My healthy lifestyle change~ `what I eat 編`

Time for the second post about my lifestyle change.
Maybe it sounds a bit pompous or funny, but IDK how to call it, that`s just what it is. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I don`t want to preach, most of those things are not my original ideas, I learned them along the way and read on the internet and so on. And I am not claiming I am 100% right. I`m just writing out my idea of healthy eating and generally what I put into my head and live by now. So take it or leave it, those are just my beliefs and I`m no expert and so on.



I assume it`s obvious that when you eat healthy you would want to quit junk food, sweets, soda and processed food and simple carbs as much as you can. Well, that wasn`t a big issue for me, bc for a good couple years now I wasn`t drinking any soda or eating junk food (from chain restaurants) at all and I don`t even like sweets that much (well, with some exceptions) so I don`t get sweets craving. I never used sugar in tea/coffee and I don`t like the flavor. I admit, I also love to cook, live on my own and have a lot of free time, so limiting processed food and generally eating what I want is relatively easy for me. I`m very lucky with this, I know many of you probably live with your family, don`t have a separate fridge or maybe can`t even buy your own food bc you don`t have the money or just parents take care of that. In that case, I hope your family will support your decision to eat more healthy and help you with it. Calm rational discussion should work and just give them some time to think about it. From my experience parents get really stubborn if you try to push your ideas on them, make them think it`s their own idea and that it`s great if you can... XD

And you know what, we`re just human. If you want to eat chocolate or pizza or whatever - just eat it! Treat yourself! Don`t go on guilt trips and restrict. Just think on a bigger scale - remember your goal, to eat healthy and be good to yourself and know that one bad day won`t ruin the whole effort and your hard work. It won`t! So if your your boss has a bad tantrum/bf dumped you, drink that bottle of wine and eat cookies with your friends! XD Sometimes it`s okay, just don`t fall into bad habits again. Moderation is the key. If you want chocolate eat it, but eat 2 small pieces, not the whole block. And make the better choice, go for 90% cocoa bitter chocolate with ingredients you can pronounce rather than something that`s mostly sugar and you don`t even know what it is.

Oh, and start reading labels!!!! Some of them are like good horror stories, let me tell you. XD Generally if there are things that don`t even sound like food and too many unknown ingredients, I don`t buy it. Like I said - I limit processed food to minimum and always read the ingredients. I try to eat organic and cruelty free. I was a pescetarian, but I quit fish in December and am limiting milk consumption. (But I will always love eggs - I`m not lying to myself about that - but I buy the expensive eggs at the farmers` market, from "happy" hens, that eat good food and run around outside whenever they want, from small farmers. I just think that those mass produced, caged chickens are just so poor and just mentally ill from all the torture. :/ ) I am vegetarian and often eat vegan for periods of time, but yeah I`m not vegan and I`m not really into labels that much, so eat what you feel like eating generally. But for me going vegetarian (pescetarian), over 10 years ago, was the obvious choice. :D But to each his own.

Anyway, I`ll go through my meals and just tell you what they consist of most of the time.

Breakfast

I used to hate breakfast and I couldn`t eat anything in he morning, the thought of it used to make me sick, but I decided to change it last Feb and I was successful at it! :D (I read that anything you do for 3 weeks becomes a habit and then you do it without even thinking about it, and it definitely worked like that for me.) Now I eat breakfast within 1 hour from waking up usually. Sometimes when I don`t feel like eating breakfast early or want to do some yoga or sh*t I eat a small 1st breakfast (usually a smoothie or a banana) and later I have 2nd, "real" breakfast (it makes me feel like a hobbit, lol, a couple breakfasts? why not!), which is most often oatmeal or eggs or sandwiches (with vegetarian pates, avocado or guacamole, eggs or hummus if I feel like making it). I don`t worry about the size of my breakfast because I read the quote "eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper" somewhere and I agree with it. It means the later it gets your meals should be smaller/easier to digest. Anywhoo~ Examples of my breakfasts (all photos mine! :D):

I actually just ate this today: oatmeal with sliced almond, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, chia seeds, raisins, dried cranberries (1x teaspoon each) and frozen raspberries and blueberries (from my mom) and peanut butter mmmm~

 

scrambled eggs with whole grain bread and baby spinach and some smoothie (I was super hungry so I had a big breakfast that day) // baby spinach & banana & kefir smoothie // avocado (sometimes with hard boiled egg) & tomato sandwiches 

Summer breakfast... I didn`t even finish all this, but it was super delicious.

and I LOVE bananas, lol.

