Healthy recipes for the week

This weekly recipe is suitable for ordinary healthy adults aged 18-55. The daily calories are controlled in the 1800-2200 kcal range, and the energy supply ratio of protein, carbohydrate, and fat is 3:4:3. It strictly complies with the food diversity requirements of the "Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents (2022)". Ordinary people can meet their daily nutritional needs by directly copying it without taking additional multivitamins. Those with muscle gain, fat loss, and vegetarian needs can also directly adjust it on the basis. I and more than 10 friends around me tried it for 3 months. The most I lost was 3% of my body fat. The least I said was that my stomach felt much better. I never felt hungry or tired of eating.

Monday is the busiest day of the week, and no one wants to get up half an hour early to make breakfast, so the dishes are all prepared in 5 minutes: take two slices of whole wheat toast, a fried egg, a piece of lettuce, a small piece of low-fat cheese, and a cup of unsweetened black coffee or warm soy milk. If you are in a hurry, you can just grab it and eat it on the go. Oh, yes, I have to mention the whole-wheat toast standards that are very controversial on the Internet. Many people say that whole-wheat flour must be ranked first in the ingredient list to be healthy. In fact, you don’t have to worry about it. If you buy the kind that adds a little wheat flour but the total sugar content is less than 5g per 100 grams, you can still eat it. After all, being able to stick to it is more important than anything else. I bought 100% whole-wheat before, and it was as hard as chewing bark. I threw it away after two days of eating. It was a complete waste.

If you want to bring rice for lunch, simmer brown rice the night before, make braised chicken breast with sauce, and stir-fry lettuce. When packing, the rice will account for half, and the vegetables and meat will account for one-quarter. You can heat it in the company's microwave for 3 minutes. It is much healthier than the takeout that often uses half a cup of oil. If there is a clean light food restaurant near the company, you can order it directly. Don't choose the one with half a box of mayonnaise or Thousand Island dressing. Use oil and vinegar sauce, or you can bring a small bag of light soy sauce for dipping. In the evening, it's even simpler. Boil corn, steam 2 shrimps, and mix with cucumber salad. If you're hungry, add a small bowl of tomato and egg soup. It's just 70% full. After all, you don't have much activity at night. If you eat too much, it's uncomfortable to toss and turn in bed to accumulate food.

If you want to gain muscle, you can add 1/3 more brown rice at noon, replace the chicken breast with 200g, and add a spoonful of whey protein at night.； If you want to reduce fat, replace the brown rice with 100g of chopped cauliflower, which will still make you full and reduce the calories by half. ； For vegetarian friends, replace the chicken breast with 150g of old tofu, stew it with light soy sauce and a little oyster sauce, and the taste is not bad.

On Tuesday, you can try something warmer. Drink multigrain porridge in the morning. Throw red beans, oats, and millet into the electric pressure cooker the night before to make a reservation. You can drink it when you get up in the morning. Pair it with a boiled egg and a handful of cherry tomatoes. Drink it in autumn and winter to make you feel comfortable. There is also a controversy that has been going on here for several years: many people say that porridge raises blood sugar quickly and is unhealthy. In fact, it depends on the type of porridge. Pure white rice porridge has a high GI value, but the GI value of multigrain porridge with more than half of mixed beans is only over 50, which is lower than white rice. People who control sugar should not drink more than a small bowl, and there is no problem at all. My mother has type 2 diabetes. After drinking this kind of multigrain porridge for more than half a year, her fasting blood sugar has been stable at around 5.8, which is much better than when she ate white rice every day.

At noon, arrange the Longli fish. Bake it in the air fryer at 180 degrees for 10 minutes. Just sprinkle some black pepper and salt. There is no fishy smell at all. Serve with stir-fried broccoli and 150g of white rice. You can also replace it with brown rice if you are not used to white rice. Oh, yes, don’t listen to the lies of the merchants who say that Longli fish is much healthier than pangasius. Many cheap Longli fish are fake pangasius. Pangasius only has a slightly lower protein content. If there are no random additions, it is completely ok to buy pangasius on a limited budget. There is no need to spend more for the so-called "health premium". Cook some soba noodles in the evening, add some green vegetables while cooking, fry a poached egg, add a spoonful of light soy sauce, a little vinegar and sesame oil. It is much more fragrant than the takeout noodle soup and has lower calories.

