[What I Ate] Wednesday already? No complaints! 😀
So each week I give you guys a little glimpse into my daily noms… wait… did I really just say noms? I can’t stand that word. But I digress. Let’s start again…
Each week I give you guys a little glimpse into my daily eats. I show you a few meals and snacks because a) I like to talk about food [sometimes], and b) it’s a great way to inspire and be inspired with some new ideas. I can’t even tell you how many of my favourite foods and combos I’ve discovered through blog reading, but with every handful of hits is bound to be a few misses… and I’m not only referring to those in the taste department.
I’m sure you guys know what I’m talking about… Those foods that are toted as the be-all-end-all and promise to do this, that, and the other thing. Those foods that are supposed to be healthy and do amazing things for your body. Those foods that, if you’re really being honest with yourself, just don’t work for you and you’re actually better off without them. You’ve got one in mind, don’t you? Yup… me too. A few, actually.
We’re all so different, and what works for one person isn’t necessarily going to work for another. You might thrive off drinking a glass of lemon water first thing in the morning, while the same thing might give me heartburn (true story). The point is, it’s all fine and good to try new things, but not to take everything you see and hear out there as absolute truth. Experiment with your diet, keep what makes you feel good, and ditch what doesn’t — don’t cling to a sinking ship!
And before this intro gets any lengthier, let’s take a look at what does work for me…
What worked for breakfast… something sweet.
Eggy bananafied oats layered with plain Greek yogurt and topped with homemade applesauce, honey, cinnamon, and almond butter.
I know a lot of people say that eating a sweet breakfast makes them crave sweets for the rest of the day, but I’ve always found that a little bit of sweetness in the morning [and throughout the day] helps keep my sweet tooth in check and keeps me from wanting to gorge myself on ALL the sweets. There was a time where I tried to cut back on sugar, and yeah… it did not end well for me.
What worked for my morning snack… a substantial one.
My thick & creamy chocolate smoothie with extra almond butter and some added frozen berries.
My appetite is usually the biggest in the morning and tends to taper off as the day goes on. There’s no way I’d make it from breakfast to lunch without something to hold me over, and my “something” of choice lately has been smoothies, mostly because of how easy they are to customize depending on how hungry I happen to be. Yesterday saw me a little on the hungrier side, so I added an extra spoonful of almond butter and a handful of frozen berries to end up with a smoothie that was basically as thick as pudding. Bliss.
What worked for lunch… plain old white bread.
A Rudi’s English muffin [with cottage cheese & jam // almond butter], classic hummus, and roasted kabocha.
There was a time where I avoided bread like the plague, buying into the belief that it lead to weight gain, bloat, and the end of the world as I knew it. I started missing sandwiches, though… and toast… so I broke down and dipped my toes back into the land of loafy and doughy goodness. But the only kind of bread that I ate for the longest time was the sprouted and grainy kind because it was supposed to be healthier and easier to digest than plain old white or even whole wheat bread. Not so. Not only did it leave me looking like I was 6 months pregnant, but it gave me acid reflux and all sorts of other less-than-pleasant sensations. I made the switch over to simpler bread and… no more problems.
What worked for my afternoon snack… going with my cravings.
Original flavour Popchips.
We’ve all come across the idea of smart snacking, right? The idea that the snacks we eat should have a nice balance of carbs, proteins, and fats to allow for maximum energy and satisfaction until our next meal? It’s not a bad idea, but what if we don’t always want a properly balanced snack? What if that banana with almond butter just doesn’t sound appealing? Don’t get me wrong, you guys know how much I love that combo, but there are times where all I honestly want is some chips or chocolate, and past experience has taught me that I won’t be satisfied if I ignore my craving and go with the “smarter” option instead… So I had my chips and they lasted me just fine until dinner.
What worked for dinner… white rice.
Leftover sesame chicken stir fry with random veggies and basmati rice cooked in coconut milk.
I’ve made it no secret that I prefer white rice over brown. It’s what I grew up on, what I prefer the taste of, and what my stomach has an easier time digesting. I switched over to brown rice when I started reading about how it was supposedly so much healthier than white rice, and while it didn’t destroy my stomach or anything drastic like that, I definitely noticed a lot more bloating and discomfort compared to when I was eating white rice. I dismissed it at first because… it was brown rice! It was supposed to be healthier! But no… I’m back to white and happy as a clam.
What worked for my evening snack… chocolate.
A flourless banana bread muffin with a side of chocolate and warm vanilla almond milk.
