My previous blog post covered my daily green smoothie recipe and it got me thinking about my overall diet. I eat well most of the time but do allow a few treats.
I suffer from IBS, or at least I did. I suffered terribly with IBS for a number of years and no amount of doctor visits and blood tests solved the problem. That is until I changed my diet. I can’t remember when I changed what I ate but it is a good few years now and ever since the IBS problems are far and few between. When it does flair up it is generally if I am feeling unwell anther than a daily nuisance.
So, what do I eat and avoid?
Milk
I think this is a huge factor in my diet/IBS change. I moved from cows milk to soya milk and almost immediately noticed a difference. My husband also made the switch (he only drinks almond milk now) and we both agree that we could never go back to cows milk. Yes we do have cows milk in items like greek yogurt but where possible we go for the almond milk option or soya. I have learnt with IBS it is all about moderation, small amounts of cows milk in greek yogurt doesn’t harm me but if I was to then have a frappe for example made with cows milk, I would be in pain for the rest of the day.
Wholewheat
We only buy wholemeal bread, rice and pasta. It is so much lighter and IMO just tastes better. I tend to only buy the organic wholewheat spaghetti from Tesco, which costs the same I think, so making healthier choices doesn’t necessarily mean it is more expensive. You can also buy the microwaveable wholewheat rice pouches that take 2 minutes to heat up. These are amazing.
Snacks
We used to buy crisps, cakes (ok, I still eat cake but not everyday) and all those treats full of crap. Now for snacks we both like rice cakes, fruit, a green smoothie, avocado and crudités etc.
I don’t buy crisps anymore, with the exception of plain tortilla chips. If I don’t buy it, it isn’t in the cupboard to snack on. My husband is actually way more strict with food than I am so any snacks I do buy would be for me only. In fact, he is currently on a no sugar and no bread diet – good for him, frustrating for me! I do buy ginger biscuits and these are my little treats but one pack lasts a week whereas before I would go through a pack of oreos in an hour.
Cheese is our guilty pleasure. We love cheese. We used to just buy the grated packets but we would throw heaps over dinner without a second thought. I have started buying blocks of cheese which means we don’t use as much. Oh and Mexican spicy cheese? Ah, we love that. Wensleydale and cranberry is another firm favourite in our household.
In terms of dessert I no longer buy those frozen deserts you either heat up or defrost. I prefer to make a few brownies (once a month) and try and have fruit for dessert. We like to share a mango on Sunday night’s after a roast dinner. It’s our little tradition now and a healthier alternative to calorific chocolate cake!
Those salted caramel pots get me every time. I buy one a week and make it last a few days as the calorie counts scares the life out of me.
And I still buy chocolate. Only I buy the 85% cocoa bar and leave it in the fridge to snack on throughout the week. It’s definitely no snickers but a good alternative.
Lunch
We both prepare a healthy lunch. I like to have sweet potato with tuna and avocado or salad wraps with cold meats. Jon often has rice with tuna/fish etc. We both also love mackerel fillets but they stink and I take twenty years to eat them as I literally dissect it to avoid the bones.
Dinner
Portion size. Oh my gosh, I used to dish the most enormous portions for dinner but that has all changed. I also cook everything rather than heating frozen food up and make my own sauces for things like chilli, spag bol etc. I wish I had the patience to blend fresh tomatoes but right now I use tinned tomatoes.
I tend to have a core of meals that I cook each week like the below and mix these up with something different once or twice a week.
Chilli with tortilla crisps, salsa and salad
Homemade pie (chicken and veg or beef)
Pork fillets, steak, ribs, a lot of chicken and lamb
Sweet potato, homemade baked chips, wholewheat pasta and rice
Heaps of vegetables boiled or roasted
Pasta with vegetables and prawns
Coconut curry or Thai curry
Garlic, chilli’s and coriander make me happy. If I can incorporate these into dinner, I’ll almost certainly love it. We like spicy food too so I use a lot of chilli – fresh chilli’s combined with powdered chilli. I also only go for the lean steak mince option is there is only 5% fat compared to the standard 20% fat!
We eat a varied diet but I try to make it a little different each week. I also work from home now so I really have no excuse.
Takeaway
A few years ago we would have takeaway or eat out 2-3 times a week. Now we probably only do it once every few weeks and it is either Thai or Turkish food. I don’t remember the last time we had Dominos but I do know I was poorly after.
Drinks
Absolutely no fizz. Fizzy drinks make me ill and literally feel like they burn my throat now. As I don’t drink fizzy pops I sometimes crave a can of coke and have a handful a year just to satisfy this craving!
I am a water snob and only drink bottled water. It is only a few pounds a week for two litre bottles but we always have a supply in the cupboard. It is the only drink we have apart from a morning juice so I like to add slices of lemon or mint to make it a little more exciting. That’s not to say I don’t drink tap water as I do if I need to but our bottled water costs 25p for 2 litres which works out less than £2 a week!
Green tea is something else we love. We both only drink herbal tea and in actual fact I am not even sure we have any coffee in the house. I have a tea routine – green tea with breakfast, a lemon and ginger tea during the day and camomile tea in the evening.
Starbucks Frappe’s are my guilty pleasure. I skip the cream and go for a soya option to make them Sammy-friendly.
On the whole we definitely are not the healthiest but we have a balanced diet. I need to start trying new recipes though and it is something I am working on. I know that when we have children in the future our diet will probably change and I’ll cook quicker meals but for now it is so lovely to take the time and prepare meals.
Also, I completely disagree with people who think that eating healthy is expensive. Since changing our diet we actually spend the same each week and it is half the amount as others spend.