Help me get healthy!

[chubbmum]

Without boring you all with my backstory, I had a very sad and neglectful childhood and didn't eat healthily. I wasn't taught healthy tips and have always eaten quick meals, snacked lots and food is my friend.

Now I'm in my 40s, my weight has caught up with all my bad years of eating and I'm sick of being fat, tired and sluggish.

I don't eat any fruit at all and can't eat raw veg either (don't judge please) but I do like cooked veg. I'm a fairly fussy eater due to my past but I'm trying hard and do like quite a lot of food.

However, I just don't know what is best! I hear people talking about avoid carbs, eat brown food, protein shakes, snack on nuts etc. I just need somebody to simplify the whole thing for me and I'm too scared to look stupid by asking real life friends.

Please tell me what are healthy food habits. I have cereal every morning for breakfast, a sandwich or soup for lunch, a nice cooked dinner and lots and lots of chocolate and biscuits in between. What should I be doing? I'm just starving all the time! If I try and go without snacks between meals, I'm shaking with hunger and feeling sick. Please do help me if you're able. I can't change my upbringing but I'm in charge of my life now and I can change moving forward. Thanks

Try substitute the choc and biscuit snacks for some healthy ones, maybe yoghurt or try different fruits to see if anything works for you.
Protein will keep you feeling fuller, eggs, yoghurt, lentils, chickpeas, meat etc. I wouldn't advocate for cutting carbs as you'll just get hungry and fill up on snacks. Maybe try wholewheat carbs instead of white.
Take it easy on yourself, don't expect immediate drastic changes but work up to a healthier lifestyle
Do you do any exercise?

Losing weight means burning more calories than you consume, so try and reduce the "empty" calories you eat that don't fill you up with healthier filling meals, and burn more with exercise if you can. Even walking more

Thank you! I'm afraid I do need you to break this down for me even more though.

Healthy snacks - what does this mean? What exactly am I buying? Cheese sticks? Nuts? Protein bars? Fibre One bars? Sorry to sound ignorant.

Have a look at the glucose goddess on instagram for info on how good affects your body/brain or someone like Annie Deadman who does the blast plan (there’s one coming up) which is an exercise programme for all levels and gives recipes etc.

Do you want to lose weight or feel more healthy? They're not incompatible but what you're priority is may change the advice. A word of warning though, MN is a bit weird about food/diets at the moment so be prepared to get all sorts of crazy advice.

Healthy snacks to me would be fruit, low-fat yoghurt, nuts, protein bar. Breakfast bars tend to have lots of sugar so you'd need to check the ingredients.
To be honest I don't really have many snacks, have you considered your portion sizes at meals? If you're needing lots of snacks and not doing much exercise then perhaps you need more at mealtimes as your meals sound pretty healthy

No I don't exercise much except walk the dog. I just feel too nauseous when I do, or tire very easily. If I'm honest, losing weight is my main reason but I do know I need to eat healthier as I'm lucky to still be here with such a bad diet.

Good for you for tackling this op, i wish you all the best

Exercise will get easier as you do more. Maybe start by taking the dog for a longer walk, or you could try some yoga at home, or see if there are any beginner exercise classes near you to meet likeminded people.
I'm sure a practise nurse at your GP would be happy to discuss weight loss with you if you need help

Hi OP.

If I had a bowl of cereal for breakfast, I'd be starving within an hour too. The same goes for lunch, soup just isn't filling enough.

I would start by increasing what you're eating at meal times. I'd have carbs, fat and protein at every meal, which doesn't have to be complicated. Beans on toast is a great breakfast, or even lunch!

Then at lunch time, I would replace your soup with something more filling. For example, a salad with some rice and chicken, with avocado or salad dressing.

By making your actual meals more filling, you'll be less likely to snack so much because you wont be starving all the time.

Hope that helps.

Well done for taking the first step to eating healthily. My best advice would be to try and stop eating sugar. It is in obvious things like chocolate but will also be in lots of ready meals, bread, soup etc. start looking at food labels and not buying anything with sugar in. Switch from cereal to oats or eggs in morning. Homemade soup for lunch. Snack on fruit/ cheese/ nuts. You currently feel shaky between meals because of sugar spikes and lows I think. Good luck.

Breakfast - go for the cereals with low / no sugar e.g. plain porridge oats, shredded wheat, or have something like wholemeal toast with poached or scrambled egg.
Lunch - make you own soups so they aren't full of salt. Use wholemeal bread for your sandwiches and fill them with lean protein - chicken, egg, tuna, ham.
Dinner - base it on a protein (meat, fish, eggs, veggy alternative), a carb and some vegetables. Use wholegrain / brown rice or pasta, sweet potatoes or butternut squash, make your own potato wedges rather than frozen chips / wedges etc.
snacks - natural yogurt with no added sugar, try different fruits to see if there's something you like, plain nuts, maybe make your own smoothie if you can eat fruit that way, babybel, be careful with cereal bar type things some have more sugar and calories than a chocolate bar.

This is very helpful! You all are, I can’t think you enough.

