Looking for some ideas / tips

moonboy52

Hey all,

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I am looking for some advice on my diet. I am a 35 year old male, 110kg/17st and 6 foot 3". My body fat overall is 27%.

My doctor has told me my cholesterol is 6.9 (not sure of the breakdown). I have bought MorEPA (fish oil) and the guy in the shop told me No-Flush Niacin was good for lowering cholesterol so i bought that

I joined a gym 3 weeks ago and am going 2 / 3 times a week. I was a smoker for 15 years but stopped last xmas, i ate what i wanted (mostly bad things) and my intake of sugar was high (maybe 7 coffee's a day).

My diet at present consists of a bowl of porridge in the morning (with sugar though i aim to add a banana or some berries soon) and a meal in the evening (4 potatoes, veg, breast of chicken 3 days a week).

Today was my first day without sugar:( and i intend to cut it out of my diet eventually.

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I am on a disability allowance so my food budget is tight. Any recommendations or links to vary my diet, while eating healthily as i am crap at cooking. i dont have the cooking imagination and need some advice going forward.

As i only eat the one meal a day. i would like the meal to be filling;)

many thanks:)

EileenG

Intermittent fasting (eating one meal a day) is a strategy, but it's essential that you make that meal as nutritious as possible. That means that you do NOT fill up on potatoes, instead you need to shove in as much green veg as you can manage. As well as your fish oil, try to eat actual fish. Keep an eye out for short dated fish and meat reduced in the bigger supermarkets and shove it into the freezer.

Make sure you are getting enough protein. Aim for 1g per pound of lean mass (total weight minus bodyfat). It will keep you satisfied for longer than you think.

Try adding soup to your meal, it helps you feel fuller.

Eggs used to be considered evil if you had cholesterol problems, but some recent studies show that they improve your HDL to LDL ratio, so don't be afraid of them.

Just as a matter of interest, why only one meal a day? And which is it, you seem to have breakfast and dinner.

El_Dangeroso

OP, I don't think no-flush Niacin is the effective kind, as in it doesn't reduce arterial plaque as much.

Other than that, you're heading in the right direction. Stay away from wheat and vegetable oil (not olive oil - olive oil is a fruit oil).

I'd love to know the breakdown, total cholesterol is pretty meaningless.

Re: cheap meals: You can't beat eggs, if you buy them in a market, they are dirt cheap and usually come from very happy hens. Organic mince is 3.99 in Lidl, also Lidl do gravadlax, which is like smoked salmon and mackerel and smoked trout that are pretty cheap and full of more Omega 3.

moonboy52

Some excellent advice there! Many thanks.


@ EileenG

I sort of considered my dinner to be one meal as i did not consider a bowl of porridge to be a meal, just something i endured as it was healthy but pretty tasteless:o.

I have a lot of education health wise that i need to change my ways.


@ Temple_Grandin

I will certainly check out the gravadlax you mentioned and i will try and get the breakdown ASAP from my G.P

Anyway to boost your activity levels given that you have a disability?

What are you eating the other 4 days a week?
Picking up some basic cooking skills, is a great place to start improving the quality of your grub.

Rice bran oil, contains the cholesterol lowering plant sterol that is present in those lowering spreads.
However it is much cheaper to buy.

Then there is the daily dose of allium, a clove of garlic, half an onion.

Switch to wholegrain alternatives.

I would chose the berries over the bananna in your porridge, as they are quite sugary.
I find a bit of cinnimon adds flavour.

moonboy52

Moonbaby wrote: »

Anyway to boost your activity levels given that you have a disability?

What are you eating the other 4 days a week?
Picking up some basic cooking skills, is a great place to start improving the quality of your grub.

Rice bran oil, contains the cholesterol lowering plant sterol that is present in those lowering spreads.
However it is much cheaper to buy.

Then there is the daily dose of allium, a clove of garlic, half an onion.

Switch to wholegrain alternatives.

I would chose the berries over the bananna in your porridge, as they are quite sugary.
I find a bit of cinnimon adds flavour.

I recently learned how to make a beef casserole and also a fish pie (not sure how they stand in the healthy stakes). I might have either of those one day a week. I like to get a chicken chow mein from my local Chinese on a Friday night (probably not good for me).

I sometimes cook a chow mein myself, or some container soup with brown bread and flora pro-activ spread. I plan to learn to make my own soup and freeze a load of it.

Where would i pick up the rice bran oil Moonbaby? i have never heard of it:o

I will aim for the berries in my porridge as well. good tip thank you. Does cinammon come in a little galss bottle like spices or is it something you have to grind? (i told you i was bad when it came to cooking:P)

Anyways some food for thought in those posts guys and gals. Appreciate it