To feel down about food this weekend

[Megapops]

The heatwave seems to have brought with it tons of sugary/fatty food adverts everywhere, and everyone talking about BBQs and all the delicious food and booze they're going to be having this weekend. I feel really overwhelmed and bombarded by it (I don't even have social media or anything.)

I'm not overweight (BMI 21) but have a high risk of getting diabetes (rife in my family) so I eat very plain foods, no sugar, no booze. I also put on weight incredibly easily. It's a real burden for me as I love food.

Just been to the supermarket and everyone is piling up their trollies with ice cream, cream cakes, crisps, sweets, fizzy drinks. How comes everyone else can stuff their faces with sugar and fat with no consequences? Makes me sad.

Stop whining. There are many people on here with real issues. What a fuss about nothing.

You only have to look in a supermarket to see that the ones buying fizzy drinks and loads of snacks are obese! They will have their own consequences if not already...

eh?!
The hot weather makes me not want to eat much or cook. Cold, rainy weather on the other hand...
I think it's your food issues talking.

I’m having a BBQ tonight but not gorging.

We don’t do sausages and burgers so are having steak and chicken thighs with a homemade salsa (tinned chopped tomatoes, finely chopped onions, fresh chillis and coriander with a squeeze of lime - cheap and lush). We’ve got salad, coleslaw and roasted little potatoes. I’ll have one or two glasses of wine as a treat.

I’d far rather have that than loads of processed meat, bread and pop. You don’t have to miss out OP, you can still do tasty BBQs.

Have you considered some cooking lessons?

You'll feel less hard done by and probably more able to relax if you knew how to cook things that actually taste nice instead of bland and depressing.

I don't envy people drinking in this weather. Hangovers and dehydration.. no thanks! Ice cream, one is nice but anymore and it's sickly. Hot weather also makes wear little clothes so I'm more aware of my forgotten fitness goals.. not an incentive to indulge at all for me.

Buy yourself a decent summer cookbook with salads. This morning I've made fresh fruit salad, home made lemonade, courgettes and French beans in vinaigrette, and squid with mint. All chilling in the fridge.
Gammon over apple juice in the SLO cooker.
I'll put some wholemeal walnut bread in late tonight, on a timer.
All much nicer than the chemical-filled instant food you see in people's trolleys.

Lifes too short for a boring diet!

Everything in moderation is fine and 1 weekend of ice cream and a bbq isn't going to make you diabetic!

And let's all go to @MintJulia for a munch!! Sounds fantastic!! 😋

We do have a bottle of wine for two in fridge, pack icecreams and I've got a couple of chilled lattes rather than having a hot coffee at work as it's enclosed, no windows, aircon broken and nylon uniform. Other things I've bought are lettuce, rocket, tomatoes, peppers, carrot, onions, sweetcorn, tuna, ham, cheese, quiche and potatoes for homemade potato salad, skimmed milk and bread - non of it will get wasted. It's about a balance. I can't say I noticed what others purchased, I was more concerned I'd got everything to avoid a shopping trip in next 2-3 days.

I'm making burgers tonight - minced beef, onions, garlic, parsley, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper. Squish together, squish into balls; squish flat. I prefer them in half a plain wrap or wrapped in a large iceberg lettuce leaf - I'm not a bread person. Serve with tomatoes, rocket, pickles, whatever.

I've made lemon sorbet for pudding. Lemon juice, half sugar/half stevia. Just warm together then freeze (spoonful of vodka keeps it scoopable).

I love cooking and preparing food, but I want my food to taste good and be reasonably healthy as well.

Food doesn't have to be plain to be healthy. We spatchcock a whole chicken sometimes, rub it with oil, lemon juice and garlic and BBQ that, eat it with salad and flatbreads.

Try not be too down OP. There are delicious things to eat out there that are healthy as well.

My DH reversed his type 2 diabetes on diet alone. Whilst it definitely required a lot more thought about what we were eating, it wasn't tasteless, plain or boring.

How comes everyone else can stuff their faces with sugar and fat with no consequences?

As PP have said, there are consequences. People who regularly stuff themselves with this kind of food become fat and ill. It's also very, very unattractive to see people pigging out on crap (IMO).

I would positively choose to eat the things that you eat (I know it's different as I'm making a choice - but it's just better for you anyway not to be a fat-saturated, boozed-up bloater).

There's nothing wrong with the odd treat if you eat healthy the majority of the time. Tasty food doesn't have to mean unhealthy processed. You can have tasty food cooked from scratch. My favourite meals are using up any bits in the fridge. Potato and bacon bake has been my favourite.

Why do you have plain food?

you can eat tasty food, nice food?

Nothing wrong with a bbq or a glass of pop either

at a bmi of 21 you can probably afford to relax a bit more?

like perries, ciders and the sweeter white wines

@Siouxtse1

It won't be the alcohol, but the sugar, in the drinks you list which cause blood sugar to rise.

Alcohol does not raise blood sugar.

Any alcoholic drink which also includes sugar, will increase blood sugar bb exactly the amount caused by the sugar. Nothing to do with the alcohol.

The cakes, treats and junk food are available all the year round so a heatwave is not affecting the availability of it. Everyone has a choice

@Megapops Have a look at recipes from around the world, especially those who are regarded as having the healthiest diets. That could include Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, South/SE Asian and some African countries

For eg, rather than plain yoghurt for breakfast you could try Greek yoghurt with honey and chopped walnuts, or with pomegranate molasses

This. The 80/20 rule works well - deprive yourself 80% of the time and have what you want the other 20%.

Oh of it’s not the summer excuse

it’s the age old winter excuse of hibernating and getting cosy with… junk

or loads of crap… because it’s Easter

and then even more… because it’s christmas

and then the new year is so rotten so let’s have more crap

rather than some just admitting - I have no self control and like to stuff my face

It really frustrates me because in the same breath I read the posters saying the above how worried they are about their health

Or how shit the nhs is

when I feel like saying - “it is struggling because of the unbelievably pressure that obese people like you put on it”

oh, I just have said it 😂

and there’s always a health reason behind their obesity.

It sounds like you need to eat more interesting food! You can add lots of herbs and spices without adding sugar or fat.

Knock yourself out and get a lolly from the corner shop then. Maybe it’ll stem your cravings and stop you feeling sad.

Maybe if you upped your game in the kitchen to make healthy food that’s actually nice, you wouldn’t feel so jealous of others?

Urgh! I hate food in this heat!!