Recommend a basic 'off the shelf in Tesco' weight loss diet?

Hi guys,

I've started doing a bit of work lately that involves me workin alone and away from civilisation for 12 hour shifts at a time.


As the location is so out of the way, there are no shops around, no food delivery places, restaurants, etc. so all i can eat is what I pack with me. There is an office I stay in throughout my shift, but it has no applicances (no microwave, no kettle, no oven, etc.).

I plan to bring a kettle in with me from now on though (need to have a cup of tea).


The job is not physically demanding, but has a bit of downtime, during which I plan to do some exercising. The area has a large driveway into it, which i can jog on, etc. so I'm planning to bring in some small weights, etc. and working on my fitness while im here (im terribly out of shape).


My normal diet consists of bouts of Haribo and ovenised pastry foods, etc. but because I have to pack my lunch in the morning for work, i now have the ability to just pack a healthy lunch and because Im working in the middle of nowhere, I have to stick to what I brought with me (ie; i can't impulsively decide to pop over the shop across the road for a roll, for example, as there are no shops around).


This is good as it means I can't give into cravings or such. It's bad as it means all the food i eat must be 'off the shelf' (it can't require cooking of any kind).


I've only been doing the job for 3 days, and so far my packed lunches have consisted of sandwiches (wholemeal bread, buttered with ham and lettuce) and bananas. I've also brought in a couple of packets of sweets and such (fruit pastilles, haribo, etc.) but that was more to do with me just having them in the car by chance and getting picky and going out and chomping away.


So... here's what I thought I'd ask ye guys...


Can you recommend a diet of food that I can eat that will be low in calories (weight loss is my primary intention) yet somewhat filling (as i plan to exercise and dont want to starve myself) and that I can literally (and i stress the word literally) pick up in a Tesco and throw in the back seat of the car until i get to work?


Am I limited to fruit and sandwiches here?

I know there are stickies on the basics of nutrition and all that, but I've been hovering around these forums for a while and never really enjoyed the over-calculated approach set out by many here (ie; my knowledge starts and ends with calorie counting - Despite reading the stickies more than once, i just can't seem to absorb the information. Possibly due to lack of interest, if im completely honest).


My shopping, due to practicality, is also limited to Tesco (which is handy, as, if someone suggests something, i can find it on their site to see the products stats, price, etc.).


I don't mind bananas and sandwiches, really, but just thought I'd throw up a thread in the hopes that someone may have a nice variety of food that I can try out (may hate some of it, but no harm trying).

Also, the 'off the shelf' approach is largely to do with me being too lazy o actually cook or prepare food properly, and after a 12 hour shift, being too knackered to start putting food together and such.



Sorry for the long thread, I probably rambled on a bit much, but I just thought I'd throw it up and ask ye guys.


Cheers

siochain

[/quote]- Despite reading the stickies more than once, i just can't seem to absorb the information. Possibly due to lack of interest, [/quote]

If you have a lack of interest in understanding the basics of nutrition I say your on a road to no where with your goals.

I'd suggest to learn the basics of nutrition including how to read and understand food packing nutritional labels. Make an attempt at planning 4 days food and post up here. The good folks here would be more then happy to help you out and give you feedback.

Don't mean to be blunt but .....

Alf Veedersane

I've worked 12-hour shifts in the past and being tired isn't really an excuse. You say you want variety but what did you have in mind? And like has been said, if you don't have an interest in what you should eat and what you should try to avoid then no suggestions will work. All you'll get is , at best, a couple of ideas that you'll soon get bored of and then slip back into old ways. Knowing what you should eat and why you should eat it will allow you to be flexible with your options and keep it interesting. Good luck with it.

jlm29

You could make yourself a nice salad the night before, or the morning of work, and throw that in the car and eat it at lunch time. Make sure you put plenty in if that will fill you, and bring fruit and nuts for snacks. I think that if you want to lose weight, you need to be organised.

Alf Veedersane

- Despite reading the stickies more than once, i just can't seem to absorb the information. Possibly due to lack of interest,

If you have a lack of interest in understanding the basics of nutrition I say your on a road to no where with your goals.

I'd suggest to learn the basics of nutrition including how to read and understand food packing nutritional labels. Make an attempt at planning 4 days food and post up here. The good folks here would be more then happy to help you out and give you feedback.

Don't mean to be blunt but .....

Bluntness appreciated. I probably should have tried to word it better, but to try and word it better; I don't care about nutritional information, but I do care about trying to eat better.

The problem with the stickies here, much like the stickies in pretty much every other forum, is that, once you have a good idea what you're talking about, you can read them, agree, disagree, etc. but have an idea of what's going on.

However, if you're new to the subject, you may aswell be reading the instruction manual for the Large Hadron Collider. It's too much information to really know what's going on.

As I say, I have made an attempt to read it before, but it just goes over my head for the most part.

I understand calories and calorie counting (as it's fairly simple maths), though I rarely adhere to it as the job I'm currently in/leaving has me next door to a shop that sells rolls, etc. at great prices, so it's easy to wander in and out throughout the day.

The new position has me in the middle of nowhere so I was hoping I could get a few suggestions off people on what might be worthwhile packing.


My general food intake involves pizza, doughnuts, takeaways in general, Haribo, breakfast rolls, pastry pies, etc. (pretty much a stereotypical 'fat guy diet') so now that I have the chance, I want to try and correct this. There's an unlimited amount of hours available in the new position, so I'm hoping to commit myself to work a lot, which will in turn force me to commit to correct eating/exercising.

