Food, glorious food

So the point of this blog wasn't all about the fitness aspect of my journey towards my weightloss goals, though of course, the more I focus on that in my life, the more the blog reflects that. As regular readers will know, depsite a reasonable activity schedule, I continue to plod along at the plateau I reached with my weightloss over 2 years ago - that of having lost somewhere in the region of 60lbs, but with around 40lbs still to lose. Give or take. I gain a few lbs, lose a few lbs, gain a few lbs, lose a few lbs, and so it's continued for the past couple of years. I'm not stupid, I know why I'm plateauing with my weightloss; it's because I eat far too much, and all of the wrong things.

Last night I was reminded that I really, really love cooking healthy meals, I just rarely make the time for it these days. Also, I live in chaos where my sink is generally always full of dishes waiting to be cleaned, so cooking always seems to come with a millstone round its neck. I have to clean the dishes, wipe down the surfaces, clean chopping boards (one of my least favourite things), and so on. I find it easier to grab a couple of pork pies from the supermarket shelf, or make a ham sandwich and eat it stood by the kitchen worktop while I umm and ahh about whether the vegetables in the fridge will last another day or need throwing out. I know there is a better way to live, and I'm determined to start living it.

I'm not one for fad diets, or for cutting major food groups out - I understand they work for some, I'm just far too emotionally attached to food, and eating, to be able to cope with cutting out an entire type of food. I know from experience. I start to crave it, I start to feel like I'm punishing myself, I start to hate myself more, and when I reach the bottom of the spiral of negativity, I start to eat. All because I've gone six days without a Twix, or something as daft as that. No, what I find works well for me is just cooking meals from scratch. As little packet stuff as I can (though not cutting any of that out, just using it in moderation) - loads of fruit and veg, plenty of lean meat and fish, some grains, lentils, pasta (normally wholewheat), rice, wholewheat bread in limitation, small amounts of cheese (using the stronger flavoured stuff, as less of it goes further in a meal) - potatoes, sweet potatoes, and lots of eggs. You see, really, it almost (almost!) doesn't matter WHAT I eat, as long as I cook it from fresh ingredients, and use healthier ways to do so - grilling or baking instead of frying, avoiding creamy sauces for the flavour-packed homemade tomato sauces I blend up into portions, using oil carefully, for the 'right' choices, and drizzling rather than sloshing it, eating a filling breakfast so as to avoid the lure of the sausage sarnies at the office, and so on. Eating things where you can pronounce all of the ingredients, for wont of a better (but not exact) explanation. I'm not saying this is the perfect way to eat, I'm just saying I know through years and years of experience it's the way that works FOR ME. It's about making the time to cook for myself, and generally treating myself with a bit of respect.

As I've said before, I don't see making frequent fresh starts as a bad thing - I think if you're in a situation where you know you're doing something wrong, it's perfectly right to step back, and tell yourself that you need to turn over a new leaf. So, now, it's time for me to turn that leaf over. And if it's a cabbage leaf, well then maybe I'll slice it into very thin strips, boil for a couple of minutes, drain, and stir into a hot pan with lean grilled bacon snipped into small pieces with the kitchen scissors, handful of cooked thin green beans, some wholewheat penne pasta, a little water reserved from cooking the pasta, a little soy sauce for colour and flavour, and served with a tablespoon of grated parmesan sprinkled on top.

Wow, now I'm hungry. :)