Posts tagged food

Those are powerful words. They’re also scary words, and ones that I’m not very often willing to say. But sometimes, I get pushed to my limit, and I’m learning it’s better to reach out and seek help rather than try to go it alone and end up on a self destructive/self sabotaging cycle of badness. (This is long and some may be a bit TMI so I’ll just put a break here if you want to skip… tl:dr I’m frustrated, need help, am starting a new diet plan).

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I have reinstalled Lose It! on my new work phone, so I can start tracking my food and exercise again. I’m successful when I plan ahead and track. I’m a hot mess who ends up within 10 pounds of her highest weight when I don’t. So I’m tracking. If you’re on lose it and want to add me as a friend, send me an ask and I’ll give you my email to find me!

I stopped by just to visit/chat with a couple of the farmers, but ended up walking back to my car with 3 bags! I’m so excited for my food for the next few days.

• Red tomatoes (probably some of the last homegrown ones of the season - they’ll all be resale from commercial farms soon)
• Green tomatoes - which will be fried, probably tonight. Don’t hate - I’m really cutting down on fried stuff lately but sometimes you just have to splurge!
• Sweet banana peppers
• Purple hull pink-eyed peas. Sort of like blackeyed peas, only pink. And better, because they’re fresh. Will be eaten with homemade cornbread. Good thing I changed my mind about card detoxing this week.
• A bottle of the most amazing white balsamic vinegar I’ve ever tasted. I’m not usually a fan of white balsamic but this is SO GOOD. Apparently it’s from a local company that also owns their own facilities in Italy for making olive oil and balsamic vinegar (both the regular and the white varieties).

Today marks the first day of my training plan for the Disney Wine & Dine Half in November. I’m using the Hal Higdon novice 1 plan - which technically starts on August 19 for 12 weeks of half training. But I needed to stop sitting around on my butt and do something, so I sort of created my own little 3 week “get more active” bridge program. That includes a 5k this Saturday that sort of snuck up on me. Oh well - I’m really only doing it to see some friends so it’ll be a good time even if I feel like dying as I cross the finish. Today’s official training activity is “stretch and strengthen” which for me, tonight, will mean NYC Ballet workout.

More after the break, if you’re interested. If not - tl;dr: I rested a lot yesterday, planned for healthy meals this week, am on track so far (a whole half-day in) and need to work on my nutrient breakdown.

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I was not too tired last night to stop for cake.  BUT I DIDN’T. Things worked out better than I anticipated yesterday; the attitudes that I expected didn’t surface, the work I had to do for the afternoon went by smoothly, and even though I had a less than desirable lunch, what I did eat seemed to help calm my emotions and remove me from the razor’s edge of a breakdown. I did stop at the grocery store on the way home, though. I’d been thinking about how good this sweet potato hash recipe  sounded all day. So I ran into the store to pick up a sweet potato (I had all the other ingredients) and some more cantaloupe (I might seriously have a problem).

I went home and cooked the hash, and managed to successfully fry eggs for only the second time IN MY LIFE. That hash is seriously delicious, y’all. Go to the store now, get the ingredients, and make it. You will not be sorry. I had the leftovers for breakfast this morning with some scrambled egg whites (which I also scrambled last night- for the first time ever, and didn’t screw them up) and it was just as good this morning. It says to use “a sprinkle of dried herbs” - basically leaving the choice up to you. I used some Nature’s Seasoning and a sprinkle of Tastefully Simple Dried Tomato and Garlic Pesto mix. OMG - amazing.  After cooking the hash, I got a burst of energy. So I totally cleaned my kitchen. Including sweeping the floor, which I hate to do. The only thing I didn’t do was mop. I even cleaned out my fridge and wiped down the shelves. By the time I was done, I truly was tired. I took out the trash, watched tv for a minute and went right to sleep.

This morning I stepped on the scale, and it said 244. Another pound down. And that felt so much better than any emotion I could have tried to eat last night. For me, that’s what it’s about. Making very conscious and deliberate decisions keep me honest and accountable. I’m can’t be naive and say that I’ll never binge again or that I’ll never try to eat my emotions. Because I know I will. But when those times come that test my resolve to avoid these behaviors, I have to acknowledge that. Rather than just reacting and then finding myself knee deep in junk food wrappers, fast food bags, and ice cream containers, I need to stop and think. Remember that feeling this morning when I knew I had made a healthy choice and saw some benefit from it. Remember that I only feel worse when I try to eat away whatever is bothering me. And if I remember that, and I still make the decision to try to fix something with food, well then… I’ll just  have to deal with that. But I feel like I’m back to a place where I can make the smarter choice much more often than I’ve been making the hurtful choice. 

Now really… go make that hash!

I read in a weekly e-newsletter that I get about PCOS health that yet another study has shown that a higher protein, lower carb meal plan is better for those of us who deal with the issues caused by PCOS. I’ve known this for years, and I tend to yo-yo back and forth between trying to eat fewer carbs and not really paying attention to it. However this morning’s article actually suggested a breakdown of the nutrients, and it got me thinking about altering my food plan.

The article suggested 40% protein, 30% carbs, 30% fat. I’ve gone on “diets” plenty of times in the past with the express purpose of reducing the number of carbs I eat. But I’ve never purposely thought about increasing protein.

Right now 40% protein seems impossible to achieve. I looked back through my weekly summaries from the Lose It app, and I tend to average 15-20% protein. So I’ll need to double my intake, while still maintaining my calorie goals (approx 1600 daily). I’m going to give it a shot. I see lots of turkey and egg whites in my future.

All that being said - it should help in the hunger department. I went home for lunch today, as was facilitated by yesterday’s cookfest. I had a salad of mixed greens, cucumber, tomato and radish with 2 hard boiled eggs, some pesto roasted cauliflower, and a chocolate/banana yogurt smoothie - one of those frozen Yoplait smoothie kits (not my favorite, by the way - probably won’t buy it again). Breakfast this morning was some frosted mini wheats and almond milk. It’s only been about 3 hours since lunch and already I’m pretty hungry again. I brought a snack, so I’ll have that (some cottage cheese with roasted almonds, pistachios, and dried cherries). But I’m hoping that increasing my protein will keep me from feeling famished in between meals.