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

I've worked 12-hour shifts in the past and being tired isn't really an excuse. You say you want variety but what did you have in mind? And like has been said, if you don't have an interest in what you should eat and what you should try to avoid then no suggestions will work. All you'll get is , at best, a couple of ideas that you'll soon get bored of and then slip back into old ways. Knowing what you should eat and why you should eat it will allow you to be flexible with your options and keep it interesting. Good luck with it.

Were your shifts 12 hours of extremely difficult, mentally tiring work? Involving incredible levels of stress and physical labour?


No!?... Well, mine neither.

Haha


But seriously; I do find myself fairly tired after work and I am fond of my sleep. So far I've done 12 hour shifts followed by 10 hours sleep and then using the remaining awake time to make sandwiches, call to family etc. (working over the christmas period).

I'm sure that I'll adjust to it soon enough, but as it stands I'm finding it quite tiring.


Variety is great, but I don't need a thousand suggestions. Just some basic ideas for things that I can pick up off the shelf quickly in Tesco (or buy online to get delivered to the house, which may be handier again). I know about fruit (apples, bananas, oranges, etc.) but out from that, literally, all that is in my head are various sandwiches (so far ham and lettuce are all I've had).

I've really no idea where to start. I do want to learn about nutrition etc. but over time. I won't absorb information at the beginning as there's too much to take into consideration ('easy when you know how', etc.).

jlm29 wrote:

You could make yourself a nice salad the night before, or the morning of work, and throw that in the car and eat it at lunch time. Make sure you put plenty in if that will fill you, and bring fruit and nuts for snacks. I think that if you want to lose weight, you need to be organised.

Oh definitely, organisation is crucial. I've tried and failed before because it was too easy to get side tracked. I plan to make a diary of food and exercise intake, etc. but first would like to figure out what I should actually be eating.

You mention nuts, for example. The only nuts I've ever had are the ready salted variety you get, and I'm doubting that's what you're referring to.

So even though you may say "get nuts", I'm still not sure what I'm actually looking for (if that makes sense?).

I plan to whip together an easy salad with basics that I do understand (lettuce, tomatoes, onions, etc.) but my knowledge and experience of salads is, again, fairly nonexistent.

I've been eating horrendously for the last while and I'm just looking for the most basic of suggestions for the moment, that I can put aside and bring to work. I appreciate your suggestions, jlm

doctorwhogirl

Every Sunday I put spinach leaves, mixed leaves, onion, cherry tomatoes, sweetcorn and peppers in 5 lunchboxes. They keep perfectly fine during the week in the fridge. Then the night before I throw in cottage cheese and a tin of tuna/ pack of prawns. Job done. I get wee packs of prawns/crayfish in Lidl that are fairly reasonable and handy as to just add into the lunch.

jlm29

My diet isn't great, and needs to be cleaned up a lot, but I suppose I have a decent enough understanding of what I need to do (I just lack a bit of the motivation required to actually do it).
By nuts I mean the unsalted type- in my local tesco, there's a stand of them in the f&v aisle. Almonds, cashews etc. don't go too much to town on them, they're high In fat, even if it is good fat.
I make salads for work. Usually I put a selection from: salad leaves, chicken, maybe some grapes or a chopped up pear, avocado, nuts/seed mix, cheddar cheese (only a small bit), grated carrot- whatever we have really!!

You could also make homemade soup and heat it up in the morning, and maybe bring it in a flask?

Magenta

Deleted User wrote: »

Am I limited to fruit and sandwiches here?

tuna + sweetcorn
ready-cooked chicken - or tuna again - + prepackaged garden salad

Transform

no wheat, no sugar, plenty of veg, protein, good fats, some fruit and nuts = winning

Oryx

Boiled eggs - leave in shell till you're eating them
Aldi individual bags of almonds walnuts & hazelnuts
Tesco salad bar - anything not soaked in mayo
Tesco roast chicken, slice the breast or bring a leg with you
Cherry tomatoes
Raw carrot
Protein powder

If you're used to things like pastries, it may take a week or two for your palate to adjust to the changed diet. Don't lose heart if it seems bland at first.

Boiled eggs, salads where you throw in tuna or whatever the night before. I'd also stir fry chicken and loads of veg and eat it cold the next day
Or a salad with shredded beef in it, cold again
I'd love one of these now
http://foodhub.co.nz/recipe/2296/Rocket-pear-walnut--blue-cheese-salad/

Oryx

Oryx wrote: »

If you're used to things like pastries, it may take a week or two for your palate to adjust to the changed diet. Don't lose heart if it seems bland at first.

Well that's the great thing about this situation.

Even if I do get sick of it, i have to pack all my lunches in advance, so if i have, say, a packet of crisps or haribo while making the lunch, i wont have any craving for it, then when I'm stuck out in the middle of nowhere, I can only eat what I've brought with me anyway (although of course ultimately the goal would be to not want sweets at all, which should hopefully work after a few weeks).


I just pretty much have to force feed myself stuff, or go without anything to eat. So, provided I work a lot of days and don't take too many off (because days sitting around the house = days I'm going to overeat on crap food) then I should be able to try and drill this into myself over a few weeks.

Coupled with a bit of exercise, hopefully I'll start to see results quickly into it, which will hopefully make me want to stick with it. I just have to hope that I can stay in this job position for a couple of months to make the most of it.


