10 THINGS I LEARNT FROM MY ONE WEEK HONEST FOOD DARY

Being a grown up and having to food shop sucks. It’s twice as confusing when you work from home and have to pre-think about what to eat for lunch. I used to love popping out and trying cool new places for lunch but being in the flat means I need to have a stocked fridge, ready for the hunger to strike. I’d noticed that Rich and I had fallen into the habit of rarely ever food shopping. We’d pick up bits that we needed as we decided we needed them but we’d put off a big weekly food shop, out of laziness really. Then what happens is the flat has no food and when it comes to breakfast and lunch I’d have to make something up using whatever I could find. It rarely ended well.

I thought I’d keep a week’s food diary, not really for health reasons but more so I could see where I was lacking and where I could swap in some new meal ideas and ingredients. Seeing it on paper makes it much easier for me to write a shopping list. I knew this would only work though if I kept it completely honest and didn’t try and eat better so it looks better in the diary.

So here it is! Showing the contents of your food diary is a bit like showing someone inside your underwear drawer (although you’re likely to just find granny M&S pants and cashmere socks in there). It was really interesting to see it all down in writing though, I’d highly recommend trying it. Here’s 10 things I learnt for my week long honest food diary.

I drink more than I tell the dentist //
You know when your dentist asks “how many units do you drink a week” and you’re like “ohh I rarely drink, only occasionally when I go out!”. To be fair, it was a busy week with lots of events BUT who knew I drank so much alcohol?! It’s not the end of the world as I know I have a balance and some weeks, especially when I’m at home I don’t have any. I’m glad I’ve found “my drink” though, Gin & Tonics are definitely one of the more clean drinks out of them all.

When the fridge is empty //
I end up collecting the most random things in the house and trying to make some kind of meal out of them. Rice cakes with humous and cucumber?! That’s just not enough nutrition for my liking.

Eating better when eating out  //
There are so many reasons why I get lazy when cooking at home so it means when I eat out I study the menu hard and pick the most delicious, (most the time) healthy dish so it means when I eat out I’m usually getting a lot more goodness than I am when at home.

I need some breakfast inspiration //
I’ve always hated breakfast and I usually either have avocado on toast or porridge with fruit and maple syrup. It’s so boring though and I really have to force feed myself. I want to find a breakfast that I love and want to eat. I also need to make my Birchir Muesli recipe more often!

I miss my juicer //
When I lived at home I had a juicer but somehow it didn’t make it’s way over to our flat (thanks Mum!). I used to find juice was a great “in the meantime” when I wasn’t quite ready for breakfast or wanted to delay lunch so I could make something interesting. Carrot, apple and celery is my favourite combo. I need a new juicer.

So I DO have a sweet tooth //
I’ve always insisted that I don’t have a sweet tooth and although I still stand by my “I’m more of a savoury person” fact, this diary shows me that I can rarely get through a day without some kind of chocolate, biscuit or sweet. It’s often something small, I’m not one to over indulge on chocolate but nonetheless it’s there. I’ve bought some dried fruit this week to see if that works as a substitute.

Tea does NOT have to equal two biscuits //
I’ve developed such a habit over the years of having two biscuits with my evening cup of tea. I actually think that if I took a sip of tea it would curb those cravings but I immediately dunk in a biscuit before I’ve even had a sip! I’m going to try and go biscuit free this week. I think if they’re just not in the flat, I won’t eat them!

Bring back the lunchtime pizza rolls! //
I used to eat these Pizza rolls for lunch and they’re so so good I don’t know why I stopped. They’re really easy to make, you can customise them however you like and it’s the perfect lunch for me. I’m bringing these back in a big way!

Hangry Habits // 
Being a hangry person means when hunger strikes there is no time for cooking, faffing or experimenting, I just need to eat! So to avoid eating whatever I see first I’m going to try and make soups or salads on Sunday to last the week. At least then it’s already made and all I have to is serve it up!

Bottles of Water //
Thanks to Evian who sent me a huge box of left over water from Wimbledon I have been drinking a whole load of water recently. I love Evian so that helps but I also think opening a new bottle made me more likely to finish it to prevent waste. I’m not going to be buying hundreds of bottles of water though, it’s terribly bad for the environment but maybe I’ll get a reusable bottle and try to drink one a day!