Trying to eat well when you have no spoons or use food as a method of control as you are spiralling though whatever episode is going on in your life is hard. Trust me I know and I have every good intention in the world to eat better; I batch cook, tub up and put in the fridge or freezer but then something happens and my brain snaps and the voice inside my head - my voice not someone else's says "you don't deserve to eat" which of course is utter BS everyone deserves to eat and eat well. But in that moment all the tastiest food in the world isn't going to sway me so getting that frozen lasagne out certainly isn't happening. Ugh!
However on just low spoon days those tubs of chicken pasta salad I've made or the frozen soups, curries, chillies and of course lasagne are honestly perfect. The days where I have this weird bout of energy instead of doing the cleaning I batch cook. This might seem counter intuitive but those pots will get washed eventually etc but knowing I have food to eat on days where I can't be bothered to cook something is far more valuable to me. If I have even more energy those pots will get washed whilst I cook but often no they will get left for another day but that hopefully will change as I get into my cleaning list groove usually with a high energy playlist going on. Side note does anyone else get a dopamine boost from making playlists to soundtrack every aspect of your life? Can't just be me!
I have really gotten into the many versions of those souper cube knock offs you can get from the t'internet and when I make something that has plenty but I don't want to eat in the next coming days more than like once I stick them in these silicon moulds that are a perfect portion then stick them in the freezer, then once frozen pop them out and put them in a freezer bag. Once you've done that you have a bunch of meals that just need adding too and take up less space than a tupperwear tub. When I say adding to I mean any extras you want with your chosen dish so for instance I've got some lentil daal in there right now that I can add a naan and/or rice with and I've got a full meal. I do it with ice cubes as well of like chicken juices or if I've made stock then I pop the stock cubes in a bag and add to stuff for more flavour and nutrients.
Sometimes just eating something is better than nothing and like the trick with the water if adding cheese or sauce or dressing is going to get you to eat the veggies or the healthier meal then do it! Also having some of your favourite veg frozen where applicable can be a game changer. Say you are having bolognese but you are using a jar because you have enough spoons to boil the pasta and brown the mince, having frozen peppers/mushrooms/onions heck even spinach if that's your thing, has just not only elevated the nutrients in your meal but also stretched that meal a bit further. No prepping required just throw it in when you brown the mince. I know it sounds like I'm teaching some of you to suck eggs but sometimes the obvious never strikes us and these are things I've learnt the hard way. I grew up in a family of amazing home cooks but other than baking and learning how to make a roux I wasn't really taught to cook. But I was given free reign with cookbooks and I loved watching things like Ready Steady Cook. I'd like to think because of that it's helped me to be able to make a meal out of nothing.
I also swear by having snack packs made up that I can graze on through the day, they totally aren't just for kids. I find the key to that for me personally is to add things that fit a few categories like salty, sweet, healthy, chewy, crunchy etc. I am more of a savoury and texture eater than anything but if there is something sweet on hand I will just eat that even though I'm not enjoying it which is far from ideal.
So my go to is usually a piece of fruit sometimes I will add peanut butter, some veg sticks like carrot or cucumber with hummus, popcorn, chocolate covered pretzels, dried fruit and nuts, yoghurt and a packet of crisps but you can put whatever you want in it really.
The idea is so you always have a snack on hand either to give an energy boost or to stop you snacking on something worse.
What things do you find helps you either eat better or just even eat depending on the day or your mood?
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