[richard stringer]

I jog 4.5 miles every 2 days and have been doing for years, slowly building up from half a mile to 4.5 miles now, and now i'm starting to really struggle to even make my normal run. All I eat all day everyday is potato wedges and now i'm scared cos I saw an article saying that a diet which is high in starch is proven that it can lead to cancer of the pancreas. I take a-z vitamins and drink a glass of orange juice each days as well as 3 weetabix withiout milk. But I feel tired all day and drained and wonder why.

I know I only eat about 2 plates of potato wedges a day and thats around about it for my daily food intake (apart from the weetabix of course), but I need some help from you guys so I can sort out a better diet. I never feel like eating and when I try and eat, I just feel like if I eat it i'll be sick.

 

[Steve]

Well it may be boring and unoriginal but you need to eat fruit and veg along with some pasta.

If you have a dietery problem perhaps you should see your Gp or a dietician.

 

[cuprasi]

www.eatwell.gov.uk/healthydiet

That explains the food groups that you need ... basically it is better to have 5 smaller portions a day so that you have less hunger in between and you will have a bit more energy, you might be lacking n Carbs and there are good carbs that you can have ... banana's are low in cals 100 IIRC and are slow release energy

 

[Scarbib_jack]

It wouldnt surprise me if you were anemic and had several deficiencies with the diet you eat.

As cuprasi says, 5 small meals which can include a snack or two is probably best for you. You must not have a very big appetite so big meals in the one sitting are out

At the moment, your diet consists of almost 100% carbs...noe of which are from a decent source. there is a little fats in there which are probably trans fats, and no complete source of protein.

Unless vegetarian or vegan, look to include some free range eggs (including the yolk), fresh fish, fresh meats, vegetabels, sugary fruits, fats from organic butter, extra virgin olive oil and coconut milk.

Add an Iron supplement to your diet asap unless there is any medical reason you shouldnt. Go and see your GP and get some blood work done as your diet is really bad and may be causing you problemos that you can get some help with.

SJ

 

[LEECE]

God i thought my diet was bad.

You need fuel to burn and it sounds like your engine is burnt out Richard to be blunt.

Do you not like other foods Richard.

I dislike a lot of food but at times i make myself eat stuff i do not like just to get some goodness into me.

Leece

 

[almost_no_specifics]

Can't really add to what has been said other than the fact that you feel like you're going to be sick when you eat sounds a tad serious and you should go speak to your GP! Is it a mental thing do you think?

Either way, your diet is rather bad and if you change it in the ways suggested above then you'll probably notice a change really quickly. Just taking an a-z really isn'y going to help because they don't have absolutely everything your body needs, and are no substitute for eating real food. Potato wedges are tasty, but you're really missing out on soooo much nummy food! NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM!

 

[bagpuddycat]

I really hope you're exaggerating, but if not, then you're desperately in need, among other things, of some protein and some fruit and veg.

If you're struggling to eat anything else, then try just having a tiny bit of something with your wedges and/or weetabix and gradually increase what you can manage.

There's a huge choice of things that'll give you some protein, from beans, lentils and nuts/seeds, though dairy products to fish and meat.

For veg, I'd concentrate on leafy green stuff as that will help boost your iron intake as well as the other things you get from veg (fibre, vitamins, etc).

How about having a home-made smoothie instead of your orange juice? What I sometimes do for breakfast is whizz up some fruit, yoghurt and milk (I also add oatmeal, but that may be a bit too weird to start with!) and drink that. Smoothie'd fruit is better for you than juice, and this way you get some protein and calcium too. My favourites are banana with pear and raspberries, or mango with blueberries, but you can use pretty much any fruit (not citrus, unless you just add the juice which rather defeats the object, and I'm not sure I'd bother with apple) so just try whatever you fancy.