I usually set Wednesday as a "flexible adjustment day". You can eat what you want at noon, including burgers, hot pot, and crayfish, as long as you don't overeat: if you eat burgers, remove half of the buns, if you eat hot pot, don't drink the soup full of red oil, and if you eat crayfish, don't drink two or three bottles of iced Coke. The overall calories should not exceed too many. After all, eating light meals all the time will make you greedy, which will lead to overeating on the weekends. I used to eat light meals for 10 days in a row. I couldn't help but get up in the middle of the night and eat two packs of instant noodles, but I gained 2 pounds. Later, I allowed myself to relax once a week, and I was able to stick to it.

Oh, yes, if you have arranged to have a dinner with friends in the evening that day, then eat a little lighter at noon and save the calories for the evening. There is no need to feel guilty just because of a dinner. Health is a long-term thing, so don’t miss this meal.

For a cold treat on Thursday morning, make a yogurt bowl: sugar-free Greek yogurt with some instant oatmeal, blueberries, and a handful of plain nuts. It's delicious and convenient, and it's especially refreshing in the summer. At noon, you can arrange fried beef with mushrooms. Cut 150g of lean beef into thin slices and stir-fry with king oyster mushrooms and white jade mushrooms. You don’t need to add too much seasoning. Just sprinkle some black pepper to make it fresh. Served with 150g of multigrain rice. In the evening, just cook yam, steam a few pieces of pumpkin, and mix spinach with fungus. It's refreshing and doesn't take much time.

Friday is about to be a holiday, and the mood is different. You can have a vegetable egg pancake in the morning. Mix the shredded carrots and zucchini with flour and egg liquid the night before and put it in the refrigerator. In the morning, scoop a spoonful of it and fry it in a pan for two minutes. Pair it with a cup of hot milk. After eating, you will feel energetic when working. At noon, you can eat braised noodles with tomatoes and eggs. Use buckwheat noodles for the noodles. Add less oil to the braised noodles, and add a cold cucumber. It is much more comfortable than eating takeout. You can even arrange a small family barbecue in the evening. Use an air fryer to grill some lean beef skewers, eggplants, and mushrooms, and sprinkle some cumin chili noodles. The taste is similar to the barbecue outside, and the calories are still low. After eating, you can go out for a walk with your family and feel the atmosphere of the weekend in advance.

You don’t have to be so stuck on weekends. If you want to sleep in, you can get up later. On Saturday morning, you can cook rice dumplings with fermented rice, add less sugar, add egg drop, and serve with a small plate of cold dried radish. It will be fun to eat. For lunch, you can stew pork ribs and corn soup, stir-fry okra, and have some multigrain rice. If you want to go out for brunch, that’s fine. Just don’t order waffles drizzled with a lot of syrup or coffee with cream. If you are at home on Sunday, cook seafood porridge, stir-fry lettuce, and steam some sweet potatoes. Eat until you are about 70% full, leaving just enough room for your stomach to rest for the next week.

To be honest, healthy recipes are not as demanding as everyone thinks. You don’t have to boil them every time, and you don’t have to completely refuse snacks. The core is to eat more natural foods and less processed foods. A good recipe is a recipe that you can stick to. A friend of mine used to eat boiled vegetables all the time in order to lose weight. As a result, her aunt became abnormal, and the gain outweighed the loss. If you follow this recipe and feel that any dish doesn't suit your taste, just replace it with the same type of ingredients you like: if you don't like chicken breast, replace it with skinless chicken legs, and if you don't like brown rice, replace it with oats. Whatever makes you feel comfortable is to do whatever you want. After all, health is a lifelong matter and cannot be accomplished in a short-term attack.