My poor eating habits must stop! Looking for healthy, nutritious alternatives

How many of you are familiar with this picture?



Like most of you on here, I was taught this back in grade school—the food pyramid guide. It shows you what kinds of food you should eat and in what proportions to maintain a healthy diet. Add that in with a normal exercise routine and you should be pretty much set for life, almost.

To be honest, my eating habits suck. And like most people, I wasn't concerned in the slightest, as long as my food tasted good, everything was A'ok with me. But, let's face reality here, if I keep going on eating the way I do (let's see what I had to eat today double bacon cheeseburger, lots of french fries, soda, a couple chicken burritos, ice cream, etc) I'm going to run into problems, sooner or later. There are a lot of serious health problems that can occur from not having a health diet and all that jazz.

So, I'm trying to find out ways that I can improve my diet, starting with the foods I eat. Probably the reason I eat the way I do is because it's fast and cheap, and I don't have to spend hours prepping and cooking food just to spend 10 or 15 minutes eating it. In order to phase out all the junk I eat, I'll have to replace it with good food. I'm not that much of a vegetable or greens person, but I guess I'll have to bite the bullet on this one and force food down my throat in order to keep healthy.

I'll try to follow the food pyramid guide as much as possible, I guess I gotta read the labels now, but I could use some help from those of you who can cook or know how to make nutritious meals, hopefully meals that are quick to make (but I can spend extra time to prep and cook food, better spending extra time doing that than getting Diabetes and spending time shooting up my arm with insulin, right?) and won't break the bank. Any ideas on what I could make to fill out this food pyramid on a regular basis? I don't care if I have to get into a boring, "not this food again" routine, as long as I start eating healthy and keep it that way. I'll try searching online for recipes and topics on nutrition and all that tomorrow.

On another note, staying up late you get to see a lot of informercials on TV, but irregular and bad sleeping patterns is a whole other can of worms. I've seen different exercise and makeover programs, I think one of them is called like the Michael Thurmond body makeover system, I don't know, but that's not the point. I remember seeing him have a guide or recipe list that shows you what meals you can eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, to have a well-rounded, healthy diet. If any of you have anything like that or suggestions on food I could make for those 3 meal times, that would be super as well. Anyway, thanks for listening and for any help, advice you can give me.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Well firstly your BMI isn't always right (if you are looking at that), it doesn't include how muscular you are. For me, being Chinese and all, I am powered by rice. Rice noodles, rice cakes, white rice etc. Rice = carbs (as does potatoes) and this might not be the best dieting advice but its what I'm following, cut down on the carbs and eat more veges. Veges (though I hate) = less carbs and can fill up the space. Use self control to fight the urges to eat chocolate or whatnot. Drink water instead of coke. Every little bit counts. When you see something you want to eat, think: "Do I really need to eat this chocolate bar? Will I be starving without it?"

Stay away from quick easy meals like microwave dinners, pizza pops or whatnot. When eating "healthy" salads, don't pour on a ton of dressing. When eating meats, bite off and throw out the giant chunks of fat. When eating chicken, bit off and throw out the skin (yes, throw out kfc skin...lol). Try to cut down on fast food eating and you should be fine.

Eating right isn't all there is to it. I also go to the gym everyday. This helps lower your fat and cholesterol, makes your muscules stronger (including your heart). I personally usually do 30 minutes of intense cardio (treadmill, crosstrainer, track etc) and then do 30 min-1 hr of weights.

Honestly, I still dont follow the pyramid, I don't eat nearly enough veges or fruit...lol i love meat. But heck, it's better than what I was doing before.

Good luck and hope this helps.

Edit: Pick lean meats and for the cooking thing, cook a ton at once and freeze the food. You can buy prepmade food from the local supermarket, but make sure it isnt too unhealthy. If you drink canned soup, drink the healthier ones like hearty chicken soup rather than clam chowder. Eat healthier cereals rather than fruit loops.

How ya doing, buddy?

I've been eating whole-grain wheat bread instead of white for about a year now. You might want to start with that if you have sandwiches a lot. I also recommend including steamed vegetables with a bit of seasoning to your meals whenever you can since it requires very little effort to prepare.

You can also check out this site for an updated food pyramid. I had to use this for a nutrition class two semesters ago.

http://www.mypyramid.gov/

How ya doing, buddy?