6.20.08: Basic Breakfast; Quick Lunch; Italianate Chili Mac

General Notes:

I haven’t eaten anything particularly interesting over the last few days. Same old breakfasts, leftovers, PBJ sandwiches, that sort of thing. I probably won’t take a picture if it’s something I’ve shown before and will probably end up showing again and again. And again.

Breakfast:

Kashi Go Lean Crunch cold cereal with unsweetened dried cherries, 1% milk, two fried eggs with wheat germ, Millstone French Vanilla coffee (w/ Splenda and SF Fr Van creamer)

Lunch:

Frozen entrée of Spinach and Feta pie (don’t remember brand—something vegitarian and organic and not Amy’s)—the “pie” was a lot like spannikopita; 1 small Gala apple

Dinner:

Italian chili-mac and a garden salad (no picture)
Dessert was a serving of SF strawberry Jell-O and lite Cool Whip

Mood: Good and steady most of the day. Felt businesslike, keen to accomplish things.

Energy: Good and steady.

Physical: Felt good all day, shoulders sore from either yoga or yard work (maybe both); tiny bit of numbness in right fingers, but nothing radiating down arm

Exercise: Nothing yet, but am planning a 3 mile walk later; yesterday I walked 2 miles, had my yoga class (75 minutes on Saturdays, includes an Abs class), and mowed the lawn.

Food Notes:

I’m ridiculously proud of my dinner It was part frugality, part pantry, part down-home-make-do-comfort food, with some fresh basil (grown by me!). It’s the sort of meal I would have eaten with scorn as a kid (my poor mom), and it’s the kind of meal I never would have made myself without a recipe a year ago—I would have gotten a box of Hamburger Helper instead.

Frugality: used some ground turkey that I really should have used by Friday. Ordinarily, I would have pitched it because I’m a “when it doubt throw it out" kind of girl, but it still looked good, so I took a chance. If there are no more posts after this, you’ll know it was stupidity rather than frugality.

Pantry: Onions and garlic, a jar of Napa Valley Arrabiata spaghetti sauce (spicy!), what was left of a box of Smart Taste macaroni

Softened chopped onion and garlic in olive oil; browned the ground turkey, added a little sea salt, black pepper, and a dried Italian herb blend; added jar of sauce; grated a zucchini into the sauce to add another vegetable; let it simmer while the macaroni cooked; added some fresh torn basil near the end; mixed it all together and grated a little Parmesan cheese on top, and voila! An Italianate chili-mac that I’ll be able to enjoy a few more days this week (with another serving in the freezer). Yeah, I'm no Mario Batali, but you've got to start somewhere!

6.18.08 (214): Same Old Breakfast; Same Old Lunch; Grilled Tuna, Brussel Sprouts, Sweet Potato

General:


Woke up on the wrong side of bed this morning (4:00), but had a good walk. Felt much better by the time I got home. Full moon (or close)! Lovely to walk under.

Breakfast (6:00 a.m.)--Prep, 10 minutes:Steel-cut oats (fresh blueberries, cinnamon, brown sugar, splash 1% milk); small grapefruit; 1% milk; 2 fried eggs w/ wheat germ; Mayan Chocolate coffee w/ SF Fr Van creamer & Splenda








Snack/No picture (10:00 a.m.): Small Gala apple, 2% Extra-Sharp Cheddar (Cracker Barrel), about 2 oz.

Lunch (1:00 p.m.)--Prep, 5 minutes: Roasted chicken thighs (Sunday leftover); mixed green salad (bagged, Dole); walnuts; 1 small tomato; Newman's Own Lt Sesame Ginger Dressing

Dinner (6:00 p.m.)Prep/Cook, maybe 45 minutes (BS cooking time about 30 min): Grilled Tuna (marinated in low sodium soy sauce, rice vinegar, lemon juice, fresh grated ginger, garlic, black pepper, coated in sesame seeds, cooked in non-stick grill pan, no oil); roasted Brussel Sprouts (olive oil, sea salt, lemon juice, black pepper); steamed Sweet Potato (little sea salt, little Land O' Laked light butter).





Snack/After Walk/No Picture (9:45 p.m.): medium banana, cup 1% milk





Mood: Started new medication today. Jumpy, nervous and agitated. Don't know if it was new med., old med., combination, or just apprehension on my part. Settled down after I got home. Bad concentration all day, except for some a few oasis of clarity.





Physical: Same as above. Nausea, slight (very slight) headache, shoulder achy and fingers more tingly than yesterday. Some low back discomfort. Felt like my heart was racing, but my pulse was good. Worried about BP. Felt good after I got home.


Thyroid test checked out, and I'm not anemic, Woo-hoo. That's not really a surprise, though.





Food Notes:



See how boring my breakfast & lunches are? I tend to stick with the same things--they're easy and I don't get tired of them. Try to use up all the fresh food I can during the week, so that's why there's a lot of repetition (like with the blueberries).

Didn't eat all of tuna, which grilled nicely btw. Still rare on the inside. Left some sweet tater, too.

May not be able to eat grapefruit w/ new medication. Got conflicting info on that. That would SUCK.

Exercise: Walked 2.7 miles a.m., 3 miles p.m.

6.17.08 (Weight 213.8): Standard Breakfast; Standard Lunch; Beef, Couscous and Stir-Fried Vegetables

General Notes:

Did not complete planned walk last night
Got up at 4:30 and walked 2.7 miles. Didn't sleep well, ugly mood during walk, ugly mood during commute, cranky in general till I got to work.

