A Week in Salads - The Tuna Medley

  

My last salad and it is a stunner! This came about as a “oh dear what have I got in the fridge that needs eating”.  Turns out I had quite a lot actually. Initially I had something very different planned but as I was looking through my veggie crisper on Thursday night I was inspired. I am sticking to my need for protein as I have started running and I don’t want to give myself the excuse or option to stop. I won’t lie I was a little uncertain about what I was putting together at first but it turned out to be super delicious and very refreshing. What you need for the tuna medley is:

Ingredients

1 can of dolphin safe tuna in brine - not oil

½ gemme lettuce

½ avocado

Two tomatoes or a handful of cherry ones

⅓ of a cucumber

150gm asparagus blanched  

150 cooked broccoli

1 teaspoon mayo

Salt and pepper to taste

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 hard boiled egg, optional

Method

You may have  gathered from the previous posts that making the salads is essentially a toss all in a bowl and mix. I miss the mayo and tuna together and add it on top along with the egg once i had mixed and seasoned all the veggies. It makes it look very pretty. Really it is up to you how you will arrange your salad.

Try not to deny your cravings. Cravings is the undoing of all healthy food plans, they make your efforts unpleasant and eventually you crack. We have already talked about cheat days, and this is essentially what the cheat day is for.  If you want to have a piece of chocolate or a cake then then do. If you can make it be a healthier version of your original craving and feel satisfied then you are a genious and a better person than me. BE CAREFUL though! Do not eat a whole cheesecake (in one day…) or a box of 12 Krispy Kremes like I did. If you are having a low sugar diet having your cheat day be filled with sugary treats will just set you back to the beginning. Try and think things through and find healthy alternatives to the foods you crave such as: 

• Avocado chocolate mousse
• Dark chocolate instead of milk or chocolate covered nuts
• Raisins and dried fruit instead of sweets
• Roast your own nuts with spices instead of crisps   

I know that all of this seems “easy to say hard to do” but I am only sharing what I have already experienced myself. It is not easy that is true but it is not easy to begin with when you are figuring out the balance of it all, what works and what doesn’t what you like and what you don’t. Let us all be honest and  admit that it is a part of life, you do it with every other aspect of existence, we spend days trying to figure out the best mobile phone to get and research smartwatches for weeks before we buy one. Why not be as careful with our food, we are what we eat at the end and I for one want to be a lovely seasonal salad!

Bon Appetit!

A week in Salads - Italian Inspired Chicken, Avocado and Mozzarella

 

Day 3 of the Week of Salads, I don’t know about you guys but I am feeling pretty good, I am not bloated, I am not tired, I am not hungry and I am excited about my next salad.

I picked this salad so that we have a good amount of protein intake, the chicken avocado and mozzarella are all good protein foods, but they also combine to have a nice balance in other minerals and vitamins. The mozzarella is high in calcium, the avocado has Vitamin C, A, B-6, Iron and Magnesium, it also has a good amount of dietary fiber and potassium, and the chicken is the big protein hitter although you also have some in the avocado and mozzarella.

Ingredients for one portion

½ Mixed salad bag

½ chicken breast cooked

½ bell pepper

½ avocado

½ a ball of mozzarella cheese

Handful of cherry tomatoes

Bit of olive oil

Salt to taste

Balsamic Glaze (optional but I love it)

Method:

This is another really easy one, chop the veggies and chicken, put in a bowl, mix with olive oil and season with salt. Tear up the mozzarella and add to the salad. If like me you are in love with the Balsamic Glaze add a little on top and eat!  

Tips and Ideas - Snacks I don’t know about you but I love snacking, especially on a weekend or in the evening. I also snack when I am bored. I found that so many of what I considered to be healthy snacks however were again crammed full of sugar, or salt or fat or a combination of these. I also found that because snacks are so little it is easy to make excuses and have two or three portions and tell yourself it’s ok it’s just a small snack. When you start paying attention however and start calculating the extra calories, fat and sugar you are consuming through your “healthy” snacks you realise that you are actually just transferring calories from your main meals into this smaller in between meals. I am not going to tell you  NOT to snack, in the contrary. I will actually suggest that you do. However I would like to also suggest that you seriously alter what you snack on, and try and be aware of how often, how much and what you snack on. Going back to yesterday’s post, it is actually better for your metabolism and digestion to eat less and a bit more often. Here is a list of snacks and quantities that I found work well for me to keep me happy and satiated and keep cravings away:

Morning Snacks: I do get nibbly at about 10:30-11 it is such a silly time, not late enough for lunch too late for breakfast. It is a dangerous time for me, I can reach for the chocolate, crisps or cake, instead I have one of these:

• A banana or
• A couple of spoonfuls of natural yogurt with a handful of berries, or
• An apple or pear

Afternoon and Evening snacks: Same scenario happens at 3pm and sometimes at 8pm. Ideally you should try and avoid eating too late as it can affect your sleep but if you feel the need to snack again here are my go to favourites:

• A medium carrot and 1 large tablespoon of unsweetened nut butter - peanut or almond usually. I know it sounds weird but carrots and peanut butter are awesome! I sometimes have celery instead.
• A handful of nuts and raisins or dried apricots.
• Stripps of red or yellow pepper and 20-30gm of feta cheese
• Cottage cheese and avocado or cottage cheese on half a slice of rye bread and a teaspoon of jam.
• A boiled egg with avocado
• A small bowl of popcorn - minimum salt/butter absolutely no sugar
• 2 squares dark chocolate when having giant chocolate eclair dream cravings - I can’t eat just one eclair so this is the one food I avoid like the plague because I eat a box or two at a go.

There are a million other snacks you can have, you just need to remember to be smart about it and not use it as a reward but as an addition to all the good yummy things you are are already having. This is the other thing, if you go into this with a negative attitude of “Oh I am dieting” then just don’t bother, you will be back on the deep fat fried shit and wondering why your jeans don’t fit in a month. You need to embrace this and realise just how good it can be and just how much choice you have, you need to realise you are not giving anything up because you aren’t.

Bon Appetit!