Can you help give me ideas for my new healthy lifestyle?

fannyanna

I am trying to change my lifestyle to make it more healthy. I appreciate a healthy lifestyle isn’t just about what you eat but I need to take things one step at a time and for me that first step is changing my eating habits.

I didn’t grow up with much structure around eating so as an adult I have quite a few negative food related habits. I’ve always been overweight so seem to have slipped into the vicious cycle of all or nothing dieting (sticking religiously to a diet to inevitably falling off the wagon and as a consequence end up gorging on junk and takeaways).

So rather than going on a “diet” and following a particular plan I am trying to make general lifestyle changes. I’m trying to model what my naturally slim friends do – generally eat well but nothing is restricted – they just eat in moderation.

In the past I’ve eaten a lot of processed food so I am trying to eat more “real” food. Because I have PCOS my doctor has advised me to limit my carbohydrate intake.

It all sounds well and good but the problem is that I am struggling to come up with ideas of what to eat. This is partly because of my dislike for a lot of “healthy” food but partly because I just don’t know what people eat other than pizza, chips etc.

So far this week this is what I’ve been eating:

Breakfast = porridge.

Lunch = homemade chicken and vegetable soup with a homemade (small) wholemeal roll.

Snacks = natural yoghurt, fruit and homemade cranberry muffins (they’re healthy versions from a low GI recipe book). I also had a small portion of cheese the other day.

Dinner = chicken stir fry, pork stir fry, pork with a small amount of boiled potatoes and vegetables. Tonight I have some chilli con carne and I’ll probably have a small amount of brown rice.

I need to come up with some more food options as I can’t eat the same thing all the time. But I’m struggling to come up with ideas. I struggle with salads because I don’t really like most of the things you’d put in salad. I’m quite fussy with vegetables (don’t like mushrooms, peas, peppers or cauliflower) but there are vegetables that I will eat (cabbage, carrots, green beans, onions, leeks, swede etc).

Does anyone have any ideas of what I could eat?

SandC

Well to be honest that reads like a 'diet' to me, rather than making small but permanent lifestyle changes.

The idea of back to basics is a good one (in my opinion). Avoiding processed foods cuts a load of calorific and additive full stuff out of your diet and that should help with your IBS straight away.

But do baby steps. I personally don't see all carbs as a total enemy but our lifestyles which are full of processed food are also full of carbs as a result of that. Cut out processed and you already are cutting out the junk carbs - including a biggie which is sugar.

My first thing to go was sandwiches at lunch time. I swapped for soup. I still love sandwiches but I don't eat them as my work lunch, I have them sometimes. Just sometimes.

Just one more tip for now, when something is a treat, that means once a week max, not treating yourself all the time. Find something small to focus on and do that for weeks/months before you start on something else. Results won't come fast but they are more likely to stick.

oopsadaisydoddle

I'm struggling too. And I also have PCOS and IBS! I started another thread a while ago - it's on here somewhere - on phone can't do links!

I am having hypnotherapy - 1st session tuesday. This is not actually to help me lose weight, but hopefully to help me destress and relax a bit and to help my self esteem. This in turn, I'm hoping will help my bad relationship with food.

I love veggies and pulses and could happily live on HM veg chillies and curries etc but they just exacerbate my IBS so this means I struggle with normal meals and then i end up bingeing. Not keen on meat!

I think the key is to make it baby steps. And aim for small changes not expect to lose any weight overnight. Also to get active by doing something you like so then you won't feel like you 'have' to do it!

Now I'm off to practice what I preach.......

belfastgirl23

Sending you a PM

FitnessFan3

Hello.

There are many things to a healthy lifestyle, but in a nutshell the keep is everything is balance.

Sit down and look at what your aims are and what you want to achieve ... write them down.

From this you can then decide how you going to go about achieving this. Through exercise, through a diet or maybe both?

Just remember we have one life, so make it fun and enjoy it. If you make it a bore, you wont achieve it and just feel pants about it.

Hope that helps