I appreciate all the suggestions so far, folks. I'm gonna copy/paste a lot of the stuff from here into my phone and go to Tesco and do a bit of shopping. I'm back to work on Tuesday, so that's the day it all begins again for me.

If I go shopping in Tesco, can I post up what I got and see if ye guys can suggest better alternatives or such? I only have a kettle at work (was gonna buy a microwave to bring out, but I know i'd only end up buying microwaveable burgers, hot dogs, etc. and ruining it for myself).


Thanks a lot for all the advice, everyone. Sincerely appreciated.

El_Dangeroso

Brill advice on this thread.

There's literally not one diet book I'd recommend at the moment. They all have glaring problems that would prevent me recommending them.

What I can tell you is that if you completely cut out all foods with more than one ingredient you will eat a lot healthier and lose weight.

That means you can have

• Rice - white or brown is fine, rice noodles are also very handy, should always be eaten with protein.
• Potatoes - sweet or white, whatever your preferences, again always eat with protein, you can add a small amount of butter and milk to make mash too
• Meat - choose the best quality meat you can afford, often the tougher stewing cuts are cheaper and healthier as they have lots of collagen in them - great for joints
• Eggs - super nutritious and versatile, can be cooked 20 different ways
• Fish - Oily and non-oily, shellfish
• Dairy - Small amounts of cheese and milk are really nutritious. Don't drink milk on it's own though, if you really have to, make it skimmed.
• Vegetables - So important. Should comprise HALF of all meals by volume. If you don't like the taste, hide them in mashed potato or in homemade tomato sauce.
• Spices - Anything you like to flavour meals

If you stick to the above along with paying attention to getting enough sleep and moderate exercise (even 20 mins a day brisk walking is better than nothing), you'll not only be feeling great you will be laying the groundwork for lifelong habits that no short term diet book would give you.

pampootie

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

Don't drink milk on it's own though, if you really have to, make it skimmed.

Why, out of interest? I drink a glass of full fat milk every day with breakfast, otherwise I find it hard to reach my rda of calcium. Also ice cold milk is delicious

El_Dangeroso

pampootie wrote: »

Why, out of interest? I drink a glass of full fat milk every day with breakfast, otherwise I find it hard to reach my rda of calcium. Also ice cold milk is delicious

Agreed! If you're not gaining weight that one glass of milk is fine for you. Just that drinking a lot of full fat milk is a good way to gain weight as it has calories that don't make you especially full is all.

Alf Veedersane

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

[*]Meat - choose the best quality meat you can afford, often the tougher stewing cuts are cheaper and healthier as they have lots of collagen in them - great for joints
[/LIST]

Might be just useful for the OP if you clarified this. It reads as though you're suggesting to get high 'quality' meats which suggests fillet steaks and the like but then you talk about cheaper cuts and collagen. I'm not sure if you're suggesting they're healthier or if you meant to say they're less healthy. Cooking low and slow breaks down the collagen. That's why slow cookers are FANTASTIC!

El_Dangeroso

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Might be just useful for the OP if you clarified this. It reads as though you're suggesting to get high 'quality' meats which suggests fillet steaks and the like but then you talk about cheaper cuts and collagen. I'm not sure if you're suggesting they're healthier or if you meant to say they're less healthy. Cooking low and slow breaks down the collagen. That's why slow cookers are FANTASTIC!

Excellent point. Good quality meat doesn't have to cost a lot. I was more thinking along the lines of good quality chicken and pork, Irish beef and lamb are very high quality.

Alf Veedersane

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

Irish beef and lamb are very high quality.

That they are. You just need to know how to cook 'em. Low and slow isn't good for the likes of fillet or sirloin. But it is great for the cuts like brisket etc because of the breaking down of collagen and so on. Very good points, ED, just thought it needed you to clarify it for OP

doctorwhogirl

Just speaking of meat, Aldi beef medallions are savage, lean and good value! Tasty as a fillet steak to me and far cheaper.

Also someone mentioned cherry tomatoes...Great thing for hitting a sweet craving! I was in shopping hungry the other day, cardinal sin, and was edging towards a cereal bar to tide me over. Grabbed a punnet of cherry tomatoes and ate the lot on the way home! So nice!

I appreciate all the advice, guys.

Gonna take a trip to Tesco in an hour or so.

I do think many of you are overlooking the part where I'm equipped with a kettle and nothing else, though Cooking is not an option, unfortunately. Food has to be straight off the shelf.

homemadecider

Deleted User wrote: »

I appreciate all the advice, guys.

Gonna take a trip to Tesco in an hour or so.

I do think many of you are overlooking the part where I'm equipped with a kettle and nothing else, though Cooking is not an option, unfortunately. Food has to be straight off the shelf.

Cook it/ prepare it the day before, bring it in a lunchbox. Eat it cold. Bring hot soup in a flask to keep it warm. You just need to be organised.

El_Dangeroso

homemadecider wrote: »

You just need to be organised.

Above all else, this is the key to long lasting weight loss. You can always go down the low-calorie ready meal route, but you'll be starving after them as they are not very filling at all.

Alf Veedersane

Most people don't have the luxury of a chef's kitchen at work. It's about what you've prepared beforehand. For example, i've had tins of tuna with some pasta i've made beforehand. But there will always be a problem if you make one. There are plenty of options if you want to consider them

Well, see, part of my issue with cooking is a lack of basic knowledge and equipment, too.

My cooking ability only goes as far as 'microwaveable in 60 seconds!' or 'oven cook for 30 minutes, turning occasionally'. I really don't know anything at all (literally) in the way of cooking.


