Great question, GWlolo. The year that both my husband and I were at our lowest weight: I cooked lots of soups and froze them in small batches. We ate raw salads, and raw fruits. For MUST on a weekly basis, we ate high-fiber cereals with soy milk, snacked on cooked oatmeal & nuts & sweet potato, ... and drank herbal tea. It was high-fiber, lean-protein, good fats (Omega-3 in walnuts and flax oil), and low-sugar.

I remember eating greasy peanut-butter sandwich topped with flax oil and stayed under 110 lbs. One book reported Omega-3 fat helps losing weight, because it speeds up metabolism. My kid had eczema when she was under 5, I dumped flax oil on her lean protein to improve her skin, she's always hot with high metabolism, and a lean kid. Good fats don't make folks fat, it's the sugar in snacks that's the culprit.

But I strayed from that and my weight went up with my baking butter-apple pies (gained 5 lbs. in 2 weeks), then Halloween candies (another 5 lbs), then Christmas cakes (another 5 lbs) ... that's a total of 15 lbs gain in less than 6 months. I read People magazine about Christie Alley's weight gain with butter (before DWTS), and I agree ... somehow the butter sticks to one's buns more so than Omega-3 fats or nuts fat.

Straw (Strawberryhill in Chicagoland)

DH & I are in our 40's too. We have been trying to drop weight since the fall. DH has dropped 25 lbs and I've dropped 20 lbs. It's not that we ate terribly before. It's just that we ate EVERYTHING! We also are a big bunch of couch potatoes (I consider baking a sport).

Anyway. DH bought a treadmill the end of August. It's in the spare room on the first floor. You have to walk passed the door to get to the bathroom and bedroom. So no excuses for not working out. I can usually talk myself into it by telling myself "I'm just going for a walk. I don't have to do one of the exercise routines. Just walk and it'll be more than you're doing now." That gets me on the treadmill. (As you can guess I am not an avid fitness freak). I usually find myself doing more than just a walk once on the treadmill.

Like I said we ate everything. We cut out a LOT of junk. No more Doritos. No more ice cream (nearly every night) for dessert. We also watch our portions. It's amazing how fast things add up. I track it on WebMD, but there are a zillion programs out there for tracking what you eat. Breakfast for us is usually a couple of yogurts or granola bars and a fruit. Lunches are usually soups, salads, or healthier sandwich choices and a fruit. Dinner is usually a meat, a veggie and a starch. Weekends we're a little lax. If we want pancakes for breakfast, ok. Just eat a healthier lunch and dinner. Pizza for dinner? Ok healthier breakfast and lunch.

When we do get the munchies, we try and go for healthier things: baby carrots and hummus, baked tortilla chips and salsa, fruit, dried fruit & nuts...

I guess we just aimed for healthier,smaller changes instead of big changes all at once.

Hope this helps.

Eat vegetables 3 times a day. Eat at least 5 times a day. Balance each meal/snack with protein carb and fat. Drink lots of water. Don't drink your calories...only eat them. Eat the protein you need, don't worry about the fats, so long as you are getting a balance of fats and no transfats at all, and eat the carbs you need to keep your weight stable. Avoid processed foods as they are full of added salts, fats and sugars, and eat real food...stuff that people from 300 years ago would recognize.

Hi, GWlolo :) I'm a bit over 40 and have grand kids older than your child, but eating healthy is still very important at our house.

For us, the biggest must is a plan: 1) know what you want from your eating plan (we aim for high fiber, high complex carb, and very low fat) and 2) plan meals that mostly adhere to the plan. We plan by the week, but others plan for the day, for two weeks or for the month--do what works for you.

I love cooking and eating, and I'd be bored to death if there were any recipes or foods I thought I had to eat every day or every week. Others, however, do better with fewer choices. Again, try some different things to see what works for you.

Especially with a child in the house, I would not set rules on what to eat. You want your healthy plan to feel natural and comfortable, and the fastest way to make a child hate something is to require her to eat it--just as the fastest way to make her crave something is to forbid it. My grandchildren are actively involved in helping me plan and cook meals and snacks when they are here (often!), and I try to make healthy choices seem natural. Even the 6 and 7 year olds make suggestions for improving menus and recipes so they fit our goal better.

