diet for a family man?

ashleydwsmith

Can anyone help with a sensible diet for a dad of two who doesnt have loadsa cash.
Every diet I have looked at altough is relatively simple and has some nice food, is not really practical for kids, and would end being too expensive having to effectovely buy twice.
Also some of the lucnhes are a bit too much such as fillet beef and potatoes, hmmmm.
Any tips or advice.

meursault

Reduce portion size, good balance, more cycling, jobs a good un. All that diet stuff is crap.

ChrisSA

Buy fresh fruit, veg & meat and cook the food rather than ready made meals etc.

LegendLust

Plenty of veg and fruit. Increase protein (eggs are cheap and loads can be done with them), reduce carbs, especially grains, replace with starchy veg. Roasting Sweet potato wedges would be a child pleaser.

Cut out sugar and processed foods.

kajjal

ChrisSA wrote:

Buy fresh fruit, veg & meat and cook the food rather than ready made meals etc.

This is the best advice. Also cut out sugary stuff as well. To make things easier you can make chilli's, curries etc in large quantities and freeze the extra for a quick any easy meal whenever needed. Do this and you don't need to diet as long as you don't over eat.

team47b

keep a food diary, record everything you eat, and the quantity, in a week then review it and see what you can swap or leave out.

Eating less shouldn't cost more

diamonddog

meursault wrote:

Reduce portion size, good balance, more cycling, jobs a good un. All that diet stuff is crap.

^^This.

tlw1

diamonddog wrote:

meursault wrote:

Reduce portion size, good balance, more cycling, jobs a good un. All that diet stuff is crap.

^^This.

Yep, just remember not to compensate eat for the extra cycling

kajjal

matthew h wrote:

diamonddog wrote:

meursault wrote:

Reduce portion size, good balance, more cycling, jobs a good un. All that diet stuff is crap.

^^This.

Yep, just remember not to compensate eat for the extra cycling

Unfortunately this is what I did to begin with. Takes a while to get the balance between eating enough to fuel your exercise and not eating too much / too little.

ut_och_cykla

Food that is good for you is good for kids too on the whole. Fruit & veg, quality protein sources - fish, eggs, lean meat or veggy alternatives, carbs based on fullkorn. Swap their normal food one item at a time and see how you go - Encourage them to try new stuff but give them a chance - to get used to it and reject some alternatives. (there's a scientific reason why kids hate sprouts!!) The old trick - eat up so you can have some pudding is a good one!

simon_e

+1 to all the comments about fresh veg etc. Reducing the amount of processed stuff and starchy food like bread and pasta will help (more here). Same goes for fruit juice and smoothies - they are mainly sugar and shouldn't be considered as 1 of your 5-a-day. I cut my lunch sarnies to 3 slices and also have veg such as cherry toms, raw spinach or broccoli as well as a handful of walnuts or almonds.

ut_och_cykla wrote:

The old trick - eat up so you can have some pudding is a good one!

Yes, you can always negotiate or bribe kids and wean them slowly. If it's a sweet dessert then just buy enough for them (a small donut each, or even something you don't like that much) so you aren't tempted.

It's mostly about willpower. You should have some treats but on balance try to feed your whole body rather than just your taste buds. Remind yourself that resisting that extra portion is an important step with long term benefits. You may even get to the point where you don't even fancy the extra helping / the greasy sausages / pies that feel unpleasant in your stomach. You are what you eat.

ashleydwsmith

Cheers for all the advice, just need to put into practice

mpatts

What I did, was a tip from runners world (also, subscribe to their twitter feed, they post nice recipes).

On your (smaller) plate, have half of it vegetables, 1/4 carb (pots/rice), 1/4 protein.

dbb

all good advice on this thread.
but i had to laugh the advertisement in the thread was for "new limited time only cheeseburger pizza crust from pizza hut"

bahzob

Agree with all the above re fresh fruit and veg and preparing meals yourself rather than buying ready meals.

My son is a student on a restricted budget. He has a slow cooker that he puts some chicken + a load of vegetables in to make up a stew, eats some and freezes the rest. Low cost, good for you, takes next to no effort and he can do enough in 1 batch to feed himself for a week. For a family this would provide a 2-3 meals. There are lots of variations you can make to spice up the basic recipe a bit.

Other things I would recommend are:
- porridge if you like it makes a great breakfast and will keep you feeling full for ages
- go for carbs with a low GI, so whole food versions of pasta,rice etc. They will keep you feeling full for longer especially if you eat them with a small portion of protein.
- soups are more filling than a "normal" meal made of the same ingredients and can be a good option especially over winter.

guinea

Going back to the original message, what diet food isn't suitable for kids?

Surely any healthy food is absolutely fine?

ashleydwsmith

Not my point. The point was that although suitable, you stick a plate of veg in front of kids and they won't eat it! So to get the balance instead of doing two lots of shopping what do people suggest.

katiebob

Hubby is using the "My Fitness Pal" app. its a free calorie counter where you can scan what your eating or search it. In 2 1/2 weeks he has lost 8lbs.