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.

Morning Sleep. I only did it for a year or so as a child. The class is for adult beginners. It's basically just about toning and stretching within the ballet positions and moves. No pressure and a good laugh. The teacher is so flexible. It's awe-inspiring!
I'm hoping it will improve my slouchy posture which will in turn improve my running and make me less prone to injury.
It's a beautiful day here. I did 5k then had a delicious smoothie and a slice of multigrain toast with meridian peanut butter. Yum.

Your posts are pretty awe inspiring Netto! Right - I'm going for a run as soon as either our friends staying get up it I wake up DH from his lie in. And doing a decent ride for the first time in months tomorrow.

And have oats soaking in coffee in the fridge for my morning smoothie

Thanks very much Americas!

ooops - just had pancakes for breakfast - homemade, no sugar, vegan...does that make it better?!

Definitely.

Well I am back from the last festival for a month. So the weeks meals are planned and I will go for a run tomorrow. Its been a while and a lot of beer has flowed, so I will go out with the intention of enjoying my run and see how far it gets me. I'd love to do ballet but I would feel a fool.

Hi Stilllearnin. It's ok as almost everyone in the class is a complete beginner and we are all as stiff as each other. Ballerinas we are not!
Good luck with tomorrow's run. Mine today has left me really tired all day. Looking forward to that changing in the next few weeks.

Hi, how lovely to see everyone dropping in again .

I am very (sort of satisfyingly) achy this evening after the gym yesterday and hot yoga today. Very healthy dinner tonight, fresh tuna steak with spiralized courgette spaghetti in a guacamole inspired sauce (gently fried chilli and garlic, threw in the courgette spaghetti and cherry tomatoes for a few minutes and stirred in some avocado I blitzed in the nutribullet until warm). It was delicious .

Ooh nice sauce Sleep I will put that one on the menu as I'm pretty certain the dc will eat it without the toms.

I have decided to adopt an unwavering you will thank me later attitude with dc! Not in a mean way but. My dc have always had whole wheat pasta and brown rice so prefer that but I find it's very easy for them to derail me when it comes to what I feed them. Eg sweets once a week easily becomes twice a week etc etc. I don't want to be too restrictive and I'd rather they made their own choices but my ds is skinny and addicted to sugar (so he doesn't get the usual oh I'm getting fat warning signs).

I have skinny DC's too still - DS's are real sugar addicts, no stop button as far as I can tell, DD (middle child, just 6, no mention of body image etc wrt food so far and long may it continue) just doesn't seem to have the same compulsion with sweet stuff, she asks for it I think because the boys make such a fuss about it but then she invariably leaves half the sweets/ice cream whatever it is. It reinforces my feeling that different people respond differently to powerful substances such as sugar, caffeine etc and that food addiction (to specific substances such as these, rather than 'food' full stop - that would be a bit like oxygen addiction ) can affect people.

On the subject of body image, I have to share a conversation I had with DD and DS2 when we were cuddling in bed the other day, DS2 was blowing raspberries on my belly, his favourite pastime

DS2 - Mama I love your belly, its so soft...

me - I love my belly too, because it looked after you three kids when you were babies before you were born - DD, what part of your body do you like?

-dd - I like my eyes because I can see with them and my nose so I can smell, and my arms and legs that let me run and do gymnastics and exercise

-me - what about you DS2?

-DS2 - no hesitation....I like my penis. - well I guess it's what most men would say if there were no adult/social filters operating . It was utter unequivocal way he said it that had me ROFL!

I've been going back to my French roots recently, and having no grazing for anyone, but formal meals and snacks at set times and a proper, long, multi-course dinner. Having several courses is doing great things to get my fussy eaters to be more adventurous. Last week's roast squid was a surprise hit.

Sleep that is priceless!!

My dd is overweight and really suffers- changed her name to escape a nasty nickname I didn't see coming. But she eats better than us and is really active so we just have to keep boosting her self esteem. I have just been for a run semi joyfully

sleep that is amazing!!

Loving the French roots idea - I'm pulling my hair out over fussy DD. She weaned on everything known to man, then at 18months became quite fussy and I feel the last 2-3months it has become a real struggle. She only eats yoghurt, snacky type breadstick stuff, bananas (well one bite then discards) apples (ditto), raspberries, strawberries, cheese, toast with either honey or peanut butter, oven chips with ketchup, usually pasta and pesto (though not always), usually beans (ditto), the whites of boiled eggs, porridge. Oh and obviously cake/ice cream etc. I make my own cake and ice Lollies - the former she now won't eat, the latter thankfully still gobbled even when I blend spinach into them.

