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Mindful Eating accountability


4hunter

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about 8 years ago I went on weight watchers, changed my eating style and lost quite a bit of weight - I managed to keep it going for about 4 or so years, then I took some time off for various reasons and all my good habits went out the window - and of course the weight piled back on. I'd really like to go back to eating correctly - for me I found that concentrating on eating a full 5 serving of vegetables a day was really the best way to go - once I ate all those veges I didn't feel like I needed all the junk food.


And so from today I'd like to go back to eating good food. I downloaded an app today to try and use, It's called Daily Nutrition Intake Tracker. It's really simple and just allows me to count how many servings of vegetables, carb, proteins, water I eat each day which is what I want - I don't want to count calories, but I need some accountability to keep me on track until this becomes a habit again.


I thought I'd try this app and then maybe I could get some like minded people together to try and keep me on track. Is there anyone else that would like to join me in trying to eat mindfully?

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Sure, I'll join :)


I've struggled with my weight all my life, largely due to an untreated eating disorder. I discovered mindful/intuitive eating through ED therapy years ago; I love the approach but have found it hard to put into place consistently.


Around 4 years ago I lost a lot of weight which I've since maintained. I'm still considered "overweight" but dieting for weight loss is a big risk factor for ED relapse so as much as I would love to lose another 5kg or so I don't want to throw my mental health down the toilet for the sake of a few kilos. But, at the same time, I know that I feel better when I eat more nutritiously, and weight aside, I could definitely improve my diet. At work I'm okay but on days at home I fall into the habit of grazing on 'sometimes' foods all day instead of eating decent meals. I also eat too quickly, overeat, and then feel sick.


For now I'd like to focus on increasing my veg consumption, and slowing down when I eat and paying attention to my hunger/fullness cues :)

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I'd love to join, so count me in! I've put on 20kgs in the past few years and I've just this week started exercising again, but it's the food that I need to be mindful of. Thanks for starting this.

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Yeahh Accountabilibuddies. Welcome all.


Well I just finished my first full day. I did OK. Got 4 servings of vegetables in and 1 of fruits. 2 lots of protein and 2 of carbs, but also had two treats - a G&T and a piece of Christmas Cake. I did have 4 pint glasses of water too which is good.


[mention]cardamom[/mention] snacking is my problem too. I fast in the morning and generally eat a well balanced dinner it's the snacking that is my problem -I need to get into a habit of eating a good lunch (not the crackers and cheese I've been doing lately) and avoid any afternoon and after dinner snacking. I really should practice slowing down my eating too.


[mention]DirtyStreetPie[/mention] Yeah I really don't want to count calories as it's not sustainable - That's interesting about the ADHD I've never heard that before. I find it's always easier to do something (or in this case not do something) if you understand why.


[mention]Rachel[/mention] It's amazing how the weight just manages to creep on isn't it!


Good luck to all and I look forward to hearing about everyones journey.

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I’ll join too. I snack too much during the day and get too lazy to cook or organise healthy lunches and dinners too often. Increasing my veg intake is really needed. I need to focus on eating smaller meals but also eating healthy morning/afternoon tea as I tend to not recognise hunger cues until I feel really hungry and sick so eat junk like chocolate as it’s a good quick fix for me.

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Does anyone have any tips for little things they do to help them eat more mindfully?


I always choose particular plates and bowls to eat from, I love using pretty/quirky op shop cutlery. I also have an impressive collection of lunch containers and bags to motivate me to pack a nice lunch on work days. I treated myself to a new stainless steel bento box as I'm enjoying snack-plate style eating at the moment and I wanted one with lots of compartments; looking forward to using that tonight.

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Fruitmincepies

Oh that’s a good idea [mention]cardamom[/mention]. I should buy myself a bento lunch box and make one for me when making DD’s school lunches. I’m a bit like the OP, I fast in the morning and eat a healthy dinner, it’s the mid-afternoon snacks that trip me up. I’d do better if I ate a better lunch (but I don’t usually feel like much at that point).

