Educated yourself online
Poke around websites like Frugivore for great new recipes. There are also meal builder sites where you can plug in stuff that you already have and it will spell out meal ideas you can make with what is in your frig! This makes the impossible task of meal planning for someone like me possible. If you are planning on venturing into the grocery wild, check online to see if special ingredients that you need are carried at that particular store. Take a step further and call ahead to see if they have it in stock. There is nothing like heading out to buy the only high fiber-whole wheat-real fruit-healthy AND tasty cereal I eat, just to find that they are all out of coconut milk. Uhhhh the horror!
Good article, really good tips…
“You have to go into this with a game plan already mapped out” If that aint the truth. If I don’t prepare everday during the week goes down the drain.
I am used to eating real food at this point. I like it. I even crave it at times. But the times when it is the hardest to keep on my path is when I just want to indulge in whatever the hell I want. Those days when I want a big box of chocolate, donuts, cookies, or a woman walking down the street eating a big cup of ice cream make me miss my careless days of eating whatever I wanted. Of course eating whatever I wanted came with the high price of 215 lbs., and I don’t want to go back to being overweight, so I usually don’t go for the donuts or box of chocolates.
I only take enough money to buy what I need on my shopping list. A shopping list is a must, and you need to stick with it. Before you make your list, plan out your meals. After you find your top 3-4 dishes, make them your staples. Find a couple of meals that require little to no cooking to make it easier.
I educated myself on the dangers of NOT eating healthy. There’s nothing wrong with eating delicious food BUT there are always healthy ways to enjoy it. Being open to new things is very important. Pinterest will keep you in the know of AWESOME recipe ideas. For me, it was important to keep my family healthy and pass on this knowledge to my two boys. What they eat is my responsibility and I take it VERY seriously….very.
I was a healthy eater until a couple of years ago. I fell off the wagon because partly of stress and partly pressure (“Girl why don’t you get a cheeseburger? You already skinny!”). Now I’m getting back on track, slowly but surely. I’m losing most of my junk cravings–partly because indulging in a lot of them makes me physically ill. “You guys can have your triple fried twice baked potatoes,” I say–and then happily munch on my pineapple chips and poached barramundi.
…but sometimes you just need a burger. One is fine now. 😉