Start slowly. Give your family time to get used to the changes and the new tastes and textures.

You ask if we track specific nutrition: I do, partly because I enjoy it, and partly because of our unique health issues. I don't try to track everything (although sites like Fitday.com make that relatively easy), but I do watch what matters to us--calories, fat, fiber, sodium, potassium and magnesium, usually. Generally, I just aim for a balanced diet and then focus a little on our special issues.

Remember that, for a healthy lifestyle to "work," it has to be a forever plan, not something you force yourselves to do for a few weeks or months, so be sure you focus on food and activities you enjoy. You can still eat almost anything as long as you chose healthier versions, and that's lots easier if you make it yourself.

Good luck!

Hi GWlolo, from Straw in Chicagoland: My husband and I are in our 50's. He's a marathon runner (10 miles a day), so he's always skinny regardless of what he eats. I have to watch what I eat, since I am a semi-couch-potato. My sister once gained 15 lbs. with cheese so she swore off cheese and now under 100 lbs, lean and fit .. she's way over 60 years old. I have bad luck with cheese ... I can easily gain 30 lbs. with that stuff. I allow myself reduced fat cheese once a week, and I NEVER cook with cheese.

I agree with booberry that walking or treadmill works wonder. I agree with Annie that eat whole, simple food is best ... basic stuff like apple and salads. My fastest weight loss was when we picked apples in Michigan. There's this ULTRA-addictive apple, even better than Fuji ... it's called Sansu. It was so crisp and sweet that I ate 3 apples a day, and lost 5 lbs. in one week. That was the most delicious weight loss ever!

1. Balanced meals.

I've followed the old "Basic-4" since 1980 after taking a nutrition class at the County Extension Office. You can also check the USDA Choose My Plate web site, and before that the Food Pyramid for a guideline. My Plate and Food Pyramid are too high in carbohydrates for us and that's why I still use the Basic-4. I also choose whole foods (as close to nature as possible) for optimum nutrition and fiber and avoid highly-processed foods. Whole foods are the original "fast" food in my books. I pick nutrient-dense foods and avoid junk-food.

Per day:
-Bread & Cereal (we do all wholegrain) - 4 servings
-Fruits & Vegetables - 4 servings
-Meat & Meat Alternatives - 2 servings
-Milk (Adult: 2 servings, Children: 3-4 servings)
I also include a serving of nuts each day. If I add food it's usually fruits/vegetables. I've done this so long it's second nature.

2. I don't like menu planning so I follow this schedule while meeting the Basic-4 for the day. I like this schedule because I can leave a meal out or switch them and not mess the whole thing up. I always have freezer-friendly foods to use. Cook once and use for many meals. Fruit generally = dessert. I also do home food storage (similar to what the LDS Church teaches), so I'm very food focused and literally "shop" at home to keep food rotated.

MONDAY - "Big" meal
Includes a large cut of meat that will also provide for other meals, possibly some in the freezer, stir-fry, base for soup/stew, meat for sandwiches...

TUESDAY - Leftovers
May take on a completely different look than what was served on Monday, or may be something leftover stashed in the freezer.

WEDNESDAY - Stir-fry
Use fresh or frozen veggies, or a mix of the two. I often have them already prepared from Mon. and Tues. meals. I pre-package cooked brown rice and keep it in the freezer. Any kind of meat (cooked or raw) can be used for stir-fry.

THURSDAY - International
This is usually something with pasta or a tortilla. It's a good day to go vegetarian, or mix a small amount of meat with an inexpensive meat alternative to equal a serving of protein to save on those meat dollars. I budget $10 per week for meat for 2 adults.

FRIDAY - Vegetarian
I keep a stack of homemade bean burgers and homemade multi-grain buns in the freezer for a quick vegetarian meal. We like meatless chili on baked potatoes. This is a good night for "breakfast" favorites. If you don't have time for crepes, waffles or pancakes in the morning, they make good vegetarian options.

SATURDAY - Soup and/or Sandwich
Sandwiches can be wraps, arepas, burgers/hot dogs, sloppy joes.... Soup/stew/chili is homemade, frozen in single servings and stacked and vacuum-sealed.