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Eat off smaller plates.

Dinner plates have gotten bigger and bigger over the years and people tend to fill them otherwise it looks like not enough food.

I like the middle sized plate from our set. I think it's a lunch plate, it's bigger than the bread and butter plates, smaller than the dinner plates.

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Oh yes [mention]Jenflea[/mention] I do that too - I have a bunch of side plates and small bowls that I use for meals. I also like to eat things like cereal, ice cream, etc. with a teaspoon - partly because it makes the meal last longer, but also I just prefer it.

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Yep I agree with the smaller plates - and I definitely eat everything with a tea spoon.


I have the sort of personality that has a lot of motivation and energy in the morning and none in the afternoon so what I do is fast in the morning (I was eating crap foods for breakfast anyway), then have lunch at around 11 to 11:30 when I'm getting hungry, but I do best on the days when I make myself a lunch box when I'm getting the kids lunches ready in the morning, that way, when I'm hungry I have something healthy ready to go. Otherwise I end up reaching for crackers and junk for lunch which is not good for me. So yeah either making sure I have some leftovers that I can quickly heat up, or a pre made lunch is definitely best. I do love a good bento box too.


[mention]Jellybean[/mention] If you think of anything good for a health afternoon tea foods I'd definitely be interested. I often make muslie bars but they really aren't that healthy - I need to come up with something else. I do love a good banana with peanut butter (and I let the kids throw a few choc chips on their plate) It's healthy (I buy the peanut butter that is just crushed peanuts) and really filling.


I think that I might make up a big pot of Chilli today with lots of extra veges thrown in - The rest of the family doesn't really like it but I love it - so if I make up a big pot I can get at least a weeks worth of lunches out of it. Something good to eat that isn't salad.

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So how did everyone do yesterday?


I was pretty good - full 5 serves of veges - only problem is that eating all these vegetables my cupboard is getting empty quite fast. I my not be able to last the full 8 days between shops. I need to remember to buy more vegetables.


I have noticed that it's harder to get up in the mornings now that I'm eating less calories - Hopefully my body will adjust soon.

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I didn't get to 5 serves but definitely had more veg yesterday and today than usual - pumpkin mac and cheese with salad for dinner (roasted pumpkin mashed in to the bechamel sauce) and cherry tomatoes and vegie sticks with homemade beetroot dip for lunch. (Work lunch so took the same thing both days for ease)

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I'm interested in this idea, I just really suck at the whole 'only eating when hungry' thing, although I'm slowly getting better at it. And I feel so proud of myself when I'm actually hungry for my next meal :lol:


I think calorie counting can be useful though. I did it pretty strictly for just over a month and gained a much better understanding of just how many calories were in our usual meals. Turns out we'd been eating way too much cheese. So much. My body responded very quickly to reduced calories and I figured out some good recipes and portion sizes that satisfied my need (for carbs & cheese!) etc without blowing out. Christmas was my downfall though and being on holidays I've just been eating cos I want to, not because I need to. I don't want to calorie count long term though. I think I just needed the kick to realise how much I was consuming.


I think once work starts up again I will do better because I can plan my food for the day and that's all I'm getting, rather than those extra snacks and ice creams with the kids....

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Grrrr just lost a whole long post!


short story is yesterday not so good - was soooooo hungry all day I think it was the lack of carbs - so ended up eating two pieces of slice plus Christmas Cake. But I did still get at lest 4.5 servings veges. But now I really need to shop - no veges left in the house.


[mention]Biscuits[/mention] I agree calorie counting for a while is a great way to learn just how much you can eat - I'm just at the point where I don't want to do it forever so I'm looking for alternatives.


[mention]cardamom[/mention] that Pumpkin mac and cheese sounds interesting - I wonder if I could get the kids to eat it?


