What happens when you start eating better?

[Elopelo]

I am tired most of the time and feel especially terrible today. Have 2 young DC who can get up to all sorts of shenanigans in the night but my diet is horrendous and I need to do something about it.

I don’t want to feel or look like this anymore.

Please inspire me with how eating better makes you feel better! What changes big or small do you notice?

Hi, I have lost 18lbs in the last 4 months on slimming world and as soon as I started following the plan I just felt so much more comfortable in my clothes. My jeans don’t squash my belly as much as they used to, I don’t feel so bloated and I generally just feel more confident and happier in my own skin. I have three DC under 6 and I am tired all the time! I just find I need to bulk make meals for the week so I always have something ready to eat and plan meals in advance. It’s not easy buts it’s definitely worth it. Good luck x

You're full of energy.
You don't eat as much.
You can think more clearly.
Your mood improves.
Your guts stop feeling sore and bloated.
You wish you'd done it sooner.

😃

You don't have a white carbs crash.

You feel less sluggish
And you don't need to do it all the time just most of it.
And it can be easy and quick.

Bananas
Boiled eggs

Quick simple

Thanks everyone for your replies. @FatherJoseFernandez Congrats on your weight loss that is so lovely to hear and inspiring too. Did you do the online membership of SW or the face to face?

I’ve been meaning to do this for a long time but just keep pushing it to tomorrow, next Monday, next month, etc. I don’t recognise myself anymore and had a tearful evening where I really want to change but sometimes it feels so overwhelming and I don’t know how or where to start.

I started low carbing a couple of years ago. I eat minimally processed food (all shop bought food is processed to a degree) and cook from scratch mostly. I'm not keto because it's too strict for me but my extra carbs come from vegetables rather than sugar or other starchy foods.

My diet is quite higher in fat because I eat fewer carbs - butter and olive oil and fatty meats and I avoid allegedly 'healthy' oils like vegetable and sunflower oil. I eat meat, fish, eggs, green leafy veg, cauliflower, mostly green salad stuff, nuts, cheese and double cream.

I've lost a couple of stone and have kept it off. My skin is less flushed; I don't bloat/feel digestive discomfort; I sleep better; I have more energy when I'm awake - I used to be ready for bed at 7pm and not have the energy to do anything. Now I'm able to keep going until 10/11pm at night. I look younger, my skin is better. I don't have food cravings and i don't really snack.

Energy. Skin. Focussed mind. Enthusiasm for life. All I did was cut sugar and lots of refined carbs and drink masses more water. People noticed. Not just me.

As for knowing where to start, whatever route you take, cut down on bread, pasta, sugar and empty carbs to begin with. If you cut down on these, you will begin to feel better in days

Echo this as a starting point, with a focus on upping your vegetables intake overall.

Start simple like that, keepmit achievanle and realistic.

And focus on the first food & drinks of the day (whatever time they occue) being healthy & mindful. I find if I start the day well.. I'm more likely to end it well too. It's mentally and physically effective.
Start as you mean to go on.

As a pp said, less white carbs. I have far more energy and less brain fog. More vegetables and less pasta. I love pasta dishes so I halved to amount of pasta and doubled the veg. When I needed to shift some weight quickly in February I cut out all wheat products for 2 weeks. It was tough but I dropped a dress size. I’m not suggesting you have to do that, but cutting back on bread, biscuits, cereals, processed foods makes a big difference.

Could you buy frozen veg to make it easier and quicker to prepare your meals? So if you like stir fry then frozen peppers and onions, fe. With other veg dress it with lemon juice to improve the flavour.

If you are me you will wee gallons and get really really constipated

But once that passes you will feel less sluggish and have much more energy

I have recently started eating better by folllowing the Zoe Nutrition programme. I am amazed that in just one week my skin is looking better, my tummy is less bloated and I generally have more glow.

@LulooLemon oh what's that please any examples?

I've started eating "properly" for a couple of weeks. Low starchy carbs, lots of veg, nuts, olive oil etc

I've lost 6lbs but interestingly my resting heart rate has dropped consistently. It was 78 two weeks ago, now it is 67. I'm convinced it's the carbs that made it higher.

My fitness pal calorie counting..lost 4 st in a year.

Um okay. Earlier this year I discovered that my "baggy" jeans were, et, stupidly tight on me. Now there is Type II in the family, so eventually I hauled myself off to Slimming World (who I successfully lost quite a bit of weight with many many years ago) and spent 8 weeks losing 9 lbs. Exciting I know.
BUT.
a) the jeans fit again yay
b) I look normalish again, no longer reminding myself unnervingly of the porkier relations who had Type II
c) jogging feels significantly easier and BECAUSE I can now do that I feel a lot happier and more "with it"
d) because of (c) I'm getting a bit more stuff done and that makes me feel happier
e) my blood pressure and heart rate are down (much to my surprise as it's not a huge difference)
f) guts feel much calmer and not bloated (that would be the "much less bread and cake")

SW wasn't particularly onerous, just lots of fruit, veg, lean protein, it was only the fatty, sugary stuff and bread I had to limit.

