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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
    
| Since we all seem to be interested in improving our eating habits, I thought it might be a good idea to post some super simple ideas to get people started in the right direction. I know a nutritionist who often complains that if she could get people to just eat "one lousy carrot a day" she would be happy  Just talking about it here has helped me eat better this week so maybe if we keep talking about it I'll keep going! So what is your "one lousy carrot a day?" What simple changes can people make in their diets?
Here's a REAL baby step - when my DH began running many years ago he was eating at McDonald's every day for lunch. His big "health kick" to start off was simply to stop having fries with his big mac!
For myself, the most recent change I have made has been to stop having sugar in my tea at lunch time. I think we ran out one day and I just went with milk and it was fine so I haven't started again. And if I take an apple with me to the lunch room I eat fewer cookies - we don't always have cookies there and I don't always eat the apple but the thought is a good start  |
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| Oh I like this one tourist! Always looking for some new ideas for eating healthy. My advice is to fill up your desk drawer at work with tons of healthy stuff - almonds, nutrition bars, dried fruit, fruit, cereal for snacking, put some string cheese in the fridge, etc. I think this is the biggest help when you are tempted to hit the vending machine or cafeteria (ours only has crap!!). It is really an easy thing to do, just fill up your drawer every Monday for the week. |
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| I like this too! Especially since we were just talking about rebellion and not denying ourselves on another thread.
I do keep dried fruit & granola bars in my desk drawer as well, and I have a water bottle that I refill all day. Whenever I get the craving for a soda and chips (or candy bar) out of the vending machine, I tell myself "First eat the food you brought with you and drink 1 bottle of water, then if you still want the junk food you can have it." Half the time I get caught up in some project before I finish the water & fruit, and I wind up forgetting all about the chips. The other half the time I just go ahead and have the junk food! But I figure, at least I got some water and some vitamins into my gullet. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 517
Location: New Jersey | What a good thread! Something I've done to improve my eating habits is to break up my meals into smaller ones. At the job I just left, I would find myself getting hungry around 10:30 or 11 am, and I would eat the danishes they put out in our cafeteria. I also got hungry again after lunch around 3. So I just inserted two more mini 'meals' during those times and that really helped. Now that I work in a restaurant, it really helps, because if I were to get hungry and not have brought anything with me I would be reaching for french fries, onion straws or tortilla chips. 
Samantha |
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| I totally agree with you Samantha, mini meals are really working for me. When I was getting bored at work I would just snack on crisps and chocolate. What kind of things have you been having? I have been having chopped vegetables, seeds or cottage cheese on a crisp bread. Getting a bit bored though, need to introduce a bit more variety. |
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| I like bags of dried fruit, they have more calories than veggies but more vitamins and fiber than crisps! Raisins are especially sweet and help me to scare away the chocolate cravings - sometimes.
Also, I've recently gotten into taking a ziploc bag full of whole-grain natural cereal (like Kashi). The pieces are small so it takes forever to eat. I need things that take a long time, because I'm really not hungry - I just like to eat.  |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
| Jean - it is such a habit to just wanna eat, isn't it? Little nibblies are good.and if I had some with me today I would not have grabbed that coffee crisp when I stopped to get gas...   Does that cancel out my steamed veggies for lunch? |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 517
Location: New Jersey | weaselanne - 2005-03-03 5:11 PM
I totally agree with you Samantha, mini meals are really working for me. When I was getting bored at work I would just snack on crisps and chocolate. What kind of things have you been having? I have been having chopped vegetables, seeds or cottage cheese on a crisp bread. Getting a bit bored though, need to introduce a bit more variety.
I usually have some yogurt with wheat germ mixed in, or apple slices with peanut butter (I use the natural peanut butter, to avoid trans fat). I just found something at the super market called Pete's Tofu To Go. It's little packs of tofu in flavors like 'Very Berry" or Mango. It's really good!