SUNDAY - Homemade pizza
A good way to use up small amounts of meat, cheese, vegetables from the previous week or hidden in the freezer. In the summer we will change this to a Dinner or Cobb salad and use fresh veggies out of the garden.

Another meal plan I got from a book years ago:
Meat on Sunday and Wednesday
Casseroles/Leftovers Monday and Thursday
Pasta Tuesday
Fish, eggs, cheese - Friday
Soup/Sandwich - Saturday

Yet one more:
Monday - Pasta
Tuesday - Soup, salad, and/or sandwiches
Wednesday - Stir-fry
Thursday - Crock Pot
Friday - Pizza
Saturday - Something New
Sunday - Something Easy

3. "Do you have rules for children and adults on what to eat, when to eat etc?" I just made sure serving sizes were appropriate for the age of each person.

When our son and daughter (who are your age now) were home they each were in charge of one evening meal each week by the time they were around 10 and had helped with food preparation since they were 2, and hubby did one meal on the weekend. They had to plan the meal and have a balanced menu (meat or meat alternative, vegetables, grain, fruit, dairy). Check for ingredients on hand and put needed food items on the grocery list. The table had to be properly set as well. If they forgot (which they each did once), they had to pay for us to go out to eat with their own money.

There is nothing sadder in life than adults who can't cook (which described my hubby, but he had 4 older sisters and was the 1st son - need I say more...). I've taught food classes for elderly men at the local senior center who are having to take over kitchen duties and they all wish they would have learned more than how to burn a burger or steak on the grill.

Although we were all very busy, we made eating together in the evening a priority.

4. "Do you actively plan meals to maximize nutrient value for vitamins, minerals etc? (Like Tomato for lycopene or X for Vitamin A or Y for iron etc.")

If you choose a wide variety of food and a wide variety of colors, this really isn't a problem. You can always fine-tune things as you learn more. Check out some cookbooks from the library that include menus in them and use them for guidelines to get started.

Good luck and enjoy the fruits of your labor!

-Grainlady

I want to applaud Grainlady for encouraging folks to eat healthy. That's a great outline you gave - Grainlady, thank you!

I'm a life-long reader of Prevention magazine, and read many books on nutrition. My mid-life crisis was when I hit 45, with cholesterol moderately high and high triglycerides. The doctor recommended pills, but I chose to change my diet. I followed a high-fiber (beans & cereal), mostly plant protein: soy patties and oatmeal, lots of bean and chicken soups. I had zero butter nor cheese for 1 year, zero sugar, but lots of raw fruits and veges. My cholesterol dropped to 165, blood sugar and triglycerides dropped quite low. I ate tons of walnuts and flax oil to raise my good HDL ... surprisingly I lost 20 lbs.,, down to 97 lbs. The hardest part was exercising on the treadmill for 1/2 hour per night, and 15 minutes walk during the day, our Chicagoland winter is brutal. The diet part was easy, I was NEVER hungry, and spent more time eating ... it sure took time to eat apples, salads, and oatmeal.

Menopause hit and I gained back all the weight. Now at 51 years old it's a harder battle since my metabolism is slower. I won't ever be 97 lbs. again, it was never the goal to lose weight, I just want to get my blood lipids to a healthy range. This time I will have to double the exercise.

Well said, slowlane!!

Our bodies know what they need, as long as our instincts aren't being disrupted by processed food. I need lots and lots of protein, and I do badly with too many carbs. I feel yucky and I overeat. But there are strong, lean vegans who eat mostly carbs. The sum total of the advice that I would feel comfortable blindly giving to someone is: more protein, more produce, and more plant based fats, like avocado and nuts. That's it. When you're feeding a family, I think it's important to allow everyone to do what works for them. So that might mean serving rice in one bowl, beef and veggie stir fry in a second, and toasted nuts in a little dish. Everybody can figure out the ratio that works best for their body. Kids are especially good at it because they don't have a lifetime of confusing mixed messages, body image issues, and chronic stress to contend with. Our calorie needs are different on different days. I'm not against counting calories (for adults, obviously) or at least guesstimating them, but there needs to be wiggle room. It's ok to make yourself eat a turkey sandwich instead of three bowls of ice cream, but it's a bad idea to ignore legitimate hunger. I do think kids should be offered food every 3 or 4 hours, even if it's just string cheese.

