need help making a simple and nutritous diet

[.Lucid.]

hello. ok so im a former drug addict trying to live a healthier life style and i've recently realized that i know absolutely nothing about nutrition. my cooking skills are basically zero and im what you'd call a picky eatter.

my current daily diet
consists of a few bagels maybe, grilled cheeses or pbj, maybe some cold cuts or pasta, and on a really good night ill have a piece of baked chicken with mashed potatoes and corn. sometimes i snack on granola bars or hershey bars dipped in peanut butter.. i drink a glass of oj in the morning, a can of coke around noon or earlier, a glass of milk at night, a protein shake before bed, and a litre to a litre and a half of water throughout the day. i also take a multivitamin. ive recently started drinking v8 to get my vegetable intake up.

does anyone have any thoughts about this? like what are some simple things i can add to this diet to help myself? what do i need more of? any advice here would be greatly appreciated.

 

[addictivepersona]

Fruits and grains are the biggie that I see missing from your daily diet.

Instead of drinking the coke around noon, why not make a smoothie? Throw in some frozen berries, some fresh fruit, blend up with a bit of water/ice (or milk if you must) and enjoy. I typically do one cup blueberries with an apple and one or two bananas, mixed up with water. Can also throw in some spinach--I swear you don't even taste it. But yeah, for smoothies, you don't have to prep the fruits much--Just wash 'em off and peal the ones with inedible skins (like bananas/oranges).

Make sure your bagels are 100% whole wheat or some other nutritious grain. If the first ingredient is "enriched wheat flour", consider switching to a better brand.

If you eat a lot of peanut butter, consider getting an all natural and/or organic kind. Typical PBs like Jif and Skippy are loaded with partially hydrogenated oils.

Instead of having the baked chicken with mashed potatoes and corn, switch up your side dishes. Corn and potatoes are both starches. Maybe have mashed potatoes with green beans, or corn and peas.

Are you trying to gain weight? I can see weight gain from having the protein shake and milk at night.

Good job on the water intake. V8 isn't the best thing to be drinking, but it's better than a lot of other drinks out there.

 

[Matsuo Munefusa.]

meal1: 3 eggs + oatmeal + glass of orange juice, 3 capsules fish oil, 1 spoon avocado/EVOO/mac oil (you choose)

meal2: Snack, apple and almonds

meal3: Lunch, 4 oz lean meat (such as turkey, fish, chicken lean beef) + brown rice + green veggies

meal4: Snack, banana and glass of liquid egg white (its kinda salty but good tasting)

meal5: Dinner, 4 oz lean meat + brown rice or potatoes + raw salad

Boom. Done.

 

[Legerity]

I've gone through all sorts of different diets, and I've found that the simple formula of : starch + protein at each meal, with veggies if possible, is easy and does the trick. I find it easy to get carried away and obsessed about eating perfectly, so having more general simple guidelines can make it easy.

Protein: Beef, chicken, eggs, beans
Starch: Potatoes, rice, whole grains
Veggies: Whatever

I seem to do best eating meat at both lunch and dinner, but some people prefer less animal products.

Do you only have OJ in the morning? When I started having a full meal first thing in the morning I felt MUCH better...

 

[Dave]

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

 

[Dr Pepper]

Pick up a tub of whey protein, i find chocolate flavors best. Like rocky road by Optimum nutrition. Anyways, a scoop of this, a banana, some flax, and some ice cubes along with milk makes a damn good shake if your ever pressed for time, or post workout. Or if you are simply to lazy to fix anything else.

 

[Jabberwocky]

If you have a library card or a used bookstore about look for a book that has both nutrition advice and recipes . Eating Well for Optimum Health by Andrew Weil is one example among many that I have seen.

 

[Mehm]

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

my thoughts exactly

Michael Pollan ftw

 

[Changed]

fruits, vegetables, grains like couscous and quinoa; greek yogurt, almonds, broccoli, spinach, hemp seed for protein.

lots of water, NO SODA, ENERGY DRINKS, ETC... drink mostly water and 100% juices sparingly.

 

[.Lucid.]

thanks for the help guys

 

[doppelganga196]

Dude, try having fish (salmon, trout, tuna) as a dish at least once a week for the omegas.

Also try throwing some chopped nuts (walnuts, hazlenuts) in too, maybe on your ice cream perhaps?

Whole grain cereals, green leafy vegetables, homemade fruiti smoothies.

 

[MynameisnotDeja]

Stay away from cereals. Really, really processed grains are generally no good.

In general my rule for healthy diet = no processing. Make stuff yourself from good, organic and locally grown if possible, whole food ingredients. Figure out what foods you can tolerate vs ones that you don't digest well *this can be a life saving task as food intolerances can be deadly* then keep it simple.

Things I eat everyday: chicken, eggs, brown rice, all sorts of fruits, coconut/olive/avacado/hemp oil. Fresh leafy greens. Broccoli. Usually some form of nuts and fruit in combination.

Read about diet and learn which foods are better cooked and which are better raw. SOme things *like Broccoli* contain compounds which are not that great for the thyroid and those chemicals are broken down by cooking. Other things contain good enzymes which are destroyed by cooking.

Stay away from soy and corn, in general they are big GMO foods which are pretty shitty and many have bad reactions to them. Definitely not the healthiest foods for anyone, even those who can tolerate them.

Check dairy, as many react badly without even knowing it. If you can tolerate it, try and get raw milk if you can. Avoid pasteurized dairy and stick to yogurt if you want to eat it. Try and find the least processed yogurt you can, too. Some have a lot of weird sweeteners and flavors and other crap in them. Fage is a good brand of greek yogurt.

I'm not big on supps but find yourself an awesome fish oil source. Flax oil is good too but fish is better in general unless youre a vegan.

The supps I take everyday are:

fish oil
cod liver oil

Also this has nothing to do with diet but lay out and soak up some sunlight for a few minutes each day if possible. Nude sunbathing has done a lot for my health. I'd say sunlight is equally important as diet and supplements for me.