So for the time being I aim to keep it as simple as possible, and as I get bored, hopefully learn as I go on.

I just went to tesco and picked up a few bits and pieces. This is my starting point based on reading through this thread (and buying stuff that I assume to be healthy).

One thing I notice is that everything seems to have a relatively short lifespan. Most of this stuff is out of date in 3-4 days.


Poor photos, but..







Square Board (a cake board, just so I can have a clean surface at work, where the place is generally a bit dusty)
Wholemeal (6 wholemeal wraps.. i presume these to be 'healthier' than pan bread?)
Fresh Milk (pretty self explanatory)
Carrier bag (again...)
Roast Chicken Breast (in a packet.. think i may be better off financially by just buying a whole cooked chicken?!)
Denny peppered steak slices (my dinner tonight, before commencing operation healthy food)
Cajun Chicken Breast (again, in a packet, torn lumps of chicken to mix in with the salad I bought or to make a wrap with)
Onions (onions to cut and mix in with the salad i bought)
Lettuce (see onions, above)
Salad (plastic bowl thingy. Simple Side Salad I think it's called. Plan to add some of the other stuff to it and use this as a meal?)
Tuna Chunks (tinned tuna in brine.. yum?)
Orange Juice 1.5ltr (probably not as healthy as I presume it to be?)
Tomatoes.. bastards charged me twice?! I only bought one packet! :eek: :mad:
Flask (for tea in the mornings when driving)
Pink Salmon (again, tinned, just to see what its like?)
Fromage Frais (Tesco's finest cheap-ass yogurts)
Tuna Chunks (same as tuna chunks above)
Tuna Chunks (same as tuna chunks above)


So that's pretty much me for the next couple of days (starting tuesday). I'm not sure how good or bad I did. Using that as a reference point, is there anything I probably shouldn't have gotten, or anything I should've gotten more of?

That side salad in a plastic bowl thing seems excellent value at €2! It was the last one. Looks like theres a good bit in it, for what it is, too. Presumably made with the assumption the person will add to it (like the chicken bits I bought) or use it to make a wrap (also something i intended?).

seosamh1980

The food has a shorter shelf life because it's fresh!! Can you not see that, really? What you're used to is processed crap that lives forever on a shelf, what you need to be eating is fresh healthy food that will go off because it's actually a natural product. Things don't go off that fast, I ignore best before/use by dates for the most part, I go buy the smell, look, taste, and how well I have stored the food at a suitable temperature.

I get tuna in spring water as opposed to brine, personal preference mostly.

No "off the shelf" diet will be healthy and provide warm filling nutritious meals at the same time, as most stuff that is sitting on a shelf ready to eat is processed to keep it that way, like microwaveable burgers and hot dogs *shudder*. You need to learn to cook and reheat, like most of us do and have done for years. Your options are learn nothing and keep eating the way you are, eat only uncooked foods and be mostly satisfied and healthy (but probably not totally) or learn to cook and provide yourself with delicious healthy appetising filling meals while at work.

Also, you said previously that the stickies here are only good if you already know what you're talking about. Not true. I sat down, 1.5+ stone overweight, and read the stickies here. I read, re-read, took notes, googled things I didn't understand, and learned SO much. I totally changed my diet, and lost almost 2 stone in a few months, while still being full after meals and eating delicious things. You have a defeatist attitude about this and until you change this you are not going to get anywhere with your diet.

El_Dangeroso

Deleted User wrote: »

Well, see, part of my issue with cooking is a lack of basic knowledge and equipment, too.

My cooking ability only goes as far as 'microwaveable in 60 seconds!' or 'oven cook for 30 minutes, turning occasionally'. I really don't know anything at all (literally) in the way of cooking.


So for the time being I aim to keep it as simple as possible, and as I get bored, hopefully learn as I go on.

I just went to tesco and picked up a few bits and pieces. This is my starting point based on reading through this thread (and buying stuff that I assume to be healthy).

One thing I notice is that everything seems to have a relatively short lifespan. Most of this stuff is out of date in 3-4 days.


Poor photos, but..







Square Board (a cake board, just so I can have a clean surface at work, where the place is generally a bit dusty)
Wholemeal (6 wholemeal wraps.. i presume these to be 'healthier' than pan bread?)
Fresh Milk (pretty self explanatory)
Carrier bag (again...)
Roast Chicken Breast (in a packet.. think i may be better off financially by just buying a whole cooked chicken?!)
Denny peppered steak slices (my dinner tonight, before commencing operation healthy food)
Cajun Chicken Breast (again, in a packet, torn lumps of chicken to mix in with the salad I bought or to make a wrap with)
Onions (onions to cut and mix in with the salad i bought)
Lettuce (see onions, above)
Salad (plastic bowl thingy. Simple Side Salad I think it's called. Plan to add some of the other stuff to it and use this as a meal?)
Tuna Chunks (tinned tuna in brine.. yum?)
Orange Juice 1.5ltr (probably not as healthy as I presume it to be?)
Tomatoes.. bastards charged me twice?! I only bought one packet! :eek: :mad:
Flask (for tea in the mornings when driving)
Pink Salmon (again, tinned, just to see what its like?)
Fromage Frais (Tesco's finest cheap-ass yogurts)
Tuna Chunks (same as tuna chunks above)
Tuna Chunks (same as tuna chunks above)


So that's pretty much me for the next couple of days (starting tuesday). I'm not sure how good or bad I did. Using that as a reference point, is there anything I probably shouldn't have gotten, or anything I should've gotten more of?

