After having a craptastic day, I woke up with a little more resolve to eat real. I hadn't had a smoothie in a long time. They make me feel so good-- I'm not sure why. Garrison was ready for breakfast and said "yogurt" I'm like "NO! Smoothie!"
I made his with cow's milk. Mine was 8oz of rice milk, 3 frozen strawberries, half a banana and a sprinkling of flaxseeds. Oh yum.
I came into work and (no surprise) in the kitchen there's a loaf of Panera's honey wheat bread to which I stuck up my nose and walked on by. Sadly now, I'm dreaming of a slice slathered in butter. CAN'T DO IT! I didn't do well yesterday and I'm going out to a restaurant tonight so I have to be real all day today.
Well temptation took care of itself! The bread disappeared within an hour so I didn't have to stand in the face of temptation.
For lunch I had my chipotle black bean salad on organic whole rye Wasa crackers, 4 of them. After lunch I had a clementine.
I think 3ish was when I had a teaspoon of peanut butter. Not because I was hungry but because I had a chocolate craving. That seemed to take care of it and I'm good now.
Copper Top Tavern tonight! I will be surrounded by some friends of mine-- All married ladies 30 or older whose weight issues are a bit more serious than mine. The easy part is already over-- I snuck a peek at the menu online and called the restaurant to ask whether or not I will receive a huge dose of sugar in my meal (I won't, thank God I still can't get over the 2 cups of brown sugar on the kielbasa last night). The hard part is yet to come. The shared appetizers. Everyone getting dessert. The "Juli, want some?"s. The "oh come on, it's okay to have a treat now and again."
I plan to order a glass of Rex Goliath (red wine is on the approved list!) and sip it slowly while telling stories or jokes. I hope it works out.
Friday, April 27, 2012
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Day 3 of Real(ish) Food
Breakfast was the usual: black coffee, homemade yogurt, homemade granola.
For my mid morning snack I'm noshing on my 2nd (huge) slice of whole gran bread. I think it's from Panera. If it is, I'm certain it isn't 100% whole wheat/grain. But I used to LIVE on this stuff when I worked at Panera and it's delicious! Toasted and buttered and I'm over the moon :)
OKAY so if I'm doing the real food thing 100% I can't have this but it's so nutty and flavorful! Too bad they didn't make it half white whole wheat. I would think that would accomplish their goal of less dense, more light and fluffy bread yet still retain the healthiness. Oh well.
Kate walked in after going for a butter run (yay we have butter now!) but she was also carrying 2 boxes of baked goods or donuts. They were out by the time I got to inspect what was in the boxes. PHEW! I didn't have to withstand temptation for oil and sugar soaked empty carbs.
But I had some Panera half-whole-half-white bread :(
Now I'm ashamed to tell you what happened with the remainder of the day; it turned out to be a very FAKE food day.
Well 12pm rolled around but I was still full on the toast. At work we had a visitor so the people in meetings with him had lunch provided; chicken wings and antipasto salad (iceberg lettuce drenched in oil, basically). Well the leftovers were brought out about 10 minutes before my lunch hour was over so I ... well...ate the wings and "salad."
Oy. At least it tided me over until the end of the day (give or take sneaking an olive now and again) but by the time Garrison picked me up from work, I was HANGRY! He was too. It didn't help that our task then was to go home and cook a dish to bring for our fellowship dinner we were having. I threw together some pasta with garlic, red pepper, olive oil and parmesan and some green beans sauteed in a touch off butter and fresh minced garlic.
I popped a cookie ball in my mouth before the prep began. These were the cookie dough balls I made Wednesday night with nuts, oats and maple syrup. YUM! Real food (except for the chocolate chips).
I think it was 7:15 before we actually ate. I had aforementioned grains and veggies along with 3 farmers market pierogies. The pierogies were white flour (fake) filled with spinach and ricotta (I think), garlic smashed potatoes, and buffalo chicken. What delayed the start of dinner was the peeling, dicing and sauteing of some turkey kielbasa Chris brought. I had already planned on not eating meat that night but I REALLY got dead set on not having any when I saw Amber get out the bag of brown sugar.
At first I thought oh okay she's just adding a dash-- that might be okay. UM THEN she started scooping the sugar into the pan by the ladle! After I thought she was done I stepped into the other room. Then I looked over my shoulder and she was still dumping more on!!!! I was appalled! A good 2 cups of sugar made it onto 4 cups of diced sausage.
I did end up having a couple bites. My pasta dish was spicy so someone suggested throwing the meat ontop and eating them together for the sweet and spicy combo. I tried a morsel. It was actually okay but that kielbasa was way too sweet for my taste.
