Eating healthy- what do you eat

[Bobbinsbop]

After years of yo-yo dieting I need to stop this once and for all.
I just want to eat healthily but my view on food is so disordered o don’t know what I should be eating anymore.
what so of things do you all eat?

[Mushroomlady]

Typical day:

Banana porridge with berries and flaked almonds for breakfast

Hearty salad for lunch, eg. Brown rice with cooked veg, raw spinach and tofu with a homemade peanut, ginger, garlic, sesame soy sauce dressing.

Chickpea vegetable curry for dinner with broccoli

Snacks: couple squares dark choc and or a couple of rich tea biscuits

Drink: rooibos tea with oat milk

Absolutely no fizzy drinks, sugary cakes.
Crisps or chips maybe once a week.

I've never dieted. I love my food and eat until I'm full, but I do eat naturally quite small portions.

[onelittlefrog]

This really depends on your definition of 'healthy'.

I consider myself to have a normal, healthy diet. I am not a health freak and I wouldn't go to the extremes of the above poster who has nothing fizzy or sugary.

Normal day for me...

Porridge or cereal for breakfast, usually with some banana. Might have a cereal bar if in a rush. Coffee.

Sandwich, salad or leftovers for lunch

Snack: Popcorn, fruit, yoghurt, occasionally a packet of crisps/ biscuits/ small piece of cake

Dinner: Pretty much always home cooked, pescatarian. Things like prawn noodle soup, fish curry, vegetarian lasagne with lentils and butternut squash, soup, pasta with vegetables, fishcakes with couscous and veg.
Dinner usually contains 2 types of veg at least, often 3.

Evening: Might have a single piece of chocolate and/ or alcoholic drink about 3-4 nights a week

My diet's not perfect and there are lots of little treats but I'm healthy so happy with it.

If you yo-yo diet, the trick is to get onto an even keel with something sustainable. My diet could be lower in calories and higher in nutrition, but the thing is it's sustainable and I can do it long-term, I don't get urges to binge and I'm satisfied. That's what's important for me.

[bluechameleon]

I eat porridge with fruit and sometimes peanut butter, or toast and peanut butter, or eggs on toast, or greek yoghurt, fruit and seeds for breakfast. I have something like veg curry or salad for lunch, light on the carbs. For dinner I have curries, stir fries etc. I have a smaller portion of carbs with dinner than I used to and lots more veg. Protein for dinner usually comes from beans or lentils, but I have fish once a week and cheese once or twice. For snacks I have cucumber and cherry tomatoes, grapes, strawberries, blueberries, satsumas, maybe some popcorn. I always have something sweet every day as well, either biscuits or some chocolate or a mousse or something like that. I think it's a pretty healthy diet and if I don't go crazy I keep off the weight I lost 4 years ago. If I do put a bit on I just cut down a bit for a couple of weeks.

[onelittlefrog]

Also having said the above, of course that's just a snapshot and not the same every day of my life.

Sometimes I have days when I skip lunch for example, and then sometimes I have days when I will eat out and have a massive portion. Sometimes I'll have a big piece of cake out at a cafe, etc.

Life's for living, it's all about moderation and balance. If you eat a lot one day, eat a bit less the next, etc.

[Fanfaire]

The mushroom lady isn’t representative of the general population’s diet!

[butimjayigetaway]

What I do is provide a basic diet that is healthy, and from there we can eat things that aren't healthy but it doesn't really matter since our main diet is healthy.

Loads of lentil recipes in place of mince: bolognaise, lasagne, cottage pie.

Lots of fresh salads.

Dandelion soup from the garden as the leaves contain lots of nutrients.

[WaahWaahWaah]

ooh, @butimjayigetaway please could you share your recipe for dandelion soup? We have lots of the buggers in the garden…

[Wiggledypiggledy]

Typical day for me:

overnight soaked oats or porridge for breakfast, with toasted seeds and pecan nuts and honey. Or peanut butter and blueberries if we have them in

coffee with oat milk barista

couple of slices of bread (made in the bread machine so not ultra processed), cheese or hummus, mixture of veg on the side - cucumber, avocado, carrot, celery, beetroot, sugar snap peas (whatever’s in the fridge). Home made veg soup if I have time to make it.

