Can someone please help me have a 'healthy diet'?

[darcis]

I can probably name you healthy foods at the level of a child but my diet is now horrendous.

I am in really good shape and physically very fit from the outside... however, my diet is so bad that my tummy is sore all the time now and I think it has an effect on my energy too.

At the moment it includes a looot of snacks, a looot of sugar.

I just want to know prime foods for gut health really to get back on track!

Breakfast - wholegrain cereal with low sugar (weetabix, bran flakes type thing) or oats made into overnight oats or porridge. Or something like poached or scrambled eggs on wholemeal toast.
Lunch - homemade veg soups (add lentils for protein), or a "big salad" (classic MN!) with some lean protein (chicken, eggs, tuna), or if you're having a sandwich make sure it's on wholemeal / wholegrain bread, filled with protein and swap crisps for something like popcorn or the rice cracker type snacks or raw veg sticks.
Dinner - a lean protein, a wholemeal carb and plenty of veg.
Drink nothing but water and hot drinks and limited your snacking to fruit & veg where possible. Also try adding things like seeds and sprouting seeds to salads and a daily probiotic might help.

If it's really troubling you it might be worth looking into doing the low FODMAP diet and then reintroduce foods to see if you're intolerant to something.

Add some probiotic supplements too.

This may sound daft, but I live on my own and my diet has become crap. However, a couple of months ago, I subscribed to an organic veg box to be delivered (from a local farm) that comes with recipe suggestions. I do love a recipe so this has kicked my rear end into batch cooking healthy meals when the box arrives.

Maybe do something similar? The box I get is really cheap, £13, and is packed full of stuff, including things I'd never even think of buying/using such as Jerusalem artichokes.

Focus on whole foods, and fruit and veg.
Breakfast - plain yoghurt with fruit (frozen berries are good), with some nuts/seeds/muesli on top, or porridge also with fruit, nuts, seeds etc.
Lunch - soup (even tinned is pretty good), with some wholegrain bread or crackers if you feel you need, follow by fruit.
Dinner - world's your oyster! The 'Roasting Tin' books are great as all one pan dishes you can stick in the oven - they all have lots of veg in. Serve with a big salad.
it really doesn't need to be complicated but it does require some planning and being organised I think. And it doesn't need to be expensive either, you could chose fruit and veg which are on offer that week at the supermarket, for example, and batch cook and freeze portions so you always have something healthy available.

I think this is a great idea. you will have ingredients AND inspiration in a handy box.

I personally don't keep snacks at home. no crisps. because i genuinely cant control myself. only dark choc (70% or above). I don't deprive myself but if I want dessert, I make it - which is healthier (no additives, less sugar etc.) and also I am lazy so doesn't happen often. my go to sweet treat most days is greek yoghurt with maple syrup and a sprinkle of chia seeds (really helps with tummy issues).

also I try to reach the 5 a day, which fills me up and prevents cravings. In the winter I try to have either a plate of roasted veg or a bowl of veg soup every day. when it is warmer, I try to have at least one large bowl of salad a day (my fav is fennel and romaine with orange slices and a dijon mustard/dill vinaigrette). this is in addition to my regular meals which will contain veg and 1 - 2 of portions of fruit a day. i cut up some fruit in the morning so I can keep snacking on it throughout the day. I find that if I don't do this, I end up not eating any.

the best advice I received is focus on adding, not taking away. so add more protein (I found eating some protein in the morning definitely helps with satiety ). add more veggies and fibre and before you know it, you won't even crave the snacks anymore.

Have a proper diet. Include protein, carbs, and fiber in your diet. Whenever you are hungry eat fruits. Drink at least 7 to 8 glasses of water. eat dry fruits. you can have oats in your breakfast

I just want to know prime foods for gut health really to get back on track!

Nuts, lentils, beans, most veg, fruit, and 'fermented foods'.

But don't try to go from one extreme to another overnight - your guts will take time to adjust to higher fibre and develop a better microbiome. You may find you need to drink more fluids.

Start by making sure you get your five a day. Soups and salads for lunch are good, so are humble tinned beans (I prefer the Heinz 5 beans). Fruit, Greek yogurt and a few nuts makes a great breakfast or snack.

You should not do the FODMAP diet without medical advice. Basically FIELD AND FARM. unprocessed,few ingredients as possible.

It’s so hard isn’t it. I feel like I’ve lost sight of healthy food as one minute it’s things like ‘eat lots of fruit’ then it changes to ‘limit fruit but eat lots of veg’. Meat is good but not red meat or processed meat. Low fat food is good then no it’s not have a little of the full fat equivalent.