After dinner, little plates were dished out with store-bought raspberry danish slices and chocolate chip cookies. Chris, Amber, Garrison and Kat dug in right away. I was at my spot waiting for Joe to join the table and take a bite. I wanted to see how long I could wait. I do love chocolate chip cookies. Finally Joe took a bit so I picked up my cookie and nibbled. Garrison ate my danish slice (plus 2 more from the pan) after I finished my cookie, I needed 3 more.
Damn.
What a terrible day of (mostly not) real food.
For my mid morning snack I'm noshing on my 2nd (huge) slice of whole gran bread. I think it's from Panera. If it is, I'm certain it isn't 100% whole wheat/grain. But I used to LIVE on this stuff when I worked at Panera and it's delicious! Toasted and buttered and I'm over the moon :)
OKAY so if I'm doing the real food thing 100% I can't have this but it's so nutty and flavorful! Too bad they didn't make it half white whole wheat. I would think that would accomplish their goal of less dense, more light and fluffy bread yet still retain the healthiness. Oh well.
Kate walked in after going for a butter run (yay we have butter now!) but she was also carrying 2 boxes of baked goods or donuts. They were out by the time I got to inspect what was in the boxes. PHEW! I didn't have to withstand temptation for oil and sugar soaked empty carbs.
But I had some Panera half-whole-half-white bread :(
Now I'm ashamed to tell you what happened with the remainder of the day; it turned out to be a very FAKE food day.
Well 12pm rolled around but I was still full on the toast. At work we had a visitor so the people in meetings with him had lunch provided; chicken wings and antipasto salad (iceberg lettuce drenched in oil, basically). Well the leftovers were brought out about 10 minutes before my lunch hour was over so I ... well...ate the wings and "salad."
Oy. At least it tided me over until the end of the day (give or take sneaking an olive now and again) but by the time Garrison picked me up from work, I was HANGRY! He was too. It didn't help that our task then was to go home and cook a dish to bring for our fellowship dinner we were having. I threw together some pasta with garlic, red pepper, olive oil and parmesan and some green beans sauteed in a touch off butter and fresh minced garlic.
I popped a cookie ball in my mouth before the prep began. These were the cookie dough balls I made Wednesday night with nuts, oats and maple syrup. YUM! Real food (except for the chocolate chips).
I think it was 7:15 before we actually ate. I had aforementioned grains and veggies along with 3 farmers market pierogies. The pierogies were white flour (fake) filled with spinach and ricotta (I think), garlic smashed potatoes, and buffalo chicken. What delayed the start of dinner was the peeling, dicing and sauteing of some turkey kielbasa Chris brought. I had already planned on not eating meat that night but I REALLY got dead set on not having any when I saw Amber get out the bag of brown sugar.
At first I thought oh okay she's just adding a dash-- that might be okay. UM THEN she started scooping the sugar into the pan by the ladle! After I thought she was done I stepped into the other room. Then I looked over my shoulder and she was still dumping more on!!!! I was appalled! A good 2 cups of sugar made it onto 4 cups of diced sausage.
I did end up having a couple bites. My pasta dish was spicy so someone suggested throwing the meat ontop and eating them together for the sweet and spicy combo. I tried a morsel. It was actually okay but that kielbasa was way too sweet for my taste.
After dinner, little plates were dished out with store-bought raspberry danish slices and chocolate chip cookies. Chris, Amber, Garrison and Kat dug in right away. I was at my spot waiting for Joe to join the table and take a bite. I wanted to see how long I could wait. I do love chocolate chip cookies. Finally Joe took a bit so I picked up my cookie and nibbled. Garrison ate my danish slice (plus 2 more from the pan) after I finished my cookie, I needed 3 more.
Damn.
What a terrible day of (mostly not) real food.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Day 2 of Real(ish) Food
Breakfast at 7am was a bowl of steel cut oats cooked in water, combined with flaxseeds and Schmucker's natural peanut butter (let's call it SNP from now on). I topped it with a banana.
By 8:45am I was starving so I caved. Someone brought in what looked like fresh home baked bread. It looked like it was made with white flour. Might have been unbleached but white flour is still white flour. People were toasting slices and it smelled delicious. I imagined slathering a slice with butter! MMmmmmm...wait, there's no butter. Damn.
I did it. I toasted a slice of the non-real bread. I topped it with some sliced banana and LOVED EVERY BITE! And of course in an hour and a half, I was starving again.
Lunch was 4 Wasa rye crackers (100% whole rye, found in the organic section at Wegmans) topped with a veggie-bean salad I made by unmeasured spoonfuls. As I did yesterday, I ended my meal with a small amount of natural peanut butter that I licked straight off the spoon. It's so rich and decadent that it makes a great dessert substitute.
A weird craving hit me about 20 minutes ago. I made green tea instead.
Then around 4 I had a banana with peanut butter.
