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! :)

Aw thanks Dame Sorry to hear you haven't been well. Great that you are exercising more.

Still good luck for the festival, what are you doing there, is it work?

Chickpea crackers sound good! How do you make them?

Will check out your web page Sleep - v exciting! Oh and I love edamame beans... Fave snack from Pret!

I'm afraid I didn't make them, but bought them from Holland and Barrett. I got these ones but there are other flavours too.

Hello. Can I join in? I've been trying to eat better for a while now. I've really upped our fruit and veg but still fall down with the sweets and treats. Could do with some motivation and ideas and this seems a good place for both.
I haven't read through yet but I will.

Hi Neeko, welcome . It's pretty quiet here at the moment but that seems to be the norm in school holidays! Have a read through this and the original thread then let us know what you think/any questions.

How is everyone else? Are you all away or busy with dc's? I am in Italy eating too much cured meat than I'd advise anyone else to and also probably drinking too much wine of an evening but I am definitely more relaxed and less over indulged than usual on holiday. It probably helps that I can honestly take or leave pizza and pasta quite easily but I still think it's a step change for me personally-sort of the final frontier wrt overeating!

Can I join in?

I changed my diet a couple of years ago - moving from lots of ready meals and processed foods, and litres of Pepsi Max, to cooking from scratch 99% of the time with lots of veggies, fish once or twice a week, just generally a lot 'better'. I still eat far too much chocolate though. Recent visit to dentist had her grilling me about my diet as I've weakened my teeth badly through poor diet in the past, and I want to make sure I stop the damage getting worse. And I do need to lose weight and I know it's been creeping up again lately (clothes getting tight) although I know this isn't a diet thread. I'm quite anti-diet too. I have already gone down 2 dress sizes in the two years - slow and steady and in a positive 'eat well' way. Drives the women at work nuts as they comment on my weight loss, ask how, and get the rage when I can't give them a diet plan, or quick trick, and just say I eat what I want to eat when I want to eat it! I need to lose some more weight as I want to be healthier, but don't weigh myself, or follow any plan. I know that eating well is the answer.

So I've got myself to a reasonably good point with food, and it's time to improve a bit more again.

My aims now are to
reduce or cut out chocolate, or find alternatives. I find it easier to go cold turkey as I can't just eat a little bit. If I have some, that's it, I'm scoffing down a 200g Cadbury's bar every night.
Eat more fruit - I eat lots of veggies but very very little fruit. Or does this not matter? I've always thought veggies are more important than fruit. Am I ok as I am, or will it make a difference? (I maybe eat fruit once a fortnight).
Reduce portion size of evening meal on nights when OH cooks. He makes great food, just far too much of it for me, and I think he's a little insulted if I don't eat it all. He gives us the same amount - but he's a man, and he's also very active with sports and a physically taxing job, whereas I'm quite sedentary. He doesn't seem to get that I need and want less food than him. So when he's cooking I'm going to start plating up my own dinner so I can take just what I want.
Reduce amount of alcohol - stick to weekends only.

Yesterday I had
Breakfast 1 weetabix with full fat milk (we don't believe the low fat stuff is better for you, it's only a small difference, it's more processed, we need fats). 'Baked' egg done in microwave.
Lunch - chicken and avocado wholemeal sandwich (butter) with green salad (oil and vinegar dressing).
Dinner - white tagliatelli with homemade bolognese-ish sauce (mince, tinned tomatoes, tomato puree, onions, garlic, red pepper, mushrooms, green beans)
Naughty secret scoff of 120g bar of Cadbury's while I was in bath.

Wouldn't normally have so much wheat stuff in one day, looking at it all written down.

Today
no breakfast (bad!) so a Cadburys Twirl on way to work.
lunch - homemade veg soup, 2 slices wholemeal bread (no butter), 1 cold sausage.
Snack - pot of manderin oranges in orange juice.
Dinner - will be making chicken, butter bean, onion and carrot casserole served with new potatoes and green beans.

