To think it’s really difficult to keep healthy ? ITS NOT OUR FAULT !!

[Jumell]

Ok so … up until recently I worked 9am - 6pm an office job - no flexi time etc .

we had 15 mins break in the morning, 15 mins in the afternoon and half a hour for lunch

I used to arrive home every evening at 7pm it was Monday to Fri. I left home at 8am.

Where I worked was a bit off from the town centre so the latter was not that easily accessible lunchtimes.

The only options for food was small sandwich shops and kiosks selling beige calorific food - crisps /choc bars and shortbreads - filled rolls etc. next to no fresh produce

In an ideal world I’d like to do clean eating and eat eg fresh fish and veg in the evening - but who on earth gets home from a long shift at 7pm and starts peeling carrots and potatoes ?!

You don’t even need the food at that time as you’re winding down !

I think there was a lot to be said about the post war rationing etc - at least people ate more genuinely nutritious natural food then and not UPF - which I admit I eat a lot of and admit I desperately need to cut down on.

AIBU in thinking that our current lifestyles make natural, clean eating and home cooking of fresh foods more difficult - we have to buy calorific processed convenience foods as there’s practically no other option !

Plenty of people manage to eat healthily despite the pressures of day to day life. Ultimately it's down to what we ourselves prioritise.

You can batch cook at weekends, prep a salad before you leave for work and so on. People either want to do it or don't want to.

Meal preps at the weekend is the only solution. But generally it means eating the same thing for 4 days in a row

True. Needs careful planning though

we have to buy calorific processed convenience foods as there’s practically no other option !

there is noting near my office as it's on an industrial estate,

In winter I take soups, in summer I take sandwiches and salads. Its not all that tricky but it has to be a priority

Batch cooking is the key. Cook a ton of stuff on a weekend and freeze it. Once you've got a few choices you can just take out what you want for dinner from the freezer in the morning.

Left overs of previous nights dinner for lunch in the office or take your own salad/sandwich.

It's not all or nothing, UPF beige food or natural rainwater and organic meadow grown cucumbers. Find a middle ground that works for your lifestyle.

I make it easier for our life. I buy carrot sticks. They are ready-peeled and chopped. I can just chuck them in a saucepan. I chop onions in advance and freeze for later. I buy jar sauces but I also make some from scratch at the weekends.

It’s partly the busyness of lifestyles. It’s partly the availability of quick, crap food everywhere and the addictive quality of it. But it’s also in large part habit and skill.

I don’t find it difficult at all to eat (mostly!) fresh and nutritious food. Bit of weekend batch cooking. Stirfry, bit of fish and veg, rice bowl etc all on table within 30 mins. Leftovers packed for lunch. But I prioritise cooking and eating properly over an extra 45 mins scrolling or watching tv.

thank you . Believe it or not I’ve never tried Batch cooking but need to get in to it

Yes I think your first paragraph ails the reasons why it’s difficult for people

The only options for food was small sandwich shops and kiosks selling beige calorific food - crisps /choc bars and shortbreads - filled rolls etc. next to no fresh produce

I'd have taken a packed lunch, partly because it's healthier, but also cheaper and probably nicer.

Nails** not ails !

You're a grown adult.

If you don't take responsibility for what you put in your mouth, no-one's going to jump out from behind the cooker and do it for you.

Take your own lunch to work and use frozen veg at dinnertime if you don't have time to peel and chop.

food doesn’t have to be upf or long winded peeling carrots and potatoes.
When I used to get home late i would usually make something like an omelette and salad, or a simple roast veg pasta. ( just dump veg in oven 30min whilst I had a shower or relaxed after work). Or rice with grilled chicken, and avocado.

Lunches and dinners also leftovers from days you have more time. I would often make something taking more time Sunday and eat leftovers Monday. Plus on Sunday make a roast veg couscous or similar to make easy lunches to take the first few days of the week. Just add ready made falafels, mozzarella balls, salad items in the morning. Even if you then make a sandwich the last few days for lunch.

I take food to work, is that not an option?
Something like a wrap is seconds to make and put in the fridge for the next day, take a piece of fruit and a yoghurt too

Batch cooking I do for evening meals, cook 6-8 portions of something on a Sunday and freeze it. Repeat the next Sunday with a different meal and you end up with a freezer full of ready meals

Plus quick stuff like rotisserie chicken with salad and ready made grains or feta and cous cous etc

There’s nothing to stop you buying wartime food and preparing it yourself if that’s what you want. This would involve a lot of peeling though.

It’s not for you to stop other foods being available to everyone else.

Meal prep at weekends if you want to eat home made food quickly at work and after work.

It’s your choice what goes in your mouth.

Yes .. to be fair I totally agree ..

There are challenges if you work long hours, but I think a lot of people really over-egg them tbh. If you’re going to buy a sandwich anyway then it’s barely any more work to make one at home and pack some fruit.

There are loads of healthy, quick dinners which don’t involve peeling carrots and potatoes at 7pm: steaming vegetables. There are even plenty of healthier convenience foods available from most supermarkets if you really can’t find more than five or ten minutes to make your dinner: rotisserie chicken, pre-cooked salmon fillets, pre-made Spanish omelettes. Those with steamed vegetables or salad and something like couscous which you can make in seconds, or pasta salad which you can make a big bowl of and eat a few days in a row is fine. Sure, maybe it’s not quite as good as cooking from scratch, but it’s just as quick and easy as a ready meal or beige food.

Where I do think it's not easy to keep healthy is the issue of fitting in regular exercise around a busy work life. There are 24hour gyms springing up now, but at the same time, the available hours at my pool are increasingly constrained because they've got a number of swimming academies teaching children to swim taking up the pool. It's a university pool!

I don't think it's difficult to cook food normally at home and bring it in to the office. YABU to be relying on whatever you happen to be able to buy around your workplace.

Some good ideas there thank you 🙌

Watch Chris Van Tulleken's documentary on the food industry on iPlayer - it's called Irresistible. You'll understand why you struggle with UPFs and hopefully it will motivate you to make some changes.

@Jumell

Some ideas for batch cooking/freezing (all from scratch, no packets), anything with sauce is generally good for freezing:

Bolognese
Beef winter stew
Nigerian spicy chicken stew
Beef Raj curry
Chilli con carne
Pork and cider stew
Chicken curry

I freeze them in individual portions in old plastic takeaway or Lurpak tubs in case DH and I have differing ideas of what we want for dinner.

I always batch cook listening to a podcast or audiobook so I can zone out 🙂

Edit: Slow cookers are also a great, prepare the night before and then just turn it on before you go to work and come home to a lovely meal.

👍

Yup, the DC are now old enough to be left in the evenings, so I thought I'd go and combine the weekly shop with a swim at the local pool.

All evening sessions (which used to be very popular) cancelled 😪

I know what you mean OP. I have really focussed on cutting out UPF this year which has essentially chained me to the kitchen, if it wasn't for the fact I work a very flexible job from home I'd find it really difficult to have the mental and physical bandwidth to do the amount of work it requires to meal plan, shop and cook non processed food for 4 people 3 times a day. I'm not saying it's not possible, but it would be much harder, I still have time to go to my hobbies in the evening or have downtime, if I was dealing with a long commute, or couldn't stick a loaf of bread on during a break or my online shop in my lunch break, I'd definitely cheat on food before my own downtime.