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.

After a very sleepless night and feeling sorry for myself I made a peanut butter and jam pancake bake for breakfast.
Lunch is leek, potato and bacon soup, and tofu thai red curry for dinner.

Sisyphus I always buy my gnocchi. Is it hard to make?

The pancake thing was nice, but I need to stop using food as a crutch when I'm having a sucky day. It's a little off topic but what do you all do to 'make it through' on the when it's a struggle to just keep going?

@GlumyGloomer the Thai curry sounds particularly nice. Do you mean make it through without snacking or trying to keep healthy? I’ll be honest, I know that I will never achieve healthy eating perfection. So, if I can do it most of the time it’s enough. Every meal is an opportunity to improve your health.

I’ve been away this weekend. I did have fish and chips (half a portion), and thoroughly enjoyed them, but the rest of the time I ate fairly healthily.

B: one white, one seeded toast & jam
L: tuna mayo salad sandwich
D: roast chicken with homemade Moroccan rice which had roast carrots, peppers, onion and green beans
S: orange juice

And achieved another week of 3 alcohol free days (6 weeks running now).

Well done, Wilderness 6 weeks is great going.

What I mean is that I really struggle with stress/comfort eating. I'm not sure how to replace that habit. Substituting healthier snacks doesn't work, because I'm not actually hungry. I need some other pick me up habit which isn't food/drink based. That's going off topic a bit though.

I didn't make the curry in the end, I lost track of time building a toy storage unit so we ended up with frozen pizza for dinner. Curry for lunch today instead

Hello, please may I join u as this is exactly what I am trying to achieve. I am overweight but struggle to stick to a diet as I believe diets don’t work so I self sabotage. I have decided that I want to work on eating a balanced diet and if the by product of that is weight loss then brilliant. I need to set a better example to my kids and have told them I will not be re-filling the ‘snack box’ but that we will make snacks instead😬.
I really recommend this www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/red-lentil-squash-dhal%3famp Dahl recipe - I use the pre cut butternut squash Soup mixes which have red onion and chilli in as life is too short to chop squash!!

@GlumyGloomer I know exactly what you mean and I think it is very on topic :) I don't have a solution, but I like to imagine what I'd like my children to do when they've had a bad day and try and do that. The knowledge that I'm modelling good habits sometimes helps with motivation.

Depending on the source of the problem it could be a run, walk, nap, TV, meet or call a friend, lying in the garden, or making a snack (not just grabbing biscuits), reading a book. Sometimes I take the kids for a walk and then we stop for a coffee and pastry. Just trying be mindful and make sure that I don't eat a bunch of processed food that I don't even want.

In a way this is easier because I am on maternity leave. It's rare I can go and read in peace, but I can drag us all to the park whenever I want :)

@Selfcarequeereyestyle we do such baking now!

I really like these publications on healthy eating for under 4s and new mums: www.firststepsnutrition.org/eating-well-early-years

I have noted that scotch pancakes, scones, crumpets, oatcakes, banana bread, malt loaf and flapjacks are all acceptable snacks. Along with the usual fruit, veg, hummus, veg dips, toast, nut butters, cheese, yoghurt etc.

@Selfcarequeereyestyle that dahl sounds so nice, I’ve bookmarked it. Great idea to make your own snacks.
@GlumyGloomer I find sewing and colouring 😊 quite distracting.

B: Plums, Greek yoghurt, peanut butter granola
L: Tuna Mayo sandwich, a few tortilla chips, apple
D: Salad, roast peppers, new potatoes, seeds and mackerel

Also done a body weight workout with Laura Hoggins - she is a really calm trainer. I get so put off by trainers who shout (too much like PE)!

Back in the office tomorrow so will need to plan my lunch in advance.

Come to think of it I used to listen to music, of the loud angry rock variety, but that's not so easy with kids demanding my attention every second. Eating something is just such a quick fix, although obviously not good health wise.
questions I find it such a mission to go out with my two. It might be their ages, hoping it'll get better as the toddler gets a bit more independent.