She's 33 months and it was roughly around this age that DS started trying new stuff again (having been moderately fussy from the age of 20months following wonderful weaning), by 3 his diet was looking more varied beyond beige and now (nearly 6yo) he'll at least give everything a try and on the whole eats most stuff put in front of him. I don't know whether to keep riding it out with DD, I try to curb snacking and to not let her have anything other than dinner but that's slid recently as she's also dropping her nap so is knackered and angry at dinner time so I usually just put in front of her what I know she'll eat. She has a bottle of almond milk at bedtime still (I know, I know). Ugh.

Despite it being so bloody hot here we're getting the hang of the slow cooker on loan, DH made a chicken stew tonight for him and the DC, which DS gobbled down with couscous.

Hello, could I join please? I eat fairly healthily, cook my own food, rarely eat out of takeaways, but I have a big problems with snacking and portion size and I can feel my gut growing and my clothes becoming tighter so I need to get a hold on it really.

I think I eat too many carbs and although I don't think carbs are the Antichrist I could probably do without eating 6 slices of toast in a row :-/

Hi gruffalo (great name) - welcome! Why do you think you snack so much - is it hunger, boredom, sugar cravings or emotional eating for example?

I just have to post about my dinner last night - a fabulous new greengrocer near me had courgette flowers in. I bought some and stuffed them with ricotta, basil, toasted pine nuts and sultanas, roasted them and drizzled with vinaigrette and a little honey - they were amazing! Going to do some for dinner when we have friends over next week, so easy and quick yet looks very impressive. We also had cauliflower mash which was a success, steamed with a little water and a knob of butter and a couple of cloves of garlic (credit to Hemsley&Hemsley)and mashed with some chopped spring onions stirred in. To be repeated

Americas try and chill about DD, I think the less fuss you make the quicker she will come round. Just keep sticking the good stuff in front of her

Still you sound like you are doing all the right things with your DD - hang in there .

I snack from boredom and habit, mainly I think.

Those stuffed courgette flowers sound amazing!!

OOh sleep, those look amazing! Love your little ones penis story. Most men do!

Gruffalo I LOVE bread too and was chomping through slice after slice so I freeze it now and only have occasional toast and eat it when out as it was getting out of hand. I find eating later stops me snacking so much at night if that might help?

Lovely food today:
Omelette for brekkie
Noodle soup and Yeo Valley yoghurt for lunch at work
Salmon with ginger and lime with boiled new potatoes for tea. Did them in my Lakeland rice cooker in 8 mins and will have the leftover salmon and pots tomorrow cold for lunch at work.

Much more organised now!

Can I canvas opinion on soup for breakfast? My dc will eat any soup but I do use (low salt) stock cubes rather than make my own. Ds has Weetabix porridge or eggs so that's usually ok but dd doesn't like any of those much and gravitates to toast. She reckons she'll have soup when it's cold. I usually do variations of lentil, mushroom, broccoli, leek etc. also should I spell that canvass??

I love soup for breakfast. If it is veg soup, you can sprinkle chopped hard boiled egg over the top for extra protein, or freeze cooked meatballs and add a couple.

...after cooking them in the microwave

Right. Holidays over. Kids back to school. Healthy supermarket shop done. Fruit for breakfast. Lots of water drunk. Booze-free since 10th August. Off for a run. . Oh and allergic rash still here . Have booked appointment with doc, but not with high expectations...

Oh Holmes! Still suffering. It is a tough nut to crack though.

Dc have been off the rails with cake overload today but dd is well up for trying different breakfasts. Hummus and cucumber yesterday and dippy eggs today. I went for another run but it was hard work- still I was thinking the whole time, 'this can only get better'

Oh Holmes , have you decided it's not histamine after all? If no joy with doctor you may want to look into The Whole 30 or Dr Hyman's Ultra Simple diets - both are elimination diets, a strict 3-4 week process followed by reintroduction a to identify any problem foods. They aren't designed for weight loss (though this invariably happens), so don't restrict calories/quantities, you shouldn't be hungry. May be worth a go....

YY to soup for breakfast, why not , Milly's idea with egg/meat for protein is good, or some yoghurt/toasted seeds as a topping for a bit of fat and protein....

Def yes to soup for breakfast - I'm contemplating giving Dd savoury breakfasts to see if that helps the fussiness!