I have been struggling eating and eating healthy foods over the last couple of weeks. I really do not want to go back further to how I use to eat, that is eating junk food, takeaways, copious amounts of chocolate, processed junk and comfort eating.

Finding it challenging to stay motivated to actually prepare what I know helps me feel better mentally, emotionally and physically. Plus I have been feeling overwhelmed with other stuff happening in my life, which somehow makes it more challenging. The old unhealthy comfort eating thing is coming back. And I think I am getting concerned and scared about that. I so much do not want to go back to how I use to be. I was so sick. Plus I now have some physical things not right in my body , so I need to be more careful and mindful of what I eat. ( Pre cancer cells , high blood pressure )

I was eating really well since Febuary of this year, it’s just the last couple of weeks I haven’t.

So I would like to use this thread to help me be accountable to Beyond Blue people. So like a diary where I can post and report what I eat. And also any healthy eating tips, motivating strategies to help eat better or anything related to healthy eating for our bodies including our mental health.

Hi Shelley Anne,

Thanks for your post.

I love that you're using BeyondBlue as a way to stay accountable! It sounds like you have a lot of insight into what works, what doesn't and what you'd like to change - so I'd call that a strength in itself!

Please let us know if there's anything we can do to help support you throughout it all :)

Hope this helps!

I managed to eat 2 mandarins , 1/3 banana with the contents of 4 garlic capsules mashed into it. And a cup of warm hibiscus tea this morning.

Thankyou Romantic, yes I am hoping just writing in here will help. I so much do not want to go back to what I use to eat.

Hello Shelly,

What a great idea, l have not been eating health since Ive been on my own now for 4 years, ..

I stopped cooking after my hubby passed away...Cooking for one, is hard, I just ate what I had here. I won't say what a bit ashamed of myself thinking about it now..For the past year, I have started cooking again for a few nights at a time and freezing the meals for other nights..I make Sunday my cooking day..Maybe a chicken/beef Vegetable soup or casseroles, I make enough for around 4 meals and have if I don't feel like cooking that night..

Shelly, I would like to follow this thread if I can and if needed to just give you some very gentle encouragement from time to time....

Good luck Shelly, warm hugs 🤗🌹. and a beautiful rose for a special person who has a beautiful soul..

kind and caring thoughts,

Grandy....Karen..

I can feel happy tears behind my eyes Karen as I read your gentle words and received the rose you gave me.

Prepping meals before hand is a great idea and like you mentioned you freeze them. So when you are struggling you can just get them out of the freezer. So yeah I think I really need to do this. I am responsible to cook for two others who generally eat different meals to me. Some days after I cook for them, well I do not feel like cooking another meal for myself.

And yes do pop in whenever you want.

Just finished eating 2 roast potatoes, 1 piece of roasted pumpkin and now eating a bowl of grapes.

Hello Shelly,

Im just popping in to see how your going.. just a gentle reminder to say that healthy eating does help both physical and mental health....I just finished making a really healthy beef vegetable soup.

Carrots, potatoes,celery,onions,broccol, cauliflower, garlic, leeks, zucchini,tomatoes,pumpkin..and of course some salt,pepper and my favourite herbs and spices....Yummy..

How about you Shelly, how has your healthy eating going..

I hope your day today has some light in it for you..

Warm and caring hugs🤗...Oh yes a flower 🌺 and a candle🕯 for your dinner table tonight

Grandy..xx

Opened up this thread again. Well because I am struggling with eating junk food again. Mainly chocolate and twisties. And I want to pick myself up again and keep going taking care off myself properly in this area of my life.

Since the beginning of the year I started to eat a whole food plant based diet. That is lots of green leafy vegetables and other vegetables, fruits all kinds, beans, lentils, whole grains like oats, nuts and seeds. And I physically and mentally and even emotionally felt so much better. And experienced much more energy and my emotions were more calm. Also lost around 30 kg. This included exercise as well.

Well back to more recent, the last month it has been a struggle mainly with feeling rejected and sad. So somehow I turned back to hold habits of years gone by. That is comfort eating stuffing myself in hope but in vain to feel better. That is what I used to do for so so long. It made me sick. I do not want to go back that way again. I just don’t. It affects me mentally as well eating all the junk. Brain fog, lack of clarity in my head etc.

