In dire need of help... or a kick up the bum

2tonsils

Just a thought....if you are on medication to replace thyroid hormones, do you take the meds close to your breakfast? I am asking as my endocrinologist told me they are rendered ineffective if you take them close to a breakfast that contains dairy...for instance, your yogurt in the morning. If you do take them in the morning there should be a gap of an hour before having any dairy, or you could take them at another time in the day.

I noticed that you drink diet cola and eat low fat yogurt but your meals are high in fat. The processed food is not very healthy and will hinder your hopes of getting your metabolism back to normal. I know, I have battled the same thing, as well as having celiac disease. The only way I can lose weight is with a healthy diet of a little protein (like chicken or fish ) with lots of fresh fruit and veg and good oils like olive oil and coconut oil for cooking. You could look into getting fresh veg delivered to your home or work. Making your own soups would be great for lunch or you could pack a salad with a few prawns or cooked meat. Make your own dips with the canned beans you already have. Low fat yoghurts are full of nasty things like lots of sugar and flavouring. I use Greek yogurt and a big pot lasts me for about nine days. I have it with fruit chopped in it (any on offer or frozen if I run out) and add some hemp protein powder which is cheap and very good for you if you have any health problems. I freeze all leftovers or make them into another meal. You can clean and chop fresh veg and fruit and freeze it as it is to put into soup and smoothies. I make my own with a cheap blender from Lidl, which is the best I have ever owned. Good luck

trina2010

I think a lot of good advice has been given, I had a couple of ideas which I use which might help.
Less variety in meats - I try to keep a menu plan to 1 or 2 types of meat a week, so maybe chicken and pork or turkey and beef, buying 3/4 different meats soon mounts up! I also buy meats when on offer and portion them out, a portion is 125g, so in a pack of for example chicken mini fillets in the split tub is actually 3 portions of meat, but the packaging is designed so it looks like 2 portions. I have a freezer full of bags of meat in portions of 2 for me and hubby so I just lift out a bag.
I don't see eggs featuring in your meal plan? - eggs are by far the cheapest protein source, good for you and filling, lidl do 6 large free range eggs for 99p (you can get much cheaper if you aren't bothered about free range as well)
Spices - I keep an eye out at lidl/aldi after they've had regional offers on, eg american week/Chinese week etc they quite often reduce excess stock afterwards to get rid of it and you can pick up some great bargains. I got I think 4 bottles of fish sauce for 89p at one stage, supermarkets the same is considerably more.
Low fat yoghurts as many have said aren't good, they just replace the fat with sugar, Muller yoghurts being the worst culprits, I would definitely look at natural yoghurt, if ur really against the big tubs I'm sure you can buy it in individual tubs for much cheaper, or there is an in between tub size also which may be better and would do a couple of days rather than a week or more and save the waste.
That's ended up a rather longer post than intended but I hope some of it might be worth considering!

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel

2tonsils wrote: »

Just a thought....if you are on medication to replace thyroid hormones, do you take the meds close to your breakfast? I am asking as my endocrinologist told me they are rendered ineffective if you take them close to a breakfast that contains dairy...for instance, your yogurt in the morning. If you do take them in the morning there should be a gap of an hour before having any dairy, or you could take them at another time in the day.

No I always wait an hour (Endo told me the same thing as you but thank you anyway!) - My thyroxine isn't working correct (I'm under consultant now and they are testing for various things)

sue_mulberry

First - check fridge and cupboards and write down what you really NEED to buy.

Secondly - shop on your own; do not take the kids, husband, mother or anyone else! Alternatively use on-line shopping, using the cheap / free time slots.

Thirdly - Try to shop when time is limited by, maybe, collecting children, short parking, need to catch bus etc, so you do not have time to browse.

Lastly - Do NOT shop when hungry!

I have been there and used these rules which really worked. Shopping little and often also cuts down on waste if it can be fitted into your lifestyle.

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel

well so far on my shopping list for 2 weeks there is:


Food:


Bread
Milk
Salad
Tinned tomatoes x2
Red kidney beans
Barny bears (for the kids!)
Yogurt
Mince
Potatoes


I also need:


Dog food
Rabbit food
and a cleaning spray

pigpen

Doc_N wrote: »

How peculiar.......and it's not that long ago that you were telling us what good value Aldi and Lidl are! (".....take the money to Lidl or Aldi and do your shopping there.. that is how you'll get the most from the money.")


I never said I shop there, the prices look ok and others seem to sing its virtues.. our Aldi is full of druggies and has bouncers and often has brawling customers... it's lovely. I've only once been to Aldi.. and never bought anything, I gave up after a couple of brawling 'gentlemen' blocked the tills.
Lidl quality is appalling here, it was ok when I went in a few times a long time ago.. it was horrific when I went in about 3 months ago.. maybe they ship all their left over crap from other shops to feed to the people here, I know there are SM's that do that. Regards the quality of their produce I just assumed it was a one off, but wasn't prepared to waste my time going there again.
The aisle staff were helpful enough but the till staff were plain snotty.