For dinner, Garrison had fajitas in 100% ww homemade tortillas. I ate mine out of Avocado skins. Filled them with ground turkey seasoned with habanero; peppers and onions; and topped with mashed avocado.
I was ambitious last night too. I started a batch of yogurt and make raw cookie dough balls with Hershey's dark chocolate chips (Sugar. Not real). Then I whipped up some chocolate with coco, coconut oil, stevia (not real I guess?), raw honey and rice milk. THEN I decided it was time to TRY SOMETHING NEW!!
I have made ice cream out of frozen bananas before but this time I thought instead of milk, I'd add a bit of Bailey's to the mix. So I did about 1 banana sliced and frozen, 1 tbsp of cocoa (too much), a dash of Stevia (not "real food"), and a few splashes of Bailey's hint of mint. It must have been the banana and mint clashing...it didn't go well. I had to add some maple syrup (real! yay!) to make it go down easy.
OH SHOOT I LEFT MY BALLS AT HOME! Grrrrr.
By 8:45am I was starving so I caved. Someone brought in what looked like fresh home baked bread. It looked like it was made with white flour. Might have been unbleached but white flour is still white flour. People were toasting slices and it smelled delicious. I imagined slathering a slice with butter! MMmmmmm...wait, there's no butter. Damn.
I did it. I toasted a slice of the non-real bread. I topped it with some sliced banana and LOVED EVERY BITE! And of course in an hour and a half, I was starving again.
Lunch was 4 Wasa rye crackers (100% whole rye, found in the organic section at Wegmans) topped with a veggie-bean salad I made by unmeasured spoonfuls. As I did yesterday, I ended my meal with a small amount of natural peanut butter that I licked straight off the spoon. It's so rich and decadent that it makes a great dessert substitute.
A weird craving hit me about 20 minutes ago. I made green tea instead.
Then around 4 I had a banana with peanut butter.
For dinner, Garrison had fajitas in 100% ww homemade tortillas. I ate mine out of Avocado skins. Filled them with ground turkey seasoned with habanero; peppers and onions; and topped with mashed avocado.
I was ambitious last night too. I started a batch of yogurt and make raw cookie dough balls with Hershey's dark chocolate chips (Sugar. Not real). Then I whipped up some chocolate with coco, coconut oil, stevia (not real I guess?), raw honey and rice milk. THEN I decided it was time to TRY SOMETHING NEW!!
I have made ice cream out of frozen bananas before but this time I thought instead of milk, I'd add a bit of Bailey's to the mix. So I did about 1 banana sliced and frozen, 1 tbsp of cocoa (too much), a dash of Stevia (not "real food"), and a few splashes of Bailey's hint of mint. It must have been the banana and mint clashing...it didn't go well. I had to add some maple syrup (real! yay!) to make it go down easy.
OH SHOOT I LEFT MY BALLS AT HOME! Grrrrr.
Day 1 of Real(ish) Food
In the morning I ate homemade yogurt with homemade honey-sweetened granola. I drank some black french press coffee.
I'm sure I had a mid-morning snack but I can't remember what it was it may have been 1 or 2 clementines.
Lunch was a home made 100% whole wheat tortilla filled with a black bean and veggie salad plus some apple slices. I was going to saute them in butter but we're out of butter at work. I ended my meal with about a teaspoon of Schmucker's natural peanut butter.
Afternoon snack was a banana with aforementioned peanut butter.
Dinner was a small green salad topped with chicken breast sauteed in herbs. Pretty real so far...until I added Kraft Greek dressing which has way too many ingredients to be good and sugar.
Then I ate an access bar. It's crappy. It's supposed to help you burn fat while you work out. Whatever. I think I may use the rest of the box as a pre gym snack until they're gone (who knows how long they'll last, I don't get to the gym much).
I wasn't sated after these items. I was really hungry. But I made it through two hours of dance without collapsing. When I got home I popped a couple olives in my mouth and heated up a cup of home made broth (scraps of otherwise wasted vegetables, fruit and meats that I boiled in party tap water and part starch water from boiling pasta).
During this night time nutrient drink, Garrison was feeding me small forkfuls of homemade (with white flour and white sugar) apple pie topped with Redi Whip.
Ok. Little bits here and there were not "real" so we shall continue on this journey together you and I-whoever you are--if there's anyone out there.
Ok loveyoubye.
I'm sure I had a mid-morning snack but I can't remember what it was it may have been 1 or 2 clementines.
Lunch was a home made 100% whole wheat tortilla filled with a black bean and veggie salad plus some apple slices. I was going to saute them in butter but we're out of butter at work. I ended my meal with about a teaspoon of Schmucker's natural peanut butter.
Afternoon snack was a banana with aforementioned peanut butter.
