Thread for those who are trying to eat "better"

[Octopus37]

Following on from yesterdays thread "Do I eat too much", which I posted on, I was unsurprising told that what I eat is crap. Have been feeling pretty crap the last few weeks, not enough energy low libido, sluggish, wound up, down - so have decided to see if changing my eating habits can shift things a bit. I'm not overweigh 5ft5, 8st6lbs, (slightly on the heavy side for me), but would be pleased if I did loose a few pounds, trying not to make weight the focus. Have decided to take a vitamin pill with iron every day, last year had v low ferratin levels so had to take iron tablets for a while. I'm not promising to do well every day and cut out sugar completely as I feel that I would be destined to fail. However, I am going to try to I improve. Today have eaten:
1 pack of Belvita biscuits
1 Actvia extra creamy yoghurt
1 large apple
1 Danone (high protein yoghurt)
3 Oatcakes
Some cashew nuts
I am planning on sweet chilli chicken & rice (ready meal cause of money diet) with some stir fried veg for tea and plan to eat some red grapes afterwards. Also may have some sort of a treat on school run. Also aim is to replace the Belvita biscuits with oatcakes for breakfast and maybe eat them with some cheese. Know I'm not doing perfectly but I am making an effort. Buddies welcome.

It was Bram who mentioned the kale reaction, just read back.

Ah, sorry, had it in my head but didn't check back. Thanks.

Ohhh sorry I think it was I who recommended the cocoa nibs in my defence, when I tried them I liked them... I might get a little bag soon.

Not doing too badly. Hideously achy and worn out recently (do you ever get so tired you just want to cry? Yeah, that.) although the school run is generally ok.

But I am still trying to iron out the wrinkles in my cooking plan. Yesterday I did too much at once so I am working on spreading it out evenly.

I'm getting so much better at being kind to myself. It rocks :)

Oh and re: snacking. Yes that's apparently a controversial topic now, who knew?!

I don't snack in the morning now. My lovely boiled eggs and one slice of toast keeps me going til around 12 - it's a revelation! The odd time I do snack I feel the negatives - today I did have a fruit salad around 9.30 before work and I felt sooo much hungrier later.

Snacking in the afternoon and evening is harder to combat but I'm getting there slowly. Baby steps :o

Dame, my eating habits are a tad erratic. Skipping meals and far too much sugar.

So snacking now controversial? Why is that? I thought it was supposed to be good as humans are grazers?

I think whether you snack or not depends very much on your metabolism. I feel better if I eat little and often, so I make sure I plan a healthy morning and afternoon snack into my plan for the day. As previously mentioned, I am good at morning snacks and rubbish at afternoon ones as I'm usually craving sugar then! Recently I've been having natural yoghurt with granola on top, which seems to hit the spot. DH on the other hand, eats more at meals, and doesn't need to snack.

I haven't done well today so far. DH and I went out for a lovely meal last night (I had monkfish, chickpea and chorizo stew - yum!) so I woke up not feeling very hungry and had a very small breakfast. The went out for a walk and came back hungry at about 9.30 and had toast and raspberry jam . Still, climbing back onto the wagon now...

Hmmm guess so.

This eating mindfully/ slowly is difficult! Usually im like a snake, in mouth and swallow!

Had another big breakfast-eggs and smoked salmon, yog and a almond muffin.

Lunch was a super salad from waitrose-beetroot, goat's cheese, spinach , really tasty. I added some avocado and a sprinkle of roasted beans for crunch.

Try counting as you are chewing,I find it helps slow you down and I do it without thinking now.

Dinner will be Indian as I'm out for the night with the girls. Going to have tikka so it's not as calorific as Korma even though we're not counting them

I didn't even use to taste my food I ate so fast, God knows why I ate so much

Do I count chews? Or just count? What I've been trying to do is consciously taste my food, but feel I'm still being too quick.

I've just discovered using avocado instead of butter.

Scrape the avocado out as you would butter and spread on toast. Loads healthier AND it melts into the toast too just like butter does. Top with whatever you want (if you want anything else) and serve.

OP healthy eating s a great idea. Trying to lose weight when you are already at the low end of healthy range is NOT a good idea. Why do you want to be thinner? The chances are at 8stone (your stated goal) and 5ft 5, you will look rather boney and unattractive (not trying to be rude, just a reality check - you will be on the borderline with underweight on the BMI charts). Maybe you can try to think more positively about your near perfect BMI (only a tiny bit low) that you have at the moment and stop fixating on losing weight? If you are not careful, you could become quite obsessive and that may do you more harm longterm than trying to be happy with the way you are and making sure you eat more than 5 fruit and veg a day. Good luck.