 

[Scarbib_jack]

Really good post Badpuddycat. Lots of good info

Small changes at a time would be a good start with some nuts and greens although i would like to stress again that medical attention is probably needed. I would be lookign to get blood tests done to see what kind of damage that diet has done over time.

SJ

 

[richard stringer]

Thanks guys for your advice. To be honest there's not a lot I like, and yeah my apetite is very low, in fact I could go as far as saying its totally non existant. I'm seeing the health nurse about my diet on the 8th of may so i'll ask her about blood tests. I know I been tested for diabetes a few times and everything was totally ok. Its been about 4 months where I been eating these wedges and nothing else, before that I ate nothing but baked beans (still with weetabix, orange juice etc... for breakfast) for years and years and came up ok for every test I had. I know when I was eating baked beans etc...the doctor told me I had the blood pressure of an 18 year old (about 5 months ago) and i'm 33. I know I hated eating weetabix raw without milk when I 1st started but then after a while I got use to it, so maybe i've just gotta get my taste buds used to different foods as apposed to the same stuff all the time.

The stuff I was thinking about starting to eat cos its the only healthy food I like is this :

carrots
garden peas
fresh cod
sirloin steak (maybe not so healthy)
white grapes
strawberries
apples
florida spring vegetable soup (Know, sachets)
kingsmill brown buns with thin slice cry cure ham
tinned orange segments
tinned fruit cocktail.

Do you think thats a better diet guys?

 

[richard stringer]

Add an Iron supplement to your diet asap unless there is any medical reason you shouldnt. Go and see your GP and get some blood work done as your diet is really bad and may be causing you problemos that you can get some help with.

SJ

The multi vitamins I take say on the box that its got 14mg of iron in. I take Centrum Complete A To Zinc. Oh and I take supplements for omega 3 which contain 1360mg of highly concentrated fish oil cos I heard that can keep your heart healthy.

 

[richardsimkiss]

certainly better than what you're managing at the moment...

If you're going for tinned fruit, try to get the ones in juice rather than syrup

 

[bagpuddycat]

It would certainly be a whole heap better - there's protein, carbs and some fruit and veg in there, which is a vast improvement on what you're eating now. And don't worry about the sirloin steak - it's perfectly healthy in moderation. It'll give you some iron, too and, from my limited knowledge, there's not much else on that list that would.

You'd still be very short on calcium and no doubt some other minerals and vitamins, but it would be so much better than what you're eating now that if you can move to that, I'm sure you'd feel a lot healthier.

 

[Scarbib_jack]

That would be a big improvement mate. Also, the sirloin steak would be fine. Animal fat is an importain part of a well balanced healthy diet in my opinion.

If affordable, buy it from grass fed animals and you have a very healthy piece of meat. Rib eye, popeseye are also decent steaks and are a little cheaper although not quite as nice.

Good stuff with the multivitamin and fish oil.

 

[richard stringer]

certainly better than what you're managing at the moment...

If you're going for tinned fruit, try to get the ones in juice rather than syrup

I just remembered, that I did go through a patch of eating the kind of stuff on my list, god must of been about a year and a half ago but cant remember how good I felt back then compared to now. And I used to pour the syrup away, drain it and just eat the segments and pieces cos I didn't use to like the syrup. I'm wondering if its possible to get decent sirloin steak from the butchers cos if you can i'd get it fresh from there instead and eat it the same night of course. I'm gonna do all this 2morrow, buy in loads of good foods I know I like, and I just looked, the multivitamins i'm taking only provide em with 20% of the daily calcium I need. Yoghurts like ski would provide me with more calcium intake wouldn't they?

 

[scr8pe]

In my opinion, taking extra vitamins is totally unnecessary if you are eating a proper diet. Whilst I appreciate some people do have eating disorders etc. Most health problems are as a direct result of poor diets, lack of exercise or, more commonly a combination of both.

