What do you eat?

This site gives a good clear account: http://www.lifeclinic.com/focus/nutrition/food-pyramid.asp

A couple of alternatives to fresh veggies:
V-8 or similar veggie juice - 1 small can = 1 veggie serving. Does not require refrigeration. I keep a few cans in my desk at work.

Frozen veggies - supposedly have the much the same nutritional value as fresh. I like Trader Joe's for quality, variety and price. I especially like a mix called "Greens with Envy" that has asparagus, green beans, edamame, spinach and broccoli.

About the sweet tea:
I don't like any artificial sweeteners. I used to drink sweet tea but now I drink it unsweetened. Try cutting back on the amount of sugar s-l-o-w-ly. Also, fruit-flavored teas have a naturally sweet taste.

Fats:
Olives and nuts have "good" fats - that is, unsaturated fats. They are not good to overeat if you're trying to lose weight, but healthwise, the kind of fat you want to eliminate is animal/saturated fat, found in meat and dairy.

Here's to healthy eating!

Marin, The diet Arizona has artificial sweetner in it....something we should avoid. Best wishes!

You've gotten some excellent suggestions!!
Stevia was also going to be my suggestion. They are making them more refined so it has less of that aftertaste. Remember that the LESS you use, the sweeter it tastes without the aftertaste. If you absolutely can't give up sweetened tea, can you use a fruit juice as the sweetener? If you use a healthy sweet juice then you can sort of count that towards your "5-a-day"....maybe some pommegr.juice or a little orange juice. I'd say apple, but it doesn't really offer any nutritional value.

Breakfast smoothies are a great idea. Even dried fruit counts, so if you add raisins or dried cranberries to your cereal or eat it as a snack, that counts.

I always keep low-sodium v-8 juice wherever I go.

When you make a sandwich, can you slice some veggies to fill up the sandwich...for example, today, I took a chicken sandwich to work and I sliced zucchini the long way and used it as "lettuce" to make it heartier.
You can keep a piece of fruit to have with your sandwich...
you see, that is already 4 servings (dried fruit, zucchini, v-8, and your piece of fruit).

Anytime I snack, I try to convince myself it has to be a fruit or veggie. Most of the time, it is enough to take the edge off...so I get nutrients AND less calories. It doesn't always fill my need, but I try.

I buy those little jars of marinated, quartered artichoke hearts. I drain all the marinade and eat them as a snack.
If you're eating lunch at home, if you have left over pasta, you can toss those chokes in, add a can of diced tomatoes, season as you like (greek or italain spices) add some shredded cheese and it's lunch...and 2 servings of veggies. Add in a diced onion and that's 3. Of course, you need to use smaller amounts of pasta so you eat most of those veggies .

For dinner, I try to incorporate a veggie for starches....
so I make sweet potato fries, mashed sweet potatoes, I use corn as the "starch" portion of a meal, etc... If you use beans, they don't really count as a veggie, but they are some of the most powerful antioxidant carriers!

If you have calorie room, you can get a small bowl of icecream and really load up on frozen berries for toppings.
Or you can melt some dark chocolate and drizzle over berries.

I keep frozen fruit and veggies on hand ALL the time. They are fast, as nutritious as fresh--sometimes more nutritious, and no hassle with prep.

Remember that the 5-day is a goal...some days you may get 6 or 7 and another day 3 or 4...your GOAL is to get more in.

You can PM me a sample meal (or post it here) and I will be happy to make suggestions. It is easy to tell you what you should eat, but if you or your family doesn't like it, you won't do it.

Nut fats are FABULOUS for you. Olives have one major downfall, the salt. Otherwise, they have olive oil in them...all good!!
If you don't cut back so much on the good fats, you will feel full longer.
It is a double edged sword....cut fat, you cut calories but you are miserable, hate how most of your food tastes and always thinking about more food.
Add good fat in and you feel full, you can actually eat LESS food and you begin to enjoy your meals.

As for your husband...well,I wish I could say stop making his meals different from yours. We all should eat healthy meals, regardless of whether we need to lose weight.
Maybe he would enjoy what you eat?
Maybe you two can cook together and make it fun?
Maybe he can grill some items to take the prep/work away from you if he wants what he wants.....

and don't forget to EXERCISE!

