This post follows on from last week's post about my attempt to get fit with my old hula hoop. At the end of that post, I said I'd give you all a little insight into the kinds of things I eat as part of this more healthy lifestyle I've got going on, so that's what this post is all about.
In the past, I've always had to get up really early for school, which meant breakfast at half seven and then a torturous wait of five hours before lunchtime. Therefore, to prevent the embarrassing tummy rumblings during classes and assemblies, I had to keep snacking throughout the day (and it was always some form of chocolate - yup, I have a problem!), which meant that my total food consumption was too high for the amount of (or lack of) exercise I was doing, as well as my height, body type, and a multitude of other factors. Plus, I had pasta and sauce every day for lunch because I never liked anything else they served in the canteen, which wasn't particularly healthy. Now I've finished school, I've been able to make up my own schedule of when to eat and regulate what and how much I eat too.
Because I'm generally getting up later than your average school morning, I find it easier to not snack between meals, because I'll grab breakfast at about 10am, and then lunch at 1pm. It's a much smaller wait between these first two meals, and after a decent sized lunch, I can usually last until teatime without snacking. Sometimes I get up at half eleven so I'll just combine breakfast and lunch to have a nice big brunch, which will fill me up for the afternoon. I remember a while back my parents and I used to snack after tea most evenings in front of the TV - but we only do that very occasionally now (like once every month or two) because we all realised we were getting a little chubby! Now, when I have my pudding after tea, I think to myself "Right. This is gonna be the last thing I eat tonight" and I kind of savour the last mouthful of whatever I'm eating. Sometimes I'll even go upstairs and brush my teeth after tea, so I can't have anything else to eat that night!
So since leaving school, I've definitely cut down on the amount I eat, basically because my body just doesn't need all the extra stuff I was consuming back then. I've also swapped some healthier options into my diet, and I really do feel healthier now, as well as being more in control of what I'm putting into my body. I've listed the kinds of food that I typically eat now below:
Breakfast
I normally have either a bowl of cereal with a small amount of semi-skimmed milk, or a piece of toast with Nutella on it. I have either of these with half a cup of orange juice.
Lunch
At the moment, I like having a couple of wraps/tortillas, which I lay flat on baking trays and cover with passata and cheese. I then pop them in the oven for a couple minutes, and when I take them out, they're like pizzas, but without all the carbohydrates found in normal pizza bases. Basically they're skinny pizzas, and they're super yummy!
If I don't have those, I'll grab about 3-4 crackers with tuna and mayonnaise on top, or an English muffin with smoked salmon and poached eggs. Wow, that last one sounds sooo British!
Tea
Usually my parents (or me occasionally!) will cook a dish with a decent portion of vegetables, as well as some meat or fish, and a small amount of rice, pasta or bread. Nowadays, we don't tend to buy sauces in jars because they contain all sorts of preservatives that aren't good for you. If no one feels like cooking, we'll have some soup instead - plain, old tomato soup is my favourite! Ooh, I almost forgot, our favourite dish at teatime at the moment is Caprese salad. It's a really great dish during summer - it's obviously not a hot meal, and even though it's just a salad, I find that it still fills you up enough to not want to snack afterwards.
Puddings
I try to only have pudding after tea, which is usually just a couple biscuits, some ice cream, or a slice of cake. Sometimes, however, I will just grab something tiny after lunch to satisfy my sweet tooth!
Drinks
I drink water when I'm hula hooping, and at mealtimes I usually have either flavoured Volvic water, iced tea, or fizzy water with fruity flavourings. I find it hard to drink plain water all the time, which is why I have these watery substitutes. They aren't as good as the real thing, of course, but they are much better than fizzy drinks or alcohol. I can't really remember the last time I had a fizzy drink, which I'm actually quite proud of! I do however have a weakness for the odd J2O, especially the orange and passionfruit flavour - but I never have more than one 275ml bottle in a day, as juice drinks always have quite a high sugar content.
So, as you can tell, I don't force myself to eat super clean, as I literally would not be able to keep that up for anything past a day - I just love chocolate too much! I do, however, try to eat only as much as my body needs for what I'm doing that day, and I allow myself some small sweet treats here and there to keep me motivated. Also, the fact that I'm exercising more regularly now, means that if I do fancy a slightly bigger slice of chocolate cake, I can just burn it off right afterwards!
So what do you guys think about food? Do you have a sweet tooth like me? And are any of you trying or wanting to cut down on what you eat? Feel free to let me know in the comments below :)
