healthy eating – snacks

Part 4 of my healthy eating resolution (read up on part 1 – research and part 2- breakfast and part 3 – lunch)

As a reminder, this was my resolution for changing the way I eat in 2014:

• drastically reduce sugar intake and sweets
• eat less empty carbohydrates (white flour products like bread rolls, pasta, etc.), switch to whole grain products where possible and find alternatives to wheat
• eat a more plant based diet, fruit and vegetables first, everything else second
• continue to buy local fresh produce
• grow my own salads and vegetables again on my balcony with a better plan on what I want to grow and actually need
• build up a collection of tried and trusted healthy recipes that we can return to again and again
• use less dairy products

SNACKS

What did I change?
I don’t know about you but I can’t survive an afternoon without a snack, preferably a sweet one. Before starting to eat better that used to be chocolate, cookies, cake or sweet pastries. Needless to say, non of these fit the bill anymore.

The natural thing would be to make do with fruit and I do make sure to eat a banana or some pineapple as well. Since I usually don’t eat much in the evening after work, it’s important for me to have a decent and filling snack.
However, fruit doesn’t really satisfy my craving for sweets so I decided to try and turn a sweet snack into a healthy one by finding recipes for sweet snacks with healthy ingredients.

I’ve also made a resolution to allow myself one piece of chocolate or sweet a day without feeling guilty. I firmly believe in not being too hard on yourself. With that one piece I give myself a bit of leeway and I don’t think I could abstain from sugar completely, especially because there is always chocolate lying around in the office so I am constantly faced with the temptation.

How did it work?
Okayish. I think this part of the day is hardest for me. I’m usually getting tired by then and I feel like my ‘defenses’ are down and I’m vulnerable to just take those sweets when offered.

Still, I made some headway! I found a great recipe for healthy oatcakes. I try to make these once a week so I can take two or three to the office each day.
I’m also planning on trying more healthy snack recipes. I’ve made a new Pinterest ‘Snack Recipe’ board to collect inspiration (I also have a general ‘Recipes’ Pinterest board) and will try out those recipes one at a time this year.

With every usual recipe I now substitute the white wheat flour with whole wheat spelt flour. It actually tastes much nicer! I also try to replace white sugar with honey or maple syrup wherever possible. I’ve seen raw cane sugar in the supermarket which I’ve been meaning to try for cakes.

What’s planned?
Good question. Trying out more recipes to find healthy alternatives is definitely in the works as is replacing ingredients with healthy ones in some tried and true recipes.
In addition I want to substitute milk wherever possible due to my lactose intolerance. This recipe for homemade almond milk looks delicious!
Other than that, sticking to one piece of chocolate a day continues to be a challenge and I’ve failed on several occasions. Not easy that one but I’ll keep trying.

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healthy eating – lunch

Here’s part 3 of the healthy eating series (read up on part 1 – research and part 2- breakfast).

As a reminder, this was my resolution:

• drastically reduce sugar intake and sweets
• eat less empty carbohydrates (white flour products like bread rolls, pasta, etc.), switch to whole grain products where possible and find alternatives to wheat
• eat a more plant based diet, fruit and vegetables first, everything else second
• continue to buy local fresh produce
• grow my own salads and vegetables again on my balcony with a better plan on what I want to grow and actually need
• build up a collection of tried and trusted healthy recipes that we can return to again and again
• use less dairy products

LUNCH

What did I change?
I am eating lunch at the office where there is a variety of hot lunches to be had as well as salads, desserts and rolls. I’ve never been much of a meat eater so I usually stuck to pasta, potatoes, anything baked with cheese or fries. I also almost always got a dessert, most often pudding.
Since doing my research I felt I could now make some informed choices and plans for lunch. I especially liked the 5 a day campaign by the WHO (in the US it’s called fruits & veggies – more matters). It basically tells you to eat 5 hand fulls of fruits and veggies a day, ideally 3 helpings of veggies and 2 of fruits. One fruit portion can be substituted by a hand full of nuts.
True to my resolution I am now trying to stay away from the carbs and especially the fries and the foods drowned in cheese (saturated fats). Instead I pick whatever veggies are offered and fill my plate with them. Since I have no say on the menu this is easier on some days than others. I still eat pasta or potatoes when they come with a veggie side or sauce. I try to stay away from fatty sauces and I eat fish whenever it’s on the menu. Often I have a little bowl of salad with my hot meal.
With the salad I choose organic olive oil and balsamic vinegar as a dressing instead of heavier premade dressings. Instead of dessert I get a glass of freshly pressed orange juice with my lunch, which serves as one portion of fruit for my 5 a day plan.
I realize these choices are highly dependent on the environment and may not be possible for everyone but I think we all need to work with what’s there and make the best food choices available to us.

I also always take a 20-30 minute walk after lunch. I need to get out to breathe a bit of fresh air and stretch my legs before sitting down at the desk again. It’s refreshing and especially in spring gives your body a chance to soak up some sunshine and much needed vitamin D.

