Opinion
Living and eating well as a solo can be tough. But after much trial and error, Neil McMahon has finally found a method that works. Here are his top tips.
Living solo with a love for sweets makes healthy eating a challenge. It’s a tricky food equation, but I’ve finally figured out how to make it add up.
As a single guy who loves junk food, sweet treats, and food delivery apps, the temptations are always there. It’s a constant battle between convenience and healthy eating.
I’ve finally cracked the code to eating healthy without feeling like I’m in food jail. The key is to have a little discipline around the broad parameters of my diet.
The real shift in my eating habits came two years ago after a serious accident, when I started seeing a dietitian. The key takeaways were a total game-changer: eat more protein, broad guidelines for carbs and fats, and a side order of “don’t sacrifice the foods you love”.
It’s a bit more complicated than that, but in short, it has worked.
Fill up on protein
This is what my weekly shopping-cooking-eating rotation looks like – and what
my treat rotation looks like over the same period – because it can’t all be penance and no pleasure.
First up, focus on proteins, making it as easy as possible. The weekly shopping list should include a bunch of things that can easily become a meal (and just as importantly, leftovers that help you avoid reaching for the UberEats app).
While it’s good to treat your body like a temple, sometimes you need to treat it like a disco.
On high rotation: recipes using beef mince (such as RecipeTin Eats’ firecracker mince, pictured above), chicken mince, pork mince, sizzle steak (cheap, ready in three minutes), and fish. If cooking seafood gives you the icks or the yips, do as I do and buy frozen fish with a light batter. The air fryer is your friend.
I also keep a bag of diced, cooked chicken breast from the supermarket deli in the fridge. No cooking, no slicing – just throw some in a pasta sauce or put it on top of an omelette.
Mince is incredibly versatile. It can be cooked in a multitude of ways and is robust enough to triumph over just about any kitchen shortcoming.
Always have frozen veg on hand
Do not succumb to the easy excuse of “I can’t be arsed peeling and slicing”. Frozen vegetables are as good as fresh and are made for a quick blast in the microwave.
Another useful trick: if you don’t have a rice cooker, get one. I keep mine on the bench, with the packet of rice inside it, so I am never more than a few minutes away from having a pot of rice on the table. I don’t even have to open the cupboard.
Should you meal-prep? If you spend any time on social media, you will have been shamed into believing you should, and I regret to inform you that an arvo or two of kitchen dallying at the weekend really does pay off during the week.
That all sounds a bit virtuous, what about the treats?
If you’re doing the right thing most of the time, you can and should lean into pleasures occasionally. I don’t go a week without a burger with the lot; I eat pizza several times a month; and I never go without dessert – occasionally ice-cream but more often a compromise of blueberries, a nice yoghurt, some dark chocolate and a decent squirt of honey. It conquers all sweet cravings and is modestly good for you.
The key to making it all work is knowing what you’re putting in. I use an app (MyFitnessPal) that does as advertised: keeping an eye on what you’re eating, by the numbers.
The key lesson for me: healthy living and food pleasure aren’t mutually exclusive.
While it’s good to treat your body like a temple, sometimes you need to treat it like a disco. Staying alive should, occasionally, involve dancing with a pizza in your hand.
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