That side salad in a plastic bowl thing seems excellent value at €2! It was the last one. Looks like theres a good bit in it, for what it is, too. Presumably made with the assumption the person will add to it (like the chicken bits I bought) or use it to make a wrap (also something i intended?).

I think what you've bought is not the worst starting point in the world, I'm sure it's way better than what you were eating before, there's a lot of nice veg in there, which is great. One thing that might be a good addition is some snacks like little cheese cubes, small bags of almonds or hard boiled eggs.

I think go with that for a few days this week and report back how you are getting on and we can tweak it to fix any issues that might arise.

On the cooking front you are going to have to learn, I'm afraid there's no way around that. For example the chicken pieces you bought are so expensive for what they are.

You can roast a chicken easily by heating the oven up to 200C, once it's preheated put in the chicken for 1 hour. Turn the heat off and leave for one hour, but don't open the door. This is a failsafe way to get a moist bird and then you have chicken for 6 lunches for under a tenner.

The_Pretender

Deleted User wrote: »

Square Board (a cake board, just so I can have a clean surface at work, where the place is generally a bit dusty)
Wholemeal (6 wholemeal wraps.. i presume these to be 'healthier' than pan bread?) Defintely better than white bread, couldn't say if it's any better or worse than wholemeal bread though
Fresh Milk (pretty self explanatory)
Carrier bag (again...)
Roast Chicken Breast (in a packet.. think i may be better off financially by just buying a whole cooked chicken?!) Definitely better off buying a whole chicken, or in my case I just buy breasts and cook them.
Denny peppered steak slices (my dinner tonight, before commencing operation healthy food)
Cajun Chicken Breast (again, in a packet, torn lumps of chicken to mix in with the salad I bought or to make a wrap with) Same as the roast chicken, it's handy enough to mix a few spices in when preparing and cooking chicken
Onions (onions to cut and mix in with the salad i bought)
Lettuce (see onions, above)
Salad (plastic bowl thingy. Simple Side Salad I think it's called. Plan to add some of the other stuff to it and use this as a meal?) With the salad, you'd really be better off buying all the ingredients separately and preparing it yourself. Not hard at all to make one, and as it is you're already mixing it up throwing your own stuff in.
Tuna Chunks (tinned tuna in brine.. yum?)
Orange Juice 1.5ltr (probably not as healthy as I presume it to be?) Loaded with sugar so keep it to a minimum
Tomatoes.. bastards charged me twice?! I only bought one packet! :eek: :mad:
Flask (for tea in the mornings when driving) One would also be very handy to throw some soup into (homemade obvously )
Pink Salmon (again, tinned, just to see what its like?)
Fromage Frais (Tesco's finest cheap- ass yogurts ) Not a fan of them myself but whatever you're into :eek:
Tuna Chunks (same as tuna chunks above)
Tuna Chunks

.

seosamh1980

Also, why a cake board?? You can't cut anything on them, the paper will tear and deteriorate, if it gets wet with water, tomatoes, etc it's fecked. Just buy a chopping board or place mat or something.

Pre-cut pre-cooked chicken will go off fast. Just buy a load of chicken fillets from a decent butcher, freeze them, cook as needed.

Oryx

If you know anyone who can cook, get them to teach you a simple recipe. Nothing beats a hands on demo. Buy a 'four ingredients' cookbook, and watch you tube cookery demos. Buy what are called 'pantry staples' - basic spices, oils and seasonings to allow you to cook properly. Cooking isn't a black art, it is a basic skill that can be learned.

Five easy recipes - just five! - will get you through a working week, you can build from there. It will be the best thing you ever teach yourself.

seosamh1980

seosamh1980 wrote: »

The food has a shorter shelf life because it's fresh!! Can you not see that, really? What you're used to is processed crap that lives forever on a shelf, what you need to be eating is fresh healthy food that will go off because it's actually a natural product. Things don't go off that fast, I ignore best before/use by dates for the most part, I go buy the smell, look, taste, and how well I have stored the food at a suitable temperature.

I get tuna in spring water as opposed to brine, personal preference mostly.

No "off the shelf" diet will be healthy and provide warm filling nutritious meals at the same time, as most stuff that is sitting on a shelf ready to eat is processed to keep it that way, like microwaveable burgers and hot dogs *shudder*. You need to learn to cook and reheat, like most of us do and have done for years. Your options are learn nothing and keep eating the way you are, eat only uncooked foods and be mostly satisfied and healthy (but probably not totally) or learn to cook and provide yourself with delicious healthy appetising filling meals while at work.

Also, you said previously that the stickies here are only good if you already know what you're talking about. Not true. I sat down, 1.5+ stone overweight, and read the stickies here. I read, re-read, took notes, googled things I didn't understand, and learned SO much. I totally changed my diet, and lost almost 2 stone in a few months, while still being full after meals and eating delicious things. You have a defeatist attitude about this and until you change this you are not going to get anywhere with your diet.

Aren't you just fantastic!

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

I think what you've bought is not the worst starting point in the world, I'm sure it's way better than what you were eating before, there's a lot of nice veg in there, which is great. One thing that might be a good addition is some snacks like little cheese cubes, small bags of almonds or hard boiled eggs.

I think go with that for a few days this week and report back how you are getting on and we can tweak it to fix any issues that might arise.

On the cooking front you are going to have to learn, I'm afraid there's no way around that. For example the chicken pieces you bought are so expensive for what they are.

