Healthy people - what do you eat?

[IHateLegDay]

As the title says really, if you are a person who prioritises your health, what do you eat and what does your exercise routine look like?

DH and I have had a tough year in many ways and our eating and exercise has gone to shit.
We are desperate to start living a healthier life for ourselves as well as our children but we don't know how to take that first step.
So, first things first, I need some meal ideas!

Thank you in advance 😊

Check out the balanced plate method (1/2 veggies, 1/4 protein, 1/4 carbs) it’s recommended by a lot of dietitians and I find it really simple to follow! It doesn’t need to be a strict rule for every single meal but it’s a useful tool when you’re being health conscious. If you’re getting into exercise after a long break, find something you enjoy whether that’s running, swimming, dancing, yoga etc. If you enjoy it you’re more likely to stick with it. Focus on how it makes you feel and celebrate what your body can do!

I suppose we're healthy, but not health-obsessed or anything.
We have a pescetarian diet, cook mostly from scratch, eat soups and salads regularly as well as heartier more filling meals.
Try and eat mostly vegetables and plants. They can be really lovely and versatile.

I think we eat quite healthily, not in a calorie counting sort of way but a focus on getting the right nutrients which means a variety of veg and protein sources and due to a soya/nut allergy and xantham gum intolerance many processed things are unavailable to us so I've learned to make our own. We enjoy carbs, I buy full fat dairy products and I probably fry/roast slightly more than is healthy but here we go...

Breakfast
Muesli with Greek yoghurt
Porridge with stewed fruit and dollop of yoghurt
Rude health spelt or oat cereals (not the sugary ones) with milk
Pancakes filled sliced pears and a couple of squares dark chocolate melted

Main meals examples

Baked seabass with new potatoes, broccoli, spinach and roasted garlic tomatoes

Root veg curry with brown basmati, roast cumin cauliflower, yoghurt coriander side and homemade naan

Homemade venison bolognaise with wholewheat pasta and parmesan

Steak, homemade chips and salad with oil/vinegar dressing

Roast chicken with roast pots, parsnips, carrots and steamed kale and broccoli

Homemade thin crispy pizza with passata/garlic/herbs, mozzarella topped with onion/peppers/courgette

Leek risotto topped with roasted butternut squash and with crispy kale

Fajitas using homemade tortillas filled with fried chicken breast, onions, peppers and garlic, soured cream, homemade guacamole

Baked Salmon with new potatoes, sauteed garlic courgettes, steamed broccoli and roasted tomatoes

Smoked haddock with mashed potatoes, sauteed leeks, dollop of creme fraiche and steamed broccoli

Spanish omelette filled with potatoes, onions, peppers, courgettes served with salad, dressing and mayo

Stir fry chicken, onions, garlic, carrot, peppers, courgette, baby sweetcorn with white basmati and homemade chili sauce

Sausages and mash with steamed kale, broccoli and onion gravy

Roasted Mediterranean veg with white basmati, fried halloumi and a yoghurt/herb dip

Lighter meals

Crepes with fried chestnut mushrooms, spinach and tomatoes with cheese

Roasted butternut squash/red pepper/garlic soup with crusty bread, salted butter and a lump of cheese on the side

Jacket potatoes with tuna mayo and salad

Cheese, onion, tomato toasties in sourdough bread with salad

Poached eggs on toast with wilted spinach

Halloumi flatbreads with chili jam and salad

Tuna and cucumber/red pepper in lemon dill yoghurt on sourdough toast

Big salad including sliced avocado, topped with chicken breast and with crusty bread and butter

I radically changed my diet in July 2022. Basically cut out all the shit and most of the stodge. I've lost 3 stone and gone from size 16 to size 12 without much effort. No calorie counting. Continued to drink wine.

Shit food includes shop-bought cake, biscuits, sweets, and processed food (which includes most ready meals, sausages, bacon, supermarket breads, etc). Instead of rice and pasta, I now eat potatoes, sweet potatoes, celeriac, & butternut squash (air fried or mashed). Instead of fruity-sugary yogurt I have plain.

Essentially, eat anything you want if you make it from scratch, and include a good variety of green veg. Buy really good 'artisan' bread if you like bread, with rye, spelt, seeds etc. You don't have to be extreme about it, just eat 90% good stuff, and really check the labels of other stuff you fancy like ice-cream or frozen gyozas and pick ones with the most natural/fewest artificial ingredients.

Typical dinner would be a fillet of trout or pan-fried sardines, with air-fried potatoes and a big pile of buttered spinach or greens. Followed by fresh fruit, or dates, or a banana sliced into plain yogurt.