So anyway feel quite lethargic today as I stuffed myself with... and I am going to be honest a packet of malteasers and one whole plastic jar of Cadbury fruit and nut chocolates. They normally bring these out at Christmas time. My tummy feels just yuck and bloated. And I am feeling disappointed with myself and I think scared. You see I have been told I have a pre cancerous condition. And from my research well eating junk may make it worse. I need to choose to take care of myself and eat properly so my body can heal.

So my goal is to eat the way I was before because I did feel better. My aim is to get myself back up. I just got to choose this because I want to live.

So I ate what I said above plus a salad from my local organic cafe. And a juice of beetroot, apple, carrot, ginger and lemon. I drink lots of water. So I am thankful that I like water.

Tomorrow is a new day. I am choosing to live and to be glad that I am living. And taking one day at a time. Thankyou for reading if anyone did. Appreciate it a lot. Being accountable helps me I think.

Today I had cravings for leafy greens. So that is what I ate. About 3 handfuls of mixed greens on a large oval plate. Along with left over quinoa and bean bolognaise. Topped with sweet cherry tomatoes and a dollop of cashew sour cream. Very yummy.

I have also eaten 4 passionfruits and handful of sultanas. And an ice coffee made on bonsoy soy milk sweetened with coconut sugar.

Water is easy for me to drink so I have drank quite a bit throughout the day.

No junk food? Yah

Dear Shelley anne,

I just wanted to say how great it is that you are wanting to heal your body from the inside out.

It's fantastic that you've become inspired to get back into your healthy ways.

So, you ate the Maltesers and the Cadbury thingies, that was yesterday ... you're doing really well today.

I love that you are focused on a whole-food plant-based diet. I am vegan, so I am personally cheering for you!

I made a yummy salad of grated fresh beetroot, lentils, chopped lettuce, sunflower kernels, crushed and toasted Pepstar and almonds with a dressing of fresh orange-juice shaken in a jar with Dijon mustard, Italian herb mix and olive oil.

Wishing for you inspiration and beautiful energy 😊

🌻birdy

Whoops.

Pepstar = pepitas

Thank you (not) autocorrect.

Hello Birdy, oh gosh your salad does sound yummy. I like adding pumpkin seeds to salads as well. Gives it a bit of a slight crunch. Yum-o!

How long have you been eating vegan food? Do you notice any changes for the better within yourself, like clearer thoughts and a calmness?

And yes I was inspired by your post. It is nice to find someone on Beyond Blue that eats pretty much the same way. And also I feel like I want to munch on your salad. It sounds so colourful and crispy. I am imagining quite a lot of pretty purple happening.

😀

The rest of day I ate 1 small bag of twisties, some more sultanas, 1/2 toasted wholemeal Lebanese bread with tomato, spinach and cashew cheese.

And hubby brought in a loaf of that cinnamon raisin bread from Bakers Delight, thinly sliced. I ate 4 slices of that.

So twisties a major flop and raisin bread full of refined sugars and white flour another flop for me.

I have hope tomorrow will be better. No junk

Hello Shelley anne,

Here is a recipe I hope you might like.

Overnight I have had some tofu marinating ready for awesomeness. So: last night in a casserole dish I mixed some sweet chilli sauce, soy sauce and liquid coconut aminos (maybe 1/4 cup each or a bit less?). Then I blitzed 2 onions and I block of tofu in the food processor (to like a "minced" consistency) and mixed that through the sauce. Popped the casserole lid on, and into the fridge.

This morning I am going to put that in the wok (or pan), add crushed peanuts and maybe some corn kernels and cook it until it feels right (maybe 10 minutes).

Then I'm going to put spoonfuls of that mix on rice paper, top each with some julienned carrot and cucumber (or zucchini) and some mint & roll them up into fresh rice paper rolls (spring rolls). Yummy dipped in sweet chilli sauce or on it's own.

