I’m going to preface this by saying, I have a bad relationship with food. I struggle with impulsivity, I struggle with portion control, I struggle with knowing when to say no. With that in mind, I have done what I can to make things easy for myself, to make it easy to stick to a diet plan, and to reduce the opportunities to go rogue. I admit, not every decision is going to be the most nutritious, but in all honesty, I’m doing what works for me and that is what matters. I’m not following any fad diet plan, I’m not doing keto, I’m not going to slimming world, I’m not doing the Atkins diet, I’m doing me, I’m doing the Leigh diet.
To counteract my difficulties with impulsivity, especially with regards to portion control, I have decided, at least for the time being, to take advantage of pre-portioned meals where possible. I know it might sound mad to people who can easily control what they’re eating, but consider the following. I make myself a bowl of porridge, and decide I’m hungry so I’m going to have more than the recommended portion. No problem, I’ve just had a big bowl of porridge. Having porridge pots I don’t have that choice, if I want more then I need to have another pot, so I have then had 2 pots of porridge for breakfast. Whilst they may equate to the same thing, mentally I can tell myself it isn’t an issue because a big bowl of porridge is still just 1 bowl of porridge, but 2 pots is 2 pots and that isn’t good. Crazy, maybe, but it works for me.
For breakfast, as I have mentioned, I’m relying on things like porridge pots, breakfast drinks, pre-portioned granola and the like. Toast, as much as I love it, is out the window for now because frankly toast with a sensible amount of butter is rubbish, if it’s not swimming in butter or smothered in an inch of peanut butter then I’m not interested.
Lunch, on the whole, is the same, pre-portioned meals that are easy to make, the dreaded ready meal. I allow myself a couple of treats for lunch too, such as a packet of crisps and maybe a little chocolate bar or a cheese string. The crisps aren’t just any crisps, they’re low calorie, gone are the days of just grabbing whatever I fancy. Chocolate bars are the same, I’m not grabbing a wagon wheel or a KitKat, but instead low calorie treats that just do enough to satisfy the sweet tooth.
Dinner/tea is where I am let loose with ingredients. Before you get your expectations up, it is nothing exciting, but it sticks to the theme of what works for me, or in this case, us, with us being myself, my partner and the kids. More often than not 2 different meals are prepared for dinner, one for the kids and one of me and my partner, because as much as we might want things like pizza or pasta bake, the reality is that they’re not great options for us right now. She’ll hate me for saying this, but our meals aren’t always the most adventurous and can be repetitive because my partner isn’t keen on most veg, beans, fruit, etc. With that in mind, whilst not every meal is perfect, I try to stick to a few basic principles, low calories, low carbs, high protein, cook fresh. I limit things like potatoes, in all their forms. Pasta too is kept to a minimum. A few times a week I will also try to recreate something that we both like but isn’t particularly good for you when trying to lose weight, such as pizza, or McMuffins. I have also found some good substitutes, such as chicken burgers, the ones we have no are incredible and so much better nutritionally than what we were eating.
Hot and cold drinks have taken a hit, and in a way may be the hardest thing to adapt to. I love fruit juice and I love milkshakes, both of which are terrible for calories and sugar. Speaking of sugar, we’ve made the switch from sugar to sweeteners in cups of tea. I got a Ninja SLUSHi for Christmas, which for those of you that don’t know, is A) Amazing, and B) a commercial quality slush drink maker, which can also be used to make incredible milkshakes. It is an incredible machine, but also is very dangerous when you’re trying to limit calories.
In conclusion, the diet plan is basically minimise calorie intake where possible whilst not giving up everything that I like. Remember, I’m not an expert in nutrition, I’m just me doing me. Also, my diet may not be perfect, yes I could have less salt, less sugar, have more fibre, eat more fruit and veg, etc, whatever, but any improvement is an improvement and I’m happy with that.