I believe in keeping it simple. No processed food. Very little bought-in frozen but I always have things like peas ans spinach in the freezer. Only good quality meat in moderate quantities. Not every day. I don't think you have to worry about vitamins and minerals if you know you're eating a well-balanced diet. They come along all by themselves.
We rarely have desserts. Fruit is always available. I have no problem in cooking cheese occasionally - nothing wrong with cheese sauce.......obviously not every day.
Then, you finish on a little bit of a treat - a square of chocolte with a coffee for example. We eat like that and are losin weight steadily. I realise that you don't need to lose weight from your post. Eating must be a pleasure

"----Our bodies know what they need, as long as our instincts aren't being disrupted by processed food---"

"----I believe in keeping it simple. No processed food. Very little bought-in frozen but I always have things like peas ans spinach in the freezer. Only good quality meat in moderate quantities. Not every day. I don't think you have to worry about vitamins and minerals if you know you're eating a well-balanced diet. They come along all by themselves.
----"

Exactly! I don't think we lack nutrition. Everything you buy in the store is fortified with 200% MDR. I think we lack diversity in proper NATURAL nutrition.

We need to eat strange vegetables, meats, and fruits.

I don't believe in exercise either. I find it funny to see people hire cleaning people to clean their houses so that they can go to the gym. 1/2 hour on the treadmill then sit around the rest of the day in front of the TV or facebook is not what your body is designed for.

Go dig up the garden or paint your neighbor's house.

dcarch

I teach a nutrition class but do not always practice what I preach. (Note to self: there is no need to bake 14 kinds of Christmas cookies next year!)

With both of us working and a school age child, time is sometimes a problem - time for meal planning, shopping, and cooking.

We have a few generalities that help:
- One fish meal and one vegetarian meal at least once a week.
- One or two fruits/vegetables at every meal.
- Limit saturated fat - lean cuts of meat, skim milk.
- Eat out as little as possible (no more than once a week). My son could eat fried chicken and french fries every day if I let him.
- Whole grains, very limited refined grains (except those darn Christmas cookies). Learn to read labels.

Harvard University's Healthy Eating Plate and Healthy Eating Pyramid are a great place to start.

Here is a link that might be useful: Harvard Healthy Eating

These are such great tips. I think I need some rules mainly to put my theoritical knowledge into action. I like the weekly meal type planning like what grainlady and oasisowner have suggested. I heard one of the healthy med drs (Andrew Weil I think) say that Whole grain is not synonymous with unprocessed. Whole grain is just that.. whole.. when you grind it to flour, it is not the same, may be better than refined flour but not the same.

I think protein is a challenge in our family. We mostly eat vegetarian and other than eggs for breakfast which happens 2-3 times a week and a bean/ lentil dish, we are not guarateed protein in every meal. I do make yogurt at home which is eaten a few times a week. But I realize, I need to plan protein in.

GWlolo-

When it comes to your protein intake, the good news is that many foods, other than animal sources, contain protein. It was thought in the past that you had to mix incomplete protein foods (protein combining) in the same meal to get a complete protein (such as rice and beans, or refried beans and tortillas - beans/grain, etc.), but now you can eat it throughout the day and still get a complete protein.

-Instead of a hamburger substitute a bean burger, and you can easily make a stack of these at home and stick them in the freezer. Even my hamburger-loving hubby likes bean burgers. Add a multi-grain burger bun for more protein and a complement protein when combined with the bean burger.

-A vegetarian substitute for ground beef in a casserole or entree:
1 c. lentils
1 c. rice
4 c. water
Cook like rice.

-A good substitute for chicken in a recipe is Cannellini beans (white kidney beans).

-I make "wheat meat" (aka seitan or gluten) as a plant source of protein and make it into all kinds of meat-like substitutes. Made into "sausage" it's great as a breakfast patty and good crumbled as a topping on pizza. It works in recipes calling for ground beef. You can even make "hotdogs", "meatballs", "cutlets", and a high-protein "cereal" out of "wheat meat". For more information check out the book, "The Amazing Wheat Book" by LeArta Moulton and the video "Quick Wholesome Foods" by Rita Bingham and LeArta Moulton. These two go together like a hand in a glove.

