Because I don't know what the fuck to eat anymore!

[MissusWrex]

I'm almost ready to give up.

It's in the news today that a high carb low fat diet is bad for you and that a high fat low carb diet is the way to go with lots of protein.

Though not too much red meat according to the stories a few months ago.

I suppose you could have eggs? Are they bad or good I can't bloody keep up anymore!

I know I know. The advice I should listen to is to just have a healthy balanced diet but I've never had that. I had a terrible diet growing up and still have a very poor relationship with food.

So asking me to just follow a 'healthy balanced diet' is the equivalent of asking me to build a rocket to Mars using only the contents of my bin.

Ive tried to research what exactly constitutes a healthy diet but there is so much contradiction...

I've a few stone left to lose but have been following the low fat high carb route ( no low fat or sugar foods though, I cook from scratch as often as I can)

Will someone more knowledge my that me just tell me what's good and what isn't in a easy to understand format that won't change tomorrow.

Is that too much to ask?!

Don't forget, you can never cut out sugar completely eg there is sugar in carrots, milk etc - albeit natural ones. It's the refined stuff that's not good.

Exercise is great for keeping you fit and energised. Don't use it to lose weight though. You won't unless it's incredibly intensive. I cycled 400km last year across Tanzania and did a huge amount of cycling in training. Still had to hold my breath to do the airplane seatbelt!

Oh and don't forget alcohol of any kind is full of sugar. I'm more of a 80:20 gal and I won't give up my weekend wine. I do always have ff Yo Valley natural yoghurt with berries and a sprinkling of oats for breakfast nearly every day.

our body needs a bit of everything. the stuff that constitutes everything could never come from just one form of veg or fruit or meat. Hence a bit of everything in moderation.

When i am the healthiest my diet consists of fruits 3-4, salad, vegetable curry [since I am Indian, thats all i can cook :( lol] with some form of carb just to fill my stomach so i don't keep getting hungry (its so annoying to have to eat and cook all the time) and atleast 1 litre f water. target being 3 but i never reach it.

Right now my skin is looking good and i have lost weight yet i am not lethargic or weak. I am eating no processed foods - no bread, no biscuits, no icecream, chocolates or anything that was processed in a factory or workshop.

before when i was younger i could get away with eating pretty much everything and as much as i could fit in my stomach. now however, i have noticed that even though i may be eating healthy but i have had to reduce the quantities of everything.

MissWrex

I haven't cut out meat or dairy, just upped my veg, pulses and fruit and got rid of the crap.

I'm not even sure I know what constitutes natural or un-processed.. porridge? Brown Rice? Potatoes? What about oil?

I hear you OP I have no clue

It's pretty easy. A carrot isn't processed. Carrot cake is. Just avoid the junk and if you want to lose weight as well don't eat even unprocessed carbs like potatoes.

Potatoes are unprocessed

Porridge, brown rice and oil (at least virgin olive oil, I don't know about others) are barely processed. Brown rice has been dehusked but that's it (I think), oil has been pressed and filtered, porridge I think the oats have been rolled or cut somehow?

Most lumps of meat or fish are unprocessed - though you do have to watch out for some chicken and pork which gets pumped full of water and god knows what. If you get organic meat that's less likely

Sausages and ham are processed - though ham from the bone is much less processed than re-formed ham (which means most packet ham).

A healthy diet to me would look like this:

Breakfast - banana and a yogurt.
Lunch - healthy sandwich, piece of fruit.
Dinner - normal size dinner of your choosing which includes protein and lots of vegetables and some carbohydrates.
Snack - more fruit or a cereal bar or some soup.
Drinks - unlimited water, 2 - 3 cups of tea/coffee/juice per day.

I think most people would be healthy and reasonably slim eating like that. If you think too hard about it, or worry about the latest fads you will be in a constant state of confusion.

I often have a yogurt (full fat) and banana for breakfast and I'm not hungry until at least lunchtime. I suppose some people who are used to having big breakfasts might be hungry. But if you're trying to loose weight, cut calories and be healthy it's a good way to start the day. Plus it's easy and non-faddy.

Thought I'd report back about the full fat natural FAGE Greek yoghurt.

Bloody lovely

I just ate half as much as I would usually because I'm still a bit brainwashed and think it's going to instantly explode my arse size and/or arteries.

