Eating sweets and no actual meals on some days??

[crispytowel]

Really embarrassed but I think I need some help with this one... I have a busy job in the NHS and two DC so I have a lot to juggle in one day. Not much time to eat mindfully and if I'm not organised enough to think ahead about lunch I often end up eating cookies and chocolate bars - and coffee. It's a slippery slope as the more I eat sugar the more I crave it. In the eve if DH is late I might skip dinner and eat more choc or ice cream... am I the only one? Is it complete madness?? How do I stop this? I am a healthy weight so that's not the issue but it makes me feel so ashamed and immature!!

I think you're basically hooked on the chocolate.
I actually think if you managed to find something delicious to eat for a few days instead that didn't have a lot of sugar, you would break the sugar habit. I find it really easy to get hooked on chocolate and start having it every day, but then after I've had a short while without it I don't crave it anymore. Also these things creep in more when we are tired and stressed, as snack foods give us an instant boost. So it's about finding easy ways to get some slow release energy in your diet. Eggs or bananas are great snacks for that.

Am very close to this, dh and kids eat earlier and if he didn’t cook for me I would just cram whatever I could in there so not much help but I do try to have an apple and banana and a tin of tuna with some crackers so I know I’ve had something healthy and then I have a yoghurt instead of going for ice cream (not always and it’s sooooo hard!) whatever happens don’t feel so guilty, you’re under pressure x

The martyrdom on this thread. Not for one second do I believe that anyone working in teaching is so busy that they have no choice but to eat food exclusively from vending machines. As for, “I can only have food that I can eat one handed at my screen because I work so hard, so I am forced to eat chocolate bars”: how long does it take to make a sandwich? Have you had a catheter fitted, too?

It’s clear that this thread is a pity party for people who want to make up excuses for their preference for party food.

The martyrdom on this thread. Not for one second do I believe that anyone working in teaching is so busy that they have no choice but to eat food exclusively from vending machines.

As a teacher married to a teacher, I agree. Yes, being stressed and busy makes it more tempting to make bad food choices, but they are just that - choices. In any staffroom full of busy teachers, there are the few who seem to subsist entirely on cake, and then the majority - who eat proper food (either from the canteen or brought in from home).

It's so easy for even the biggest health nut to get trapped in these cycles when life gets busy! So definitely don't beat yourself up about it.

Practical things you might be able to do:
Ditch buying sugary treats for home, for a while at least, just to break the habit and cycle (harder to avoid in work canteen, I know)

Have a little think about the food available at work, is it even practical to take your own lunch/snacks? If no access for storage or keeping food cold, you will have to brainstorm for ideas on things you enjoy eating (critical or you won't stick to it!) that are available and practical to eat in the daytime.

Same for dinners. It does require an evening or two where you brainstorm ideas so you have a list or some ideas to work from. Easy, quick, tasty, healthy meals - things you enjoy, things that don't take long, and make sure you include some super quick meals (oven meals or eggs & bacon type) for evenings where you really can't spend any time cooking.

On evenings you can outlay a little time, batch cook and freeze (hoping you have a freezer!). Make sure you have space for storage before you cook. Do you like any meals that freeze well? There are websites which list meals which freeze well, which might give you some ideas.

Make sure you have some snacks at home that aren't whatever it is you're trying to avoid (crisps/sweets/chocolate/ice cream). Make it easy for yourself so you don't just walk to the shop and pick up chocolate.

Make sure you eat and drink enough (I know this will be hard with your job, so at least out of hours) to avoid the cravings. Don't starve yourself!

The first week of cutting down on sugar / chocolate is hell, but once you get past that it gets easier. I promise! And you don't need to deprive yourself forever - short term it's good to take a break and kill the cravings. It depends on your personality, but I'm OK with moderating chocolate - when I'm not starving I'm totally fine just having one chocolate bar (instead of 3 plus biscuits, plus other snacks). That is totally personality dependent though and I know not everyone can do that!

Also, can you just make the process of planning / cooking more fun? Put a TV in the kitchen or a portable speaker so you can play music? That way you can combine some of your "relax" time with sorting out your eating habits.

Could you switch to online food shopping so you're not tempted by junk?

Or try a food service like Hello Fresh (or any other) for a few weeks, to get some meal inspiration?

Unfortunately, it is like most things in life.... it does require effort. There is always an element of time outlay, or cost outlay (recipe books / food / cooking equipment).

The martyrdom on this thread. Not for one second do I believe that anyone working in teaching is so busy that they have no choice but to eat food exclusively from vending machines.
try getting home from work at night time before having an hour to look at kids homework, spend ‘quality’ time then do bedtime routine before trying to get a wash on, clean the house because they’ve been home a few hours and then get any form of sleep that will no doubt be broken by poor sleepers. Not everyone gets to wfh or work 9to 5!!!

Oops, sorry, you said teaching, apologies!!!!

This thread has inspired me, so today I got a jacket potato from the school canteen and snacked on an apple and banana… usually it’s just crap as well!

Hi @crispytowel, I also found that I was eating similarly (mostly on night shifts). I found that if I didn't have time to plan/prep, I just used Huel. I know it's not exactly a fresh meal, but at least I then know it's got a good combination of fats/protein/fiber and it stops me snacking on junk. (Some people don't like the taste, but I really like it now) X

I think you probably just have to be strict and not buy or eat anything like that for a while to get out of the habit

Your not going to go from bar of chocolate to gourmet meals straight away. But a banana, Greek yogurt with handful of granola, cheese sandwich, ready made fresh soup or similar would all be just as quick yet healthier.

it’s a health question rather than weight or money saving. I could also stay Same weight eating rubbish, but I know long term it won’t be great

But presumably you don’t serve your children chocolate and sweets for dinner?

your job sounds really tough. I’m a senior teacher in a secondary school which is in a bit of a crisis at the moment so often literally don’t sit down between 8-4, covering duties and managing behaviour. I’m at school 7-6minimum and have similar issues with organising food around three small children and work. I take a bag of random quick to eat stuff - cheese oatcakes, breadsticks, carrots, fruit, cherry tomatoes, nuts, occasionally houmous and other dips if I happen to have them in the fridge, but mostly things which don’t go off, don’t need refrigerating and I can eat quickly while on duty. So it’s not the most grown up eating, but at least it’s not too unhealthy. And it’s all stuff I have in for our DC anyway so can grab from cupboards in the morning. Would taking in a selection of non sugary snacks help shift your choices slightly?

I take a bag of random quick to eat stuff - cheese oatcakes, breadsticks, carrots, fruit, cherry tomatoes, nuts, occasionally houmous and other dips.

Exactly- eating on the hoof may be caused by time pressure and your work schedule, but that doesn't mean that the snacks or quick lunches you grab actually have to be chocolate, biscuits and crisps.

Well yes, it is possible to arrange your life to make less unhealthy choices, but I would also say the martyrdom comments up thread seem unkind and unhelpful to me. The OP’s job sounds enormously emotionally tough as well as unlikely to involve regular lunch breaks. I find my own job emotionally draining and stressful and definitely have days where I exist off biscuits stolen from the English office to cheer me up because I’ve had so many grim things happen. I imagine if I worked in oncology I’d be tempted to eat a lot of chocolate.

Incidentally I’m on mumsnet now because I left work early for a hospital appointment and the feeling of stress in department from being short staffed and just holding it together is all too familiar.

NHS worker here. Similar. Sometimes I’m late finishing so grab crisps and chocolate to eat on the journey home 😳

What powder did you buy?