It has been over a month into my healthy lifestyle change. Not that I wasn’t eating healthy before, but I enjoyed restaurant foods and baking which can get you into trouble. To add to the issue, I hurt my foot and then my knee so I wasn’t power walking like before. Exercise was a challenge.
The healthy lifestyle change includes developing recipes and menus that are low in sodium, watching my portions, limiting animal proteins like red meats and eat more lean poultry. Concentrate on oily type fish like salmon, trout and treating myself to mussels, which are high in iron. A healthy diet requires fat, so I choose the ones that are not saturated and no trans fat. I am eating whole grains and milling my own whole grain flours. I consume lots of healthful quantities of fruits and vegetables.
My goal is to lose around 15 lbs towards a healthier weight. My son and his significant other surprised me with a fitbit FLEX to help me achieve my targets. On a daily basis, I log my food intake with myfitnesspal.com, which can be synced with fitbit.com to log results. For about a month, I have been logging all ingredients, recipes, and combinations for each meal. I also track the amount of exercise and sleep I have achieved per day.
My foot and knee have heeled for the most part. This has allowed me to walk at least 8,000 to over 10,000 steps in less than an hour. I am working at opening up my schedule to do this at least three times a week. You gotta be careful that what goes in matches the energy going out. Isn’t this fun kids? Is this the fun part? Actually I have enjoyed tracking my progress. The tough part is that you need to be prepared, as the majority of food consumed has to be cooked or prepped at home. Well, I am a choosy foodie, and this is what I do. Never been a fan of packaged foods. Making my own whole grain pasta is the way to go for me…which I do. With DIY I know exactly what’s going into my food.
I cook up a number of servings of a variety of whole grains. These are portioned out and packaged in half-cup servings to freeze for easy access at lunchtime. I microwave the frozen grains at high power for about 2 minutes. Perfect…warm…yummy. Nutty tasting and pleasantly chewy. Then I layer a lunch bowl: ½ cup portion of whole grain, about 1-½ cups of vegetables and/or greens, proteins (beans, cheese, nuts), fats (include nuts and healthy oils), spices (no salt added), and a flavourful vinegar (makes the profile of the dish interesting).
The pictures on this post are a combination of the following ingredients. You can mix and match while following nutrient lists and reporting provided on websites like myfitnesspal.com or supertracker.com. You need to be cognizant of your nutrient intake as it is easy to think you are eating healthy and be deficient in essential nutrients, for example, iron or maybe calcium. Portion control is important to ensure you don’t eat too little or too much of a good thing.
Some ideas for healthy lunch bowls:
Seaweed or Yaki-Nori
Sprinkle on some seafood, about one-third protein and one-third dietary fiber, and contains high proportions of iodine, vitamins A, B, and K, and iron. Porphyra yezonsi has been found to contain sufficient vitamin B12 to prevent vitamin B12 deficiency in rats. Nori is considered to be an important source of vitamin B12 in vegans. Got this info from wikipedia, tremendous benefits from seaweed, kelp and other sources of this type of sea veg.
Cooked Whole Grains
Kasha, Hulled Barley, Quinoa, Short Grained Brown Rice, Steel Cut Oats Rice:short grain brown glutenous, long grain brown, wild rice, black rice, wild korean brown rice, so many tasty varieties to choose.
Vegetables
carrots, radishes, tomatoes, mini heirloom tomatoes, purple cabbage, zucchini, green onions, red, orange, yellow bell pepper, greens i.e. anything leafy, kale, swiss chard, spinach, power greens, Asian greens.
Fats
avocado, avocado oil, walnut oil, extra virgin olive oil, sesame oil, nuts, seeds
Proteins
lentils, beans, edamame, cheese (30 g), hummus, nuts, seeds
Dressing
Apple Cider Vinegar, Balsamic Vinegar, Brown Rice Vinegar, any vinegar you enjoy.
Spices
no salt spice mixtures, onion flakes, dried garlic, freshly ground pepper, hot pepper sauce, or any spice mixtures
wet or dry that work for you.
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