Anyhoo, enough navel gazing, let me start out with the conundrum I am facing today after I decided I really had to start reining it in (more later):
Sensible breakfast, protein shake for lunch, gym, nice salad with chicken and fish for dinner---now I really want a chocolate peppermintini....
Annnd now for the diary (which I need to be better at) inclusive of some notes and musings:
Monday: (I forget any detail of breakfast or lunch)
Dinner party: bowl of chicken, rice and veggie soup (maybe 1 cup); slice of smoked salmon quiche, asparagus w/ Dijon mustard, ¼ piece of whole wheat naan bread; 2 ½ glasses red wine; couple small slices of cantaloupe and honeydew melon with mebbe ½ oz of Stilton with mango and ginger. Slice of rum fruitcake with heaping tablespoon of real whipped cream flavored with maple syrup and grand marnier. (Everything here, minus the naan bread was home-made, the guests raved and Himself has requested quiche for the rest of the week--and he doesn't really like fish, so I'll have to say this meal was a success, if not exactly "diet"--but I had the rest of the week, right?)
Tuesday:
Breakfast: Oatmeal made with skim milk and a splash of creamer, blueberries, coffee, 1 chicken sausage breakfast link. (we go for turkey sausage and turkey bacon for breakfast, and fortunately there's a butcher shop here that sells both turkey breakfast sausage links and chicken breakfast sausage links flavored with maple, so I'll have either one or the other--I don't even buy pork sausage or bacon any more. Also, when I have coffee, it's a given that there will be a packet of Splenda and either Silk soy creamer or a sugar free creamer of some kind, usually those come in French Vanilla or Hazelnut. If I had to drink only black coffee, I wouldn't drink it, so the way I do it, I guess the morning coffee comes in at 50 calories or less)
Lunch—I forget—but it was really late, b/c I ended up having a long dental appt
Dinner: Slice of the smoked salmon quiche, salad with a lite Balsamic vinaigrette, and ½ a naan bread (split with the hubbie); small glass of red wine. For dessert--1/2 cup of Edy's lite Pumpkin ice cream.
Wed:
Breakfast:Hi-protein cereal (Kashi) with skim milk and blueberries, three slices turkey bacon, coffee
Lunch: Slice of smoked salmon quiche, Clementine
Snack: think I had another clementine later in the afternoon--'tis the season to buy boxes of them at the grocery store, and they are easy and delicious.
Dinner: ½ a frozen thin-crust chicken and veggie pizza w/ additional chicken sausage and cheese added, salad, red wine. Dessert: ½ cup light ice-cream (pumpkin or eggnog--I forget but they are both about 110 cals per 1/2 cup, 17-18 grams carbs, 2 grams protein, 3 grams fat--not bad really, for ice cream, and Edy's-- Dreyer's is the brand in the West, is generally quite good, so I recommend their 1/2 fat, frozen yogurt, and sugar-free varieties)
Thursday:
Breakfast: Chocolate-drizzled cannoli (these are the occasional impulse-buys if I get over to the part of town with the bakery and/or the grocery store that occasionally carries them--good thing neither are closer), two chicken breakfast sausage links, strawberries, coffee
Lunch:Slice of smoked salmon quiche, cinnamon-raisin toast with cashew butter, more strawberries
Snack: Handful of dk chocolate espresso beans
Dinner: (leftover) Chicken, rice and veggie soup—probably about a cup and a half; large side salad (pretty much always use a light vinaigrette with salads—I actually can’t abide goopy creamy ones any more—only “creamy” ones I buy occasionally are Caesar, which I suppose is technically ‘cheesy’ not creamy, and Ken’s sweet Vidalia onion—which is great on salads and as a coleslaw dressing); quesadilla (lo-carb/high protein tortilla, probably about ½ c. of cheese –mix of full-fat hot pepper and a lower fat Colby-jack and sliced olives. Dessert---small slice of fruitcake with about a tablespoon and a half of real whipped cream (the last of what I made for the dinner party—the kind that’s about 50 calories per tablespoon. Back to fat and/or sugar free versions…, with a cordial glass, ca. 2 oz, of our raisin wine (like a sherry).