Hello new people

I'm managing to walk a mile a day now and bp is really respectable , even though I'm of all meds. Woo hooo!

Salmon for dinner tonight with salad.

Dame , so pleased you are feeling better and doing brilliantly with bp and walking and with no meds, fantastic!

Welcome Kentish, it sounds like your approach is similar to ours...if you are looking to lose weight/be healthier I wouldn't necessarily add more fruit, though that would of course be preferable to the Cadbury's . The adjustment to portions is a good idea (you need to explain to DH that food you don't want or need to eat is as much wasted sitting around your waist as it is in the bin!), start with a smallish one and then consider if you want some more after that, if you do then go for it. In terms of tweaks I would start by switching your chocolate habit to dark choc (ideally 70% plus but you can build up if that tastes too bitter to start). Also cut out the white carbs - especially in the evening, the butter beans for example would provide plenty of carbs with the stew, no need for potatoes too. Switch pasta, potatoes, rice and bread for lentils, beans, sweet potato, chickpeas or quinoa as much as possible. And no skipping breakfast!

Fuzzpig where are you? And everyone else. Have you abandoned us for half term ?

I am here! The main problem in half term is wrestling the laptop off ds and finding time between refereeing the squabbles. I am making my way through the book sleep recommended. It's hit me at a good time. I look after myself quite well but I sabotage myself often too and I'm a bit tired of that. I'm a bit scared to think about why I do this so I'm guessing I probably should!

I've identified that I need to make sure I have more protein and fat in the middle of the day. I'm veering toward chick peas, lentils, avocados and nuts. I am irrationally worried about the calories in nuts! It just seems so much and I need to lose weight realistically.

I went for a 30min run today and when I do this I feel that I also need some kind of carb later that day- usually bread. I always have porridge for brekkie and I nearly always have some other kind of grain (usually whole). I also know that giant bowls of pasta do not make me feel nice!

Thoughts anyone?

Hi Still, the self sabotage thing is interesting isn't it, often it's sort of reverting to being a teenager, sticking two fingers up to parents/the world but obviously it is in fact pretty self defeating! Just being aware of that can be a huge help in stopping it though, with practice the higher brain can recognise what is happening and tell the teenager to shut up! I was talking to a good friend about her eating habits, she actually skips meals a lot and ends up eating junk, she's not skipping meals to control calories it's more a lack of care, but her mum is very much a food as love type person, constantly encouraging her to eat. Her form of teenage rebellion was to refuse and she recognised that she does it even now, as a 35 year old mum living in her own house . Otherwise it can be a self esteem thing, if we are feeling a little low - this can also be recognised with practice and then try to find other ways to make yourself feel better, a walk, a manicure, a magazine, a run, a cuddle with DC's, a nice bath or shower?

Wrt carbs, do you have a little snack straight after your run? Something with carbs and protein is good, maybe some malt loaf or a glass of milk or small yoghurt and a banana, a small slice of toast and peanut butter...that may quell the carb cravings later and you'll be having it at a time when your body will burn it up, unlike at dinner time. Your choices on the lunchtime fat and protein are great. Try not to worry about the calories, it's all good stuff, just work on really listening to your body and recognising satiety and stopping. Keep the nuts to no more than a palmful a day and you should be fine.

I'm still here! I'd thought the thread was really quiet, turned out it had dropped off my Threads I'm On. Oops

Yes, as usual am struggling a bit thanks to half term. One of my aims for today though is to meal plan for the first half of next week, so I want to think carefully about what I'm including. I've really fallen off the wagon lately with doing proper meals, but I'm determined that it's a temporary glitch!

And hello and welcome to the newbies! :)

Hi Fuzz :)

Thanks for the welcomes.

OH went shopping last night and brought home satsumas, grapes and bananas to kick start us eating more fruit. (More? who am I kidding. Any!)

