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! :)

I should probably also add that I believe you are also more likely to overeat if your diet is based on sugar/carbs because although you are giving your body calories, you aren't feeding it properly in terms of nutrients, so it will continue to send out hunger signals. Whereas eating a nice steak and broccoli for example, (especially if you do it slowly and listen to your body), you will feel satisfied fairly quickly and for some time afterwards.

S'ok sleep :)

Quite encouraging to read about the calories thing, I've never done the dieting thing so hopefully haven't done any damage to my metabolism in that sense.

Actually really struggling at the moment, not particularly with food, but my self esteem has taken something of a nose dive lately :( really tired too.

Fuzz - has something happened? You were doing so well.

Thanks Sleep and Bshh - that seems to make absolute sense to me although I would be too woosy to say that on a diet thread

It's sad isn't it, that so many people have been conditioned by the diet industry to mess up their bodies so much. I am really hoping that I model good eating habits for my DDs so that they never feel the need to get on that particular bandwagon.

Disclaimer - I am NOT judging people who diet / have dieted / are dieting - losing weight, particularly if you are overweight, is a great and healthy thing to do, it's just about the way we do it (which I guess is why we're all here).

I'm not sure really. Been quite busy what with DD's birthday etc, more 'socialising' with people I don't really know - due to my social anxiety issues plus the CFS/ME this is exhausting and overwhelming. It's probably a build up of that.

The decline in my mood has been a bit scary though. A few times I've woken up feeling inexplicably sad and I'm not sure why.

Sorry to hear you're feeling low, Fuzzpig. Sending you virtual good vibes.
Inspired by talk of soup upthread, I have just made myself some summer minestrone. No pasta in it, just stock and loads of veg and herbs (some of them straight out of the garden) and some pesto stirred in. I want to make my own pesto but never seem to get around to doing it.

Going round to our French neighbours later to watch the football. We are eating there and apparently it's going to be pizza. Hope there is salad etc too...

It is sad Bram but as you say, not anyone's fault for believing in the dieting mentality, it's a bit like a modern day religion with different faiths . Media/celeb culture doesn't help either, selling us the idea that slimmer=better and constantly selling the things that will help us get there. I really hope that our generation can start to accept and love our bodies more, question the idea of physical perfection and get our dc's doing the same, so that they have a healthier relationship with food and their bodies than most of us do!

Fuzz all the socialising does sound draining. I think most of us can feel low when we are exhausted, it must be even more extreme for you. Are you fighting the sadness or going with it? Sometimes indulging for a while can be better than trying to snap out if it I think-give yourself a period (whatever is practical) to snuggle in bed with tea and a book and take a nap, or on the sofa with your favourite film perhaps-be curious about the sadness in the same way we can be with our bodies and food. It may be just a passing phase, a product of your exhaustion, or it may be calling you to look at something in particular in your life?

Fuzz i am sending you a big fuzzy hug. self esteem wobbles are nasty. i am much worse when tired for sure and you have definitely had a lot on..take it easy on yourself.

i want to actually scream!! (most unlike me). i cannot do festivals and eating betterer at all. i get too tired and used to not eating then i go crazy. we got back early hours of today and I've just demolished so much pasta it hurts!! i also need to look at how to undo metabolic damage. i think people i know have this and i think i'm.ok ish but it could happen easily i think. I've recently got much more into exercising so i think that helps. i especially love exercising for free. i get extra endorphins!!

2 more things. wouldn't it be great if the next generation really do turn around body image mania. secondly i hate this new phone. it is making mn so stressful. please forgive the grammar and i hope you get the gist.

Hello all, and or to Fuzz, whichever is most helpful...

I am still struggling with the sole eat betterer aim I've set myself so far, to eat mindfully, but I am starting to see faint glimmers of progress, inasmuch as I can keep my attention focused on what I'm eating for slightly longer than I was managing a few days ago, and I'm managing some of the time to eat a bit more slowly too. I've ordered the Slow Down Diet book too, and am hoping it will help.

Also, I've just remembered what Sleep's post about your body sending you hunger signals after you've eaten junk, because it's still craving nutrients reminded me of. Years ago I went on a yoga retreat for a week where the (amazingly delicious) food was prepared on Ayurvedic principles, and the cook said that one of the reasons the food was so satisfying was because every meal would have had a balance worked out between all the flavour groups, so there would be something sour, salty, sweet, bitter and umami. His theory was that if your meal missed one or more of those tastes, your body would keep looking for food until it had experienced each of them...

Hi all. Took me a while to catch up on the thread! Had a really hectic week last week, DH away, also got my period (which always makes me crave chocolate!) and now have a cold... so haven't been as proactively healthy as usual, but trying my best.

Had a picnic at the weekend with DH's family which was mainly pizza, so I took along some salad vegetables with me, I haven't eaten any pizza for ages, I couldn't avoid it altogether but didn't have too much and had more salad instead. As others have said it is difficult in social situations where you aren't in control of the food, but you just have to make do.

