something has to change
I know I’ve been whingeing for a while about hiding in my room and eating junk food instead of real meals, but I’ve been thinking it’s just a temporary phase and soon I’ll feel more able to cope with normal life. Today I realised it’s been three months since I last cooked a meal. And I remember making a point of adding extra vegetables to that meal, to make up for my crappy diet in the preceding couple of weeks. How did I let things get to the point where a typical dinner is chips and ice cream? Until recently, I was at least eating a better breakfast and bringing my own sandwich and yoghurt for lunch, but even that’s been too hard to organise in the last few weeks and I’ve found myself eating with my labmates less. It’s no wonder I feel awful, really.
I’ve never been good at eating properly, really. I’ve always hated vegetables of every kind (I’m such a good vegetarian…) and as a kid, I’d just avoid eating them whenever possible. My mum did her best to make sure I ate enough fruit and vegetables, but I ended up with the mind-set that eating vegetables is a chore, and when given a choice I’ll always go for something sweet (or salty) and unhealthy. Once I had control of my own meals, I did try to make myself eat well-balanced meals and it worked pretty well until… well, I’m not sure when. I guess it’s just been getting progressively harder to make myself go to all the trouble of cooking something nutritious, when comfort food is readily available and requires no effort to prepare.
Today, I finally made myself sick from eating crap, which is why I went and figured out how long I’ve been doing this. I’m not sure how I’m going to make myself go into the kitchen when my housemates are around to actually make meals, especially now that I know how long it’s been since I’ve done that, but I really have to do something.
I went and got the most vitamin-filled-looking smoothie-thing I could for dinner. It looked like green sludge (and therefore must be healthy, because why else would you drink something that looked like that?). I was expecting it to taste pretty bad, especially since I hate green food, but it actually had enough fruit juice in it to be yummy. So now I’m feeling slightly more virtuous, but also still slightly queasy… Hopefully, I’ll manage to continue being virtuous long enough to buy and cook some actual food tomorrow.
I know... you just want more LtEHB. I'm working on it, but it's hard to write.
posted by Lucy @ 10:15 PM
14
comments
14 Comments:
I’ve always hated vegetables of every kind (I’m such a good vegetarian…)
When I first became a vegetarian, people joked that I was really a peanutbutterian, because I didn't actually ever eat any vegetables. But now? Twice a month, baby. Whether I need them or not.
hmm, maybe I should switch to being a peanutbutterian. I could just eat fruit, too.
I was wondering if my body would start demanding some actual nutrition at some point and I'd start wanting vegetables for a change, but it still hasn't happened yet (unless that's the real reason the green sludge seemed to taste good).
Yeah--I've always said I'm a pastatarian. Um, a pastafarian, though not really in the FSM sense. But me too--vegetarian with hardly any veggies.
And I feel for you, Lucy. It's way too easy to get into those food patterns...a few months ago, you'll recall, i was eating delivery pizza about 3x a week. Ugh.
Glad you got a green smoothie--excellent start. :)
How about some tinned soup? It may contain vegetables, even the chicken and beef varieties, but it's the kind of thing that is almost fast food (minimise hanging out in the kitchen time), and as an added bonus it has some nutritional content. Good luck.
I *love* Morningstar Farms stuff. We eat those all the time--they're the closest we actually get to "cooking". :)
if we hadn't lost our microwave in a roommate shuffle, I probably would have managed to eat better - at least pre-prepared meals, rather than junk. I think the pie/soup options might be a good intermediate step between here and actual cooking, though, thanks.
Wolfa, I actually do eat vegetables (well, when I eat meals), I just don't eat them on their own. I like things with vegetables that are all mixed in together with enough sauce/spices to not taste like they would alone :) So, please share any other default veggie meals you know.
I would love a chili recipe, too, please! My current recipe is just the back of the chili seasoning packet, with extra beans instead of meat...
I really like fruit, too, but being allergic to milk as a child has given me an aversion to any non-dairy milk substitute. Smoothies are a good idea, though.