Lunch was a bit of a disaster for various reasons, and the curry wasn't great either. I made my own curry paste, with no chilli so it suits the kids, and the texture ended up really grainy. Also without the chilli it was way too bland. For dinner we had a tuna and caper panzanella, which was nice. In my effort to eat more veg I included cucumber (not one I like really) and it worked quite well. The vinegar made the cucumber more palatable I think.

selfcare, thanks for the dal recipe. My last attempt at dal did not end well but I'm convinced that was the recipes fault...

@GlumyGloomer - I've no idea, it's been years since I've made gnocchi! And I'm now unable to eat wheat, so I'd have to find a recipe that works with wheat-free flour. But, I did make gnocchi many years ago, & seem to remember it being not so hard. If the potato is still in the fridge, I think I'll probably have fishcakes, though. I've been in bed the last couple of days with a migraine, so I'm not doing anything fancy. I had 2 nectarines & a chocolate oatmeal cookie for breakfast/lunch today.

I had egg & chips yesterday. And an apple. My usual "stuck in bed with a migraine" fare, once I'm done with the sleeping, paralysis, & throwing up phases. At least my DH has (mostly) stopped trying to get me to eat takeaway now, since he realised it consistently causes me a) painful bloating, & b) further migraines. Egg & chips requires very little effort but it doesn't make me ill & it's not nutritionally empty. I usually ask for a tomato as well, but he usually forgets it. My other option is tinned soup. Occasionally I manage to batch cook.

@GlumyGloomerl try involving the kids in listening to some angry music. It might help you and it would be such a good skill to teach them. Imagine how cool it would be if nex time they are cross they ask to listen/dance to some angry music instead of acting out! Also you get to teach them good musical taste ;)

Update on the fishcakes... make sure you make fishcakes over a decent heat. We don't have a working hob at present - it's been forever (actually only since February) & we're coping with a shitty little single electric hotplate thing. Which doesn't heat up as much as a gas ring. Hence, fallen apart fishcakes. Still delicious though. I kept them hot in the oven while I very slowly boiled some broccoli to have with them.

I love a fish cake. Just started listening from the very beginning to Dr Rangan Chatterjee’s podcasts as mentioned on another thread. Fascinating one about Gut health and increasing amounts of fibre (but not bran cereals, more vegetables). Seemed very keen on increasing the variety of foods we eat too.

B: 1/2 grapefruit, 2 slices seeded toast
L: Mackerel salad, kiwi
D: Gammon shanks, parmentiere potatoes, cabbage (basically a Tesco meal deal), 2 glasses wine
S: Caramelised onion flatbread

Sisyphus I feel your pain. We didn't have an oven for two months after moving house. There were a lot of microwave meals, certainly no homemade fish cakes so you're doing well.
I was also planning to make fish cakes, as I impulse bought a pack of fish pie mix on special offer. What I forgot to then also buy was potatoes, sigh. I'm wondering if I can make then with breadcrumbs instead.
Tonight for dinner we had sea bream with a tomato, olive and white wine sauce. I thought it was great, the kids loved it, and Dh....said it was too fishy . Oh well. At least most of us enjoyed it.

Glumy not sure about the breadcrumbs, but you could substitute sweet potato? Or do a fish pie with a breadcrumb topping? The sea bream sounds lovely.

Wilderness you may be right. My new plan is to make up the fish for a fish pie and then freeze it so that I can just top with potato next week. I think 3 fish dinners in a row would prove too much for Dh anyway, lol.
Pesto pasta for lunch, baked chicken using more of the homemade curry paste for dinner. Hopefully it goes better than the tofu curry...

Yesterday
B: Melon, plum, seeded toast
L: Poached egg on chard, seeded toast, apple
D: Broccoli pesto pasta with bacon & tomatoes, Apple turnover, 2 glasses wine
S: Tortillas

Wow, doesn’t writing it down really focus your attention on that it is starchy carb heavy. I’m sure I can do better with my lunches.

