How do you switch from eating for pleasure to eating for nutrition?

[mykdsmomy]

I am a mess. I admit it. I've said I would change my diet habits in the past only to fall back into the same old patterns. I eat garbage. I eat only what sounds appealing and what will make me "happy".

I have autoimmune issues (possible UC, Fibro, IBS, Crohn's). I deal with anxiety and depression too. (hypo thyroid (medication is stable), fatty liver, no GB, possible adenomyosis) ...I've posted about all this before.

The problem is when I try to eat what I see all of you here eating, I get overwhelmed. I can't eat dairy (kills my stomach), can't eat eggs (same thing). Right now even if I have a sip of water, my stomach starts cramping. I started taking a multi vitamin, D3 (5000 iu's a day), and Optizinc. I'm not feeling much different but I've only been doing this consistently for a few weeks now.

I hate to cook. HATE IT! (I think I have unresolved issues with my mother that this issue stems from). The idea of making and then eating/drinking bone broth gags me I don't care for meat....I hate handling meat/bones/etc. I crave steak once in a while but I don't like to look at it until it's ready to eat (medium well!). DH makes dinner most nights (bless him for that!). Half of the time, I won't eat what he's made. I'll either go get something (like a bean and cheese burrito (even though the cheese kills me).

Food has become my mood stabilizer. I will only eat what I want, when I want it. (My mom cooked 7 nights a week. We had to finish most of what was on our plates. We had NO say in what we had for meals. Everything was regulated and there was little to no snacking allowed...even after school).

Ok, so enough of my whining. How do you get from where I'm at now, to a place where I can enjoy healthy nutritious foods? I want to set a good example for my children. I also want to heal my body!!!!! Suggestions?

[mamadelbosque]

Well, at least part of your problem I don't have - I LOVE to cook! But otherwise, I mostly eat what I like, and to a larger extent cook what I like. Oh, I'll make things that DH likes and I don't occasionally... but mostly not. Mostly if he likes something and I don't he just has to wait till we go out an then he can order it.

As for eating for pleasure not nutrition... I *like* the food. I don't do bone broths or ferments either (bone broth just doesn't really sound good and I despise most everything I've ever had that was fermented aside from like, yogurt... and even then I'm picky!!). But, I like salads, and veggies and love beans & rice so I make those things frequently.

My honest recommendation is to just start cooking. How? Think of something you like to eat out - chicken parmesan for instance. And then go look up a recipe online for it and make it and then rinse and repeat. Thats how started cooking. I made stuff I liked to eat out and went from there.

I'm not traditional foods (though we get/drink raw milk!), and I'm not a vegetarian (though as noted, I love beans and lentils and such, and we thus eat a good bit of veggie meals - at least one or two a week, usually). I'm a... 'whole foods' person - I try to make stuff from scratch, and I cook brown rice & whole wheat pasta instead of white. And when I bake I use at least 1/2 whole wheat flour depending on the recipe, mostly (some excpetions for like, xmas cookies, but mostly. But overall, we eat a pretty varied, normalish diet...

Honestly, whats helped me the most (and I know this is geting long... sorry!) is that I started.. not meal planning exactly, but keeping track of what we eat... All I did/do was make a spreadsheet with the days of the week, and seven spots for writing down what we had for dinner. Oh and its color coded by type: chicken (purple), pizza (yellow), vegie (green), pork (pink), fish/seafood (blue), venison (dark orange) lamb (light orange), goat (burgandy), beef (red)... (I tried and did succede in keeping up w/ what we had for lunch for a while too... but lunch is uh... varied and not nearly as healthy around here. We eat a lot of leftovers, pb & j, chicken nuggets/tater tots, frozen pizza, mac'n cheese, tunafish, etc... ). I think it now goes back like, 2 or 3 yrs And its a *HUGE* help when trying to figure out what I haven't made in a while - w/o it it seemed like we got in horrible ruts of pizza, spaghetti, stir fry, chinese take out....

Anywho. eating healthhhhhhe mean it can't taste good - it SHOULD! Don't force yourself to it nastyness. Theres no need. Theres plenty of good, healthy, yummy food to be made out there! I promise!!

[InMediasRes]

I'd say the short answer is probably therapy. It sounds to me like your food issues are a danger to your health and well being and that you might need to work through what happened in your past and getting through your issues around food/cooking/anxiety and depression. I think if you did that along side of making some basic food changes, it might be a little easier.

I have IBS, I suffer from anxiety and panic atacks, and sometimes cooking with kids around and then having any appetite left to eat is a nightmare. But I love food, and I love veggies, meats, a huge variety. I do like to cook, but I hate the anxiety that comes with it.

You don't have to be TF/veg*n/anything in particular to eat healthy. Just think of a few SMALL goals you want to start with, no just "don't eat junk" more like "eat three servings of veggies per day". Then when you feel good about that, make another small goal.

