…just a semi-pants one
When I’m at home, I eat in a pretty balanced way. We’ll usually eat some kind of dinner that’s full of protein and veggies and I’ll have some yogurt and granola for breakfast and snack on hummus and omelettes and other bits and bobs throughout the day. Then at the weekend we’ll eat out a couple of times, have a takeaway or two. It works for me; a bit of broccoli here, a burger there.
However whenever I’m out the house or travelling, my diet ends up resembling that of the Cookie Monster. All knowledge of nutrition goes out the window and I end up eating Oreos for breakfast, lunch and dinner, all washed down with Dr Pepper. I’m all for indulging, especially on holiday, although for the month of April I’ve been away for two weeks and I’ve found myself visiting London sometimes two or three days a week when I’m home. Basically I’m always out (hey – I ain’t complaining, April has been glorious), so I’ve tried to incorporate a more balanced view when it comes to chowing down when I’m not home, but away…
JOEY DOES SHARE FOOD. This can be a bit tricky depending on who I’m travelling with or lunching with when I’m up in London, but I’m quite the opposite to Joey – I like to share food. Eating in more of a tapas style way means that I can have half a plate of pancakes for breakfast, but I can also have half a spinach omelette too. Balance people. Mark always takes a bit of convincing to order in this way, but I can usually get him round to the idea. Usually. If steak is on the menu then Mark definitely resorts to Joey’s way of thinking.
SNACK ATTACK. I’m one of those people who gets a little grumpy if I haven’t been fed in the past three hours. I get a little #HANGRY. I mentioned in last week’s post that I always make sure my suitcase is around a third full with snacks and that’s where these come in handy. Not only do they prevent me from going to town on the über-pricey mini bar, but they’re also handy to carry around and keep me going between meals, especially when I’m pounding the pavements of a new city/Sephora. If I had a penny for ever Nakd bar I’d ever eaten…
SNEAK IN SOME VEGGIES. Groan. Whenever I’m away I can quite easily get through a day where the only intake of fruit and veg that I’ve consumed are an orange juice at breakfast and a leaf of lettuce and slice of tomato in my burger for dinner. FAIL. So I’ve been trying to balance it out and if possible order some kind of veg-laden side at lunch and/or dinner. Depending on the eatery it’s not always on the menu, but a side of broccoli or a rocket and parmesan salad (my fave) never goes a miss for the table. Everyone tends to dig in and I end up getting some kind of greenery into my diet for the day.
WATER IS MY BFF. We only ever had fizzy drinks at big family meet-ups when I was younger and it’s not something that I ever tend to drink inside the house (unless we’re talking about a Friday night G&T). However, whenever I’m out and about I find myself guzzling down the stuff with every meal without even thinking, so I’ve been making a conscious effort to be boring and just have a tap water. Less sugar, less bloat-inducing bubbles and no weird fuzzy feeling teeth.
I mean what you really want to know is where these beautiful pictures were taken, right? Well, I dragged Lily – the biggest sushi lover I know – to Sticks’n’Sushi at Covent Garden and she bloody loved it. I’d been there before and had fallen in love with the Black Cod Skewers (whenever black cod is on the menu I can never resist), so we re-ordered those along with the Devil’s Kitchen and it was seriously glorious. My tumble rumbles just looking at these pictures and hey look – there was even a bit of greenery on top *pats self on back*.
Disclaimer: I am not a registered nutritional or dietician professional. These are my personal experiences, thoughts and feelings. If you’re looking for advice check out the British Nutrition Foundation or if you feel like you need to talk to someone about your relationship with food head to Beat.
Photos by Lily Pebbles & yours truly
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