nutmeaghan's Profile

I lost 50lbs over roughly 18 months by exercising and changing the way I ate. I started out weightlifting (believe me, this won't make you "bulky" in the slightest!) but now I mostly run and bike (although I miss lifting because I was so strong!).

In terms of diet, the big thing for me was learning how to cook. I cut out all "processed" stuff, started eating a lot more vegetables, and learned to pay attention to my body's cues - boredom eating was my biggest challenge. I basically follow Michael Pollan's rules - eat food, not too much, mostly plants - but I don't deny myself anything. For example, I have a serious sweet tooth, so I eat baked goods every day, but instead of buying processed junk I eat homemade cookies or muffins. You sound like more of a "salty/savoury-toothed" person, so don't try to avoid the foods you love, just try and make them a bit healthier - baking instead of frying, making homemade versions, and eating smaller amounts of them. You can also choose different versions of snack foods - have popcorn instead of chips and season it with lots of spices instead of just butter (my favourite is lime and smoked paprika).

http://101cookbooks.com has a lot of really great healthy recipes (they're vegetarian, which I eat about 80% of the time, but you can always toss some chicken or fish back into a dish - and cutting your meat consumption back will leave more room in your diet for veggies and whole grains anyways).

And don't forget exercise! For weight loss to occur, calories in < calories out, and calorie restriction isn't something that most people can do long-term. Find something you enjoy doing and get moving!

Good luck!

Mm, the prosciutto's a good idea!

What's the source of this recipe?

My grandmother lived with us when I was growing up, and she did all the cooking. For years I was the pickiest eater - I didn't like most cooked vegetables, berries, yogurt, tomatoes, avocado, sour cream, dark chicken meat, etc.

When I went to university and started cooking for myself, I fell in love with cooking, and started trying all the things I'd avoided for years. I realized that everything fell into one of two categories: things that I liked, but that my grandmother had just overcooked (a Scottish background means that everything is boiled or baked for at least 2 hours); or things that I hadn't liked because I tried terrible versions of them - fat-free, aspartame-filled yogurt; rock-hard imported strawberries in the middle of January, etc.

I no longer have any food aversions other than overly-processed pre-made foods!

I love bean and grain salads. Couscous and chickpeas, tossed together with some veggies (red onion, carrots, garlic, peppers, tomatoes... etc) and a bit of oil, vinegar, spices (and I always add grainy mustard because I'm an addict!). Dinner sandwiches are great too; egg salad and radishes, anchovies and avocados (it's so good!), grilled veggies and goat cheese...

Now I'm hungry!

You don't eat dinner at the table? sad face! I love the lighting though.