Dinner was a small green salad topped with chicken breast sauteed in herbs. Pretty real so far...until I added Kraft Greek dressing which has way too many ingredients to be good and sugar.
Then I ate an access bar. It's crappy. It's supposed to help you burn fat while you work out. Whatever. I think I may use the rest of the box as a pre gym snack until they're gone (who knows how long they'll last, I don't get to the gym much).
I wasn't sated after these items. I was really hungry. But I made it through two hours of dance without collapsing. When I got home I popped a couple olives in my mouth and heated up a cup of home made broth (scraps of otherwise wasted vegetables, fruit and meats that I boiled in party tap water and part starch water from boiling pasta).
During this night time nutrient drink, Garrison was feeding me small forkfuls of homemade (with white flour and white sugar) apple pie topped with Redi Whip.
Ok. Little bits here and there were not "real" so we shall continue on this journey together you and I-whoever you are--if there's anyone out there.
Ok loveyoubye.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
10 Days of Real(ish) Food
I have no desire to be a vegetarian, vegan or become a raw foodist or do the paleo diet thing. But I've been gleaning a wealth of knowledge on the benefits of each theory. I love my raw cookie dough balls and some of the awesome desserts I've made using unrefined sugars. I've long since switched to whole grains and learned to eat yogurt and drink coffee without sugar but the blogosphere has helped me push myself to the next level.
But now...here's the problem. I love a lot of the authors' philosophies, especially the ones who say that you shouldn't deprive yourself of chocolate or whatever you crave but that you should indulge mindfully and with moderation.
I became really into the raw foodists and their desserts but they make me feel SO BAD for not being a vegan. I love my homemade yogurt, eggs, chicken and the occasional steak. I just wanted to find a blog or philosophy to follow that would allow me to heat things, use meat, dairy and eggs but be free of refined sugars and honest about which "health" product was actually going to be good for me.
Then...one procrastinating day...pinterest guided me to REAL FOOD! The blog 100 Days of Real Food, to be exact. I have to say that this is the happy medium I've been looking for!
Ok so "Real Food" huh? As opposed to imaginary food like at the feast/food fight the lost boys had in the move Hook? Basically food that is it is most whole form and hasn't undergone a lot of unhealthy processing like hydrogenation of oils or stripping the brand, germ and endosperm off of wheat before it gets milled.
Why is this hard? Because the food industry is just that, an industry. They want to make money off of the fact that people want to eat so anything to increase profit (like increasing shelf life) is done to our food when all of us poor innocent Americans JUST want to eat!
I'm not as good of a writer as these other people.
Anyhow...
On this nice lady's blog, there's a pledge you can take to do 10 days of Real Food and you'll get a wristband when you complete it. I want to sign up but I'm just not ready. I have weddings coming up in May and I have a freezer stocked up with quality, yet not specifically non-HMO, Organic, grass-fed, local chicken, turkey and pork.
BUT! For the next 10 days I'm going to track my food consumption to the best of my ability and evaluate its Real Food content. I'm hoping to gain at least some of the benefits. I'll start with yesterday.
But now...here's the problem. I love a lot of the authors' philosophies, especially the ones who say that you shouldn't deprive yourself of chocolate or whatever you crave but that you should indulge mindfully and with moderation.
I became really into the raw foodists and their desserts but they make me feel SO BAD for not being a vegan. I love my homemade yogurt, eggs, chicken and the occasional steak. I just wanted to find a blog or philosophy to follow that would allow me to heat things, use meat, dairy and eggs but be free of refined sugars and honest about which "health" product was actually going to be good for me.
Then...one procrastinating day...pinterest guided me to REAL FOOD! The blog 100 Days of Real Food, to be exact. I have to say that this is the happy medium I've been looking for!
Ok so "Real Food" huh? As opposed to imaginary food like at the feast/food fight the lost boys had in the move Hook? Basically food that is it is most whole form and hasn't undergone a lot of unhealthy processing like hydrogenation of oils or stripping the brand, germ and endosperm off of wheat before it gets milled.
Why is this hard? Because the food industry is just that, an industry. They want to make money off of the fact that people want to eat so anything to increase profit (like increasing shelf life) is done to our food when all of us poor innocent Americans JUST want to eat!
I'm not as good of a writer as these other people.
Anyhow...
On this nice lady's blog, there's a pledge you can take to do 10 days of Real Food and you'll get a wristband when you complete it. I want to sign up but I'm just not ready. I have weddings coming up in May and I have a freezer stocked up with quality, yet not specifically non-HMO, Organic, grass-fed, local chicken, turkey and pork.
BUT! For the next 10 days I'm going to track my food consumption to the best of my ability and evaluate its Real Food content. I'm hoping to gain at least some of the benefits. I'll start with yesterday.
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