I LOVE good food. It is one of my favorite parts of traveling, discovering and tasting new foods from around the world. Or taking a cooking class in town to get an insider scoop on the local traditional dishes. Good food is part of my daily life, not just my vacation life. Hanging out with friends over brunch, enjoying tacos after a hard workout, or cooking up a new dish in my own kitchen. I love it all! But it doesn’t always love me back.
I don’t know about you, but sometimes I have a hard time finding balance when it comes to food. Making healthier choices is not always fun, ease or affordable, but necessary. The longer I am on this earth, the more I am aware of the need to find a happy medium when it comes to what I put in my body. And finding balance is not always easy, but I wanted to share a few tricks with you on how I do my best to stay sane while working towards being a good steward of this body the Lord has entrusted to me.
1. Think through your meals for the week.
First things first, make some plans! I am someone whose life is driven by my calendar. If it isn’t on the calendar, it often doesn’t happen. Same is true for me when it comes to planning my meals and preparing my grocery list. I spend time, usually on Saturday afternoon or evening, figuring out how many meals I actually need for next week, what I think I would like to have, and the foods needed to make those meals. This may sound small, but often it keeps me from buying food that I don’t need or would go to waste. Thus, also saving me money- which I’m all for!
2. Substitute where you can.
This is something I didn’t think I would actually like doing because it often doesn’t taste anything like what it is replacing. But there have been a few substitutes I have really enjoyed- and barely noticed a difference. The first is Greek yogurt (when I’m eating dairy) instead of sour cream. Greek yogurt has helped me get protein in so many foods that are normally just a calorie dump: dips, bread, tacos. Next is homemade pasta instead of store bought. I took a cooking class when I was last in Italy and learned how to make homemade pasta. It is the easiest thing in the world- flour, eggs, and salt. That’s it. And it tastes SOOOOOO much better homemade. Also making it from home allows me to use whatever flour base I want to use (coconut, almond, etc.) to help me reduce gluten in my diet (this is a new thing for me that I am trying to work on. And it is HARD!). It takes no time at all to make and is literally THE BEST. There are so many more substitutes I could offer you, but one more that has largely influenced my life and trying to keep a stronger food balance is by taking my lunch to work. This keeps me eating the calorie-packed food available at our university. College students may be able to still get away with eating whatever they want, but I cannot.
3. Try making new things.
I really enjoy cooking and one of my favorite things about cooking is creating something new. I don’t think I would ever make on a show like Top Chef, but I love seeing what I have in my refrigerator and figuring out something delicious I could make. Sometimes it doesn’t come out, but more often it is delicious and something I would have never put together without a little push to be creative. And creating cooking is always fun. One thing recently I have loved making is a simple poke bowl. Brown rice, diced avocado, carrot slices, chives, diced ahi tuna, soy sauce (or coconut aminos) and everything but the bagel spice from Trader Joe’s. If you already have rice made, this meal takes about 7 minutes to put together and about 5 seconds to devour because it is SO good. I would have never tried this without challenging myself a little, and now it’s your turn. I challenge you to a refrigerator experiment. Whatever is in there, find something delicious to make! Even better if you post it with the recipe in the comments section!
4. Enjoy your cheat meals, thoroughly.
With all the food restrictions I have used to help me figure out what works best for my body, I discovered that over time I need a cheat meal. Sometimes watching everything I eat stresses me out, so having one meal a week that I’m not dissecting the ingredients or adding up all the calories is life-giving. It’s called balance for a reason, and one meal a week is enough balance for me at this stage in my life. And I love me a good cheat meal. But only having one a week makes me not feel guilty or feel like I have to rush to the gym for a guilt-ridden workout. Sometimes a good cheat meal is just a nice glass of wine with a charcuterie board. Other times, it’s a great burger or a well-cooked steak. And I enjoy every bite!
This is me finding balance with my food and my life. Food is important, but it is also a resource we need regularly, just like the Lord. We need to be fed physically and spiritually on a regular basis to grow, build muscle, and be healthy beings. And balancing food is just one more area where I believe God has called me to be a good steward of what He has given me. This body was made for me to do His work, not for me to eat everything I want and then sit on the couch. So, I need to be preparing this body for work, paying attention to what I use as fuel. These little changes I am sharing with you have been incredibly helpful in finding balance, that and Walmart pick up! What are some of the things you do to balance food in your life? Have any good food hacks you can offer? Leave me some great recipes in the comments!
