I haven’t posted in ages—to ease my guilt that is partly due to some technical issues—but it being a new year I am resolved to post more regularly.
January is a new beginning, so I’ve made some other resolutions as well. You know, the usual ones—lose weight (about 4kg), exercise more (3–4 times a week for 20–30 minutes), eat healthier (smaller portions, healthier choices)…
My general approach to these resolutions is “everything in moderation”. Words to live by and, for me, much easier to stick to than some crazy fasting diet or detox.
One part of “lose weight, eat healthier” means me starting fresh in 2014 by giving up alcohol for the entire month of January (five days in and feeling good!). I did it last year and was surprised at how amazing I felt after a couple of weeks. One or two glasses of wine slows me down the next day so it’s good for me to give my body a break, particularly after all the rich foods and excessiveness of the holiday season. Once February comes my resolution is changes to allow a couple of drinks on weekends but none during the week. Again, that’s something that I did last year and it really helped how mentally sharp I was during the working week.
In terms of eating healthier I’m taking a good hard look at my portion sizes and leaving more space on my plate when I serve up food. I know I’ve been eating too much, especially at night and this affects how well I sleep. Lack of sleep in turn makes me feel sluggish in the morning and more likely to make bad food choices during the day.
I’m also trying to eat lighter in general, meaning more salads and not many heavy things like potato, pasta, pastry and creamy/buttery things. Some of my meals since New Years’ and on the menu for this week are:
- lamb and haloumi skewers with a variation on a Greek salad—lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, capsicum; no olives or feta
- slow-roasted chicken with Ottolenghi: The Cookbook
’s chargrilled cauliflower with tomato, dill and capers
- BBQ steak with artichoke and herb salad (an old favourite found in the CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet Book 2
) - smoked salmon with lemon and garlic chive cream cheese (just a smidge!) on a slice of rye plus a simple salad—lettuce, tomato, radish, cucumber and carrot
- seared lamb with quinoa tabouli
- grilled sweet corn salad with black beans and almonds
- thai turkey salad
- Jamie’s 15-Minute Meals
tuna, coconut rice and jiggy jiggy vegetables
- and another Jamie Oliver dish—Keralan veggie curry
I’ve also know that I don’t eat enough fruit. Sometimes I just forget about it for days at a time, I’ll admit I’m not a massive fan of fruit, much preferring to eat vegetables instead. So I’ve committed myself to 1–2 serves a day, which is the recommended daily intake.
What are your food resolutions for 2014?