Lots of good advice here.
I think the most helpful health advice I ever received was to pick a small amount of meals that are easy to prepare, and stick with them.
You can pretty much eat meat and veggies until you are full, without worrying about calories.
Here are a few of my go-to meals (most of them are quite affordable as well):
1. Burrito Bowl: shred up a few cups of fresh spinach, then spoon out half an avocado. Squeeze a slice of lemon over it, and sprinkle some sea salt overtop. Finally, add a cup of pre-cooked ground beef. Finish with a few dobs of Franks Red Hot and mix it all up.
(I've eaten this at least 5 times a week for the past 4 years, and never get tired of it)
You can mix it up by using kale or broccoli instead of spinach, lime instead of lemon, or adding some cilantro. Of course, you can add salsa instead of hot sauce, but so much salsa has shit in it. Get a salsa that has just tomatoes and veggies (no sugar).
Avoid guac mix, don't add sour cream or cheese as a topping, don't add beans.
Ground beef recipe: get the best quality beef you can afford and source (grass fed ideally, and avoid extra lean cos you want some fat in there). Add some onions in a pan and saute them in either olive or coconut or avocado oil. Toss in the beef and sprinkle salt and pepper and garlic powder over it. Mix up it real good. If you like spicy, toss in some red pepper flakes. Once the meat has started to brown, sprinkle in a lot more pepper and add some chili powder. Pour in some apple cider vinegar, then mix it up again. Turn the heat as low as possible, cover it, and let it sit for at least 20 min.
When you are ready to eat the meat, take out a cups-worth, and toss in a pan. Heat it up on low (avoid the microwave if you can). You can assemble the rest of your burrito bowl, as above, in about 2 min. It makes for such a satisfying lunch that is so quick to put together (provided you pre-cook the beef).
Get a popcorn bowl and fill it up and chow down! I like to have this right after a noon workout.
2. Roasted chicken quarters w/ cooked veg & salad: from now on, think of 3 course dinner as 1 meat, 1 cooked veg, and 1 raw veg.
Rub a little oil on the chicken (same oils as above). Then mix together some spices and put them on both sides of the chicken.
FUCK pre-packaged spices. The ones in most grocery stores have poo in them, and the fancy ones are overpriced. Buy your spices in bulk and make your own mixes. 2 simple ones for chicken: (a) 1 part salt, 1 part pepper, 1 part garlic, 1/2 part oregano, 1/2 part mint; (b) 1 part salt, 1 part pepper, 1 part garlic, 1/2 part cumin, 1/2 part paprika.
Roast your chicken in the oven, low and slow. Figure out what you like best, but I prefer something like 300C for 1.5 hours, with maybe a few minutes of broiling at the end to really crisp it up.
This chicken is delicious cold as well, so you can pre-cook tons of it.
Pair it with a steamed veg. Get a high quality pot, throw in your veg (could be broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, a mixture of them all). Put in a spoonful of water or two. Cover. Heat on low for 10-15 min. On my pot, once you can spin the lid with minimal effort, the temp is ideal (not sure if that works on other pots). You can turn the stove off and let the ambient heat do the rest. After another 5 minutes or so, take off the lid and empty out the water. Keep the veg in the pot and add some healthy fat (coconut oil or raw butter ideally, but ghee or grassfed pasteurized butter would work). Again, letting the ambient heat of the pot take over, just stir a little bit and let the fat slowly melt for a few minutes. I also really love brussels sprouts, but it's easier to boil them a bit first, then remove the water and let them sit in the pan on low heat for a bit, then add the fat of your choice.
Pair this with your chicken and a salad portion, and you are good to go.
2b. Salads
Cabbage + apple + green onions: chop these all up (4 parts cabbage, 2 parts apple, 1/2 part onion) and keep them in a large tupperware container. They will stay tasty for up to a week. When you are ready to eat, pull out your portion and douse it with some apple cider vinegar, and a bit of salt (preferably Maldon, but that Himalayan stuff is good, too). Finish with a little oil and mix up.
Chard + sweet onion + pear: mix it all up and make sure the onion is chopped very fine. Similar to above ratio -- 4 parts chard, 2 parts pear, 1/2 part onion. Add some Balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper, and oil. If you want to get really decadent, toss in some crushed walnuts and instead of the basic topping make a fancier dressing from apple cider vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, mustard, and honey. Don't pre-make this salad though, because it doesn't keep for very long.
3. Every now and again treat yourself to a great cut of steak (I prefer ribeye), a roast sweet potato, and a salad side. Pair it with a nice red wine.
OP (or anyone else) if you found that tasty and helpful, I have a few more easy and cheap recipes for pork and fish as well, and a few more veggie/starch sides.
The key here is to learn to lean on a few foundational ingredients that you can also use for various health regimens. The two classics on this board are
Coconut Oil
&
Apple Cider Vinegar (raw)
So many recipes can be enhanced using these two ingredients.
This post is already getting too long, but I left out two other amazing ingredients that you should try to sneak into common meals:
- beets (boiled, roasted, or juiced raw)
- garlic (slice it up and let it sit for a few minutes... then either cook it on low with your meats, add it raw to salads, or roast it with other veg)
I think the most helpful health advice I ever received was to pick a small amount of meals that are easy to prepare, and stick with them.
