HEALTHY EATING

Folara

Here it is the new Healthy Eating thread.

I'm Fols and I need to lose 3 stone but I want to eat healthy and make this a proper lifestyle change that I can live with for life. NOTHING is a bad food, everything is acceptable in reasonable quantities.

I am going to go shopping tomorrow with a friend to wheel me about so I can have a really good look at the fruit and salad/veg selection available. I think sometimes having the same old apples and oranges in the house can feel boring and make me feel despondent so I am going to look for things I can make a really yummy fruit bowl from. Also I think carrot and cucumber and celery sticks with a low fat dip will be good as I am more of a grazer than a 3 meal a day person. If I try to make me something I am not I will naturally rebel, so I will remain a grazer but with healthier food.

I have this gorgeous dress I bought last year to wear to my sons end of year event at his college. It's a very posh do and the dress was fairly expensive. As I am so broke now through not working I want to lose enough weight to get into the fab dress ready for mid June. I think about a stone would be good but anymore would be better.

I currently weigh 15 stone 1 lb (good grief I've piled it on!). No one has to put their weight on if they don't want to but no one would be judged if they did anyway.

This is a support posting, anyone who makes malicious or underhand comments will not be welcome. Of course we may need a kick up the bum sometimes, but do it in a well mannered and supportive manner.

I am also going to get a smaller plate and gradually cut down the size of food I eat. I can't afford to cook separate meals for me so I will just eat less of what I am doing for the family.

So that's me. Please feel free to post about yourself, your goals and ideas.

Thanks,

Fols x

barking1

Hi Fols what a great idea , i also suffer with the battle of the bulge and need to lose around 6 stone wow how did that happen the last week i have lost 3 pound just by swapping my ordinary meals for w/w meals i havnt changed anything else,still snacking im a bit of a chocolate,cheese addict so dont want to give it up really, but trying to eat a sensible amount and not over do it good luck and wishing you well on your weight loss journey x jane

Folara

Heya Jane. Glad you have joined us. Keep us updated weekly with your progress so we can all congratulate you and support you. The intention is we keep this thread 'alive and kicking' so any tips or ideas you think of just pop them on here

Sounds like you have made a brilliant start already. Well done. I think I will do myself a weigh in on a Sunday evening or Monday morning so every week is a fresh new one.

Fols x

hileena111

Hi Fols,
I go to Slimming World on a Tues evening....so you can give me a cyber kick up the bum on Wed mornings

Its a healthy eating plan. One you can stay on for life....not a crash diet.
I'm a vegetarian {thats got nothing to do with weight. }

I was at target weight and wasnt paying but still needed to go otherwise I just lapsed. Then a THR and immobile for a while and not able to drive to it....then a fractured pelvis. These made me pretty immobile but not my right hand
Bored silly my right hand kept going into the biscuit tin and finding my mouth Eventually I managed to pluck up the courage to go back. I'm now about 7lb above target weight....then i will stop paying.....but recently I've got this 1lb that comes on, lose it the next week, next week stay the same, put it on the next week and I seem to be stuck. :roll:
I want to lose more than that but thats my target weight so will try for that first.
I think now that I dont work and my husband is retired we go out for coffee more often and that means a cake as well :oops: {between us}
Well thats me.
I'll post on a Wed and if I dont if you notice remind me please
Love
Hileena

jaja

Hi folara...i'll join you...lost 2 stone last year but with a bad flare since xmas i'v put one back on!...so ye bring it on!...we can do a stone by june...the smaller plate sounds a really good idea..and fresh fruit...and something to graze on , all good tactics....i need to loose 4 stone but to be realistic i'd be happy to get this one off that i'v just put on!...half a stone on top of that would be great...im not brave enough to publicise my weight but i'll keep u posted with updates....JAJA

Folara

Thanks Hileena and JAJA.

I need to lose 3 stone but I think breaking that down into easier packages won't be so daunting so ......

I aim to lose a stone by 1st June

Fols x


Oh and I forgot to say. I have a terrible addiction the Sprite, no not the little green creatures, but the full sugar fizzy stuff. I tried to go on to the lower sugar one but YUK! Any tips to beat the addiction would be welcomed.

JuliaHod12

Hi Fols

I need to lose weight too, but already eat quite a healthy diet...I saw a dietitian a while ago and was advised to;

Cut out Cheese
Cut out Nuts
Use skimmed milk
Trim all fat off meat
Use low fat spread
Eat 1 low fat yogurt per day (for calcium)
Watch my portions (meat or protein should be the size of your hand's palm only)
Most of all........don't deny yourself anything!

All these little changes should still allow you to eat the same things as your family, but every little change helps.

