I've been eating much better and much simpler over the past couple of weeks, and it's been really good. I am starting to feel the difference overall and as a bonus I have also lost six pounds in weight. At the start of the month I dug out my old Harcombe diet books for some recipe inspiration, after all the main ethos of that diet is to just eat real food, and they've really helped.
Breakfasts have been mostly egg based, usually with some tomatoes. Sometimes they are scrambled, often they are poached in the microwave for just one minute in my little silicone pots.
And sometimes they are simply hardboiled and quartered and eaten at my desk while I work.
The days when I'm not in the mood for an egg of any description I turn to porridge. The jumbo oats that I currently have in the big storage jar on the shelf are really tasty, they are ever so slightly nutty in flavour and slightly chewy, it's a good start to a cold day.
Each week I am starting with a couple of tubs of home chopped pre-prepared salad, and usually a big pot of soup, stew or curry in the fridge. This helps take away those moments when I stand at the fridge and wonder what the bloody hell to eat when I've left it just slightly too late and my stomach is rumbling at me and screaming 'just eat a biscuit'.
I've cut right back on processed foods including bread.
Over the course of the last two weeks I have had bread just once when we stopped on the way back from the hospital after visiting Mum and grabbed a salad Subway each. I could have avoided it there too and had the salad in a tub, but I think I needed the comfort of sinking my teeth into something soft and squidgy ... so I went for it.
At home I've taken to doing what you can see in this photo, whenever I've got lettuce leaves big enough to use as a wrap. In these ones are some of the chopped salady bits and half a tin of tuna divided between the two, it's surprisingly tasty and fresh and you don't get up from lunch feeling podged.
My evening meals have tended to be something like this, a lovely homemade vegetable curry with brown basmati rice. I simply used the last of a bag of mixed vegetables from the freezer in my homemade curry sauce. This looks so innocent but gosh I made this one spicy, I need to tone down the next batch a bit. I added a tin of coconut milk to try and mellow it out a bit ... it helped slightly! 😅
If I've not had eggs for breakfast I occasionally have an omelette for my evening meal, chucking in whatever vegetables are to hand or ready prepared in the fridge. It makes for a tasty and very satisfying tea, that usually keeps me going all night.
But if I really have the nibbles I am still quite happy ... very happy ... to have a couple of biscuits and a cup of coffee an hour before bedtime.
There always has to be room for some treats in life and these Deliciously Ella biscuits have pretty good ingredients: Wheat flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Coconut Oil, Beet Sugar, Rice Flour, Water, Rolled Oats, Oat Flour, Salt, Madagascan Vanilla Extract. All things that either are, or could be found in my cupboard.
So I am more than happy to still have these occasionally, and putting them two at a time on a plate stops me from mindlessly nibbling at something that tastes so very good. 😄
Although this simpler way of eating is costing me more money for the fresh things that I buying each week, especially the non-farmed fresh salmon, the other tinned fish and organic eggs, I think overall because I am not buying pre-prepared, processed food it will almost average out over time. I find myself eating less but being more satisfied and it's a good feeling.
Sue xx
I do think your meals look much better..I was concerned because you were eating a lot of packaged foods…enjoy!
ReplyDeleteSome packaged foods are good in moderation, the only way anyone can take my Cheez-its would be to pry them from my cold, dead hands.
DeleteI was, it was a bad habit I got into while eating my way through a lot of the things that I already had in. Now that they are gone and no money has been wasted I have changed things up a lot as you can see. I'm no angel and there will always be an occasional 'trip to the dark side', but overall this is my preferred way of eating.
DeleteHaha ... I know what you mean about Cheez-Its, I used to be the same about Pringles. 😄
DeleteLovely healthy meals, those eggs with tomatoes look so good. It's a shame isn't it that eating fresh does cost a bit more - no wonder some folk struggle if they are on a low income.
ReplyDeleteAlison in Wales x
That's exactly what I've been thinking. There's something wrong with a system where absolute junk food that affects your health l9ng term, is cheaper than fresh fruit and vegetables and food that hasn't been tampered with. 😔
DeleteYou are doing well in your new eating habits.
ReplyDeleteIt's going well. 🙂
DeleteVery healthy meals.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't eat a hard boiled egg on it's own like that - not a massive fan unless it had mayo in a sandwich!
I like them when they are warm, but I couldn't do that prep thing of having half a dozen ready to eat in the fridge. Egg mayo butties are delicious. 🙂
DeleteAll those things look lovely.
ReplyDeleteIt's been a tasty couple of weeks. 😀
DeleteThe chopped salad looks good, I always make a large one that lasts several days, with a tub of homemade blue cheese dressing, croutons and sunflower seeds as toppings. The porridge and vegetable curry are not my cup of tea, they remind me of baby food.....Shaniqua from Oakland.
ReplyDeleteHaha ... I wouldn't like to see a baby's nappy after eating that curry. 😄
DeleteAll looking rather tasty 😋 You don't have to spend a fortune to eat well. Glad to read that you are enjoying it.
ReplyDeleteI think the costs will almost balance out over time now that I'm not buying so many 'treats'. 🙂
DeleteWell done. I have always wondered how lettuce leaves are used as a wrap and will eventually try that.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
It works well with the larger leaves, they are not as neat to eat as a sandwich though. I definitely need to eat over a plate and not my keyboard. 😄
DeleteThose do look lovely, colourful meals! You've reminded me of a vegetarian version of yuk sung I used to make but with little gem leaves rather than iceberg lettuce. xxx
ReplyDeleteI just looked them up, they look lovely. 😀
DeleteFresh, colourful food-just what you need with winter fast approaching. Catriona
ReplyDeleteI see lots of porridge, soups and warming curries and stews in my future. 😀
DeleteYour meals look delicious, I could quite happily eat plain boiled eggs. Earlier today (Saturday) I went to a jumble sale with my daughter and picked up the Deliciously Ella book for 20p only heard about her through your blog. I shall enjoy reading it and looking at the recipies.
ReplyDeleteWow, that's a nice find. I have all her books, they're very good. 🙂
DeleteYour meals do look lovely, especially the box of ready chopped up salad.
ReplyDeleteI have taken to freezing portions of chopped peppers, sliced mushroom, some edamame and whatever else seems like a good idea at the time. That way I can grab a quick stir fry to have with noodles when I'm having "that moment" in front of the fridge at 6.00pm 😉
I was thinking the same as Alison - eating healthily and well costs more. For people on low incomes it is no surprise that low-grade carbohydrates make up too much of their diet with the inevitable rise in obesity and associated health issues.
I find that if I have a tub of ready to eat salad I eat much more of it during the week ... I have burst of culinary kitchen wizardry alternating with longer bursts of culinary laziness. 😄
DeleteVery healthy and tasty meals. The weight loss is a bonus.
ReplyDeleteIt is for sure, it's not enough to be visible but enough to make my waistbands more comfortable. 😀
DeleteYour meals look delicious 😋 Wow, well done on the weight loss👏🎉
ReplyDeleteThey really were, and still are. 😀
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