Switched to healthy eating and a feeling of guilt when I stray

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foodie67me

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Hello you good people, I hope everyone is doing ok.

It has been some time since my last post (over 4 years!).

In the past and for quite some time, my work lunch consisted of cold cuts (pork or beef) sandwiches. My dinners were processed meats mainly in terms of frozen pre-cooked microwaveable dinner beef steaks on some nights and beef hotdogs on other nights - most nights I would have mashed potato. Once or twice a month I would have a Quarter Pounder or a Big Mac with fries at MCD. Daily desserts after dinner would be cookies or cake. During that time my Lipid Profile was borderline high.

Many months ago (maybe 5 to 6) all of the above changed. I stopped eating cold cuts and all processed meats. My dinners then rotated to boiled frozen mixed vegetables drained and served with a half can of tuna on top, and other nights I would have boiled frozen mixed vegetables drained with some oven baked plant based vegan meat free breaded strips that looked like meat nuggets. I would also have baked beans or some other beans as well on other nights. I also started taking multivitamins to ensure I have my daily requirements of vitamins and minerals. I have not retested my Lipid Profile but I have been feeling great but also lost a fair amount of weight (maybe due to low carbs). I have always been of an average build anyway.

So, this is the thing. Recently at the supermarket I had the urge for pork ribs and bought a full rack of the precooked ones and had those with fries (oven baked from frozen) for a weekend dinner. The next morning in my mind I felt horrible. I mean, I got hooked on healthy eating for months – i.e. avoiding processed meat or avoiding meat on the whole (I don’t consider tuna to be meat) – and now it seems that I am turned off from all land-based meat. Yes, I may have the urge to have shawarma or maybe a burger but in my mind, I feel like I am cheating myself because I worked so hard to develop a love for vegetables and plant based breaded ‘fake meats’ and tuna – and by having a beef burger once in a while – it feels like a self-betrayal of some sort.

Do you get my drift? Your thoughts?
 
foodie67me said:
Hello you good people, I hope everyone is doing ok.

It has been some time since my last post (over 4 years!).

In the past and for quite some time, my work lunch consisted of cold cuts (pork or beef) sandwiches. My dinners were processed meats mainly in terms of frozen pre-cooked microwaveable dinner beef steaks on some nights and beef hotdogs on other nights - most nights I would have mashed potato. Once or twice a month I would have a Quarter Pounder or a Big Mac with fries at MCD. Daily desserts after dinner would be cookies or cake. During that time my Lipid Profile was borderline high.

Many months ago (maybe 5 to 6) all of the above changed. I stopped eating cold cuts and all processed meats. My dinners then rotated to boiled frozen mixed vegetables drained and served with a half can of tuna on top, and other nights I would have boiled frozen mixed vegetables drained with some oven baked plant based vegan meat free breaded strips that looked like meat nuggets. I would also have baked beans or some other beans as well on other nights. I also started taking multivitamins to ensure I have my daily requirements of vitamins and minerals. I have not retested my Lipid Profile but I have been feeling great but also lost a fair amount of weight (maybe due to low carbs). I have always been of an average build anyway.

So, this is the thing. Recently at the supermarket I had the urge for pork ribs and bought a full rack of the precooked ones and had those with fries (oven baked from frozen) for a weekend dinner. The next morning in my mind I felt horrible. I mean, I got hooked on healthy eating for months – i.e. avoiding processed meat or avoiding meat on the whole (I don’t consider tuna to be meat) – and now it seems that I am turned off from all land-based meat. Yes, I may have the urge to have shawarma or maybe a burger but in my mind, I feel like I am cheating myself because I worked so hard to develop a love for vegetables and plant based breaded ‘fake meats’ and tuna – and by having a beef burger once in a while – it feels like a self-betrayal of some sort.

Do you get my drift? Your thoughts?
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I think the point you're missing is that you're trying and it is more than a lot of people do.

My brother was in the same boat. He was vastly overweight and ate what he wanted when he wanted and it wasn't cooked at home. Usually takeaway etc. He drank what he wanted, and often the entire 2L bottle in a day. He paid the price last year suffering a stroke at 47 yrs old. Since then he's made massive changes, lost half his weight and its a fraction of the size he was. He's actually taking exercise and starting to increase fruit and veg in his life. He's trying and that's all anyone can ask him to do.

Of course he still has a 2L container of IronBru or vimto (don't ask, just don't, he even makes it up with milk as a milkshake).


