Learning to eat healthily support thread

[questionssquestions]

I don't know what the name for this sort of eating is. 'Healthy' means different things to different people. Maybe 'normal', but most people in the UK are overweight, so normal is not ideal either.

Anyway, a lot of us need support in learning how to eat better, so I'm hoping there might be people who want to join this thread. This is not a weight loss thread, it is a healthy eating thread.

We try to:

• Eat 5+ fruit and veg a day
• Eat balanced meals (some starchy foods, fruit, veg, protein, dairy)
• Enjoy treats/desserts/puddings etc.
• Maximise our consumption of unprocessed and minimally processed foods
• Minimise our consumption of ultraprocessed foods
• Try to cook from scratch where we can
• Be mindful of portion sizes
• Build enjoyable exercise into our daily lives

We don't:

• Exclude food groups
• Talk of good/bad foods or being good/bad
• Calorie count, fast, detox, or join weight loss clubs
• Talk about our weight or clothes size

I'm hoping this can be a place for support, sharing of ideas and favourite recipes etc.

Can I join please. We seem to spend a fortune on food, cook mostly from scratch, but run out of food very quickly!!

I always use olive oil, but I also have a sunflower oil spray which I mainly use to spray on cling film when letting my bread rise. I’ve used avocado oil before (was a freebie) but I found the taste quite strong.

Had a celebratory dinner away last night and whilst the portions were small (gourmet), I went to bed absolutely full and have eaten very little today.

@Roblakeswife we are the same sadly, but we are 4 adults. My food shop has risen by about £50 pw, although that’s 1 extra adult and 3 meals a day (whereas before DH ate out a lot with work & I bought lunch some days).

I've been really going for it on the no mindless/boredom snacking front. If I want a biscuit I make myself some proper food instead. it's been going really well for about a week, but yesterday was a struggle, mostly because I was tired, needed more food and there was just no time, even to make toast.

That's the bit that always trips me up with a toddler and baby. Sometimes you are so tired, you need food and the best you can do is scoff some biscuits on the way to put on another load of laundry or something. I dunno, I suppose fruit would be just as easy to eat really. But while fruit fills me up it never seems to give me that burst of energy that I need.

@questionssquestions would dried fruit give you some energy (30g is a portion)? I only vaguely remember the toddler/baby days now but some days you really don’t feel like you have a minute to do anything. Or could you portion some snacks out in advance?

I’ve been batch cooking some vegetable rich tomato sauce from this recipe www.healthyfood.com/healthy-recipes/rich-vege-packed-tomato-sauce/. It makes 4 six person portions which you use as a base. They contain 3 of your 5 a day and can be left chunky or blended smooth. I found the recipe in a magazine originally and it gives suggestions for what to use it for.

Not boredom/stress snacking is hard when it's become a habit. I was doing quite well but had bananas to use up, and freshly baked banana bread is too tempting, lol.
I'm finding it tricky to balance the two tenets of reducing food waste and not overeating. I'm trying to not cook too much/save left overs, but I feel bad when I get it wrong.

Everything in moderation @GlumyGloomer so don’t beat yourself up over banana bread. I also wholeheartedly agree with it being difficult to balance not wasting food and eating well.

B: Strawberries, raspberries, Greek yoghurt and homemade PB granola
L: Poached egg on a toasted burger bun with spinach and cooked cherry tomatoes
D: Pineapple & chilli glazed gammon, roast potatoes, cabbage, green beans, carrots and parsnip

Thanks Wilderness,
I'm trying to limit to 1 slice a day, and not have any other treats.
You're doing really well on the fruit and veg! That's something I really need to work on...

@Wildernesstips dried fruit is a good shout. Maybe some nuts too. A little dark chocolate mixed in might be nice.

I'm thinking very long term with this learning to eat healthily thing. Like I want it to still be working 10 years down the road. So I'm definitely not beating myself up about it when I have a bad day.

I have a parenting philosophy, which is that, even if you react the wrong way to your kid's bad behaviour, it doesn't matter, as you will get plenty of opportunities to do better next time. Trying to apply that to eating well too.

Also, do you have a recipe for granola?

The aubergine recipe looks amazing too. No time to try it out at the moment, but I'm filing these away for when I have more time :)

Granola recipe joyfoodsunshine.com/healthy-peanut-butter-granola/

I’m reading my way through the EatBetterer threads and love the idea of really sitting and enjoying food without any distractions. Not sure if it’s a coincidence but feeling fuller after meals today.

B: half grapefruit and 1 slice of toast
L: leftover gammon & salad sandwich, crisps, apple
D: Chilli meatball pasta using the veg packed sauce I made at the weekend

Feel that today was quite carb heavy but have at least had my 5 a day. Totally agree that it’s a long term approach to healthy eating.

Today I was mostly focused on tidying and cleaning, so not so much cooking. That's my excuse anyway...
B: pita with peanut butter and jam
L: falafel pita with tomatoes
D: fish finger pita with peas and carrots

I did succeed in using up my pack of pitas, lol. They had already been frozen once.
Snacks were an orange and my 1 allowed piece of banana bread.

The granola looks great! I love peanut butter so will have to give this a go

This is a lovely thread, I'm slowly trying to improve my diet I spent my teenage years/early 20s eating mainly processed food and very little veg i'm now trying to work on that by teaching myself to enjoy vegetables and try new foods. Its slow process but I am improving how balanced my diet is. Currently not eating breakfast as i'm doing 16:8 so yesterdays meals where
Lunch - Picky bits that where going off, some cheese, cherry tomatoes, pitta and apple
Dinner - Curry made from scratch using fresh tomatoes, onion, garlic and ginger with rice.
Today i'm planning
Lunch - leftover curry maybe with a smoothie or fruit salad afterwards to up fruit intake
Dinner - Rosmary chicken with roasted baby potatoes, corn and carrots.
I am a big carb and sweet treat fan so instead of cutting out carbs and cake etc completely i'm trying to make things from scratch such as baking my own breads and cakes as at least that way I know exactly what is in them and cut out any uneccesary sugar and preservatives.

