Any tips for a single man to eat healthier?

DeadMan

As a single man living alone I find it tough to eat healthy. I also spend more than I probably should on take outs. Either that or I nuke a lot of stuff. I have a multi-cooker which I should make better use of. My main issue is one of storage for frozen items and anything that would go in the fridge going off too quickly (Mushy lettuce anyone?). I would cook more but it's a chore. I have a decent frying pan but woner if getting a wok would be better and doing healthy fry ups using peanut oil or similar.

Time, cleaning up the mess after and storage of perishables always seems to be the issue for me.

I need to lose this tyre around my waste!

Pollycat

You might be better posting this on the old-style board.

I know there's a thread about cooking for one on there, it's on the first page.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=33

moneyistooshorttomention

Link doesnt work.

It's the "Cooking for One" thread.

bexster1975

Hello

You could grow your own salad leaves. It sounds a faff but it's cheap and super simple, even if you have no outside space. Takes about four weeks from seed to leaf. Cut what you need, leave the rest growing. Sow seeds every few weeks and you will have leaves well beyond summer if you grow on windowsill. Some supermarkets sell trays of these leaves for £1 if you can't be bothered to grow them! What do you like to eat? What are your takeaway faves? Bet you could make them much cheaper and for less hassle than you think. There is a takeaway cook book I've seen referred to here before. Search on Amazon would probably find it. Whilst you can find almost any recipe online, if you like a chef it could be worth checking out a book ( maybe from a charity shop as many find themselves there). Ideal if you need a bit of inspiration. Lots of fruit and veg of course if you are eating for health. Either lidl or Aldi super six or local greengrocer. You are on the right board for this, you will get loads of ideas. If you don't have a slow cooker that might be a good idea. One pot, cooks all day, serve when you get home! Also cheap enough to run.

Hope you get loads of ideas

Bexster

BrassicWoman

DeadMan wrote: »

As a single man living alone I find it tough to eat healthy!

It won't be because you're single or male, it'll be something in your lifestyle. What's going on around the time you make poorer food choices? How do you shop? Where does your time get spent?

Ilona

I have a single male neighbour who is not yet 30 who eats a lot of takeaways, his middle is expanding rapidly. It's a shame because he is setting himself up for a lot of problems in later life.

OP, find somewhere that does cookery lessons, have you got a friend who can come into your kitchen and show you how to cook?

People usually grab takeaways because they haven't time to cook, but if they were more organized they could prepare real food in advance, the night before.

I have plenty of time to cook but I prefer to do other things. I do very simple meals which take very little time to prepare, sometimes straight from the fridge to the plate. I eat tons of steamed vegetables, done in one pan, and salad every day.

Ilona

lil_me

Never cook for one unless it is something grilled. Make several and freeze saves a lot of cooking another day when less time. They often call it batch cooking. I do It no matter how many I cook for be it 4 then 2 for the freezer for lunch or dinner another day

Pollycat

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Link doesnt work.

It's the "Cooking for One" thread.

Link takes me to the Old-style board - as I said.

The 'cooking for one' thread is on the first page - as I said.

Here's the link to the 'Cooking for one' thread:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5774513/cooking-for-one-mark-three&page=124

ETA:
the link above works for me and takes you to the 'Cooking for one' thread on the Old-style board.

VfM4meplse

lil_me wrote: »

Make several and freeze saves a lot of cooking another day when less time. They often call it batch cooking. I do It no matter how many I cook for be it 4 then 2 for the freezer for lunch or dinner another day

This works for me too. It ensures that I eat something vegetable based when I can't be bothered with even simple prep. On those occasions I tend to go for cereal, or something else carbohydrate-based that can be eaten without waiting, so its handy to have something that can be taken out of the freezer in the morning - usually HM soup - ready to be heated through as a healthier alternative.

My issue is not necessarily healthy eating, but its not being able to wait for food when I'm hungry (I go for very long periods wiithout eating and then realise I'm hungry as my mood drops - something to eat in a hurry usually prevents some undue cross words from being uttered). The reason I don't eat take-aways is because I don't actually like eating out. Nor do I like spending a great deal of money on food.

Nelski

A good friend of mine has recently become single and is panicking about how/what to cook as he hasn't ever had to think about that.

Takeaways are good as a treat but you dont really know whats in them and they do cost a fair bit. Saying that a meal from my local indian costs me a tenner ish but lasts at least 3 meals so a freezer needs to be your best friend Do you have room to buy a new/bigger freezer? Over time it will pay for itself.

I would make a list of all your favourite meals takeaway or stab stab ping then google them and get a recipe. You wont go wrong if you follow it properly and build up a store cupboard of stuff to use regularly

My friends list included various curries, stir frys, sausage casserole fish pie, beef in wine, chicken casserole, steak pie, soups....and loads more. May not all sound healthy but they are more than likely to be healthier than takeaways

last tip make a rough meal plan ...choosing food when hungry rarely leads to healthy choices

HTH

Voyager2002

Start off by noticing that the process of getting a takeaway (walking there; waiting for the food; walking home -- or alternatively telephoning to order and then awaiting delivery) takes longer than a lot of simple cooking. Either way, you need to start doing something about your meal before you get really hungry.

Next step: get organised to start cooking so that you will have something ready when you need it. And at the same time, spend a little effort digging up recipes for things that you like. Personally I buy recipe books from charity shops and swear by Philip Harben, but the simplest is to use Google and cook anything that sounds OK and would not be too difficult.