Besides that I'll usually bring a small salad, or chopped veggies and cheese chunks. I'm actually looking for new ideas too. I tend to stick with something I like and then I get sick of it.
Samantha
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| can u give me a diet of yoga plz.i m fat and my weigth is 65 .i m only 13 years old.  |
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| i would like to know what the diet is for yoga |
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| Well, my simple step isn't an eating tip, but a shopping tip.
At the grocery store, I have the rule that, when tempted, I say to myself, "If you resist now, then you only have to do it once, instead of each time you'd go to the cupboard"
It really works. At home, we have barely any, next to no unhealthy snacks in our cupboards. Im quite proud actually, it's been a real turn around for me  |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
| Ooooo - good one! I think that is a great statement of how I think when I shop but didn't put into such clear words. I just do not buy stuff (as a rule...) that will tempt me at home. If I buy tortilla chips, I try to buy enough so that they'll all be gone at one sitting and they won't call to me from the cupboard later. I did go and buy processed cheese to make a good grilled cheese (it wasn't great - not over-browned enough) but bought the little pack even though the big one was on sale. |
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| Not buying unhealthy stuff is a biggie. Though I still cheat every now and again. I LOVE cheese and crackers...I'll buy them and sit and eat until I am nearly sick.
But I think allowing yourself the little cheat every now and again helps you from going overboard. Tourist, you allowed yourself the grilled cheese, but bought a small portion. If I am craving fast food, I will get a kid's meal or skip the fries. If I am craving pizza, I will try to eat a salad first to help reduce the total amont of calories. There is a bakery that makes the mose exquisite cookies...and I let myself eat one a week....but I have to eat well for the rest of the day.
Planning ahead is also key for me....and its not hard since I am almost always thinking about food! If I think about what I am going to eat ahead of time then I'm not making the "what I am I going to eat" decision when I am starving. |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
| >>I will try to eat a salad first <<
Just look at that tiny little three letter word "try". So small, so seemingly insignificant! Yet soooo big.  Some people say one should never say "try" when you mean "do" but heck, I think try is a good step when we aren't 100% ready to DO! |
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| So true, Tourist. If I "did" as much as I "tried" then the 10 pounds extra I am carrying would dissappear.
But I keep trying, which does lead to doing, and the more I do, the better I feel!! |
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| Inspired by the "gas" thread in the General Yoga forum.....I have to say that the fear of letting one go in class keeps at least my lunches and snacks light and healthy!!
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| Anybody wanting to eat healthier should get the book "You Are What You Eat" by Dr. Gillian Mckieth. It's packed with good information on healthy foods and bad foods and has changed my eating habits considerably. |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
| So what is her particular slant, Paul? What is the general recommendation from the book? |
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| The books a best seller over here, she even has a TV programme on it. She's a nutritionalist and has done years of research on the subject, tells you what to look out for with ingredients such as cancer causing food dyes, what foods nourish the different organs in your body,what you need to eat to nourish these parts of your body for better wellbeing, tell tale signs on the body of particular foods you eat that may not agree with you, causing food imbalances. Check out the website www.drgillianmckeith.com |
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| I simply swore off all fast food, years ago. I do have problems battling my weight, and now that my bad back has put me out of Tae kwon do, the battle to stay a decent size has intensified.
But yoga itself, just doing it each workday, cuts down on my food intake. I do Bikram, and if I eat within three hours of class, it isn't pretty! Then after class, the best I can manage is a pretty small meal. I don't think the yoga workouts are causing me to lose any weight, but the lifestyle of doing yoga five times a week seems to be limiting my appetite. I'll let you know in six weeks if I have lost an appreciabke amount of weight!
Jeri |
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The Dr. Gillian Mckeith book "You are What You Eat" gives very informative advice on food combining. ie. What foods you should not eat together to avoid gas and bloating. Look on ebay. See how popular the book is in the UK. |
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Healthy eating - simple steps
