Craig is a 36-year-old landscaper. He works eight hours a day doing hard physical labour and eats on the job with no facility to heat his lunch. At his previous job he found thathis workmates ate a poor diet of “pies and fizzy drinks”. Craig has learnt from this and tries not to buy food by bringing his own lunch, however he’s in the boring habit of eating the same lunch every day. Like many, he experiences loose bowel motions and has asked what he can do to firm things up a bit.
6.30am
½ cup porridge with peaches, blueberries, sliced almonds, yoghurt, 1 cup coffee.
10am
6 crackers with peanut butter, 1 banana, 1 yoghurt.
12.30pm
2 multigrain sandwiches with ham and lettuce, 1 apple.
3.30pm
Muesli bar, 1 orange.
5.30pm
Large serving of Nadia’s Southeast Asian chicken, bean and potato curry with rice and bok choy.
8.30pm
Cup of tea, lemon, cashew nut bliss ball.
Nadia Lim’s nutrition quick fix
This snapshot of your diet shows that you generally eat very well. It can be easy to end up eating the same thing every day when you take your lunch to work. Variety is key to getting a wide range of nutrients. Instead of sandwiches try sushi, wraps, a cold roast vegetable and meat salad or you could heat soup up and pack in a thermo flask. Though most people know that not enough fibre in your diet can resultin constipation, the opposite can also be true. Soluble fibre (found in vegetables, fruit and grains) acts like a “sponge’’, absorbing excess water in your bowels, and can thus make number twos firmer. So how about some hummus and vegetable sticks on crackers as a snack? Great to see you’re using one of my recipes at dinner — just make sure that your plate is at least half full of vegetables.
