Healthier Eating

Since the New Year we have been making a concerted effort to eat a little more healthily both at home and on the boat. So far the plan is paying off, even without changing our daily routine too much or including a deal more exercise we are both starting to slowly shed the pounds.

Some of the changes have been quite simple, for example swapping steak mince for turkey mince or Quorn mince vastly reduces the fat content of meals but does mean that we can still eat some of our favourite meals such as stuffed bell peppers and lasagne. We are also eating more chicken and turkey in place of pork, lamb or beef in meals such as curries and fajitas. Choosing lighter options for our dairy products such as olive spread, cheese, yoghurt and milk has also greatly reduced our fat and calorie intake, another simple change that is easy to implement.

We have always been great lovers of fresh fish. We have a delivery fresh from Grimsby once a month which ensures that our freezer is always stocked up with a variety of fish and fish products. We aim to eat at least two portions of fresh fish per week and aim to cook a variety of meals with it, rather than stick to the trusted method of grilling it which can get quite boring.

Breakfast was always a bit of a sticking point. We get up early for work and didn’t always fancy eating in the mornings. This usually led to snacking before lunch and more often than not on the wrong things. Now we both sit down for breakfast together with a bowl of cereals, a cup of coffee and a glass of fruit juice. We both seem more alert on the drive to work and have completely cut out the snacking before lunch.

For lunch we both have a sandwich on a mid-sized granary roll. The filling varies from day to day but usually consists of tuna, turkey or ham with light olive spread and a selection of lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, sweet corn and bell pepper.

Evening dinner is the main meal of the day. We like to eat a range of different foods and try out new foods on a regular basis. A selection of our favourite meals are:

• Grilled sweet chilli chicken breast, rice and salad


• Turkey lasagne and salad


• Fish pie, new potatoes, baby carrots and green beans


• Turkey Thai Green Curry, rice, prawn toast and tiger prawns.


• Stuffed bell peppers and salad


• Grilled Tuna, new potatoes and salad

Cooking healthier meals afloat has also proven to be much easier than we anticipated. It takes no more effort to cook up a healthy offering but the benefits are becoming clear. Again we are starting the day with cereals and juice, scrapping the bacon sandwiches and full English breakfasts and reserving them for special occasions only. Evening meals are usually kept to a simple quick meal, usually consisting of grilled fish, chicken or turkey ,which are easy to prepare after a few beers. With the purchase of the slow cooker we have also been able to prepare healthy Sunday lunches as well, normally consisting of slow cooked Cajun chicken or turkey, potatoes, stuffing and asparagus.

Hopefully this will have shown you that by making even seemingly small changes to your diet you can make a big difference to your health whilst still enjoying the meals you like and enjoy. Over the coming months we will no doubt have some great healthy yet tasty meal ideas for you to try out for yourself.