Persuade me eating healthily is worth it

[Gwenhwyfar]

Already posted in Health, but I thought I'd try and get additional answers.

I know I should eat healthily and have my 5 a day (currently struggling to get just 1 despite being 90% vegetarian), but even though I know it, I struggle to really understand it if you see what I mean. I know scientists say you should eat fruit and veg and that ideally it should be way more than 5 and I presume that's based on studies of people who've developed certain illnesses, but it's not something I can SEE or FEEL like I can with other things. When I've made an effort myself, I haven't seen any improvement.
I can see that overeating makes you overweight. That's clear.
I can feel that too much sugar rots your teeth. I can feel that happening, but I just can't see the damage I'm doing by eating cheese sandwiches and the like.

I hear people saying things like 'I haven't been eating healthily, I'm craving fruit/veg now' and I'm quite confused by that or 'you may not be overweight, but you'll be really unhealthy inside'. I don't really know what they mean by that.

Can anyone help make it more 'real' for me rather than just something people say.

Thanks in advance.

Well you can’t see your cholesterol increasing by eating lots of cheese but the health effects could make themselves known one day. You may not feel cancer forming but the effects of a less than healthy diet are known.

www.news-medical.net/health/How-Dangerous-is-a-Lack-of-Fruit-and-Vegetables.aspx

Do you really need to feel it in order to make changes?

Personally I feel lighter when I eat better, not weight wise but less sluggish, less headaches, less aches and pains in general, more energy, better skin and yes, I crave healthier food and just the taste of too much fat/unhealthy stuff isn’t appealing in general.

If you eat a lot of junk then you crave it more. I suppose you would have to completely change your diet -and stick to it for several weeks-then have a think how you feel. You really would notice then that you feel better. I say this as someone feeling awful right now because I’ve succumbed to the mince pies and now can’t stop stuffing myself with cakes, crisps & chocolate I’m hoping I can rein myself back in and get some control back because I feel far better when I make daily fruit & veg smoothies, have homemade soup for lunch and grilled fish with veg & maybe a small jacket for dinner instead of cheese butty, crisps and chocolate bar at lunch then something and oven chips for dinner!

How can you "struggle" to get one portion of vegetables?

Cut up a tomato and put it on your cheese sandwich. Or a beetroot. If you're feeling really daring you could add a couple of lettuce leaves too.

Cut sticks of cucumber and dip it into some caramelised-red-onion hummus.

Saute some sliced mushrooms in butter and add them to your poached egg on toast.

Have a tomato-based sauce on your pasta.

Add raisins to your porridge.

Eat a banana.

Have some carrots and peas with your whatever-and-chips.

If you eat healthy regularly and suddenly eat unhealthy, you definitely feel different.
Damage isn't sudden, but it accumulate, doesn't it? My fil needs injection every few months because of years of unhealthy eating habits.

Your future self will thank you. My grandparents ate a lot of beige food, the occasional banana or boiled to death carrots. That's it. The rest was white bread, cakes, cheese, sausage rolls etc. They were relatively well off. But their health really really suffered from a fairly young age as a result of their poor diet. They weren't even overweight. But their sugary beige choices led to several different health conditions.

White/beige foods are simple carbs that turn into sugar (which is bad on every level for you) and lack vitamins and minerals.

Cheese/dairy is ok though, albeit Dairylea triangles and other very processed foods are less good than say a hunk of cheddar.

Fruit and veg give you lots of trace minerals and vitamins. Most veg are also complex carbs which provide slower release energy and fibre meaning you feel fuller and keep your blood sugars stable.

My thin, trim grandmother developed Alzheimer’s at a very early age (mid/late 60s) and she existed on a diet of white food and sweets. I’m hoping to swerve that!

"ou may not feel cancer forming but the effects of a less than healthy diet are known."

Oh yes, I know I SHOULD. I don't need links. I just don't feel it, the way I do with eating too much or eating sugar.

"Do you really need to feel it in order to make changes?"

Apparently so.
I've tried to be healthier many times, but always give up and end up eating the food I llike.

"How can you "struggle" to get one portion of vegetables?

Cut up a tomato and put it on your cheese sandwich. Or a beetroot. If you're feeling really daring you could add a couple of lettuce leaves too."

That would not be a portion. I do add slices of tomato to my cheese sandwich sometimes, but it's not a portion. And I need 5 portions.
I wouldn't prepare beetroot at home.
I don't like cucumber.

"Have some carrots and peas with your whatever-and-chips."

