Just starting out

MrLongOverdue

I'm aged 32 and weigh 315 pounds with a BMI of around 43. I have been an ex-smoker now for 2 years. There are no pictures of me, ironic as I am a keen photographer. I am married and have 4 Children.
I am wondering what advice people have on starting out.

Issues I'm having are:-

Being inspired by healthier food.
o I love food, well like I love eating. I feel hungry most of the time. I eat when I am bored. I crave sweet food and sugar. I eat when I'm low - which is of late is most of the time. I do not like the feeling of being hungry.

Cooking healthier food.
o I don’t mind cooking the basics but having to think about every last ingredient and "how many grams of this" is simply out of the question.

Buying food.
o I know you should not put a cost on your health. However I certainly have a budget for food, with increasing prices anyway, I cannot justify doubling our monthly food costs just because its healthier.

Staying with it.
o So far I have tried several times to kick start my new healthy lifestyle. Each time, I grab the bull by the horns and… well after a week it all seems too much like hard work and even more pointless than ever. I lose all kind of motivation and end up eating more than I did before. I intentionally target the unhealthiest foods.

Logic tells me already what peoples responses are going to be (or should be) to this, but I’m hoping that someone has been in or is in a similar position to this and has found a way out.

aperrillioux

I've definitely gone up and down with maintaining a healthy diet. I also CRAVE sugar. Especially at one particular time of the month. And what's worst, is that usually after I eat the sugar, I crave salty foods, and then sugar again, and then salty, and it's an endless cycle! You know, ice cream, pringles, ice cream, pringles, ice cream, pringles. And I can't stop. I'm 22, 5'8, and 149 pounds. At my highest weight (just under 200), my BMI was 28.7. I've been working on my weight for the last five years, altogether I've dropped almost fifty pounds. But for three of those years I had a stressful job and was in school which made it a lot harder to force myself to work out and eat healthy.So I understand that having four children and "adult" stuff to deal with can make losing weight a lot harder than it has to be. Just remember you're not alone.

AND!

The truth of the matter is that sugar is ADDICTIVE. I gave up sugar for the first three weeks of the year, and I can't even begin to tell you the difference I felt in my mood, and my body. And yes, it is hell to give it up. Sugar and junk foods are everywhere. After 2:00 where I work, the vending machine is the only place I can get food. So if I didn't bring something healthy for myself (and manage not to eat it before 2:00, then it's super difficult to refrain from vending).

So, things that I've found helpful:
1. NO VENDING MACHINE: I gave this up for the New Year. It's a lot easier to not have something when you tell yourself that you really can't. So make a start date and an end date for yourself if you need to.

2. DON'T GIVE UP COMPLETELY: When my three weeks without sugar were up, you can bet I went back. It's irresistible. The key is to try to make your processed sugar intake as low as possible. I've been bad for the last week, I've been buying at least one drumstick a day from Quicktrip, but I'm making sure to stay under my calorie count and it's the ONLY processed sugar I'm eating.

3. SUBSTITUTE WITH FRUIT: Fruit is a good way to get your sugar. My favorites are grapes, oranges and grapefruits. But, for those long hours with not much around, I go to bananas because they tend to fill me up really well.

4. HOT WATER WITH LEMON: I just started this yesterday, but I felt a HUGE difference the whole day. It definitely helps control hunger cravings. I'm telling you, I used to sit at my desk and eat something every two hours, watching the clock like crazy, now, I have to force myself to eat. It's awesome. Also, I felt happy all day. I'm not a really happy person, I'm not depressed, but I'm pretty mean, but I felt good alllll day. I also hear it's good for your digestion and for your skin. I think it tastes disgusting, but I'm forcing it down.

Also, if craving sugar when tired, just remember that eating sugar will only make you MORE tired. I used to fight falling asleep at my cube when I was having sugar during the day. Not a problem anymore. Also, whites. Whites are TERRIBLE for you. They also exhaust your body, bloat you, and all kinds of other junk. So, I'm working on giving up whites.

For late nights, try to not eat where you're spending the evenings. If you're in bed watching TV, no food allowed in bed. Same goes for the living room. If you can only eat in your kitchen, you're going to start wanting to be in bed really soon after snacking in that not-so-comfortable dining chair. This goes for boredom too. Try, when bored, to go for a walk around your neighborhood, or something active, instead of pigging out. Also, I don't know how old your kids are, but that's a great way to bond with them and encourage them to be active as well. And free! Definitely cheaper and healthier than going to see a movie.


