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! :)

hello! i read the whole thread and now am ready to delurk - if that's ok? my personal victory today is that i only had one slice of multigrain toast with butter today. i usually wouldn't even consider less than two! i also had two hardboiled eggs...i lift weights and so am very aware of protein needs....

lunch is leftover thai salmon fishcakes, israeli salad dressed with lemon juice only and steamed broccoli :)

Wow Americas, 104 miles ....you'll want those energy bars! Is it hilly?

Welcome lady, how lovely, all these new people . I'm a keen weight lifter too and I agree, it's hard to get enough protein as I'd like to...shakes can be handy though, do you use them? I think if I could up my protein I'd see more progress in strength terms, I find it hard to progress much now, but it is a hassle paying that much attention to macronutrients so mostly I don't bother .

yes thankfully pretty flat! It's all gearing up to a 545mile ride I do over the course of a week in June - some days are long and flat and some days are short and hilly

Wow, I'm impressed! I over did it on the exercise bike the other day and am still hobbling

Ooh - tell me more about the breakfast/granola bars.... Do you have a recipe?

Glad to see so many new people! Welcome everyone :)

I've just been reading about fibre and there is twice as much fibre in fruit as whole grains and 7x more than refined grains. Blimey!

Breakfast today was wholemeal bread toasted with marmite.
Lunch left over vegetable tagine with quinoa.
Dinner mushroom risotto.
And snacks - I made raspberry muffins. Normally I make big ones but deliberately made them smaller to cut calorie per muffin!
I'm much more conscious of portion size and adding extra ingredients now.
Americas I know what you mean about allergic to exercise - I was until I signed up to do the London marathon in 2010. Although I haven't run since bubbs was born nine months ago. No time - no energy!

Made a bit of progress with Dh,I made a huge pimped up salad-grated carrot, apple, raisins, chopped up spring onions, tomatoes, shredded spinach, halved grapes. Olive oil, vinegar, honey dressing. He ate the lot! Ds aye the carrot and apple and raisins.

Baby steps

Hello. I've almost finished my jar of cashew nut butternut:(

It's yummy, too yummy.

I bought green tomatoes today. I'm thinking of a curry, unless anyone has any suggestions?

Hello everyone. dame can you tell me about roasted beans please. I'm getting all inspired now. I was saying that I've got into the planning habit and yes I agree that I perhaps eat more but it is a lot lot better. I don't think I spend less but I probably don't waste anything. And I like not having to think about the evening meal - i can still feel a bit creative by modifying the planned meal depending on what I have. But I only do the main meal, so I'm going to add in lunches now I'm in the habit.

fuzz - I also wanted to say I forgot about you having CFS. My good friend is about to publish her book about her recovery from ME (which in my ignorance I am thinking is similar?) I know she paid a lot of attention to nutrition when she was getting better. I cannot imagine coping with that and children. crumbs!

Roasted beans are in a packet in tesco or waitrose by Food Doctor. They are roasted and a bit salty and 'a good source of fibre' apparently they're about 2.50 iirc and are delicious sprinkled on salads for a bit of crunch like a crouton. Or you can eat then like you would peanuts.

Do NOT under any circumstances put to many in your mouth at once or they suck all the moisture out of your gob and you will be in danger of choking

In waitrose they ate over by the snacks/crisps/nuts. In tesco they are with the whole foods and 'healthy foods.'

Small packet

Jeepers! Thanks for the warning dame! Sounds great though. I roast seeds and nuts for salad. I do the whole packet and put it in a tin for later. Nuts are so expensive though- my friend buys them in bulk on amazon as she says it's loads cheaper. I might suggest go halves. I went on the honestly healthy website last night and started getting a bit obsessive. I may have a stella tonight for balance

How do you roast seeds still? I have sunflower and up pumpkin seeds that I want to roast.

Is raw or roast better for seeds nutritionally?

Oh I just spread them on a baking tray and keep a close eye - maybe 5 mins or a bit longer. I use whatever temp maybe 200 C. I don't use oil or salt or spices. But you could experiment with it. I think they're better toasted than roasted and better still raw nutritionally but I could be totally wrong. They're better than Big D down the pub!!

What's the different between toasted and roasted? Clueless!

Hmmm I may have it wrong! I thought toasted is like dry frying in a pan over heat and roasting is popping it in the oven and trying not to forget about it! I have read that cooking them makes them less healthier but I seem to get confused easily by all the different info so I just stick to trying my best to eat lots of different fresh things.

I get confused too. Somewhere in my head I have the thought that more nutrients are available if toasted?

Maybe it depends what you're trying to achieve. I think roasting tastes best & that's pretty high on my agenda. I'm going to try to find out (prepares to add to her confusion)

Toasted is dry pan and roasting is in the oven

Food today was-

2 eggs and soda bread.

1 piece of fried chicken-just one, very restrained and a pear.

Huge spinach salad with carrot, apple, courgette, jacket potato and tinned tuna.

God I love roasted sunflower seeds but Jesus the calorie count is phenomenal! Well, certainly at the sized "handfuls" I have as snacks!

Yesterday ended up being miserable - lost my ride to the training ride (it was 1hour drive away) and couldn't get another lift or borrow a car then my period came. I would have totally gorged on "bad" food if I'd had any in but thankfully didn't so just had several more granola bars and a huge punnet of raspberries (and 3 cupcakes at a play date)

Sunflower seeds are fantastic for high cholesterol though!

Thanks stillearnin, yes CFS - chronic fatigue syndrome - is basically the new name for ME although it's a controversial topic. A lot of sufferers feel the name CFS is really patronising and misleading, as it sounds just like we are tired when I'm sure you know having a friend with ME, it's a hell of a lot more than that! TBH when I tell people I just say I have ME as at least people have heard of it. Great that your friend is better and writing about it - I'd love to do something similar. I'm definitely a lot better overall, although having a rough time ATM. I am absolutely certain that eating better is helping me. Not a cure, I don't think anything can actually cure CFS/ME, but it's definitely improved now I nourish myself better.

I am wrestling back today....

2 granola bars (from the Oh She Glows Cookbbook, struggling to find the same recipe online)
a few strawberries
avocado, rocket, jalapeno salad with lemon juice
tangerine

Now making the peanut stew for dinner which I was supposed to do yesterday. And found out a birthday party tomorrow is happening on my usual training ride route so I'm going to cycle there and back again to make up for today!