I. Background Hi, I'm new here and probably won't stick around for long. I want you to suggest a single-meal (or maybe two or three meals) diet for me. Why should you? No idea, except that you might care about people being healthy and I'd like to be a bit healthier, and it'd (hopefully) help me to be healthier. Up to now my diet has been purely regulated by convenience and cost. This resulted in eating a lot of peanut butter and jelly, rice with soy sauce, Ramen Noodles, cereal, pasta, etc. (the first two were staples while the others were variety items to keep me from getting too bored). Lately I tend to make an egg and turkey sandwich as my primary "staple" meal. Recently I became physically active again and it occurred to me that it would be difficult to communicate to an inactive person how much better I feel. I realized maybe that's what all those diet people were trying to tell me when they said nutrition was really important and made them feel great. It also occurred to me that I wouldn't mind eating healthier, the extra cost would be worth it to me if it improved my quality of life. It should also be noted here that I'm 21, ~5'8" and 140 lbs (according to (the terrible) BMI system I'm dead center of healthy). I'm physically semi-active (I do something physically demanding a least 3 times a week (hiking, ultimate frisbe, etc.)). I'm a picture of good health, not excellent, but very good. This is not about losing weight, this is about gaining a good grouping of nutrients, something I think my current eating patterns might be lacking (e.g. I seem to be showing some symptoms of dietary deficiency in magnesium, so I should eat more leafy greens, such as spinach). II. What I Need ~ ***I most want one (or a few) PERFECT meal that is easy to prepare/make has all the nutrients needed that I can eat for every meal every day and not have any diet deficiencies, and that I can easily get at a single store (whether super walmart or wild oats) with one trip a week maximum, that hopefully doesn't cost terribly much*** If it has to be two different meals a day to cover all nutrients, then so be it. (note: I eat far more than one meal a day, it just always tends to be the same thing every meal) ~ Convenience is extremely important (easy to obtain with few grocery store trips, easy to make with minimal time spent working on it (e.g. overeasy eggs, PBJ, Ramen Noodles, Rice in a rice cooker (which, while it takes 20 minutes, takes only about 5 minutes of my time actively working on it)), etc.) ~ Cost matters to a lesser extent than convenience, but it still matters. I'm prepared to spend more, but I currently spend less than a dollar per meal, so if you jump up to four or five per meal I'm not going to be able to do that. ~ Variety matters very very little. I'd eat a bowl of spinach with dressing for every meal for the next several months except that it doesn't contain all the nutrients I need. ~I do have to find it somewhat tasty (or at least tolerable), but as long as what you recommend includes most of the necessary nutrients and does not clash, I'll make it tasty myself. ~ I'm not into "diets" like "atkins diet" or "vegetarian diet" or "low fat diet" or "low cholesterol diet", etc. when I say "diet" I mean in the classical sense of the word. The goal is to obtain missing nutrients, not to get rid of things people consider "bad". ~ I don't do substitutes, no aspartame, no splenda, no soy burgers, etc. What I will do is buy high quality beef from free-range well-fed cows if you tell me where and how to get it. ~ In general this isn't a limit thing, this is a "I think I'm missing important nutrients" thing. I'm not going to avoid sugar or count calories or stay away from red meat, I am NOT trying to lose weight, I'm trying to GAIN health/nutrients. III. Summary This is not about cutting bad things out but about obtaining good nutrients that I believe my current diet is lacking. I don't want tips, I want meals (for instance a salad with chicken and dressing) that contain all (or almost all) the nutrients a diet needs, are easy to make, and whose ingredients are easily obtainable. The idea is to come up with a meal plan that adapts to my need for convenience, low cost, and my relatively extreme lack of need for variety, but that is healthy nonetheless. I suppose I might be asking for too much, but I figured that asking couldn't hurt. Thank you for any help you can give me.
Let me keep it short and sweet: Eat food, not too much, mostly vegetables, and with as little effort as possible http://ask.metafilter.com/94414/Eat...etables-and-with-as-little-effort-as-possible
See, my problem lies in dietary deficiency, I'll do things like eat ONLY an egg and turkey sandwich every meal for days or even weeks. That's a great link, thank you.
Seems like you have a tendency to fall into food plateaus. You eat something till you get sick of it [see law of diminishing returns]. Consider making a cyclic menu for yourself. You can use your habit to your benefit.
Because I find something easy to make, that I like, and I don't really care too much about variety. So when it becomes meal time, and I'm in a rush (as always), I think "huh, I could go for another egg and turkey sandwich, it won't take very long, doesn't cost much, and it tastes pretty good, good enough for me." Well, that's sort of what I'm trying to work on now, a lot of the trick is convenience though. But yes, that's pretty much exactly how it works.
A large portion of convenience is access. Limit your access to foods you want to eat more of. Make them easier to cook and eat and keep them within reach. e.g. you're more likely to reach for an apple and some cheese if its in your refrigerator than if you have to go out and get it. If you already know what you want to avoid eating, just don't purchase it. I find a list made before you go shopping helps. Also never shop for food on an empty stomach you'll buy way more junk than you need.