I hope you have a yummy and healthy day 😊

🌻birdy

P.S. I've been vegan for only a few years - best decision I ever made. I feel clean and free in my spirit knowing no animals were exploited for my food (I'm vegan for the animals) , but my body does definitely thank me too. Happy Saturday to you Shelley anne 😊

It's ok Shelley anne, today is a new day. Forgive yourself for a few blips yesterday. Start afresh today. And it's ok if there are blips again today, be gentle with yourself, you're doing well.

That tofu thing I mentioned above is also really yummy spooned onto a lettuce leaf or silverbeet leaf and wrapped into a little parcel and gobbled down. Or cooked with chopped carrot and stirred through rice-noodles to make vegan pad-thai.

Wishing you a healthy and happy day 😊

🌻birdy

Thanks Birdy for your response. I will write again when I am able. Feel quite physically sick. Ate junk food yesterday. It does this to me.

The tofu marinated and cooked that way sounds yum. I have eaten tofu a couple times. Once in a frittata. But I was not keen on it. The thing is that was at beginning when my taste buds were not changed. So yeah I might try it again , because my tastes have changed dramically. I will you know if I make it. It does sound pretty good and fun to eat. Thanks for the inspiration

Most of today I have just been feeling sickish.

Might be detoxing from the junk.

However I made a chocolate milk shake to help with choc cravings. It was made on chilled soy milk, cacao, coconut sugar, vanilla, baby spinach and avocado plus crushed ice.

Also just been snacking on fresh fruit. Cherries, plums, apricots and lots of water.

no junk or processed foods today.

Dear Shelley anne,

I hope you are feeling a bit better today, your choc smoothie sounded yummy and healthy, it must have felt good going to bed last night knowing you hadn't eaten junk.

I know what you mean about taste buds changing. I had also never been a fan of tofu until I learned how to prepare it well. Pressing the excess water out, marinating it or flavouring it well makes such a difference. I make ricotta from it, baked cheeses, tofu scramble, quiches/frittatas. Baked tofu (well marinated) is awesome to slice and put on top of salads and in sandwiches.

With the snacking on junk food, when I find myself getting into habits like that, even if I don't feel like it at the time, I will make a batch of hummous or beetroot dip (or both) and cut up lots of carrot sticks, cucumber lengths, maybe make a flatbread and cut it into wedges and just have all that prepared in boxes in the fridge and whenever I feel the urge to snack, dig in to those, I know I'm filling a hole and it's with healthy fresh food, not junk. In fact you've inspired me and I'm going to do that this morning, because I've been reaching for the corn chips a bit too often recently. Thanks Shelley anne!

🌻birdy

Oh wow you do a lot of different things with the tofu there Birdy. The way you have worded all that makes me want to go out and buy some. Then experiment myself. I do have a recipe for a tofu scramble it looks a bit like scrambled eggs. So what brand of tofu do you use for that first dish you mentioned ? And also the Chili sauce.

Yes that is a good idea to have food in the fridge to snack on when we need to. The thing with me is sometimes I can get a bit sad, if I do not deal with that then it somehow develops into this giant snowball and I find myself overwhelmed with emotion. Then all logic seems to vanish . This last binge... this is what happened. Fell into extremely destructive food habits. But if I have some backup healthy foods already made then I can just dip into those. ( do not need to think much, because it is already there).

The hummus and veg idea of yours does sound good. That may cover the cravings for salty and crunch things.( think twisties or maybe the corn chips) I am going to make some chocolate bliss balls as soon as I am able. These keep well in the freezer. I need to keep a stash ready. I have not made any for a while.

You have awaken this adventurous spirit within me again in regards to the tofu. As I do like to experiment with different things in life , healthy food being one of them.

Have a good day Birdy.

Shell

Drinking this smoothie that has kale, frozen strawberries, banana, flax seeds, coconut water and orange at the moment.

Also having a craving for chocolate so I am hoping this smoothie helps with this craving

Dear Shell 😊

I am so happy to hear your adventurous spirit has been awakened!!

I can totally relate to becoming overwhelmed with sadness - it is those times that everything feels too hard, and having pre-prepared yummies in the fridge and freezer is so helpful. Sometimes when I'm overcome with sadness though, if I force myself into the kitchen and start making something, I can sometimes make myself a bit less sad, which does help. It cheers me up some, and I use it as a mindfulness exercise.

