Help! DH retired and now it's home cooking all day long

[sacway]

Hi everyone -

 

I feel like I've more than fallen off the wagon, I'm completely off the road! I'm still working but we are now eating home cooking and the only cooking I know (and he seems to want to eat) is the kind my mother learned from her mother learned from her mother back when people worked 16 hours a day on the ranch... So that won't work when I'm sitting at my desk most of the time that I'm not in the kitchen cooking... Back when he was working he'd be on the road a fair amount and I'd use those days to "catch up" from overeating on the others. Now that opportunity is gone. Ideas? I've got a cruise coming up end of June and I don't want to be stuck in a mumu. Ugh!

 

sacway

[lady_cruiser]

The only cooking I knew was what my mother taught me - Italian. She learned it from her mother who came from Italy.

 

Go on-line and find the alternatives to your recipes. I am not sure which dishes you are talking about. There are plenty of sites out there that can convert an good-fashion, calorie weighted recipe into a healthy recipe without altering the tastes.

[Odoyal Rulez]

I work long hours myself...you need to get into the habbit of just packing your food for the day. I usually bring 4 meals plus snacks to work..since I eat every 2 hours. Those throw away tupperware dishes are awesome.

 

If you really want to drop the weight or maintain what you have..youre gonna have to stop eating that way all the time..maybe once a week, and really suck down as much meat and broccolli and nuts as you can...

[Gathina]

The majority of the diets I see (unless it's Jenny Craig or something) advocate COOKING your own meals so you know what you are eating and can control the portions, ingredients, fat, etc. I thinki more people get fat by eating out all the time anyway plus it's expensive.

 

I am a firm believer you can eat all of your favorite foods IF you eat the correct portion sizes. So if he wants to eat like a ranch hand, he can. You're not responsible for what he eats, you're responsible for what you eat. You'll never be able to eat the way he does if you want to lose weight. Any diet, no matter what it is, has portion control as the crux. You learn to cook lower fat versions of what you like to eat. You can learn to measure your portions.

 

The other key to weight loss is planning. We can find a million excuses to not plan and thats really planning to fail. Everyone is busy, everyone works, but sometimes you have to suck it up and adjust your paradigm and make the time to do things that are important, like working out, cooking in bulk (freezing it for later), cutting up veggies for lunch ahead of time, etc.

 

Then eating right becomes a lifestyle, not a chore.

[sacway]

Thanks for the replies, I really appreciate the sound advice. I think portion control is the answer, plus not nibbling while I cook. Part of it might be the big M, too, I've been reading that thread. It's just a major change in our lifestyle.

 

I do like knowing what's in the food, and it's all a lot fresher.

 

Do you have favorite recipe sites?

 

I know the last time I was engaged in this forum it really helped me alot, so I will start back with the weekly weigh ins, and watching the threads.

[suzyjack]

Try www.cookinglight.com , I don't know if you have ever seen the magazine, but it is really good.

 

Also, foodnetwork.com, some of their cooks aren't so health concious, but some are..

 

I don't know what the hubby is cooking, but if it is terribly fat laden, portion control will help, but probably not enough. You may have to sit him down and tell him how much you appreciate all of his efforts, but that all of his wonderful cooking is putting weight on you and ask him to try some of your new healthier recipes.

 

Good Luck!

[jenwoist]

I have found that I can lose weight if I cut out all foods cooked in oil, (if I have to have some oil, I use a little bit of olive oil). I switch to egg beaters instead of eggs, cut back on red meats, & eat low fat cheeses.

[happysinglemom]

Thanks for the replies, I really appreciate the sound advice. I think portion control is the answer, plus not nibbling while I cook. Part of it might be the big M, too, I've been reading that thread. It's just a major change in our lifestyle.

 

I do like knowing what's in the food, and it's all a lot fresher.

 

Do you have favorite recipe sites?

 

Allrecipes.com and recipezaar.com are two of my favorites. Also there are a ton of sites such as calorieking.com where you can check the nutritional value of restaurant meals, in the event your hubbie needs convincing!! ;)

[Gathina]

You have to take charge of your own eating habits. If he doesn't want to change, then you have to change.

[sacway]

I've just started a ten week program of exercise and diet at our gym. that should help.

thanks for the recipe sites. I read about one person who posts a few faves on the fridge for days when nothing seems interesting. have you tried this?

[sacway]

Week three of my gym program. Found out I am eating wrong and exercising wrong. ha! a double whammy. Progress on both fronts is intermittent so far. (Belle I'll weigh in the morning and check in a day late.) One part of the program is figuring out simple carbs, complex carbs, protein, and fat for everything eaten along with calories. whew! who knew there was so much to know about carrots, or shredded wheat? DH is being very good as I try out new recipes. Some work, and others, well, we've got a neighborhood soda fountain that serves pretty good sandwiches.