-Where a meat would normally be served in a meal, serve an alternative.

-Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: The Vegetarian Resource Group

Ok, I'm going to try to answer your questions for me:

How do you create balanced meals? I usually make sure I have a good source of protein, try to only have 1 carb, and usually some vegetables. If it's a one-dish meal, I try to be cognizant of ratios. You won't find me eating a bowl of fried rice with one ounce of chicken in it. I don't put noodles in the soup if I'm going to want crackers with it. I think eggs and bacon are a better breakfast than cereal. I think I eat a lot more fat and fewer carbs than most people. I also give myself permission to do whatever meets my nutritional needs. Sometimes I eat tuna out of the can because what I really want is to get the lean protein out of the way so I can eat some cheese pizza. Sometimes I dump shrimp and peas into my pasta water and call it a meal. Sometimes I eat an entire bag of beef jerky in the middle of the day. I think it's important to name and rank your priorities out loud, and being a foodie is on the list, but not #1.
Do you follow a weekly rotation of menus? Definitely not. I'd get bored. I might plan on cooking three nights and buy three proteins, or have a vague idea that I'd like to do something with tomatoes and ground beef, but I don't think I ever know exactly what I'm cooking before that day.

Do you designate some items as must haves on a weekly or daily basis? Nope. But if I realize I haven't eaten vegetables in two days, I take myself firmly in hand :-D

Do you have rules for children and adults on what to eat, when to eat etc? I try to have a bare minimum of 20 grams of protein in a meal. Usually much more than that. For me, that usually translates to meat. I use beans, but not as the main protein. It's probably no more than one or two meals a week that don't have a hefty amount of protein. I try not to eat just carbs or just dessert when I'm genuinely hungry- I have a real meal first, then I'm satisfied with a reasonable portion. I have to have some sort of chocolate in the house, even if it's semisweet chocolate chips, because I'll end up eating more of something I don't really want otherwise. If I'm having a randomly starving day, I'll often eat pickles, artichokes, baby corns, or hearts of palm. Something that distracts my mouth long enough for my stomach to realize it's full.

Do you actively plan meals to maximize nutrient value for vitamins, minerals etc? (Like Tomato for lycopene or X for Vitamin A or Y for iron etc.) Nope. I am so over those lists of superfoods. Ever notice that every single one is different? Fresh produce is good for you. Variety and different colors are good for you. That's the end of it, for me.

What else? I keep a mental list of things that make me feel spoiled, but are good for me. Seafood is a big one. Ahi tuna, especially. I find it really important to buy quality produce. If it ends up disappointing despite my best efforts, I throw it away. There are starving people, but shoveling unwanted calories down my gullet doesn't do them any good, and I will just end up overeating something else to undo the disappointment. Ever notice how many poor people have weight problems? When we aren't getting quality, we tend to make up for it in quantity and/or sugar and fat.

It would be helpful if you told us about any challenges or specific questions you're having. Are you planning to cook, but getting short on time or energy and going out for takeout? Having trouble with portion control? Dealing with a picky kid, or finding that everyone in the family likes different things? If you look back over the past couple of weeks, were there any times when you felt particularly unhappy with how a meal played out?

Our trouble is that the way I decide what to cook is whatever catches our fancy at that moment. I feel disorganized for grocery shopping and often feel that we did not optimize our nutrition. Making risotto one day and pasta the next means we two carb heavy meals. Our main meal is dinner. Lunch is usually leftovers from dinner. Breakfast on weekdays is bread, steelcut oatmeal that I cook in my zoji or cereal or frozen waffles and eggs occasionally. At end of each week, I want to feel that we have prepared and eaten nutritious balanced meals. I must say that we do eat a wide variety of produce and fruits. Right now I see guavas, dragon fruit, clementines and pomegranates in my fruit bowl. I have collard, kale, green garbanzos, amaranth, green beans and carrots in the fridge.

Including more protein regularly and portion sizes is something we need to work on. If DD likes something, we let her have seconds and even thirds. Like grainlady describes, having a rhythm to weekly food will help me with planning and not being so adhoc with cooking.