I find it difficult to take your comments about Aldi and Lidl seriously - none of it seems to be based on reality. Did you have a nightmare, perhaps? Labels not in English? Illegal, and certainly not true - there's always an English section.


of course it is legal, pmsl.. Tesco has a whole aisle of 'world foods' What would the Asian and Chinese supermarkets sell if it was illegal??... are you living on another planet or another country where they do not allow anything other than their own produce?
I had to ask what was in a tin on my first Lidl trip because the picture looked like pizza.. it was fruit cocktail.. had it been tinned pizza, I'd have bought it!

And then there's the annual Which? top supermarket award. And the winner? Aldi - with Lidl 4th after Waitrose and M&S. Tesco were next to bottom.


they obviously didn't come to the one here. Asda is probably the worst here... though, there might not be a probably required.

"For the first time ever, Aldi has been voted Britain's top supermarket, according to the annual Which? supermarket survey.

Aldi's 76% customer score means it narrowly edges out Waitrose (75%), which has been voted the best supermarket every year since our survey started in 2007."

Who are you kidding?

Obviously you are a deprived individual who has not experienced the whole ordeal of my local shop.. you should, it is like a whole new level of OMG!!

You can always go to one of the Asda's.. I've seen people giving babies of about 4 months old cigarettes, small children with cans and bottles of alcohol, 'ladies' fighting, drugs being sold/bought, people stealing whole trolleys of food... it's like a whole different world.

If you fancy some serious people watching Asda is the place to go!

button_box

I would agree with other people that trying not to be wedded to "brands" is a good idea. There are certain brands that we prefer and I have registered with a supermarket price comparison site who send me an"alert" to tell me when these are on offer. The bulk of my shopping I do in a well known German deli! I have to travel 12 miles to get to a large supermarket, so, I tend to stock up on the staples. I find that L's store cupboard standby ingredients are usually cheaper than the other big supermarkets. Their fruit and veg is usually better and cheaper and a lot of their frozen veg is good.
They stock a 4 pack of Br. baked beans (£1.25) which my family think are superior to the market leader. We tried many cheaper varieties and did not like them. Their natural 4 pack of (active) yogurt is smooth and not bitter at all ( Some natural yogurts can be quite acidic). Maybe a bit of long term planning would help the food bills as well. I forgot to sow spring onions this year and can't believe the price of them in the shops. I have now sown some which will overwinter. There is still time to sow salad items like lettuce and spinach etc. Putting some pennies aside just now can help you get seeds etc. to help with some food crops in the spring. loads of things can be grown in pots. Check out the gardening thread for ideas.
We sometimes have a once round the fridge dinner. This is usually bits and bobs that have been leftover from various meals and the can be turned into soup/Spanish omelette/ fried rice etc. However, the schools have been on holiday here for the past month and my16yr old son has been doing a lot of manual work, so, not many leftovers just now. Try not to get too bogged down in the detail or you won't be able to see things clearly. Set yourself some realistic goals and decide what small changes you can make. best of luck.

tomtombeanie

Gigervamp wrote: »

Poundland sell packs of the containers used by Chinese takeaways. I've collected quite a few over the years from takeaways and they're great for freezing leftovers.

...and if you buy margarine/spreads/whatever in tubs, save those and reuse them. Most of my freezer containers are aldi's beautifully butterly margarine tubs or takeaway type containers. Ikea do nice cheap plastic sets if you fancy bought ones.

tomtombeanie

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel wrote: »

well so far on my shopping list for 2 weeks there is:


Food:


Bread
Milk
Salad
Tinned tomatoes x2
Red kidney beans
Barny bears (for the kids!)
Yogurt
Mince
Potatoes


I also need:


Dog food
Rabbit food
and a cleaning spray

Just a thought on your barney bears - I work in a school so I know them well - if you have a spare 20 mins you can throw together some fairy cakes or easy biscuits, your little ones might enjoy helping and you will get so much more for your £1. Great to freeze and helps get kids into both baking and saving money, explain you can save pennies by making your own "barney" treats. A girl called jack has a few nice ideas for simple baking that she uses to treat her own small boy.

You have taken the main step already by deciding that things need to change, good luck

OOPOS491

pigpen wrote: »

Obviously you are a deprived individual who has not experienced the whole ordeal of my local shop.. you should, it is like a whole new level of OMG!!

You can always go to one of the Asda's.. I've seen people giving babies of about 4 months old cigarettes, small children with cans and bottles of alcohol, 'ladies' fighting, drugs being sold/bought, people stealing whole trolleys of food... it's like a whole different world.

If you fancy some serious people watching Asda is the place to go!

OMG pigpen, where on earth do you live? Either you live in a ghetto - fighting in Aldi [I love my Aldi - especially for their cooked meats - far superior to Morrisons]; foreign foods in Lidl [my friends favourite shop] and a Home Bargains you wouldn't set foot in - or you really are a terrible snob, looking down your nose at others less fortunate. I was enjoying your posts until you berated all those shops - quite unfairly, in my opinion.