You can roast a chicken easily by heating the oven up to 200C, once it's preheated put in the chicken for 1 hour. Turn the heat off and leave for one hour, but don't open the door. This is a failsafe way to get a moist bird and then you have chicken for 6 lunches for under a tenner.

Cheers. I was actually looking at the nuts in tesco (as someone said previously, they have a stand in the Fruit and Veg section). Was looking at them and wasn't really feeling them at all. Didn't look very appetising and I don't think I'm much of a nut person in general (i've had those mixed bags of nuts before, but generally can't take to the taste of many of them).

Also thought they were quite expensive all in all (€3+ for a small bag). They're probably something I'll explore when I get a bit fed up of what I currently got, but they'd be relatively low down on the list of priorities for me, in all honesty.


I'll try that with the roast chicken, but to be honest, I'm pretty sure I can buy a full cooked chicken in the local centra for something silly like €5. Then tear it apart to use as I wish (had actually forgotten about it until reading your post). Would I be right in saying a chicken is a chicken and it doesn't make much odds if I roast it myself or buy it already cooked?


On the cooking front, I actually do want to learn. Would love to know how to whip up stuff. Even basic baking would be handy, but I've no good starting point at all.

I (loosely) know a girl that's big into fitness and healthy eating. May see if I can pester her into giving me some tips. I find Youtube, books, etc. useless. Need to actually have someone standing there to explain (silly I know...).

seosamh1980 wrote: »

Also, why a cake board??

Deleted User wrote: »

Square Board (a cake board, just so I can have a clean surface at work, where the place is generally a bit dusty)

The_Pretender wrote: »

.

Ass-yogurt isn't very appetizing, no.. haha.

Yeah I assumed Orange Juice would be loaded in sugar alright, but for some reason always looked at it as a 'healthy' drink in general. Any alternative suggestions at all (except water, obviously)?

Would like to have something with a taste to drink that's not Coke or 7up (or soft drinks in general).


Might just buy regular everyday wholemeal pan bread in future then, rather than the wraps. Kinda of figured they'd be about the same (though the novelty of using wraps might, if nothing else, keep me entertained for a while, as I've never really used them before).

Oryx wrote: »

If you know anyone who can cook, get them to teach you a simple recipe. Nothing beats a hands on demo. Buy a 'four ingredients' cookbook, and watch you tube cookery demos. Buy what are called 'pantry staples' - basic spices, oils and seasonings to allow you to cook properly. Cooking isn't a black art, it is a basic skill that can be learned.

Five easy recipes - just five! - will get you through a working week, you can build from there. It will be the best thing you ever teach yourself.

As I say, would love to be able to cook. I actually have a book that was given to me (possibly as a joke) called 'Cheaper than chips, better than toast'. I never really looked at it though. It's supposed to be over-simplified recipes I think. Must actually dig it out now that I'm trying to take it all a bit more seriously.



On the photography forum, whenever anyone asks for a learning tool, a book called Understanding Exposure is generally the go-to suggestion. Almost universally accepted on the forum as the 'idiot's guide to photography', as it takes everything and explains it all in a very basic, simplified manner. Ideal for beginners who don't want the 'science' of photography, as it's too much information and turns them off.


Is there a cookbook equivalent that ye guys can recommend? (not sure if i've asked or explained that correctly).


Cheers again for all the helpful advice guys. Very much appreciated. I'm looking forward to seeing how I get on this week, now. I think that's the healthiest shopping I've ever done :pac:

seosamh1980

Wasn't trying to toot my own horn, I was trying to show you that this is possible and easy, not what you wanted to read no? Good luck, you'll need it.

El_Dangeroso

Deleted User wrote: »

Aren't you just fantastic!
I'll try that with the roast chicken, but to be honest, I'm pretty sure I can buy a full cooked chicken in the local centra for something silly like €5. Then tear it apart to use as I wish (had actually forgotten about it until reading your post). Would I be right in saying a chicken is a chicken and it doesn't make much odds if I roast it myself or buy it already cooked?

On a gram for gram basis cooking your own chicken is cheaper. And I don't know if you care about this but those 5 euro roast chickens were probably not kept in the best conditions and this does affect the nutrition.

Plus imagine the satisfaction you'll get from doing it all by yourself.:)

seosamh1980

seosamh1980 wrote: »

Wasn't trying to toot my own horn, I was trying to show you that this is possible and easy, not what you wanted to read no? Good luck, you'll need it.

Ah, it was probably just my reading of it, but it came across quite condescending. Not exactly helpful to someone trying to figure out where the first step on the ladder actually is


I'm sure you meant well, though. My apologies for being sarcastic in return.

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

On a gram for gram basis cooking your own chicken is cheaper. And I don't know if you care about this but those 5 euro roast chickens were probably not kept in the best conditions and this does affect the nutrition.

Plus imagine the satisfaction you'll get from doing it all by yourself.:)

Would the lifestyle of a chicken really really affect it's nutritional qualities? (genuine question, by the way).

And I do agree, doing it myself would be great. And I know that as time goes on I'll have to learn to cook, but Im just trying to keep everything overly simplified for the moment.

El_Dangeroso

Deleted User wrote: »

Would the lifestyle of a chicken really really affect it's nutritional qualities? (genuine question, by the way).

And I do agree, doing it myself would be great. And I know that as time goes on I'll have to learn to cook, but Im just trying to keep everything overly simplified for the moment.

Yep, free range chucks can roam outside and eat greens and bugs, this does contribute to a healthier and more nutritious chicken.