You can pretty much eat meat and veggies until you are full, without worrying about calories.
Here are a few of my go-to meals (most of them are quite affordable as well):
1. Burrito Bowl: shred up a few cups of fresh spinach, then spoon out half an avocado. Squeeze a slice of lemon over it, and sprinkle some sea salt overtop. Finally, add a cup of pre-cooked ground beef. Finish with a few dobs of Franks Red Hot and mix it all up.
(I've eaten this at least 5 times a week for the past 4 years, and never get tired of it)
You can mix it up by using kale or broccoli instead of spinach, lime instead of lemon, or adding some cilantro. Of course, you can add salsa instead of hot sauce, but so much salsa has shit in it. Get a salsa that has just tomatoes and veggies (no sugar).
Avoid guac mix, don't add sour cream or cheese as a topping, don't add beans.
Ground beef recipe: get the best quality beef you can afford and source (grass fed ideally, and avoid extra lean cos you want some fat in there). Add some onions in a pan and saute them in either olive or coconut or avocado oil. Toss in the beef and sprinkle salt and pepper and garlic powder over it. Mix up it real good. If you like spicy, toss in some red pepper flakes. Once the meat has started to brown, sprinkle in a lot more pepper and add some chili powder. Pour in some apple cider vinegar, then mix it up again. Turn the heat as low as possible, cover it, and let it sit for at least 20 min.
When you are ready to eat the meat, take out a cups-worth, and toss in a pan. Heat it up on low (avoid the microwave if you can). You can assemble the rest of your burrito bowl, as above, in about 2 min. It makes for such a satisfying lunch that is so quick to put together (provided you pre-cook the beef).
Get a popcorn bowl and fill it up and chow down! I like to have this right after a noon workout.
2. Roasted chicken quarters w/ cooked veg & salad: from now on, think of 3 course dinner as 1 meat, 1 cooked veg, and 1 raw veg.
Rub a little oil on the chicken (same oils as above). Then mix together some spices and put them on both sides of the chicken.
FUCK pre-packaged spices. The ones in most grocery stores have poo in them, and the fancy ones are overpriced. Buy your spices in bulk and make your own mixes. 2 simple ones for chicken: (a) 1 part salt, 1 part pepper, 1 part garlic, 1/2 part oregano, 1/2 part mint; (b) 1 part salt, 1 part pepper, 1 part garlic, 1/2 part cumin, 1/2 part paprika.
Roast your chicken in the oven, low and slow. Figure out what you like best, but I prefer something like 300C for 1.5 hours, with maybe a few minutes of broiling at the end to really crisp it up.
This chicken is delicious cold as well, so you can pre-cook tons of it.
Pair it with a steamed veg. Get a high quality pot, throw in your veg (could be broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, a mixture of them all). Put in a spoonful of water or two. Cover. Heat on low for 10-15 min. On my pot, once you can spin the lid with minimal effort, the temp is ideal (not sure if that works on other pots). You can turn the stove off and let the ambient heat do the rest. After another 5 minutes or so, take off the lid and empty out the water. Keep the veg in the pot and add some healthy fat (coconut oil or raw butter ideally, but ghee or grassfed pasteurized butter would work). Again, letting the ambient heat of the pot take over, just stir a little bit and let the fat slowly melt for a few minutes. I also really love brussels sprouts, but it's easier to boil them a bit first, then remove the water and let them sit in the pan on low heat for a bit, then add the fat of your choice.
Pair this with your chicken and a salad portion, and you are good to go.
2b. Salads
Cabbage + apple + green onions: chop these all up (4 parts cabbage, 2 parts apple, 1/2 part onion) and keep them in a large tupperware container. They will stay tasty for up to a week. When you are ready to eat, pull out your portion and douse it with some apple cider vinegar, and a bit of salt (preferably Maldon, but that Himalayan stuff is good, too). Finish with a little oil and mix up.
Chard + sweet onion + pear: mix it all up and make sure the onion is chopped very fine. Similar to above ratio -- 4 parts chard, 2 parts pear, 1/2 part onion. Add some Balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper, and oil. If you want to get really decadent, toss in some crushed walnuts and instead of the basic topping make a fancier dressing from apple cider vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, mustard, and honey. Don't pre-make this salad though, because it doesn't keep for very long.
3. Every now and again treat yourself to a great cut of steak (I prefer ribeye), a roast sweet potato, and a salad side. Pair it with a nice red wine.
OP (or anyone else) if you found that tasty and helpful, I have a few more easy and cheap recipes for pork and fish as well, and a few more veggie/starch sides.
The key here is to learn to lean on a few foundational ingredients that you can also use for various health regimens. The two classics on this board are
Coconut Oil
&
Apple Cider Vinegar (raw)
So many recipes can be enhanced using these two ingredients.
This post is already getting too long, but I left out two other amazing ingredients that you should try to sneak into common meals:
- beets (boiled, roasted, or juiced raw)
- garlic (slice it up and let it sit for a few minutes... then either cook it on low with your meats, add it raw to salads, or roast it with other veg)