What I Ate: Then vs. Now
One of the interesting parts of blogging is being able to go back and read about what life looked like over the past years. It’s been funny seeing my eating habits change and evolve overtime. College days were littered with 100-calorie-everything. Post-college life was an attempt at veganism, which is where I really learned how to cook. When a desire for dairy won out, I started cooking new dishes with cheese and obsessing over Greek yogurt. I followed the Tone It Up plan for a while. This past year, I’ve brewed kombucha, shaved Brussels sprouts and tried grits for the first time. I’ve relaxed my eating habits quite a bit over the past year or two and it’s funny the way your body can adjust. I thought for sure I’d gain weight. Carbs! Scary! Yet here I am, 10lbs lighter and leaving a fear of calories in the dust. Life is funny that way.
So I thought I’d share a little bit of what my meals looked like a year or two ago compared to today.
Breakfast
I used to be a smoothie addict. It was almost always banana, soymilk, peanut butter, and protein powder. While I still enjoy them, I’ve started eating Greek yogurt and blueberries for breakfast most of the time. It’s what I’ve been craving and I don’t see that going away anytime soon!
Lunch
I used to only eat salads for lunch. I felt like I had to. While I still enjoy getting in my greens at the cafeteria salad bar, I don’t think of it as a rule. Sometimes I’ll get soup with some pita and hummus. Many times, it’s leftovers from dinner the night before!
Dinner
Before I started dating Alex, dinner was less of an event. It tended to be vegetable heavy like the baked spaghetti squash above. I would also snack a lot afterwards. These days, I try to make more interesting dishes for dinner. I’m not afraid to actually use oil in the frying pan (“non-stick spray” just isn’t the same). Dinner tends to be a bigger meal (like the slow cooker lasagna pictured above. Oh my gosh- pasta!) but then I’m done. Sometimes I’ll have a glass of wine afterwards, but usually I’m pretty satisfied.
Who knows how things will change in the next year or two! Right now, I’m loving where things are.
How have your meals changed over the past years?
Linking up to What I Ate Wednesday.
My diet has evolved A LOT over the past 5 years. Up until I was 20, I ate a pretty typical American diet – lots of packaged, processed foods, tons of ordered in pizza, ice cream, etc. After a couple years of eating healthier, I spent some time as a vegetarian and then a vegan for a bit. Now, with school and a Health Coach certification under my belt, I eat high quality meats, lots of healthy fats and veggies, fruit, and some whole grains. Plus I know that it’s good for me mentally to have treats now and then and never ever obsess or stress over food. It’s fun to see the progress over time!
Yes! Obsessing or stressing over food is never a good thing! Isn’t it cool to see how things have evolved?
I would love to compare back on what I ate a year ago. Good thing I have a blog now and will be able to do that sooner than later. I am obsessed with Greek Yogurt too. There is never a time that my fridge is not stocked with it. Anytime I see a 10 for 10 deal I am buying them.
Haha yes! I’ve started buying the giant containers! It’s basically a bucket of yogurt haha.
I haven’t been blogging long enough to look back like that, but I do remember eating so differently before I went to school to become a dietitian. Even comparing then to now, my eating style has changed! I think it’s also because nutrition is such a young science and there are so many opinions out there on the “best” way to eat. For me, I just try to eat a little bit of everything because it seems like every day, something we thought was true is being disproven! Great post!
Haha that’s totally true. What’s “good” one day seems to be different the next!
That’s such a great way to reflect on our past habits – I do that with old posts, too – and see how far we’ve actually come despite [probably] not seeing it in this very moment. I’m glad you’re at a happier place with your eating habits.
Like you, I used to be a lot more afraid of ‘actual’ carbs – as in: not those found in vegetables but grains. It’s amazing to see how much better and more satisfied I feel after my meals now. Still a way to go but it’s a good work in progress.
I feel like there is such a misconception about carbs and it frustrates the crap out of me. We need carbs to survive but the problem is people are eating too much of the wrong carbs and not getting enough activity to burn them off. For me the solution to that problem is to eat whole grains and whole foods and stay active. Not avoid an entire food group altogether! Okay, sorry for ranting.
I love that you’ve found a happy balance for yourself and aren’t afraid to eat carbs. 🙂
I LOVE then vs. now posts like this. My habits have followed a pretty similar progression. Congratulations on the triumph over calorie fear and on losing weight too!
I really enjoyed this post! My college days were spent heating up Lean Pockets and failing at that crazy Special K diet. Now, I am no longer afraid of fat (bring it on!) which is great. Carbs still scare me a little, but I’m working on that with my ED doctor 🙂 Anyways, I just love reading about how your mentality on food has changed. Thanks for posting this 🙂
My meal habits have changed quite a bit over the past few years. I used to eat a small breakfast, a tiny lunch, no snacks, and then a huge dinner because I’d be ready to gnaw my arm off by 5:00.
While I still like a small breakfast, I have a medium-size lunch and then one or two snacks in the afternoon with a much more normal size dinner (that doesn’t HAVE to be eaten really early), which is a lot more fun than being hungry all afternoon!
Yum things look great then and now! Crock pot lasagna sounds amazing, I’ve added it to my Weekly Button Up and can’t wait to try it! When I look back on my blogging meals, they used to look a lot better. I had a lot more time to come up with recipe ideas when my kid was younger. Now that he’s three, dinner is all about getting it all on the plate within 30-60 minutes of me getting home from work. I am starting to plan out my breakfasts and lunches though and honestly whenever I do, I always feel good throughout the day.
I love this so hard