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healthy eating...

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
edited March 27 in Work & Study
after deciding i really need to loose weight (feeling very unsecure about myself right now..), and having tried in the past the whole healthy eating regime, how do other students manage it? i find it so expensive to buy all the healthy foods, yeah i know fruit an veg are cheap down the market, but what about all the other foods. its so cheaper to buy 88p microwave meals! does anyone have any good tips for student healthy eating & dieting? i know this probably be in the health forum, but i decided more students would be reading this here!!
Post edited by JustV on

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Pasta is a students best friend. Spice it up if you don't like it plain. You'd be amazed at what you could add to it.

    eg plummed tomatoes, chicken bites, tuna + sweetcorn and pea, spices, herbs, soups!!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    yeah pasta's ok, the biggest problem most students have is that they can't cook, or that their culinary skills are too limited to rely on so they go back to microwave meals........i would suggest getting 5 or 6 recipes under your belt so you can mix it up, and have quicker options for when you can't be arsed to take ages cooking........easy meals i make are

    spaghetti bolognese
    chili con carne + naan bread
    chicken curry + rice
    roast chicken + chips
    potato gratin
    and you can do 1001 things with eggs.......

    i tend to cook 3 or 4 days worth when i make these so i don't have to cook everyday, a bit monotonous maybe but i am lucky that i never really get bored of these.........when i can't be arsed to cook i just whoop some tinned pilchards in with frozen peas and microwave rice, bit of a random combination but works for me.........fruit and veg goes without saying really..........trust me once you get sick enough of eating shite and feeling shite your diet will change, i ate pretty poorly in 1st and 2nd year..........laziness is your biggest enemy, esp. if your a stoner.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    a lot of the time, healthy stuff is cheaper. last night my sister made us a lovely vegetable lasagne, came in under £6 i think and fed 5 people. you can get student cook books, have you tried these?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    im currently on a diet.. at the moment im eating a lot of jacket potatoes.. with tuna, cheese etc.. :)

    i have no breakfast (never have done never will!) about 5 pieces of fruit for lunch and then a normal dinner.. plus exercise and over the last week after doing this i have lost 5 pounds! slow start but im getting there
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    soraliah wrote:
    i have no breakfast (never have done never will!) about 5 pieces of fruit for lunch and then a normal dinner.. plus exercise and over the last week after doing this i have lost 5 pounds! slow start but im getting there

    breakfast is the most important meal of the day!!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Naan bread, being fatty as well as full of carbs, is not good for people on a weight-loss programme. A normal-sized naan has about 450 calories in it. Replace naan with pitta and its better.

    If you can't eat healthily on a budget then you aren't trying. Go to the supermarket at about 8.30pm and raid the reduced shelves for meat, and base most of your calorie consumption on staples such as rice, pasta, bread and potatoes instead of meat. Buy your pasta in bulk: a huge 1kg bag for about £2. Compare that to your super-noodles, and amaze yourself at how 88p is a rip-off.

    Veg is cheap, just put it on a steamer for 20 minutes (if you don't have a steamer buy one, £4.99 from tesco). Boil if you simply have to, but the best way to prepare veg is raw or steamed (more goodness is maintained).
    Chicken thighs are very good value (£2.50 for 8, and you need 1-2 per meal depending on hunger and appetite), and can be used in a variety of sauces.
    Get a small spice rack (pepper, basil, oregano, rosemary to start) and stock up on chopped tomatoes. Chicken thighs (skin off) in a tomartyo and herb sauces, with some pasta and veg is a healthy meal and it costs you pence to make.

    Go and buy How to Boil an Egg, or another student cookbook, and there are lots of cheap recipes in.
    Don't be afraid to balls things up.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Kermit wrote:
    Don't be afraid to balls things up.
    Phew.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Kermit wrote:
    Naan bread, being fatty as well as full of carbs, is not good for people on a weight-loss programme.

    so that's why it tastes much better than pitta.........japatti is best of both, prolly have to make yourself i dont see it in the shops........i was just saying what i eat, which i consider to be healthy eating.......wasn't a recommendation for weight loss per se..........the trick to losing weight is a sustainable, balanced diet.......i don't believe a 'weight loss' diet to be sustainable or even healthy e.g. atkins and what have you..........if you really want to lose weight you should get yourself down the gym.........your tips are spot on tho, i'm lucky i learned to cook before i moved out.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I got a student cookbook from the libary that gives cheap and easy recipes, try the libary and see what you can find. The book I got was really really good.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I found my student cookbook pretty useless - the meals in it either seemed to look horrible or require too many ingreadiants/preperation time. I got on better by buying mainly frozen food and veg (not ready meals) and cooking or microwaving it.

    Ommlettes are great - really quick and easy to make and can be filled with anything. Also Tesco value 8p noodles are good too they taste better than supernoodles! Soup is good and heathy if you know how to make it - I don't but some of the ones my flatmate does are really good.

    Also try to buy less chocolate bars and things on on campus - the money you save by taking stuff with you really adds up.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    My "Big boned" flat mate ate loads of smartprice food from Asda and as they appear to contain a lot of water and not much else he lost weight! Microwave meals are scum of the earth I don't eat any since I became a student, there expensive! Tesco value sausages all the way!

    Bopz
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i eat cereal for 2 meals a day.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    When I was living away in student halls I was the only girl that could cook. I used to cook curry chicken and rice, stir-fry, lasagne, spag bol, jerk chicken, bbq chicken wings, everything. Most meals sound difficult to cook, but some meals are so easy when you do it a few times and it is so much cheaper than eating out/microwave meals. I made a deal with my uni mates - I cook, they type my coursework! Worked well at the time!
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