*Trigger warning* Eating for Health and Wellness

[Guest_1055]

I have been struggling eating and eating healthy foods over the last couple of weeks. I really do not want to go back further to how I use to eat, that is eating junk food, takeaways, copious amounts of chocolate, processed junk and comfort eating.

Finding it challenging to stay motivated to actually prepare what I know helps me feel better mentally, emotionally and physically. Plus I have been feeling overwhelmed with other stuff happening in my life, which somehow makes it more challenging. The old unhealthy comfort eating thing is coming back. And I think I am getting concerned and scared about that. I so much do not want to go back to how I use to be. I was so sick. Plus I now have some physical things not right in my body , so I need to be more careful and mindful of what I eat. ( Pre cancer cells , high blood pressure )

I was eating really well since Febuary of this year, it’s just the last couple of weeks I haven’t.

So I would like to use this thread to help me be accountable to Beyond Blue people. So like a diary where I can post and report what I eat. And also any healthy eating tips, motivating strategies to help eat better or anything related to healthy eating for our bodies including our mental health.

[Guest_1055]

Lunch today was cauliflower, potato, onion and sweet potato soup.

Dinner is cooking at the moment. Roast potato and pumpkin. Then green beans, cauliflower, carrot all with mushroom gravy.

[Paw Prints]

Hello Shell,

Your post reminded me that I still haven't tried sweet potatoes... I tend to just automatically grab white potatoes... plus I think there is also a doubt in my mind about what they might taste like...

I see your soup had potatoes plus sweet potatoes... I'm curious how you find using sweet potatoes... are they like white potatoes in texture & bland taste or more like pumpkins or carrots etc.

I do want to keep increasing the variety of vegetables I use... I have slowly been adding new things (new for me)... but I do still only eat a limited number of things.

Paws

[Guest_1055]

Hi dear Paws,

The soup was mostly cauliflower. The sweet potato in this was cut up real small, just to give the soup a bit more colour.

I buy the sweet potato that is orange inside. And orange on the outside. I don't find it bland. It tastes a little like pumpkin but not as strong. The orange one is sweeter then a white potato. I like them roasted the best. There is a purple sweet potato and a white one I believe. I haven't tried either of these. But keen to try the purple one.

The texture yeah is pretty similar to a white potato texture. Mashed sweet potato is yummy too.

[Ggrand]

Hello Shelly, Paws and everyone...

Ive not tried watercress, so I googled it..and it is very nutritious...This is something that I will try soon...Thank you for mentioning it..

I did try fennel in my salad yesterday..oh the flavour it added was so yummy...Definitely a must for my fridge..Summertime means salad time for me and many others...it’s the only thing I like about summer....

I have had sweet potato a few times at my neighbours but never bought it..I agree it does taste a little like pumpkin..I love pumpkin the best of all...If I roasted a full one..I’m sure I’ll eat the whole lot in one sitting😂😂...

Never tried smoothies really....Oh I did once and it was horrible, thick and tasteless..I’m sure I done it wrong though...I will look more into the ingredients that blend together...

I have hit a plateau and not lost any more weight..That’s not bothering much as I do like my new eating habits..and don’t think I will change it very much...

A few nights ago..feeling down and crying..I started comfort eating...A large pkt of Smith Chips..followed by a couple of chocolate biscuits...I was angry with myself after I finished...but then realised that I can return to my healthy eating the next day....and just accepted that I fell backwards for a day....and that is okay...Everyday is a new day and everyday we can start again towards healthy eating...

This week..I did buy another packet of Smith’s Chips...because I like them..this time I won’t devour the whole packet in one sitting...or will I ?....😂😂.

Take care everyone...and if you comfort eat today..tomorrow you can always start again...

A movie I like is Dinotopia..There is a quote that the daughter said to her father...

We eat to live...not live to eat...I love this little quote and it has helped me so much....I have it on my fridge and cupboards doors...

My love and hugs to all you beautiful people..💜🤗

Grandy..

[Miz]

Ggrand...I agree sometimes we all eat our comfort foods and go a little overboard - but you're right we can always start again the next day!

For me I love dark chocolate, helps with my happy hormones as well 🙂

[Guest_1055]

I have been struggling enormously with comfort eating of both chocolate and hot chips. And someone in my household bought cinamon fruit bread from bakers delight. It is just too hard to see it sit there and not eat any of it. So I did lots of slices.

I am still eating either a salad or a smoothie in a day.

Feeling so flat, sad, crying more, far away and alone at times.

I know for me I cope so much better and emotions are so stable when absolutely I only eat mostly plants, vegetabkes, fruit, a small amount of oats, seeds and raw nuts. And on occasions whole grain spelt pasta. Plus fresh juices. And plenty of filtered water.

My thoughts are more clear too. No brain fog. More energy.

