diet recipes

i recently have begun trying to lose weight and as of two days ago have started trying to pay a lot more attention to my diet. ive seen suggested on the forum tuna fish, chicken, fresh fruit and veggies. i have a background as a chef and thought id start a thread where people can share their diet recipes and tell about their diets and what works or doesnt work.

my goal is to get from around 225 to around 185 or so. i would like to be at a better weight for judo/bjj but my primary motive, tbh is for appearance. im recently seperated from my wife of 11 years and am the full time care giver for my 4 year old son. if i ever want to be in the company of a lady again im gonna have to get back in fighting shape, so to speak. i mention this only to point out that my goal is to lose weight and that trumps being healthy etc. that said, most of what im eating is imo very healthy.

anyways my rough gameplan is this

breakfast
a couple hard boiled eggs (so far i eat all of one and just the white of the other but im gonna go to just whites when my body gets used to it a little)

lunch
tuna fish and some fruit or
a salad of some sort

dinner
chicken breast or fish and some veggies (often a salad with the chicken breast)

anyways, this is the rough outline and im going to add other things as i get into it to make it less boring and more sustainable.

oh yeah the entire point of the thread was to share recipes not for me to tell everyone im on a diet lol. a lot of people may think this is pretty gay, esp on a mma forum but whatever, i like for my food to taste decent and i bet at least some other people do as well.


everything im making is very simple and my chef friends would laugh their heads off but thats what i have time for these days. i was having trouble eating the tuna without mayo in it for lunch and thought about a dish i used to serve with fluke or cod as starter in the restaurant. the original dish was served with hot fish in a black miso glaze but this is straight out of the can and the miso would be too strong im pretty sure (and i dont have any in the house anyways).
tuna fish lettuce cups

1 can tuna fish
soy sauce
rice wine vinegar (any light vinegar could be substitute)
dijon or chinese mustard
butter, iceberg or any kind of lettuce you can make cups or wrap it in
optional
sambal (vietnamese spicy chilli garlic sauce)
toasted sesame seeds (white and/or black)

basically you just mix everything together to taste. a couple teaspoons of soy, rice wine vinegar, and dijon is all you need. the sambal makes it spicy and i really like that but it is not necessary. then just get some leafs of lettuce and mound the tuna on them. i make 3 or 4 out of a can of tuna. i sprinkle some toasted sesame seeds on top and then eat it like a taco with the lettuce in place of a tortilla

end result: its not great but its better than the other mayo-less canned tuna stuff ive tried so far. i actually like it pretty well and it takes about 1-2 minutes to prepare. if you are not counting calories as carefully you could add some mayo and have a kind of asian tuna salad.

ok one more that i had for lunch yesterday that was really pretty good. you could do gthe same thing with any marinade but htis is how i do it

chicken with spinach

make a vinagrette out of soy, garlic, ginger, rice wine vinegar and olive oil (or any other vinagrette you want to make)

marinate chicken in some of the vinagrette (i just throw a bunch in a ziplock in the fridge to be used as needed)

cut it in chunks and saute it in a hot pan (you shouldnt need any extra oil as htere is enough in vinagrette)

put baby spinach in a big bowl

pour a little vinagrette in the pan until its warm with cooked chicken and then pour the entire pan over the spinach

i like to add some toasted sesame seeds and whatever veggies i may have around

anyhow simple lunch that only takes a couple minutes to put together. the warm vinagrette wilts the spinach which i like when im saladed out.

I'd say for being able to cook well, you're not all that heavy.

Good idea for a thread. Just a few things about the diet.

1. If this is for appearance sake, you don't have to be that hardcore with it. The best kind of "diets" for people who just want to shed unattractive weight are the ones that don't seem like you're on a diet.

A tactic I used before and has success with was making a menu, and altering it in a healthy direction every week. An example would be to start with a cheeseburger and fries. Not healthy, but something you like. Have one or two a week, and then next week just have a hamburger with fries. The next week have a hamburger with less fries and a side salad, then a turkey burger with the fries and side salad and so on. If you do that with every meal, you'll eventually cut a good chunk of calories out of the diet and you don't really suffer for it. Plus its an easier diet to keep at long term and actually change your eating habits, as opposed to dropping weight and putting it back on when you stop the diet.

2. Try to avoid the soy. I've heard both sides of the whole soy protein argument, and tend to believe its not good for males to eat. I realize you're not looking to be a body builder or anything, but if you're doing weight training, BJJ or anything physical like that, you could be killing whatever bulk you could have put on if you eat too much soy.

7am-1/2 cup old fashioned oats soaked over night in 8oz 1%milk w/1 scoop whey,fish oil tabs, multivitamins
10am-9 eggwhite+3eggs 2 slices ezekiel bread+2 tbsp sugar free jelly
12:30pm-(post workout)1 scoop whey+16oz skim milk+1 tsp cocoa pwdr
1 med banana
1:00-6oz lean(93%)ground beef,2 slices ezekiel bread,an assortmrnt of grilled vegetables(grown in the garden)
4:00-3oz grillled chicken(no skin),3oz grilled ground beef(93%),1 cup chop romaine,4 oz carrots,4 oz celery+1tbsp EVOO&1 tbsp balsamic vinegar,1 granny smith apple
7:00-8 oz grilled chicken(skin on),more grilled vegetables(maybe 4oz cooked beans if I feel like I need some carbs or I did some afternoon workout)
9:30 ZMA tabs
10:00 12oz cott chz+2 tbsp natty PB+1tbsp sugar free jelly
drinking approx.1.5-2.5 gallons of H2O per day
alot of my meals stay the same mon-sat..I may switch up a grilled tuna or salmon in meals4,5 or 6. meals 1 and 7 are always the same post workout meal varies in time of day because I dont always workout at lunchtime.Sunday I take a break and let my wife make french toast and fresh fruit for breakfast. Maybe grill steak and shrimp for dinner. Perhaps grab a couple slices of pizza that day for a snack. Sometmes end the day with ice cream...a cheat day
I also have went from 235@20%bf to 225@12%bf over the summer and continue to get leaner,stronger and faster.

am i reading that right as 9 egg whites + 3 eggs. sounds like a hearty breakfast lol. sounds like you are finding a lot more time to work out than i am as well, which is something im trying to rectify.