Healthy help

[Autumnlily14]

So I am overweight, mostly for a lot of mental health reasons and bad habits that I've grown up around. I'm trying to reshape my eating habits and lose weight not just for myself but also for my family. One thing I'm struggling with is knowing how to find the right balance of healthy and 'unhealthy' foods to eat without wanting to binge eat or just always eat unhealthy. Any tips for that would be great.

Also I'm stuck for healthy food ideas. I've had to have my gallbladder removed and have such worry that anything too high fat is unhealthy, yet if you Google healthy recipes they're still really high in fat. I know the obvious of fruit, veg, lean meat etc but sometimes struggle to know what to do with it all, and how to make it exciting.

What are some of the things you like to eat that are healthy? Some easy ones would be great as I've also got fibromyalgia and a 11 month and 2 year old so struggle with time. Thank you so much!

Ps. Also if any one has lost loads of weight and kept it off what helped you?

DH is on a health kick and we’ve given up meals that contain red meat, cheese, cream and pastry. We also try to cook meals that take less than 30 mins and have at least 2 portions of veg.
This week:
Sweet chilli chicken noodles realfood.tesco.com/recipes/sweet-chilli-chicken-and-broccoli-noodles.html
Smoked salmon pilaf www.hellofresh.co.uk/recipes/spiced-smoked-salmon-pilaf-5c10e438e3f33920c257b0b2
Harissa prawns www.sainsburysmagazine.co.uk/recipes/mains/tom-daley-s-harissa-prawns
Spicy chicken gnocchi realfood.tesco.com/recipes/spicy-chicken-gnocchi.html
Tuna burgers https://www.coop.co.uk/recipes/tuna-and-sweetcorn-burgers

For the balance of healthy and unhealthy foods, plan what you’re going to have each day and plan no more than 1 treat / unhealthy food per day. Really there should be days without the more treat type foods too. Aim for half of your plate to be veg at lunch and dinner, and more protein than carbs as that will help to fill you up. Try and cut out any impulse eating, especially where you eat unhealthy foods without having looked forward to them beforehand, where you grab them without thinking it through.

@PotatoFan the one treat a day thing is what I try to do but often find myself hungry without anything small and healthy that I want to eat in that moment so eat the unhealthy thing even though I don't want it. Like I love strawberries but we probably buy 2 packs a week and I might get 6 if I'm lucky because my 2dc are priority and considering we already spend about £20 on fruit a week I can't justify buying more. I also don't like nuts and wouldn't eat them because of my worry around fat in food. Do you have any suggestions?

If you’re getting hungry between meals I’d eat bigger meals not add snacks. A big bag of frozen mixed veg is under £1 at most supermarkets so cheap and filling

I definitely need to add more protein. My typical day looks like this, which is based not only on when I get hungry but when my toddlers tend to get hungry.
Breakfast 8/9
Lunch 11.30/12
Snack 3/3.30
Dinner 6/7
These are all normally preplanned meals so when I say snacking I more just mean if I get hungry outside of this. Definitely think I need to bulk these out more just not sure what types of meals and foods etc

I think I most need help with lunches that my toddlers will eat too that don't require cooking as Im tired near constantly at the moment because of my fibro and also some snacks that a fun, filling and healthy they'll eat as well.
I think I've forgotten to mention my dc are dairy free. I'm including my dc because whilst I'm the one who needs the most work I definitely feel my whole family could eat healthier.
Thanks all for the replies so far and any ideas

I buy frozen berries as it's much cheaper and just as nutritious. How about some fat free Greek yoghurt with some fruit? Lidl do a big bag of five different berries for just over £2.

That was a snack idea for you obv not the dairy free dc.

I know you said no cooking but could you batch cook some soup? If you have a blender it's easy enough, loads of recipes online.

So I currently do fat free Greek with fruit as a breakfast but perhaps I could find a different breakfast and move it around a bit. Yeah I did figure haha I just realised that I hadn't really mentioned my dc. I've been snooping on mumsnet and found some great lunch ideas so more just need some snacks ideas now. Will definitely think of a different breakfast I think and use the yoghurt and fruit as a snack. I'm happy to say it's actually kind of making me excited to eat healthy which is great after losing my motivation so early into January. Thanks all

Im really grateful to everyone replying. I think I get demotivated because I can't think of different ideas and I also am about 95% certain I have binge eating disorder but I do know some ways to try and get around it so I'm trying to change my mindset and get through it myself so suggestions for healthy things we'll all eat are great. Hopefully others stumble across this one and it motivates them too. Please feel free to add any recipes you love. 💕

Do you eat hard boiled eggs? They're a good snack to leave in the fridge.
I've also made little egg muffins or crustless quiche before.

