This is the food part 2

Part two: What I eat in a day

In our work, studies or relationships, sometimes things happen that force us out of our “comfort zone”. We are required to look around for new pathways. And if we are willing to let go of the old, we are rewarded with some wonderful new ways of doing things. Food is no exception to this rule. There are many wonderful varieties of foods, methods of preparation and recipes waiting for you. You just need to open up your mind to the experiences.

Today, I am just going to do a rundown of some of the new ways I eat, I hope you enjoy!

Breakfast:

During the week, I have the exact same breakfast every single day! Yes, that’s correct Monday to Friday, I eat the exact same thing!

A while back, I watched a TEDtalk by Chris Suave, titled “The habits of highly boring people” . In the talk he explains about the paradox of choice today’s humans are facing. He elaborates that we have a limited amount of energy for decision-making and that we tend to exhaust ourselves making so many small decisions like “what to eat for breakfast”. As such, by the time we get to the big decisions, we do not have enough capacity to tackle them.

I love my routines and functioning on auto pilot in some areas of my life. This saves me important energy to spend on my work and family decisions. Living in this structure may make me less exciting, but it increases my functionality. In addition, the body also does not mind if you are giving it the same food every day. It only cares that it gets the correct amount of nutrients.

So for my breakfast I choose a protein packed, two scrambled eggs, a quarter avocado (half if it’s small) and 1 whole fruit. It takes me less than 5 minutes to prepare and I find this breakfast so filling that it usually carries me from 7 through to 10am.

• 

If I know I will go out to a restaurant for lunch and there is a chance of “quiche”, I will usually skip the eggy breakfast and have overnight oats instead. I believe the recommended daily intake for eggs is “two a day”, or at least this is what I follow. So I don’t eat anything which has egg as an ingredient for the rest of the day.

Mid-morning and afternoon snacks

My go to snacks are nuts, raisins, fruits, cucumber and carrot salad with sesame seeds and rice cakes with peanut butter. One of my most favourite snack is banana with peanut butter. I usually keep nuts and peanut butter in my desk drawer so snacking becomes a part of my functional routine. Not that it needs to be, I just know my body will be calling because it has become accustomed to the 10am snack!

Lunch

I usually prepare all my lunches for the week on Sunday, for this reason I mostly make vegetarian meals because they are less likely to go bad if stored in the fridge for a few days. I usually cook enough food for three or four lunches and leave one or two lunches free to allow myself the flexibility to make/accept offers to go out to lunch with my friends/work mates.

Dinner

This depends on my mood on some days I make elaborate curries, soups, stews and stir fry’s on other days I just need a salad and I am good to go.

• 

Other things to note:

Between big meals, I eat small healthy snacks to keep my hunger at bay. I go for snack that give me a full feeling. Cucumber, bananas and nuts are always a good go to for me.

I learned how to anticipate and plan around my food needs. Knowing that if I eat eggs for breakfast, I will be hungry again at 10am. I keep healthy snacks nearby. This stops me from buying deep fried samoosa or mandasi from the shops down the road, or eating a heavy meal at lunch because I decided instead of eating unhealthy fried foods, I will just starve myself until lunch time.

I cook my own meals because it is cheap and it allows me to control my salt, sugar and fat intake. However, if I can’t make home made meals that week. I do not beat myself up about eating bought meals. I just try to pick the healthiest alternatives.

The majority of my diet is made up of foods that are low on the glycaemic index (Low GI), you might have seen this labelling on some food packages. These are foods that take longer to digest, therefore keeping you satiated (feeling full) longer. They are gradually absorbed and are metabolised slower, causing a steady rise in your blood sugar level. These foods include whole grains, lean protein, vegetables and legumes to mention a few.

When I have salad as a meal; lettuce is never the base, because it is not very not very filling. I build my salad with a heavy nutritious base or at least add a lot of components to give it lots of flavour, texture and a variety of nutrients. In one of my subsequent posts I will share with you how I build a salad.

I do enjoy a juicy steak when I eat out, but I rarely (pun intended) cook red meat in my home. I occasionally cook chicken and I always have fish or some sort of sea food in my freezer.

I use herbs and spices as generously as the palate will allow. Not hot spices though, if you have ulcers keep these to a minimum. They may irritate the stomach. Turmeric is your best friend, it’s known for its anti-inflammatory properties! Sprinkle it like fairy dust!

I have a little pot of herbs outside my kitchen (I call it my kitchen garden), not only do herbs add flavour to your food, they are also packed with nutrients and antioxidants.

I read the ingredients list on the back of packaged foods I buy. This is very important! I try as much as possible to follow the recommended daily allowance of sugar, salt, fats etc. Over eating these can cause some imbalances in the body.

Reading food labels is an important part of your healthy eating journey. You should develop a habit of being conscience of what you are putting in your body.