(OR last night’s leftovers for lunch)

home made dinner - usually vegan because DH is vegan. I love to cook. Things like:
aubergine and chickpea tagine with cous cous
mushroom risotto
spaghetti and meatballs
bean chilli wraps
butternut squash North African stew
pasta and home made pesto
leftover veg curry with brown rice
ratatouille and filled pasta

occasional square of dark chocolate

Absolutely no fizzy drinks ever, no fruit juice either. I don’t eat biscuits or cake unless home made, occasionally crisps but don’t ever buy them.

I do eat pretty massive portions though as I hate being hungry. I do a lot of walking and run at least once a week. Feel like I’m pretty healthy and I’m very slim.

[steff13]

Breakfast is the same very day: Plexus Pink Drink in 16 oz of water; 16 oz of coffee blended with 1 scoop of protein powder and 2 scoops of collagen powder

For lunch and dinner I've been having:
Deli meat "sandwiches" with lettuce instead of bread; chicken breast; lean pork chops; veggies; toast with PB and banana slices; Oikos Triple Zero Greek yogurt with fruit; cottage cheese with tomatoes; eggs. Some combination of those usually

Snacks: Fruit, veggies, or a protein bar

[Worldgonecrazy]

Breakfast - I 16:8 fast in the week so just have a hot lemon. At weekends I have porridge with nuts, flax seed, 100% coco powder and honey.

Lunch is either a salad or a slice of whole grain sourdough with feta and avocado.

snack is an apple with peanut butter or a nut bar

dinner tonight is cauliflower, mushroom and paneer curry with full fat crème fraiche, followed by a square of 95% dark chocolate . Last night I had feta baked with mushrooms and tomatoes and salad.

I don’t do anything low fat, and at weekends I will have two or three glasses of red wine, an ice cream or two (proper ice cream made by a small local supplier), hoummus and tzatziki with crackers as a TV snack. The main food rules I follow are low glycaemic, and as close to original state as possible. A good rule of thumb is if it has more than five ingredients, or you can’t pronounce them, avoid it. My once every 2 months treat is Coca Cola, full sugar. I avoid anything diet or with artificial sweeteners. I also don’t calorie count. I do exercise for at least 30 minutes every day - strength, functional fitness are my main routines with a bit of cardio or running at the weekends.

[steff13]

I did find a good little treat if you like dark chocolate. Whole Foods sells 70% dark chocolate melts by a company called Beyond Good. They're about the diameter of a penny, and they are 90 calories for 15. I've never eaten 15 at once, I usually eat about 6.

[Mushroomlady]

@Fanfaire

The mushroom lady isn’t representative of the general population’s diet!

Obviously not. The OP just asked what people are eating. I don't think my answer was very different from what others on this thread have posted.

[butimjayigetaway]

@WaahWaahWaah

ooh, @butimjayigetaway please could you share your recipe for dandelion soup? We have lots of the buggers in the garden…

I did not enjoy the petals, they felt furry. My daughter did though.

We picked the leaves (and petals) and washed then blanched them.

Then the soup was built up using some orange lentils, onion, garlic, butter, and corn niblets sauteed in a large pan.

Stock, leaves, and petals were added. Potatoes would go well.

I now use the leaves in pesto and smoothies. The pesto was lovely! I used walnuts and oil with sundried tomatoes for that.

[prettylittlethingss]

I generally have

Greek yoghurt and fruit with a low sugar granola and seeds for breakfast.

Avocado/hummus and tomatoes on whole meal toast and a piece of fruit for lunch.

Coffee and a fruit and nut bar for a snack.

Turkey mince and vegetable chilli/chicken rice and veg/jacket potato and salad etc for dinner.

An apple and peanut butter/sometimes some chocolate for dessert.

Not overly healthy but makes me feel content and good. Not too unhealthy either.

[Foxglovesandlilacs86]

at the moment I’m having

breakfast-fat free Greek yogurt, strawberries, banana, walnuts and a lit a tablespoon of honey OR eggs and spinach with rye bread with some seeds or avacado.

lunch I always have a salad, with dressing but no carbs.

dinner I have lots of variations of chicken or fish with veg and sometimes brown rice or some type of bread like wraps or pitta. I haven’t eaten pasta or potatoes for a while.

