Come forward EatBetterers and unite - it's the second happy healthy eating thread!

[fuzzpig]

Here's the previous thread where it all began!

EatBetterers are trying to improve the diets of ourselves and our families. No weighing, restricting, calorie counting etc - just finding joy in nourishing ourselves by making positive changes one step at a time. All welcome! :)

Agent - That is what I find confusing, choosing the healthier option isn't always the lower calorie option! I don't want to get into calorie counting because I don't think it's healthy (or much fun), but as well as being healthier I also want to lose some weight... sometimes it is really difficult to know what food to choose for the best.

It's easier when I am at home, as I always make sure I have lots of fruit, veg and other good food in the house. However I find difficult to know what to choose when I am out and about. For example was at the shops the other day and DD was hungry so had to stop and get some food. Limited choice - mainly sandwiches, pasta salad or sushi. Am trying to cut back on wheat so thought I'd have the sushi, DD wanted a tuna sandwich. Anyway later on when I looked at the packaging was surprised to see the sushi had more calories than the sandwich - maybe that was because the sushi it had cream cheese in it?

Also, my dark chocolate bar has more calories than the milk chocolate bar, yet the first ingredient in the milk chocolate is sugar! (Hadn't quite realised how much sugar is in it before). Whereas the first ingredient in the dark chocolate bar is cocoa. I guess you can only eat a little of the dark chocolate though?

Anyway - dinner tonight, a sort of salad with avocado, egg, tomato, homous and the courgette ribbons recommended on this thread (yummy! thanks for the tip) with an olive oil, lemon juice and basil dressing. Mmmm. Slightly spoiled my good work with a glass of wine though .... but I think a little wine is OK just not too much!

Just discovered - cup of peppermint tea and a few squares of dark chocolate - lovely combo, a bit like having a box of after eights!

Ooh that sounds nice, donteat!

With regards to the calorie thing. I try to consider the nutrients in the whole thing rather than just the energy it provides. So my almonds and raisins had calcium and vitamins and other minerals in whereas if I'd eaten a bag of malteasers it may have been similar calorie wise but it would've been pretty much empathy calories.

Making a veggie soup for dinner tonight

Yum donteat. I have peppermint tea so I'll definitely have to try that.

I tried the toddler on some toast with cream cheese and ham after his cornflakes and he was definitely less demanding of snacks and ate his whole lunch. So the new breakfasts are working for us both. But I'm going to have to make a half and half loaf for him so as not to overdo the fibre.

Tonight's going to be mousakka made with leftover Bolognese. Looking forward to it. The toddler will probably eat it without fuss, dp on the other hand will prod the aubergine slices suspiciously and pick them out.

:o at 'empathy calories' :o

As a concept empathy calories could catch on you know! I made coleslaw with my new julienne gadget- a million times easier than grating! Green and yellow courgette with an avocado whizz up (avo, lemon, drop of olive oil and bit of water. We're calling it green coleslaw so far!

Haha "empathy calories". I stand by that typo.

Hi all, I gave myself a week off as I was getting too obsessed with food. I think a week on, a week off may work for my personality anyway!
Still have no money so it's off to the local market today to see what we can get cheaply!

Hi everyone, just checking in. I'm still working on the mindful eating, increasing my protein, eating lunch more often than not. This weekend though I'm eating mainly biscuits and chocolate. I'm not feeling guilty though, I need it right now. So I'm doing it!

Dame, metallic taste isn't nice is it. Does it come and go?

Enormouse, I might steal that bolognaise to moussaka idea. I've never thought of it.

Metallic taste and nausea was unbearable so gp had reduced disease slightly, sends to be ok now, hope it still works.

White bread, biscuits, chocolate cake, chocolates yesterday. Yes, seriously

Eggs, home made soup and grilled chicken and ratatouille today!

I like this small steps approach. It feels more manageable to me. Generally things are going well apart from a few lapses e.g. croissants when at a friend's house; some of the kids Easter chocolate (well, my 2 yr old gave it to me she would have been upset if I'd refused....)

