At first, when I started a new plan, it felt like an adventure trying to figure out how to make normal recipes work but, after several years, it just felt like a burden.
I got to a place where I was eating the same 6 or so meals on rotation because they tasted ok and I could make them quickly. No wonder I'd then spiral off into binge land!
For the first 2 years after giving up on dieting, I ate whatever I wanted. I ate macaroni cheese, takeaway, pizza - just reacquainting myself with everything that had been forbidden whilst I was away dieting. I also put on, at times on and off, about a stone during that time - just to be real with you about what leaving dieting and getting to grips with my emotional eating meant.
Finally, in 2017, I felt ready to start reintroducing healthy food on a regular basis and I started looking round for inspiration. I wanted simple meals, loads of flavour, balanced nutritionally, accessible.
I've found a few books that have been instrumental in finding my balance as well as joy in the kitchen again, and thought I'd share:
The Food Medic by Dr Hazel Wallace - I have the first one, and will no doubt be getting The Food Medic for Life at some point soon. Truly inviting looking recipes that scream health and nutritional balance, but also deep, full flavours. It's also given me brilliant ideas for sweet snacks as well like energy balls.
I also dip in and out of Gizzi's Kitchen Magic by Gizzi Erskine and pretty much anything Mary Berry, as well as referencing BBC Good Food site often.
The thing these books all have in common is that they aren't overly "clean eating" - they're not vegan, or even specifically veggie, but they are all about making your food from scratch at home and knowing what's in it. I often batch cook now and started taking leftovers for lunches. I even make snacks to take to work with me, including energy balls, home-made hummus and little yoghurt pots. And I got comfortable with the idea of using protein powders to add oomph to my breakfasts which has massively helped break my snacking / sweet food addiction cycle.
By learning to love cooking again and taking the time to do it, I've been able to get more efficient with shopping and save money, as well as turning my diet around into something entirely more satisfying ... which in turn has meant I'm not constantly looking for the next opportunity to binge on forbidden foods ... because nothing is forbidden in the first place. I have a full biscuit tin and 4 half-eaten tubs of ice-cream in the freezer, but I only go there when I really fancy it these days.
Everything pictured here is something I've loved eating in the last 12 months and regularly cook again and again.
How do you feel about cooking?? Love it or hate it?