Eatbetterers part 3 -gather around healthy people !

[DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen]

Third thread of healthy eating, no calorie counting just good, healthy food for us and our families.

Ooh will definitely try those pancakes sleep! Only problem is that bananas don't hang around long in this house.

I have decided that this will be the summer of fitness!! So far I have been for a 20 min run two mornings in a row. I am slow and crap, and walk a lot, but everyone has to start somewhere I guess. Realisation brought home by the fact that DH rode 100 miles on his bike on Sun, whereas I get our of breath if I go too fast up the stairs! I think people tend to assume that I am fit because I'm thin, but I am really, really not!

I'm the opposite, Bramshott - fitter than I look! I can currently run about 9 miles, but probably don't look as though I could (especially while I'm actually doing it - slow and purple-faced ). Good on you with the running though - it's a great thing to do, both physically and mentally!

holmes! My problem is that I never manage to get red-faced and sweaty because I am too busy gasping for breath and holding the stitch in my side if I run for more than 30 secs! I guess that gets better the more you do it though??

I'm in awe of anyone who runs

I'm about to brave the weather and go for a walk, it's pissing down here!

Just had mashed avocado on brown soda bread with sliced tomato and balsamic glaze for lunch. Yum!

Yes it does get easier! I was 2.5 stone heavier and deeply unfit when I started running. Couldn't run for more than a few yards at first and felt like my lungs were going to explode! And I never ever get a stitch now. It's kind of amazing when you think about it - humans are 'designed' to be able to run (to hunt, run away from predators etc). Most of us nowadays would probably not fare very well in that kind of survival situation (including me because I'm so bloody slow!)

The other thing I've been reading about exercise and its effect on your health is how it's really about your overall activity levels. Apparently if you run 5 miles every morning but then sit at a desk all day and then in front of the TV all evening, your health risks are still really high and you are still basically classed as being sedentary. .

Dame - basking in your awe here . Your lunch sounds yum. I had leftover veggie chilli. I don't know why I don't make it more often - easy, filling, healthy, tasty and cheap as chips!

I think you're on to something with the overall activity thing. Unfortunately I have little choice with my lifestyle. I do get up from my desk and do weights and stuff when I remember but my job is so still!! I am like you holmes, I am fitter than I look too!

That's exactly what is recommended though, still - taking regular breaks from sitting. So you're doing the right things!

I'm another one with an incredibly sedentary job - and I work from home so I really don't have to go anywhere at all. I am looking forward to the summer though - yesterday, because it was do nice, I had a (short) run in the morning, did a bit of weeding at lunchtime, and then DH and I went for a little walk in the evening. No such luck today though

Would anyone care to critique my diet and suggest ways to make it more filling and nutritious, without just stuffing food in the whole time? ? Today I ate:
Breakfast: Muesli with lots of nuts and seeds in with whole milk
Mid-morning: 1 rice cake with almond butter
Lunch: 1 rice cake with smoked salmon & cream cheese, plus a sort of mini-tortilla made from leftover veg and potatoes with 1 egg and a bit of grated cheese
Mid-afternoon: pear plus slice of chestnut & pine nut cake
5.30pm (when kids eating ): natural yoghurt with granola
dinner: GF pasta with courgette and smoked salmon sauce

It is all healthy stuff, and I am not good at eating big portions, but I rarely go more than 2 hrs or so between meals/snacks but still get hungry to the point of getting light-headed/shaky. I was particularly surprised today to be so hungry for lunch only an hour and a half after my mid-morning snack.

I wouldn't have thought there's a great deal to change tbh Bram, you could add an extra egg to lunch and replace the morning rice cake with a banana ( I think rice cakes don't qualify as food but that's pretty personal ). You shouldn't be feeling light headed or shaky with hunger on that. I think I'd be having a chat with GP to see if he/she has any ideas or thinks it's worth doing some blood tests?

Thanks sleep! My doctor is sick of the sight of me I think, and I know the first thing she'll says is to take iron tablets every day which she wants me to but I hate...

What about something gentler like floradix or spatone?