Last night I did a stir-fry with noodles - I had rice noodles instead of wheat noodles, and just had less of them than usual, and more vegetables. Also didn't use a jar of sauce, made my own up with garlic, ginger, chilli, coconut, lime juice, soy. So no added sugar like the shop sauces.

Lunch today I just had one small piece of bread and a lot more veg & protein. It isn't too difficult at this time of year as there are lots of nice vegetables about. Made asparagus with courgette ribbons in an olive oil and lemon dressing for lunch. DH was impressed! We always have lots of courgettes on the allotment so it's good to have a new way to use them.

Also have been having yoghurt with fruit instead of the shop yoghurts and actually starting to prefer it.

Anyone have any suggestions for a pizza alternative? DH and DCs want home-made pizza for tea. (I make the dough in the breadmaker). However trying to keep my refined wheat down especially in the evenings but can't think what to have instead. Or I could just have a smaller piece and supplement with more salad?

I still need the occasional glass of wine though! That is one step too far!

Dosage not disease!

So my solution to the pizza dilemma - Googled alternatives and couldn't fine any that sounded nice, also ran out of time to make a wholemeal dough, so just made myself a small very thin crust pizza and had a big pile of extra salad. DH got his usual big pizza, so was happy. Need to keep reminding myself that I don't need to eat as much as him!
By not making myself a big pizza in the first place I wasn't tempted to 'just have one more piece'...
Also avoided the garlic bread which was no problem as the DCs ate most of it!

Sounds like you are doing really well donteat . It's the little, gradual changes that add up along the way and in a year's time you'll be amazed at how different your diet is, (along with, hopefully, your health, energy and weight if it is an issue), without it being hard .

Loving 'empathy calories' , perfect description sometimes! Rummi your chocolate this weekend is officially composed of empathy calories whereas the extra sausage I ate after I'd started feeling full of breakfast this morning was definitely empty calories!

Dame, glad you can taste again! Can you imagine how horrible it would be to lose your sense of taste? I have to admit I have pondered this, when heavily bunged up with a cold, particularly the question of whether I would be really skinny if I couldn't taste. I came to the conclusion that I would still eat just as much, in the vain hope that I might taste something that time .

I came to the conclusion that I would still eat just as much, in the vain hope that I might taste something that time

I did exactly that today :o am full of cold! Opted for very spicy Arabbiata though in the vain hope that it would clear my nose.

Sleep, love that! Empathy calories.

Hi I'm really interested in this thread and have been trying to read some of it in between looking after poorly with chicken pox dd. I haven't managed to read it all so apologies if my questions have already been answered further back.

Basically my youngest dc has just turned 2 and since she was born I have let myself go. I have found it quite hard juggling two dc with part time working and I have a chronic health condition that can cause me pain.

I've been rushing around so much I haven't been eating properly. I never have much for breakfast as rushing off to work. Then I finish at 1.00 and dash off to pick up dc so don't sit properly and eat a decent lunch, it's normally a horrid sarnie from works canteen or beans on toast when I get home at 2.00pm. Evening meal is usually about 7.15pm, not too bad but I'd like to eat healthier.

I feel really tired mid afternoon, sometimes I hardly have the energy to get off the sofa. I always seem to feel hungry and end up grabbing crap food to snack on. I never used to like biscuits, cakes, puddings but now I seem to crave them!

I do try to ensure my dc eat healthily but I think they're picking up my habits for sweet stuff and are always asking for it, although I don't give it.

I wouldn't say I'm particularly overweight but I have noticed I am carrying more around my middle and lots of my clothes are too tight now.

I have found things tough over the past couple of years and so am taking a low dose of a/d's. I do wonder if they have an affect on my eating habits? Basically though I think a lot of it is down to poor planning and comfort eating.

I would be very grateful for any support or guidance to get me going with healthier eating. I have tried meal planning but we always seem to end up with the same meals and there's definitely not enough nutritional variety. I need to change my ways to look after myself and my family better. Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions.