How did it work?
Man, staying away from fries and cheesy gratins was hard! When you get there hungry those hot, fatty foods look mouthwatering. The veggies and salads look much less appealing and filling.
But I promise once the withdrawal period is over it gets so much easier! It took about two or three weeks for me not to crave fatty foods any more and I now easily and happily choose the veggies. It helps to tell yourself how much better you’ll feel when you make the right choice and how proud you will be of yourself!
Sure I still have days when I crave a certain thing on the menu and sometimes I get weak and give in (it’s ok, we need to love ourselves).
When you switch from fatty foods and lots of carbs to a veggie based diet at first you feel like those still leave you hungry, like they are not as filling. I found that too subsides after a few weeks as your body adjusts to it. Instead I now feel pleasantly full after a meal whereas when I eat fries or heavy foods now they make me feel tired and bloated.
I used to have an afternoon low after lunch when I would get very tired and sleepy and concentration was impossible. Changing my eating habits has made this afternoon slump disappear almost completely!
Overall I feel much better with this diet and that’s enough encouragement to stick to it.

What’s planned?
Honestly I think lunch is fine for me like it is now. I could say I planned to do more home cooking to take to work but I know myself and it ain’t happening any time soon 😉
I’ve found what works for me and the challenge will be sticking with it. It’s a choice to make every single day and while it gets easier and easier with time the temptations are still there. I’m looking at you, chocolate pudding dessert with cherry compote.

Stay tuned for the next part which will be afternoon snacks!

healthy eating – breakfast

Here’s part 2 of this series, ‘healthy eating’, View part 1 ‘the research’ here.

After doing all that research I and finding out how certain foods work within the body I was finally at a place where I knew enough to plan how I wanted to change my diet.

This was my resolution:

• drastically reduce sugar intake and sweets
• eat less empty carbohydrates (white flour products like bread rolls, pasta, etc.), switch to whole grain products where possible and find alternatives to wheat
• eat a more plant based diet, fruit and vegetables first, everything else second
• continue to buy local fresh produce
• grow my own salads and vegetables again on my balcony with a better plan on what I want to grow and actually need
• build up a collection of tried and trusted healthy recipes that we can return to again and again
• use less dairy products

All the changes are more easily explained by going through the day so I am going to split this series into morning, mid day, afternoon and evening eating.

MORNING

What did I change?
For breakfast I used to eat some form of cereal with milk or yogurt, then a bread roll with cheese at the office followed more often than not by some sort of pastry. In the last few years I had already gradually switched from sugary cereal to first chocolate muesli and then fruit muesli.

I started finetuning by switching to a muesli with no added sugar, but lots of seeds and nuts and some raisins for sweetness. This was a definite improvement but after a few weeks it was confirmed what I had long suspected – I am lactose intolerant, meaning I should cut out milk completely. I then tried a variety of milk substitutes – soy milk, almond milk, rice milk. None of them really appealed to me, so right now I’m skipping the muesli altogether.

Instead I buy a seed and grain bread at the market every weekend. I used to hate these multi-grain breads as a child but they are growing on me. Lots of fiber and they do keep you a lot fuller a lot longer. As a topping I switched from cow milk cheese to goat milk cheese (yum!).

I am notoriously the first person in the office to declare I’m hungry come mid day so until lunch instead of pastry I eat an apple every day. With apples we try to buy old varieties because the newer ones are all grown to contain lots of natural sugar. Old varieties are tarter but I find they taste a lot fresher and juicier.

I drink tea in the morning and have stopped putting sugar in it. It’s hard for a few days but once you get used to it it starts to taste completely normal without sugar. In fact, I once had a yogurt at work and it tasted overly and not at all pleasantly sweet to me after this sugar abstinence. When I do need to sweeten something I use agave nectar instead.

How did it work?

It’s going great! I like the grain bread, I love the goat cheese and I have come to crave my daily apple. It’s funny how the body adjusts to a changed diet, it gets used to getting certain foods. Just like I found when I started drinking lots of water every day that I started to be thirstier. It’s like the body saying ‘whoa, you get it! Now let’s start talking to each other again’.

I miss milk but I feel so much better without it, it makes a huge difference. I used to have some stomach trouble in the evenings and that is all gone. My big revelation was when I had not had milk for a week and then got a craving for a big mug of chocolate. A few hours later I got stomach cramps and spend the evening curled up on the couch with my hot water bottle. It really hit home then and I have decided to cut out milk completely.

What’s planned?

I want to get back into baking my own bread with spelt flour and some grains and seeds so we’ll see how that goes!

I also really want to try green smoothies. I’ve read so much about them and I think they would be a great addition to my breakfast.

Come summer I will incorporate fresh fruit and berries in my breakfast as well.

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So much for breaktfast! Lunch, snack time and dinner will each have their separate posts coming up. Let me know what you have for breakfast in the comments!

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*Am I shamelessly reusing old photos for these posts? Absolutely! When does the light come back again?