Now...at some point before this morning (Friday) I had lost that pound. This morning it was back again, so I've decided, at some annoyance mixed with a lot of resignation, that I'm going to have to get serious. Having wine AND a dessert every night (an extra 200+ calories a night that could be cut in half by having one or the other), is probably not going to get this ball rolling down-hill, especially if I'm not walking and hitting the gym as much as I was when the weather was nice and I wasn't saddled with the general blahs and/or migraines and/or colds and/or aching back. So...there's that, and perhaps time for the ol' stand-by--protein shake meal replacements for breakfast or lunch; something suggested by a nutritionist I visited after I was diagnosed w/ PCOS and was gaining weight w/o really trying. Keep in mind that they are about 200-300 calories, depending on brand, and if made with skim milk, so about in the same range as a meal replacement protein bar (the higher protein making you feel fuller and not crashing as you would with something that was mostly carbs/sugar), and indeed you can get Lean Cuisines in the same range too. They are at least quick and easy (you can either shake it up or blend with ice), and being milk-shake-like are kinda like treats while being relatively filling.
Friday:
Breakfast: 8 oz cup Light ‘n lively yogurt ('harvest pear' —a really nice “limited” flavor) mixed with fresh blackberries, slice of raisin toast with cinnamon honey butter, chicken breakfast sausage link
Lunch: protein shake made with cup of skim milk. (I only had a small container of my favorite brand left—enough for today and maybe tomorrow, so I had to order a couple canisters online. Bad-tasting protein shakes are really bad—these I can totally look forward to. You can usually find this brand, Spirutein high-protein powdered mixes, at GNC, natural food stores, and sometimes at the grocery store--although I haven't seen it at the ones I go to here sadly. They do tend to carry it at Whole Foods...not that that helps me, so the internet it is. I prefer the chocolate, chocolate peanut butter and cappuccino flavors--for whatever reason I don't tend to gravitate toward fruit-flavored shake mixes, but the vanilla variety makes a good base for fruit smoothies using real fruit. I like to add a banana or strawberries to the chocolate ones sometimes, and one can add peanut-butter to the chocolate one in lieu of buying the choc-p/b flavored variety.)
Snack—1/2 a large apple before going to gym—I intended to eat the other half as a snack after the gym, but by the time I did the gym and stopped by the grocery store it was pretty much dinner time.
Dinner—I took a small portion of the leftover chicken sausage and pasta dish I made a few days ago—probably about ½ a cup, and am leaving the rest for Himself (who isn’t home yet, btw). Large dinner salad that I put together at the grocery store salad bar—lots of lettuce and veggies with protein—some edemame, garbanzo beans, roasted chicken breast strips and a small spoonful of lobster salad. ( I hate making salads myself—so I did this even though I have salad-makings at home—not terribly virtuous, but whatever—I figured himself wouldn’t be home to dragoon into salad-making, and I was right). Used my own lite Italian dressing at home. I’m pretty full now I must say—that’s the great thing about salad, but I still have a sweet-tooth….and the ice-cream calls…. Dessert: Ended up having a clementine and a mug of sugar-free Swiss Miss with mini marshmallows and a splash of kahlua.
Wed:
Breakfast:Hi-protein cereal (Kashi) with skim milk and blueberries, three slices turkey bacon, coffee
Lunch: Slice of smoked salmon quiche, Clementine
Snack: think I had another clementine later in the afternoon--'tis the season to buy boxes of them at the grocery store, and they are easy and delicious.
Dinner: ½ a frozen thin-crust chicken and veggie pizza w/ additional chicken sausage and cheese added, salad, red wine. Dessert: ½ cup light ice-cream (pumpkin or eggnog--I forget but they are both about 110 cals per 1/2 cup, 17-18 grams carbs, 2 grams protein, 3 grams fat--not bad really, for ice cream, and Edy's-- Dreyer's is the brand in the West, is generally quite good, so I recommend their 1/2 fat, frozen yogurt, and sugar-free varieties)
Thursday:
Breakfast: Chocolate-drizzled cannoli (these are the occasional impulse-buys if I get over to the part of town with the bakery and/or the grocery store that occasionally carries them--good thing neither are closer), two chicken breakfast sausage links, strawberries, coffee
Lunch:Slice of smoked salmon quiche, cinnamon-raisin toast with cashew butter, more strawberries
Snack: Handful of dk chocolate espresso beans
Dinner: (leftover) Chicken, rice and veggie soup—probably about a cup and a half; large side salad (pretty much always use a light vinaigrette with salads—I actually can’t abide goopy creamy ones any more—only “creamy” ones I buy occasionally are Caesar, which I suppose is technically ‘cheesy’ not creamy, and Ken’s sweet Vidalia onion—which is great on salads and as a coleslaw dressing); quesadilla (lo-carb/high protein tortilla, probably about ½ c. of cheese –mix of full-fat hot pepper and a lower fat Colby-jack and sliced olives. Dessert---small slice of fruitcake with about a tablespoon and a half of real whipped cream (the last of what I made for the dinner party—the kind that’s about 50 calories per tablespoon. Back to fat and/or sugar free versions…, with a cordial glass, ca. 2 oz, of our raisin wine (like a sherry).