As for knowing where to start, whatever route you take, cut down on bread, pasta, sugar and empty carbs to begin with. If you cut down on these, you will begin to feel better in days

This.

If it seems overwhelming, maybe you could start small - one meal at a time.

For example for the next few weeks you could make sure you have a decent healthy breakfast. Porridge with fruits and nuts is an easy option. I usually have it with blueberries (I keep lots of frozen fruit in the freezer which I also use for fruit smoothies) and some chopped walnuts with a bit of honey - filling and delicious. Or you could try it with banana and cinnamon. Now that the weather is getting better you could add in some strawberries when they are in season. Find a combination you like.

Or if you prefer a savoury breakfast some scrambled eggs with a few veggies, or an omelette. Or wholegrain toast with peanut butter and banana and a fruit smoothie.

After a few weeks when you get used to your breakfast routine, start to swap out some other meals for healthier versions.
If you have time at the weekend, cook a large batch of healthy vegetable soup and freeze it in portions which you could have for lunch.
You could also try using wholegrain bread, pasta, and brown rice instead of white - they have more fibre and keep you fuller.
For dinner, try adding more vegetables to your plate instead of potatoes etc.

After a while you will feel better and hopefully it should spur you on to keep going.

Also, try to have healthier snacks on hand during the day - nuts are a great one, so is fruit and greek yoghurts, rice cakes with peanut butter, a few slices of cheese or a hard boiled egg.

Instead of thinking of it as depriving yourself, think of it as fuelling your body in a positive way.

More energy, fewer aches and pains (I had a dodgy hip that cleared up) and I lost 10 lbs.

You tend to live longer.

@Laptopneeded Zoe is a fairly new personalized nutrition company.

You wear a continuous blood sugar monitor for two weeks whilst logging everything you eat and drink. You also have to eat some 'muffins' that they provide and then do a blood test by pricking your finger. Oh and take a sample of your poo 💩 and mail it all back to them. Everything is provided to make it do-able, clean and safe.

In return you get a lengthy analysis of how your individual body reacts to carbohydrates and fats. They then score (0 - 100) basically every single food that exists and you use this knowledge to choose food and drink mainly from high scoring categories.

It has been a revelation for me. The low calorie muesli bars I would previously munch mid morning and afternoon are badly processed by my body (they might be fine for another person). Fruit juice sends my blood sugar rocketing and is best avoided (again, this might be different for you).

The continuous glucose monitor showed there were a small number of fruits that I process badly - melon, mango, raisins, sultanas - so I now know to only have these occasionally.

The poo test showed that my gut microbiome was already great (I was already eating a lot of fruit and veg) so this knowledge was really encouraging to me to continue to eat all those salads!

@LulooLemon I love Tim Spector (one of the Zoe founders).

I found his book Food For Life really interesting and this was the basis of my healthy eating regime.

You may also like The Glucose Revolution by Jessie Inchauspe, which explains all you need to know about blood glucose levels

@BorisJohnsonsHair Thanks for that recommendation.

Yes, Tim's words make a lot of sense. I'm now reaching for things I didn't really consider before such as seed mixes.

It's early days for me on this eating plan, but the way it is making my body feel and look is certainly encouraging.

Thank you everyone for your lovely replies. I have got myself a nice new journal and will write down all the suggestions there (I feel like if I write something out by hand I’m more likely to remember it and follow it…hopefully!)

My biggest downfall is the sweet stuff. It’s like I have to have something chocolatey every day otherwise I feel like my day isn’t complete. I have really disordered thinking around food. All my rewards in life are food based. There have been days where I have eaten healthily and then I feel like I need to reward myself with a chocolate bar or a slice of cake! It is really terrible and just shows how messed up my thinking is.

But I don’t want to be like this anymore.

Thank you for the recommendation about focusing on one meal at a time. I actually love porridge but have noticed the last couple of times I’ve eaten it, that it gives me an upset stomach within minutes. I would also gladly eat eggs every day for breakfast but have limited it to 2-3 times a week because I’ve been told by so many people that eggs every day is a bad thing? Would love to be corrected on this.

If I limit the white carbs like pasta, potatoes, bread etc what are the best things to replace it with? Chicken, fish?

My mood is so much better not snacking on chocolate all the time; I’m not up and down with the sugar highs and crashes. I also feel a lot less sluggish.

To add to your update I eat brown rice and pasta and I still have a treat each day but a little lunchbox chocolate bar either after lunch or in the evening.