Post-quarantine feeding, creating a new routine

Gaia Gagliardi, a dietitian at Unisalus Medical Center, has come up with some nutrition tips to get back into the post-quarantine routine without putting numbers on the scale.

Advice from Dr.ssa Gagliardi

Phase 2 has begun, a phase, in fact. After about two months at home, for most people, it feels like children returning to school after summer vacation.

You may be wondering, from a dietary standpoint, how do I go about this?? There are no particular rules to follow, partly because, I don&#8217t really like rules in food but it is far more helpful to be flexible and learn to listen to yourself.

My advice is to continue to follow the healthy eating habits that, perhaps, you started to engage in just during the quarantine period.

If you let yourself go during quarantine, not giving importance to nutrition, the beginning of phase two, the return to work and pseudo-normality might encourage you to embark on a healthy diet.

It always starts with a good breakfast

You always start with a good, complete and satiating breakfast. There is no such thing as just sugar-coated cookies or cereals, which are not very satiating and are often too sugary. You could try making porridge, the typical English breakfast with oatmeal, you can try it either hot or cold, this version is also called overnight oatmeal.

For oatmeal, really you can indulge, and it could even be a take-away breakfast, to put in an airtight bowl or glass jar of yogurt or jam, try it to believe.

With such a breakfast, if it is well balanced and calibrated to your needs, you can get straight to lunch without any problems, oats being a slowly cleaving complex carbohydrate.

For lunch, you have the take away option or the classic schiscetta from home

In both cases, make sure that there is always a portion of vegetables, if you are in a hurry, also include raw vegetables such as salad or carrot sticks and try to vary the protein source as well, between meat-fish-eggs-cheese and absolutely do not forget about legumes, an excellent source of vegetable protein, with almost zero fat content, rich in fiber, practical if you choose canned ones and with a negligible cost per serving.

To make the meal satiate you longer, thus avoiding falling back on the 3 o’clock treat or the 4 o’clock stomach pit.5/5, should be complete therefore composed of one source of carbohydrates, one source of protein, one source of fiber and one source of fat, in different proportions.

Keeping in mind the round shape of the bowl, ½ should go to fruits and vegetables, ¼ to the protein source and ¼ to the fat source.

It is impossible to forget water at the meal; in fact, one glass would suffice.

For dinner? You could always rely on the composition of lunch, thus making dinner a complete meal as well, perhaps with different portions but this is subjective, it depends on numerous factors.

If you gamble, you may arrive home and have part of your dinner ready, preparing various foods in advance or making double portions, such as of vegetables, that you then only have to heat up. If preparing food in advance, remember to store it properly in the refrigerator.

The snack is mandatory? As you can see, I did not mention it before, as it is considered an accessory meal, not essential, but it can really be useful for athletes, children, the elderly, or simply people who arrive very hungry at the meal.

The snack that I recommend, perfect for the arrival of hot weather, is the one with mock fruit ice cream: simply freeze some fruit to taste, blend it with a little milk or 3-4 teaspoons of yogurt to adjust the consistency, if you want you can add cocoa, cinnamon, dried fruit cream but also dried fruit in grains or whole.

To maintain an adequate body weight, it is also important to move around, even with simple walks or home exercises.

For porridge recipe:

There is a hot version to be made at the time or a cold version to be made the night before and refrigerated

Former cold oatmeal (overnight oatmeal): 1 pot of yogurt, add oatmeal, 1 tablespoon chia or flax seeds, 1 coffee cup of water, stir and refrigerate. In the morning, add a fruit of your choice and a teaspoon of nut butter.
Former hot porridge: semi-skimmed milk with oats and a fruit of choice. Place on the stove and heat until thickened, then at the end of cooking add chia seeds a teaspoon (if liked) or possibly a teaspoon of grated coconut and a teaspoon of nut butter.