Now...at some point before this morning (Friday) I had lost that pound. This morning it was back again, so I've decided, at some annoyance mixed with a lot of resignation, that I'm going to have to get serious. Having wine AND a dessert every night (an extra 200+ calories a night that could be cut in half by having one or the other), is probably not going to get this ball rolling down-hill, especially if I'm not walking and hitting the gym as much as I was when the weather was nice and I wasn't saddled with the general blahs and/or migraines and/or colds and/or aching back. So...there's that, and perhaps time for the ol' stand-by--protein shake meal replacements for breakfast or lunch; something suggested by a nutritionist I visited after I was diagnosed w/ PCOS and was gaining weight w/o really trying. Keep in mind that they are about 200-300 calories, depending on brand, and if made with skim milk, so about in the same range as a meal replacement protein bar (the higher protein making you feel fuller and not crashing as you would with something that was mostly carbs/sugar), and indeed you can get Lean Cuisines in the same range too. They are at least quick and easy (you can either shake it up or blend with ice), and being milk-shake-like are kinda like treats while being relatively filling.
Friday:
Breakfast: 8 oz cup Light ‘n lively yogurt ('harvest pear' —a really nice “limited” flavor) mixed with fresh blackberries, slice of raisin toast with cinnamon honey butter, chicken breakfast sausage link
Lunch: protein shake made with cup of skim milk. (I only had a small container of my favorite brand left—enough for today and maybe tomorrow, so I had to order a couple canisters online. Bad-tasting protein shakes are really bad—these I can totally look forward to. You can usually find this brand, Spirutein high-protein powdered mixes, at GNC, natural food stores, and sometimes at the grocery store--although I haven't seen it at the ones I go to here sadly. They do tend to carry it at Whole Foods...not that that helps me, so the internet it is. I prefer the chocolate, chocolate peanut butter and cappuccino flavors--for whatever reason I don't tend to gravitate toward fruit-flavored shake mixes, but the vanilla variety makes a good base for fruit smoothies using real fruit. I like to add a banana or strawberries to the chocolate ones sometimes, and one can add peanut-butter to the chocolate one in lieu of buying the choc-p/b flavored variety.)
Snack—1/2 a large apple before going to gym—I intended to eat the other half as a snack after the gym, but by the time I did the gym and stopped by the grocery store it was pretty much dinner time.
Dinner—I took a small portion of the leftover chicken sausage and pasta dish I made a few days ago—probably about ½ a cup, and am leaving the rest for Himself (who isn’t home yet, btw). Large dinner salad that I put together at the grocery store salad bar—lots of lettuce and veggies with protein—some edemame, garbanzo beans, roasted chicken breast strips and a small spoonful of lobster salad. ( I hate making salads myself—so I did this even though I have salad-makings at home—not terribly virtuous, but whatever—I figured himself wouldn’t be home to dragoon into salad-making, and I was right). Used my own lite Italian dressing at home. I’m pretty full now I must say—that’s the great thing about salad, but I still have a sweet-tooth….and the ice-cream calls…. Dessert: Ended up having a clementine and a mug of sugar-free Swiss Miss with mini marshmallows and a splash of kahlua.
2 comments:
Could you get some dark chocolate to satisfy the cravings? I read once that a small amount of sweet after a meal signals to your brain to stop eating. I keep a bar at work and break it into little pieces. Usually one piece, savored and not wolfed down while answering emails, does the trick. Although today I bought a chocolate cupcake from the bakery where I got lunch. So much for my small piece of dark chocolate :)
YEah, I actually ended up having some Ghirardelli dark chocolate chips as "second dessert"--it only takes a few (although in theory I shouldn't have been eating them at 10:00 at night, but rather have gone to bed). I find it takes only a little dark chocolate--in fact too much is too much. Choc. chips are good to have around b/c they last longer than a bar, or rather, the bars I like require a trip to Target, or for my local coffee shop to have them in stock, which they don't always. When I do have one in the, Himself and I may have one or two squares after dinner, although, often that is WITH the ice cream... So room for trimming there, I suppose.
We've also been getting dark chocolate espresso beans from the bulk section of our grocery store. I figured they represent a good bang for the buck (chocolate AND caffeine!), but I've taken to munching them all day...which is not good.
I find nuts are a good thing to snack on during the day--esp. if you also like salty snacks. Unlike something sweet--they provide protein, not just carbs and provide more of an long-term boost than a quick high followed by a crash. I keep either smoked or spicy almonds on hand---blue diamond brand are great (the wasabi ones pack such a flavor punch that a little goes a long way).
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