to be so anxious about my diet

[trob22]

I know this sounds really stupid and like a completely common-sense issue but I am feeling really unhappy about this so please help if you can.

In the last year-18 months I have become quite anxious about food. I wouldn't say I have an eating disorder but I can't stop worrying about what I am eating and my health. I want to lose a small amount of weight and look better but mostly I just want to feel healthy and strong.

For the first time in my life I tried to do some proper research into how to plan a healthy diet according to science. This is where the problems began. I assumed I knew roughly how to eat healthily, ie. avoid fat and sugar. But I heard a few people raving about the keto diet which teaches that fat is actually not unhealthy, it is fine to eat plenty of fat in the form of dairy and meat, and actually you should rather avoid carbs and sugar in all forms - even fruit have too much sugar in according to keto. All this was explained with scientific evidence.

So I do some more research and I find OTHER scientific evidence saying what I thought was obvious, that too much fat is bad for you, increased risk of heart attack and bad cholesterol, etc. I also found some quite scary figures about how eating meat hugely increases your chance of cancer, and other research saying that eating dairy is basically un-natural and not good for you. And instead you should eat more carbs. All backed up by doctors and reputable news sites.

So then I'm researching carbs and apparently a carb-heavy diet is a pretty recent invention in terms of human evolution and not particularly natural. Also apparently savoury carbs and sugar are basically the same thing (I can't wrap my head around the science behind that - if someone can explain it in stupid people terms please help) and therefore eating bread is basically the same as eating sweets?

So anyway the upshot of this is I now feel really anxious about eating meat/eggs, dairy, carbs AND sugar. So the only things left pretty much are vegetables and f*ing tofu.

And also I am trying to work out if organic food is actually better or not and I have no idea.

So I am an adult woman and I have no idea what I should be eating. I just feel really overwhelmed and unhappy every time I have to eat something. If anyone with a scientific background can make heads or tales of this for me please help. I have brought this up with my GP very briefly and she just said "eat a balanced diet" but I don't f* know what that means anymore, and her opinion is just one among many.

The best diet is the one you can stick to. Whether that’s high fat, low fat, high carb or low carb.

They all work the same for losing weight. Adherence is the biggest factor.

And I would say feeling anxious about a diet is perhaps leading towards a eating disorder.

Thanks but it's not just about losing weight, I want to know that I am putting the right stuff into my body to be healthy.

And after I've lost the weight what then?

It might be worth googling orthorexia. It's very very hard to make sense of all the noise out there. I see a dietician (I am a recovering anorexic) and the advice is very much based on eating what's right for you and that's different for everyone. What kind of diet makes you feel the best?

I would say just stop for the moment trying to lose weight and stop reading about it. The conflicting advice is just horrendous and just so confusing and frankly depressing. You say you only have a small amount of weight to lose, so maybe up your exercise which will improve your mental health first.

From your post, it sounds like you’ve developed a really unhealthy relationship with food. That’s quite worrying.

What is your current weight and height now? How much do you want to lose?

I think you should take control and make an appointment with a nutritionist. They will be able to give you excellent guidance.

When you saw your GP, did you tell them how the thought of eating is making you feel?

Just aim for the Mediterranean diet most days and you'll eat well. To lose weight start exercising don't deny yourself a healthy diet by cutting food groups. Don't be lazy and choose a measly diet over exercising. Stop researching food science it sounds like you are giving yourself mental health issues over food. Just stop from now onwards or you'll get serious food problems which will seriously impact your quality of life. Old people have managed to get old without worrying about diet. Just be healthy and exercise. Eat breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. Don't deny yourself occasional treats like chocolate and enjoy treats when you have them.

I think organic is environmentally friendly.

Thanks for the advice so far. I think the problem is that if I see a dietician/nutritionist and they give me some advice I know there are other dietician/nutritionists who will give me opposite advice. How do I know which ones to trust?

The thing with diet is pretty simple: moderation. So eat meat a couple of times a week, eggs a couple of times. A little bit of dairy every day. Some fruit, loads of veg. Some pasta, some rice. The occasional glass of wine. Lots of water.

The key is to eat whole foods and avoid processed foods, in general. But of course you can enjoy the odd pudding, chocolate bar and dare I say Pot Noodle as long as it’s an occasional treat.

People seem to take any kind of eating to extremes. It’s either sitting down to a whole pack of biscuits in a sitting every night, or inhaling a kilo of kale.

Slim, healthy people generally eat everything in moderation with a treat now and then (now and then being a couple of times a week rather than twice a day...)

