Hello and Good Morning. It's sunny so I won't spend a long time on this. Questions keep popping into my box, here's one, and another along the same lines. I'll bash out a few words.
CAN you do a video on a days eating as your meals look lovely but I want to know the whole day/ week etc as I’m a cake/chocolate picker and want to stop that and stop eating meat - you seem to do very well and don't suffer cravings and overweight- I would be very interested - thank you
Yes I would be interested on your diet advice please. I wonder if you are so cheerful all the time is because you are strong willed?
Sorry I don't have time to write up a full days eating list, or make a video on it. It seems to me Anon, that you should be more interested in what you are eating and why you are eating it. I wouldn't expect you to follow my diet because your body will react to it differently to mine.
The way I see it is that I eat because my body needs fuel to survive. I try and put the best food I can afford into my meals. They don't have to look pretty, they don't all have to be nutritionally perfect, as long as they are varied. I like a bit of naughty food, and the key here is OCCASIONALLY and not every day or even every week. Sometimes I will fancy an ice cream, a piece of cake, a packet of crisps, and a can of cider. These are TREATS and I see no reason why I should deprive myself of life's little pleasures.
I love vegetables so much that when I am away from home for a few days I do crave them, and look forward to getting back to my steamer. I haven't eaten meat for yonks, many years, no fish for the last few years. To me, these are not necessary to make a healthy and tasty meal.
I think Anon, you have to look at your life as a whole, what is causing you to crave chocolate/cake. We all know that sugar is highly addictive and to wean yourself off it is very difficult. Ask yourself when you next reach for the choccy, why are you doing this? What is your mood like, fed up, sad, angry, will this sugar hit make the mood go away and make you feel any better? The chocolate in your mouth might taste glorious for a few minutes, but the inches on your waist are going to make you even more fed up.
Simple answer. DON'T BUY ANY CHOCOLATE OR CAKE. Do not put them in your trolley, do not slip one in your bag at the checkout. It is about being strong willed. If food is controlling you, you have to ask yourself why. What is it that's missing that you need a chocolate substitute for?
Try diverting your attention away from short term fixes, to long term gains. Picture yourself in ten years time, where do you want to be? Now I'm going to be harsh here. Your choice, overweight, aches and pains, depressed because you can't move about very much. Not saying all this can be cured by eating correctly, but what you put in your mouth does have some bearing on how your life might turn out.
Regarding eating meat. Go to an abattoir, watch the animals being herded into the slaughter area, they know death is coming, they are panic stricken. If you can watch this you will vomit. If you can't visit in person, watch videos for the same effect.
OK, as mentioned, so why am I so cheerful? Because I can't think of anything to be miserable about. I don't have anyone to answer to, (except the cats, ha ha), I don't crave anything, can take it or leave it. I can be flexible, able to make changes if something isn't right. I don't expect anything, and my needs are simple. I am not responsible for anyone other than myself, might sound selfish, but there is no point in worrying about things I have no control over.
The way I am now is down to the fact that I took control when I was 27 and started working in transport. I had to fight my corner to survive. There was a belief in myself that I was entitled to do any job I chose to do, no matter what anyone else thought. I suffered a lot of bullying, I could have given up, but I didn't I hung on in there. And I won.
So Anon and Anon, you take control of your lives, it belongs to you and no one else. You be responsible for yourself. If you need support with any changes, join a support group, seek help from medics. Ask for advice if you need it.
Thank you for reading. I am now going to get off my backside and do something else. Thank you for popping in, enjoy your Sunday.
Toodle pip
Garden Centre fun
4 hours ago
I agree with you Ilona-just do not pick it up and put it in the trolley or basket.Don't even go into the isle.Step away.I liked a glass or 3 until 8 years ago.For a while I kept away from it.Now it doesn't bother me at all.Almost forty years ago I stopped eating meat or fish and I never once missed it.I find sometimes I may think I should have a nibble,but it's just a glass of water my body is asking for.Bananas,dried apricots,kiwis,melon are all sweet.Naughtily this week I bought a jar of peanut butter and as always the same evening and the following one I nipped into the kitchen ,grabbed the jar and dipped my finger in again and again.Only tiny bit left now.This happens each time.So I only buy it ,no more often than every 2 months or so x
ReplyDeleteSorry spelling -do not go into the chocolate or cake aisle x
DeletePeanut butter is a bit moreish. I only make it once a month because I keep dipping into it.