Yes, I should probably try something like that. Thanks.

Hello.
Mostly lurking just now but doing quite well on the food front.

I second spatone. So much quicker to kick in than iron tablets and much gentler on your system. The new Apple one is actually quite nice.

Bramshott - I would never suggest a full-on low carb diet as that is not in the spirit of the thread at all! But I have to say that the only time I lost all desire to snack between meals was when I was low carbing. For me, one of the most helpful things was having a protein-based breakfast, often with no carbs in it at all - usually eggs in one form or another. I don't stick to that now, mainly because of convenience, but it makes a big difference if I do. If I eat muesli, toast, porridge etc (regardless how healthy, wholegrain, sugar-free and nut - filled! ), I am starving by about 9:30.

Actually the whole low carb thing is annoying - I felt great on it (after the initial withdrawal) and looked slimmer and healthier than I ever had. But it's just not sustainable imo and when you fall off the waggon you seem to be worse off than before you started!

Thanks all for your advice. Where do I get spatone - chemist or health food shop? The last time I had it I was post-natal and the health visitor just used to dish out bags of sachets!

Boots will have it Bram. Holmes the low carb thing occurred to me too - feeling weak/shaky as described is classic blood sugar crash stuff you usually see with people eating poor quality, carb heavy diets - but that isn't the case with Bram so while it may be worth a try I'd want to rule out other causes first. If you do then try it Bram, if only as an experiment, if it works and you have your answer then even if you don't want to stick to it you won't be panicking if you get shaky etc, you'll know why!

You not a rice cake fan then, Sleep? I really like them! I don't know why, because they are dry and don't taste of that much, but I like the crunch and the slight nuttiness. I only buy the posh Kallo ones, mind!

Me too holmes!! While we are on the snack subject, anyone who likes Nairn's oatcakes needs to get to their local home bargains! All the yummy varieties for less! (I think around 89p.

My eating is so erratic at the moment. I have been super stressed and finding it hard to eat regularly. I am worrying about everyone and everything! (dp's health ropey, dd school appeals, ds on burn out, work just arghhh). Although I did have a pretty joyful yoga session this week and a nice run in the woods. I am at least cooking again but honestly it's all chucking veg to roast in the oven really!

Hello, how's everyone?

I think I'm doing ok, cut back on sugar and once I'm past the first three days I stop craving it. Soooo, sticking to meal time only and if I do snack then it's celery or fruit or almonds. Sometimes a glass of soya will curb the need.

Food today was, Greek yog, banana and mixed seeds/ nuts and a boiled egg. Lunch was brown soda bread with a smear of hummus and sticks of celery and an apple. Dinner was lean steak with huge salad and a pear.

Managing to walk every day and dreamt about running the other night which was funny and a bit sad too as I can't run because of my injury. So I just walk as fast as I can instead

Peas and beans are in at the allotment , can't wait to eat them! Also purple sprouting broccoli

Ooh - meant to post my great excitement from last week at discovering you can make a passable impression of a chai latte (one of my weaknesses, but I am off sugar atm) with a cup of hot milk, a rooibus teabag, a spoonful of honey and cinnamon sprinkled on the top. It's really yummy. Might have one this morning actually as a warming pick-me-up against rubbish weather!

Bramshot- have you ever tried Rooibos coffee? Quite pricey but gorgeous! It's on Amazon. I'm waiting for tesco or waitrose to stock it but they don't yet.

www.creamsupplies.co.uk/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=3203

Cheap from here, I'll order some!

Food today was-

Banana, flax seed and Greek yoghurt

Soda bread with avocado and tomato, celery and an apple

Roast chicken, baked potato and cheese and a tomato,cucumber avocado and basil salad. A pear.

Handful of almonds and a menopace tablet

Bit of back - sliding here on the sweet stuff again. I need to remember that running alone will not keep the weight off (well, not if I succumb to the temptations of the biscuit tin!)

Going to have a good, nutritious day today. Banana and yoghurt for breakfast. Planning a big salad for lunch. Off to see what's in the freezer for dinner...