 

I tried on one of my suits but it doesn't fit... yet (I hope) : O

[happysinglemom]

Sounds like you are making some progress, but yes - the nutritional value of the foods you eat is very VERY important, even if you aren't trying to lose weight. There are tons of free sites out there that will calculate this information for you, so take advantage of them. Good luck!

[Gathina]

People mistakingly think that even if they are excercising, it's a license to still eat whatever you want and no portion control. Super athletes may not need to reduce their food intake level as they need the fuel, but they are in the minority of the population and not regular people like the rest of us.

 

My own opinion is that you can probably eat everything if you eat the correct portion sizes and don't go over 1500 calories per day. You can even use the food pyramid as a general guide and still be ok. It's all the garbage in the rest of the meal that sets people off. They can ruin a perfectly good healthy choice meal by putting too much sodium in it or some other strange chemical.

 

Week three of my gym program. Found out I am eating wrong and exercising wrong. ha! a double whammy. Progress on both fronts is intermittent so far. (Belle I'll weigh in the morning and check in a day late.) One part of the program is figuring out simple carbs, complex carbs, protein, and fat for everything eaten along with calories. whew! who knew there was so much to know about carrots, or shredded wheat? DH is being very good as I try out new recipes. Some work, and others, well, we've got a neighborhood soda fountain that serves pretty good sandwiches.

 

I tried on one of my suits but it doesn't fit... yet (I hope) : O

[sacway]

1500 cals a day sounds right. My trainer at the gym is suggesting only 15% off the total needed, including exercise, but that seems to be resulting in zero loss. I'll ask about this tomorrow when I go.

 

For our anniversary we went out to dinner. My body is "smarter" than my brain and ordered one of the worst things on the menu. I didn't realize this till I came home and looked up the nutritional info on the web (many sites have the whole menu from many chain restaurants) Hmm. How did it know? And I'd ordered my salad without dressing thinking I was doing well.

 

Similarly, tonight we had hamburgers for the holiday. I got some buns out of the freezer and only when I went to write down the info I found I'd pick the "bad" ones that are multi-grain instead of the whole wheat ones. Honestly, I don't think my brain is engaged but my body is doing the selection.

 

I'm down to one or zero sweets a day.

I got into my suit, thanks to the body toning from the exercise.

 

So it's not all bad. But very very slow. And this week I'll be on the road which means two days of airport food and the rest eating in hotels. Any tips on that?

[Gathina]

Well, slow and steady wins the race. The main thing is that you are making some sort of change. Why are multi grain buns bad? I didn't know that. Multi grain means many grains, including whole wheat.

 

The body is supposed to have less than 2000 mg of sodium per day. Ketchup and other stuff is loaded with that, and sugar. The closer the "ose's" (sucrose, fructose, corn syrup) and anything sugary is to the top of the list, the more dangerous it is , same as sodium.

 

Your body isnt smarter than your brain, it's stupider. Don't let your stomach be in charge. That's how you got fat. You have to tell yourself things like "I have the rest of my life to eat this so I"ll pass on it today", "Just because it's a holiday doens't mean I take a break, I still need to do the right thing" etc.

 

On the exercise thing, are you really exercising hard enough? You need to be doing 45 min of cardio a day, minimum, at a heart pumping rate where you are actually sweating. And you may have to work up to it. If you're not sweating are you really burning calories? Make sure your trainer isn't coddling you either. A lot of them do.

1500 cals a day sounds right. My trainer at the gym is suggesting only 15% off the total needed, including exercise, but that seems to be resulting in zero loss. I'll ask about this tomorrow when I go.

 

For our anniversary we went out to dinner. My body is "smarter" than my brain and ordered one of the worst things on the menu. I didn't realize this till I came home and looked up the nutritional info on the web (many sites have the whole menu from many chain restaurants) Hmm. How did it know? And I'd ordered my salad without dressing thinking I was doing well.

 

Similarly, tonight we had hamburgers for the holiday. I got some buns out of the freezer and only when I went to write down the info I found I'd pick the "bad" ones that are multi-grain instead of the whole wheat ones. Honestly, I don't think my brain is engaged but my body is doing the selection.

 

I'm down to one or zero sweets a day.

I got into my suit, thanks to the body toning from the exercise.

 

So it's not all bad. But very very slow. And this week I'll be on the road which means two days of airport food and the rest eating in hotels. Any tips on that?

[sacway]

okay, maybe "less good"

multi-grain vs. whole wheat buns:

MG: 200 cals 3g fat 4g fiber 7g protein

WW: 180 cals 3g fat 6g fiber 9g protein

 

average workout: 45 minutes cardio (today, 4.6 miles) and either 45 minutes pilates or strength training. Do that 4-5 times a week, e.g. 25 miles a week on the elliptical trainer right now. my intensity since starting with a PT has about doubled. my trainer believes a slower loss limits losing lean body mass rather than fat. that's the rationale for very minor reduction in calories per day.

 

online calculators are helping, and so are recipe sites where I can see how/if to adapt some of my old favorites.