Help with fooooood.

[Love Drops]

I posted here a long while back. So let me kind of start again. I am not sure where to put this really, probably coulda went into beginners. I've read around this forum (a few times a week lately... =/) and am getting confused and frustrated. Bear with me please.

I'm a 20 year old female. I have a pretty active lifestyle. I try and do about 30 mins of cardio 3-4 times a week. (I tend to fall in and out of having lazy weeks, suprise I know..)

The past few weeks, I've tried to cut out the "junk" in my diet. I don't drink soda or coffee. I rarely eat fast food, and really want to keep my will power up and cut it out all together (yuck). SO, anyways... I think I can manage to stop stuffing my face with chips, and greasy fries. But now, I need a starting point.

With the junk I know I'm not suppose to eat out of the way.. I've been trying to just eat healthier foods. Oatmeal, fruit, veggies, rice, chicken. I think for right now, I need something simple.. for me. I don’t know if I can handle switching between low cal days and low carb days.. or what not. I'm just a little confused on that, and it seems a bit overwhelming to me. I want to take baby steps!

I like my dairy. I love milk. So I don't think I could go without that right away. Also, I'm a poor college student, so the time and money seem to come up short.

I guess what I'm looking for, through all of this rambling, is some simple tips. One of my downfalls too is.. I don't think I could eat the same thing every day? Like a diet of oatmeal, chicken, and rice every day seems sickening to me.

I'm about 128 pounds, 5'4.5", and am unsure of my body fat. I would say i'm in fairly good shape, but wouldn't be surprised if my bf was 30%. (this probably wasn't accurate, but I used one of those hand held body fat percentage thingies? haha, like a year or two ago, and it said I had 18% bf. Accurate? probably not)

Thanks for taking the time to read this.. If you've made it this far! I appreciate your help in advance. I don't want to give up this time.

[BBAddict]

This may not be a "bodybuilding" response, but in terms of getting some ideas for meals that give a good source of low GI carbs, good protein and a bit of healthy fats, I would recommend the South Beach diet cookbook. It's not perfect but it has given me some great ideas for some meals that with some small modifications are really healthy.

[ROCKILLER]

You should be able to come up with a diet that has some change. For instance. I always have the same breakfast 95% of the time but for some meals its really easy to swith between tuna, chicken, beef, etc. Maybe it for each meal you start with 3 options then at most you have the same thing twice a week. Then that last day you keep close to the rules but throw in a cheat meal. After a month or so you can see how your progress is doing and add in some variations. I have no idea about what an ideal womans diet would be but I'm sure others can help. Have a look at the other diets to get you started.

[xxxkazxxx]

I think it depends on your goals. You obviosuly know what your not supposed to eat. So as far as how strict you should be with your diet, depends on what you wish to acheive.

As for the milk, you can still drink milk, just make it the no-fat milk. It tastes like crap at first, but if you make yourself drink it for 6 weeks, when you go back and taste full cream milk again, it's like drinking thickened cream & will most likely make you feel sick. The same goes with junk take-away food for me. The longer I don't eat it, the sicker it make's me feel when I do.

Between Chicken, Beef, Tuna & Fish you can come up with a variety of meals as to not get bored. Don't let the diets of the people in competition deter you. It's not as boring as tuna & brown rice everyday! For example with myself, when I list a meal as Chicken & Brown Rice, it's not just that. I stir fry my chicken with some tasty Olive Oil (the good stuff is expensive, but it does last for months), throw in some capsicum & green beans & some chopped chili & garlic. YUM.

Egg white omelletes are my favourite. You can make chicken and mushroom, vegetable, or my favourite is chicken & spinich.

Lately I have been making up a huge batch of chicken, brown rice & egg white balls. I finely chop chicken till it's almost like mince, throw in brown rice, egg white to combine and I chop a small amount of wholegrain bread in a blender and add that to help hold the ball shape to cook. Add some garlic & dry chili powder for taste. You can either fry them in the tiniest amount of olive oil or steam them.

I'm sure there are a few no-no's there to the people who are alot more strict with their diets. But I think for someone just starting out, who want's to make the changes slowly, You can't go wrong with just eating healthy to begin with & then fine tuning it each week as you go along. Maybe you do have the guts for diving straight into strict diet, in that case, forget what I have said.

As for being a poor student. You might have to sacrifice $$$ spent on other things. I don't know about anyone else, maybe there are secrets I need to learn, but I have never come across a more expensive lifestyle than this one. And I am only an odd 130lb chick. I don't even want to imagine what it would cost for a 220lb male.

Best of Luck :) Where there is will, there is always the way!

[Love Drops]

Thank you so much guys.

Kaz.. your post made me feel way better. I guess I knew in the back of my head that I didn't have to eat chicken and brown rice everyday. I know I'm never going to be a body builder with a body builder diet.

Maybe I can get my college roomates into a healthier diet. They probably would like to also.. that way it'll be easier for me and them to work together. We could probably save a few $$ by cooking together too.

Thanks so much again. That egg white omellete sounds so tasty!

[redsquirrel]

I think a perfect thing for you to pick up would be the Body For Life book.

From what it sounds like, it could really help you and layout a pretty detailed plan for you pertaining to your goals. The whole book focuses on three things : weight training, cardio, and diet. Of course the book pumps up all of the EAS products ( protein bars, shakes, etc), but eating those are not necessary for success.

The main thing you should take away from the book is to start eating 5-6 small meals a day. This will keep your metabolism going throughout the day, and train your body to burn fat, and not muscle. There is a list of all of the acceptable starches, proteins and veggies listed out right in front of you. That way, you really don't have to worry about having to eat the same thing every day at every meal.

:)

[coffee-guy]

I agree with Red - while the Body for Life Diet is not ideal and there are many things that I would change about it you can at least get used to eating like this and make changes as you go...

Sample Menu....

[Love Drops]

Thanks guys ^^^ I shoulda really pick that book up. Thanks for the sample menu fog_hat. I'm sure I could make some of those things.

This past week has been going alright. I have been eating more smaller meals, and passing on anything I know is a no no. Although last night I did have vanilla ice cream after our county fair :( I'll let that be my splurg night :)

Thanks again for taking the time to give me some advice!