Breakfast (6:15 a.m.): Prep/cook time--about 10 minutes


Steel-Cut Oats w/ fresh blueberries, brown sugar, splash 1% milk and cinnamon

2 fried eggs with wheat germ

1 small grapefruit

1% milk

Archer Farms Mayan Chocolate coffee w/ SF Fr Van creamer & Splenda

(Milk Bones not included)

Lunch (11:00 a.m.): Prep time, w/ leftovers--less than 5 minutes


Leftover roasted chicken

"Tender Greens" salad mix (Bagged, Dole)

Cherry tomatoes

Walnuts

Lt Raspberry Vinagrette (Kraft)





Snack/no picture (1:45 p.m.):


Granola Bar (Nature Valley Fruit & Nut), either 130 or 140 calories

Dinner (7:00 p.m.) Prep/cook time--about 20 minutes (fresh veggies pre-cut and packaged at store for less cost than whole ingredients separately)


Lean beef, stir-fried (low sodium soy sauce, rice vinegar, black pepper, garlic powder)

Leftover Couscous (toasted pine nut flavor, instant), reheated

Stir-fried vegetables (carrots, squash, zucchini, red onion, red pepper, button mushrooms) cooked in grapeseed oil, w/low sodium soy sauce, rice vinegar, lemon juice, minced garlic, black pepper, chili powder, few drops sesame oil, splash white wine)


Mood: Up/down all day. Nervous, worried, stressed, sad (a.m. & early p.m.)--energetic and positive later in day. Really noticed how comfortable I can be talking to people--don't think most strangers would guess how anxious it makes me

Physical: Pretty good, once day got going, except for general nervous energy a.m.--felt really, really good later. Fingers only a teensy-bit numb. Smidgen of tension headache early, but went away. BP at DO was 136/90, which wasn't horrible considering how tense I was.

Planned Exercise: 3 miles walk this p.m. May eat banana afterwards, may not.


Food Notes:


Dinner too big (overfull after), w/ too much salt, and ate too late--probably result in temporary gain tomorrow. Eh. (Shrugs)


Usually try to eat some red meat around this time of the month for iron--don't eat much of it otherwise.


Hot, spicy or strong flavors (like chili powder or sesame oil) help keep fresh veggies from being bland--doesn't take much to reap a real taste benefit.

6.16.08 (Weight 213.6):Standard Breakfast; Mid-Morning Snack; Standard Lunch; Smoothie & PBJ

General:

Woke up at 4:00 a.m.; went for 2 1/2 mile walk (v. good energy--weather was coolish, good breeze)

(Note about yesterday's food--had banana last night after 3 mile walk--didn't want to not eat anything between p.m. walk and a.m. walk)

Breakfast (5:45 a.m.):

Steel-Cut Oats with 1% milk, blueberries, cinnamon, brown sugar

1% milk

Grapefruit

2 fried eggs w/ wheat germ

Archer Farms Mayan Chocolate Coffee w/ SF French Vanilla creamer & Splenda

Mid-Morning Snack (9:30 a.m.):

Small apple

Small chunk of 2% Sharp Cheddar Cracker Barrel cheese

Lunch (2:00 p.m.):

Roasted Chicken Thighs (leftover from yesterday)

Field Greens Salad (bagged, Dole)

Cherry Tomatoes

1/2 oz Raw Walnuts

2T lite Honey Mustard Dressing

Dinner (6:00 p.m.):

Blueberry Smoothie (kefir, 1% milk, soy protein powder, psyllium husks, blueberries, frozen banana, Tupelo honey

PB&J Sandwich (Smuckers Natural Crunchy, Strawberry Rhubarb jam, Pepperidge Farm Double Fiber bread

GENERAL:

Mood: Varied (hopeful, frustrated, workmanlike, pretty upbeat, irritated as all get out, pensive)

Overall Energy: Pretty good mostly, little bit of nervous energy all day

Physical: Weird mix of general TTOM ickiness and joy at how I feel in my clothes these days--body is feeling sleeker; Shoulder/neck OK--numbness in fingers not as bad. Felt a bit weakish, though. Not food-related.

Planned Exercise: Didn't feel up to flexibility of usual Monday yoga class; planning on 3 mile p.m. walk

Health: Made appt. to see OBGYN tomorrow to ask about emotional upset (hormones?) and weird TTOM weakness.

Food Notes: Two meals here are pretty standard everyday fair for me--cereal, egg, fruit, milk, coffee almost every day; big salad of some sort featuring lean protein at lunch every day during workweek. Snacks are usually some balance of carb and protein.

Variation: More carb heavy last two days that I typically eat. Trying to give my seritonin stores some help.

6.15.08: Waffles; Falafel Salad; Chicken, Sweet Potatoes and Vegetables

Breakfast:

Waffles (Bob's Red Mill Buttermilk Pancake & Waffles Mix--2 servings)
Fresh Blueberries
Lite Cool Whip
1% milk
Coffee (Archer Farms Maya Chocolate w/ Splenda and SF French Vanilla Creamer)






Lunch:
Field Greens Salad (Dole, Bagged)
2 servings Instant Falafel (leftover)
Vidalia Onion
Cherry Tomatoes
Homemade Dressing of 1/2 avocado, 2 T plain yogurt, lemon juice, sea salt, pepper, dill and chili pepper
(actually only ate 1 serving of the falafel--didn't like the taste cold)






Snack:
220 cal serving of Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Cookie Dough ice cream





Dinner:
Roasted Chicken Thighs (sea salt, pepper, jerk seasoning + herbs de Provence)
Steamed Sweet Potato + Smart Balance
Steamed Broccoli, Cauliflower & Carrots with Smart Balance and vegetable seasoning


Planned Exercise:
3 mile evening walk


Mood:
Good, slightly buzzed all day


Physical:
Good energy overall, yet felt weak all day (TTOM)


Food Notes:
I try to have special breakfast at least one Sunday a month
Made steel cut oatmeal and roasted chicken for rest of the week
Only drank water and coffee all day