So I had a Wholemeal pitta bread filled with banana and squished in the George Forman for breakfast this morning. Haven't had that for ages and it's so nice when you fancy something sweet.

Lunch - tuna salad

Dinner - think I'm going to make Turkish style stuffed peppers with yoghurt, with roasted veg.

Hi sorry for not being around for a while, half term and all that. Things have been up and down. I have managed to stick to some of my rules - fewer carbs, especially less refined wheat, dark chocolate, natural yoghurt rather than pre-sweetened, filling up on extra salad rather than bread, making sure I have protein at every meal, stopping eating when I am full (rather than eating everything on my plate), drinking less beer. And I can't even remember the last time I had crisps or a fizzy drink!

But have also fallen off the wagon a few times - have eaten a few more biscuits than I should have. Also with the children being around I haven't been able to exercise much, which is a shame as was starting to feel some benefit.
One of the things I am finding hard work is making healthy meals that suit everybody. If it was just me and DH it would be no problem, but my 8 year old has turned into quite a picky eater. I am starting to find cooking for the children a chore. I think the other two DCs might eat a wider variety, but because of the oldest one being fussy it kind of sets a precedent for them. I don't know why she is like this - I have always made home-cooked food and eaten together as a family, I have tried not to make an issue out of it, but lately I have found it quite frustrating.
For example, a couple of nights ago I did wraps, with roasted peppers, chicken, guacamole, home-made tomato sauce, sour cream, grated cheese, and some salads. A pretty good spread I thought, with plenty of choice for everyone. DS1 ate two whole wraps with relish, and tried the sour cream which he has never had before.
However DD1 ate some chicken, a tiny bit of cheese, and nibbled a bit of pitta bread (she wouldn't eat a wrap - are they that different??). A few years ago she would have loved this meal. The list of foods she won't eat is getting longer. It's so disheartening. DD2 is only 2 years old and we struggle to get her to stay seated at the table. DD2 idolises DD1 so picks up on her eating habits I think.

Anyway this is not the right thread for complaining about my kids eating habits but it does make things harder. I look through recipe books for interesting healthy meals, but know it would only be me and DH eating them and by the time I have cooked the kid's tea I don't have the energy to make a new meal for me and DH.

So I am sticking to my plan generally, but I guess I am just feeling a bit demoralised this week! Probably doesn't help that it's the 'time of the month'.... I haven't lost any weight recently, but I think that the change in diet has at least stabilised my weight gain (which had been slowly creeping up) and I just need to get back into the routine of exercising again.

Hi don't

Food for me today was-

Boiled egg and slice of Bergen bread.

Cold salmon from yesterday and avocado with seeds sprinkled on top.

Chicken breast with stir fry for dinner.

Aaaargh rant away donteat! I feel your pain! And while the chat here naturally focuses on what we are eating individually, I think many of us are battling the same issue with trying to improve the diet of the whole family. It's hard isn't it, finding the balance between nutrition and familiarity.

My picky eater is my youngest (4.9). He's not too bad at the moment, in that I can at least get him to eat a little bit of everything (in exchange for eye rolls and exaggerated groaning! He's quite a character :o) - it's been worse in the past, and is not as bad as DSD was bless her, she was truly scared of new food and certain textures etc until she was in secondary school.

It's difficult and frustrating not being able to try adventurous meals though as I know he won't eat it. I am trying to just make improvements to stuff that's fairly 'safe', so adding loads more veg to a tomato sauce, giving extra portions of veg he will always eat (cucumber, broccoli and carrot mostly) etc. Slow process though and I can't help but feel annoyed at myself for having lapsed in the quality of food we've provided in the last few years.

sneaking on board for a bit of a lurk

I'm eating different meals pretty much from Dh and ds at least 4x week-I'm slowly incorporating 'my' food into theirs but it's hard.

