After week 2 and some on healthy eating thing

I am being much better with my eating - but am definitely far from perfect*.

And the weight is moving - slowly.  But slow as it is, it's still movement in a downward trajectory.  If I maintain my current momentum, I will reach my goal weight in about three months.  And considering I haven't been that weight in almost 3 years, that time frame is totally fine with me.

I lost two butters now.  Yay!            

And there are a lot of things to like about this healthy eating thing.

Because I'm changing my habits, I'm finding the time to do things I previously thought I was too time-poor to do.  Like, eat a proper breakfast (not just toast).  And more whole, unprocessed foods.  And actually, truly, properly eating my 5+ a day (as opposed to pretending I have by saying hot chips, salsa or tomato sauce count as a serving).  And they're not just healthy changes - but delicious ones - which makes it feel a little less like being on a 'diet'.

And because I'm eating more healthy, energy full foods I am finding it a little easier not to eat some of those bad things that had made it into my regular diet.  Once a week as a work lunch treat I'd have the $5 meal deal from Burger King (because cheap, easy access and filling) which consisted of a burger, chips, a fizzy drink and a sundae.  I've since substituted this for a quick walk across the road (exercise) to get the sushi-of-the-day for $5.70.  Not a perfect meal - but definitely much healthier.

And I thought I'd miss that whole chips and icecream sundae thing.  But I really don't.  Because I love sushi and it's really filling, so I'm finding myself craving less high carb/high sugar foods purely because my dietary needs are actually being more fully met.

And I'm not depriving myself.  I am just trying to eat better.  I have restricted certain types of foods purely because it was well past time.  For some reason, whilst I was pregnant and when the babes were small those baby hormones gave me some sort of buffer which meant foods I previously couldn't eat without suffering for it didn't really affect me.  I don't know why - but I know other women who've had similar things happen, so it must be some kind of a 'thing'.  But that buffer wore off some time ago and I've kinda been ignoring it...

My body just doesn't cope well with trying to process most red meats (something to do with the fats) or large amounts of gluten or lactose.  Me eating these things results in bloating, gas, water retention and feeling a bit lethargic and generally icky.  And I've been choosing to feel this way because of laziness in food prep because of exhaustion from parenting.  Because these kinds of foods seem more easily accessible, tasty and filling than others.  And they are, but it's a cyclical issue because I'm eating food I know makes me feel bad because I'm too tired to prepare foods that actually help me feel better.  Weird, cyclical (but totally understandable) thing.

And, surprisingly, I've actually had very few issues with making this change.  I was only eating red meat in pie and burger form - you know - easy to put in your face forms, and have instituted some easy substitutions for the high gluten products I was eating (ie: bread).  Because before I had kids this was my actual diet.  And I didn't find it that hard to maintain.  This time around all I've had to do is find ways of managing my time, and the types of foods I eat, to fit in with my current lifestyle.  This will take some practice, but it should only get easier.

The biggest thing this health kick has kick-started is my realisation that I use food and drink as a coping mechanism for being a parent.  Exhausted?  Have a coffee.  Achieved something?  Reward with chocolate.  Frazzled after a long day? Wine o'clock right here.  I think it's because it's not easy to apply the kinds of self care I used to use to remedy these issues - like sleeping, reading or just generally having time to myself. 

So I'm having to rethink how and when I apply these sorts of band-aids and whether they're actually helping or hindering my wellness.  Dropping coffee has been easy**.  I was also regularly (shamed expression) drinking energy drinks (which I've never really done before I had kids) at work to cope with just, well, working.  While I haven't managed to cut this out (yet) I have switched to sugar free and have halved my weekly consumption...  I am still working on treats and booze BUT have ensured I never have more than one glass of wine by making myself have two cups of green tea a night.  Because of my early bedtime (because of broken sleep) I don't have time for more than one small*** wine before I have to skull the tea.

Last time I promised a recipe.  This isn't really a recipe.  It's just a list of the things I put in my favourite salad.

So my favorite salad is not pictured below - this one is ok, but not quite my favorite - but I don't have a photo of it sorry, so this will just have to do.  It has some of the same ingredients, but no spinach and some other stuff.

Hannah's Favorite Salad Of All Time

Some baby spinach leaves
Some fresh basil leaves
Some toasted walnut halves (doesn't matter what size as long as similar for even toasting)
Roasted beetroot cut into smallish chunks
Some feta cheese cut into smallish chunks
Avocado cut into smallish chunks

I dress this very simply in some olive oil, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar with a little salt and pepper to taste.  Seriously YUM!