I tried to follow plans but they just never seem to match up with what I have on hand. But if you're into plans, go to the "Eating Well" Web site, they have 28 day menu plans for many types of diets. I make some of the recipes on there too, but alter to suit my taste. Eating Well Diet Plans.

What works for me is to have a repertoire of meals we like that use the common things we have in the fridge. I eat mostly vegetarian but some chicken and fish, turkey occasionally and very rarely pork. My live-in BF and I luckily are both on the same page when it comes to eating healthy and inexpensively. We eat a lot of salads, and greens. I braise kale, cabbage and collards. Love them that way. I make stir fry or soup to use up the bits and bobs of vegetables. BF eats whole grain cereal most mornings and we eat a lot of pilafs for dinner. We try to limit cheese and dairy, but we do eat a lot of yogurt. Soy milk for most everything else. I never thought I would be able to work soy milk into my diet but I can now. The best thing you can do for yourself is make sure to have salads on hand and eat lots of vegetables. Fruits and nuts for snacks. Make your own breads and granolas, lots cheaper and much better than store bought. I also make my own beans in the crockpot and freeze them in pint jars. I use the last ones in the pot for some kind of soup. Soup is great for diets, fills you up and can be low fat and loaded with veggies and protein. There are so many great frozen vegetable packs available now. You can get a soup, stir fry or casserole on the table in no time if you use those. I also eat a lot of fake meats, they are easy and tasty and I don't want to overload on carbs.

I don't meal plan, but I do sort of quickly time plan when I'm in the grocery store. I think about how many nights I'm likely to cook, and how much time I have on those nights, and then buy accordingly. Unless you're good about starting a slow cooker in the morning and doing prep ahead of time, it's not going to work to have a 10 pound chicken, a picnic shoulder, a large winter squash and some limas still in the pod when you have 20 minutes to get dinner on the table. If you find that you're often pressed for time, I think it's good to have one stupidly easy dinner available each week, even if it's cans of tuna, crispbread, and baby carrots. Sometimes I will cut and season the proteins when I get home from the store. I always wash produce when I get home from the store, and sometimes I cut it up too. Broccoli florets can be thrown into stir fry or cooked on their own, carrot slices can go in salad or soup, etc. You could also try having some chicken ready to go- slice it thinly, poach it in gently simmering water until just cooked, and then just reheat it when you're ready by pan frying it. It actually might be helpful to start a list of things you can do on the weekend (or whenever) if you find yourself with extra time. For example, for me it might be soaking, cooking, and freezing beans, mixing some Asian condiments together into brown sauce and freezing it, cooking some rice or rehydrating some rice noodles and sticking them in the fridge, making a batch of some versatile dough with a reduced amount of yeast, chopping onions and garlic (they can even be sauteed and frozen, very little loss of quality), boiling (or coddling) some eggs, braising a large hunk of meat, making a roux, white sauce, or cheese sauce and freezing it, or making and freezing chicken stock or tomato sauce. If you write "weekend to do" or some such on a piece of paper and stick it on the fridge, it will remind you to start writing down versatile foods that always seem to be in high demand in your kitchen.

Yes, talk about stupidly easy, I have three meals I make quite often. One is chicken stew, which I can make even with a frozen chicken breast. We buy them on sale. I boil them in water for about 20 min. Then chop up and add back to the pot along with bouillon. Then I throw in some frozen chopped onions and frozen mixed vegetables, a handful of frozen chopped spinach, and some Mrs. Dash seasonings. Cook that for a couple min. Then add some noodles and you've got really good for you chicken soup on the table in 1/2 hour.

The other one is a bag of frozen stir fry veggies, instant brown rice and marinated baked Asian style tofu. I add some stir fry sauce or Thai peanut sauce to that and have that for dinner in about 15 min.

Lastly, I cook some spaghetti then mix a really good marinara sauce (store bought, I use Newman's Own) with a can of imported tuna (I use Cento brand), some capers, a squeeze of anchovy paste and a squeeze of lemon. Douse generously with parmesean.

All healthy depending on what else you eat for dinner. Again, add salads and more veggies and fruit.