He's trying hard and it sounds like your are as well. That's all you can do.

Do be careful with the fake vegan meats. They have a high saturated fat content (and oxygen salt as well) and are, as a result, best not eaten too often. I've had to stop eating them almost entirely because my body is exceptionally good at making is own bad cholesterol from them. On the same diet my hubby will have figures of 3.5 for the bad cholesterol in his blood work. Mine will be at 5.8 or 5.9 which my gp is not happy with. I've switched (back) over to tofu, tempeh, lentils, and pulses and the occasional eggs (I have chickens instead for my protein.

So I'd say, don't beat yourself up over it. If you don't enjoy meat, don't worry (I've not eaten it in 40 years now and I'm vegan plus eggs from my own chickens only. ) You'll be better off not stressing over occasional meat than beating yourself up over it. Stressing over it can do just as much harm in the long run.
 
Give yourself a "treat day" and eat what you want. Watching what you eat six days a week should be good enough. Be patient and hang in there. It requires a permanent lifestyle change, so find something you can live with. Don't be negative and punish yourself for being a bit unhealthy. Most of us are. Just find a happy medium.
 
Ok, so you know where I’m coming from:

23 years ago, I weighed close to 250lbs, and I’m 5’9”. I drank lots of pop, ate lots of fast food, ate out nearly every meal on the weekends, lots of pizza, cheese, alcohol, ribs, potato chips, candy, desserts, etc. Lots of processed things. I cooked from scratch maybe two meals a week, tops.

Over the course of a year, I lost nearly 85lbs, and I just weighed myself this morning, and I weighed 181lbs. I lost all that by completely cutting out all the “bad” foods and living on salads and water for a solid year. It wasn’t as bad as it sounds.

These days, complete change. Nearly all our meals are at home and usually cooked from scratch, I have fast food once a week (and then it’s a very small meal, not the Big Macs and large fries with a 12-gallon pop), no sugared pop, etc.

But…every now and again, we all need a little extra pleasure in our lives. MrsT has been gone for the last several days, and it’s been like a little vacation for me staying home - and that means I’ve had pizza twice, I’ve had McD’s three days in a row (!), I’ve had some kind of candy every day…I even ate an entire bag of Lays potato chips/crisps in one sitting - and I mean the big family bag, not the little individual ones.

Do I feel guilty? No, not really. She’s back tomorrow, and I know she’s been eating a lot of unhealthy things on her trip (because I’m not cooking for her), so when she gets back, it’ll be a welcome return to salads and homemade soups and such. I don’t feel guilty - I feel like I’ve had a little break, and it was fun.

Granted, my slippage is intentional and it sounds more like you feel that you gave into temptation, and that’s why you feel bad.

Well, we all backslide every once in awhile, and when that happens, just recognize that you did, remind yourself that you can’t change the past, maybe go for an extra 30 minute walk to atone, and move on. Don’t beat yourself up about it.
 
I don't have much to add to this other than I commend you for doing as well as you have thus far. I agree with everyone else who posted here.
 
First of all, don't feel guilty. Food should be enjoyed, period, so if the ribs took your fancy , and you enjoyed them , then great.
If you feel turned off by meat and poultry, that's not a problem either. My diet is 95% vegetarian, but occasionally I'll have a craving for a burger, a chilli con carne or a few sausages. I might even eat them two days in a row. When I'm out at a restaurant, 90% of the time, I'll choose fish - but we rarely eat it at home.
I've never eaten a "plant-based" sausage, chicken strip, burger, rib, steak or anything vaguely similar, and from what I've seen on the packages, too much salt, too many additives for my liking. And some insidious marketing practices. If I want a vegetarian "sausage" (because that the shape I identify with) then I'll make one, at home.
If you have an ongoing medical issue, then I'd suggest you consult a professional. Who knows what the problem might be? Genetic, diabetic, allergic, - there are so many factors that will affect what you eat and how you feel afterwards. I used to eat loads of chicken; these days, I can't even remember the last time I ate it. No reason.
 
SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
I think the point you're missing is that you're trying and it is more than a lot of people do.

My brother was in the same boat. He was vastly overweight and ate what he wanted when he wanted and it wasn't cooked at home. Usually takeaway etc. He drank what he wanted, and often the entire 2L bottle in a day. He paid the price last year suffering a stroke at 47 yrs old. Since then he's made massive changes, lost half his weight and its a fraction of the size he was. He's actually taking exercise and starting to increase fruit and veg in his life. He's trying and that's all anyone can ask him to do.