And PPs meal planning idea is great. I plan out all our meals in advance. That way when the end of the day craziness hits, the list is making the decision for me about what to cook instead of me having to just figure it out from what's in the cupboard (although I do some of that too in a pinch).

[lil_earthmomma]

First, check out http://www.marksdailyapple.com/primal-blueprint-101/ for your autoimmune issues. My dh's are all but gone with this way of living.

Second, I also refuse to put anything in my mouth that doesn't make me happy. I just had to find healthy foods that made me go "YUMMY!!!!"

(Pretty easy when bacon, cream and butter are on the menu! )

Anyways, I think it's great that you recognise that your eating habits aren't great, and want to do something about it!

[californiajenn]

The food you are eating is making you feel this way. It's cyclical. Once you change your diet, the anxiety, some pickiness, and the autoimmune issues will all get better. I promise. Right now, the bad bugs in your body, responsible for all of the above, LOVE the junk you feed them and they will keep demanding more until you put a stop to it.

[mykdsmomy]

Thank you all for the great replies/suggestions. I guess I hadn't thought that I *could* eat things I want if they are healthy. I don't know why I see it as all or nothing but I suppose part of it is giving up that feeling of being in control of what I eat and when. If I don't eat something that sounds good (and I rarely can plan ahead), then I feel angry and frustrated. I am working through some of this stuff in therapy right now and hopefully it will help.

Thank you again!

[kjbrown92]

I pretty much eat what I want to, which is why meal planning doesn't work for me. My kids are on a rotation diet though due to food intolernances (and you sound like you have some -- I'd start by eliminating all dairy and gluten for you, and keeping a food journal). But I make things that taste good. I used to eat/make crap (fishsticks, Kraft mac & cheese etc.) because I didn't know how to cook good food. With my kids' food intolerances, I was forced to learn, because we couldn't eat most processed/prepared foods. We make enchiladas (no cheese), pizza (gluten free crust), waffles, bacon, yes, I make bone broth - the chicken bone broth is delicious, we use it as a base for soups and also in recipes, and to make gravy, I make french fries. The difference is I make it all so I know what's in it. And the ingredients I use are real food. One step at a time. First I started making salad dressing (oil, vinegar, and some herbs) that was healthier. Then I started making my own meatsauce (instead of jarred spaghetti sauce). Etc. It doesn't have to be all at once.

[CherryBomb]

Originally Posted by lil_earthmomma

second, i also refuse to put anything in my mouth that doesn't make me happy. I just had to find healthy foods that made me go "yummy!!!!"

(pretty easy when bacon, cream and butter are on the menu! )

ita!

[tinybutterfly]

A little at a time, a step at a time.

I was going through an old journal not too long ago and came across a page where I had written my goals for a healthier diet. I realized I had met them all!

So...in my new journal I have written out new goals to move us towards an even better diet.

I do the Feingold diet ( no artificial addtives, preservatives or dyes) and am pretty good at staying around 98% most of the time and somedays I dip around 80%. It's okay and I try not to get too hyper about it. Also on Feingold I CAN have somethings that aren't that "healthy" so I feel like I have a little leeway if I am craving something like potato chips or a cookie or even McD's.

My goals started out modest.

I HATE to cook.

My new goals are modest.

Eat more chicken, fish.
Red meat only once per week.
Organic milk, cheese, butter, yogurt.
More fruits and veggies.
Meat from local butcher.
Snacks usually nuts, fruits, veg, cheese, yogurt or dried fruit.

I am working on this. I'm combining Feingold with something like the DASH diet and the Mediterranean diet.

The only thing on the dairy list we need to start getting more organic is cheese. We are already doing the rest organic.

For what it's worth, I feel so much better now that I am eating more healthy food. Even the small changes I have made have made a difference.

So whatever steps you take will be a step in a good direction!

Start with ONE thing you want to do better. Add something GOOD into your diet. Actually, you have already done this by starting some good supplements.

Oh, and eating healthy doesn't have to mean hours slaving over the stove. A good pb&J on good bread ( or with real honey instead of fruit preserves) takes very little time to make. Organic yogurt with some fruit, an apple with good peanut butter, cheese and tomato sandwich ( or even more veggies on it!) scrambled eggs or an omlette, tuna, sardine, salmon from a can...all of these things are easy. Lentils are very easy to cook. Salads. Easy. If you don't want to cut it all up , buy veggies that are precut.

Good luck!

P.S. There are lots of different healthy ways to eat. Just find whatever way works for you.

[Sol_y_Paz]

Sounds like you have a block that must be addressed until you can attempt to eat better. Therapy sounds like a good way to do that.
Then you can move on and not only eat healthy, but enjoy what you eat as well, you can do this in steps, not an all at once thing. Although some people respond better to all at once, some find small steps easier. I find I like the taste of healthy things more than junk, as most junk has this artificial taste to it that is hard to put into words.