Pandemic pounds. There’s the people who got so fit during lockdown due to not much sitting and much more outside activities. New Zealand had magic weather, a perfect and wonderful autumn! Then there’s the people who discovered cooking and baking and general eating as a wonderful activity – like me.
I still moved but much less and with less purpose – I enjoyed it immensely, as well as the potato chips and chocolate. I find myself with all clothes too tight and frustrated, so my first step was to buy comfortable pants from the local op-shop. Uncomfortable clothing is my number one destroyer of self-love.
I thought long and hard about what I really enjoyed about the whole plant foods I was eating before the pandemic. No processed crap with high salt, sugar and fat content. My brain was calm and stable. I felt content and light. Capable.
That’s the feeling I’m chasing. The deep knowledge that I have everything I need inside of me. So my first step was to clean up my environment because “in your house, in your mouth” totally applies to me. Potatoes, lentils, quinoa, rice and beans as starch to fill me up. But first it’s VFB – vegetables for breakfast. I get a bag or head of salad and chop finely in my wooden bowl, I add kale and coriander or other fresh greens if I have them. Then I grate a beetroot or a carrot or both. I steam some frozen green beans or silverbeet or corn kernels. It all gets seasoned lightly with balsamic vinegar and a sprinkle of nutritional yeast. My aim is to eat a salad the size of my head!
I am starting to feel lighter and more energetic. Getting rid of the salt helps me to not overeat.
How has your eating changed during the pandemic?
