Serious diet advice needed, my diet is beyond shocking

[chattingtoaspanishgirl]

I just find it so hard. I don't know what it is. I'll have a healthy and balanced breakfast and before it's even 11am I'm pushing me pram passed Asda and feel ragey and unsettled until I've eaten some chocolate or something.

My diet is ridiculously poor. I'm quite ashamed to say as I know MN will not approve

I wake up, down a sugar free 7UP. Eat some brioche with ham, maybe scoff a few M&Ms. Scoff another 7UP.

Lunchtime comes, I probably don't have anything to eat. If I do, it's probably a ready meal lasagne. Another few 7UPs or diet cokes. A handful of sweets.

Dinner time comes, probably just more crisps, chocolate and sweets. Handfuls here and there. Maybe a proper dinner with DH such as broccoli, spinach and vegetarian chicken. But I will graze here and there afterwards.

I have tried stopping but I feel really low and miserable when I do. I'm not sure where to go from here.

I'm a Size 10/12. Before my son 10 months ago, I had crippling HG sickness and didn't eat much at all for the whole duration. Before that, I was an athletic size 10, healthy and had more control. I've always drank fizzy drinks though.

I'm still athletic in build but I've developed a little tummy It'll get much worse if I don't stop now.

I have tried giving up fizzy drinks but for some reason feel shaky when I do. Not sure why as they're just sugar free lemonades really.

The key for me is to have a large breakfast. Then plan a lunch. Have snacks throughout the day but save the chocolate for a bit in the evening or coffee break time. I have an awful relationship with food growing up and the only thing that helps me to have a proper day of balanced eating is having a proper breakfast , I still have chocolate but enjoy it properly not scoffing

You sound like me that you like healthy food and have no problem eating it it's just your snacking gets ahead of you

Are you on contraception? I'm on depo provera and the few weeks after I get it I crave so much food, I mean I could eat like 3 burgers 😂 then lots more, I keep on eating and can't stop constantly hungry

Could it be something like that? I'm not going back on the injection I've gained 2 stone!

The good thing about having a really bad diet is it’s really easy to see an improvement without making massive changes.

Personally I’d say just make a promise to yourself for a couple of weeks to do a couple of things, for example drink 2 litres of water a day and try to eat 5 portions of fruit and veg a day. Once that’s a habit look to make some changes else where.

Also sounds like you’ve got a poor relationship with food, without fixing that and perhaps any underlying problems it might be difficult to make significant changes.

What are you having for breakfast? Something like overnight oats is a good start, and should keep you going.

Fruit in your bag so if you get hungry you have food. Same for note of water. Buy fizzy if you need the tingle.

Stop walking past Asda!!!

Make sure there's food in for lunch even if it's just a sandwich.

Sounds like you eat late with DH so I'd an to have a proper snack at midway between lunch and dinner - hot drink, yoghurt, coupe of biscuits.

You have a good dinner. Hot choc and a couple of biscuits for supper if needed.

Stop buying crap so you cannot graze on it. Get in fruit and veg.

Would something like slimming world help??

Fueling yourself on a high carb diet means you are hungry all the time then shaky if you don't eat within a few hours.

Learn about your biology - what happens to your hormones (and hence energy levels and fat absorption) when you consume the different macros (protein, carbs, fat) and you will take back control

Eating a calorie of carb does not have the same metabolic effect on our bodies as eating a calorie of fat or protein for example, and if you are serious about gaining control back, you need to understand this.

If suggest starting with cutting out the fizzy diet drinks and move to fizzy water. They might not have sugar in but they do weird things to your metabolism anyway and it will take some will power so tackle that first. Then once you've dealt with that craving try and at least eat something healthy at each meal time so even if you do snack on unhealthy stuff it's as well as nourishing food - not instead of.

I read an article that said drinks with artificial sweeteners have a similar effect on your insulin levels /sugar spikes as the sweetness on your tongue teĺls your body that sugar is on its way.
Perhaps swapping the 7up for sparkling water with a slice of lemon or lime would be a starting point.
Are you actually hungry when you have your breakfast?
I find that if I eat breakfast before I'm hungry it just kick starts my hunger (greed lol) but if I wait until I actually feel hungry then I tend to eat at around 11/12 ish.
Ditto the above poster re all calories not being equal. Your body actually burns more calories processing a calorie of fat than it does a calorie of sugar.
Fill up on things like full fat Greek yoghurt (not Greek style) and boiled eggs if you like them.
I'm speaking from experience as I lost three stone and have kept it off for three years so far.
There's loads of great advice on here if you use the search function.