Although I'm not big on endorsing the big supermarkets, I must admit that my preferred tofu for a lot of recipes and particularly that recipe for the rice paper rolls is the coles brand "hard" tofu. Otherwise any Firm, Extra Firm or Hard tofu will do for that recipe. I use Trident sweet chilli sauce and niulife liquid coconut aminos.

I just made a fresh batch of the rice paper rolls, I added a piece of silverbeet leaf to each roll as well as some lemongrass, the rolls have a lovely fresh green look to them through the translucent paper. Pretty 😍.

So I now have a fridge full hummous, beetroot dip and veg sticks, plus a box full of rice paper rolls (some of them "didn't quite make it" to the fridge 😶).

If you'd like to try making tofu ricotta, the recipe I base mine on comes from a blog called "create mindfully" I think she has a search function, otherwise I'm happy to share any recipes with you.

I like to use silken tofu in soups and curries to boost the protein. I made a scrummy cream of mushroom soup last week using the silken tofu, it tasted so rich and creamy you'd never know it was vegan.

I also love to make bliss balls and usually have a stash in the freezer. I actually made some on the weekend for my neighbour who is unwell and this time I added minced carrot to the mix, it gave them a really nicely different texture, plus added veg and fibre.

Your kale smoothie sounded super-dooper healthy, I hope it helped with your cravings.

Have a happy, healthy afternoon Shell 😊

🌻birdy

Hey Shells and all just tagging ☺

Good on you for a good thread hun 👍

I am also tagging. Loving this beautifully raw and honest thread. Will add in too when I have some more time. You gals are inspiring with what u put into your bodies. Claps from me .

Love MMx

Yeah I think the smoothie helped with the craving. Plus some sultanas I ate as well.

I actually got invited out to lunch today to a organic mostly vegan cafe. And guess what I ate? Well it was on the menu and it was in my thoughts. Anyway it was scrambled tofu with red onion and spinach stired through it. It was served on sour dough toast. I quite liked the taste and polished of the whole plate of it. Besides the taste of the vegetables, I could not pick the flavour. But it was good all the same.

Thanks for telling me the brand. When I go food shopping next I will get some.

Good on you for having a healthy stash of food in your fridge like that. Bliss balls with carrot.. think I have seen a recipe somewhere for that. Properly someone’s website. I really do have a lot of recipes actually. I am a recipe collector. Forks over knives is a good one too. As is the one ingredient chef. I feel good magazine is good to.

Oh I like mushroom soup, yum. Creamy cauliflower soup is the last soup I made. I would have never thought to use tofu for the creaminess. Sometimes I will use soaked raw cashews or bonsoy. Also yummy.

I shall have a look at the blog you mentioned . Created mindfully and see what’s on there.

And I can sort of imagine what your rolls look like. So fresh.

Hello DB and MM!

The time is almost 4pm and no junk and processed food today. Yah!

Food was a bowl of fresh cherries. For lunch I made a salad that consisted of 3 handfuls of mixed green leaves. Some shredded purple cabbage, some lentils sort of scattered through it. With a dressing of tamari, vinegar, maple syrup and sesame oil( oil not whole food though). Also I have been experimenting with making oven fried chips. So I had some of those along with the salad.

I had cravings for chocolate, ice coffee ( I saw a man scooping the cream off from the top of his chilled drink at the beach yesterday). And cravings for hot oil fried takeaway chips today. Hence why I made my own.

So Saturday was the last day I ate junk. So on day 3.

I am having strong chocolate and sugar cravings at the moment. So sitting here eating sweet sultanas and drinking this chocolate milk I just made.

Chocolate milk has: bonsoy soy milk, cacao powder, coconut sugar and vanilla.

I have hope this will help.

Having detox withdrawal symptoms of watery eyes, sniffle, sleepy, tired and a bit of a flat feeling. No headache today but a little foggy in the head.

Yah no junk today!

Ate out - udon noodles with broccoli, onion, tofu ( which I liked) zucchini, capsicum with a tamari type sauce.

2 iced chocolates like the one above

cherries, grapes, sultanas,

homemade oven chips with tomato sauce

Yah yah!

No junk food and no processed food today.