To ask whether “just” eating healthily made you feel better?

[Rootsmaneouvring]

For context, I’m middle aged, slightly (bmi 26) overweight and constantly exhausted, which I think is at least partly lifestyle related - I work very long hours and have let nutrition and exercise completely slip the last few years. Although my working hours haven’t changed I have just switched to home working most of the time which gives me the ability to start to get my diet sorted - exercise will certainly be a goal too but realistically at the moment I’m going to have more ability to focus on eating well. I’m just wondering whether anyone in a similar situation has made a similar diet change and did it help with the tiredness/energy levels, and if so how long did it take to have an effect?

an example day’s meals last year would have been:
breakfast: croissant on the train
lunch: cheese baguette and crisps
Dinner: ready meal or a takeaway grabbed on way home
snacks: chocolate or similar

current example:
breakfast: home made granola with berries and a green smoothie
lunch: salad (lentils, broccoli, peppers, spinach and feta)
dinner: roast vegetable risotto
snacks: fruit or vegetable crudités

I would want double confirmation that my b12 and folate was ok. Ask for the numbers and check them yourself.
My son was deficient in folate and low in b12 and told he was ok.

At any rate I think we need a multi pronged approach that includes gut health so that we assimilate the nutrition from our food, good food and a few supplements where our nutrition is not likely to provide it.
Plus the usual plenty of sleep, exercise etc.

You're tired because you work long hours.

I work long days and on those days I cam barely keep my eyes open. I have a really good diet fwiw and on the other days I'm fine.

On the long days, I'm so shattered that I'm practically asleep at 7pm then wide awake at 1030. Be honest, how are your bedtimes on those days?

Simple answer for me is yes, eating healthily makes makes me feel better.

I've spent years working out what works and what doesn't - for eg. if I have milk on my (25g) oats, it hinders any weight loss efforts, even if 125ml with no other milk during the day in teas and I'm in a deficit. It's better mixed with yogurt or with water and berries (just highlighting my experience).

I've spent so many of my years dieting/restricting in order to lose weight, that my poor body doesn't know what it's doing anymore. I have a lot of food noise. I focus on good healthy, not UPF, balanced and tasty foods, and I feel good/healthy at the moment (weight a whole different issue though).

The new foods look great, OP. Good luck with the feeling better, I hope it happens!

I don't get that lunch time slump like I used to when I'd eat sandwiches, crisps etc for lunch.
I'm still pretty tired the rest of the time but eating light and health focused has definitely helped.

Quite. We all have more than enough protein but most of us only eat the recommended daily amount of fibre for a 4yo. No wonder bowel cancer is through the roof.

OP, your new way of eating looks great. Add some eggs in if you like but you don't need to otherwise. Plenty of olive oil. It might take a few weeks to show in how you feel but it will show.

Yes, definitely.

I ditched white pasta, white bread, white couscous and moved to wholemeal. I make my own wholemeal bread that has no additives, using a very rough (Doves Farm) wholemeal flour. I switched to eating 30+ fruit & veg a week and cut out UPFs. I cook from scratch.

It has made a huge difference. All the bloating and abdo discomfort has gone. All headaches have gone. Lots more energy and generally feeling less sluggish. I don't get little colds or sore throats now.

It took a cancer diagnosis for me to take my diet seriously. I wish I'd done it sooner, I feel much much better.

Its a one part of a three pronged approach which for me all worked together to make me feel like a new woman in my 50s. The other two are daily excercise - a 30 minutes brisk walk outdoors preferably somewhere green; and enough sleep (8-9 hours) and rest without guilt whenever possible. Together with a squeaky clean diet (whole food, vegan, no alcohol) I honestly feel better than I did in my 30s.

Less sugar. Cottage cheese is an easy way of adding protein.

Regular exercise and losing weight have made me feel much better. Don't underestimate the effects of peri/meno on how you feel. Magnesium supplements are a good sleep aid.

You’ll feel worse initially, almost like you’re coming down with something. But persevere and after a week or 10 days things suddenly shift and the fog lifts. You start to feel much better.

I get mine from the co-op, the seeded stuff or the slow roasted tomato, I'm actually addicted. Every morning I have it with poached egg, avacado and prosciutto ham.

@Rootsmaneouvring I completely understand your hesitancy about reintroducing fish or meat after such a long time. It was over 25 years for me and chicken still feels a bit weird. I buy high welfare meat and eat chicken/fish once or twice a week. Didn't realise how much my older body needed it until I stopped being vegetarian so it was the right decision in my case. Good luck!

Do not feel pressured to eat meat or fish because of supposed protein goals. As other posters have said, fibre and plants are way more important.

If you were going to do either, choose fish. Pescetarian is the healthiest diet on a population level (in terms of observed outcomes) and there are still some sustainable fish and seafood sources to be found (mussels!!!!)

A decent seeded wholemeal loaf - in sensible quantities, does, in my opinion, more good than harm. A rye or something similar has lots of good stuff in too.

So eggs on wholemeal with a bit of millennial avocado and some seeds sounds pretty filling to me and provides a bit of fibre. I sometimes have home made saukraut with mine...(sounds worthy but it's tasty and very easy)