This thread has inspired me to educate myself a bit more about food. Rather than just panicking at every news story or jumping on to every passing fad.

And I upped my fruit and veg (mainly veg) to eight a day instead of five. At least I know that's definitely healthy!

(You watch some fecker put a link up to STUDIES that show broccoli causes cancer or something)

I'm 44 and the older i get the less I take notice of anybody. I eat what I want, i just make sure I don't eat too much chocolate and sweets; alcohol only at weekends and make sure I eat fruit n veg/salad every day. I try not to have too big portions and just try and say no to crap sometimes. I keep bread to a minimum and have 3 meals a day and not too many snacks. If I feel unhealthy or too fat I cut back.
It is hard with all different 'experts' telling you different things so now I just listen to my body.

I eat like this, it's really easy, I'm not hungry and my weight is under control. www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb#introduction

Ignore it all. Everyday eat meat, vegetables, carbohydrates, fruit, and calcium. That's it. Oh, have some treat things. Just not everyday.

I agree that the 'Eat (real) food, not too much, mostly plants. ' advice is good, but I think that the 'Eat loads of fat' advice is a bit open to misinterpretation and isn't necessarily the best advice for everyone.

Firstly, lots of high-fat foods are processed and pretty bad for you. Secondly, why on earth would it not be possible to reduce the amount of fat you eat without resorting to those crappy low-fat sugar-laden food products?

I have no choice but to follow a low fat diet atm while I wait to have my gallbladder removed because of gallstones. I am eating lean meat and fish, carbs, veg, fruit and things that are naturally low in fat. I have lost quite a lot of weight as a side effect and am a bit worried that I'll put it back on when I'm allowed to eat normally again. But I've been surprised at how simple it is to cut the amount of fat you eat (pretty dramatically in my case) without resorting to horrible 'lite' foods.

At the moment I am trying to eat more veg and leaves. I got bored of salad for lunch so now have courgetti with other veg in a tomato based sauce. Its lovely.

For my breakfast Ive been having overnight oats - oats, yoghurt and lots and lots of frozen berries. Problem is Ive been using mullerlights and after reading this thread (I dont usually read a full thread when there are as many posts as this) I now want to swap that for something else. Ive tried natural yoghurt and it was horrible. I really didnt like it.

My evening meals have been worse for me, which needs to be addressed.

Im going away this weekend but I really really want to do something when I get back. Ive lost 15lbs since Easter but still have another 20lbs to go.

I have been looking at the diet coach 90 day SSS plan, but I might just look more into cutting out the processed crap out and try to eat clean as much as I can. Just need to figure out how (Im aware that for some it would be easy, but for me who is probably too used to it, Im going to find it harder)

You can't go wrong with a bit o' bread and dripping!

l also want to ditch the sugar except on Saturdays I might allow myself a treat or something like that. Dont think I can stop eating biscuits/cake/chocolate forever 100% of the time. Something needs to be sustainable.

About 10 years or so I came across the Carol Vordamann Detox Diet and I can say with all seriousness that it has revolutionized my life. I am always surprised when I see reports about low fat diets not working and sugar being a bigger problem etc because I had thought that this had been known for years.
The diet itself is extreme vegan, caffeine, sugar, wheat free but it's the principles behind it that are interesting. When I first did the diet I followed it religiously, more recently I follow the principles but don't drop caffeine and things like that which are difficult to cut out.
Essentially you can eat as much as you like of fruit, veg, nuts and seeds and other stuff such as lentils. I can't say that it is high protein but it is high fat. What you do cut out considerably is grains, wheat is totally banned but you end up with lower intake overall because you are not eating oats and rye every day. And of course no sugar.
You eat about 1300 calories a day, but because everything you are eating is nutrient dense you don't feel hungry, have loads of energy and great skin. I lose about half a stone a month by loosely adhering to it.
I am not trying to plug a particular diet, but to share that should think about what nutritional value a food has before you eat it. Low fat items, pasta, bread etc have little nutritional value to them.

Notdeadyet I can state categorically that organic olive oil IS good for us. I eat it instead of butter because I can feel my body bunging up with butter. It's what the Mediterranean diet majors on and that is supposed to be the best.