I can't stick to healthy eating, anyone else?

[Cow00000]

I drink 3 to 4 cans of Pepsi max a day
Barely any veg
My food budget is £40 per week for myself, I've looked at healthy meal prep deliveries but I cannot afford it

I last 3 days on a healthy diet then back to sweets, cakes, biscuits, chocolate, white carbs. It's an addiction, I don't drink at all, never smoked or taken drugs, it's just the food.

I'm not overweight but I know my way of eating is dangerous. I do eat some healthy meals but it's not enough, I have sleeping issues, I'm sluggish, I have dark circles under my eyes.

I know the only way is to go cold turkey, but for whatever reason it doesn't last. Has anyone managed to change things long-term and improve their diet?

Charming ! Also inaccurate judgement on my situation .. have PTSD from childhood & can’t work as i have cared full time for a severely disabled son pretty much for 22 years .. not that ‘normal’ here either … just recently decided i need to sort out my health so i can carry on looking after my son for longer

Agree with this

Add in other foods you like, rather than depriving yourself

It was meant in jest.

Excuses. Of course ‘normal’ people do this. The above suggestions are helpful.

Don’t go full turkey . Severe restrictions could lead to binge eating or disordered eating later on. Start calorie counting : you can allow yourself a treat in moderation as long as it fits within you calories for the day. Eat high volume, high fibre to keep full for longer and start walking in terms of exercise . You are doing great and the fact that you don’t drink puts you in a very strong position . As you start limiting sugar, you will start craving it less and less . Best of luck!

If you can follow Liam Layton on social media. He is a brilliant advocate for not depriving yourself of things you want and like. He does a lot of cheap and easy boosted protein and fibre recipes (and some weird tiktok trends and tells you how bad they are so you don't have to do it). When I started watching him I realised that the key for me wasn't to stop having what I wanted, but to add healthier items to it. Side salad, add fruit, add some extra veggies. For me it's diet coke, I have to have at least one can, usually 2, a day. But I realised that it makes my somewhat miserable life happy for half an hour and it's not adding empty calories as it's pretty much calorie free. Yes aspartame isn't good for you, but everything, even water, is toxic in certain doses, the aspartame in the diet coke I drink is negligible to health.

The key is to online shop. I can't walk around a supermarket without filling my trolley with shite. Online shop for foods you want to eat and add in veggies, fruits, salads, nuts to it if you can. 3/4 of a plate of pasta/chips with 1/4 plate of salad is better for you than a full plate of pasta/chips.

Great advice . I fully agree.

Boredom is my nemesis when it comes to snacking. I keep really busy on my days off and it's relatively easy to not snack. Then I go back to work and have to make a conscious effort to tell myself, no I don't need to eat that bag of crisps etc. Coke zero is also my downfall, but I'm not overly worried about it right now as it does fill me up.

I've recently upped my fibre intake as I got pulled into the trend of high protein, low carb and that's helped a lot with making me feel fuller. I make a 'fancy' porridge for breakfast; handful of oats, desert spoon of psyllium husk and a few other bits like chia seeds, flaxseed, dates. It's worth the extra few minutes of prep, as it does fill me up until lunch and I'm starting to feel better in myself.

I think the trick is to look at the recommended guidelines for intake fibre, protein, sugar, carbs etc and try not to cut back on one food group too much. Once you try to get enough of every group in there, there's not an awful lot of time or scope for eating junk! 😆

Something I found helpful is to start with overhauling just one meal per day, such as breakfast.

Buy a food flask and then you can take a healthy breakfast to work and eat it on your morning break if you’re having a tricky morning.

On Sunday evening mix up a big bowl of Greek yoghurt, mixed nuts or seeds, chopped or grated fruit (or berries), and honey. I put a portion in the food flask to take out with me on Monday. The mixture lasts a few days in the fridge so is low effort. All the ingredients are available quite cheaply from Aldi or Lidl.

If you want something hot, switch the Greek yoghurt for milk or water and make porridge.

Your blood sugar will be more stable and it will help with the cravings for carbs.

You could overhaul your hot chocolate too. See it as an experiment with flavours rather than healthy eating. If you buy the best cocoa powder you can afford rather than drinking chocolate, you can control the amount of sugar in it. You can also experiment with different milks. I am not a veggie but love almond milk hot chocolate. Maybe buy a flask and take it to work.

Good luck with it all.

Find healthy alternatives! Instead of Pepsi start buying dash water - the peach ones are lovely!

buy mini bars of chocolate bars and limit yourself to three a day! Get best of both bread or white wraps instead of thick white bread. Also, track all your calories on my fitness pal. Tracking really makes you think what you’re putting in your body. Also, always have an apple before a binge! It will help work out if you’re actually hungry or just craving something/boredom eating!

Allow yourself one can and one treat every day ? Try to save them to the end of the day when you get to relax

can you get up and walk around at work whenever the boredom gets to snacking levels ?

I hope this doesn't sound smug as that's definitely not my intention.

One day I was in the shop about to buy myself a whole pile of crap to get me through the day. All of a sudden a voice inside my head said, "Why don't you have more respect for yourself and your health?"

Honestly, since I've had that thought I just cannot go back. I can't say I never go off the rails, but 99% of the time now I hear that voice and make better choices. After a bit you do start to feel so much healthier and stop worrying about what damage you're doing to yourself and it makes you want to stick with it.

You can eat healthily you choose not to. No one is forcing crap into your mouth. It’s a choice you make.

Get thee to a dietician and diabetic nurse at your GP. Healthy food can be done on £40 pw, just. Saying that, milk has just gone up to £1.75 for four pints.

Some excellent advice here.

I echo those saying to eat the healthy food first, and allow yourself little treats.

Do a weekly food shop and write a rough meal plan that includes at least one veg per meal.

Swap less healthy foods for more healthy foods.
For me, this meant chocolate covered fruit or chocolate coated rice cakes instead of bars of chocolate, popcorn instead of crisps, sparkling water with lemon instead of fizzy drinks

As time goes on, you'll want the healthy food more.

For me, it helps to look at the longterm picture. My parents had a shit diet and are now dealing with the effects- diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, poor mobility, dental abscesses, dementia.

Fuck that.

You been be a nice person if you want to. No one is forcing you to be unkind to strangers on the internet. It's a choice you make.