I could never eat salad, or avocado. That’s about 10 steps ahead of where I am.

if I’m hearing you all, I need to eat more at meals and less sugary snacks. What baby steps can I take to make this less difficult then?

crackers instead of biscuits? Protein bars instead of cereal bars?

Yogurt with honey I can do! I like that!

What is it you don’t like about fruit? No judgement, just trying to understand. You have a sweet tooth and fruit is naturally sweet so is an easy way to swap out snacks and salad can be on the sweet side and bulk meals out.

Protein makes you fuller for longer, so add eggs, cheese (in moderate amounts), lean meats, pulses and seeds.

You will be tiring easily as you’re overweight, unfit and not well nourished. Your muscles will ache as they’re not used to being used! It’s ok to ache a little, don’t be afraid to push on and just do a little more each time - go a little further and for a bit longer. Try swimming, or dancing, or anything that you enjoy.

You can make salad out of cooked veg.

Cooked carrot sticks with some soy sauce and a tiny dribble of sesame oil.
Cooked cauliflower with a spoon of pesto (add when still hot)
Cooked green beans with some tomato pasta plus salt and pepper.

What vegetables do you like?

When you are cooking dinner, cook some extra veg, keep in the fridge.

We get hungry and snack for a variety of reasons

1. Not enough food or protein at meal times, eat some cold chicken or something.
2. Low blood sugar because we have been eating sugar, one biscuit is enough
3. Bored, need to nibble - turn to cooked veggies

Try and work out which one you are doing at different times

No it’s a fair question. It’s a texture thing, and the fact they’re always different. One time might be softer, harder, more black than another! Sweets and chocolate are consistent and don’t change. Don’t go off. Hope that makes sense.

I can eat fruit flavoured things. But even lumpy fruit yoghurts is too much for me currently. Hopefully not forever. I can eat fruit in flapjack but that’s not healthy either, I know.

Ok I get it.

Would you try smoothies? You can use veg and fruit, and inconsistencies in taste and texture might be less apparent? I have a Nutribullet and chuck all sorts in, adding protein powder too. Filling and a good way to up your nutrients (I don’t eat as much veg as I should so add green powders so I can “drink” some veg!)

If that idea is too much for you, start smaller. Maybe just start with breakfast.

Can you do beans or egg on toast?
2 slices of bread with some butter or marg, with baked beans or scrambled/fried eggs.
Baked beans actually count towards one of your 5 a day too!

In regards to sweet stuff, again start small. Swap one of your usual chocolate bars for a bit of yogurt and honey, and swap another one for a protein bar. The grenade protein bars are like chocolate bars, I love them!

What veggies do you like?
Do you like potatoes? Could you do a baked potato for lunch?

I also just want to say well done for doing this. It’s not easy when you don’t know how to do something.

You might find over time that your taste buds change too.

As I child the only veg I would eat were carrots. That was until I was in my 20’s and decided I wanted to a least try to eat other veg.
It took many many months of trying different veg, different cooking methods to get a good consistency etc, but now I eat almost all vegetable.

I’ve discovered that I hate boiled veg. But lightly steam it and it’s not too bad, stir fry it and I’ll devour the lot.

You're doing a fab thing for your health.

I would add as many vegetables to each meal as possible and make sure you drink lots of water. For snacks I would go for cheese and crackers (small amount of cheese), berries or some yogurt. It might take some experimenting as to what works for you, I find these snacks the most filling and the berries work for sweet cravings.

Firstly, congratulations on taking control of your health and seeking advice on healthy eating habits. It's never too late to make positive changes. To simplify things, focus on incorporating more whole, unprocessed foods into your diet such as lean proteins, vegetables, and fruits. Aim to have a balanced meal with all food groups at each mealtime to keep you feeling full for longer. Snack on healthier options like nuts, seeds, and fruit to keep you fueled throughout the day.

In addition, consider incorporating regular exercise to burn calories and improve your overall health. Sports like tennis, cricket, and other activities can be a fun way to burn calories while also improving your fitness and mental wellbeing. Remember to be patient and kind to yourself as you make these changes - it's a journey and progress is not always linear.

I understand what you mean about consistency in fruit.

To start with, what about tinned fruit? They are always ripe and cut in the same shapes. Pears or peaches?

Blueberries and cherries are also consistent, if you like those.

You can make hot salads.

I would have porridge with fruit in the morning and nuts on top.

Lunch do you like hot chickpeas? I roast them with courgette, pepper, cauliflower, tomatoes and serve on spinach - I add loads of spices so it's super tasty and have some yogurt with lime squeezed in on side. Is that too out there for you?

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/ This is helpful.

How much water do you drink? I’d look at increasing that. Instead of reaching for a snack, have a large glass of water instead.

If you normally drink a lot of sugary drinks, work on replacing them. Plain water, mineral water, herbal teas are all good options.

Plain popcorn cooked in the microwave is a good healthy snack. What about frozen fruit? You can freeze bananas then blend them from frozen to make “banana icecream”. No other ingredients.

Look at overnight oats or chia pudding for breakfast. Replace white carbs with whole meal - so bread, pasta and rice.

Soup can be filling if it’s the right kind. Look at homemade lentil soup. Good luck!