Best of luck :-)

Julia x

Folara

Hmm see I just couldn't use skimmed milk or low fat spread. I only have a tiny drop of milk on my cereals anyway so I don't think it's matters too much. I agree with trimming off the fat etc as that small change can make a big difference.

Fols x

stickywicket

I just want to wish you all good luck, ladies. It wouldn't hurt me to lose 1/2 stone or probably even a full one but ......

So, I shall sit on the sidelines, watch your progress and hope you all get where you want to be.

pinkbritishstars

I go to Weight Watchers on a Saturday morning though need to find a new group.

Anyway, one lady there has come up with this recipe:

salmon with philadelphia on top with crushed doritos on top of that and bang it in the oven - not tried it myself but it does sound nice :-)

I lost 4 pounds on Saturday :-) need to lose 4 stone altogether.

Bronwyn xx

DebraKelly

Been told that fish, ginger and red peppers are good for arthritis.

Avoid orange! even orange juice can cause problems.

Fizzy drinks is also a big no no.

emsjane

Hi Fols,

Im so glad you have started this post!!!

I am practically the same as you! I am 15 stone and id like to lose 3 stone to get down to 12 stone, that is still probably too much for my height, but i do love my food and i think i could be quite happy at that weight and i do carry my weight quite well!! It would also be a lot healthier to be at that weight and would hopefully ease the weight on my joints and therefore less pain!!!!!

I have lots of stress at the moment which isn't helping me, family, finances, job etc, as i do comfort eat!!!! So i need to find a way of consoling myself without reaching for the biscuits etc.

I know that the less i eat and the less i weigh the more energy i have, so it all makes sense, but making that connection with the lovely feeling when i eat food to the damage being overweight does, isn't easy!!

I have yo-yo'd for years with my weight, but like with so many other people, each time i put the weight back on, a few more pounds go on too and i am now at the heaviest i have ever been and i know this can't continue!

I know i can successfully lose weight, simply by cutting out the crap snack food and replacing it with fruit and low fat bars like go ahead bars etc. Also, by being aware of portion sizing and not going back for seconds and if im having cheese (as i a veggie) to be aware of not piling it on and keeping it to a sensible portion size. It is really that simply and i find 1-2 pounds come off each week and most importantly i don't go to bed hungry! I also have WW yogurts, which are nice and tasty, but low in calories.

Have you tried replacing the fizzy drinks with just sparkling water? And to make it a bit special, as i can't drink alchohol, i put the sparkling water in a wine glass.

Anyway, if i think of anything else that may help, i will post!

Good luck everyone who's joining in

dreamdaisy

We make our own low-fat dips as the commercial ones are full of horrors. Our classics include:

1 teaspoon of horseradish sacuce to 3 of yoghurt.
1 teaspoon of Brinjal pickle to 3 etc
I teaspoon of Dijon mustard to 3 etc
1 teaspoon tom ketchup to 3 etc
1 teaspoon of PROPER mayonnaise to 3 etc.

We studiously avoid low-fat anything, preferring the 'proper' versions as they taste better so you need less. We do use skimmed milk (it has extra calcium and less of the artery-clogging stuff) and have now switched to Walkers Baked Crisps. We never fry anything (bangers are grilled or done in the oven) and oven chips are a rare treat. Cheese is extra mature cheddar and ocasionally Cheshire. Biscuits and chocolate have fallen by the wayside as we prefer fresh or savoury, not sweet. As life is already short enough (and in my case completely screwed) it is daft to really cut back: just eat less and, as the weight begins to fall, move around a little more. Drinking sips of water on a regular basis also helps to keep the hunger pangs at bay: often what we interpret as hunger is actually thirst. Good luck Folara, here's to a new beginning, yes? DD

Numptydumpty

Have been cutting down/eating healthily for nearly two months now.
So my husband has been having the same food as me but in larger quantities, he has also been using a cross trainer, (which I can't even get onto). He has lost just over a stone. I have lost two pounds!
The power of exercise eh!
Numpty

Folara

Yay, really pleased to see so many peeps joining me on here.

The fish recipe sounds good, I might give it a try tonight.

I also didn't know oranges were bad for us with Arthur. I know strawbs are supposed to be bad so I swapped to rasps and even grow my own now. It does make sense about oranges as I have had a really bad few days lately (in bed nearly all day yesterday) and the only difference was I was having a big juicy orange for a snack.

Anyone else know of any no-no's for us please post here.

So, today I put THE dress on, it's a tight fit and not good looking but now I have a good incentive.

For breaky I had 2 weetabix in hot milk and a little honey.

