How I Got Back To Eating Healthily

How I Got Back To Eating Healthily

On Wednesday October the 1st, 2014 my second son, Jago was born. He wasn’t keen on making an appearance to tell the truth – my partner Rachel was induced 12 days past her due date.

That’s where life changed….

We eat a low grain, high vegetable and high protein diet at home. This is for reasons of body composition, but also health. Rachel and I don’t do well with much grain in our diet.

With a new baby our usual routine was shot. For three weeks we had lots of family stay – a fantastic help, but it temporarily changed the way we ate. Due to the new baby, we were being cooked for – a very welcome gesture, but it took us away from our usual diet. When you’re tired, busy and out of your usual routine, you’re grateful to be cooked for – even if it wasn’t the food we’d usually eat!

I wasn’t going to complain or criticise – we were knackered so any food that was prepared for us was very welcome!

The problem though, was that after 3 weeks, I was 11lbs heavier, suffering from acid reflux and feeling like crap. If I ever needed reminding that the food we eat affects how we feel, that was it.

As I sat on the bed getting myself ready for bed, I said to Rachel “I feel like shit” – she said she felt the same. We were both bloated, tired, suffering from a dodgy stomach. It was the first night were we didn’t have visitors, so it was the ideal time to get back to eating healthily.

It was a choice – I was feeling so awful that I had to change, so here’s how I got back to eating healthily….

Breakfast

I started to eat a tiny breakfast of a banana. Depending on your nutritional standpoint, breakfast isn’t always necessary and a banana may not be the wisest choice, but it certainly did me no harm. It gave me something in my stomach at 5.30 in the morning and helped me start the day on something light.

When I reached the gym for my first personal training session (10 minutes from my house) I’d drink around 500ml of water, just to top up my fluids. I’d then have my fish oil and multivitamin (extra important when I wasn’t sleeping much). I always take these as I’m convinced we can never get 100% of our requirements by diet alone.

Lunch

Lunch is usually a soup. In the few days after Jago was born, with chaos going on around me a routine wasn’t established, but I knew that a soup is a perfect lunch. It’s a few minutes in the microwave, is grain and gluten free, low carb and tasty. It’s also easy to transport in a flask, meaning excuses such as ‘I can’t take soup because I can’t heat it up’ are gone!

Evening meal

Evening is the biggest meal of the day for me and it would be where we’d get most of our vitamins and minerals. It follows the Handy Plan principles of no grain, high vegetable, moderate/high protein. There are all kinds of recipes here and these are the kinds of things I eat most days. Almost without question they are high in vegetables and contain a protein source.

I’m quite acutely sensitive to gluten, so you will notice that all of the recipes in the recipe section of the blog are gluten free.

Take Away Points

This diet isn’t 100% perfect, but whilst life is significantly less organised, it’s about what I can stick too, not what is perfect. This is how I got back to eating healthily – not how I got back to eating perfectly.

I’d prefer a higher protein, moderate fat and lower carbohydrate breakfast, but being realistic I’m up at 5.30am 6 days per week so won’t be cooking or even eating a large meal then. I would drink a smoothie, or as I’m doing, a banana because it’s easy to stick to.

Lunch is almost always a soup, either left over from the night before or shop bought. Something requiring little/no prep in the middle of a busy day. Ease is key – you could even try using a soup maker.

On the days when it’s not a soup, it’s a simple meat and salad or meat and veg combo. It’s always low carb, high protein. This is a non-negotiable as too much carbohydrate in the middle of the day doesn’t agree with me, both in terms of weight gain and energy levels. High carb lunch = lethargic afternoon. I use left-overs to make it easy again.

The evening meal always contains lots of vegetables and a good, lean protein source. It’s usually easy to cook, doesn’t take too long and offers plenty of variety. I always make sure I rotate the vegetables as variety prevents your body adapting to the same thing all of the time.

I will stick to the seasons when it comes to food choices. It’s November now, so I’m eating root vegetables cooked in a variety of ways – steamed, roasted, boiled, in stews and stir-frys etc.

On days when I’ve earned them, i.e. hard training days I eat starchy carbohydrates such as white rice and potatoes. I avoid bread and pasta as they make me pay a few too many unwanted visits to the toilet, especially now I’m sleep deprived and probably not operating at 100%.

Healthy Eating Tips

• Keep things simple. Anyone can pick up a banana for breakfast.
• Stay hydrated – drinking water takes no effort.
• Take your vitamins and fish oils – when you aren’t eating amazingly well they are a great insurance policy.
• Where possible remove prep time – I eat soups and leftovers for lunch, removing prep time.
• Eating plenty of vegetables hides a load of sins – fill your boots on veg and it won’t do you any harm.
• Keep your protein sources lean and good quality. Don’t settle for processed meats and fish.

Remember – it’s not about being perfect 100% of the time, it’s about being as close to perfect as you can maintain. This isn’t a terrible diet by any stretch of the imagination – in fact I’d say it’s better than most, but there are a couple of areas I could tidy up and I will as life settles down.

So there you go – how I got back to eating healthily. I went from eating things that didn’t agree with me to a tidy diet and feel so much better, plus the 11lbs I put on is going!