Tuesday 2 April 2013

eating clean


Grilled mackerel w/ roasted sweet potato, roasted bell peppers, goats cheese + avocado


One of the best parts about this premature homecoming is the delights of the western supermarket.
Certain foods that I love were either non-existent or outrageously overpriced in South Korea and for that reason my dietary habits took a bit of a downturn.
Food shopping is something of a fetish for me.
I get such a buzz out of walking through the food aisles and scanning all the produce, their flavors, their ingredients and packaging. Selecting my favorite cheese, the ripest avocados, my favorite brand of yogurt.
Am I alone in this private joy?!
scrambled eggs, smoked bacon, strawberries + avocado

Since I've been back I've had such a kick out of filling my basket full of fresh berries and vegetables, soups and hummus and good herbal teas.

I can already feel the benefits of a well rounded, clean diet with a few naughty indulgences thrown in here or there.
organic coconut yogurt w/ blueberries + raspberries

Nutrition has always been a subject I've had a keen interest in, ever since I reads this amazing book a few years ago. I started to include more raw fruit and vegetables, oily fish, grains and pulses into my diet.
Shortly after that I visited India for the first time and spent a month in a yoga ashram where we ate a strict ayurvedic vegetarian diet.
I left that place with the most sparkling eyes and glowing skin I've ever had in my life and didn't wear make up for months afterwards.
muesli w/ soy milk, banana, blueberry + mixed seeds
Of course, good habits can be hard to upkeep and when I moved to South Korea, the yoga and the diet were soon far down on my list of priorities when I was so busy meeting amazing new friends and enjoying the night culture of beer drinking and eating barbecued meat.
Toasted granary rolls with melted cheese, avocado + sun dried tomato

Although I did try to maintain a healthy diet during the week, the price and availability of most of my favored healthy comfort foods like avocados, pesto, goats cheese and chick peas had me pining (and pinning !) for my familiar food stock back home.

rooibos +vanilla tea, green tea w/ jasmine, chamomile tea

And here I am! Taking full advantage of my access to all that is fresh, yummy and good for me.
I'm a big advocate of clean eating but I don't believe in completely denying yourself of all the things you love as long as they are in moderation. 
So I'll have that slice of bacon with my eggs and strawberries and I'll add a good dose of crumbled goats cheese to my roasted sweet potato.
And avocados, my lord avocados, I could live on them! But I limit myself to half of one a day.

A little of what you fancy does you good, and I'm feeling great!





14 comments:

  1. Yum, this post made me so hungry. I think I'll have to take a trip to the market today.

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    1. I've been in a constant state of hunger since i came back and was surrounded by this yumminess!

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  2. omg ALLLL of this looks so delicious! I love how colorful it is, too! I don't know if it was a thing in Korea, but in Japan they like to make their meals colorful because it means it's healthier. Yours definitely pass! :)

    xoxo
    Melyssa
    http://thenectarcollective.com/

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    1. Thank you Melyssa! You're absolutely right too, the more vibrant colors on the plate. the healthier the meal ^.^

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  3. I love the packaging of those teas. So pretty! xx

    abhayayoga.blogspot.com

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    1. I'm happy to send you some if you want to do a mail swap some time Sondra!
      Just email me x

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  4. I think I may have to take some inspiration from your post, some of those meals looks lovely!

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    1. yay! I'm happy to inspire anyone to eat clean, hand me a sun-dried tomato or an avocado over a burger any day >.<

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  5. YOU ARE NOT ALONE!!! I love, crave and dream about grocery shopping. It's such a joy for me! We SO luckily receive a food stamp budget every month and I can't tell you how happy I am about that because without, we probably couldn't get much of anything. I hope you post more about clean eating. :D The only thing I can never stomach is fish. >.< I used to be able to eat sardines and perch with no problem, then I moved on to popcorn shrimp and fried calamari, but for some reason I've been hit with the same "fear" of seafood that I had as a teenager. I had pot stickers the other day and instantly felt sick once I realized they had crab flakes in them. x.x

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    1. Yay! We're both grocery shopping fetishists hehe!! I'll definitely post more about my regime if people are interested in it...sorry to hear about your aversion to fish, it's my favorite meat!

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  6. You have the same cockerel mug as me :)

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    1. Do I? Ha! I LOVE those mugs, they are so huge and perfect when I want to sip on a big ol' cuppa tea ^.~ I also have two more of the same, one with a floral pattern and one with a cowboy ^^

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  7. Wow, I'm inspired! Those all look so good. I need to figure out how to get great, healthy food on a budget. Any suggestions?

    xo
    Jane

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    1. I'm thrilled you are inspired by this Jane!! My advice from when I used to eat like this when I lived on my own would be always hit up your local early morning fruit and veg markets for your fresh produce~ you'll pay less than half what you'd pay at the supermarket and get more bang for your buck too, which means plenty of fruit left over at the end of the week to whizz up into a great smoothie!

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