Healthy Eating

I was asked over on Instagram by Merry in the Ferry about my work day eating habits after posting this photograph of my office drawer filled with snacks!! It also ties in quite nicely with my health & fitness goals that I posted about last week.

As you'll know if you are regular readers, I am currently seeing a personal trainer once a week for an hour sesssion. I was struggling to get motivated, especially hard at this time of year when it's dark and cold! For me, I knew that some sessions with a PT would be money well spent. Exercise is great for your mental health and wellbeing, helps you sleep better and I know that by losing a bit of weight I'd boost my confidence. I wasn't exercising at all, and had totally gotten out of the habit of exercising, and Ross has got me back into  it. I started in November last year and now that I'm seeing results I'm finding staying motivated a lot easier. I weighed myself this morning, and that's me now lost 7 lbs.

However, it's not just exercise, what you eat is just as important.

The key for me is being organised - hence why I have a drawer full of snacks at my work. This way if I'm feeling peckish and my colleagues have donuts or crisps, I can get myself a healthy snack and I'm able to stay clear of the junk food. I actually managed to resist the donuts...! Are you impressed?

So at the moment in my desk drawer I have the following:

• Decaf tea bags (Tetley)
• Rude Health Oat & Spelt Thins
• Peanut Butter
• Oatcakes
• Munchy Seeds, Chilli Bites
• Muesli (one with more seeds and nuts than dried fruit, like Jordan Nut & Seed)
• Baby plum tomatoes
• Bear blackcurrant yoyo (these are designed for kids, but to me it's a sweet treat!)
• Food Doctor Roasted Bean Mix
• Beyond Dark chocolate drops

I've also got some Light Philadelphia cheese in the fridge, which I have on the oat & spelt thins.

Some other snacks that are great are crudites & hummus, sugar snap peas, popcorn, yoghurt & berries, a handful of nuts, rice cakes or a few dates.

On a typical day I'll have the following:

7.30/8am Breakfast - muesli & cup of tea

Muesli with dates & bananas

10am Snack - see list above!

12.30pm Lunch - soup or salad, sometimes with a spelt thin and Philadelphia cheese

Hummus & oatcakes with salad

3pm Snack 

5pm Dinner - this varies and depends on whether or not I have the kids but I try and stick to healthy options where possible. If the kids are having pasta, then I'll have gluten-free pasta or choose to have steamed cabbage instead. I'll possibly write a separate post on our dinners.

Chicken stir fry

8/9pm Snack

So I'm actually eating lots, and eating a lot more than I would have previously. But it's all about eating the right kinds of food. However it's also about being realistic. I can't stick to this 100% of the time... I've got to have a life and I do love my food. We were at Pizza Hut at the weekend for dinner, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I also still have take aways, but again I'll be sensible in what I choose.

Hopefully this has provided some inspiration, food for thought you might say ;-)

You can find my Weight Loss Inspiration post with before and after photographs here which has a few more tips on losing weight and getting healthy.