I rarely eat red meat, it's either chicken, fish, egg-based or vegetarian. I'll occasionally have pasta or rice, maybe twice a month.

I also walk a lot as I don't have a car and live in a fairly small city with most places no more than a 2 mile walk away.

I really am not a health and fitness freak, and I don't feel I'm on an enforced diet, just have changed the way I think about food.

I confess sometimes I'm very healthy, other times not so much (work, stress, etc.)

When I am being healthy I use vegetables as the basis of the dish - so a big salad with tons of colouful veggies mixed in, a ratatouille, a vegetable curry, enchiladas filled with peppers, onions and beans, an omelette filled with peppers and a side salad, lasagne with layers of courgette and aubergine, cauliflower cheese (I make it with skim milk so it's not awful, but probably not everyday!), roasted cauliflower with chimichuri, baked potatoes with cottage cheese or beans, baked sweet potatoes, veggie stir fry, lentil Bolognese or shepherd's pie. Basically it's really hard to overeat / over consume vegetables (ok, fried veg is an exception!) so if they make up the bulk of your plate, then a small amount of meat, fish, refined carb won't be terrible. Watch added fats like oils, cheese, creamy sauces as they quickly add up. Use tons of herbs to add flavour without fat / salt.

I home-cook from scratch, so basic meals that take no more than 30 mins effort to prepare.

Grilled meat or fish. One or two veggie suppers a week. I aim for 30 different fruit & veg a week. Wholemeal bread/pasta/couscous. Plenty of home made soups and casseroles.

Alcohol is a very occasional treat. I don't eat much sweet stuff.

For six months I have focussed on having a healthier body.
I have become quite strict with the foods I buy.
I plan meals, don't waste food and eat what I love.
I love sour dough bread and real butter. But eat just one slice.
While I love butter I cook mainly with olive oil.
Drink enough water. I drink at least six glasses.
Eat raw or unprocessed foods as much as you can.
Don't buy processed foods, sweet snacks, crisps.

Purchase no alcohol and no soft drinks. Eat fruit rather than drinking fruit juice. I have one drink if eating out.

Learn that a rumbling tummy is healthy before a meal.

Start each main meal with a salad or vegetables.
Have healthy protein twice a day like cheese, lean red meat, eggs, fish and chicken.
Fill up on vegetables. I have five mushroom or vege serves per day.
Swap to wholemeal spaghetti or pasta and wholegrain rice.
Enjoy dry herbs and spices and have a fresh herb garden.
Cut back on coffees made with all milk. Choose long black with milk, or teas.
Learn to love rolled oats, untoasted, with fruit, nuts yoghurt or milk. It can be breakfast or a snack. As can scrambled egg.

If I feel stodged up I have a day or two eating vegetable based soups for main meals.
Choose to eat smaller serves, to eat slower and enjoy the conversation of those at your table for longer.
Walk for 40 minutes at least every second day.
Make activity part of your daily life. Choose to peg clothes on the clothes line, sweep your path (not with electric blower).
Walk to shops etc. etc.
I feel less bloated and more energetic.

I don't know if I qualify as person OP wanted to answer or not.

I prioritise eating only when hungry, a lot of veg, then fruit, then high fibre, then foods low in weird chemicals. Otherwise eat everything & what I like.

I love the sound of everything that INeedNewShoes serves up,and I eat on similar lines.
Also have recently been having a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil daily ( the Dr Sarah Brewer one), and I think it’s really helped with weight maintenance, as well as having other health benefits.

Go ultra processed free and you will be healthy.

we cut out all shop bought bread products/wraps etc - they are one of the worst UPF products

read a book called ultra processed people it will change how you view food and what you eat greatly.

You know the saying....."eat food, not too much, mostly plants", but you need to add a fair bit of lean protein, especially chicken, fish, eggs.

Minimize refined carbs, especially bread, rice and pasta, but small amounts of complex carbs such as lentils and quinoa etc are absolutely fine.

Don't drink calories, i.e. no fruit juices or sodas and little alcohol.

Cooking from scratch, which doesn't have to be arduous or time-consuming:

Panfry or oven roast/bake chicken or fish
Steam, stirfry or oven roast/grill vegetables
Use lots of herbs, lemon, ginger, garlic and marinades
Look at 'ethnic' cuisines, especially Mediterranean and Lebanese

Exercise - very important!! - I'd suggest:

Lucy Wyndham Read if you are unfit or a complete beginner.
Growingannanas for cardio/HIIT
Caroline Girvan for weights (very important!!)

