Need dietary help!

[frontierpsych]

I am having trouble eating healthy. I tend to binge on coffee and caffeinated sodas, and skip meals or just eat something easy like cereal or bread and butter. I do not eat enough fruits and veggies, even though I like them, and can not have eggs or dairy since DS is nursing and he is allergic. I know intellectually what I should be eating, but can't seem to bring myself to do it! I need help planning my meals and eating right.

[lolar2]

Sounds like you are rushed, and need to find more convenient forms of fruits and veggies.

[BellinghamCrunchie]

Maybe you could try just adding one green smoothie a day to your diet. That's what I'm doing, anyway Not trying to do a complete overhaul. Just yet.

[JamieCatheryn]

I make my list of dinners each week and get all the ingredients, and post the menu on the fridge so I know what I'm making or what my options are. For other meals I get stuff to have the same things repeatedly, like sandwiches or wraps or salads, and include whatever fruit is on sale or in season.

My quickest easiest dinners when it's just me and DS eating are frozen veggies tossed in a pot with a bit of boiling water, with fish or cut-up chicken breast cooked on a skillet. When it's not really an effort I can't talk myself out of bothering. Also stir fried stuff, again from frozen to I don't have to bother with cutting things just toss it in the pan.

Fruit I can cut up quick and have as a side with breakfast or lunch. Berries are about to be in season, easy delicious fruit right there, no prep needed.

[mumkimum]

In recent years, I've been able to help myself cut down soda by providing 'treats' of carbonated water (like lacroix - somehow being canned helps too), and do a small amount of pressed coffee, when I want that, to limit the amount I drink. Cutting down the caffeine, even just somewhat, will probably help the rest of your diet.

A healthy dip/spread you could do on bread (of lentils, beans, carrots) would be similar to what you're reaching for now - and an easy way to add veggies. Ditto on finding things where you don't have to make a choice about having to cut up something, you just wash and eat - bananas, berries, apples, pears - dried fruit is good too. Frozen edamame pods are great snacks, doing cut up veggies ahead of time is good if you like those too.

Once I found a few veggies that were easy for me to throw in a lot of dishes (that'd be carrots and baby spinach) I found us eating a lot more vegetables more regularly. I just keep us stocked in those and have a lot of dishes I can make using them in varied ways - grated carrot salads, roasted carrots, spinach salads, sauteed spinach with lemon - plus it's easy to add them to a lot of our regular meals.

[myjo]

It seems like your question is more about overcoming your emotional resistance to changing your diet.

I know all about that. I hate feeling deprived of the things I like. I also don't like spending hours in the kitchen every day.

One of the most effective things for me was to make a long list of the healthy foods that I actually really enjoy eating. Focus only on that list, not on your list of no no's. Orient your mind towards healthy indulgence, not deprivation. Also, even if you don't enjoy cooking, find things that will help you associate cooking with reward. The food itself of course is a reward, but maybe you could also make a ritual of putting on your favorite music whenever you cook.

Just some things that have worked for me!

[catinthehat]

Like PP said, make it a treat for you to make your lunch. Start by treating yourself to a good loaf of bread, raspberries, yummy store bought hummus, whatever you like and is easy and healthy. You could get into some yummy herbal teas. They have some really great ones online. I think the coffee should go. It is an appetite suppressant, so you will skip your lunch after drinking a bunch of coffee, then you will crave a sweet soda to give you a lift at 2pm. Try and stick to your 3 meals a day.