It honestly doesn't get simpler than roasting a chicken, if you can cook a frozen pizza then you can roast a chicken.

Oryx

Home cooked chicken tastes better. Invite your fit friend over for a roast dinner on condition they advise you on the cooking!

Nobody here is being condescending, they want to see you succeed. No one should have to live on ready meals and deli food!

Its cheaper to buy nuts from the baking section in non mixed bags. If you do manage to adapt your diet you will notice your tastes changing and nuts may become more appealing. I used to hate almonds, now they are a treat.

You can buy chicken fillets cheaply at the butcher and the simplest thing to do is put some flour on a plate, add some salt and pepper, lay the chicken on it so you coat it all over with flour, then fry in a little oil on a pan. (Medium flame -cook till no pink inside) Can be eaten hot or cold and you will learn as you go on how to make it tastier with sauces and flavours.

jlm29

I'm on my phone, so it's too awkward to go back and quote, but as regards the cake board- I think seosamh was asking why a cake board as opposed to a chopping board. If you bought a decent chopping board, it would last, as opposed to having to replace that cake board, Bevause it will get damaged as you work on it.

Don't forget to eat enough op. Make sure you don't have lunch in the middle of the day and then forget about eating any other meals. Less isn't more when you're trying to lose weight!

thegreatiam

if you have a kettle then you can have a slow cooker.
a bona fide muppet can cook healthy tasty meals with those on a regular basis. no prep, no mess.

chuck meat and veg and sauce in the slow cooker when you get to work, by the time you are hungry your food is cooked.

The_Pretender

Deleted User wrote: »

Aren't you just fantastic!



Ass-yogurt isn't very appetizing, no.. haha.

Yeah I assumed Orange Juice would be loaded in sugar alright, but for some reason always looked at it as a 'healthy' drink in general. Any alternative suggestions at all (except water, obviously)?

Would like to have something with a taste to drink that's not Coke or 7up (or soft drinks in general).


Might just buy regular everyday wholemeal pan bread in future then, rather than the wraps. Kinda of figured they'd be about the same (though the novelty of using wraps might, if nothing else, keep me entertained for a while, as I've never really used them

Yeah they say orange juice has the same amount of sugar as coke :eek:

If you like dilute drinks at all then that would be something to have to help get you off fizzys. I love a pint of Miwadi or Robinson double concentrate, little drop of that in your water turns it completely into something else and a lot less calories in it.

Mandelbrotset

Hey just signed up here because like you I've made a big commitment to diet change, best of luck with your endeavor BTW, the first small steps are usually the hardest. Now I'm in a slightly different predicament in so far as I was a veggie for an absolute age and have just switched back onto meat, so a few days ago I found myself standing in the meat isle in Tesco; utterly bewildered (I also found myself on here). No idea what to eat, or how to cook it, the first thing I reached for were them Cajun chicken packs you have in your picture;) great minds eh? Not the ultimate best choice granted, but there you go.

Anyway, you posted up here, and got some really good general advice, but I think you were looking for something more specific as it is a bit of a daunting task to begin with making a radical diet change. Here are two Tesco meals:

Bag of mixed salad, lots of color. Fresh basil leaves, torn up. Red/white cabbage chopped raw big handful. Handful of walnuts and hazel nuts, chop them up. Semi-sundried tomatoes. Peppers/cucumber/onion or whatever. Boiled eggs, chopped up. Ball of fresh mozzarella, tear it up or/and chicken/turkey... Stick all of that in a massive bowl and splash a little olive oil maybe a squeeze of lemon or lime, mix it up. That's one massive meal that requires little more than opening bags and bit of chopping.

Carton of Tomato passata (or mashed up tin of chopped tomatoes). Some chopped garlic / garlic paste or garlic salt. Spoon of basil, spoon of thyme, splash of chili powder a little salt if you want. Splash of olive oil. Stick it in a pot, cover and boil for 15/20 min. When nearly done throw in a couple of cooked chicken breasts. Eat hot or cold.

Alternative to soft drinks, OJ, get some sparking water, squeeze in some lemon and lime juice - natural 7up?



Best of luck.

Sincere thanks again to everyone who's helping me out here. Mandelbrotset, I wish you the very best of luck, too.


Regarding the Cake Board; I bought it as I seen it, and it was €2.50. It's not inherently tied into my healthy eating plans, but it was on the receipt, so I figured I'd include a mention of it in the post i made so there wouldnt be any ambiguity in regards to what 'board' was on the receipt

I'll most likely replace it with a chopping board at some point, but for the moment, if it lasts a couple of days, it'll do. It's just cheap and cheerful and, to be honest, I hadn't even thought about a chopping board until it was mentioned on here.

First day of trying to eat healthy/back at work is tomorrow, so fingers crossed I'll actually like the barrage of greenery I'm bringing with me :pac:

howamidifferent

I've managed to shed 3 stone on the Adam Ant diet. It's really very easy: Don't chew ever, don't chew ever.

Eating at the moment - Added some tomato and onion to the tesco side salad bowl, and some of the torn cajun chicken slices.





The contents were actually very tasty and satisfying (owing mostly to the chicken and onion, admittedly) just jesus christ that wholemeal wrap is atrocious.

I'm aware they're better off when heated, and I'm eating it cold, which probably doesn't help, but it's like eating cardboard. Would've been much better off with a wholemal pan. Even the smell... eurgh.