Hi @Foresttheout! Great idea to make your own bread/cakes. I tried 16:8 but couldn’t get on with it as I need to have breakfast. The rosemary chicken sounds lovely.

Not quite so healthy today as am drinking wine but have achieved 3 non-alcohol days a week since beginning of July, which is good for me.

B: stewed apples and peanut butter granola
L: roast potato, parsnip & carrot hash (Sunday leftovers) with spinach & poached egg. It was odd.
S: Crunchie
D: Slow cooked a Kashmiri butter chicken with rice (and a bit of naan bread)

My walk was actually more of a blackberry forage, but good for mind and body!

Started the day with a fab Pilates posture class.

B: Seeded toast, kiwi
L: Leftover chilli beans from a meatball meal, slice of seeded bread, apple
D: Spicy pork tostadas with raw cabbage, carrot, onion, pepper & tomatoes. Wine 😳!

Mil came for a visit today. She asked dd what she should bring and the answer was cake. Not too much though, I said. She bought a 6 pack of unicorn cupcakes, two packs of mr Kipling type slices (incase dd didn't like the cup cakes ) two packs of chocolate buttons, 1 pack of kinder hippos and a pack of Barney bear cakes.
I had a unicorn cake. Besides being sweet it didn't taste nearly as good as homemade cake, but even knowing that the remaining ones still look really tempting. I've told dd she can have one a day, and the other packs are away in the cupboard. I must resist!
Dd2 had her 1 year shots this morning, so hectic day all round.

Ohh my goodness @GlumyGloomer cake overload 😂! I bet the dates are quite long so they’ll last a while.

Forgot to say,
B: toast with peanut butter and jam
L: home made crispy cheese pancakes with tomatoes
D: chicken curry, paratas, steamfresh veg.
Not a particularly healthy day but as I said it was very busy. I'm running out of freezer pots! I need to start using up the freezer stocks...

B: Stewed apple & blackberries, toast- could really have done with some sugar in the fruit as they were sharp, but resisted
L: Cheese and homemade coleslaw seeded bread sandwich, a few crisps, choc muffin (oh dear)
D: Peri Peri chicken, rice and quite a large salad

Really lacking energy this afternoon, but think it may be a combination of too much caffeine this morning and the sugar at lunchtime. Alcohol free tonight.

Dd2 was up all night with a post vaccination fever, so today has not gone well. I checked the dates on the cakes, one pack was tomorrow! I chucked some in the freezer, during the heatwave they might be quite nice frozen, lol.
B: left over parata with sun dried tomato paste (mistake, should have gone chutney), slice of cake
L: gnocchi, cheese and tomato bake
Snack: more cake
D: sweet and sour chicken with carrots, beans and baby corn, and rice.
Not really a fan of baby corn but I pushed myself and it was ok with the sauce.
We have a plum tree in the garden, which is getting steadily buried in brambles. Soon I will have to see how many plumbs I can rescue. Never had a fruit tree before. I'm awful at gardening but would really like to do better.

This looks like the thread for me. I've just started listening to a podcast on intuitive eating, I'm fed up of trying & failing with diets. I've a number of fairly significant food intolerances, a fussy DH & DD, & a less than ideal kitchen (no hob since February - no idea when it's getting sorted).

I usually meal prep when I can, but I'm not always well (disabled) & DH tends to revert to takeaways or tinned soup. Or egg & chips. I usually have a tray on the bed with fruit, crackers etc, & a drink. I spend a lot of time asleep when I'm ill.

Tomorrow
Fruit, yogurt, homemade granola
Ryvitas with pate. Salad
Corned beef & onion pie with mashed potato top, & vegetables. We have some streamfesh vegetables left over from moving house (we didn't have an oven at all for a month) so I'll use them up.
I usually snack on fruit. Maybe also a bit of chocolate. Or a hot chocolate in the evening, I make it with mostly water.

@Gimmethatchocolate - DH & I had a breadmaker previously. We basically used it until it was dead. After several years of twice weekly use, the plastic around the vents was all charred & I was concerned it was a fire risk, so we stopped used it to bake in, but we still used it to mix & prove the dough for about another couple of years. Then I got a Kenwood mixer, & didn't have space for both. If I could, though, I'd have another.

Im going to jump on this one as it sounds right up my street and i agree with every single word of the OP, it covers my mindset entirely

The heat is testing my snack reduction, I'd love an icecream. I am also moving like a slug though, so zero justification for it.
I did have a home made chocolate and chesnut parfait earlier, which was lovely and probably more nutritious than a magnum, lol.

I've had yoghurt, homemade granola, & fruit this morning. It's my normal summer breakfast. This morning I had a slice of melon & half a pink grapefruit.
Not sure about lunch. Toast & pate maybe. I have some rather delicious french pate I got at a farmers market a while ago. I hear it calling. And I have a lovely lot of lettuce in the garden.
Dinner - not sure. I have a couple of ounces of leftover beef mince, & we are having some absolutely giant baked potatoes that DH got yesterday, so it will include that. I may make chilli, & not have all the middle of the potato (I prefer the skin anyway). I'll probably save the middle for fish cakes. Or gnocchi.