Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Changing Food/Meal Routines

Every once in a while, I have to change my meal routine. I can eat the same thing, same time, same everything day after day. But then something happens... like now.

I'm a fanatic breakfast eater, probably caused by a combination of my own physiological needs and being raised at a time when breakfast was like a religious requirement. You'll never function without breakfast was the mantra in my day. And I don't function without it.

I've jockeyed between two eggs in every which way and various cereals, with yogurt or cooked over the years. There have been times when I've gone from a 6am breakfast, then not eating anything, until a 2pm lunch.

Recently I've been having plain 3% bio-yogurt with bran flakes and puffed wheat, then for lunch whole-wheat pasta, white 5% cheese, olive oil and freshly cut salad. Dinner is usually a piece of chicken, a large squash and onion, plus salad. During the day, some tea with milk and sugar, and of course I begin my day with a couple of super-sized mugs of water then the same of freshly-made coffee with milk and sugar.

This year I have to leave my house by 11:30 to get to work. That's a bit early for lunch, but I've been eating lunch anyway and rushing off in a panic. It has me nuts, running down the hill with my jacket open and keys still in my hand, so I can make the bus.

So I began to change things a bit. I make a very different breakfast. In my giant frying pan, I saute onion, potato and squash, with the pan covered. When they're soft, I add two eggs. I eat it all a bit later than before, usually with salad. It's more like a brunch. And I don't eat lunch before work. On my long day, I took some yogurt and puffed wheat to eat during my break. I also ate that as a snack when I got home early.

I think I felt better at work, or were the kids just nicer?

In my experience, I've gained weight when I tried eating sandwiches when traveling.

2 comments:

Miriam said...

that definitely sounds like a great compromise.

Not sure if its a good book yet, but have you ever read "Eat Right for Your Type"? its about finding out your blood type and eating according to your body specificity. Anyway, its interesting read. I can't recommend its technique yet because i only just read the book so far.

Batya said...

I haven't read it, but my daughter kept insisting that I stop being vegetarian, which I had been for 25 years, since with "O" blood, the book says I need meat, red meat. And when I finally did, I had no problems eating all the meat, liver etc.