Stop dieting ... start living!!!

You know the one word that is really guaranteed to wind me up, big time, is diet.  You hear the phrase 'No thanks, I'm on a diet' and you instantly inwardly groan.

As a word, diet actually means 'the usual food and drink consumed by an organism (person or animal)'.  So we can all say we are on a diet, whatever we consume is our 'diet'.

As soon as you say 'I am on a diet' you are instantly just saying 'I am denying myself any pleasure in life'!  By constantly watching, weighing, measuring and judging every little thing you put in your mouth, you are making food your enemy, and it isn't.

So many diets are about finding a less 'naughty' way to eat something which is usually 'naughtier'. Crisps are a perfect example (and have always been my downfall).  As soon as you start a diet, you know one of the rules are you should not eat crisps, so you start seeking out the so-called lower fat / lower calorie 'under 100 calorie' versions.  But at the end of the day, they are still crisps, still a processed food, still not putting any goodness or nutrition into your body whatsoever, still contributing, even if in a small way, to the bad fats and sugars in your system without giving anything good back, just wasted calories.

I have been there and done it all myself so I am not judging anybody, I'm really not.

Diet coke is another one, and I have always been extremely guilty of this one and still have the odd one.  We just tell ourselves diet coke is good for us, it doesn't have the full on sugars in a normal coke, it is only 1 calorie per can, it gets away with it under the word diet.  But it is still an artificial carbonated drink, with no benefits to your body, apart from a little temporary hydration maybe.  We are just fooled by the word 'diet'.

Any 'diet' that tells you you should have a certain amount of something a day, i.e calories, just results in you panicking if you dare to go over, or eating pointless calories to make it up, even if you aren't hungry!  That is not a healthy attitude.

Sorry to sound like I am preaching, but just recently I have viewed things so differently.  I am no longer interested in denying myself things that I consider a pleasure in life, and food should be a pleasure.  I am more interested in feeding myself good, filling, wholesome, natural food which will provide me with so many benefits and stop me obsessing about what I can eat next.  I will find ways to reduce the fats and sugars in what I eat, but not by replacing them with artificial stand-ins which provide zero nutrients and zero benefits. A teaspoon of rapeseed oil may be quite high in calories, but it is also high in Omega 3 (10 times more than olive oil), has the lowest saturated fat of any oil, is a good source of vitamin E and is high in monounsaturated fats.  It has been shown to actually reduce the symptoms of obesity, high cholesterol, diabetes and heart disease when used in a balanced diet.  I'd rather include that in my food than waste the 80 or so calories on a bag of 'low-fat' crisps which offer none of the above benefits!

Food is not our enemy, only we make it so.  It is not a sin to eat that packet of crisps, or that chocolate bar, it is a choice.

Diebetes is in my family, my parents have it, my late sister had it and my brother has the early stages of it.  I hate needles for a start so I am going to do everything in my power to try and ensure I don't get it.  Aside from all the nastiness and symptoms of diebetes, the needles are enough to deter me!

How I feel right now, after switching to a balanced, natural, healthy way of eating, ensuring I get maximum benefit and nutrition from all that I consume, is glowing!  Inside and out, I no longer feel sluggish, I have energy, my skin is fresh and finally (almost) free from spots, its taken 40 years for that to happen!!

More than anything, rather than be a slave to food, I feel in control!  Food is now my fuel, I make it work for me.  I am feeding my body, every part of it, not just denying it certain things to make it look more asthetically pleasing, I am feeding all the bits inside me you don't see, with goodness, in the hope they will look after me for many more years to come!  (Unless I get hit by a bus, then they kind of don't stand a chance!)

So, have already filled enough of this page.  Will try and keep the rest as short and sweet as possible (ahem!)

~BREAKFAST~

I forgot, in my usual morning rush, to take a pic of my breakfast this morning, but am sure you don't really need to see a pic of beans on toast!!  

Actually, first of all I had half a grapefruit which I put under the grill sprinkled with cinnamon.  Putting it under the grill warms it through, caramelises it and releases all the lovely juices.

I then had two slices of Nimble wholemeal with extra light flora and a dollop of baked beans, with lots of vinegar and white pepper ofcourse, and my protein shake.

~MID MORNING SNACK~

The Little pot of loveliness made an appearance again today!

~LUNCH~

Ooooo lunch today was gooooood.  Using the other piece of salmon from last night's dinner, I flaked it, added some hard boiled eggs quartered, some boiled baby potatoes with skins on, some par boiled french beans, and some brown shrimps. I made a dressing of rapeseed oil, white wine vinegar and wholegrain and dijon mustard with a squeeze of honey too and put in a separate container to pour over it at work (can't eat food if it goes soggy!).  Every mouthful was amazing! (apart from I left most of the potatoes...was too filling and didn't want to sink in the swimming pool!)

~AFTERNOON SNACK~

This afternoons snack, after a mammoth swim, was some Nairns oatcakes, with low fat pineapple cottage cheese, gherkin spears and beetroot ... yum!!!  And my protein shake.

 

This was followed by a cheeky mini twister!!!

~DINNER~

Matt was working late again tonight which meant dinner would again not be until after 8pm, and I wanted to do something I could just make and heat up later.  I took some reduced fat sausages out of the freezer this morning, and decided on a sausage ragout ... of sorts!!

I chopped each sausage into 3, and the chopped the chorizo, and placed them in the actifry and let them cook until browned.  I then chopped up the onions, into wedges then separated the leaves, the pepper and the mushrooms and added to the actifry and again let it all cook for a couple of minutes.  I then added the asparagus and french beans, followed by the tin of chopped tomatoes and again let it cook until the beans and asparagus almost soft. I was going to add a tin of mixed beans (as the pic) but decided against it.

Served with a jacket potato and some tenderstem broccoli ... very, very yummy!!
 

 

~EXERCISE~

Today was swimming day, and mammoth swimming day at that, I did 100 lengths.  I also appear to have become a bit of a 'celebrity' too amongst the other swimmers, a couple of them came up and asked if I really did 100 lengths, somebody else had been talking.  How funny!

Think that'll do for today

Thanks again for reading

Jo

xx