Originally at Simple is Working – 8/21/11

Over the past year I have changed what I eat for breakfast and lunch considerably.  As a result of my knee injury last year, I was putting on weight and my cholesterol levels were rising. I knew then that I had to start changing what went down the old pie hole.

Breakfast

Since about March this has been my usual breakfast.

Coffee, banana and quick oatmeal with blueberries, flax-seed, honey and cinnamon (I just recently started adding the cinnamon).  I have had this meal 90% of the time since March. If I don’t have this, it usually ends up being one of the Cinnamon type healthier cereals with the coffee and a banana.

Lunch

Since June I have had fresh garden salads almost daily (the wife or I go out to the garden pick our salad just before lunch), a cup of tea and whatever is leftover from the previous night’s meal. Lately I have added in dandelion greens and looking at other “edible” weeds from the back yard that I can forage and add into a salad.

Yes believe it or not the avowed meat-eater is actually eating more greens and grains and a lot less meat.  Meat is becoming more of a condiment than the main focus of the meal, but we have a couple of pieces of mini chocolates (special dark or Mr. Goodbar for me usually).  I could probably get by with just the salad, but the frugal person in me doesn’t like to waste leftovers, so I get to eat those as well.

Supper

Varied, but usually a homemade something or other by my fantastic wife and then we put up the left-overs for lunch for me. Every other night we have a glass of red wine with our meal and I might sneak a second bottle of beer in on occasion on pizza night.  We seldom eat out and usually don’t have more than a couple mini chocolates for desert once a week when we have homemade chocolate chip cookie whoopie pies and coffee after eating our homemade pizza on Fridays. Unless of course there is a birthday, anniversary or some other special occasion where she or the step-daughter make some baked treat, that I have to “force” myself to eat.

Sometimes even home cooked food is not the healthiest, but we have improved a lot since the wife retired and has more time to prepare the food.

Snacks

Usually a handful of peanuts in the afternoon, but my downfall is usually from 7:00 P.M. to 9:00 P.M., I simply want to eat again, as we settle in for the night and wind down.  However, if there is coffee ice cream in the house I will usually have a small bowl or one of Mary’s homemade muffins. I have worked on eating a 1/4 cup of hot air popped popcorn with nothing else on it at least once a week during this time and limit myself to a small bowl of chips (Cape Cod Plain) a couple of nights a week, instead of sitting down with the bag – yes I admit it I am a recovering potato chipaholic. 🙂

I am getting better with my snacks.  At least I am thinking about what I am eating before doing it and if I eat something that isn’t all that healthy, I have made a conscious choice instead of reflex or stressed eating (see my Dr. Pepper and Chips post).

After All That

You know something, I think that I really do like my simple life and I really feel a lot healthier than I used to when I was eating processed food and all the other junk food that I used to eat.  Once in a while I eat something that I used to and you know something most of the time it does really taste like crap and upsets my stomach for a while after eating.  That isn’t what food is supposed to do – make me wonder what they put in it to do that to me.

I still have a difficult time believing this is me eating this healthy.  Me – one of the original “junk food junkies”.  I am trying to do better and being at home full-time has made the transition to eating more healthy choices a lot easier. Fortunately, I have a feeling that my sweet tooth will never go away completely. 😛

Have you changed how you eat lately?  Why?  How is it going?  What happens when you try to eat what you used to?
Thanks for reading and I hope you take the time to comment.