Healthifying

Bacon mug filled with melted cheese. I'm simultaneously repulsed by it and insanely jealous of whoever got to eat this.

I apologise in advance for the fact that this post is probably going to be a bit of a ramble. I've been writing it in my head for weeks and there are a lot of things I want to say on this topic, so I may try to break it down into separate posts... I don't know, we'll see where this goes.

Recently I've been healthifying (and okay yes, more on that in another post - too long a story), and part of that was going to see a nutritionist. I do actually have a fairly good grasp of nutrition, because it's a topic that has always interested me in the abstract, as I sat munching on my cheezels and drinking my bucket-o-red-wine. I'm also a pretty good cook and more inclined to make something from scratch than use processed food. However, after my health suffered a set back my major issue was cutting down on salt, and I found myself struggling with finding interesting things to eat that weren't full of sodium. Because let me tell you, almost everything is full of sodium!

The daily recommendation generally is 2300mg, about a teaspoon of salt. I read somewhere that most Australians consume 8 times that amount. EIGHT TIMES. I don't know if that's true, but I can very easily see how it would be. I was trying to stick to around 1500mg, and man, it was hard.

The nutritionist was very good at fine-tuning what I was eating, which wasn't bad in itself, but I didn't have enough variety. She gave me some ideas and also what foods I should particularly try to eat in order to get the nutrients I needed (magnesium, potassium, and so on). I've found her really helpful in giving me some guidance and pointing me in the right direction. So a typical day's food for me is something like this:

Breakfast: porridge, skim milk, a banana or handful of berries, a tablespoon of chia seeds, or 2 slices of very grainy, dense bread (I like Burgen) with a poached egg and a mixture of cooked mushrooms, cherry tomatoes and baby spinach.

Mid-morning: Jalna low fat vanilla yoghurt with berries or banana, sometimes a couple of spoonfuls of Carman's Bircher muesli

Lunch: salad of spinach, rocket, capsicum, cucumber, and whatever else I have (carrot, asparagus, mushrooms), with about 80g cooked chicken breast or a hard boiled egg or a small can of light tuna in springwater, and 2 slices of Burgen bread with Philly extra light or light ricotta.

Mid-afternoon: vegetable sticks with hommus, or fruit, or 4 9 Grain Vita-Weats (the small ones) with light ricotta or avocado.

Dinner: 150g fish or chicken or 100g lean beef with 1/2 cup Basmati rice and at least three different coloured vegetables - ie: sweet potato, cauliflower, asparagus.

Evening: 200ml skim milk with 2 spoons Milo (got to keep the calcium up).

I'm finding I am eating tons more food than I was before, I'm rarely hungry and I rarely go over 1500 calories a day or 1500mg sodium. The plan is based on some simple 'rules':

• low-GI 
• at each meal, have some protein, some starch/complex carb, and some vegetables
• try to eat raw vegetables at least once a day
• the plate should be half vegetable, 1/4 starch and 1/4 protein
• do 30-60 minutes a day of some kind of exercise

That's pretty much it.  In less than 3 months I have lost 13kg (quite a way to go - there is a lot of extra me floating about), and I feel a lot better. Noodle Arms does too - she has more energy and sleeps better, and her periods are less painful (TMI!).

I have a real beef (see what I did there) about 'fake' food, which is why I can never seem to get into anything like Weight Watchers. I'm not averse to the occasional jar of spaghetti sauce or a Lean Cuisine, but on the whole, I try not to go too crazy with processed food. Which is probably why despite being a chunker, my heart is in good condition and my cholesterol is excellent.

So if you're serious about getting healthy and/or losing weight, don't make it hard. Here are my tips:

1. Follow those points above, they really work!
2. Walk as much as possible. I don't drive so I walk everywhere, another reason my heart is probably in such good condition. In my experience, people who drive have a really skewed idea of what "walking distance" is - it's a lot further than you think. 
3.  If you really crave something, don't deny yourself - you'll eat 10 healthy things that will probably add up to be more calories/fat/sodium/whatever than if you'd just had a small version of whatever you really wanted in the first place, and you know you'll still end up eating that as well.
4. Go to the library or a book shop or get online and read up on what your nutritional needs are - you will feel SO much better if you're getting the right amount of whatever minerals and vitamins you require, and they work much better if you get them from food rather than supplements.
5. Water, water, water - if you drink soft drink STOP RIGHT NOW. It's disgusting stuff, has no nutritional value whatsoever and can only do you harm. Think of it as poison - it might as well be. I have maybe 3 Cokes a year (usually if I'm really hungover), and even then a small glass will do me and I give away or throw out the rest of the 600ml bottle.
6. Be organised - carry little ziplock bags of healthy snacks so you're not caught short and hoovering up the charity chocolates in the office at 3pm (don't cry, we've all been there), make your lunch the night before and buy yourself one of those snazzy lunchboxes that has compartments or a little separate bit to keep your salad dressing in so you don't end up with soggy salad at 1pm.
7. Read Sarah's excellent post on this topic - full of wisdom and commonsense.

Now none of this is new or groundbreaking. I just wanted to talk about what I've been doing and how it's helping me. I'm also going to talk about weight issues generally (a minefield of a topic, must tread carefully), and the ethics of food manufacture in upcoming posts, so if you have any interest in those things, stay tuned!

And if you have any healthy tips, please feel free to share!