Trouble Eating Healthily..

Former Member

I have trouble eating healthily and it's doing my head in. When I try, it lasts for a couple of weeks at most, losing a bit of weight and then I go back to eating lots of junk food, and gaining more than I lost.

How can I eat healthily without going back to the junk food after only a small amount of time?
And what is the best way to lose quite a bit of belly?

Thanks to those who give advice. (:

Former Member

Hi broken piece,

Sound's like trying to healthily has been frustrating for you. The information pages under this heading may help you and be interesting to read through? Take a look at the 'related articles' and 'next steps' on the right hand side too.

Some of the best advice is 'change the way you think about food'. This means not dieting for the short term, but changing your eating habits slowly, but surely - permanently. So for example - if you want to eat a curry - get a dry curry (tandori) rather than with a sauce. Drink diet mixers instaed of the full sugar ones. If you eat a lot of bread, reduce this and replace with crackers. Snack on friut and veg, not crisps and chocolate. There are lots of small changes that you can make that can make a big difference. Of course, this change in eating habits should be coupled with exercise. Any exercise. Start off small and increase to a level that you can realisticly maintain. The webiste 'Change For Life' could be a place to start too - they have some great tips and support resources.

Remember that if you have a day where you feel you've not eaten so well, it doesn't matter - the next day is a new day.

You could also keep a food diary, this is where you write down everything you eat - this may help you to see patterns in your eating behaviour and look at how much you eat and when. Also, perhaps go to see your GP? They should be able to provide you with information on where to get the best healthy eating support in your area.

There is a lot of support out there for people wanting to change how they eat - which it sound's like you do.

Good luck - keep posting and take care

Former Member

Ask yourself why you go back to eating junk food...

• Habit
• Comfort
• Convenience
• Other

Once you've figured out your attachment, it'll be easier to tackle it.

My comfort eating was linked to my depression (and family issues), when I realised I was comfort eating, I started to develop tools to help me stop. I treated myself to a recipe book now and again and upped my exercise which also elevated my mood and that meant I wanted to comfort eat less.

And the best way to lose weight is a balanced diet and exercise.

ETA: I have lost about a stone and a half and dropped two dress sizes (five and a half inches gone from my belly!) since April, so it does work.

Former Member

Hey broken'piece :wave:

I've recently discovered the Cook Yourself Thin website, which is based around the TV programme. It has some really good tips on changing your diet and some tasty recipes - I'm a massive fan of the chicken curry (had it last night, in fact :d ).

It sounds as though you go through phases of wanting to eat healthily then "fall off the wagon" and go back to the junk food, is that right? Next time you're in a healthy mood, why not make up a big batch of a healthy meal, something like this turkey chilli, and put it in the freezer. That way when you're tired and hungry you can just re-heat that instead of cooking something like a pizza.

Hope that helps!