It's definitely not the lowest fat salad (hello feta and avocado), or the simplest to make (toasting nuts and roasting beetroot - not hard, but extra work) but it is delicious and filling - and those are also some very important factors in whether a salad gets eaten or not.

So I'm getting there... slowly.  Tune in in the next week or so for another exciting episode of my weight loss journey.  Next weeks spotlight is on exercise (and how I avoid it).


* Like the other night when I binged on potato chips after dinner (75% less fat potato chips means it's ok to eat a whole bag, right?) and then tried to 'rescue' the night by having less wine than I'd planned and drinking more green tea...

** I don't think coffee is evil.  My coffee habit is not even that bad (one in the morning and sometimes a second on a very bad day).  But I didn't drink it apart from on the weekends before I had kids.  So I know I don't really need it. 

*** Never every night.  Too conscious of how unhealthy that is (in terms of addiction) although I'd actually LOVE to have a wine at the end of every day.

After week 1 on a diet thing - well, kinda

Maybe it's not the best idea to start a diet the week of Easter?

So I only lost 1 butter this week.  Oh well, only 9 to go!

So I decided I'd try this crazy strict diet for the first three days of eating healthier - kinda like a cleanse - and then just be more sensible with food from there.  I adjusted it a little though.  Cos it's crazy strict.  I don't know how anyone could actually follow this without collapsing from low blood sugars.   Cos I almost did on the first day before I adjusted it.*

So I had fruit, yoghurt and nuts for breakfast, a bland chicken stew (chicken with veges) for lunch (made from chicken breast for low fat hence the bland) and the eggs and salad as suggested for dinner.  I ended up having hummus and grainy crackers as a snack - and fruit or carrots if still hungry.  The morning lemon cleanser was easy as I already do that - but I decided to halve the green tea night time quotient as my bladder was unlikely to let me get any sleep if I had a litre of tea between 6pm and bedtime.

That was totally doable (and non-collapsable).

Then after that first three days I just had normal meals - but cut gluten and red meat and continued with healthy snacks and that awesome breakfast (with the addition of a little muesli) and not snacking after dinner.  And it wasn't that hard.  I loved the breakfast.  The lunch was bland, but filling and healthy and whilst dinner sounds simple I honestly really enjoyed it.  And whilst it would get boring if I had to have it every day, I could totally rock it twice a week no problems.

And then BANG.  It was Easter Weekend.  And working bee at the bach.  And our anniversary.  And two children's Easter egg hunts.  And Abby's birthday - all in the space of one long weekend.

So I kinda fell off the wagon.

One thing I can say is that I didn't go too crazy.  I did eat chocolate and snack foods and eating after dinner.  But I also did lots of walking and lugging and laying mulch at the working bee.  So I figured it (almost) balanced out.  And at Abby's birthday party whilst I did snack and eat things with gluten again, I wasn't crazy.  Like, I didn't eat an entire bag of crackers or chips (or even half a bag) which I probably would have previously.

So I can't really complain about only losing 500 grams.  I'm pretty sure I usually gain weight over Easter, so honestly, I'm pretty happy.

The best part of this diet so far is the massive increase in fruits and vegetables.  That can't be a bad thing.  I've also cut my coffee consumption down from daily to weekends and just occasionally during the week.  And my energy levels are fine - I needed coffee less than I thought I did**!  And starting the day ticking off two out of five servings of fruit or veges just feels really good - both physically and psychologically.

The worst part of this diet is the cost.  Truly - it ain't cheap.  Just looking at breakfast my daily cost has gone from about $1.00 (coffee and toast) to about $2.30.  And whilst dinner is probably cheaper, lunch is also dearer.  It's mostly the nuts, the proteins and the yoghurt - natural nuts are damned expensive!  Fruit, not so much - but the cost in time of ensuring there is fresh fruit and salad veges available for me each day is definitely an adjustment.

But hopefully, it'll just become a habit.

Because I like my new breakfast.  And I'm really enjoying rediscovering salad.  I've always liked salad, but I've always been lazy at making salad.  Because opening a bag of mescalin or baby spinach is just not enough - I want something tasty.  In doing this diet thing, I've realised I can actually whip up a really tasty green salad in under 5 minutes - and it's totally worth it.  Because filling up on salad means I eat less high calorie low nutrition food.  And that's what I need to do at the moment.

And fingers crossed I do it a bit better this week.  With no Easter maybe I can drop another two butters...



* Not a problem for me cos I don't need to lose 10 pounds in one week anyway.  Actually, no-one does.  Well, maybe people on The Biggest Loser, but not regular people.  Cos that's quite extreme weight loss.  So not really very sustainable.  And probably not very healthy.

** Probably what I actually needed was just better nutrition...