Because… well… chocolate! Can you believe there was a time in my life where I managed to convince myself that I didn’t like the stuff? Yeah… I’m not quite sure how I did that either. Thankfully the madness has passed and I’m back to enjoying chocolate on a daily basis… and baked treats! Because there’s nothing more comforting than a homemade muffin, cookie, or… anything, really.
And before this gets any wordier (sorry!), I just have one more thing to say… Don’t eat like me — eat like you! Do what works, ditch what doesn’t, and remember that there are no absolutes where it comes to what or how you should eat.
See you guys tomorrow for Thinking Out Loud! 😀
Have you ever eaten things that didn’t necessarily work for you just because you felt like you should?
What are some things that you know don’t work for you?
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Perfect intro and an even MORE perfect sign off! When it comes down to it, you HAVE to listen to your own body. It’s hard sometimes to stay true to ourselves because of all the outside stimuli, but like you said…there are NO absolutes! And you know, I just happened to be eying some white Italian bread the other day… I think it might be time for some experiments of my own! 🙂
Some things that DON’T work for me: Lentils. Nuts for a snack. Salads the size of a small child…or really any vegetables in mass quantities.
Totally love this post- you are so right! I definitely have to explore eating different things and what works for me. I myself prefer white rice over brown.. I digest both just fine, but I always notice white rice has a nicer texture to me than brown… Idk. But I also know that I am a person that tends to like sweeter things, and my disordered mind always gives me a fuss about not having veggies, and tries to convince me that “sweeter” (or just more appealing) isn’t “good enough” … Thoughts I’m deff going to start challenging.
I bet if I ate what I preferred for some time, I’d crave veggies again then 😛
So many women with disordered eating patterns…sad.
Hey! I was interested in your white bread brand/ingredients, but the link isn’t working. I think my body likes white bread/rice better than the “healthier” brown varieties. Thanks so much.
There was no link to the white bread — it’s just text in a different colour 🙂 I like Rudi’s a lot, but a lot of the time it just ends up being bread from local bakeries.
Love this.
I too went through a period of
Whoops! Pressed enter by accident.
Anyway, I wanted to thank you for a great post.
I went through a period of avoiding “white” foods like a plague. And the brown rice thing was a real problem for me, because being Japanese, I eat rice at almost every meal. It’s not something I eat every now and then. And I believed it was so good for you and there were so many other foods that were “bad” that I was basically eating a huge serving of brown rice and miso soup for every meal.
I think my body tried to tell me in lots of different ways that something wasn’t working, but I pushed them aside because “I was eating the perfect diet and there was no way that I could be unhealthy”. Fast forward a few years and I got a huge cavity, bigger than any I’d had when I was eating tons of sugar :S That was when I decided to pay more attention to what my body needed than what was supposed to be “good for you”.
It’s so refreshing to hear a voice that doesn’t automatically assume whole grain everything is better!
Big breakfasts and morning snacks work for me too! I definitely eat more than most of my friends at school during the day…it’s just what my body needs I guess.
What does not work for me: chocolate for dessert. It’s gotta be dried figs with Greek yogurt or ice cream. 😀
I’ve never tried the whole wheat bread or brown rice … I just can’t do it. So I have no idea if it would be better for me or if I’d have problems. I just love the simple, white bread/rice! I can’t even contemplate giving up sugar, not going to happen, but I do know I need to cut back and not run as wild as I have been (Easter leftovers). I just keep trying to out-cardio my calories. They say it doesn’t work, and I’m a pretty good example of that 🙂 Ah … the eating!
Amanda! Come cook kabocha for me lol. It always looks perfect!
I still fall into the kind of afraid of white bread thing! :(. I wish it wasn’t…I used to eat that stuff like it was my job when I was growing up. Then again, I loooove me some plain bagels, so there’s that.
If it make you feel any better, I eat my fair share of white bread and I’m still alive and kicking 🙂 Happy too!
I think the hardest part of eating for me is eggs – but I’m trying to get better at eating them. And we BOTH know that I can’t do the whole avocado thing. Dairy is also a no-go for me as well.
I agree, we’re all such different creatures & what works for one of us may not work for the other. As you can eat a sweet breakfast & feel satisfied, for me it usually leads to more sugar cravings & trouble. I find that if I cut out the sugar as much as possible I do much better. It’s funny how we’re all so different, but I love how you’re embracing & calling out the differences – you go girl! 🙂