I think it’s all quite healthy and I don’t feel hungry all the time and my energy is nice and stable.

I used to have my coffee with 6 teaspoons of half spoon sugar (so it tasted like 12 tsp of sugar 😳😂) and eat chocolate throughout the day. I was basically addicted to sweet stuff.

[Antarcticant]

I don't eat any ultra-processed food, and minimise processed and refined foods. So I base my diet on meat, veg, fish, eggs cooked from scratch with some dairy and a small amount of bread, using unprocessed fats for cooking - i.e. butter, lard, dripping, olive oil.

This is based on the 'Why we eat (too much)' (Andrew Jenkinson) principles.

[Bakedpotatoesfortea]

I've also been a yo-yo dieter for years and my 'healthy diet' probably is not healthy to most people on here. But it's a long way on from where I was.

I try not to skip meals. I sometimes can't face much first thing but try to have a handful of nuts anyway.

I don't use meal replacement shakes anymore. I try and eat my calories in real food.

I drink lots of water. But also a fair bit of sugar free fizzy and don't beat myself up for that. I'm reducing it slowly, and am incorporating some green and herbal teas.

I don't eat low fat anything. I eat fat at every meal, be that avocado, nuts, seeds, nut butter, cheese, oil based dressings, sour cream, yogurt, mayonnaise, olives, the whole of the egg (not just the whites) meat without the fat removed (chicken skin, pork crackling), fatty fish, etc.

I try and eat as much veg as possible. But don't beat myself up if I eat cake, ice cream or chocolate instead. I just eat more veg at the next meal.

I exercise for my mental health and to feel strong, for flexibility and to enjoy the use of my body, not to punish it in any way. I never exercise when my body hurts. I go at my own pace.

I am working on seeing who I am not as a 'before picture' but as a person who deserves love and compassion right now, especially from myself.

I have problems with binge eating, and realising that and my emotional relationship with food and the triggers for eating certain foods and overeating have really helped me. I try and play detective now, either before a binge if I interrupt that or after, but with a curiosity not with the intent to shame myself.

I have accepted that my body has been through a lot being on a yo yo journey with me and that it's going to take time for it to recover into a more stable pattern of eating, but it it happening and although I am not losing weight I am not gaining either. I have levelled out and my natural satiety is returning, my hunger signals are sorting themselves out, I no longer have big blood sugar crashes or anything. My blood pressure has also normalised. My gut health is recovering, it was really messed up for a while there as well.

But I eat pizza and donuts and cake and sweets and ice cream and chicken nuggets and burgers and all kinds, so I'm not sure others would see it as healthy. But for me it's finally viewing food in terms of what it will do for me, not wether it is a good or bad food or 'syn'

[PraiseBee]

Read the diet myth book. An excellent scientific, easy to read book that will set you on your way. Essentially, don't eat processed foods and eat as much variety as you can (30 different plant based food items a week) and you're all good

[Titsywoo]

@Mushroomlady

Typical day:

Banana porridge with berries and flaked almonds for breakfast

Hearty salad for lunch, eg. Brown rice with cooked veg, raw spinach and tofu with a homemade peanut, ginger, garlic, sesame soy sauce dressing.

Chickpea vegetable curry for dinner with broccoli

Snacks: couple squares dark choc and or a couple of rich tea biscuits

Drink: rooibos tea with oat milk

Absolutely no fizzy drinks, sugary cakes.
Crisps or chips maybe once a week.

I've never dieted. I love my food and eat until I'm full, but I do eat naturally quite small portions.

Any chance of that dressing recipe? Sounds amazing!

[Nowillpoweratall]

I'm trying to start eating better and finding this thread very inspiring!

[UnwantedOpinionBelow]

Breakfast: Serving of baked rolled oats with coffee (skimmed milk, no sugar)

Lunch: 3 egg omelette with herbs and reduced fat mature cheddar cheese

Dinner: Turkey mince, taco beans, brown rice, salad with dressing

Snacks: Dark chocolate, Greek yoghurt with fruit or protein yoghurt

[UnwantedOpinionBelow]

I will add I will eat a cheat meal once a week usually e.g a cheeky pizza on the weekend