To be struggling so badly to eat sensibly

[SEmyarse]

My diet is crap, it's been crap for years. I'm overweight, but only by less than a stone. I've been constantly this weight for about 15 years, barring pregnancies. I'm very active, I have an active job, run a lot, play basketball, and go to zumba. In fact I find it almost impossible to walk anywhere, I have to run. And I never use the car on unnecessary trips.

But my diet is shit, and I know it makes me feel shit. Headaches are the biggest problem.

I've got into the worst habit of just surviving on biscuits and chocolate etc. Cutting them out is not a problem, I just stop, the problem is trying to persuade myself to eat sensible things instead. i don't like meat, so it seems silly to buy it when it's expensive and force myself to eat it. I like veg, which I eat with my evening meal, but I only seem to be able to eat very small quantities. I hate potatoes (which dh is obsessed with) and can only eat about half a small one before I'm absolutely stuffed. I like pasta, but again only in quite small quantities before I feel 'christmas dinner' full. But if you then give me a packet of biscuits I can polish the lot off, so it must all be psychological.

So in the morning, I'll have a bowl of sweet cereal. I've tried to persuade myself to eat eggs, or something savoury. But either I fail through sleepiness and lack of motivation, or on occasion I manage and about an hour later feel dreadful (at work) and have the most horrendous sugar cravings and feel ill, headachy and faint.

Lunch is non-existent. I either don't eat at all, or pop in a shop for chocolate. I've tried to take a packup but it just doesn't get eaten. I'll nibble something, tell myself I'll eat it later and just don't. It's really really hard to try and eat when you don't feel hungry. I can manage without the chocolate if I've had sugary cereal in the morning.

In the evenings dh usually cooks, and its healthy. But it can easily take an hour for me to eat a child sized plate, and although it tastes nice I just feel so full I don't enjoy it.

With the exception of the sweet cereal I find it relatively easy to cut out the sweet stuff. But I don't eat enough of anything else to compensate. If I just eat very little I (unsurprisingly) get headaches, feel cold and shaky. If I force myself to snack on fruit, veg or cheese (which I find extremely difficult) I get terrible bloating and wind, which also leads to headaches.

When the headaches get bad enough (they may be migraines?) I start vomiting. What's the solution?

You are having a horrible time here, I'm no expert but I think you may have some form of intolerance/allergy which means that eating 'normal' food makes you feel anxious that you will have a bad reaction (feeling 'full'/uncomfortable). Please stop beating yourself up over this and see a doctor. Ask to be referred to a dietician so you can eat normally and without fear of feeling uncomfortable.
Are there any savoury or non processed foods you like? Eg porridge, yoghurt, banana? They might be good alternatives in the meantime. Or make yourself some veg muffins to snack on if you prefer to eat little and often. If the food your Dh makes is making you feel poorly then you need an honest discussion about it and suggest smaller portions/different types of food if that is easier for you.
A close relative suffered undiagnosed IBS for years and always preferred smaller, snackier foods like biscuits etc. big meals were really difficult. Now with diagnosis things are easier but she now knows that the 'healthy' foods she forced herself to eat wasn't suitable for her and smaller amounts of different food are better for her. Professional/dietary advice will help you determine the foods that are right for you whilst keeping things healthy.

i had five chocolate bars yesterday FIVE!! im too tired but i sympathise chocolate is the one thing that does not make me ill (unless i have five omg im ill)

I would see a doctor about headaches that are so bad they make you vomit, that sounds terrible.

About the only thing that seems to go down well, is eggs, but I'm bored silly of them after about a week of omelettes in the evenings.

Dh does a great job in the evenings, with our kids, 2 of which are quite underweight, so quite rightly he concentrates on finding things they will eat that are healthy. About the only thing they really won't eat are omelettes! I really enjoy most of the meals he makes, just in tiny tiny quantities.

I'm certain I'm stuck on some kind of bad blood sugar roller coaster, but I don't seem to able clean up my diet without feeling so ill that I give up. I have sometimes persevered for weeks but it never gets better until I go back to the biscuits. Which wouldn't be a huge problem if I felt properly better, but I don't, just an improvement which still leaves me overweight, with a big belly, and as I get older increasingly knackered and achey.

Def go and see your GP to rule out something physical. Even if you haven't got something diagnosable a diaticion should be able help you plan steps towards a better diet.

It sounds like texture is a problem maybe? You like choc bars and biscuits(and eggs) which don't require much chewing?

