Eat For You Dietitian

So it’s 1st January 2020!

Brand new year, brand new decade and everyone is loving it from what I can see.

Veganuary, Dry January, gym and training plans that all start on this first day. Who’s started something new today? Possibly already regretting signing up to it or you’re excited to get started.

A few years ago I started with Veganuary and then continued for a total of 9 months. Since then I gradually started including things back into my diet such as fish, yoghurt, eggs and cheese, but still no meat.

A few tips for anyone starting Veganuary for the first time this year.

1.       Read the emails they send you as they are super useful

2.       Don’t start eating whole bowls of beans/pulses or a whole cauliflower if you’ve never done it before as your tummy will not be happy

3.       Start with simple swaps and ease yourself into it

4.       Ensure any alternative products you buy are fortified with vitamins and minerals

5.       You don’t need to start shopping in whole foods/Holland and barretts. Regular supermarkets have everything you need

6.       Organic version is not always best

7.       Choose wholegrain versions (also a protein source)

8.       Herbs and spices are your best friend. Not just salt and pepper

9.       Carry snacks with you- Oreos are vegan! 

10.   Don’t start preaching to everyone 

I’m sure you’ll find a lot of support on social media with many influencers shouting about it but don’t feel pressure to create the perfect looking plates every day. Also make sure whoever you’re getting advice from knows what they’re talking about.

What am I starting with today? 

Reflecting on the year behind. 2019 seems like it flew by. I achieved my 2^nd marathon in Edinburgh, completed a 50km ultra-marathon as part of Race to the Stones, 5km and half marathon PB’s I never thought possible, progressed in my career to a senior band in London alongside completing advanced training courses and beginning to look at future first homes.

Today the countdown to London Marathon 2020 starts. I’ve cheered at the marathon many times and I can’t wait to be running, passing landmarks and seeing family and friends I’m posting all around the route. I hope to document my training a bit more this year, the highs and lows of training through the freezing cold, dark mornings and alongside running groups to make it that bit easier.

I also look forward to possibly expanding my writing skills within key topics of nutrition and dietetics to provide evidence-based information on wider scale.

Lastly I will be undertaking a Masters module (15 credits) in a few months which many people have told me is hard work alongside a full-time job and life in general. However, I intend to make weekly goals so no time goes wasted, dedicate power hours and swap my phone for my Chromebook to read, write and learn. 

This week my goals:

1. Start Fiit app’s new 10-week training plan- Sweat and Reset- 4 classes to do this week

2. Achieve a 14km Sunday long run. I haven’t ran further than 10km in a couple months so this will be interesting.

Like mentioned above we are hopefully going to be buying our first home in 2020 so alongside my monthly saving standing orders, more money-saving ideas are coming in:

1. Cycle commuting at least twice a week. Also a great cross training workout to fit into my marathon training

2. Sunday lunch prep day. I’ve done this on and off before where I will randomly cook a big meal and split into 3 tupperwares for my lunches the following week. Other lunches will hopefully come from dinner leftovers

3. To make sure that I am building on these saving ideas I am going to do the £1 money saving challenge. The idea is that each day of the week you save a little bit – £1 in on a Monday, £2 on a Tuesday, up to £7 on a Sunday. Then start it all again the following week. It means you’ll be saving £28 a week – and with 2020 having an extra day in it you’ll end up with a little more than the people who tried it last year at £1,463 in total.

Happy New Year everyone.