Just watched a Channel 4 documentary 'The Worlds Best Diet', it was a bit too glib in places and glossed over things, but what was interesting was the main thing to come out of it was - not rocket science - not eating fast food / processed food!
Whether you ate dairy/veg/grains/pasta/meat/fat seemed of less consequence; actually the main thing for a healthy diet is to eat home-cooked, varied, good quality, unprocessed food, slowly and enjoyably.
(The worse diets were those high in processed food, refined sugar, alcohol, and refined carbohydrates, not surprisingly.)

Anyway it made a change to have a programme on tv that wasn't another weird faddy diet, but actually just common sense.

Dinner tonight - jacket potatoes (normal potatoes for the DCs; sweet potato for me) with left-over bolognese that DH made yesterday, and a bean and veg stew I made today - very quick and easy as I am not feeling great so wasn't in the mood for cooking a complicated meal.

DD2 refused to eat anything except potato though.... but she is only 2 years old, and from my memory of the other two DCs they did go through phases of only eating one type of food. For example, some days she will just eat a load of fruit. Another day a load of cheese. Today she ate mainly pasta and potato. I read somewhere that with toddlers you need to look at their diet over a week, rather than per day, so I am trying not to worry!

I feel mealtimes have definitely improved, but where I want to make changes now in the family diet are breakfast time, and snacking. Too much sugary cereal and biscuits....

By the way the C4 documentary I just watched also had Sportacus from Lazytown in it - in a spa, in just his swimming trunks, extolling the virtues of raw fish ... I am sure there are a few MNetters who have a thing for Sportacus, or have I imagined that thread????

Sympathies still - eating healthily on the road is really tough. I don't think it's a co-incidence that my main festival season is in the autumn (when I do every weekend from mid Sept to mid Nov) and for the last two years I have been really ill in the run-up to Christmas and going into the new year. Culminating this year in the gastroscopy and a whole barrage of tests to see if there was an underlying problem (conclusion - there isn't, just stress and not eating properly!). Hope you get a chance to repair yourself a bit now before you're off again. Maybe make a proper bone stock-based soup? I have read that that's really good for gut and metabolism repair.

More rye and wholemeal bread for me today - yum. Plus a salad along the lines of yesterday - lettuce, grated carrot, tuna, pumpkin seeds & sesame seeds - it looked so good I wanted to take a picture of it!

Also meant to reply to don't - interesting prog. I think there's a lot to be said for that quote (can't remember who from) advocating "eat food, not too much, mostly plants".

I found this thread yesterday, have just finished reading it and I love it.

Please may I join in?
I'm a nc-er... Sleep, you know me from another place
Hopefully I will read the first thread later.

I've started today with poached eggs on wholemeal toast, with hot water and lemon.

Just about to root through the kitchen cupboards and see what tea there is, think there's some peppermint somewhere...

I've been living off evil diet coke for the past few weeks, along with too many delicious family bags of salted tortilla crisps.

Need to sort myself out and hopefully lose a bit of weight in the process.

Morning all, Mind if I join? I'm trying to eat generally better and get fit. I'm doing an exercise programme called The New Rules of Lifting for women and I'm really enjoying it. In the past I have done the South Beach Diet to lose weight and while it's not sustainable for me all the time (and also we all know diets don't work longterm!) eating lots of protein does seem to work for me.

I saw the Worlds Best Diet programme last night and found it really interesting too, especially the bit about the Icelandic diet and the low levels of depression.

Lucky, I love crisps too, and all manner of other junk but it's not great for me!

I never used to be a crisp lover Shortaris, but these seem to be my equivalent to crack cocaine!

What's the general opinion of arborio rice?

I'm frantically stirring a risotto and wondered whether it's the work of the devil and there's a healthier alternative?

De-lurking here, hello all

LuckySaint I often use pearl barley as an alternative to arborio rice, orzo is also nice and i find lighter than arborio but not as easy to get hold of (at least locally to me).

Bram, that quote is by Michael Pollan - I think he's a really interesting writer.

He is fab! I started a thread recently, inspired by his book and by that very quotation.

I didn't have the best food day today as I was on the move a lot, but didn't do too badly considering. Finished with a huge bowl of my super healthy summer veg minestrone at least. Dh was taken unexpectedly into hospital and is in for two nights so I was visiting him. Out tomorrow hopefully.

On the positive side, it looks like our house move is finally going to actually happen! I am going to celebrate with a cup of chamomile tea and an early night .

On Lorraine today,I don't normally watch it but they're on about how 30% of people in the UK are obese.

They're answer is to weigh everyone regularly, nominate someone in the family to keep track of what everyone is eating and the fitness expert's contribution was to 'find inspiration to exercise.'

Lorraine also said she was healthy but not thin. Erm, seriously? I'd describe her as thin and not a pound extra on her!

Ffs

Sorry to hear about your DH holmes. Hope it's nothing serious...

Sorry Holmes I missed that about your Dh, very stressful for you. Hope he's on the mend now?