I don't eat chips and would not be bothered cooking carrots and peas and wouldn't want to eat them without a sauce. Just carrots, peas and chips is not an appetising meal for me.
I quite like roasted carrots and carrots cooked into a stew, but they take time. In fact, I have some carrots in the fridge that I just can't be bothered to peel and roast. I don't really like them boiled or steamed in the microwave and would need a sauce.

"My fil needs injection every few months because of years of unhealthy eating habits."

What injections and what unhealthy eating? I know we're supposed to eat fruit and veg, but whenever I hear of a really clear link between diet and illness it tends to be heart attacks and huge quantities of junk food or something, not someone who eats cheese sandwiches.

"I’m hoping I can rein myself back in and get some control back because I feel far better when I make daily fruit & veg smoothies, have homemade soup for lunch and grilled fish with veg & maybe a small jacket for dinner instead of cheese butty, crisps and chocolate bar at lunch then something and oven chips for dinner!"

I just don't get that feeling better though. For me, it's just a load of hassle for no visible reward.

Would it help if you changed your thinking to:

If I eat food with iron and B vitamins in then I will feel more energetic.

If I eat food with zinc and selenium in then my skin looks better

OK if you're going to be difficult tell us what you do eat and see if we have suggestions to add in veg etc. Do you live on cheese sandwiches?

If you can't be bothered you're not exactly struggling tho? You will feel better because you'll be more energetic, as a pp said, which to me is the golden ticket. If you like roast veg say, a great thing to do is chip up a pile of peppers, aubergine etc, some oil and salt and roast for 25 minutes, you can make enough for 3 days say for ten minutes effort. The carrots and peas suggestion was alongside your dinner I assume not in their own with chips! Your body doesn't have to work as hard to digest fruit and veg, nuts and seeds so that will feel different once you're reasonably consistent. I was a dreadfully restricted and picky eater as a child but if you have a passing interest you can make a big difference to your life. Sounds like you don't eat terrible stuff just you need to add F&V.

Sounds good SecretDoor what do you recommend? And yes as well as better sleep and energy levels, my skin is clearer when I make a point of eating well.

Tbh I wouldn’t do anything to the carrots, I would eat them as they are (I am lazy).

I'm lazy with fruit and veg. I eat it if it's in front of me but I remind myself I do like it, and it's good for me with fibre and vitamins and minerals plus adds bulk without many calories
Some things I do
Banana or raspberries in porridge. Low effort
Apple and peanut butter as a snack
Steam bags of veg. I eat them with virtually every meal
Stews, pasta bakes etc all get loads added
Omelettes I add mushrooms and onion and tomato
Sandwiches I shove a handful of mixed salad and some sliced gherkins in
Roasted veg I cook and keep in the fridge to eat with salads, feta, cous cous etc

Why do we need to persuade you? Are you not an adult?

QueenPaws that all sounds delicious, definitely lazy!!

@HeyGirlHeyBoy I'm all for low effort!
Tonight I had pasta bake but it had (in 2 portions) a full onion, a punnet of cherry tomatoes, a courgette, a red pepper, a chilli
Then I added a steam bag of green veg on the side

Lovely. Anything that makes it handy and more realistic is a good thing.

@Audreyseyebrows

Tbh I wouldn’t do anything to the carrots, I would eat them as they are (I am lazy).

I don't like raw food and don't have the teeth for it anyway. I eat apples occasionally, but I have to slice with a knife.

@grassisjeweled

Why do we need to persuade you? Are you not an adult?

You don't need to persuade me. I was starting a conversation for people who might be interested. You don't need to be on the thread at all if it doesn't interest you.

@Winegumaddict

OK if you're going to be difficult tell us what you do eat and see if we have suggestions to add in veg etc. Do you live on cheese sandwiches?

I wasn't looking for food ideas though. I'm looking for a reason to make the effort. I've gone through phases before of buying fruit and veg and I just end up throwing them away because I can make a sandwich in two minutes. Some people have said they feel more energetic and look better when they eat healthily. That's the kind of thing I was looking for, though I'm quite sceptical.

"If you can't be bothered you're not exactly struggling tho?"

I suppose I struggle to be bothered. To see the point.

@SecretDoor

Would it help if you changed your thinking to:

If I eat food with iron and B vitamins in then I will feel more energetic.

If I eat food with zinc and selenium in then my skin looks better

Do you really believe that though? Does that happen to you?

For me I think well if I'm eating fruit and veg I'm probably eating less sugar and fat. And a good source of fibre which lowers bowel cancer risk
I sort of think if I don't eat it, it might catch up with me one day and then I'll wonder if it would have made a difference
Plus low in calories if that matters, so they fill me up