Think I need to be honest with myself... I am addicted to the sugar, salt crap food. Only with those junk food I mentioned. I don't seem to turn to much other junk. I am unable to eat only one piece of chocolate and leave the rest for another day. It sucks. Wish I could. Truly like an alcoholic. I don't drink it. But this addiction seems the same. I can abstain from junk for a time..Maybe even a few months. Then bam that's it. Just taste a small amount of refined sugar in something. Then as the days go on, I want more and more. Until it gets so bad, like now.

It starts to make me feel my heartbeat in my head. Motivation to take care of myself decreases. When I feel sad and flat. I just seem not to care. I get headaches. I feel like crying ( not when I am far away though) that is the flat feeling.

I think I am one of those people that need to eat my personal healthy, I need to exercise, I need to sleep good, I need sunshine and fresh air to feel better in not only physical ways, but mental, spiritual, and emotional ways.

It is not easy when your household eats different either.

[Ggrand]

Hello Dear Shelly...

I am lucky in one way that for me to buy a chocolate or junk food I need to travel to the nearest shops which is 25 kilometres away....and over an hour of travelling time..not to mention the cost of fuel...

When I shop I don’t buy chocolates or much junk food, except either Smith’s/Arnott chips..I buy only 2 packets and I spread that over 2 weeks....I don’t buy biscuits or cakes...or I’ll eat them....now I buy fresh strawberries, pineapples, and kiwi fruit for my sugar cravings..they seem to be working mostly....The chips I usually have Friday/Saturday and/or Sunday nights only to make the weekend feel a bit special..the fruits I eat when ever I’m hungry between meals...

It wasn’t always like that though...after I lost my husband well a few years after..I started buying lots of chocolate, biscuits, cake etc and take away meals...because now I could..with no one around to tell me off and throw them away....That went on for a few years...With the depression and the anxiety meds plus all the junk food, my weight went up..I was tired and breathless all the time...So I made up my mind to stop...hmmm..it took another couple of years of trying to get off the junk food with a lot of berating myself., tears, sadness, etc...before I realised that I can do this this...

Not that long ago..just a few months, I put my plan into action of not buying any junk food..so far so good...I think there is a reason behind comfort eating..the reason for me was...that I could buy it and not be told off....

Sometimes when we deny ourselves things for a while, then have some..it is like something goes bang in our head and the craving escalate that much it’s hard to stop..Maybe a little each second day might squash those overwhelming cravings....I mean a little, just a small piece of “junk” food I found was enough to keep my cravings at bay...and while you’re eating healthy foods for your main meals, your weight, moods, mental and physical health won’t suffer as much as binge eating in one sitting....I know it’s hard Shelly..because I’ve been their...it’s like a vicious never ending circle....

My kind thoughts beautiful Shelly...with my care and respect..

Grandy..

[Hanna3]

Gosh I don't know why i haven't been following this thread it's great!

Grandy when you cook the stir fry do you cook the veggies first? Like simmer the carrots in water? I've never done a stir fry and I want to eat more veggies!

🍅🥕🍆🍄🌽

[Ggrand]

Hello Hanna...and everyone..

Yes I do Hanns..I cut what vegetables I like fairly chuncky...carrots, zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, snow peas..and zap them in a microwave steamer with a bit of water for 4-5 minutes..empty the water out then add to my frypan with some diced mushrooms and some chicken pieces from a Woolworths bbq chicken...and salt, pepper, garlic that I crush and parsley...all fresh..

Then just fry them all together in the frypan with a small bit of olive oil....I don’t like the stir fry sauces...It’s up to you if you want to use them....I just prefer the different flavours of the vegetables..I find the stir fry sauces hides the flavours...

Kind thoughts everyone..

Grandy

[Guest_1055]

Hi👋

Grandy I do like the sound of all those vegetables in your stir fry. I am imagining the mushrooms and garlic would add a yummy flavour. I do like your tip on steaming the vegetables before stir frying. I am going to do that next time I make a stir fry. See how I go.

Grandy yeah that would be easier to not buy junk living so far away from a shop. There is a 24 hour service station just down the road from my place. It sells a vast array of chocolate etc. And a supermarket about a 20 minute walk. And loads of takeaways on the drive to the beach. Not taking any money or ATM card to the beach has helped me not buy junk in the past. I don't buy any junk food for myself when I do a big grocery shop either.

Yum strawberries, pineapple and kwi fruit are good for a snack. I like those...I only buy organic strawberries because the ones around here are sprayed with harmful chemicals. I am liking fresh blueberries at the moment.

And yeah you probably felt so much freedom to be able to choose junk food back then. No one was now controlling you. When I got my first job... around about 16 years old. I bought regular packets of chocolate biscuits with my own money. Quite a few packets at once and ate them from large glass cookie jar that I had in my bedroom. Because I could now.

Like you, I also like pumpkin especially roasted. And fennel in a salad. I have added it in a fresh juice. Maybe I will experiment with it in a salad too.

Hello Hanna, Paws and Miz