I live alone too, but eating what takes the least prep has made me feel lousy anymore, so I've turned over a new leaf and am putting some effort into meals. For example, I got the bread machine out last week (it makes small loaves) because I was tired of bread with a paragraph of ingredients. And, I don't need a 16 or 24 oz loaf at a time. It goes bad before it's used up. The manual has about 2 dozen recipes. I get to choose everything that goes into it and I can get creative as I get used to it. I also switched over to a plant based diet with less meat. I'm looking for about a 10% meat to whole foods ratio. Tonight, I am having guests over so I am making a roast chicken. It's brining right now. So this will be my first meal with meat all week.
My typical meal is a large salad with about a dozen ingredients, lettuce, spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, lupini beans, artichoke, black-eyed peas, various-colored bell peppers, cucumber, and anything else I can think of, and dress it with balsamic vinegar and olive oil instead of with a calorie-rich prepared dressing. One thing I have noticed is that I've been sleeping better, not waking up a few times a night and with a bit more energy during the day.
The one nice thing about plant/whole food meals is that you feel full for a long time afterward. Considering the micronutrients that such a diet contains, you're supporting your system much better than with the calorie-dense, nutrient poor processed and fast foods.
I figure that effort equates to benefit, so I don't mind putting it in. It just means I have to organize myself around meals more than I ever had to before. |