Just take that first step, do it today, it doesn't have to be all or nothing. You're much more likely to stick to a healthy eating plan and exercise routine if it can actually fit into your lifestyle.
The gyms will be full of newbies in January but by week three they will start tailing off because it's unsustainable.
Go for a walk today, if the weather is bad then stick a workout on YouTube, the beginners walking workouts are really good for building up your step count.
If you can start exercising then you'll probably find you don't want to undo your hard work by eating and drinking rubbish.

There is no need to complicate things too much. As previous posters have said, don't eat processed foods, don't drink your calories and mainly eat protein and vegetables. We make almost all of our food from scratch and we use a lot of almond flour (which you can make yourself if you have a powerful blender) for baking when we do want treats.

@INeedNewShoes we eat similarly in our family, although less potatoes (probably one meal per week will have them) but I don't see an issue with having them more often, red potatoes have a lot of vitamins and we also really like sweet potatoes and squashes this time of year.

Things we do eat: full fat/whole milk products, olive oil, fish, chicken, all vegetables, all fresh in season fruit. The DC eat all types of carbs but I limit what I eat. For instance, if they are having pasta, I will have vegetables or lentil pasta instead. We love coffee but we don't do sugar and I have my coffee with two spoonfuls of whole milk.

Things we DO NOT eat: anything packaged/processed (with the exception of rice, pasta, grains). We don't snack, and if kids are hungry outside of meal times they have fruit, veggies or some cheese. We don't do any fake sugar, no fizzy drinks.

In general, if it doesn't come from nature we try not to eat it. That being said, for our children we don't food to become a massive deal. We do have ice cream for them but its real ice cream with ingredients we recognize. Our toddler asks to bake at least once per week and we do but try to use healthier recipes (swapping flour for almond flour, sugar for honey). We also encourage our DC to share homemade treats so our neighbors often get cookies brought over (keeps the grown ups from snacking on them after bedtime).

I fast and eat between 11am and 7pm and that really helps with digestion and weight loss because it stops mindless nighttime snacking.

There is so much information (a lot of it bad) out there, but the most important thing is to try to eat as many vegetables and protein as possible. Protein is key as it will keep you full.

Oh and for exercise, I go to a weight lifting class three times per week and two days of cardio class per week. I do try to get the children out for a long walk each morning as its really good for all of our circadian rhythms.

The workout classes started as a way for to me to just get out of the house and be alone and surprisingly I love them now. I like that I am getting stronger, I feel proud working on my health, it is really good that the DC see their mum taking care of herself and the time away from the DC and DH makes me a better mum and wife when I get back.

Cut out as much processed foods as possible. Anything with more than 4/5 ingredients doesn’t go into the shopping trolley. Batch Cooking from scratch is a good start.

I have a base made from equal amount of carrot, onion and celery finly minced, sometimes I also add garlic or fresh herbs. (You can freeze it at this stage in ice cube tray)
Fry and
...add tomato puree and can of tomato ect for a tomato sauce.

... curry paste or powder, coconut milk (powder) vegetables stock, veg, lentils chickpeas ect. for a curry.
... add cubes of beef or lamb, with red wine or just veggie stock, seasoning and herbs & spices of your choice for a casserole.

It's pretty much what's in your sauce packet and jars minus the E numbers!

Today:

Breakfast: Greek Yoghurt (150g) with raspberries and some nuts
Lunch: two egg omelette with some chorizo, spinach and onion
Dinner: homemade Moroccan lamb meatballs with salad

For me the cost of eating healthily is high. Food is about £80 (just for my food) each week. But I make a lot from scratch, eat organic and have a LOT of fruit and veg. But the meatballs make 24 so that’s five meals for me

Exercise: 2hours a day (8 miles) walking with the dogs. Plus some gardening if the rain stops

I want to eat at your house! Sounds delicious. I'm definitely going to try some of these 😊

I eat little and often, this has been natural for me right from a young girl. I am lucky l have good genetics, tall and slim, but never put on weight or been on a diet. I have always been an outdoors kind of person. I love just getting out no matter the weather.
I don't have a tv, don't sit around in pyjamas all day long, l am active and my diet is whatever l want to eat, l don't watch calories or cut certain food out.

Yesterday:

Breakfast: scrambled egg & smoked salmon on brioche. Cappuccino with oat milk.

Lunch: Smoked salmon & cream cheese roll. Plain yoghurt with blueberries and a nectarine.

Dinner: seafood soup & bread roll; spaghetti with prawns & mushrooms.

I normally eat 2 meals instead of 3, but I did a 2 hour hike yesterday! Normally do 4-6 exercise classes a week, a mixture of HIIT, barre, pilates, yoga.

