HI I have been reading the post about what cooking to do whilst in a caravan - all of which sounds very tempting!
However, I have just joined a slimming club and so have to watch what I eat now. Bad enough at home, but I don't want to turn the caravan into a miserable place with me calorie counting all the time!!
Has anyone been in this situation and have any ideas how to eat healthy and without taking a cupboard full of ingredients to make a basic meal .
Just been away this weekend and am a little tired of salad, jacket potato and fresh fruit with low fat yogurt.
My wife is doing one of the slimming club things and we have just had a fantastic weekend away in our FC.
We bought a Halogen Oven and it is great, you can do jacket potatoes in it, meats, all sorts. there is no need to make things miserable, just cook some lovely meats and have them with salads etc.
She even cooked a Moroccan style chicken stew with cous cous on Saturday night which was delicious. (a tin of tomatoes, cinnamon, onion, peppers, cumin, baked beans: brown the meat using fry light spray oil in a frying pan, put all the ingredients into a casserole and slap it in the halogen oven at 220 for about 40 minutes, serve with cous cous and some salad)
I suppose what I am saying is that things need not be dull or boring as long as you have something decent to cook with.
Good luck
------------- Give a man a fish and he'll feed his family for a day.
Teach a man to fish and he'll sit around on a boat all day drinking beer!
To be honest I dont think you will be able to diet when away in your caravan. I have lost 3 stone since last September and like to think that I have changed my eating habits rather than dieting. I eat sensibly, always have a breakfast, a salad type lunch and then a main meal when I get home. Structured meals mean I no longer raid the confectionery machine at work and I dont eat choc biscuits or bags of crisps as I had done in the past.My weight is now fairly static moving up and down a couple of pounds each week.
When it comes to going away in the van we just accept that we will eat better, eat out or may have a take away but we know that when we get back we will start our regime all over again. Dont watch the calories, have a good break and deal with it when you get back.
------------- Nigel
March 2012 - Dove Meadows
6th July Moving to Hayle
If your diet is making you miserable, at home or away, then you are on the wrong diet.
I am an one and will be on it for the next couple of years. Okay it does mean measuring everything I eat and using smaller plates but then again it was precisely because I did not care about amounts and had huge plates that I got fat in the first place.
Today I still enjoy my curries and my fish suppers, but I eat less of them and I think I enjoy them more because I savor every bite. I eat exactly the same as the rest of the family and I do not miss out on anything.
Oh, and I am looking forward to this camping season when I will be able to try out new foods and tastes from other places.
When in the caravan why don't you exercise a bit more by walking etc. to burn off the calories. That way you can pamper yourself a little, enjoy your meals and a bit of the countryside at the same time. You can always get depressed about dieting when you return through the front door at home.
Well I tend to cut back throughout the year and eat what I like when Im away but some of the things I have are a fruit salad and yoghurt for breakfast or a couple of the thin crumpets. Cracker breads with low fat houmous or extra light philadelphia, tuna/sweetcorn with extra light mayo wraps or roast chicken & low fat creme fraiche salad pitta for lunch.
Tea time you could have a spaghetti bolognese with extra lean mince and lower carb pasta, or chilli con carne again with extra lean ingredients which everyone else can eat the same. My latest favourite is an extra low fat chicken and broccoli bake, just place the chicken and broccoli into a dish and cover pour over a sauce made up of low fat baxters condensed chicken soup, a teaspoon of mild curry powder or paste, a tablespoon of extra low fat mayo and topped up with skimmed milk mixed together and bake for probably a bit over an hour in a caravan oven - I know the sauce sounds weird but its delicious. Chicken Noodle (very simple and quick) cooked chicken breast sliced, a couple of tablespoons of soy sauce, straight to wok thread noodles, frozen peas and sweetcorn or canned and 300mls of chicken stock all thrown into a pan and heated until peas and sweetcorn warmed through and noodles soft and serve - kids love that one and still very light.
Quote: Originally posted by tango55 on 10/4/2011
When in the caravan why don't you exercise a bit more by walking etc. to burn off the calories. That way you can pamper yourself a little, enjoy your meals and a bit of the countryside at the same time. You can always get depressed about dieting when you return through the front door at home.
Yes, exercise that great alternative to controlling calories.
------------- Ollie
2016
Monplaisir - Provence
Camping Les Gorges du Loup
Pasta and Rice are really easy to cook in van and good in the slimming world diet, those along with jacket potatoes and salads give you plenty to go at. I can sympathise we are off in our van tomorrow and I am in the middle of a sponsored slim!!!!
I think some people are missing the point here (and I am not trying to antagonise anyone so don't shoot me down in flames )
The OP, it would seem to me, is part of the Slimming World club, or something similar, which means that she is fairly restricted to what she can eat and drink. I know this because my wife is currently on the same thing. I know that the advice about burning off more than you take in is all good but you do have to understand how these diets work. It really is not as simple as 'eat what you like but do more exercise' it is the combinations of what is eaten that makes this kind of diet work.
As I say, I am not trying to antagonise but merely trying to put the OP's request into context.
Flip53, I would seriously suggest that you buy a halogen oven as it will mean that you can eat the same things when you are away as you do at home, as I said we have just had a great weekend away and my wife didn't feel restricted at all in what she could cook and eat, she had a lovely time.
Good luck with it and watch the sins!! lol
Jim
------------- Give a man a fish and he'll feed his family for a day.
Teach a man to fish and he'll sit around on a boat all day drinking beer!
Both of us have been doing Slimming World for a year and, like Nigel16, accept that we'll probably put a bit of weight on when on holiday but will get straight back on plan afterwards and lose it again. If you're staying in the UK it's not so bad as there are so many low-fat and sugar-free products availabe. It's more difficult abroad to find things like low-fat yogurt, fromage frais, cream cheese, mayo etc, and on a long trip it's not possible to stock up beforehand! Have you tried Ainsley Harriot's couscous? Only half a syn! It comes in several flavours, you can have it hot with meat or fish, or cold as a salad - just add ham, or chickpeas. There are lots of recipes for healthy curries, which are easy to cook and tasty. Good luck with the diet!
------------- Il vaut mieux vivre ses reves que rever sa vie
well it is possible over the last year i have lost 10 stone and have had van out many times during this time we just eat as we do at home again not on a diet i just eat carefully and if hhaving a takeaway accomodate through the week you can splash out every now and then must admit though i am now considerably more active ie 30 mile bike rides from near pickering to scarborough and 3 visits to gym a week none of which i did befre so accomodates for
Quote: The OP, it would seem to me, is part of the Slimming World club, or something similar, which means that she is fairly restricted to what she can eat and drink.
If the OP is on the SW plan then NO food is banned and it is the least restrictive diet I've ever tried!! Personally I find I eat better when camping than I do at home and I tend to exercise more too.
Everything in moderation is the key - you're on holiday, so enjoy yourself, just don't go mad!!
It strikes me the quicker healthier food stuffs are easier for camping and caravan the the un healthy options..... Salads,Rice and Pasta for example over potatos..... chipshops excluded
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Topic: How do you diet and enjoy caravanning?
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