Healthy Eating
So about this time last year Andy and I decided to try to change our eating habits so that we were eating more whole foods and less junk food. (Well, let's be honest... I decided we were going to do this and Andy reluctantly agreed seeing as he didn't have much choice). I was inspired by the website '100 Days of Real Food' which I 'liked' on facebook about a year prior and so constantly see updates on my news feed about Real Food.
The aim wasn't really to follow any sort of diet, but just to try and avoid highly processed foods and eat more natural, whole foods.
The general guidelines we tried to follow were:
- No refined/added sugar.
- No white flour, bread or rice
- Full fat foods instead of low/no fat
- Use natural sweeteners like honey and maple syrup
- Coffee, tea, water, milk as beverages
- No pre-made foods with more than 5 ingredients listed
In terms of alcohol we've tried to stick to wine and beer, and I've pretty much cut out cocktails completely, which I used to LOVE. (Here in Australia this also has the added benefit of saving you a lot of money!)
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| This is all the food we got rid of when we first started our Real Food Challenge. |
The first step was to clear out our cupboard and hide all food on the banned list. As you can see from the picture there was quite a lot! Mainly white pasta and rice, white flour, sugar from baking, and sauces that have sugar added to them. Since this clear out the HP sauce has somehow found it's way back into our cupboard... Hmmmm who could have done that?
We originally spent a lot of money buying some staples - real food is expensive! Things like raw cacao, all natural honey, organic fruits and veggies, quinoa, chia seeds, nuts, and all things coconut: flakes, oil, milk and butter. We actually found most things we needed in Woolworths. We have tried a few times to shop in Prahran Market instead, but have found it to be much more expensive than Woolies. Which annoys me, as I would like to try to shop more locally, but it is hard when you are also trying to stick to a budget. I also don't get this, why is local food at markets MORE expensive? Shouldn't it be cheaper?!
Since trying to eat better dinners haven't really changed for us much. Partly due to the fact that when we eat dinner at home we generally cook from scratch, so that meal was pretty healthy anyway and we can continue to eat most of what we were already eating. For example, for dinner the other night we had a favourite from 'Jamie's 15 Minute Meals', the Blackened Chicken San Fran Quinoa Salad. (I love Jamie Oliver, and I don't even mind that none of his meals take anywhere close to 15 or 30 minutes, because the recipe instructions are so clear and everything always tastes amazing.)
The most difficult part has been packing lunch and snacks for work. We need to plan ahead for that, something we are both not great at. Also we need enough snacks to keep us from getting hungry and then eating sweets or biscuits - things that are always around from other people that can be tempting during that afternoon slump! One of my colleagues who I share an office with has a constant stash of 'lollies' ('sweets' in England, 'candy' in Canada) in a container on his desk, in full view. The lollies are for the office and prior to our Real Food eating plan I ate my fair share every afternoon. I am pleased to say that over the course of this year I have almost always resisted the afternoon biscuit or lolly. The one main exception is "Friday Tea", which we have at morning break every Friday (duh) at my school. It's used as informal staff briefing, and there is always an amazing spread laid out, and I've decided that Friday Tea is my one free pass every week!
I've done a lot of reading about food over the past year, and although sometimes some of the advice is conflicting, I've come to some overall conclusions that seem to be shared among lots of the experts:
1. Sugar IS EVIL. Fructose, more specifically. It should be avoided, even in fruit in the opinion of some. I don't think we will ever be that extreme, but we don't ever have white sugar anymore, and try to avoid as many products as possible that have sugar of any form added to them. I still use honey and maple sugar in my baking, which I know have almost as much fructose as table sugar. I'm not sure why I think that is ok, maybe because they are more natural or something. I have also tried things like rice malt sugar which has less fructose, and coconut sugar (not sure why... it seems like the in thing?) but have definitely avoided agave as a sugar substitute as it has more fructose than table sugar.
2. White bread/pasta/rice are ALSO EVIL. Again, some people also advocate for avoiding grains altogether, but we eat whole wheat bread, pasta, rice etc. Although it is VERY difficult to find bread that has no white wheat in it at all. I've tried to cut down on bread but it is hard, as Andy loves it and actually I do too!
3. Counting calories is not the answer! I've just read the book "Why we get fat, and what to do about it" by Gary Taubes and although I'm not sure I agree with everything in there, he discusses why the calories in/ calories out theory is not quite right. Our bodies metabolise calories from fat, protein and carbs differently. Basically he says that simple carbs turn right into fat. He says a lot more, in a very scientific way that I have no desire to try to summarise here, so I recommend reading the book if you are into this sort of thing.
4. Fat will not make you fat! Fat is good for us, and fills us up, so stop buying low-fat products that often have added sugar in them. We now drink whole milk (no more skinny lattes for me!), eat full fat yogurt, full fat cheese, and love things like avocados and nuts as filling and healthy snacks.
Both of our families have asked for some recipes and examples of the food we've been eating, so I thought I'd list the blogs I frequent along with some of our favourite recipes so far. These blogs have been so incredibly helpful, especially when trying to find some healthy treats to satisfy cravings for something sweet. I am so impressed with how creative people are with food. Unfortunately I am not one of those people. Fortunately we have the Internet and I'm able to follow a recipe so it doesn't really matter!
Good Blogs:
Iowa Girl Eats (delicious recipes, not all totally healthy but good home cooked meals)
Our favourite Real Foods:
we take a jar with natural yogurt and frozen blueberries to work every day!
Very filling, this is one of my go to green smoothie breakfast recipes, although I use plain almond milk and plain Greek yogurt
Very yummy, filling cookies. A bit of a cheat as I add dark chocolate chips, but cacao nibs could work if you wanted no sugar at all.
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| Almond Joy Cookies |
I use feta cheese instead of the cheese listed in this recipe.
One of my favourite dinners, this is so easy to make, cheap, and really, really tasty. It's one of Andy's favourites too. Also good as it makes enough for leftovers for lunch the next day.
Very yummy with coconut butter on top!
Cheesy Biscuits
Very filling, a good alternative to bread. We had these with avocado, tomato and a poached egg for breakfast the other day and it was so filling!
You can't get the recipe online (I have her cookbook) but they are made of LSA, coconut flour, eggs, cheddar cheese, salt and paprika.
Chocolate
This is perfect for when you want a bit of a treat after dinner. I prefer it to 'real' chocolate now! It is equal parts almond butter, cacao powder, coconut oil, a half measure of maple syrup, and a little bit of vanilla extract. Melt together, pour into muffin molds and freeze. They only take about 10 minutes to freeze and then are ready to eat! Keep them in the freezer or fridge as they will melt otherwise.
I use Parmesan cheese instead of nutritional yeast in this as I'm not vegan, also don't use a lot of apple cider vinegar as it overpowers.
(I wish I had some more pictures of these foods we have cooked but I'm not a great food photographer. Something to work on!)
We still go a bit off the rails at times, caving and buying chocolate as an after dinner treat. And when we go out to eat or have dinner at a friend's house we just enjoy ourselves and not worry about whether we shouldn't be eating something. I do enjoy preparing and eating (ok, mostly eating), healthy meals for us. Sometimes it is time consuming and I'd much rather just get a take-away, but I do notice a big difference in my mood and energy levels when I eat properly, and so the time invested is worth it. Interestingly TIME magazine had an article out this month by Mark Bittman on the rise of convenience food in the 50s and 60s and how home cooking can improve our health. Mark focuses on making healthy home cooked meals easily and fast... I might have to pick up his cookbook! You can read the article or watch an overview of it here.
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