I grew up in the South drinking Coke, sweet tea and sugar in my coffee. Stopped drinking sugar in drinks a long time ago and did it by slowly weaning myself from it. Now, I cannot stand sweet drinks. You will be surprised how easily you can adjust to no sugar. Also, you can actually tase the tea and coffee without the sugar. It is much better. Also good for your teeth :-)

Once you get used to that, it may help with your sweet tooth if you have one.

ohgod ohgod ohgod I'm doomed. You girls are just so good about the way you eat. I am a junk food junkie and probably will be until the day I die. One of the worst things about chemo was that I could not taste my Cheetos!

As George Burns said, If you don't smoke, don't drink, don't XXXXXXX, you won't live forever, it just feels like it. LOL

Seriously, I drink tea once or twice a day. Since I only need less than a teaspoon of sugar in it, I don't worry about the calories or "sugar toxicity." Herbal teas, or tisanes, don't require sweeteners of any sort. IF you can drink them. Some are better than others. I prefer red teas by Republic of Tea and I swear by their Chamomile Lemon before bed. It contains, besides the chamomile, valerian root and skullcap, all mild sedatives. Jumpy at night and don't want to resort to pills? Try this. It just may do the trick for you.

OTOH, I simply cannot drink coffee without a couple of sugars and real cream. For one mug a day, I figure it won't kill me.

I am of the fruit/vegetable hating crowd. Once in a while I get a craving for them so I chow down. Banana or yogurt smoothies are acceptable to me. Other than that, I have to consciously force myself to eat a couple a day. Well, I'm not dead yet. Have had bc, true, but so have a gazillion people who have been very good about doing all the right things. And, at 60 YO, with no high BP, good blood sugar levels, normal cholesterol, normal weight, I figure I am just going to go for it for my remaining time.

Do I feel guilty? I know I SHOULD, but........

Now, of course, a lightening bolt will strike me for flaunting my dietary abandon. Girls, send good thoughts.

Smiles,
Tina

I'm trying to stop being a junk food type. But I don't like to cook and I'm not good at it. I love some of your tips here and will try to incorporate them.

My favorite meal, and the only good one I do, is breakfast: small OJ, a dish of melon or berries, then multi-grain Cheerios with a little Basic 4 (just to add more taste) and a little soy or skim milk. And water to drink, just do not like coffee - or any hot drinks. I usually make sun tea - easy to do year round here in Arizona; I got used to it with no sweetener years ago. I like V8 juice - the low sodium if I can find it. Or I use Greens First - http://www.greensfirst.com/. One of my pre-BC docs recommended it, and my chiropractor and trainer both agree. It's a powder you mix with water. It's not cheap but an easy way to get a lot of nutritions.

A friend who is a dietitian recommended this web site when I was diagnosed, so maybe some of you would find it helpful: A Dietitian's Cancer Story - http://www.cancerrd.com/.

You ladies are such a good influence - I'm going to try to do better!

I used to be a "white food" junkie - pasta, bread, potatoes, SUGAR - but I finally got off all that stuff (it took a loooong time). I still eat chocolate and ice cream occasionally but I don't have cravings any more.

I learned to cook by watching FoodTV while I was at home during treatment! Rachael Ray is annoying to some but she shows you all kinds of practical tips and techniques, and her recipes quick and homestyle. I even bought one of those Japanese santoku knives, wow what a difference - it really makes all that slicing and dicing so much easier.

The NY Times recently ran an article of 100 no-brainer 10 minute meals designed to keep you out of the kitchen in the summer. Here's the link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/18/dining...&ei=5087%0A

Plus, readers submitted their own go-to quick meal suggestions online. Look on the left about halfway down the first page and you'll see where to click. There were an additional 375 entries submitted! Lots of easy ideas. Here's one I want to try:

1 can tuna, drained
1 can white navy or other small white beans, drained
1 handful chopped scallions (could sub onion or shallot)
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 c extra virgin olive oil
Salt/pepper

Mix and eat!

You could easily add cooked veggies to this, serve it on top of a salad, use different kinds of beans, etc.

Gotta go - We're going out for dinner tonight!

P.S. I had to do a little shopping before work and just picked up the ingredients for the tuna/white bean salad along with some low sodium V8. Can't wait until lunch. That with a little side of steamed broccoli. Yum!

Debbie

I take one supplement for calcium (500mg with 200IU D and 250mg magnesium)and then the rest comes from sardines, dairy, leafy greens.
I wish I didn't love cheese so much

Dr. Horner in "Waking the Warrior Goddess" says if you MUST have dairy eat organic, which I do, but she said all dairy has some hormones in which are bad for bc. So between that and the controversy about soy I wonder which type of milk organic cow or soy is better for you or should you avoid both?