Always over night oats with yoghurt and either blueberries / raspberries / banana for breakfast.
Biscuit and popped potato crisps, nuts for mid morning snacks. Orange juice.
Avocado / cheese & carrot / egg mayo sandwich for lunch.
Couple of biscuits mid afternoon.
Veggie tea, tonight is pizza. Yesterday was homemade lentil lasagne.

Multi vit and mineral every day, no alcohol, drink tea and masses of water. Just off to parkrun now.

I go to the gym twice a week and focus on weights, it's so important for building muscle and for bone density.

Once a week I also go for a long walk alone listening to a podcast. If the weather is really bad I do a yoga video or a YouTube walking video instead. My DB lost lots of weight when he stopped snacking and went on a one hour walk after dinner every evening.

Food-wise I have a formula that I stick to when I'm focusing on my health (I'll be doing this again in January as I've had too much chocolate and wine over Christmas so I'm getting back to nutritious meals.)

Breakfast of greek yoghurt with one portion of fruit and some toasted nuts, seeds or oats. You can mix up the type of fruit/nuts/seeds etc so it doesn't feel totally boring. I love yoghurt with raspberries, blueberries and toasted almonds so eat that most days but you can also add sliced kiwi, chopped banana, toasted sunflower seeds, hazelnuts etc. Whatever you want.

Lunch is a salad, a vegetable omelette or a soup and a piece of fruit. Again, you can vary the contents a lot.

If I focus on being consistent with those two meals I don't calorie count dinner. I just focus on having a nutritious meal with the family that contains at least two portions of vegetables. All bread, pasta, rice etc is wholemeal and potatoes are sweet potatoes as much as possible. Standard family dinners are:

Chickpea, spinach and cauliflower curry with brown rice.

Mixed bean fajitas with onions and peppers on wholemeal wraps.

Chicken breast, brown rice, broccoli and asparagus with some soy sauce.

Vegetable stir fries.

Steak, sweet potato fries, mushroom and asparagus.

Frittata or pasta bake with whatever vegetables we have in the fridge that need using up.

No snacking and I take vitamin supplements with a cup of herbal tea every evening.

If I do this, I feel it really helps without requiring too much thought.

I eat a lot of fruit. Like a couple of satsumas and a banana everyday with my work packed lunch, and my Dad brought me a blender a few months back and has got me now onto fruit smoothies. Other than that I'm vegetarian so a lot of my meals consist of lentils, nuts, mixed beans, etc as substitute for meat in traditional dishes such as spag bol, curry, etc.

Thank you all so much for your advice!
I feel I have a lot of planning to do.

I was going to the gym multiple times a week until September when I sustained an injury and haven't returned. I'll be going back soon.
My issue is mainly with food. I've never had a good relationship with it as I either starve myself or binge eat junk.

I want to learn how to have a healthy relationship with food and eat better. I need to be a good role model for my children.

I'm up and down with healthy eating but I always know where to navigate back to so I can feel healthier again.
I enjoy being healthy but life gets in the way sometimes.

Fasting is excellent. I'm always doing intermittent fasting if nothing else. I eat by 7pm and then skip breakfast and go to lunch.
Eat mostly homemade food.
Have 5 substantial portions of fruit and veg a day.
Keep snacks you minimum.

We enjoy walks, parks and getting outdoors as much as possible.

I guess we are fairly healthy, my BMI is around 20 and husband’s is 25 but he is a rugby player. My routine is:
-No breakfast, just coffee with oat milk
-Lunch will be something like avocado, scrambled eggs and smoked salmon on sourdough toast if at home, or dinner leftovers. If at the office, I buy a salmon/rice/avocado/yuzu poke bowl from the Sainsbury’s fresh sushi counter, with a banana. Basically I love sushi….
-Dinner - usually meat/fish, vegetables and a carb. Like pasta and meatballs, thai lentil green curry and rice, teriyaki salmon and egg fried rice, chicken curry and rice, pork chops and home made chips with spinach, chicken and chorizo risotto, noodle stir fry, etc.
-Toast just before bed. I know this is bad but I can’t sleep unless I’ve just eaten something!

I don’t really snack in the day. If I do it’s fruit or sometimes crisps/a pastry when at the office. Also we never buy bread - my husband has been making sourdough since 2020 and we can’t go back to supermarket bread now! It just tastes like foam.

I’m not really big on walking/exercise but I do play badminton twice a week. When I got really into running years ago I actually piled on 2 stone as I was so ravenous all the time and craved crap. Doing weights helped me lose it, but I hated the gym so just decided to eat less to maintain my weight. Seems to work.