Can I enjoy life and eat healthy at the same time?

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I would love to eat better, but every fitness goal seems to require counting numbers (as in nutrients), but that is going to make me miserable. I'm not a numbers person, I hate counting things. I just want to eat what I want within reason. I don't even realize that I'm eating something bad while it's happening. I tried journaling my food in the past, but it's not practical and can feel like a chore, I'm not used to doing it. I feel like the laziest man alive. Besides, mom sometimes is the one in charge of making things so it's not like I can count or know exactly what/how many nutrients there are in stuff. It could just be an executive functioning issue, but I truly want to overcome this issue. Do I even have to count every little gram of something I put into my body? It's stressing me out and might even make me less likely to eat.

I've read on numerous health articles, "Don't calorie count!" It makes dieting feel like a chore in general. Here's how you do it, drop the cookie and pick up an orange. Do not cut too many things from your diet. I recommend cutting the things with no nutritional value, like soda. Also, find a healthy food that you can enjoy two times a day without getting bored. Mine is an apple. Fruits would be best, as they're convenient and usually small.

Would you be okay with just writing down everything you eat? Just bringing that kind of awareness to the eating can bring your habits more in line with your goals.

For that matter, there's a thread viewtopic.php?t=108006

No, just eat the right things. Fruit, veg, rice, potatoes etc. I pretty much just avoid anything that's got tons of salt or oil in it. Also water is super important.

That's one penalty for living alone. I always find it difficult to eat a variety of fruit and vegetables without having them wilt or spoil. I'll be living in berry central, though, during berry season, so I will have to learn what I should and should not eat, and just graze!

Cut out some of the junk first. Less soda, candy, fast food, frozen pizza, ramen, etc. More fresh greens and home-cooked meals.

If it's not enough, then keep looking into what you can change. Weight and health is not the same... some people can eat like crap and still not get fat, especially while they're young.

Learn to cook meals from scratch if you want to eat healthier. No real way around that.

I can do that, unless I live alone. Trying to buy fresh produce for one person requires a trade-off between eating 4 or more servings of the same food in as many days, and wasting food.

Take up hiking, walk a couple of miles per day, you can eat all the high carb food you want, even candy - because your body will burn it fast! There is a reason why long distance hikers take "zero days" (meaning walking 0 distance) and eat burgers - whatever they want. Whatever you do on a trail, you'll lose weight.

Just make sure you get all the nutrients daily, i eat pills with vitamins and minerals every day and drink a few glasses of juice too, makes me feel much better than if i didn't consume that stuff.

If you're starting to get skinny, take a break from the thing or you'll die from malnutrition.

Half the battle with "healthy eating" is healthy shopping, thought in the store, and simply not buying "unhealthy" stuff means it's not there to tempt you at home...

Between that, and avoiding food shopping when you're hungry (which will cause you to forget all your good intentions), you can make quite a big impact.

Calorie counting doesn't work, because there are way too many other factors to consider.

It boils down mainly to what you eat, and if you're unsure of what that means I highly recommend checking out some of Dr. Mark Hyman or Dr. Josh Axe's books on the topic (most of their information is totally free online, mind you).

Once you know what to eat and how to avoid processed garbage, you don't have to sit around and count anything at all.

http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/ther ... 6110410602
http://drhyman.com/blog/2014/04/10/calo ... nt-matter/

Organic veggies are often sold is small quantities. You might check out that part of the store. Though I rarely do this myself.

I usually buy just two ears of corn at a time. It helps to have the fridge set low--mine is around 35 to 38 degrees.
And have a thermometer inside you so you can make sure it doesn't get too high or low.

It also helps to shop at a very busy market, though I realize some Aspies can't handle that. But, buying really fresh stuff makes a difference in how long you can keep it around before it goes bad.

I also bring a cooler with a re-usable "ice pack." And head right home after buying perishables so it doesn't sit in a hot car.