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| Photo: New York Times |
By habit, I eat 3 meals per day and a snack at night. I try very hard not to snack in-between meals, yet haven't be able to give up my nightly snack!
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| Photo: UNC Lenoir |
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| Photo: Beauty on Raw |
Another habit of mine is to alternate between different colors of fruits and vegetables each day, so for example, if I eat carrots and a banana one day, I have broccoli and a peach the next, followed by green beans and a pear on the 3rd day and cauliflower and an apple on the 4th. Strawberries, blueberries and raspberries are free food ... I can eat them as many times and days in a row as I desire.
Carbohydrates, such as bread, potatoes, rice, pasta and corn I hold off eating until dinner. The reason I do this is the more carbs (or starches) I eat, the hungrier I get. I hate being hungry in-between meals, as I'm sure everybody is! Younger, I made the mistake of consuming pretzels around 4 pm, which did nothing for me, but increase my appetite. Nowadays I'll have coffee or tea with milk if needed in the afternoon to prevent daytime snacking. This usually stops me from getting hunger until dinner.
Yes, I eat sweets and drink wine, but not daily and not too often. They are treats. The wine I might have twice a month; and sweets (2 bites of chocolate; or an ice cream cone) perhaps twice a week. Luckily I'm more of a salt and/or cheese snacker, which I think is easier to incorporate into a meal.
My cheat food, French fries, I eat every time I order a burger or fried fish platter regardless of time of day. No French fry gets left behind!🍔🍟🐟
This summer, I'm eating smaller servings of meat than in the fall and winter and more plants. We'll see how it goes. I'm also leaning towards ketogenic foods (i.e., a keto diet) and will see what that does for me. I use the term leaning towards, because I need all my food groups to feel satisfied, but I'll eat the "avoid foods" in smaller amounts like one piece of bread, not two. A 3/4 cup of corn, not 1 1/2 cups; and no banana or rice (triple dipping) on the same day as bread, corn, or potatoes, etc. You get the idea! I select one starchy food per day; and cow's milk stays on the menu.
Frankly I wish we didn't have to put so much damn thought into what we eat, but as we move into the different decades of our lives we do! A trifle of pie for the pie hole, less cake to partake!😄 The weight is just too darn hard to get off, so it's better we don't put too many extra pounds on. Despite our more mindful eating habits, we still aren't as skinny as we once were when we could eat whatever the hell we liked! Yet, I refuse to give up and let myself go, and you should too. It's a matter of health and vanity. Yes, both ... I won't lie. Middle age spread begone! Don't come around here no more!!!🎵♩♪
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Your diet is very well organised, and interesting to read. I need structure about what I eat too, but I need the carbs in the morning to function for the day. Starting with a carefully measured small bowl of oatmeal and an apple, and about 3-4 hours later a slice of toast with a banana. (My daughter does this too, and we call it second breakfast). At lunch it is all vegetables, salad or soup, but no carbs. Bit of carb with tea at 4.00 but no carbs at night. That is the difficult bit :) Covid life has made it harder to focus on stuff like this, especially as we have been locked down for a couple of weeks but Brisbane is opening up on Friday. Sydney is in a dire situation - so sad for our darling twins, we might not see them for a very long time :(
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to read about other peoples' diets, I agree, Trish. I love how countries established by the British have a regular afternoon tea. So civil and needed to refresh, refuel and then continue rest of the day. I imagine sitting down with people for a pause does us good too!
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