As for diets and cooking, here is what I do. It's really boring, but I'm terribly picky so I don't have a lot of options.

CHICKEN. I bake it with salt and pepper. I "fry" it, with just a little veggie oil. I "fry" it with salt, pepper and pineapple juice which is DELICIOUS. And that constitutes all of my lunches M-F. When I say fry, I mean I just put the chicken in a pan on the stove. I don't add anything to it other than the salt, pepper, and pineapple juice (or the vegetable oil).

SNACKS: For snacks I have mostly fruit, but JELLO has 60 calorie sugar free pudding which I also buy and that gives me some yummy chocolate too.

EGGS. Boy you can get sick of eggs. I haven't had them in a while, but they are a great alternative to a sandwich (on white bread). They aren't great for your body cholesterol-wise, so if you're watching that, I suppose this isn't a great suggestion.

WHEAT BREAD AND PEANUT BUTTER: Toasted, is a delicious treat. Just don't use too much peanut butter. This treat is pretty high calorie-wise. And make sure you're buying 100% whole wheat because apparently a lot of breads like to lie to you. Check your nutritional facts. Calories should be under 100 per slice and fiber should be above 3. I'm eating Martin's potato bread? I think. It's a little costly, but I eat it pretty rarely so I just freeze the whole bag and toast it when I want my snack.

SWEET POTATOES: Are amazing! Try to eat them plain if you can, if not eat them with butter (which is what I do). While the butter isn't great for you, the fact that you're eating it on a sweet potato instead of an Idaho potato will make a big difference.

TURKEY: Turkey's are expensive, but they can last for a long time. So I would consider making a turkey, they're not just for Thanksgiving, you know!


Lastly (sorry, this has been long), I find that if I'm going to splurge, I want to splurge on something sugary vs salty. Salty foods definitely stick with you longer whereas I find the sugar doesn't. For instance, beef fried rice? I love. But I feel the effects for at least three days. I'm also obsessed with pecans and if you give me a bag I won't stop eating till they're gone, and I feel that for FOREVER. It messes with my whole body. But you said you liked sugar so...shouldn't be a problem for you.

ay1978pa

Regarding food cost - you can definitely eat healthy on a budget. The cost of food may go up a little but you can also save a lot by buying in bulk and preparing home cooked meals.

Your justification should be not just your health but that of your children too. Whatever diet you establish for them now, they are likely to follow it in the future. It is worth the effort and cost in the long run.

Good luck!

hiyomi

Exercise, exercise, exercise!

moebius13

I know how you feel! I'm a bored eater too, and I love to eat. And I can certainly understand the food budget! How often do you eat out? Do you grab something (candy bar, chips, my personal favorite, taquitos) whenever you stop at the gas station? One thing I found out is that my home food budget has gone up, cutting out fast food and junk food from convenience stores has about evened out. Also, I shop the ads, so when the local grocery store has marinated chicken breasts for a buck, or veggies on sale, I buy a ton of them and then freeze them for later use. I try to take one day a week, and cook up my lunches and dinners for the week in advance. This way I'm not having to measure everything every day. Also, get the whole family involved! Even little kids can eat healthier, and they will be more willing to follow along if they see dad doing the same thing! And get a good support group, whether it's here online, or a group near your home. The journey to a healthier you is a lot easier if you know there are others taking it with you! Good luck, and feel free to add me as a friend!

MrLongOverdue

Wow!
Thank you to all who have taken the time to reply.

Moebius13 & ay1978pa - Your right, cooking up batches of food and being a lot more organised is the way to go. I'm certainly not the one for being in the kitchen every day. I'm funny about people "supporting" me. I need people there to push me along, however I HATE them being there, I would much prefer to do it by my self.

My kids ages range from 9 to 15. They are all fairly active with school and out of school activities. As a family we do have "proper" meals and they have a good balanced diet. That is not to say that the meals we do cook could not be healthier.

aperrillioux - Thanks for taking the time to write all that. There are defiantly some things I can relate to there!

Its actually quite nice to know that there are people on here in the same boat and don’t mind talking about it.

thank you

mfp_1

Do you have a digital food scale?