Back to my last save point

[Storm00]

So I am respawning. I moved to Manhattan and I tell you it has put the pounds on me. I don't have a scale, so I don't know how bad the damage is. But I have started a daily battle log again. Any tips on how to make my respawn successful?

I am trying to cook, make good decisions. I bought some yoga sessions. I'm almost using the battle log as a journal type deal. I have been keeping a food log. 

I eat out a lot because I live in New York now and there is so much food here. Cooking is actually pretty tough in this tiny kitchen. I also don't have a lot of cooking supplies since I moved here and sold my my stuff back home. Any tips on how to stay healthy and on track in a big city?

 

Thanks everyone 

 

[kanmuri]

I think it's hard to stay healthy when it's so easy to have some take out.  Have you heard of Hu Kitchen, I believe it's around 14th Avenue and Broadway (don't remember exactly)  It's a nice paleo "fast food place."  When there on my last trip to NYC.  It was pretty amazing.

 

If you have a hard time cooking, you can look for delivery services that are actually good quality, there is Thrive Market, for example and I think Cordon Bleu is another services you can use (I'm not from the States, so I only have limited knowledge.)  There are definitely paleo or non-paleo meal delivery companies in your area.

 

Moving or traveling is always hard for me, too.  I just traveled back home two weeks ago and ended up eating very poorly, which continued after I came back home.  A good way to stay on track is to have someone you can be accountable to, like a friend, family member, or even someone from this community.  Having to text or email someone daily about your decisions can really help.

 

[Evicious]

For cooking in a tiny kitchen, I'd recommend keeping your bulk ingredient lists short with minimal prepping required, and keep a wide variety of spices available. You don't need to prepare elaborate meals to eat healthy: one pot recipes can be exceptionally tasty and healthy. A crockpot can make a large quantity of food for batch cooking, if you'd like to try that to help replace your takeout habits, and it only takes up the space of itself in terms of storage (there are also lots of different sized crockpots available). All your favorite foods can be made in a crockpot, btw - lasagna, beef 'n' broccoli, Salisbury steak, honey-garlic chicken, Philly Cheesesteak... you get the idea. The nice thing about cooking in a crockpot is that you don't even have to "go grocery shopping", per se - you just buy the ingredients you need for your recipe, make the food, and that's it for the next few days. Don't feel like eating the leftovers? Either don't make the full recipe (note: always check the "Serves X" part before you shop) or, if you have a freezer, just freeze the leftovers. You can always put frozen crockpot meals back in the crockpot (and obviously if you have a microwave, you can thaw and reheat there too).

 

If you'd just rather not cook at all, you can still eat healthy. Try making a point to have one very healthy meal a day - breakfast, lunch, or dinner - and make mostly healthy choices for the other two. So if you normally get a bearclaw and a coffee for breakfast, a doner for lunch, and then enjoy, say, some Chinese food for dinner, try subbing in one of the following:

• Oatmeal or parfait
• Salad or a light sandwich
• Ask for no rice or choose a menu item without noodles

Or you can count your calories, and simply limit the amount of what you eat. Remember not to drink your calories, too - soda, juice, "vitamin water", sport's drink, sweet tea, and the ever-present mocha-latte-frappe-boba should all be once-a-day - if not once-a-week - choices. Plain tea, either hot or cold, coffee without the fancy creamer or added sweeteners, and the always underappreciated glass of water are all very healthy choices you can make instead. There's no saving graces available when it comes to alcohol, but you can still pick your poison - hard liquor is more calorie-dense, but you're likely to drink less of it (so long as you don't mix with anything); there are a few low-calorie versions of beer available (I personally stick to the Michelob Ultra because it's cheap); and anything with the words "liqueur", "crème", "fuzz", or "slippery", or that comes in neon colors should just be left behind the bar. Seriously, just say no. I promise you will not regret it.

As for staying healthy via exercise, you're on the right track with yoga. Also walk to as many places as you can; bike to the ones it would take too long to walk to (although I caution you to pick the safest routes you can, always wear a helmet, and be sure you have reflective gear/lights at all times); and take the stairs instead of the elevator or escalator. If there are any parks near you, be sure you take advantage of those as well (just don't go poking around in the bushes - they have a bad reputation, it seems).

 

I think that's all I can think of... yep. That's it.

[Storm00]

That is super helpful!  Those one pot recipes look pretty easy. I have used a crock pot in the past but it always made me so nervous leaving it on all day. And I have a kitten in the house now so it's I telling what I would come home to now. But I might give it a shot again. I will have to buy another one.  

I don't tend to drink my calories. I put a little almond milk in my coffee and the terrible Splenda and I also drink diet soda. But I've been trying to drink more water. 

I do drink smoothies, but not the sugary ones, the ones from the fancy Schmancy smoothie shop and it's a breakfast choice usually. 

 

I work 9-9 when I work. About 3 days a week, sometimes 4. So I'm not able to go to the gym or yoga. But today I done the body weight exercises on the academy between patients. It wasn't all in a row. But it got done. 

 

Thanks again for all your advice! 

[Evicious]

If you're nervous about leaving the crockpot on all day while you're gone (and with a mischievous kitty in the house, I can totally understand why you would be!) maybe you could just use it for batch cooking on the days that you're home. Depending on the meal you want to make, you could potentially make several different menu options in a day; then it's just a matter of having the fridge/freezer space to store what you cook. Doing something like that would also allow you to mix and match a lot, so you didn't have to eat the same thing every day.

 

Oh, and a tip for making to-go meals: if you're including a veggie option, you can use frozen vegetables straight out of the bag. Not only do they help keep your food cold, it also ensures you don't end up with mushy vegetables when you heat things up in the microwave. Keep them in a separate container until after microwaving, if you want to drain the excess water off first; I usually don't care, and just dump my meat in with them to heat everything up in one go.

 

You did excellent incorporating the body weight exercises in between seeing your patients! All current studies have thus far confirmed the benefit of even minutes of exercise spread throughout the day. Pretty much the only reason why we tend to clump all our efforts into a "gym time" is because we're used to scheduling blocks of time for specific activities. There's no reason you HAVE to do it that way. In fact, you're very likely to do more if you break your workout up, and do bits and pieces every so often: doing "10 push ups" now and then "10 jumping jacks" later is a helluva lot less intimidating than "workout for 60 minutes straight" - plus, you can physically put more effort into each activity, because you're sufficiently rested in between.

 

Keep going!  

[Storm00]

I made the shrimp from the one pot recipes that you linked. It was super good. I added a lemon pepper spice thing to it and it was tasty. And I made it myself! Along with some roasted sweet potatoes and some vegetables!!! 

Yay!! 

 

 

[Evicious]

I'm glad you liked it!