@GlumyGloomer ha! We'd managed without a microwave, toaster or electric kettle for several years before this, but had to give in as it was impossible with no oven either. Also, DH accidentally* bought an electric egg cooker which I was initially sceptical of, but is actually pretty fantastic, as I get perfect soft eggs every time. DH can't for some reason, I conclude he's crap in the kitchen, or inattentive to detail, & needs to practice more.

*He claims he was looking at it, & didn't realise he'd added it to his basket. Nor did he spot it when he checked the basket out. Doofus.

Hello, can I join you? I am trying to eat intuitively. Fed up of dieting and all the associated crap. I want to eat nice food and enjoy it. Full stop.

I have meal planned lots of delicious things for the next few weeks. Lots of veg from garden, higher quality ingredients and eating at the table so I can focus on the tastes and textures.

Went foraging this morning for blackberries to go with the apples from the garden and made blackberry slice. Have elderberry and blackberry jam on the go too.

Hi @TerrifiedandWorried

@Wildernesstips I'll check out that podcast. I think a lot about microbiomes. My kids and I have all had antibiotics in the past couple of years and they are only tiny, so I worry about that. I don't buy probiotics or anything, but have heard that variety is really helpful in buildinga healthy gut.

Had a fabulous lunch yesterday, with lots of stuff picked from the garden (not grown by me, but some stuff planted by a previous tenant which has survived my complete neglect). The tomatoes especially were wonderful :)

Can I join, I really need to get my diet a bit better, TBF I thought I was doing all of these but I am always hungry (well, OK, not always, but often between meals). I fill in My Fitness Pal most days and it looks like I'm not eating enough protein, but I can't really think where I can add it.
I am not a huge fan of eggs for breakfast but I do have them sometimes (just a bit impractical with two small children). They tend to eat sandwiches for lunch and pasta/meat and veg/fish and wedges/chicken and wedges type things for tea. So quite carb heavy.

Suggestions were adding protein to lunch (not got a huge amount of appeal to me, I do like a bean salad or a chicken salad but they don't seem to fill me up without carbs), protein filled snacks (I already eat nuts but again they don't seem to hold me, and not much else appeals!

Thoughts? what has helped you not to be so blooming hungry but still actually eat with your family? I am not going to eat different meals to them, that's just going to drive everyone mad. I tried being vegan for a couple of months which was just about bearable as I had the vegan version of a meal or sausages etc. but anything more different woudl lead to me cooking two dinners a day which is NOT going to happen!

Have just Googled and came across this

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/high-protein-lunch

Frankly, no. That's a whole dinner for 4 level of effort for lunch for one. Back to the drawing board!

@SisyphusAndTheRockOfUntidiness wrongly got our microwave to tide us over until we could get a new oven, but I love it. Steamfresh veg has been my saviour since my youngest turned into a toddler.

@TerrifiedandWorried that jam sounds yum

@drspouse I find if I have porridge for breakfast I get less hungry between meals for the rest of the day. Which is great, only I love toast for breakfast and often can't resist.

Bad day today, dd2 has a fever and a rash, and trying to get seen these days is a nightmare. Probably just a virus but worrying all the same. A large number of amaretti biscuits have comforted me through it, and I won't beat myself up over it because these things happen and the odd blip is not the end of the world. Just need to make sure I do get back on track though. Dinner today was another recipe from my italian book, chicken cooked in white wine and vinegar. I thought it was quite nice. Dh did not like it. I got this book because he made a big deal of loving italian food, but basically he just loves pasta and pizza...

@drspouse the tuna meals don’t look too bad on that link but not particularly filling. I always seem to be hungry , but then I’m on steroids for life and believe me it feels like your appetite is insatiable - I ballooned from 7st 7 to almost 10 st initially - now about 9st 4. However, if I keep myself occupied I don’t need to snack. Which is why evenings are worse, especially after wine...see below.

B: 1/2 grapefruit, seeded toast
L: Mackerel salad, kiwi
D: Pizza, chips, homemade coleslaw, 2 glasses wine
S: tortilla chips

Also did a Pilates session. Always feel better after that.

I've been eating overnight oats for breakfast but still get hungry!