love a few squares of green and blacks chocolate (organic so its OK!!), and the occasional glass of 15% red goes dwon nicely!!!
I find a high protein diet with two portions of starchy carbs (potatoes, rice ,pasta, bread)per day allows me to stay virtually at the same weight. I tend to vary which meal to eat the carbs at then life doesn't become too boring !!
I am trying to reduce my 15-year-old daughter's consumption of low-calorie vegetarian ready-meals, mainly because I think it's time the little rascal learned to cook (she's not a fussy eater, though she's vaguely health-conscious) and I'd love some information to present to her that she won't assume I've just made up!
Get normal porridge oats with nothing added. You can make it up the night before and leave it in a flask. If you do that, the oats have broken down more and are easier to digest - plus you don't have to faff around in the morning.
Make it with water - then add a bit of milk once it's in the bowl. A bit of brown sugar or syrup on it makes it more palatable in my view.
If you really wanted to put her off take her to a factory. Seeing the filling for shepherds pie plopping out of a rancid pipe is enough to turn anyones stomach. That and the butchery!
I'm probably a bit biased...I've seen too much!
Add a handful of raisons to your porridge, tastes great and counts as part of your 5 a-day.
Not sure if this is the same concept with all ready meals but I heard that when burgers are pressed the non round bits are reconstituted and then go in for pressing again. The first pass burgers go to the higher end supermarkets and by the time you get to 5th or 6th pass you're getting into 4 burgers for a quid territory. Read 'Fast Food Nation' by Eric Schlosser if you want to be put off fast food for life.
Sounds like you're already in the Army Cadets so know what to expect. I did 9 years in the RAF from age 17. Providing you are fit and healthy I wouldn't worry about too many extra pounds as they'll soon drop off during basic training. Just make sure you can pass basic fitness tests and put 110% in. Unless you really under peform effort counts for more than abiity.
Make sure YOU get a disciplined balanced diet sorted out by learning what foods contain what (and portion sizes) as when there are 3 or 4 meal options laid out at the mess and a big spoon plus dessert it can be a bit too tempting to pile on your favourite foods rather than than balance carbs, protein and fats (and yes we need fats).
Good luck with your Army career and remember it's only bull$h1t and is there to sort the weak from the strong.
No need for apologies
Vicki
3.5 pounds a week
?
- Get down to Holland & Barrett and buy some soya-bran. It's 60% fibre (yes, over twice as high as All-Bran). Add about 10-20g of this to your porridge to thicken it and reduce the GI even further.
- High fibre keeps you fuller longer, and even reduces the absorption of fat.
- Scramble some egg whites in the morning. Have one yolk (for the taste and the nutrients), then add 3 whites. Eggs are cheap, so don't worry about waste.
- Lance Armstrong used to start every day of his winter training this way (especially in November after he'd put on some weight in the off-season). The protein lowers the GI of any cereal you eat afterwards, maintains your muscle mass and curbs any mid-morning Mars-hunting!
If you run late at night, get a Rego (or equivalent) down you as soon as you're done. The melatonin will calm you down and release sleep-hormones - you're hunger won't be as exaggerated as if you shower/read/watch telly and then have some dinner.
Someone else said they were thin and eat all day long - I can't remeber who. I guess I'm the same. I'm 5ft 8 and about 9 and a half stone, but I absolutely loads: Between 3500 and 6000 calories a day depending on my training (4 hours on the bike sometimes). Low fat and high QUALITY carbs/protein is key!
Ready-meals are just over-processed and fibre and nutrient depleted junk!
I have just lost 4 stones and I find the best diet (have tried them all) is Dr. Patrick Holfords gl diet. I have his cook book and he makes the most amazing filling low carb museli. It really sets me up for the day (I used to be hungry an hour after breakfast too).
Good luck with the weight loss, I am just hoping I don't put any of my weight back on.
You've virtually described my entire year (4 stone weight loss over that period) of getting fit & healthy to the tee!
Are you me?
Stay fit everyone! And remember - beer is fine at times - 'full of carbs' (as Jimmy Fixx states)
Must dash - the boss is looking!
Most regular units have moved on to something called 'Pay as you dine', which is basically like a cafeteria system with you paying for your food on a meal-by-meal basis.
You won't be using this system in basic training, but will when that has finished. The system is run by a private company, who are out to make a profit (understandably so!)
Most soldiers tend not to be too happy with the quality of the food or the service, and so end up trying to feed themselves. As you can imagine there are a lot of soldiers living on junk food Mc D's, KFC, Pizza etc etc which isn't good.
But remember you can live quite effectively on food from a small fridge, a kettle and a microwave.
My advice?? Listen to what you've been told here and learn to prepare your own easy healthy meals. Rices, pasta, tuna, wholemeal breads, loads of fresh fruit and veg etc
Oh I almost forgot, enjoy being a squaddie!!!
Well done so far. Curious to know how much you drink??
Water and alcohol!
As other parts of this site keep saying carbs from alcohol are just junk carbs.
I'm currently around 13st and could easily get down to 12.5 or less but refuse to give up the red wine!! :-)
Perhaps it's the gym work keeping you bulked up? Lots of weight training with heavy weights could have that effect?
Just chop up an onion, fry in some olive oil for a few minutes. The chuck in whatever veggies you fancy, cook a bit more. Pour in some boiling water to cover, add a stock cube and thats about it. Just let it simmer for about 10 mins until the veggies are tender.
If you want a chunky soup, just eat. If you like it smooth, get one of those stick blenders for about £4 and blitz away.
You can even make a big batch up in advance and save some for few days later. It will taste even better like that!
Homemade soup is fantastic stuff, and you know precisely what's in in because you made it. I'm a huge fan of lentils, so I always bung a good serving of those into whatever soup I make - they're really filling too. As for veggies, you can pretty much chuck in whatever you like - experiment and see what you enjoy. One of my favourites is carrot and almond soup (onion, carrots, ground almonds, veggie stock cube - takes hardly any time to make. Even made it for people at work too and they loved it).
Love her or hate her (I'm a bit of a fan), but Gillian McKeith does have some good recipe suggestions. And trawl the internet for ideas; just think some healthy ingredient you like and look for something which includes it.
Believe me, once you get into the habit of healthy eating, you'll feel so good that you won't want to go back to the ready meals. If you focus on eating healthily rather than losing weight, you'll probably find it easier to stick to and the weight will just come off naturally.
Good luck with it all!