Hi Jemster, welcome. Perhaps you need to build on what you have? Lots of people have found that small steps are better than an all or nothing approach. I have found that planning meals makes it much easier to eat well and to shop well. But it took me quite a few attempts to do it consistently. I got a small poundshop diary and just write in what we will eat. Above all you have to approach it with a bit of joy! Focus on what you want to eat and how it makes you feel. Do biscuits and cakes make you feel well? or would something else make you feel better?

I absolutely love salad. I don't often have dressing but as I eat more and more salad I have started to make some or use some kind of topping like seeds or nuts. I just wondered what everyone's favourite salad enhancer is to pep it up from a plate of raw veg? Would love your ideas. I am doing ok-ish. My son got beaten up twice at school in two days. The 2nd time was pretty hairy and so we have had to take him out and so it is back to the drawing board with his education. Its been pretty stressful for him, his sister and us, but I have kept off the sugar/ large plates of pasta/ processed food and felt better for it. Not sure I've eaten particularly well apart from that and the children have really not been fed that well. I'm going to do some positive refocusing this week.

Thank you stillearnin that is very helpful advice and so sorry to hear that about your son, how awful for you.
Perhaps I would find it easier to change small things at a time. I try and think of all if it and I get overwhelmed and do nothing at all! It's tricky too as my ds is so fussy and would probably refuse all my new healthy ideas.

Hi Jem, welcome! I think we met on your other thread? I put some general ideas on there but I agree with stillearnin, small steps may be best. I would start this week with making time for a decent breakfast, it's so important. Hard boil some eggs the night before and have 2 with a slice of buttered wholegrain toast, or the toast with nut butter? How about a mid-morning snack? Some raw nuts and a piece of fruit perhaps? Also think about slowing down with meals, every chance you can. Regarding the AD's, these can play havoc with your appetite and weight retention, so it's something to be aware of, but it sounds like you can combat it with changes to your diet and eating habits so don't give up because of that .

still so sorry about your DS, how horrible for you . Well done for resisting the pasta! On salad I like really good olive oil and/or a drizzle of balsamic vinegar (the really thick kind, like belazu, it's expensive but lasts for ages...but if you have one that is more liquid you can reduce it down to more of a syrup). Or have a dip like houmous or guacamole (mash an avocado, squeeze of lime and some chopped chilli, no need to buy pre-made) with them?

Hello Sleep, yes thank you for directing me to this very good thread, just wish I had time to read it all!
Thank you for ideas, breakfast sounds like a good place to start. I'm rubbish at getting up so always rushing in the mornings but it's time to try and change things.
A lot of it is knowing what to eat other than pasta, bread, potatoes etc. I don't really like sandwiches but can't think what else to have for lunch. At work they do sandwiches or a salad bar but most of the salads are pasta or rice or coated with dressings.

Morning all!

Still - sorry to hear about your DS - that must be really tough.

Salads - I like chopped cubes of cheese (or feta if I have it), seeds (as already mentioned), and usually just do a olive oil & balsalmic dressing. If I'm feeling creative I might do one with olive oil, white wine vinegar and horseradish (great with salads topped with fish), or olive oil, balsalmic, wholegrain mustard and a little honey (the DDs like that one!).

Managed not to overeat at a family barbecue yesterday! Probably because we went out for drinks Sat night and I drank, not too much in a getting drunk way, but too much for my system at the moment! Relieved that just one moderately healthy day has been enough to claw it back - tomorrow is always a new day!

Hi, after a weekend of eating chocolate (one whole bar of crunch, one twirl, one double decker) I am now craving spinach. So making some tasty fenugreek & spinach curry.

Hi jam, I have found that nut butter in morning really does keep me going for longer and I don't have that sugar drop. I'm still learning, baby steps and trying to be kind to myself.

Still, how horrible about your ds. Stressful time for you all.

Did the empathy calories help Rummi? how was the weekend?

They did sleep, thanks :) I did my best to eat it all slowly. Also I now eat slower than a few of my friends! It's really interesting to see. I always have food left on my plate in restaurants. And feel fine with leaving it too. No guilt.

I had a day trip out with a friend and that was lovely too. The dc were back yesterday too and being lovely company too.