Other than that, I actually enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. Feel full now, too (wasn't anticipating that). I estimate that if i were to eat everything I brought with me (which i most likely will), I'll have taken in ~1,000 calories.

According to the 'simple side salad' bowl, there are only 32 calories in the whole thing? Seems a bit low? (i know im reverting back to simple calorie counting as a means of controlling diet, and ye guys are harping on about learning the nutritional values of the foods, which is fair enough, but I'm just trying to keep it simple early on).



Now, the reason I posted the photo isn't so i can be like of those Facebook people, but to ask about the amount of food/content on the wrap. I, as a general rule of thumb, don't quite grasp portion control. What I put on it seems fair enough to me, but I figured i'd ask if any other could commect? There's about 1/3 of that side salad bowl, 1/3 of the packet of chicken, 1/4th of an onion and about 1/2 a tomato in there.


Or am I being a bit unrealistic in assuming anyone would be able to even take a guess based on a photograph like that?


Sorry if I'm just being a bit of a nuisance at the moment, but just trying to find my feet and all that

Thank you.

Deleted User

Deleted User wrote: »

I appreciate all the advice, guys.

Gonna take a trip to Tesco in an hour or so.

I do think many of you are overlooking the part where I'm equipped with a kettle and nothing else, though Cooking is not an option, unfortunately. Food has to be straight off the shelf.

Eh, you have a frying pan at home don't you? Cook it there and bring it with you. You don't have to eat it hot.

Buy chicken fillets, buy green isle frozen veg, put oil in the frying pan and lash everything in til it's cooked, stir regularly. Throw in random spices you like the smell of, and experiment. Very easy.
Or slice some beef finely and use that instead with peanut oil and peanut butter, and you've got a nice satay stir fry. Cashew nuts in the fry as well will be lovely

Om nom nom

mikeshelp

I have found the best way for me is to boil some chicken fillets the night before and take them to work the next day. I also use the Tesco fusion rice with the chicken and this is a very easy but also tasty meal. hope this gives you some idea of what can be done with out a lot of effort....cheers

thegreatiam

You really over think this stuff.

portion control, for every meal:
hand full of meat, 2 hand fulls of veg.

Mandelbrotset

Deleted User wrote: »

Or am I being a bit unrealistic in assuming anyone would be able to even take a guess based on a photograph like that?

Wrap 171 cal, chicken about 40 cal (1/4 of a full pack), everything else 20 cal.
http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-tesco-plain-wrap-tortillas-i80485
http://www.tesco.ie/groceries/Product/Details/?id=268876140

Looks like there are more calories in that 1 wrap than there is in a full pack of that cajun chicken I think you already know what tastes better:)

alias no.9

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Hi guys,

I've started doing a bit of work lately that involves me workin alone and away from civilisation for 12 hour shifts at a time.


As the location is so out of the way, there are no shops around, no food delivery places, restaurants, etc. so all i can eat is what I pack with me. There is an office I stay in throughout my shift, but it has no applicances (no microwave, no kettle, no oven, etc.).

I plan to bring a kettle in with me from now on though (need to have a cup of tea).


The job is not physically demanding, but has a bit of downtime, during which I plan to do some exercising. The area has a large driveway into it, which i can jog on, etc. so I'm planning to bring in some small weights, etc. and working on my fitness while im here (im terribly out of shape).


My normal diet consists of bouts of Haribo and ovenised pastry foods, etc. but because I have to pack my lunch in the morning for work, i now have the ability to just pack a healthy lunch and because Im working in the middle of nowhere, I have to stick to what I brought with me (ie; i can't impulsively decide to pop over the shop across the road for a roll, for example, as there are no shops around).


This is good as it means I can't give into cravings or such. It's bad as it means all the food i eat must be 'off the shelf' (it can't require cooking of any kind).


I've only been doing the job for 3 days, and so far my packed lunches have consisted of sandwiches (wholemeal bread, buttered with ham and lettuce) and bananas. I've also brought in a couple of packets of sweets and such (fruit pastilles, haribo, etc.) but that was more to do with me just having them in the car by chance and getting picky and going out and chomping away.


So... here's what I thought I'd ask ye guys...


Can you recommend a diet of food that I can eat that will be low in calories (weight loss is my primary intention) yet somewhat filling (as i plan to exercise and dont want to starve myself) and that I can literally (and i stress the word literally) pick up in a Tesco and throw in the back seat of the car until i get to work?


Am I limited to fruit and sandwiches here?

I know there are stickies on the basics of nutrition and all that, but I've been hovering around these forums for a while and never really enjoyed the over-calculated approach set out by many here (ie; my knowledge starts and ends with calorie counting - Despite reading the stickies more than once, i just can't seem to absorb the information. Possibly due to lack of interest, if im completely honest).


My shopping, due to practicality, is also limited to Tesco (which is handy, as, if someone suggests something, i can find it on their site to see the products stats, price, etc.).


I don't mind bananas and sandwiches, really, but just thought I'd throw up a thread in the hopes that someone may have a nice variety of food that I can try out (may hate some of it, but no harm trying).

Also, the 'off the shelf' approach is largely to do with me being too lazy o actually cook or prepare food properly, and after a 12 hour shift, being too knackered to start putting food together and such.



Sorry for the long thread, I probably rambled on a bit much, but I just thought I'd throw it up and ask ye guys.


Cheers

If the weight you're carrying is mostly around your gut, cut out all the sugar which looks like the biggest offender you've posted in your OP and any white bread. This alone will make a big difference in a pretty short timeframe.