What I like to munch on.

What do I tend to eat then?  Well, I'm a creature of habit; being busy and manic means I tend to stick to food that is quick, good for me and what fills me up more than a weight loss drink or milkshake. I choose low GI foods (so anything brown over white) and have very little refined sugar, if any, though you will see from my food photos so far, that if I want some chocolate, I'll have it! That's mainly because there's a lot of the stuff in the house since Christmas, otherwise, I try not to have it in the house. My diet means that I don't deny yourself and if you're surviving on nothing but crappy, manufactured diet juice to sustain you, you will fall off the wagon in spectacular fashion and have a full on binge of food when you decide to let loose.

The food I eat keeps me full and when I do feel hungry, my stomach starts to rumble but I don't have the awful sugar crash that goes with it- that's thanks to the brown, low GI foods I eat. These foods release their energy slowly, meaning you don't have the full on sugar crash with the shakes, sweaty lip and feeling in immediate need of sugar.

Typically, my day food wise looks like this:

Breakfast- usually at around 6.30am on a weekday and it's my favourite meal of the day! Hot water with lemon is closely followed by a coffee!
Say yes to either: 3 pieces of wholemeal toast with margarine and one with peanut butter, or porridge with blueberries or banana made with unsweetened soya milk (or regular milk) and sweetened with a little maple syrup. This is a natural sugar, much better than the horrible white stuff.  Prepare porridge the night before by soaking it in a mixture of milk and water, then heat in the microwave. Use plain porridge oats and be warned that the sachets or plastic tubs of instant porridge contain between 7.5g of sugar (Oat So Simple) to 44g (Leon porridge) and they won't keep you going for as long as porridge in it's natural, home made form will.
Say no to: fruit smoothies, as blending the fruit breaks up the sugar too quickly, meaning that although seemingly 'healthy', fruit smoothies make you pile weight on. Trust me, I've been there! Also say no to the breakfast cereals that masquerade as healthy options: bran flakes, Special K, cornflakes, etc are all high GI foods and will crash your blood sugar way before your morning break time. These foods are the worse for making you put on weight. Avoid granola at all costs- it is full of sugar and I only have the occasional bowl on a weekend. Fresh orange juice isn't great all the time either.

My breakfast part 2 (at about 9am) is then either my daily chocolate treat or some nuts, natural and not sweetened or salted. Plus a cup of decaf coffee!

Mid-morning snack- cup of tea with either an orange/ satsuma, a portion of cherries or now and then, a banana. Don't overload on fruit as although natural sugar, it is still sugary compared to vegetables.

Lunch- either a sandwich on rye bread, home made soup (recipes are on my last blog post) or s tuna/ chicken / salmon salad, with a cup of green tea and jasmine.

Afternoon snack- always a Cripps pink apple with a decaf coffee. I have this when work is finished and I'm on my way to the gym.

Dinner- whatever I've cooked! I rarely cook on a weeknight and instead do all of my cooking over the weekend, freezing it to then reheat. I do crank up the slow cooker (recipe below!) a lot too meaning that dinner is ready for when I get home. Dessert is either a yogurt or some sugar free jelly.

Evening snack- I find that I'm not usually hungry in the evening. I sometimes have a low calorie hot chocolate (made with water) before bed.

So basically, I have a day full of fresh, home made, filling, healthy food. Much better than a Juice Plus for breakfast, lunch and dinner!   As well as tea, coffee and de-caf coffee, I also aim to drink 2 litres of water a day.

One of my favourite dinners this week has been slow cooked chilli, served with a sweet jacket potato and salad.

Ingredients:
Big packet of minced beef, I think mine is about 800g from Aldi.
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic,crushed.
1 oxo cube
1 pepper, sliced.
A few mushrooms, sliced.
Mild chilli powder, plus chilli flakes for an extra kick! You could even throw in some jalapeños along with this for an extra spicy chilli!
1 tin of chickpeas, drained.
1 tin of kidney beans, drained.
A generous squirt of tomato puree, which probably works out at a couple of tablespoons.
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
Salt and pepper to taste.

Method: Throw all of your ingredients into the slow cooker (I don't bother with any of the precooking such as frying your onions), then stir through the tomato puree and tinned tomatoes. Give it all a good mix and cook on low for 8 hours.  If you'd rather make this in a pan, fry your chilli, garlic and onion for 10 mins in a little oil.  Add the mince, vegetables, chickpeas and kidney beans and fry for s further 10 mins. Then add the tomatoes, puree, oxo cube, bring to the boil and simmer for about 20 minutes.

Serve with low GI side dishes, so either a portion of brown rice (cook in advance and freeze- it defrosts and reheats perfectly) or a sweet potato. A small sweet potato takes about 5 mins on full power in a microwave (pierce it in several places with a knife first). The tougher skin gives it the texture of a regular oven baked potato, but unlike a white jacket potato, a sweet potato has a lower GI and will keep you fuller for longer.

So until my next post,remember that sensible, healthy food isn't a diet, it's a life lifestyle choice- the weight loss and then being able to maintain a healthy weight is a natural bonus!

Feel full my friends and say no to fad diets!