DeleteHaving someone else to answer to in one's life (besides the lovely cats, of course!) adds another level or two of difficulty to "taking control" as I have found out. However, as far as eating goes, it really does all comes down to me and what foods I choose to put in my mouth. I have struggled with this for years and fail more than I succeed. However, I am determined to keep on trying and not give up in despair! I have started walking at least two miles most days and that's a good start I think. There is no way to keep sugary treats out of the house because my husband loves them and I have a hard time resisting. That's my particular "Achille's heel" and I must learn to view these goodies as treats for rare occasions and not every day. Yikes! Haven't managed to do that in 67 years, but I am picking myself up, dusting myself off, and trying, again, to withstand the temptation for daily sugar. I appreciate your blog, for this, and for many other reasons. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHi Sara. None of my business but I think it is a bit mean of your husband to sabotage your efforts to reduce your sugar intake. He should be supporting you by eating his sugary treats elsewhere out of your sight. Maybe at work, or when out and about by himself.
DeleteHi Ilona! I appreciate your thoughts. However we are both retired and together much of the day. Maybe I'm just using him as an excuse to feed my sugar habit!! Anyway, I am working on it, and also getting out and about and walking almost every day now, so things are looking up. It's a process, as they say. Your posts are always very encouraging and they help, so thanks again.
DeleteGreat post - thank you for going to so much trouble to write it x
ReplyDeleteFad diets don't work. Changing your lifestyle and day to day choices will become a natural transition. I have introduced no meat days into our diet and its lovely making new things from chick peas and the like.
ReplyDeleteI used to eat quite a lot of chocolate; not every day, but when had a bad day eat a bar of whatever in the cupboard. Now, I have the jars of 'low-cal' chocolate drinks (40 calories a cup) and I rarely drink one because I take the lid off it and just smell the chocolate and it satisfies my craving. It sounds odd but it works for me. Amanda
ReplyDeleteI'll admit I'm a very erratic eater - I have days of very healthy food then I lapse and fall back on treats. I have a very sweet tooth and have done all my life, it is a constant battle not to eat this stuff. Even after forcing myself not to have it for a while, for me the desire for it never goes away. Food is such an individual thing, myself I like very dry food, I cannot abide soggy stuff and I like strong flavours. I have a few stomach issues and if I eat large amounts of fruit and vegetables I have problems with ibs. On the whole I am for the old idea of a little of everything, and everything in moderation. I'd be quite happy if we could just take pills for food rather than having to shop for it, prepare it, cook it, clear it all away etc., it's so time consuming and boring to me!
ReplyDeleteIf you eat very high carbohydrate foods your body will crave them, if you stop eating them, you get over it. I won't preach on, just take a look at the Atkins diet to understand what happens when you eat more carbohydrate than you actually need. Each person has a limit that they can eat without putting on weight, or craving useless carbohydrates, find your limit and you can take control of your eating habits, doesn't matter what your partner eats you won't want it. If it matters to you then find your way to deal with it. This was mine. Hope you find yours.
ReplyDeleteGreat advice as always Ilona. If anyone is wanting to give up meat I would suggest watching the documentary Earthlings. You can watch it for free on YouTube.
ReplyDeleteI am a complete peanut butter addict and I do have a sweet tooth but I try to rein myself in at times, although junk food is designed to keep us going back again and again. I have the odd treat once or twice a week and manage to maintain my weight - it is important to figure out another way to distract yourself from wanting junk like Ilona said. It's much easier to slowly cut things down or out than trying to do it all at once.
Oh Ilona I do love your attitude. If only people would just realise that their constant wanting for things is actually getting in the way of them living a happy life. A gentle life in my opinion is the best route to happiness. Well done for standing up to bullies, unfortunately they are every where in all walks of life of all ages and all professions. Alana x
ReplyDeleteDavid Gillespie's books 'Sweet Poison' and 'The Sweet Poison Quit Plan' may be helpful to your readers, Ilona. I have read the second one, and can thoroughly recommend it. He explains that the real culprit in becoming addicted to sugar is fructose in anything more than small quantities, and there are many tips for quitting and good recipes in the second one to bake non addictive treats using glucose instead. Maybe these books would be available at the library or could be ordered on inter-library loan. Also sometimes they can be bought very cheaply secondhand on Ebay.
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