Easier said than done but eat regular meals and start the day with agood breskfast. Start with something filling like porridge or egg on toast. If you get the munchies snack on nuts or a bit of humus and veg sticks. Protein fills you up more than crisps and sweets so keep a few full fat youghats and cheeses in the fridge. Eat plenty of veg and fruit. Sounds like you have an addiction to fizzy drinks and sweets. You need to break that. Go cold turkey if you can, try swapping for sugar free squashes to help or try flavoured teas. Size 10/12 isn't big at all and you just need to tweek your diet to make it healthy. If you can axe the sweets and junk you will feel better all round.

You can do overnight oats that are practically a dessert. That might help with the early morning sweet tooth. I am on sw so I do mine with 40g oats a load of frozen berries a toffee or vanilla Muller light and 2 teaspoons of choc shot. If I was you my first step would be to cut out or at least down the number of fizzy drinks even fat free they aren't good for you

Sounds like you need the chocolate because you don't have any energy from the other food your eating. The reason by the time you pass asda you need more food is because the food your eating releases short bursts of energy and won't sustain you so it's all gone by the time you get there. Try eggs (scrambled or poached,) or porridge, or a smoothie!. And pleeeaaase cut the sugary drinks! I replaced all of mine with own brand flavoured waters as a bit of a middle ground, much cheaper and a fraction of the sugar! But nothing good comes from sugary drinks, they should be a treat, not a main source of fluid. Although i admit, they are addictive!
You can still snack on a diet just snack on the right things.
You can do it!!

The more carbs and sugar you eat the more you want them ime.Also try cutting out the diet 7 up and coke they could be making you feel more hungry as artificial sweeteners can increase hunger

I replaced all of mine with own brand flavoured waters as a bit of a middle ground, much cheaper and a fraction of the sugar! But nothing good comes from sugary drinks, they should be a treat, not a main source of fluid. Although i admit, they are addictive!

I've had a look and own brand flavoured waters have more sugar in them, and are more calories x

Not all artificial sweeteners raise your insulin levels

It’s really important to research them and check the ingredients

Nousernameforme now Muller are synd can I recommend the Morbena Skyr natural yoghurt from Lidl. Other Skyr yoghurt can be used haha. It's still syn free and as it's high protein it fulls you up and it's amazingly thick

The more carbs and sugar you eat the more you want them ime.

That is our biology. Carbs and sugar are dealt with in the same way by our bodies. We produce insulin to be able to digest them. And when there is too much insulin (ie a high carb diet) it is not possible to use fat cells for fuel (ie you won’t lose weight) and worse, once your body has used up the instantly available fuel from the glucose, it craves more, hence the hunger, hence why people harp on about low carb diets.

I read somewhere that fizzy drinks leaches onto the calcium in your body and causes bone problems. That's what stops me from drinking them. For me, it works if I think of what my diet is doing to my body internally. I want to be healthy for my kids and lead a life pain free and medicine free.

What are your teeth like? That's what puts me off fizzy drinks, I want healthy teeth!
Good luck OP, at least you are trying to do something about it.

Rory Strangely, they're pearly white and in very good condition

I'm sure they will meet their comeuppance one day though!

@SleepingStandingUp, thanks but I can't do unflavoured yoghurt it makes me gip

Routine OP
That’s all you need

Even if not hungry at lunch, have something light. Soup or a salad. It will the stop you grazing later and or binging on something Unhealthy.

You must increase fruit / veg intake. I suspect you are very constipated?!

You need to wean yourself off sugar and the ups and downs will ease off. At the moment you're hooked and it's playing havoc with your blood sugar levels.

You need to eat proper food with slow release energy. No processed foods, no hidden sugar. No white bread, cereals, sweets, chocolate.

I would be starting the day with porridge /omelette / natural yoghurt with nuts. Eating oat cakes and vegetables mid morning. Having something with cheese, chicken, salmon or eggs at lunch. Proper tea with vegetables. I'd also be looking at why i was so unhappy that i needed to self medicate with sugar.

"Nousernameforme" fair enough. If you have a Lidl I recommend their flavoured varieties too, so much tastier than muller

We need to start thinking of food as fuel. Myself included. As pps said, slow release foods for breakfast, bananas , porridge, omelette. Snacking on nice but healthier foods. Allowing yourself to have a bar chocolate on the evening or with your morning coffee, who cares if everything else is balanced. But we need to start treating food for what it is. Fuel , energy.. not something we can just abuse all day long because we like the taste

I'd also be looking at why i was so unhappy that i needed to self medicate with sugar

I'm not unhappy I'm very merry. I just think I've developed a love of scoffing food.

The thing about 'just having the one' doesn't work for me. I may as well have none, otherwise it doesn't feel worth it

I'd start by tackling breakfast. If you eat something more filling you would hopefully feel less inclined to snack on sweets. Could you do porridge/ scrambled eggs or beans on brown toast?

But OP you’re not scoffing “food”

Downing sugar free 7 up and handfuls of sweets is not food. It’s just about the junkies junk you can have because it truly is devoid of any kind of nutrition.