Of course he still has a 2L container of IronBru or vimto (don't ask, just don't, he even makes it up with milk as a milkshake).


He's trying hard and it sounds like your are as well. That's all you can do.

Do be careful with the fake vegan meats. They have a high saturated fat content (and oxygen salt as well) and are, as a result, best not eaten too often. I've had to stop eating them almost entirely because my body is exceptionally good at making is own bad cholesterol from them. On the same diet my hubby will have figures of 3.5 for the bad cholesterol in his blood work. Mine will be at 5.8 or 5.9 which my gp is not happy with. I've switched (back) over to tofu, tempeh, lentils, and pulses and the occasional eggs (I have chickens instead for my protein.

So I'd say, don't beat yourself up over it. If you don't enjoy meat, don't worry (I've not eaten it in 40 years now and I'm vegan plus eggs from my own chickens only. ) You'll be better off not stressing over occasional meat than beating yourself up over it. Stressing over it can do just as much harm in the long run.
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Thank you everyone for your replies! Very interesting indeed. Hello SatNav, glad to hear your brother is trying.

So the vegan fake meat that I have are not burger patties but breaded nugget strips or breaded 'fake fish'. I normally have 2 servings and see the nutrition information attached; according to that, 2 servings would be only 1g of saturated fat. What examples of vegan fake meat do you refer to that are high in saturated fat that I can perhaps look out for to remember to avoid them?



1.JPG
 
I've been on a weight loss effort for two years and have lost around 85 lbs. I eat ribs. I eat whatever I like. I just eat less of it than I used to. I've never been a fan of processed foods so my diet has been healthy all along (donuts excluded.) A healthy diet includes a wide variety of good foods and pork ribs are included. I finished dinner this afternoon with donut. Well 1/2 a donut.
 
I believe that it is all about sugars. Anything that contains sugar, or white flour, rice, potatoes and sweet sauces should be reduced as much as you can. That still leaves any kind of meat and vegetables, butter, vinegars, oils, etc...It's a low carb diet. You might not be used to creating a menu without starches but it takes a bit of time to learn new recipes, substitute another vegetable for potato, etc. Unless you are very active, I would watch the carbs.
 
foodie67me said:
Thank you everyone for your replies! Very interesting indeed. Hello SatNav, glad to hear your brother is trying.

So the vegan fake meat that I have are not burger patties but breaded nugget strips or breaded 'fake fish'. I normally have 2 servings and see the nutrition information attached; according to that, 2 servings would be only 1g of saturated fat. What examples of vegan fake meat do you refer to that are high in saturated fat that I can perhaps look out for to remember to avoid them?



View attachment 118794
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I'm in Australia, so there's no real sense in me pointing them out. Most are the replacement meats, such as fake mince or fake pork etc.

I do enjoy Ikea veggie balls but not their plant based balls. That's one example you might find crossing ocean I guess given I used to live in the UK and had the veggies balls there as well.

Mind you, the 2 that I've grabbed screenshots of are both made in USA..

Screenshot_20240922_170115_Woolworths.jpg
 
blades said:
I've been on a weight loss effort for two years and have lost around 85 lbs. I eat ribs. I eat whatever I like. I just eat less of it than I used to. I've never been a fan of processed foods so my diet has been healthy all along (donuts excluded.) A healthy diet includes a wide variety of good foods and pork ribs are included. I finished dinner this afternoon with donut. Well 1/2 a donut.
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I think you can eat all the ribs you want. It's the sugary sauce that will get you,(If you have sauce). I have been trying to use monk fruit powder as my sugar additive. It works for some things but not for others.
 
Rocklobster said:
I think you can eat all the ribs you want. It's the sugary sauce that will get you,(If you have sauce). I have been trying to use monk fruit powder as my sugar additive. It works for some things but not for others.
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I eat sugary sauces as well just not all I want. My approach is not to worry about what I eat but rather how much of it I eat.
 
SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
I'm in Australia, so there's no real sense in me pointing them out. Most are the replacement meats, such as fake mince or fake pork etc.

I do enjoy Ikea veggie balls but not their plant based balls. That's one example you might find crossing ocean I guess given I used to live in the UK and had the veggies balls there as well.

Mind you, the 2 that I've grabbed screenshots of are both made in USA..

View attachment 118827
Click to expand...
Very informative and thank thank you!
 
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