A typical day of eating for me is simply enjoying many different ingredients in each meal. I focus on getting everything in, in no particular order: grains, vegetables, protein sources and healthy fats.

At first, it can be a bit overwhelming to introduce so many new foods if you don’t eat them much or regularly, but with time and practice it gets easier. Start small, and build it up. As you get use to preparing and cooking food from scratch, the cravings for sugary and wheat products begin to diminish and you just start to adjust to richer and more satisfying flavours. You also get full quicker.

Food prepping can really help especially if you’re working and it saves time too. I currently have a tiny kitchen but I’ve always been used to having to adapt with sharing a kitchen at university and also when I started working. Somehow I just made it work – I wanted to manage and sort out the endo, so I had to focus on that. When I take a packed lunch to work, I often make a small batch of some ingredients, for example, rice, quinoa and vegetables – as much as I can fit in the fridge for a couple of days ahead. I tend to cook things like salmon, chicken and eggs as and when I’m about to eat them or at most one day in advance.

My workplace does have a good canteen (actually we have a few on campus) with suitable options most days; they even have a little herb and spice counter, and flavoured olive oils. So depending on the menu, I will grab lunch at work sometimes. There’s a plant-based option each day which is usually wheat and gluten free too, and side dishes with plain vegetables, legumes or grains. My employer makes a big effort with healthy eating which is amazing. The thing that is hard to navigate is the free food at events. If you usually eat in a canteen at work or uni, you can start with identifying suitable options while adjusting to eating a healthy, balanced diet for endo.

Breakfast:

Homemade granola with organic natural/Greek yoghurt, flaxseed, cinnamon and a handful of berries

Snack: Nuts

Lunch:

Rice, olive and lentil mix

Salad with tomatoes, cucumber and a lemon dressing

Snack: Fruit and peppermint tea

Dinner:

Salmon fillet in olive oil with garlic ginger and turmeric

Roasted veggies mixed with quinoa

Kate xx