The best advice I ever heard was to eat whole foods in their natural state as much as possible

Ie
raw nuts yes, salted cashews no
Steak yes, salamis and processed meats no
Avocado > butter >margarine
Sweet potato > brown rice > pasta > bread

cake

You get the idea, ultimately nothing is removed but it’s all present in moderation.

If it comes in a plastic wrapper, if it doesn’t expire, try and avoid it.

I can and score a B+ most days, C/D at the weekend and don’t really eat anything I’d consider an F
(I love nice food 😍)

Aren’t you pregnant at thd moment?

*I try not I can

You’re putting the right stuff into your body. Unless it’s poison no food is bad food.

As others have said I don’t think your relationship with food is particularly healthy at the moment.

With what happens when you lose the weight, you carry on with whatever is making you feel good. You might just have to increase portions slightly.

'Eatwell Guide'. Google this. The key is every food type in the correct proportions. Then you can start looking at ethical sourcing.

Totally agree that there is no bad food. If you can eat it, it's food.

Gosh I know exactly how you feel.

It all came to a head for me as I wept in front of the sandwiches in marks and Spencer’s because I couldn’t see anything healthy to eat (spoiler alert there was loads).

First of all these people make money contradicting each other, they slag each other off because it sells their diets. The whole industry is centred around the next new way to eat that throws away everything else

But even knowing that doesn’t make it easier.

I actually paid someone to create me a weeks week plan that I follow now for this precise reason, I just follow the plan and don’t think about it anymore. I also know if I go off plan to go out for a meal it’s fine because I am on plan 90% of the time.

I wish I’d done it years ago to be honest.

I have high blood pressure. My cardiologist said low carb is the best way to reduce weight, blood pressure and cholesterol. Loads of fish, chicken, lean meat and green leafy vegetables and healthy fats like olive oil. He said it’s the healthiest way to eat and if you don’t need to lose weight adding in root vegetables is the way to go but pasta and bread is out.

I mean this kindly, but those trying to give OP advice on the best way to eat might be adding to the problem.

I second reading up on orthorexia. You need to understand that your mind is tricking you.

The advice about eating in moderation is sound.
As in eating whole food. This is key I believe.
I love sweet things too. So I do try and eat lots of veg and less fruit, as that is high in sugar. I save my sugar for my cheesecakes!

Meat is problematic especially when you are buying bog standard stuff from a supermarket. I try and eat grains and pulses lots as a substitute.

Stress (cortisol) is known for being awful in terms of your health. I know 3 people who are fanatical about their health and food. They ate the ‘perfect’ diet on paper. All of them got sick quite young. I think eating health-ish is important but not worrying about it too much is the key
Good luck

It is all about moderation and a healthy balanced diet. You are allowed you eat fat and sugar, but in small amounts. Cutting out any major food group completely (fat, carbs) just makes you crave that and it's not sustainable.

The bst way to lose weight is to eat a balanced diet with a focus on low fat and low sugar but not cutting these out completely. And watch portion sizes. Then add exercise. That will enable your body to build muscle and increase your metabilism.

It's a simple formula of energy in < energy out. But without eradicating major food groups or crash dieting. The latter makes your body go into starvation mode.

Please try and relax your thought's about eating. They will get a hold of you before you know it and you will start restricting. I developed an eating disorder when I was younger for exactly these reasons. I'm happy to say I'm completely better now and it was down to working hard at a healthier and less restrictive attitude towards food. No restricting and no constant over analysis.

No I'm not pregnant!! Hahaha. It's nothing to do with cravings/pregnancy diet, just general health concerns.

Although maybe I am unreasonably concerned...

People recommending "whole foods" and "natural foods", in general I agree but there seems to be no agreement on what is a whole food? Eg. is unsalted butter a whole food but salted butter isn't? I make my own bread so I know what's going into it, is that a whole food or not?

Sorry for all these questions, I am just so confused and stressed about the whole business

I mean this kindly, but those trying to give OP advice on the best way to eat might be adding to the problem.

This is absolutely right.

The issue isn’t what the op is eating, it’s the view of food.

I was starting to get a bit like this until i watched a bbc programme recently about vitamins that studied 3 people - a super healthy vegan, a woman with a normal sort of diet including some fruit and veg but plenty of freezer food and a bloke who ate mainly takeaways. All of them were meeting all of their daily nutritional requirements (the vegan was a bit low in iron but that was all.)

It's actually pretty hard for us in the west to fall short of what we need in our diets. Everything offers something in terms of nutrition and that's why they say everything in moderation. Bit of this, bit of that, whole grains where possible, aim for 5 a day - you'll be grand.

Um, fats do need to make up a small part of your diet, otherwise pooing is quite difficult. The one thing that is not needed in our diets at all are refined carbohydrates.