Before I launch into this, let’s just take a moment to reflect on the fact that I’m not a nutritionist or a dietician. My background is fitness. But what really makes me tick is helping people to build healthier lifestyles. Lifestyles that make them feel fantastic. Which is why I can’t help myself from writing about food this week.
It all began when The Vegetarian came to live with us for a month last year. All of a sudden, a piece of meat and a plate of veges wasn’t a suitable dinner. It made me realise that whenever I ask my man what he wants for dinner, he names an animal. As if meat is the meal, the rest of it is simply filling the plate. This didn’t seem super healthy to me.
So I set up some guidelines to keep us going once The Vegetarian had left town. Well, sort of. No need to make it seem more official than it was. I decided that every week we would have:
- A maximum of 2 red meat meals.
- Fish for dinner at least once.
- A minimum of 2 vegetarian meals…. And they can’t always be pasta.
- Salad with lunch everyday.
And the rest of the week just falls into place. It’s not hard. It’s not a list of things that we can’t eat. It’s just a bit of structure to make sure we’re eating enough of the good stuff. It forces me to search different vegetarian meals and think outside the square. It makes eating 5+ a day simple. And I feel really good for it – happier, lighter and more energetic.
I’m not saying that everyone should follow the same weekly pattern. I’m simply encouraging you to step back and look at what you eat each week. Is pasta the go-to option that you are going to too often? Maybe you forget to eat enough meat. Maybe you don’t cook often enough full stop. Whatever the case is for you, think of 2 or 3 things that you could do better and give it a go. Making the right changes slowly is a whole lot better than standing still.