I usually save the more interesting meals for when I'm cooking just for me in the daytime, but that's something I've only recently managed because I never felt cooking for one was worthwhile!

Occasionally DH and I will eat after the DCs are in bed so we can have something a bit more grown up then. But the aim is to gradually incorporate it all together.

DCs ate the stir fry I made last night (although DS was a bit grumpy about it), was a last minute thing, some leftover tinned tuna, red pepper, courgette, rice noodles (the straight to wok kind), plus garlic, ginger, lime juice and soy sauce. Glad I'm getting a bit more confident with adding flavours like that, previously it was garlic and that was about it!

Oh the DC's part is haaard, they don't often like change when it comes to food do they? I'm not sure what the answer is, other than continuing to offer them a mix of stuff they know and some they don't, then trying to encourage them to try the new without turning it into a battleground . I feel your pain, mine are the same.

Fussy kids here too - well one fussy one; the other is better. It's very dispiriting. I've got the Mumsnet cookbook and am trying recipes out on them... But really they prefer bread, chicken, cheese, ham to everything else offered. Sigh.

Morning! I'm still working my way through both threads. I did write a post from my phone the other day but it seems it never arrived.

Have the same issues with the DCs here. Mine will eat quite a variety of fruit and veg but struggle when they are mixed into things or with different taste combinations. I find giving them a ramekin dish with the new food on their plate beside food that they do like helps. It's a small enough portion to not feel threatened by it and because it is in a separate dish they don't worry about it "wasting" the food they like. It's really difficult not to make a big deal of it all. Recent foods they have stated liking is raw pointed peppers, celery and also chicken baked in the oven with red pesto and red onion. I'm lucky in that they love homemade soup like lentil, carrot and coriander or spicy parsnip and they will try veg if I tell them it is usually in a soup they enjoy - sometimes I lie!

Going to post this before I lose it.

My last post makes us sound really healthy but I'm afraid that's not true. Snacking is a real issue here and I admit that I view food as a treat or reward. I buy far too much processed food: biscuits, cakes, crisps and sweets and have realised that the DCs are following DH and I down the path of wanting a "reward" from food.
I started overhauling our diets about 8 weeks ago and admit that some days before I started I could go a whole day without ANY fruit or veg at all. (Toast and margarine for breakfast, sandwich and crisps for lunch, fish and chips for tea etc.) I feel really quite admitting that now.
Over the years I have ranged from a size 8 (obsessively ww pointing) to a size 16 (post-DC), I know I CAN lose weight but after the diet I go back to my old ways and the whole cycle begins again. I don't want to diet anymore! I want to eat what I fancy and know when to stop and I want to fancy eating healthy foods most of the time.
Now my daily diet looks more like raspberries with Greek yoghurt and honey for breakfast with a coffee made with milk, some Brazil nuts, cashew nuts and almonds with a couple of dried apricots mid-morning, a salad with salmon, chicken or cheese and some fruit for lunch and then dinner with at least two portions of veg. The mindless snacking spoils it all though but it is progress. I've recently discovered the Lindt intense dark chocolate after reading on here to have dark chocolate rather than milk. The coconut and cherry ones are delicious and bizarrely I'm finding two squares of it much more satisfying than a twirl or a big cake from Greggs.
I'm about 10lbs heavier than the weight I feel most comfortable at but I'm hoping that I'll get there slowly if I continue to eat this new way for the rest of my life.

Sorry. This turned out really long!

Quick question before I go back to reading: can anyone give me a recipe for a quick and easy salad dressing?

Hi neeko :) it sounds like your mindset has shifted ready for permanent change. Slow and steady is the way to go!

I could easily go without eating any fruit or veg before too. It's crazy, as I love pretty much all fruit, and most veg, but some days I just... didn't

It's all too easy to give the DCs say pasta and cheese. I now remind myself to at least cut up some carrot or cucumber with it if I am too ill to cook something.

Have to do my meal plan today for Monday-Thursday.