Help!

[worthytobeloved]

I am now retired, but was unable to work for years before that. I have no structure to my days, and my lifestyle is a mess. I used to be bulimic (not now), but am so confused as to what and how to eat. I live alone. I feel such a fool, but would like to try and get my life in order. Any advice gratefully received!

[Thursday45]

Your positive name is a great start. Maybe look for a self-help book to begin with. I like The Rainbow Diet by Chris Woollams, but if you browse in a book shop, or library some thing will appeal to you. It’s the first step that counts and that will lead you onwards.

[worthytobeloved in reply to Thursday45]

Thanks so much for your advice! xxx

[buddy99]

I also retired recently and live by myself. One day I discovered the "30 plants a week" program and it peeked my interest to see whether I could do it. With the help of cookbooks from the public library I started to meet or even beat the requirements. You can compete against others apparently, but I just compete against myself and made it into a game. I believe I'm thus getting a lot of healthy food and want to eat to come out "a winner". You can find this online. This is the one I use: thirtyplants.app/ As you can see it is an app. There might be other options.

I also found this article explaining how it works: bbc.co.uk/food/articles/pla...

[buddy99 in reply to buddy99]

I also found this online. It's not good for me because I do not eat animal products, but maybe it helps you. wholesome.health/blog/how-t...

[worthytobeloved in reply to buddy99]

Hi! Thank you so much for the very useful information. I look forward to finding out more about it. I am virtually a vegetarian, so it appeals to me. I'm not sure I can do 30 different plants a week though, but I'll give it a try! Many thanks!

[buddy99 in reply to worthytobeloved]

You will be surprised how easy it can be. My son packs 15 plants into a smoothie in the morning. He is close to 30 a DAY. I'm not there yet, but I have so much fun with food now. I hope you'll find the same joy.

[WhollyAligned Administrator]

Hello and thanks for posting in my community. Retirement can be such an interesting sojourn and please know you're not alone in finding conflicting and confusing information around food. The gut diversity challenge is when you look at including 30 different natural foods in one week. This includes nuts and seeds and herbs so it much easier to manage then thinking of it as just plants. It's useful to consider how your relationship with food developed, what influences you had in childhood and your own worthiness to cook and prepare and eat good foods for yourself. Simple things like scrambled eggs on sourdough (properly fermented bread is better and much easier to digest) with a good handful of freshly chopped parsley or even a simple omelette. Baked potatoes are super for the winter, the skins packed with potassium and fibre, adding in what you enjoy and find satiating. It's a vastly complex thing, our nourishment, and wonderfully simple. Learning to listen to your body and what energises you, what aids a better bowel movement, what helps you sleep better. Just let yourself explore. Autumn is a lovely season to explore this.

[worthytobeloved in reply to WhollyAligned]

Thank you SO much for your advice. You've been really helpful, and I do appreciate it!