To not understand why my healthy (I think) way of eating isn't making me feel energetic and fabulous

[LindyFoo]

AIBU to consider this is a healthy daily diet (not looking to lose weight as already a healthy weight). I want to feel more energetic and fabulous :-). Don't eat meat or drink alcohol. In my 60s, fit and well, very minimal stress.

AM
Smoothie with banana, kale, milk, peanut butter, avacado, skimmed milk powder, greek yoghurt
SNACK
Sourdough bread with peanut butter
MIDDAY
2 egg with onion, peppers, cheese and a mixed salad with olive oil dressing
5PM
Salmon with salad or brown rice with prawns and lots of vegetables and spices

What is missing? Or not helping?

There’s very little fruit in there, so no sugar - either refined or natural - and that gives energy. But I’m no professional so take that with a big pinch of salt (or sugar!).

Similar age, very similar diet and no alcohol and I feel OK. I don't think we have to feel FABULOUS, just feel reasonably well and with the energy and enthusiasm to do things and have a good mood generally.

Maybe get your ferritin, Vit D and thyroid checked, and the usual things on a full blood count. It's amazing what supplementing can do if you are deficient.

You’re eating a lot of carbs. It’ll give you an initial energy boost then make you tired a couple of hours later. Where’s the meat? Meat contains all the vitamins you need and it’s bioavailable unlike plants

Sounds lovely. There’s nothing wrong with your diet. If you feel unwell or more tired than you should, pls go to the doctor.

There's a myriad of reasons you can have low energy, and no diet is going to magically make you feel amazing

It's lots of healthy food but it's quite low in calories. I would feel pretty drained eating that

It depends on your lifestyle. There wouldn't be enough carbs there for me to give me the energy I need, and depending on portion sizes, possibly not enough calories either.
I'm 56 and eat a whole food vegan diet with loads of fruit and veg, nuts, seeds etc. But I have carbs at every meal otherwise I'm flagging. Try some potatos with lunch and make sure it's salad AND rice with your evening meal and see how you go.

I think your AM smoothie is super high in sugar which will probably peak your sugar levels and then they will crash. Same with your snack. I'd go for somethinkg like blueberries, tangerine, a rice cracker for a snack. Lunch and evening meal seem fine. You could have something like avocado and scrambled eggs for breakfast rather than sugary.

Maybe get your GP to run some blood tests. If you don’t take a vitamin D supplement for example, you are likely to be low in vitamin D. But quite a number of other things could be off too eg thyroid, B12, ferritin

Are you getting enough sleep? Enough fresh air? Enough exercise? Social interaction? Time doing things you enjoy? Mental stimulation?

Your diet sounds fab to me!

She really isn’t.

You might feel rubbish for reasons unrelated to your diet. I eat very healthy. I don’t drink. I have an active lifestyle. I felt exhausted and just off for years. I was eventually diagnosed with stage 3 cancer. While the symptoms I was feeling weren’t directly related to the cancer, my body was obviously fighting something that was going haywire for a few years, despite my healthy lifestyle (my cancer in my 40s is caused by childhood risk factors, so no amount of good healthy living could overcome what I was exposed to as a child).

Before you start panicking about hidden cancers though, what’s the rest of your lifestyle like? How much proper out in the fresh air exercise are you getting? What’s your support network like? Do you have positive supportive relationships that make you feel loved and looked after? Have you had your vitamin levels checked? You can eat all the right things but if your gut is crap and you can’t absorb them, you’ll feel awful.

Hilarious. She's eating virtually no carbs.

OP you must be starving and exhausted.

Joy? But seriously I eat like this 80% of the time if I do it 100? I get miserable feel deprived and binge on crap. Then I start again determined to be 'healthy'. If I do a more balanced 80/20 approach the binging happens less.

I’d swap out your breakfast for something with more protein.
Have you had blood tests? Could you be low iron etc.

What is your approx total calorie intake daily? Is it the correct amount to maintain your weight (you can check by Googling your TDEE based on your age, weight and activity level)?

Assuming you eat enough calories overall, I'd look into:

• carbs. You only eat sourdough as a snack, so I assume not a huge amount, and brown rice on some days. You don't want to overeat carbs obviously, but they are useful fuel for energy.
• vitamins/ferritin/B12 etc. If you are feeling very tired ask your GP for these.
• what type of exercise you do?
• sleep quality?

How tired are you actually feeling? Is it just falling asleep on the sofa in the evenings (normal)? Or is it that walking to the corner shop totally knackers you (not normal)?

There is plenty of protein in the banana, milk, peanut butter and Greek yogurt.

Where are you getting that from? Smoothie with banana, kale, milk, peanut butter, avacado, skimmed milk powder, greek yoghurt

Some sugar in the banana, some in the milk. Most of what's in that smoothie is protein, water, fibre and some fat.

The OP stated she does not eat meat.

If you think she's eating a lot of carbs, I dread to think what you would make of most people's daily diet.

My god.
yhe nonsense advice you are being served up in this chat is making me cringe
my advice is stick this in chatGPT and avoid the armchair nutritionalists on here, some of these comments are batshit

You think a smoothie with banana, kale, milk, peanut butter, avacado, skimmed milk powder, and greek yoghurt doesn’t have enough protein in it???!

…particularly as it is followed by more peanut butter, eggs, salmon and prawns.

You’re missing joy. Eat some cake. That’ll make you feel loads better.

Your diet sounds fine. I’d ask the GP to check your thyroid, vitamin D and iron levels.

Are you feeling low in energy, or are you feeling normal but expecting another level of fabulous energy and vitality just because you are eating well?

You say you are already fit, healthy and unstressed? I'd settle for that. A good diet will hopefully let you continue like that. It's not going to make you into superwoman. It sounds a bit like you've been buying into influencer bullshit claims about how amaaaaazing they feel!

I'm not sure how realistic you're being expecting food to make you feel fabulous

Or was that tongue in cheek?

Are you feeling unwell or do you just want to feel better?

My first thought is not enough carbs my second thought is actually not enough but then I looked at it carefully and I suppose it's okay

I work out and I need to eat more than that.

I had to cut the intensity of my workouts, though I posted here saying I was finding them really tiring and the reality was... they are too much for me personally

Do you need supplements, maybe or a doctor? I think people are very unrealistic if they think food is gonna make them feel amazing.

Carbs obviously