Cooking for one is hard. Here are some quick ideas, not really for traditional meals, but for FAST healthier snacks that can become meals in a pinch and are at least a little better than chips and junk food...
Baked potato (45 minutes at 350 degrees) with shredded cheese, and/or plain yogurt, and/or canned vegetarian chili, or some frozen broccoli in cheese sauce to pretend you're getting veggies. :) Pita bread with hummus and sliced cucumbers/tomatoes/olives. Celery and peanut butter. Bagels with cream cheese and black olives, or raisins, or jam. Frozen whole-wheat "Eggo" waffles (heated in the toaster) with canned applesauce. Instant hot oatmeal with a little brown sugar, milk optional. Already-prepared cut up veggies from the supermarket with hummus or ranch dressing. Salad bar from the gourmet supermarket. Progresso canned soup. If you're going to eat tortilla chips, at least add some protein and variety with some lowfat cream cheese and some fresh salsa. And dip celery into the cheese/salsa mix, too. Try pasta sauces that have extra veggies, and buy fresh pasta (especially cheese ravioli, for a little extra protein) from the "ready to eat" case. For snacks I like lowfat string cheese, almonds, and whole wheat crackers. Also try orange juice with the pulp in it, blended with a frozen banana and frozen berries, and some protein powder for a simple smoothie.
Can you buy a cheap microwave? Or find a used one on craigslist? If so, the Lean Cuisine entrees are low in fat, and the Amy's meals are yummy.
I'm totally with you - junk food is easier.
Sounds like you have a lot of good sugggestions here. I'll just throw in one more that invovles cooking once and then having 10 meals to eat (although it does require a microwave...or oven at least).
I mix refried beans (2 cans) and diced tomatoes (the kind with jalapenos, 1 can) and corn (1 can) in a pot, put some in a tortilla, add a little cheese, roll and place in a baking dish. Continue until you fill up the dish (usu 10 tortillas). Bake at 425 for about 15 min or until edges are browned. When they cool, you can wrap them individually and freeze or refrigerate and take them for lunch or whatever.
You can also throw in other veggies if you want, very versatile.
Pizza is always a good standby, and if you go easy on the cheese, pretty healthy since it's mostly just bread and veges.
If you buy pre-cooked bases you can just turn out the contents of various tins and jars on top (my staples are corn, olives, mushrooms, diced tomatoes and sometimes fresh onion if I can be arsed) then grill briefly in the oven. And slices work well cold for lunch the next day, too.
Alternatively, you can buy really cheap premade frozen pizzas (the sort that have about half a cup of mixed frozen vegetables and a slight smear of tomato paste) and add more stuff until they taste good.
I love vegetables, but am a lazy cook. If I had someone to cook for me, I'd be super healthy.
Microwaves are so cheap today - and might be worth the investment. Partly because Amy's meals are so yummy. I also adore lean cuisine's cheese stuffed rigatoni (2 servings of veggies!).
I've also learned that adding vegetables to things is a super easy way to get your veggies. Add frozen spinach to soup, add broccoli florets to macaroni and cheese. Raw veggies with a low fat dip is also super easy. Oh, and salads - like a good greek salad, or a good spinach salad with pears and grapes.
Another thought is that since you are worried about having to interact with your roomies would be to once a week make a big thing of food (like a good veggie lasagna, or black bean and sweet potato enchiladas, etc.) and just eat that through the week.
thanks for all your recipe suggestions! I always used to cook enormous batches of something so I'd have leftovers for a week, so I need to start doing that again (Wolfa, a similar dal is actually what the last meal I cooked was).
We haven't replaced the microwave, because a housemate claimed to already own one she just needed to pick up from a previous house. I'm not sure what happened with that, since I haven't been interacting with anyone much...
I love these food ideas, too!
might I suggest a multi-vitamin to supplement the gradual improvement on food choices? (As I know from personal experience that change in eating habits is very difficult and only can happen for me slowly over time.)
oh, and? I want more LtEHB. PLEASE!
do multivitamins come without iron? iron in pills makes me ill.
Post a Comment
<< Home