I am a snacker. I hate cooking, I love convenience, I’m generally pretty busy, and I work in a place where the kitchen is stocked with endless snacks. And just when you think you’ve had them all, takeaway is delivered and pastries and cake and doughnuts appear. (Ok, ok, I might be mostly responsible for the cake and doughnuts part).

Still, I’ve been trying to eat better recently, particularly in terms of cutting out chocolate, crisps (i.e. chips) and other things which should not be eaten every day. Yes, I’m talking to you Jenni. So far, I’m doing pretty well. I’ve resisted at least three takeaways, had one packet of crisps, and one portion of potato wedges over the past two weeks. (I’ve also eaten a bit of cake, consumed rather a lot of alcohol, and gone a whole day having only consumed half a packet of mini eggs, but anyway).

My initial issue was ‘WHAT AM I GOING TO EAT?! EVERYTHING IS BAD’. Yes, I have an unhealthy relationship with food. But, after actually changing some things and replacing some things, I feel a lot better generally. I still have far too much sugar in my diet – does it contribute towards my anxiety? Quite possibly – but it’s being cut down a lot. More importantly, I’m not craving sweet things – or, in fact, anything really. This tells me that my changes haven’t been too extreme and they’re sustainable. I’m not trying to eat ‘perfectly’ 100% of the time, because that’s too unrealistic. I’m just trying to give my body what it needs to run as much as possible, whilst compromising as little as possible on the whole cooking thing.

Rather than an ultimate meal plan, because I am not that organised, and if I’m spontaneous about anything in my life then it’s food, I thought it would be easier to put together a list of simple, realistic food and drink switches that I’ve made. They aren’t amazing; they’re designed to be sustainable and healthier than my current alternatives rather than being zomg superfoods.

Junk food: Crisps
Replacement: Popcorn. You can make your own, or be incredibly lazy like me and buy it in 15g bags. They work out about the same size as an individual bag of crisps, but they’re around 80 calories rather than 150-200. So I don’t feel bad about having two bags. Nuts are also good in moderation – I’m not a huge fan though so I don’t tend to eat them that much.

Junk drink: Diet Pepsi
Replacement: Lemon/Lime Zero or Pink Lemonade Zero. Yeah, ok, they aren’t a million times better and they still have sweeteners. At 5 cals and no caffeine (the thing I’m supposed to be avoiding above all else), they make a nice change from water. And as they’re cans, it’s easier to keep track of how much non-water I’m drinking.

Junk food: Sugary cereal
Replacement: Porridge with fruit (bananas, strawberries and raisins are my favourite combo). It does keep me full quite a bit longer than cereals, it takes longer to eat, and it’s a good start to the day. Plus, I buy the microwavable sachets, so it’s still really convenient and not messy.

Junk food: Takeaways
Replacement: Fresh meat, veg, and wholegrain/wheat carbs. After the whole horse meat thing, I freaked out for a bit and decided I was only going to buy meat from Abel and Cole (side note: never, EVER google anything containing the phrase ‘supermarket chicken’ unless you’re intending to become a vegetarian). It’s lovely, but expensive. In my mind, it’s completely worth it; what you put in your body is the most important thing to spend money on. One of the advantages is that I’ve been a lot more hardcore about not wasting food, which means more planning ahead, which means healthier dinners rather than ‘Let’s get a takeaway, we don’t have anything in’. I’m still not at the enviable organised stage of buying all my food for a month and cooking/freezing stuff in batches, but it’s still better than spur of the moment unhealthy purchases.

Junk food: White toast
Replacement: This more of an afternoon/evening thing for me, when my energy levels start to dip a bit. I have to admit that I find giving up white bread really, really hard. I have mostly replaced with with a wholemeal pitta and some hummous (or for bonus points, carrots instead of pitta). It’s a lot more filling and still has a really good taste. When I feel like toast for breakfast, I’ll try to have scrambled eggs on wholemeal or 50/50 bread rather than butter and jam. That generally means I won’t be hungry until lunchtime.

Junk food: Ice cream
Replacement: I have an extremely sweet tooth, but I’ve found that frozen yoghurt is pretty much my perfect snack. Before it would be chocolatey Ben and Jerry’s froyo goodness with extra chocolate sauce and sprinkles; now it’s more a small ramekin of vanilla topped with nuts. Super convenient, even the tiniest bowl fills me up for an after-work snack, and requires absolutely no prep beyond opening the freezer and grabbing a teaspoon.

Junk food: Supermarket sandwiches
Replacement: All kinds of things, just with a bit of planning beforehand. Cooking an extra batch of pasta the night before means I can turn the leftovers into tuna salad the next day without much effort, for example. If I want something hot, I’ll grab a scrambled egg and mushroom muffin. I even made one of the guys show me how to cook scrambled eggs in the microwave at work. I also try to make my own salads and keep them in the fridge so that I always have something there and prepping meals is even less effort. Homemade sandwiches are good too, and are obviously a lot cheaper.

Junk food: Potatoes
Replacement: Oh god, I love potatoes. They’re possibly the only type of food I love in every form. The obvious alternative is sweet potato (wedges are good), but to be honest, I find that carrot and swede mash is even better – especially with a tiny bit of butter. Gives you that carb-eating sensation without the heavy/bloated/hungry feeling after. And if you’re as lazy as me, you can buy it premade in supermarkets – refrigerated or frozen – to make it even more convenient.

Junk food: ‘Meals out’
Replacement: Mindful meals out. This means eating in places where the calorie counts are shown on the menu, places that offer low-fat/healthier versions of dishes on request, not eating dessert (much easier than I thought it would be), not being afraid of leaving half and taking the rest home for the next day or the cats.