Have you noticed you feel worse after certain things eg bread or milk?

It does sound like you're on a super sugar roller coaster. No ideas her on how to get better as it seems you've tried just eating normally and it didn't work.

Can you tolerate porridge with fruit? Porridge, milk and some frozen raspberries is quite sweet but probably a bit better for you than sugary cereal. No need to add sugar if you put the frozen fruit in the porridge then microwave it. Or bake some'healthy' breakfast muffins with a minimal amount of sugar and grated carrot and courgette or something? You could eat that in little pieces over an hour or so.

You say you like veg, how about legumes and pulses? You could make up a nice veg salad and a tin of beans for lunch. Or roasted veg mixed with a bit of couscous and a few nuts?

Really does sound like you need professional help.

I had a similar problem and felt terrible all the time. Bread, biscuits and cereal were my downfall. I have cut them out since the start if the year and feel amazing plus lost 2 stone. There are a few ways of doing it but I went paleo as it suited me personally. The biggest thing that helped me in the morning was banana pancakes. I really missed my sweet breakfast cereals so I have now had the following for breakfast all year:

1 egg whisked then add 1 banana chopped (riper the better). Put in a frying pan and fry both sides. I then drizzle some honey on and maybe some raisins or flaked almonds. Its delicious simple food with no flour or extras.

It keeps me going till I have an apple mid morning. I have salad for lunch with dark chocolate for a snack after.

Hope the pancake/omelette helps.

The fact that you can go for weeks without sugar but still feel crap would make me go to the GP tbh. I gave up processed sugar last week and Im starting to feel much better already.

Could you eat healthier biscuits? Eg oatcakes? Have you tried to eat six small meals a day instead? It is supposed to help to stabaluse your blood sugar and hormones.

I would ask for a idea glucose test at the drs.

You're completely addicted to sugar, OP. You say that you can 'cut them out', which is probably what your body is begging you to do but you can't cut them our permanently because you're not supplementing your body with anything useful and it needs energy.

I think you've been eating sugar (so much of it) for so long that your tastes cannot cope with what is not sugary. If you're only a stone overweight and you've been 'stable' for a long time, you must be eating not too far way from what your recommended daily calories should be. If you've been eating pretty much pure sugar for most of that time your body must be crying out for nutrition as you wouldn't have been eating enough of the good stuff to supply it.

What can you modify in the meantime? Swap your cereals for porridge (even with honey or a spoon of sugar) - it's better than cereals. Parsnip mash (quite sweet), lamb (a sweetish meat, although if you don't eat much meat then maybe not bother)... you might like these foods as they are sweet(ish) and would satisfy your immediate cravings. You could also have sweet omelettes - put fresh fruit in them instead of cheese and vegetables. If you can build up a 'portfolio' of other foods that you can expand on, it will help. Perhaps you will need to treat yourself as you would a fussy-eating child, ie. eat things repetitively over a period of time to acclimatise yourself to them.

I would agree that a trip to your GP would be a good thing as you need a check-up and some sound medical/nutritional advice based on what you've been doing and what you need to do but the way forward, once you've been checked out, is in your hands, nobody else's.

Can I suggest MyFitnessPal as a useful tool for you to check your nutrition? It's a great weightloss resource also but from a nutrition monitoring view, it's invaluable.

Good luck, OP!

Are you definitely not pregnant?

A while ago I was eating horrendously (and posted on here about it). I felt absolutely dreadful.

My diet is still not perfect but I've made a huge effort to change it. Lots less chocolate/cake/biscuits/sweets and less cups of sugary tea through the day.
I try to have eggs a couple of times a weekand rather than coco pops or similar I have porridge or fruit and yogurt or whole meal toast and marmite. I cut out all my sugary creamy coffees too and feel a lot better.
Before I would eat salad then cake for lunch, now I have something like chicken and salad or a Greek salad with feta olives oil and loads of salad.

Some days I do still have chocolate just not as much as before and I never buy mini cheddars now as if i do I eat the whole multipack!

Hedgehog... Hell yes about the Mini Cheddars... they are the devil's heroin snacks.

Yes I would get advice from GP. You could give yourself diabetes. Feeling full after eating can be a sign of ovary related health problems.

It's hard to give up sugar I know. Do artificial sweetened foods satisfy you at all? Ie diabetic chocolate? Is your addiction physical or mental or both?

Could you eat a low carb artificially sweetened chocolate flavoured protein bar in the morning- like an Atkins bar?

^ I mean feeling full after only eating small amount!