Im trying to be healthier at the moment but I really need to cut down on my sugar intake. Think that’s the main thing for me. Just had a crème egg and the last one (meant for tomorrow) is calling me. I know it’s there and the thought won’t go away!

If you get sore tummies, it could be a gluten allergy, but the only way to find out if you have a gluten allergy is if you get tested positive for it, so you should make a doctors appointment

If you give an idea of what you currently eat, OP, people may be able to suggest swaps that might work.

Useful suggestions, thanks

I think you need to share a bit more. Are there foods you don't like at all? Do you enjoy cooking? Are you happy spending (a long) time in the kitchen or do you prefer easy and quick dishes?

Food advice comes and goes but the one bit that never changes is to eat vegetables, whether raw or cooked. Try to eat a good variety of vegetables and salad across the week. That would be a great start.

Look at the Mediterranean diet. Healthy tasty.
This website is a good place to start https://www.themediterraneandish.com/about-us/

And don’t forget breakfast! It’s the hardest one to get good.

Thank you everyone!

@ErrolTheDragon I'm not sure that would help as the majority of my diet literally consists of chocolate, yoghurts and Cheesestrings right now if I'm going to be honest - with the odd bowl of cereal and a terrible amount of takeaways.

@ALunchbox quick and easy always for me - I'm not a great cook at all. I can't think what I don't like at all!

If you make a sudden change you are going to feel withdrawal effects of all that sugar and stuff. That doesn't mean it's not worth it, but maybe start with something like changing out your breakfast? Something like starting with a smoothie (make sure you're not including sugar laden ingredients).

I'd talk to the doctor about your stomach pain, just to be sure.

There are lots of diets that will be recommended to you as healthy options depending on who you speak to, I keto for instance but they aren't for everyone.

There are a few principals that are not controversial.

1. Eat more vegetables. Especially non starchy ones (so not just potatoes).

1. Eat less ultra processed food. Anything in a packet with ingredients that you wouldn't find in someones kitchen is upf. Yes most bread counts as upf, yes cereal is upf. Generally it's recommended you eat no more then 20% upf.

Processed food like cheese, yogurt, cured meat is fine. If we've been making it for a hundred years then it's fine.

1. Avoid sweeteners. Even sugar is better then most sweeteners when it comes to wholeistic health, gut health etc.

1. Don't drink your calories (or reduce). Drink milk, water, tea and coffee and the occasional wine if you drink.

My diet is also bad, im really in a rut. Also looking for suggestions

Ok so there's lots of things you can do, all of which will be improvements. You don't have to fix everything all at once.

Cooking ordinary meals doesn't require a lot of skill. How about getting a cookbook (or I'm sure there's similar on the internet) aimed at students? That's likely to have recipes which are quick and don't require lots of fancy ingredients or equipment.

First suggestion for a food swap is the yogurts - I assume you mean sweetened pots. Get some Greek yogurt and whatever fruits you like, have that instead. Frozen fruit or tinned in juice is fine if you run out of fresh.

Cheese is ok - add an apple or things like cut up carrots and celery.

Chocolate - shift towards smaller amounts of better chocolate rather than bars of cheaper more sugary stuff.

Cereal - move towards healthier whole grain types or muesli. Its better than some things and milk is quite nutritious. Have fruit and maybe some nuts with it and less of the cereal.

most of it should be veg

Protein, carbs and healthy fats in every meal

Keep a food and symptom diary to see if you can identify what’s causing the stomach issues, see your gp if it continues. Dairy is a very common intolerance perhaps try to cut that out first.

Start with improving one meal, cut down to one small sugary treat a day and add in a couple of pieces of fruit and 2litres of water. Once you cracked that for a few weeks improve the next meal and so on until you’re eating 3 healthy meals, healthy snacks plus occasional treats.

Eg commit to a healthy breakfast every day - good to start with breakfast as it sets the tone for the rest of the day

Yoghurt (protein), Fruit (carbs), Nuts/Seeds (fat)

Eggs (protein), wholemeal toast (carbs), avocado/olive oil (fat)

Oats (protein + carbs), milk (protein), peanut butter (fat)

Having a carb + sugar laden breakfast such as a bowl of cereal or oats without any fat is going to end in disaster as it causes your blood sugar to rise then drop quickly and that’s when cravings for more carbs and more sugar kicks in and then your likely to eat crap all day to stave off cravings

I really think it's as simple as eating more fruit and veg. A healthy plate of food should be 50% veg, 25% protein and 25% carbs. Try and bear this in mind whatever meal you're making. So whether it's curry, pasta bake, stir fry just follow the principles of 50% veg etc.