Lunch / Brunch

I think I most often have some kind of kasza or quinoa or brown rice with some kind of a vegetable stew - I really love eggplant so I use that often and I add natural cut tomatoes when all the veggies are stir fried/sauteed. Sometimes I make thick soups, I love broccoli, cauliflower, broad beans, chickpeas, cucumber, tomatoes, avocado, green peas... I usually have those stocked and I use them very often in my cooking. Generally I love vegetable, well maybe except the sweet ones, like pumpkin, sweet potatoes, etc. I also got a great book about superfoods and learned a lot from it and like to try new things and experiment in my kitchen! :D Examples of my lunches:

eggplant, tofu & tomato stew with quinoa

 

pineapple cashew quinoa stir-fry from Veganomicon  cook book// eggs and vegetable stew (big brunch)

 

Look - homemade pizza! // big peanut butter & banana & jelly wholegrain bread sandwiches

 

kasza, broccoli, egg (and some tuna I think?)  // and of course salads! 

Snacks

Sometimes I feel a bit hungry or just want to snack on something between meals and I do, especially on days when I work out more (like riding bicycle or go running) or have to work outside my house. I don`t really count calories (I did at first, to learn how much I eat and learn to "measure with my eye" ;)) but I try to keep snacks at around or under 300kcal. Here are some examples:

protein powder, egg and banana oatmeal cookies! (no sugar)

 

some crunchy fruit or vegetable // peanut butter sandwich (this is photo not mine)

Supper

Often I eat lunch leftovers for dinner, but sometimes I`ll cook a soup or if I`m lazy I`ll just eat a sandwich, but I try to have a not so big portion or something easy to digest and warm in the evening. When I started eating breakfasts and allowing myself snack and generally eating every 3-4 hours and whenever I felt hungry, my supper time changed. I sometimes get hungry at 6 or 7pm, eat supper and that`s it. But sometimes I eat later and I just try to stay away from too many carbs at night, but I don`t believe in the "eat the last meal at least 3 hours before sleep" method, if I feel like it I`ll eat super and get in bed right after that.The only important thing for me kind of is not eating a big supper, because when I wake up the next day I still feel it in my stomach/body and feel heavy and slow and all over not so fresh and great. ;)) I kind of like the feeling of going to bed and feeling just a little bit hungry for breakfast. :D 

Examples (most of those eaten around 6~8:30pm):

This was kinda luxurious: broad beans, baked beetroot, eggplant tomato stew, barley groats with mushroms, onion and kale!

 

chickpeas tomato soup with curry / chickpeas curry with brown rice

 

barley groats with kale and ponzu, tofu (w sriracha) / couscous with vegetables

baked red bell peppers and tomato soup

So yeah, that`s generally how I eat. I think I wrote down the most important stuff. If you find it inspirational - great, I`m happy. Share your experiences with me, let me know if you have any great vegetarian recipes or know something I must try. And if you hate breakfast/vegetables/whatever, just remember: if you do sth for 3 weeks, it becomes a habit! It worked for me so it might work for you, why not give it a try? :D

Even chocolate/cola fed kids will love veggies if you give them a chance to choose what they want to try and let them prepare it with you! Here`s an example, my older sister`s daughter, last summer. We went shopping and just cooked something super light together and well, just look at that smile :D

Since I started changing how I think and eat I feel soooooooooo much better, have more energy, get sad and unmotivated less, feel lighter... And paired with the small steps and successes with my sports, I am growing to think I can do anything if I really decide on it and stick to it.

So good luck with your life and hae a great day people!!!! :D