So what are everyones favourite vegetables? I need inspiration'. I tend to prefer raw veges so tomatoes, capiscums, cucumber are staples but I need something else. I made up baba ganoush last week which was so yummy and I've finally learnt how to eat kale - thank you nagi and the kale, blue cheese, pomegranite salad but I always need ideas for side dishes.

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Fruitmincepies

This is good! https://www.nigella.com/recipes/sweet-potato-macaroni-cheese


If you are primarily interested in increasing vegetable intake, Nagi’s zucchini with breadcrumbs and Parmesan is tasty and easy as a side dish. Also her magic broccoli. Another favourite Mac and cheese is a broccoli and cauliflower one, it feels so indulgent but you get heaps of vegetables in it. http://curtisstone.com/recipe/roasted-cauliflower-broccoli-and-pasta-bake-white-cheddar


Roast root vegetable plus green leafs plus cheese (feta or blue cheese my favourites) plus toasted nuts is an easy basic formula for making a tasty warm salad.

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[mention]4hunter[/mention] the sweet potato mac and cheese that [mention]Fruitmincepies[/mention] linked is what mine was based off, except I only had pumpkin. I didn't use the feta either, just a basic bechamel. It's quite a lurid orange, nicely reminiscent of Kraft boxed mac and cheese!


Some go-to vegie dishes for me:


- Slaw. I pre-cut a heap of cabbage and carrot and keep it in a container in the fridge and just dress as needed. Sometimes a vinegar based dressing, sometimes a mustard/buttermilk, sometimes mayo, or just bottled


- Sliced/diced eggplant, capsicum, red onion and zucchini, roasted in the oven at high heat with a bit of olive oil and salt and pepper. I like this as a filling for rolls/wraps with some herbed cream cheese. Can also be stirred through pasta


- Chargrilled or steamed corn on the cob with a bit of butter, salt, and lime juice squeezed over


- Israeli salad - great in the summer


- Vegie based dips like matbucha, zaalouk, roasted capsicum, etc.

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Ohhh I like the sound of that mac and cheese, and there are a bunch of other good ideas here too. Thanks all.


Had a huge taco casserole for dinner which was so good, and managed to get a whole bunch of veges in too. Peppers, mushroom, tomato, onion, spinach. Plus salsa and refried beans.


I think tomorrow I'll roast my butternut squash, then I can use some of it to try out that mac and cheese and turn the rest into pumpkin soup.

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Oh, I make these sweet potato and kale fritters that freeze/thaw really well too, they're a great vegie snack.

 

Is it just sweet potato, kale and some spices? Sounds delicious.

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Yesterday was not the best. Had quite a few snacks that I really didn't need, chocolate after dinner, nutella etc. But on the plus side I made Laarb and it was fantastic, will definitely be doing that again.

Today was even worse though, had some if DSs smoothie for breakfast, left over laarb for lunch, then a frozen pizza for dinner, so definitely didn't get my vegetables in today. Plus chocolate again.

But tomorrow is a new day and I will do better. I still have to make that pumpkin soup.

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Well I'm doing pretty well on getting in my veges, and up until yesterday was doing great on the no afternoon snacks. But yesterday and today my kids decided to bake - now don't get me wrong - I love it that the kids love baking, but I can't resist eating the delicious goodies they produce. Yesterday it was eclairs - and they don't keep so we had to each eat three eclairs yesterday - how horrible hey! now today they are baking doughnuts - at least these I can hopefully spread out over a couple of days. One a day isn't bad for me if everything else I'm eating is good stuff.

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I struggle to resist when there are baked goods around too. I love to bake, but usually only do so if I'm taking something to an event or for workmates, etc. I had a craving for oatmeal raisin biscuits yesterday so made a half batch and ended up freezing most of them to save me from myself :ninja:

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Not a good day today. After lunch I was still hungry and ate crackers. Lots of crackers. Then there was dinner, full of carbs on carbs followed by chocolate......yep its period time. Tomorrow will be better!

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