As I become more consistent with feeding my body foods which nourish it, I figured I’d start documenting the journey for myself as well as anyone else who wants a little inspiration on how to better fuel the body. Before I jump right in, I must disclaim that I am not a doctor/nutritionist/healthcare professional/scientist. I am a trial-and-error volunteer who’s been on a health and fitness journey for years and more specifically, a guinea pig regarding my relationship with nutrition. My insights and advice are based on my own meandering experience. It’s also important for me to outline my Food Philosophy, so you understand why I make the choices I do.
- Philosophy number one: Food is meant to nourish, fuel, delight and make me a better-functioning human. My relationship with food is one of the most important relationships I have. Being a woman who attended an all-girls boarding school in the early 2010s means that there are certain aspects of my life that are still influenced by the pursuit of thinness, it’s a lifelong project of unlearning. Working on my relationship with food means I try discard notions of bad vs good food, I find a balance between eating foods that are nourishing and healthy, and foods that I eat simply because I enjoy them. It means ridding myself of any guilt associated with eating ‘indulgent’ food, as well as disabling cycles of restricting and binging. Most importantly, it means listening to my body and taking heed of its signals.
- Philosophy number two: The cliches are almost always true. Eating mostly vegetables, fruit and proteins is a great way to get fibre and nutrients in, especially if like myself, you’re trying to reduce body fat (not necessarily scale-weight) and increase muscle mass. Drinking lots of water is essential to your overall wellbeing. Gut health is the cornerstone of good health, focus on it.
- Philosophy number three: Your body goals should not make you ‘unstable’. The pursuit for whatever you’re after, be it strength/aesthetic/functional goals should not lead you to become obsessive or put yourself in an unsustainable and unstable routine in the name of achieving those goals as quickly as possible. Patience is a key ingredient on any wellness journey.
What I eat in a day changes from time to time, but I am a creature of habit and a lover of routine so I pretty much stick to the same things. I also go by what my body needs, some days I’m more/less hungry than others so I’ll eat accordingly and some days I’ll be running so I’ll have more carbs than usual.
Breakfast
My weekday breakfasts are pretty standard, double cream plain yogurt (there’s nothing I disrespect more than fat free anything. It’s nothing but sugar) with seasonal fruit and cinnamon. It keeps me full for about 3-4 hours which I appreciate because I don’t really have time or enthusiasm for snacking in the mornings. Some mornings when I’m not very hungry, I’ll have the plain yogurt with the cinnamon and no fruit.
Lunch
Weekday lunches are probably my favourite meals. Lunch is the best opportunity to get in loads of vegetables, fats and protein. I usually have a massive salad for lunch, my most recent favourite is a cucumber and apple salad with feta, bell peppers, spinach, tomatoes, red onion, avocado and trout ribbons. It packs a punch and usually keeps me full until dinner. The portions are important because this salad can be quite high in calories so adjust the portion size accordingly to your goals. If I need to top up, I’ll just snack on a few rice cakes with avocado and trout.
Snacks
I’m not too heavy on the snacks but I like to switch it up. Sometimes I’ll have a nourishing snack like the rice cakes with avocado and trout or peanut butter and banana. Other times I’ll have Pringles or popcorn.
Dinner
Most week nights I like to meal prep so I don’t have to think about what to eat. I’m a certified lazy girl so the less chopping the better. I usually pop some trout/salmon cuts with frozen vegetables in the oven or in a pan and voila, supper’s done. If I’ve eaten quite a bit during the day and I’m not particularly hungry, I’ll eat 2 boiled eggs or have a smoothie and call it a night.
That’s a typical day of eating for me, I’ve been pescatarian for just over 3 years and before that I was vegetarian for about 5 years. I made the decision to stop eating meat and chicken for various reasons and it’s something that still works for me. I know my diet is right for me because my body really cooperates with me. I seldom bloat, I have very regular digestive movements and I feel great internally about 90% of the time. Ultimately, this is how I judge whether something’s working or not. It also means that I’m very quick to pick up if my body is not agreeing to something. I hope this has been a useful blogpost, let me know if there are any meals I should try in the comments section!
