So just what is a healthy diet?

[roughingit]

Or more aptly, more stuff my mama never taught me...

Now that camp is over, I once again have full control over my own diet. I lost weight and gained some muscle over the summer and I would like to continue on that trend. I've been looking through the forum and through google, but all the information on google is either vague or contradictory. Here I've found lotsa info for what to eat *while* riding and right before and after (my tummy thanks you all greatly for it too!), but now I'd like to fill in the gaps.

I've mostly been trying to eat what I consider to be "whole" foods. My definition includes eggs, veggies, fruit, cheese, yogurt...pretty much just non-convenience items. I've been experimentling with "healthy" foods like hummus (yum!) and kefir (lil sketchy on that one) and I've even learned how to make my own pita crisps, but I'm a little stuck. I'm scared of things that are too spendy or sound too complicated and I have absolutely no clue about portion control. For a while before camp I had been simply giving myself half my normal portion and filling the rest of my plate with fruits and veggies, but I'm sure there are better methods than that.

I'm not into cottage cheese or salad (unless it's fruit salad), but I'm quite happy to munch on all the "traditional" veggies and fruits and I like to cook as long as it doesn't take *too* long...

Anyone have any website, book, etc recommendations for places to get menus or meals from? I'm good at ferreting out recipes on places like allrecipes and Recipe Source but I'm bad at evaluating healthfulness and combining things into meals or into a daily allotment.

TIA!

[CorsairMac]

don't have any recipes and I hate to cook too. If I can't throw it in the oven and forget about it or pop it in the microwave - it don't happen!

That being said here is what I've been eating for the past 3 yrs and have felt ever so much better for it - I've also lost 51 lbs in that time and I can't even tell you how much body fat. I only eat 3x a day coz I don't have between meal hungries (specially since I resolved my whole gluten issue) and every meal is a protein, a veggie, a grain and a fruit. Even breakfast. For whatever reason I want something to munch on about 8:30 at night so I eat an apple, or rice cakes with PB, or pineapple rings....that's it. As for portions on the grain, 1/3-1/2 cup cooked per meal.

[runnergirl]

For portion control I would recomend a food scale ($25 at target)

After weighing EVERYTHING for about 6 months, I can now eyeball portions almost perfectly! It's a huge help when you're out to eat.

[roughingit]

Unfortunately, my budget won't allow for a food scale quite yet. I do like the suggestion of eating an item from each of the food groups for every meal, although I'm not sure how to figure a serving of veggies for breakfast?

Are there any good, free on-line trackers?

[runnergirl]

I use the free online version of fitday, it's a great tool, but it only works if you're accurate with portion sizes. You also have to add sleep as an activity, it assumes you're awake 24/7 otherwise which gives you a crazy calorie burn.

[trigurl]

when it comes to losing weight and riding, I can't do it! I can ride 90-100 miles a week and gain weight I did try on a pair of pants that last time I wore were snug, they were still a little snug not as bad, but the legs were tight! Hopefully the 4 lbs. I gained are water or muscle.

I have almost quit eating meat, I do have 1-2 Coke's a day, which I am cutting out, but when it comes to most veggies, eat all you want! they have very little calories and lots of good vitamins, as long as they are raw or prepared w/o a lot of oil, etc. I find that 2 big bowls of salad work for me, with a little protein for dinner, and some fruit later or a fruit popsicle.

Again, I haven't lost weight, I seem to have to add running into my schedule to keep my weight down.

I eat about 5 times a day and while I am doing a long ride, I try to stick to natural foods but most don't quite a rumbling tummy, I eat p.b. crackers and granola bars - sugar I know, but they stop the hungry pains. I don't know where else to cut back to lose weight, this has always been a problem for me, sure wish I could afford a trip or two to a nutritionist.

Good luck

[Dianyla]

roughingit, all of the foods you listed look wonderfully healthy, but I don't see very much protein there. If you're not into meat, you may want to look at consuming more nuts, legumes and soy protein (though... in moderation, go easy on the soy).

I use the pay-for online calorie tracking at Calorie King. I had been using their free database for years to look up the values of various food items when I was journalling calories manually, but eventually doing it by hand became so cumbersome that I, uh, just stopped. And gained weight. It's a nice interface and was only about $30 for a year, pretty reasonable IMO.