Food

[schneefink]

Yesterday I went to the zoo again, because why not? I saw the seals being fed and the big male one jumping from a cliff multiple times, I had a fantastic view from the underwater window to see a polar bear dive and play with a truck tire (soo beautiful, and strong), I saw emus preening their feathers, and a presenting peacock running away from his albino rival.


In the past 6-12 months I lost several kilos, so now I'm underweight (not extremely but still) and have iron and vitamin D deficiencies. I had a difficult therapy session this week about it. The problem isn't that I don't want to eat, it's that the progression from "being hungry" to "get something to eat" isn't automatic. I think I got so used to being a little bit hungry that it just doesn't register as high priority? And now that I'm living on my own and can't depend on family meals this is obviously a bigger problem. Sometimes it works better, other times… not very well at all. One thing that I know I can do to make myself eat more regularly is to re-categorize meals from "everyday stuff" to "task", and that's what I'm doing right now. But right now fulfilling these tasks draws away a lot more energy from other things I want to do than it should and/or I want. I want to reduce the mental effort it takes to get myself something to eat. I have a few ideas I want to try out – make meal plans, buy more groceries so I always have something and risk some of it going bad, making myself bigger portions and hoping that more hunger is a bigger incentive, etc. If that doesn't work, or not as well as I'd like, I'm also considering buying a small freezer so I can cook over the weekend and then just freeze stuff. I might do that anyway.

I've also decided that I want to eat less meat. Apparently the last article I read on global warming and how excessive meat consumption is bad for the environment was the final drop in the bucket. I think for now I'll try to eat meat no more than twice a week, that should be easily doable and I can still have my favorite meat products over the weekend. Probably the hardest thing will be ham, I really like ham in different sauces. Oh well, I'll find substitutes.

Things I'll probably make a lot of in the near future because they're fast, easy, and can be varied:
- pizza
- tortillas (a recent idea that I like a lot)
- I'm kind of fed up with rice, but I think I'll try couscous again.
- same with pasta, I had a lot of it for a while so less now. Maybe more pasta casseroles. Actually that's a good idea.
- I need to figure out more stuff to do with potatoes. I like them but I need more (quick) recipes.
- I'd like to try and make sweet lunch more often, good for variety.
- (Suggestions welcome.)
That should last me a while, and I can play around with a few different vegetables (onions and tomatoes <3) and maybe even spices? Though I'm usually very boring when it comes to spices, I often only use salt and pepper and I don't like spicy-hot.

I actually had three meals today and yesterday, well done me, progress. Small steps.

Comments

[lilysea]

Avocado spread over sourdough toast is *delicious*. Esp if there's lemon juice and salt mixed in with the avocado. And avocado is full of Omega-3 essential fatty acids, which are good for the brain, Anxiety, Depression, etc. (I try and have plenty of them for this reason.)

Good luck! ^_^

[lilysea]

Am also wondering how you feel about

- almonds

- cashews

as a go-to no-cook protein hit.

[schneefink]

Yay, a reason to eat more avocado! I'm a big fan of guacamole on toast.
I don't dislike almonds and cashews, but I prefer hazelnuts: they're a great snack together with raisins. Great reminder, thanks :)

[mous22]

Good luck, I'm sure you will come up with some things that work for you.

I'm sure there is an Austrian equivalent but https://www.vegansociety.com/resources has some recipes and nutritional information which might help with meat-free eating.

Hopefully there are specialist vegetarian shops local to you also. Because they often have veggie versions of popular foods. If there are local Chinese supermarkets they often have a variety of kinds of tofu and sauces to make interesting meals.

I like to combine a bag of stir-fry mix, noodles and coconut milk with Tom-Yum paste for a sort of noodle soup, which is quick and easy and usually lasts a couple of days.

A simple meal can be as satisfying as one that takes ages to cook after all.

[schneefink]

Yeah, fortunately there are many online resources. I'm a bit curious, I'm not sure how big of a change it will feel like: I'm pretty sure that I already don't eat meat more than twice in many weeks, I've just decided to pay more attention. I'm not a big fan of Tofu though, so I want to eat just enough meat so I don't have to. I have a friend who's a vegetarian and likes to cook, I'm hoping to get a lot of recipe inspirations from her.

[naye]

Sounds like you're one of those people who might benefit from some kind of meal replacement drink. I know some people who are like you - making food is a pain; hunger isn't important enough to prioritize, and they don't want to waste time making and eating food when there is Other Stuff happening. So they have meal replacement drinks - not just protein shakes, but these are developed to give you everything you need. Obviously switching to just that would be a bit out there (and probably not very enjoyable), but maybe you could look into what's available for you and keep some around for when you want to tick "food" off your task list without puttering around in the kitchen forever?

Stuff like smoothies (without added sugar) also really helps get you nourishment without spending too much time on cooking.

Oh, and I totally agree with eating less meat! The recommended daily intake is something like 50g, which is a tiny amount (I think maybe two rashes of bacon)? So I've tried the same thing - my rule of thumb is to only eat meat once a day, which rules out stuff like pate spreads for breakfast or ham sandwiches for lunch if I want to keep my dinner options open, and frequently translates to just having meat a couple of times a week. (This time I had nothing with meat in it until pizza yesterday.) But really, whatever works for you is the best idea! ♥

[schneefink]

Huh, that sounds... convenient but still somehow not very appealing. Not a bad idea for when I have bad days though, I'll look it up. Maybe when I have a freezer.

Yesterday I was at my parents' and we had a barbecue, I'm pretty sure I already filled my recommended weekly meat intake. Makes me feel even better about deciding to pay more attention.

[devon]

I've had to put meals on my to-do list to make sure that I've eaten regularly. I do get hungry, but when I do, it's overpowering and almost incapacitating. If I can eat sooner, I don't hit that bad spot.

re: meat. I've read in several places over the years that large meat animals are better for the environment than small ones like chickens, in terms of waste and pollution, I think. Unless you have the money to buy fancy chickens, in which case those are better. But for plain meat, beef and pork are supposed to produce more pounds of meat per resource/waste unit.

I eat a lot of lunchmeat because it doesn't require cooking. Also cooked eggs - boiled eggs keep a while in the fridge, and fried/scrambled eggs cook pretty quickly, especially if you dedicate one small pan to eggs so you only have to wipe it out instead of a full super-cleanse every time.

Good luck!

[schneefink]

I heard that too about different kinds of meat, but when I'm already cutting back I want to at least be able to eat the kind of meat that I want (which may well be chicken, depending on what I'm in the mood for.)

I don't use eggs much for cooking and very rarely have them at home. (Except around Easter.) Not even sure why exactly.

Thanks :)