Have you spoken to your GP? I have binge eating disorder and found counselling helpful. Download my fitness pal and it'll give you an idea of how many calories you are getting through at the moment. Make sure you're having plenty of water and not drinking empty calories.

I struggle eating breakfast as I've never really been a breakfast person, so now I make a small portion of overnight oats using frozen fruit. Because it's already made up I can usually force myself to eat it.

Lunch is usually always soup, usually homemade as I make a big batch and freeze but a tin if I haven't made a batch. I tend to include lentils in my soups to make them more filling. I also like bagel thins with tuna mayo and cucumber and if I'm at home will occasionally have eggs or beans on brown toast or a tuna salad.

For snacks I like to make turkey meatballs and have them in the fridge and I eat them cold or get a whole chicken and pick at it over several days. I also love celery, carrot sticks, baby cucumbers or peppers with a dip as I love the crunch, crisps used to be my biggest vice. I like to make a little grazing plate of those with a few pickles, jalepenos, olives etc if I feel the urge to binge and find it really helpful. Apples are also useful as usually by the time I've eaten one the urge to binge has passed.

@TheLadyIsAVamp I did contact my gp and they sent me a letter saying they'd put me through for recommendation for support or something similar and I never heard back and I've moved since. My trigger food is chocolate but I'm just trying to change slowly rather than drastically so just focusing on making healthier choices rather than eating lots less or being extremely healthy. I'm hoping if I go slowly I'll get there one day.

I'm also trying to avoid calorie counting if I can help it because I find it really easy to feel restricted.

My main problem is I get stressed easily plus incredibly tired with my fibromyalgia and that can make it incredibly easy to eat so I have energy because I can't rest with the kids, whilst also making it incredibly hard to exercise because I'm already so tired and exercising can cause a flare up.

You're making great progress

• this guy is fab - good books

Book I cook from most is amelia freer - lots of fab quick recipes - My family love pea/chicken burgers - quick to make, healthy, yummy for all, even keep extra in freeze for quick meal - and tomato/canellini soup (yes made from cans but super healthy!).

Hope two links work - first time I've used on Mumsnet!!

This is is good from the bbc https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/health/healthy-diet-plan

also don’t be worried about eating full fat stuff, full fat Greek yoghurt with fruit has protein and will keep you fuller longer, buy frozen mixed berries and defrost overnight to put in it. Bananas keep me full as a snack.

eat whole proper food. Baked beans on sourdough. Omelettes with veg.

Thank you for the links I'll definitely have a look when I get more time. Unfortunately I have to worry about fat because I've had my gallbladder removed and I didn't know this until after my removal but on the nhs it says that fat effects your thyroid as well and I have an underactive thyroid. Im just trying to find the balance between allowing myself to enjoy things but not eating bad but it's hard to not go from one extreme to the other. I don't want to fear the fat in unhealthy food so not eat it but also don't want to eat lots of unhealthy food.

I do have to thank you all for the replies. I have eaten some unhealthy foods the last two days as I've been exhausted for various reasons but I've also eaten better than I thought I could. I've snacked on fruit because that's what I genuinely wanted, I've lost some weight, I haven't spent all day thinking about food or feeling like I was missing out. I'm excited to hopefully make my way to healthy habits and give myself some grace if it's not always perfect.

CONGRATS @Autumnlily14 - this sounds like great progress!!! Continue to be kind to yourself while learning what healthy food is easy and works for your lifestyle... it's a great combo!!

After over 30 years of doing every diet (even being a weight watchers leader for a time after losing 3 stone-which I then put back on 🥴), j in have finally discovered at 48 a way to eat that I can maintain for life and be/stay healthy.

i follow what I think of as good sense rules; not mine necessarily but gleaned from lots of listening and researching sensible people!

I allow myself to eat nice food and what I want, but it has to be either something I make myself (I make cake when I fancy it rather than eat a crappy ultra-processed one), or it has to be real food that has health benefits (even if only marginal). So for example, crisps don’t give any nutrition, but when I want something snacky I eat nuts, as whilst they are calorific they are more satisfying and I am getting the good fats and fibre. Likewise I’ll snack on something like chunks of cheese on slices of cucumber, or tomato with homemade hummus. If I am going to have cake or something sweet and carby I’ll have a dollop of full fat Greek yoghurt with it to mitigate the blood sugar spike. Including fats and protein naturally means you eat less and your body just knows how to deal with it. Low fat usually means full of added crap and doesn’t offer nutrition.

i also don’t eat (and only have black coffee/water), until abt 12pm. This keeps my blood sugar stable and works for me.

@siblingrevelryagain this is definitely the way I am moving .. makes sense and my body feels good