Meal Ideas

[RachelAnne96]

I'm quite a fussy eater and find it difficult to find healthy recipes for meals throughout the day.

if anyone could give me ideas i would be very greatfull

[Zest Healthy BMI]

Hi RachelAnne96,

I don't know in what way you are 'fussy' but I just saw quite an interesting website which suggests food swaps and ideas for people who dislike certain foods - it lists some healthy alternatives that provide the adequate nutrients included in the food that is disliked. I just took a quick look, and wonder if you might find it helpful.

eatingwell.com/nutrition_he...

Hope you find some good ideas from it, depending on your own personal food preferences.

Lowcal

[Zest Healthy BMI]

Hi Concerned,

As I suggested the above website as a potential link that RachelAnne might like to consider, I'd just like to say that I am wondering why you are suggesting that the humble jacket potato would not be considered to be healthy. There is an article here which advocates all the healthy benefits of potatoes in general, and I would presume a jacket potato is healthier still as it's got the fibre of its 'jacket':

dailymail.co.uk/health/arti...

I also think baked beans are healthy - all the lycopene in the tomato sauce, and all the fibre and nutrients in the beans. I agree that some tins of baked beans might have too much salt perhaps, but people can look for lower salt varieties, or make their own if they want to be sure of what is in the baked beans.

Lowcal

[linggirl]

I've always loved cooking but for day to day meals i tended to be stuck in a rut, but when I started this weight loss plan I knew that I needed to.become more adventurous with my recipes in order to sustain my interest. After some recommendations from this site I bought some of the Hairy Dieters books and some of the weight watchers mini recipe books. I don't eat eat meat, am diabetic and have kidney disease so I guess you could say im a bit of a fussy eater. But by using these books and the internet and Good Food magazine I've found plenty of recipes to try.

My advice is to have a hunt around find two or three recipes that you fancy trying and begin with those. My favourite of the moment is tofu and pepper kebabs with peanut sauce, they are yummy and I have to admit that I'd never even thought about making my own kebabs before.

Good luck

[Zest Healthy BMI]

Hi again,

In further support of the health benefits of baked beans - plus some other foods that are listed, you could look at this article:

telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrin...

Lowcal

[June1965]

Calm down !!! Calm down!!! 😘😜. It's only a jacket.......& beans.......Lol

[Zest Healthy BMI in reply to June1965]

Sounds like a lovely healthy combination!

[Hidden]

Hi Concerned. I understand this is an emotive subject for you. My parents are also both diabetic. If its any comfort when my dad was diagnosed with type II in the 1980s he was warned off all carbohydrates. We would mock that his meals were like 'nouvelle cuisine' because they were just a bit of fish and some peas/carrots. He was given some ridiculous ultimatum like lose weight or you'll die before 50, which he did (lose weight, not die!). As I understand it this initial advice came from his diabetic doctors, although he also read up on controlling diabetes through diet and went to diabetes conferences. He didn't just reduce his blood sugar and lose several stones in weight, but also stopped 'falling asleep' after dinner. He realised this was to do with having dangerously high blood sugar that his body wasn't combatting, because of insufficient insulin production, and it turned out this was really dangerous (he'd been 'falling asleep' after dinner for most of his adult life). But what I'm wondering is the rest of my family didn't feel tired after carb-heavy meals. And what's more dad got a bit obsessed about blood sugar testing. For example he'd ask me to do one of those finger-prick blood tests straight after a choc bar etc, to see if my blood sugar was too high. But there was never any raised level, I guess this is due to the insulin spike you describe? But as I understand it, if a healthy person is producing sufficient insulin (not too little nor too much) then they aren't in any danger? Or have you found that any insulin production at all is dangerous for everyone?

[Looneytunes]

I think it all depends on how fast you want to lose weight. I love a jacket spud with beans and cheese but it's very calorific and high in carbs even without the cheese so I don't have it so often. We don't need a high carb diet unless we are A grade athletes. We burn carbs by exercising which in turn stopping us burning fat so if you wish to drop inches fast, avoid carbs as much as possible. They are worse than ingesting fats.

[Hidden]

My dad was 'normal' but also we have a very high proportion of diabetics in my family, so I think there's a genetic factor too. In my dad's case, lots of full fat coke, mars bars and a general sweet tooth were blamed (not jacket potatoes ), esp as he got type II so early on (in his 30s). Thanks for clarifying it's overproduction not underproduction of insulin that causes the 'sleep'. I always get confused how it works. Being at risk of inheriting diabetes I've been advised to watch my weight especially weight gained round the waist. I think this is what you mean re visceral fat - the type of fat that leads to being overweight especially around the waist. But the risk factor of healthy insulin spikes developing into unhealthy insulin spikes is interesting, and I'm going to ask my doc about this. For the record I don't think a jacket potato would make anyone diabetic, although your mum should have been advised of the potential for potato to raise blood sugar levels in the context of managing diabetes through diet.

[Hidden]

Okay I'll check this with my doc. Your diabetes prevention knowledge could surely be put to use somewhere better than on here, a place where people primarily share tips for following the nhs weight loss plan. Perhaps you already work as a dietician or nutritionist? Or if not have you considered following that path? There may be more effective ways to share your diabetes prevention information that actually affects things like the unhelpful diet plan your mum was given. Or if you fundamentally disagree with the nhs weight loss plan, perhaps you could address that at source through entering a role in the department that wrote it?

[charly492]

I really like the Hairy Dieters books. Really yummy and filling meals. My partner also eats them which is an added bonus as he is quite fussy too!

[alex7ra]

They say that if you eat foods a certain number of times then your tast buds adapt and you come to like them. Why don't you pick a couple of healthy foods and make yourself eat them to make sure you get the right nutrients? It's good for your wellbeing and you will end up liking them!

[Hidden]

I joined this site to share my weight loss journey with likeminded people, who would all be following the weight loss plan too. I've realised now that not everyone is following the NHS plan, some are on slimming world, or some just using common sense. But the main thing is we're all trying to lose weight. I think your Making Every Contact Count diabetes prevention strategy doesn't help with the site's common aim. If you're not here to lose weight too, as one of us, then it feels instead like you're judging our every move. Diabetes, however serious it is for those who suffer it, is only one among many illnesses that can result from an unhealthy diet/lifestyle. Health related illnesses are not the crux of what this forum's about. It's not really appropriate to be evangelising about diabetes prevention on here any more than it would be to evangelise about e.g. dental caries prevention or eating disorder prevention, both of which could arguably be caused by the food choices shared on this site. Your knowledge is perhaps better suited elsewhere, where we could refer to it as we wished to away from this weight loss forum.