Richard, it's good to see that you are taking decisive action. If you persevere with your new diet and gradually introduce a variety of fresh food. I'm sure you'll feel much better in next to no time. Good Luck

 

[richard stringer]

Thanks mate, I actually cant wait to start my new diet 2morrow. I'm sitting here absolutely starving, so hungry that I feel dizzy but I cant eat anymore wedges and thats all I have in the freezer. The only other thing I have in my cupboards is weetabix. Oh and some brown bread on the side, i'm gonna have some toast I think. By the way, I have my bread and toast with bertoli spread, not butter and have done for over a year now. I went to asda earlier and just got back. I wrote down the prices of stuff like carrots, cod etc...etc...so 2morrow I can set a budget every week for that kind of food. I tell ya, healthy eating can be expensive when you got a high metabolism like me.

Thanks again.

 

[Scarbib_jack]

I just remembered, that I did go through a patch of eating the kind of stuff on my list, god must of been about a year and a half ago but cant remember how good I felt back then compared to now. And I used to pour the syrup away, drain it and just eat the segments and pieces cos I didn't use to like the syrup. I'm wondering if its possible to get decent sirloin steak from the butchers cos if you can i'd get it fresh from there instead and eat it the same night of course. I'm gonna do all this 2morrow, buy in loads of good foods I know I like, and I just looked, the multivitamins i'm taking only provide em with 20% of the daily calcium I need. Yoghurts like ski would provide me with more calcium intake wouldn't they?

Local butchers is always the best bet. I tend to just go once per week and freeze all my meats up for the week. You should be fine to leave it for a night in the fridge before eating also.

Dont be too afraid from Butter although a good spectrum of fats is best. Organic full fat butter or Anchor butter (as good as organic) is good for you as long as you dont eat it like chocolate . Bertoil is good aswell and the better choice if you are overweight or have been diagnosed with high cholesterol levels.....although fats in the diet dont cause high cholesterol themselfs!

Some yoghurts wouldnt be a bad addition to your diet. I prefer to avoid the low fat ones as they tend to get packed with extra sugar. Yeo valley is my personal choice.

SJ

 

[bagpuddycat]

Dont be too afraid from Butter although a good spectrum of fats is best. Organic full fat butter or Anchor butter (as good as organic) is good for you as long as you dont eat it like chocolate . Bertoil is good aswell and the better choice if you are overweight or have been diagnosed with high cholesterol levels.....although fats in the diet dont cause high cholesterol themselfs!

Some yoghurts wouldnt be a bad addition to your diet. I prefer to avoid the low fat ones as they tend to get packed with extra sugar. Yeo valley is my personal choice.

Just to second both of these. I only eat butter, as I hate all other spreads. I don't eat a great deal of it, partly because I only have bread at the weekend. I had my cholesterol tested just after Christmas (probably the worst possible time!) and, to quote my GP, there are people who'd give their eye teeth to have such a low level. So butter isn't that evil.

For yoghurt, I tend to buy low fat natural yoghurt, without any nasty sugar or sweetener added, and eat it with fresh fruit (or in my breakfast smoothies). Still, if you only like the ones with fruit already added, it's probably better than nothing.

 

[richard stringer]

I was also wondering, tonight is jogging night so have you guys any idea which food is best to eat before a jog? I need lots of energy to complete the 4.5 mile run and normally eat roast potatos done in the oven (without covering them with oil, just put them in the oven and cook), but I have to squeeze them down as the taste makes me wanna bork. Considering I only go joggin every 2 days, would it be a good idea to drink one of those high carb drinks with a normal meal before I start the run? Or maybe one of those high carbohydrate bars?

 

[Katten]

Bananas are the perfect pre-run food, or some nice bread with peanut butter or similar. Potatoes would be... ok... but if they make you want to hurl, then best to choose something that's actually tasty. I think the important thing is just to eat regular meals with a variety of food in them.

Is it that the potato wedges are the only thing that you feel you want to eat? Or do you eat pretty much anything, but never really feel hungry?