I love food. Fact. That’s one thing that has never changed for me on this journey. Its something that I have had to educate myself in, and it’s been fun. I have discovered all kinds of food that I love, and a few that I dont, but my palette has really matured.
With a hectic schedule, fitting my fitness routine in is hard enough, without the thought of breakfast, lunch and dinner (with snacks in between) to add into the mix. Food prepping is the way forward. It’s not only therapeutic and routine, it’s sensible and money saving. With the amount I need to eat, it can get expensive. I know it sounds like a simple rule, but writing a shopping list really works. It keeps the shopping trip short and sweet, and you don’t need to think about what you need on the spot (a hazardous position to be in as a food lover).
When I first started to change my lifestyle, I found the food I was eating was bland. Green salads with chicken and that was about it. I thought that ‘healthy food’ was boring. This is a rocky road my friends. If you get bored, you’re headed for a major fall off the wagon. Needless to say, I needed enough energy to get me through my workouts, while still losing weight. I guess I struggled a bit so I started to research food that was going to give me sustainable energy. I discovered that I loved all kinds of food I’d always turned my nose up, like quinoa, sweet potato, cottage cheese, quorn etc. I also bulked up my salads with the likes of pickles, homemade salsas, hot sauces, cheeses, beetroot and pickled onions- all relatively calorie free, which is a bonus!
Omelettes are a great one, they are super fast and delicious. I like to be creative with them and try different things so I don’t get bored with the same flavours.
Now, I’m a British Girl and I like to basque in the tradition of a Sunday Roast. I go heavy on the veg and always try to choose the Turkey option because it’s packed with protein. I guess the biggest hurdle of a Sunday Roast is the portion control. Serving my food on a smaller plate is great. My eyes are always bigger than my belly so I find if I have a smaller plate with less food on it, this is more than substantial. I don’t eat until I burst. The other great side to this tradition- LEFTOVERS! With plenty of meat and veg, you’ll have meals sorted for a good couple of days. This really is meal prepping at its finest. Sometimes I even cook a roast chicken alongside turkey just to have in the fridge. The cat approves of this one.
I talked about carbs in my previous post, and I want to go into a bit more detail about this, because this alone, has been a journey in itself. Right at the beginning, my mum cut wheat out and said she felt great, so I tried it in my ‘I’ll give anything a go’ stage. Well, it’s been one of the best things I have changed. I don’t bloat anymore and I have severely decreased my middle tyre. I went in hard and cut carbs almost completely, but after a while my workouts started to become a struggle. I run 10-15k 6 days a week and weight-lift 4 times a week. I needed some form of carbs. So I swapped white potatoes for sweet potatoes and I started to eat wheat free and sourdough bread. I have found that I tend to eat carbs first thing in the morning when I workout so that it gives me the energy I need, and I have all day to burn it. I still keep my carb intake to a ‘strictly need to’ basis, but I enjoy them more than ever now. A breakfast I really enjoy is some nice wheat free or sour dough toast, hot smoked salmon, or smoked mackerel and a poached egg, or avocado. If I’m feeling super hungry then maybe both of the latter.
I’ll finish with grains and pulses. Quinoa, buckwheat, lentils, couscous, the list goes on. All highly sustainable energy foods. While healthy in small doses, you can cook them in so many different ways. They are great with spices which is fabulous for jazzing up the flavours and they really help to keep the bowels healthy. A huge plus!
On my next segment, I’m going to talk about snacks. I have some awesome snack secrets that have helped me keep away from refined sugar.