April - Food Preparation

I know how important food preparation is. Especially as a shift worker. I work 12 hour shifts and sadly, my workplace does not provide much in the way of healthy foods. Most foods are soaked in oil, not fresh and certainly not too appetising at times. Unfortunately, this means I need to be well prepared and take the majority of my meals with me to work.

This is not a cheap option, and I am still looking for ways to be healthy, prepared and able to do this on a budget.

Basically I need to have a portion of protein for every meal and a portion of green vegies or salad to go with it. As this sounds boring for every meal over 12 -14 hours, I also need to find other options. I plan to include a Protein Shake, some nuts (usually almonds) as a snack (especially when the sweets and junk food appear) perhaps some Cottage Cheese and Fruit.

As you can imagine, preparation takes time, I also need to make time to have this all ready to go each morning/evening before work. This sounds like a big commitment (and it is) but I am trying to make my health a priority.

I am also attempting to include some organic products into my diet as well. Organic is, of course healthier for us but also tastes so much better too!

If you have any hints or ideas to help me out, feel free to comment!

:)

March Challenge - Adding Protein

I understand the fundamentals of adding protein to my diet, so my challenge for March is to include Protein with EVERY meal.

As I am a shift worker and I am now in the habit of eating 5 - 6 meals per day, so having Protein with each meal, this is most definitely, a challenge.

In the past I would supplement my diet with Protein Bars and Protein Shakes, and I know that it is always better to include REAL lean animal protein, whether it be:

- Chicken Breast
- Eggs/Egg Whites
- Cottage Cheese
- White Fish
- Salmon
- Lean Red Meat (not my choice, I am not a fan of red meat..... I was vegan for a while and I'm still trying to get my head around eating read meat! Plus I simply don't like the taste of it or the way it settles in my belly)

I also need to include some good fats:
- Almonds (a great snack when your work-mates are all eating cake, biscuits etc)
- Nut Spread -  just a teaspoon is great as it contains less Saturated Fats, (loads) less nasty Sugars and less Sodium than regular Peanut Butter.

We've all been conditioned to like more salts and sugars in our diets so when we actually try foods that contain less of each, they may not taste quite like we would expect. I say, give them a chance; if you know that are better for your health and well-being then you will also realise that they actually taste the way they are supposed to (like nuts taste like nuts, not salt; or like fruit tastes like fresh fruit not sugar!)

My biggest challenge so far is my breakfasts, I am attempting to have only Protein and Nuts for breakfast! This is tough as Breakfast is a real chore for me. I wake up at 5 am. I have ZERO appetite and to force myself to eat chicken and almonds? This is the hardest thing ever! But I am persevering. I must say though, I am not craving crap at 8 am like usual.

This has been an ongoing challenge for me for a long time, and I am trying to improve..... If anyone has any suggestions I would love to hear from you.