Rumm-ten-fifteen chews for each mouthful. After a while you won't need to count.

Avocado is sooo delicious,I like it in toast with chopped beef tomatoes and a drizzle of olive oil.

Try it with lemon as well as the tomatoes.

Mmmmmm no time for eggs this morning, so had my yummy baked eggs for lunch, with toast.

I always only have one slice of toast now. Two seems like too much! It makes me enjoy the actual eggs much more.

Next time I might try just one egg instead of two, but with avocado.

Marplemiss, I really appreciate what you are saying and I'm mindful of not getting obsessed as I have had some issues in the past (we are talking 20 years ago). I'm aware that my weight sounds on the low side, but I'm one of those people with a very small frame who doesn't carry weight well. That said, I know less than 8st is too low for me. My aim is just to lose that bit and then to try and maintain and also improve the healthiness of what I am eating. Today hasn't been great healthwise due to bad tummy cramps (ie know that fruit and veg are not a great idea), have eaten four pieces (not all at once) of seeded toast with sugar free peanut butter. Also have eaten a few Pringles and a biscuit, cramps have eased off now, really weird as all I ate yesterday was variations on vegetable soup and a piece of pineapple. Tonight I am cooking a chicken dish out of Tesco magazine and I will eat a yoghurt afterwards. Know yoghurts are full of sugar and I have cut down considerably, but as I hate milk and eggs, feel that it is necessary to eat them every now and again. I would love to be more experimental with fresh cooking etc, but am also on a money diet as some of my work is on hold, although I am taking steps to look at alternative things.

I am glad you are aware of the pitfalls I have lived through having a daughter with anorexia and those were the worst years of both our lives. Please don't go there. It has the highest death rate of all mental illnesses (1 in 4).

Maybe concentrate on the healthy side of things rather than calorie restriction: just try to eat 7-9 fruit and veg a day, try to eat some nuts or fish every day (and at least 2 servings of protein), and avoid sugar and alcohol. If you follow those rules then everything else follows on naturally.

I hope you feel better soon. BTW natural yoghurt is not full of sugar, only sweetened yoghurts. Just mash in some blueberries or a banana for a healthy snack.

xxx

Octopus, don't forget you can take calcium tablets if you think you might be low x

I can't be the only person who is eternally disappointed with blueberries, can I? They look like they'll be gorgeous I get them home and they are so...meh!

It may be that your tummy is rebelling against the changes in your diet each day - ie from veg soup on fast day to a very carb heavy non-fast day. One is high in good fibre, the other isn't really, so switching between the two is confusing your gut. I would think it unlikely that it's the fruit/veg themselves IYSWIM? Much better to gradually introduce more fruit and especially veg into every day, not just the fast days. You'll get used to it and you will feel better :)

BTW one of the most useful supplements I have found is calcium and magnesium tablets which you can get in Boots.

MarpleMiss - this thread is very definitely NOT about losing weight (in fact some of us are actively trying to put on a few pounds) but about feeling better/healthier/more energetic by putting better food into our bodies.

In the end I made spiced celeriac soup for lunch, and am now tucking into my mid-afternoon yoghurt with granola. Although I would still much rather have a biscuit, I know that sugary stuff like that makes me feel completely rubbish, so I am soldiering on. Actually it's quite nice .

Sleep - in hindsight I'm not sure it was the kale making me feel funny as I'd also had a couple of squares of dark chocolate earlier that morning...

Haha! I feel exactly the same about blueberries too.

I like blueberries . But then I also liked the sugar-free muffins! I'll get my coat....

unfortunately that would make more sense Bram !

I feel the same about strawberries as you guys do about blueberries..always disappointing. Also, maybe I'm weird but nothing can convince me that avocadoes and eggs go well together, I love them both, but on the same plate? Wrong...just wrong

Octopus, I suspect the tummy cramps were due to hardly eating anything except fruit and veg on your fast day...not the fruit and veg itself. Maybe add in a bit of chicken or a small tin of tuna on your fast day, aren't you supposed to have 500 calories ? Also, on the yoghurt, they aren't all bad, use plain full fat greek style and add fruit, maybe a drizzle of honey to sweeten.

Bram-what granola do you use?