I write this article as we are mid July 2026 with a heatwave and England playing for 3rd place in the world cup final.
I've been toying with the idea of writing this article for a couple of days but something cropped up, in one way or another. But decided to fire up the laptop and put fingers on the keyboard and write this article.
For the past couple of months I've been on a bit of a health kick, not through Drs warning, but wanted to give it a go. But how far have i gone with the health kick and i hope if you are reading this and it helps you then that's really good.
A good friend of mine hasn't had takeaways for 2-3 years and i thought i would give it a go as i was having a lot of takeaways probably 4-6 a month. This created two problems, cost and the health related issues to doing this. As i am on my half way to being 50 i wanted to take some action and feel better. So the first thing i did was to cut out all takeaways. But here's the thing, i still enjoy a Wendy's burger or a taco bell. But under the self imposed rule it was simple. I could have a Wendy's or a Taco Bell, but instead of going through the drive through I have to sit in and eat it. This resulted in two things it stopped me from going as much, in eating as much fast food and i save a lot of money. The average UK takeaway for 3 people can range from £25-50 and not good in the cost of living. I have also found I am cooking more, sure i have burgers at home. But even simple things like cutting down on portion size is another thing and eating slower. I have had a habit for years to bolt my food and this isn't good. The main problem is you feel hungry again later. It was listening to my mum that i learned to slow down when eating. A nice hack, is to have a drink with your meal, not the alcohol drink but a glass of milk or water and try and get into the habit of taking breaks from eating and sipping a drink. I find this works wonders.
But even the humble eat in burger i also cut down on how much i order. Instead of a burger meal and a couple of sides i now just have a burger meal and find this works wonders.
Other little hacks I've found is to cut out big evening meals and swapped these out for a bowl of cereal as a full meal before bed is big to process for your body. Sure we still have evening meals but not as many. The heatwave has helped with this as its too hot to put the oven on. Salads are a fantastic option for the heatwave. Healthy and tasty, and it doesn't mean eating just lettuce leaves but you can have a range of cooked meats with them. Mum does fantastic sandwiches. Really does.
Cereal, doesn't have to be anything fancy, but just a plain bowl of wheatabix with no sugar on top. I've had wheatbix for years and love them. I'm pretty sure my body is fuelled by them lol. But it doesn't have to be the official brand but super market own brands work just as well.
I've also cut out of loads of sugar in my hot drinks and this is another hack. Sure i could use sweeteners but i don't like the chemical taste of them. I still have a coca cola from time to time. Same with diabetes, you can still have the odd treat. This is key in a health kick, the odd little sweet treat is needed to keep up with the health kick.
Another thing, which I've done is to cut out soft drinks even squash, so i just have tea or coffee and water. I quite like the taste of water and consume roughly two pints of water before bed and this helps to break the fat down in your system no end. Another thing that i found really helped was to cut out alcohol. As larger or beer is full of calories same with wine. So if your looking to feel healthier i would suggest also cutting the wine out. To be honest having not had an alcoholic drink in over 3 years now i don't miss it. Don't even get tempted, i can quite happily sit in a pub and just have a pint of coca cola.
I also deleted the fast food apps off my phone and it adds a block, if i get tempted to order something i got to reinstall the app on my phone. Which makes it harder to try and order something. As mentioned before i cut out sugar in my teas & coffees i also stopped eating sweets as these are full of sugar. I no longer get tempted. If you fancy a nice treat then have a nice butchers sausage roll just a dopamine releasing as a bag of sweets. I would also say tell yourself, if you get tempted to eat sweets, then remember that you will need to burn off all of that excess sugar.
The other thing i did was to cut out caffeinated drinks after 4pm and switch to glasses of water. Not fancy water but just humble tap water. Sure you could argue bottled water is better but that's up to your preference.
I also don't eat as much meat as i used to do by a couple of times a week and make it feel more like a treat. If you are a vegan reading this, then i still enjoy a beef burger. But we are all different. One big think that really helped was to reduce exposure to fast food based adverts. I actually wish they would ban them all together i bet it would help loads of people. Its helped paying for YouTube premium and watching more stuff on there as supposed to more traditional broadcast medium and stick to the BBC when i do watch TV as there are no paid ads on it. If they are trying to promote a more healthy society then this needs to change.
I've been on my health kick for roughly 3 months and i feel better, loads better, I am sleeping better, feel more energised, more focused and have saved a lot of money. As mentioned before, the average takeaway costs £20-30. That's a small Shop at Aldi and Lidl. I would encourage more people to get in the kitchen and cooking food as this does two things, the food is really tasty and you burn off more calories as you are moving about more. A good friend, the same one, who hasn't had takeaways for 3 years said i would save loads of money and its true I have. I find i have more money to eat out sure i may still have a cheese burger but no pizzas as these are a heart attack waiting to happen. I love this more energised version of me, really do. Long may it continue.
