My diet is appalling, anyone else?

[Careworker685]

I am 32, through calorie counting, portion control and exercise I am able to remain slim and a good weight, but I know what what I'm eating is terrible and I'm setting myself up for problems in later life.
I have a serious sugar addiction which I need to kick. I don't eat proper meals, I'd love to eat 3 proper meals a day which fill me up, but I just graze all day. I'm ashamed of how I eat and need to change tomorrow.
I buy those 5-pack large cookies from supermarkets and eat 2 a day, usually when I get up. I have porridge for breakfast (with added sugary products)
I drink some water, not enough.
I'm addicted to diet fizzy drinks, I've stopped with diet coke/pepsi due to the concern around aspartame but I am addicted to lucozade zero pink lemonade and drink one most days.
Love Fanta zero, tango, appetizer etc. Also love milkshakes.
Lunch wise I can make it healthy, but I usually go for white bread and something with cheese. I don't like salads on their own as I find them boring (ridiculous I know).
I love burgers, chips, pizza, toasties, kebabs, anything like that. Love sausage and bacon sandwiches, pancakes and so on.
I can cook, I cook twice a week I'd say, I'm not somebody who cooks from scratch daily.
Love bags of sweets, cakes, chocolate bars.
My only good point is that I don't drink any alcohol whatsoever, and have never smoked. I lead a healthy lifestyle apart from the diet.
I need to change tomorrow because I'm damaging my insides.
I don't eat proper meals, I use up most of my calories on biscuits and cakes so for tea tonight I've only had a frozen ice pop.
I eat around 2000 calories a day, more of I do a lot of exercise.
I need the willpower to stop this. I actually managed to cut sugar for 3 weeks last year, I saw a lot of benefits but couldn't maintain.
I know this is pathetic for a woman in her 30s. Appreciate any advice or anyone else who's having the same problem.

Nothing wrong with porridge for breakfast or a toastie for lunch, but if you add some fruit to the porridge or an apple to the toastie then that’s better. Or a big chunk of cucumber is better still.

I think if you work out little upgrades you can make, with the healthier food that you don’t mind as much, then that’s a good place to start.

Make it easy. Tinned fruit in juice is good. Frozen peas. Throw some lentils into a pasta thing etc.

I am the reverse OP, diet is good , I don't eat chocolate and rarely crisps- but I smoke and drink (maybe 1/2 a bottle of wine x 3 a week) - I have had some nasty health scares in last year and that's why my diet is now really good. Now to tackle the other habits!

I found the easiest thing for me was to make one meal a day something salad based but stick fishcakes on it or fish fingers or good quality chicken gougons - I'm not keen on salad without something with it.

Breakfast I now eat late at around 11am vary between porridge with banana and honey or berries , eggs and mushrooms on toast or a bowl of Greek yoghurt with berries and seeds.

I also use a lot of cauli rice at dinner and add curries or chilli or chicken cooked with stir fry veg and soy sauce and mix it all in- easy and nutritious and low cal too. I'm also gluten free, so this works for me.

I found your taste buds change after a while. I used to eat far too many toasties and sandwiches and pieces of cake when out - and ended up pre diabetic as well as 5 stone overweight.

I could have written this post myself. Age, diet, no smoking/drinking.
I am at a loss what to do, I've tried cutting things out and just can't. I do have 2 under 3 so am trying to cut myself some slack at the moment (although I've always been like this).
I use absolutely any excuse to eat badly (happy, unhappy, bad night sleep, stressed out....etc). I eat a lot of sugar 😔

Healthy food can be convenient! Maybe concentrate on replacing the sugary things in your shop for healthier choices-might be pricier until you are ready to do some prep work yourself, though. Some ideas:
-bowl of easy peelers and apples in fridge
-pre-prepared baby carrots
-hummus or any kind of dip you like really, even if it's high calorie or super salty it is probably better than what you've been eating
-babybel cheeses
-pre-cooked chicken pieces
-salad 'kits' complete with dressing
-stir-fry kits with sauce
-Dash flavoured (but unsweetened) sparkling water I think has no sweeteners or artificial flavouring
Make it easy (yes, pricey) and gradually increase the number of things you make yourself.

I use Tik Tok for easy recipes I can cook from scratch. Has really helped me shake things up and get healthier. For me I'm not a fan of cooking with lots of ingredients, I want it to be simple and not too expensive to make. I now enjoy preparing new meals.

Think of eating healthily as your pension. Eating well will be a bonus as you approach your 50s and 60s....obesity, mobility, diabetes,bone density

Thank you so much!
Our cupboards and fridge are virtually empty today so I'm off to do a healthy shop, will try all of these suggestions.

I was just like you, my diet was absolutely awful and I developed a terrible sugar addiction during the lockdowns. I’ve tried loads of different diets etc but nothing was lasting more than a couple of weeks then in the middle of June I read Allen Car’s book Good Sugar Bad Sugar and it’s been like someone has flipped a switch in my brain! I’ve just got back from a 2 week AI holiday and have not wanted to eat any desserts or ice cream or anything like that, I gained 3 lbs in the 2 weeks which has gone after about 5 days (last year I gained about a stone on holiday despite trying to be good!)

While I was away I read Ultra-Processed People by Chris van Tulleken which was also an eye opener! I don’t know if at some point I’ll end up back in my old ways but right now I don’t feel deprived or have any cravings for the sort of stuff I was eating before.

Hi op, how about trying a meal kit subscription for a week such as hello fresh or gousto to get back into the swing of cooking with fresh ingredients. You can then have the second portion for your next lunch. Then don't buy any snacks for the house for the week as your meals will be sorted.
If you like sweet porridge try adding a banana to it ? Maybe a bit of honey?

Fizzy drinks I realised I like the sparkling sensation and cold. So I switched to sparkling water. Still not brilliant for teeth but betting overall

Aspartame is in the same carcinogen class as mobile phones so I'd carry on drinking them if I were you.

My diet is really bad too, I have fibromyalgia and a lot of other health problems but I know my diet needs to change. I have activia yogurt for breakfast, homemade banana milkshake for lunch, I have a shop brought smoothie in the afternoon and then for evening meal it could be pasta with chicken or corned beef pasty, macdonalds, chippy, jacket potato with tuna mayonnaise and cheddar cheese, kfc, pizza but then I will eat like 1 pack of foxes cookies half cookie half chocolate and then I will eat a whole packet of foxes chocolate rings in total 17 biscuits can't seem to stop myself

Sounds like you are addicted to Ultra-processed foods, OP (join the club - much of the UK and US are!)

I recommend you read/ listen to a book called "Why We Eat (Too Much)" and also the ZOE Nutrition podcasts.

These will give you a good basic level of knowledge for nutrition and also probably motivate you because there's a lot of information about why the food you eat is basically killing you, and how to change.

How did your food shop go? I have been fairly good today and had soup and homemade spag bol, DH definitely did too much spaghetti though.