Sarah is mum to a four-year-old and a two-year-old and has improved her diet over the past six months to try to reduce the weight she put on having them. She says her diet is vastly better on work days because she takes in to the office what she will eat and nothing else is easily available, as it is at home. At home she eats a lot of what her children eat, so tends to eat more.
7am
Glass OJ, Hubbards Berry Berry Nice muesli, ½ punnet low-fat yoghurt and fruit salad. Instant coffee (white, one sugar). I have the same breakfast every day.
9.30am
10 rice crackers, a banana, 2 mandarins and a cracker and cheese slice. This is my hungriest time of day.
1pm
Smoked chicken breast salad (lettuce, celery, cucumber). A very common lunch for me — boring!
3.30pm
Instant coffee (white, one sugar). Approx 10 roasted almonds
7.30pm
One slice pizza bread, gnocchi with bolognaise sauce and rocket and 2 glasses wine (at an Italian restaurant).
Mikki Williden’s nutrition quick fix
It’s great that you’ve improved your diet over the past six months and it’s clear you are eating a variety of fresh foods and vegetables. There are places you can reduce sugar which could help you meet your body composition goals. This extra hidden sugar could be causing you to feel hungry mid-morning so small changes here could make big differences long term.
The World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines suggest a maximum added sugar intake of 12 tsp of sugar per day (at 4g of sugar per tsp), and for added health benefits, a maximum of 6 tsp per day. Added sugar includes all sugar added to food by the manufacturer, by the cook or consumer, as well as sugar that is naturally present in fruit juice and fruit concentrates (along with honey, syrups and any form of sugar that is now found on the supermarket shelf). A glass of juice can contribute around 22g of sugar, similar to what you’ll find in a glass of fizzy drink.
If you removed the orange juice from breakfast and opted for a full-fat, lower-sugar yoghurt instead of the low-fat yoghurt you will feel more satisfied and are less likely to be hungry at morning tea. Gradually cutting out the sugar in coffee (start by reducing by ½) will help you get used to a non-sweet beverage. These two changes will remove around 5 tsp of sugar immediately. Finally, adding avocado (currently in season) or pumpkin seeds will provide additional good fats and help maintain your energy through the day. Chicken salads are great but don't get stuck on the same combo; try the zaatar chicken and avocado salad with grapes, mint and yoghurt.
Read more about Mikki on her website mikkiwilliden.com.