*Originally posted on 12/07/2020
So, we’ve finally got an official date of coming out of lockdown, yaaas! (If you live outside the UK- we’ve basically been in lockdown for over a year). One of the many things that’s changed because of Corona is the way we eat. Some of us have been cooking more at home, or, have massively increased our takeaway budget. Either way, the way we eat has definitely changed, for better or for worse. Wondering how you can eat well, aka another phrase for eating more healthy food, in life after lockdown? Here’s everything you need to know. (P.S. these tips are great for you if you live outside the UK too😄)
Three Top Tips to Help You Eat Well
1 Use a food diary
One of the best ways to eat well is finding out what exactly are you eating too much of and/or not enough of. So, for a week or two, record EVERYTHING you eat and drink. After that, find out what nutrients you are loading in your system and the missing ones too. You can decide to take this one step further and use a food diary (I have one) to track your daily dietary habits. General rule of thumb is to have a balanced diet –lots of colourful fruit and veg, lots of fish and poultry (chicken, yum!), not too much red meat etc.
2 Understand that your body needs fat and cholesterol
The media has a way of constantly telling us that Cholesterol and fats are bad for us but never really explaining why. The truth is, your body needs these two components. You need fat for energy, insulation and to physically protect your organs. Fats generally are also known as Lipids in biology. Not all fats are bad for your health! There are the healthy kind, such as Polyunsaturated fats or Monounsaturated fats, and the not-so-healthy kind, such as Saturated fats or Trans fats. Now, time for a quick Bio lesson!
Your body’s cells have a membrane (outer layer) called the Phospholipid bilayer. This has lipid-based structures such as Phospholipids and Cholesterol. Cholesterol helps this bilayer remain stable. Any media outlet that says Cholesterol is automatically bad for your health need to be more honest- yes, too much cellular Cholesterol over time is bad (can lead to a condition called Hypercholesterolaemia) but so is having too little (can lead to Hypocholesterolaemia). Both Hypercholesterolaemia and Hypocholesterolaemia have strong associations with cardiovascular (heart) diseases.
If you want to try and increase your Monounsat. and Polyunstat. fat intake, you’ll find these fats in nuts (especially Walnuts and Almonds), oily fish (Mackerel, Tuna, Cod), Margarine and other foods. Limit eating saturated fats and trans fats, which you can find in pretty much most processed foods, and in processed meat e.g. Bacon, Ham. I say limit because you don’t have to eliminate it totally from your diet unless you really want to, especially saturated fats because our bodies need some of it, just not too much.
Some websites I like using to find out what nutrients certain food have is SELF’s NutritionalData site and Harvard’s Health Blog.
3 Save money by ditching the daily coffee post-lockdown
Sometimes, making tiny changes to your money’s health can make a big difference. Let’s say pre-lockdown, your daily coffee run was £3 a day and you bought one every weekday in a typical working year (minus the usual 28 days of annual leave in the UK). If you buy the coffee for three years, you’d spend just over £3,000. Whoa! Now imagine reducing that daily coffee to a once-in-a-while thing, with or without adding homemade coffee into the mix = you could save a lot of money. Funny enough, this scenario can be applied to almost anything e.g. buying lunch vs homemade lunch etc. So, save some coins this post-lockdown season by ditching the daily coffee run. Eat well for less.
For some home-made coffee inspo, find some recipes here.
Conclusion
Wondering what you can do to eat more healthily in life after lockdown? Three good ideas for you: use a food diary, know that your body needs fat and Cholesterol to thrive and ditch the daily processed-coffee run. The great thing about these tips is the fact that they are easy, affordable and quick to do. So, if you’re ever tempted to eat till you drop, remember these tips. I leave you with this proverb: “For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.” Adios.
Love this article? Please share it with friends. What are your thoughts on these tips? Drop a comment below👇🏽.
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Feature image credit: Daria Arnautova