I'm now enjoying a nice cuppa and a nana (oh forgot to say nana's are great for us).

Lunch is a tricky one cos I don't really eat as such.

Planning on that fish recipe with Doritos - ooh yumscious!

Good luck everyone. The sun is shining and it's a lovely day so let's get healthy.

Fols xx

Folara

Oh meant to ask DD, what is Brinjal pickle?

Great idea for dips, gonna give them a go.

Fols x

stickywicket

dreamdaisy wrote:

often what we interpret as hunger is actually thirst.

That’s interesting, DD. My son has always maintained that much of what we experience as hunger is, in fact, thirst and I do find I can stave off eating by having a cuppa instead.

hileena111

Hi
I did post this before bet it seems to have disappeared.
Oranges being bad for arthritis.......I have a feeling that is people with RA not OA....can anyone shed any light on this?
Love
Hileena

phoenixoxo

Hi Fols,

I don’t think we've 'met' yet as we're both new-ish here, so first: hi! And second: ace thread, thanks for starting.

My own weight has fluctuated over the past few years due to the side effects of medication and various food intolerances. Currently I'm in the healthy zone, but it's taken a lot of time and patience to get here so I'm keen to keep up the good work! I eat sensibly on the whole, but I do give in to my cravings now and then (usually with friends and takeaway menus present) so I feel I have to make up for this in my usual diet. I'm interested in sharing any tips on what's good for arthritis: for example, I find salmon very beneficial and oranges less so! (I have psoriatic arthritis.)

Good luck everyone!
Phoebe

Folara

Heya phoebe and welcome. We were going to do a diet thread but decided that a healthy eating one would be far more beneficial and what we were really aiming at for a lifestyle change.

Hopefully we can get some great ideas and recipes and support each other.


Fols x

AndMac

Hello, I'm a newbie here, though not new to osteo-arthritis, which I've had in my left hip for some years. I've also got 'leg-only' hemiplegia (cerebral palsy that just affects 1/4 of my body).

Some really interesting posts there. I need to lose weight and keep it off, this used to be so easy but with being much less active than I used to be (my job is completely sedentary, I'm an e-tutor) this is so difficult.

I always feel better when I don't eat, so much more energy, it's a real paradox. However not eating puts the body into starvation mode and makes weight loss even more difficult. It's a near perfect Catch - 22.
I have worked out that I only need about 800 calories a day, unless I do a lot of cycling. Any more than that and I gain weight. Quite spectacularly... :roll:

Looking forward to exploring the forums when time permits!

stickywicket

Hello AndMac and welcome to the forum. OA plus CP sounds like a difficult combination but we do have one forum member, our lovely 'dachshund', who manages to cope with both brilliantly and is always there to encourage the rest of us.

800 calories per day sounds rather frugal to me, even if you do have a sedentary job. Are you sure about that?

I think it's true that if one skips meals, or leaves large gaps between them, the body attempts to redress this by conserving calories or fat or something but surely all that is needed to avoid this is a piece of fruit or a carrot or bit of celery?

I think some of the posters on this thread have come up with some great ideas. I hope you'll find both them, and the forum, very helpful.

hileena111

Hi
Confessions :oops: Didnt get to Slimming world last night....starts at 5pm and Peter and i were out in the lovely weather. When I realised the time was getting close for us to go home to let me get ready....I thought Blow it!!!! We dont usually have weather like this especially in March so I skipped it.
I feel much the same and am still trying hard but cant say that I actually lost or put on last week

Love
Hileena

emsjane

Hi All,

Ive discovered a lovely snack that is healthy and low in fat and delicious and also good if you are constipated at all, which i get frequently!!!

Whitworths Bite Size dried Apricots, 35g bag 70 calories!!!!

They are very tasty and feel like a treat as they're nice and sweet

I bought mine in Sainsburys, but im sure you can buy them in other shops too

dreamdaisy

Brinjal is an Indian pickle, made wth aubergine. Pat*ks do a smashing one and with the yoghurt (or low-fat mayo if wished) it makes for a smashing dip. DD

jan50ish

Hi fols,
looks like you are making a good start, thinking of it as a healthy eating plan is a good idea. I have lost 4 stone over the last couple of years but have put a half back on as my mobilty has got worse over this last year. However I have been at my present weight for a while and feel good. I too am a bit of a grazer so keep plenty of fresh fruit and veg in. My worse time is in the evening so have started having a small supper, maybe a couple of crisp breads with low fat cheese spread and some cherry toms, or some chopped up veg with some houmus or other low fat dip. Not sure why but if I have that meal planned I am less likely to pick at the biscuit tin or cheese...my downfall.
I will be following this thread with interest.
jan