Week 1 - Day 5

Breakfast: Half a green apple

Lunch: Boloco teriyaki bowl with tofu, a few chips, half a cookie.

Dinner:  Cardboard pizza

Thoughts:  Blah.  Not happy about my food today.  Super tired and worn out from the week. Just feeling completely lazy and didn't even care by dinner.  Ate what was served and that was that.

Tomorrow is a new day.

Week 1 - Day 4

Breakfast: Salad with peaches in place of strawberries. Very good.

Lunch: French fries and bites of the crust of David's calzone, carrots sticks and broccoli.

Dinner:  Out to dinner with two of my dearest friends.  Olive Garden salad, breadstick, and Ravioli di Portabello

Thoughts:

Not a perfect day, by any means.  The lunch thing really through me off.  David brought home some lunch to have with his parents who had stopped by for a visit.  I just went with it.  I told him to get me french fries because it was the best I could come up with on a short notice from the pizza place.

Out to dinner, I had intended to just have soup and salad. But then I realized I was out to CELEBRATE and I wanted to have something just a little bit special.  The mushroom ravioli was quite good and I'm really happen I ordered it.

And I got in a walk today! Unexpectedly, but my friends and I headed to a park after dinner and took a short stroll on a nature trail there.  That was really nice.  Especially after spending all day buried in piles and messes in my house. So refreshing to get outside and enjoy some great company and the beautiful evening.

Heading to bed early tonight, if I can.  Day two of my cycle and I'm feel pretty tired.  I'm glad to report that I'm not struggling as much as I was a few months back. My cycles are shorter by a few days and I'm not getting as heavy a flow as I was before.  I'm also not having to stay in bed for the first two days because of fatigue.  All good things. I'm quite confident that cleaning up my diet is helpful in this as my body is learning how to regulate.

Week 1 - Day 3

Breakfast/Lunch: Breakfast salad

Dinner:  Kung Pao Vegetables with a bowl of frozen mixed fruit and decaf coffee for dessert.

Thoughts:

Just a quick update today because I'm sooooooooo sleepy.

Woke up early and headed to the store. Got home and got to work on the house.  Lots of projects to work on, more shopping, and our date night spent in our freshly painted basement enjoying a new show and resting before bed.  The house is coming along so nicely and I'm so grateful for David's help in getting it in order before school begins.

That said, all my walking I did today happened at Walmart, Home Depot, and a few other stores.

I did well with my food choices, though. Chinese food isn't the best, but I stuck with veggies, so at least I was able to get in some nutrition under all that oil and salt.

Week 1 - Day 2

Breakfast:

Salad at the lake!  Really nice way to enjoy a meal.

Lunch:

Medium bowl of romaine topped with indian spiced lentils, 2 corn on the cob, half a green apple, peanut butter and jelly sandwich. (NOT a great choice, that was an emotional deal)

I was hungry. Not sure why. I guess my salad was smaller than usual and I did get in a walk, but I didn't think I would be that hungry.

Dinner:

Black bean soup, green smoothie, green tea, carrots & broccoli (though I haven't finished the carrots and I was given way more than I could ever eat in one meal anyways.)

Thoughts:

Today was another not-so-stellar day.  A lot of emotion coupled with a headache. My family has been battling a cold for a week and I think my body is really working hard to fight it. My head just hurt today so I spent the afternoon lying down.  The evening too.  I just hope the extra rest can help me shake this before it gets worse.

I didn't have a perfect plan day. Too much bread/starches. I'm also on fats, now that my daughter just brought me a few date balls that they just made. How can I resist my favorite chocolate date balls?? I can't.

I got in my walk today. :)

Another 6 Week-er

I joined in with some friends for some accountability for the next 6 weeks.  I already know I do better in groups, and I do better when I have to report, so here I am for my daily breakdown.

First, my goals:

1. Dr. Furhman's 6 week plan, paying close attention to hunger cues, likely sticking with 2 meals each day.

2.  Blog my food, exercise, and thoughts each day.

3.  Daily prayer walk, daily floor exercises

4.  No snacking (see #1), especially when dealing with the high stress of my days and/or the afternoon slump.

5.  Rest. I'm adding this in because I'm really strung out right now. It's been a rough year and some good, quality rest on a consistent basis would really do me a world of good in healing and equipping me for an even more intense season ahead.

6. Reward for a week well done (still undecided on the reward)
Week 1: Day 1

Breakfast: Cofee with cream (not ETL),  Big breakfast salad (chopped raw kale, strawberries, green apple, frozen blueberries, raw oats, cocao powder, ground flax) at the lake while watching my girls at swim lessons.

Lunch:  A small bowl of chopped romaine topped with a black bean veggie taco soup type thing.

Dinner:  Mushroom stroganoff sauce served over green beans, about 1/4 cup whole wheat egg noodles (not ETL), two corn on the cob, and a medium salad (romaine, roasted chickpeas, raisins, raw sunflower seeds, dijon mustard).


Thoughts:

I feel really good about my day. I acknowledge that I wasn't 100% on plan, but I sure was close. And, considering how close I was compared to how far I've been lately, I'm extremely happy.

 I won some great victories today:

1. Beat the emotional eating while out at the store today, resisting the desire to treat myself just because I was out of the house.

2.  Beat the false hunger cues by hydrating my body and easily chasing away those fake cravings.

3.  Beat the emotional eating several times throughout the day while dealing with many parenting struggles including, but not limited to: sleep deprivation, screaming, whining, never-satisfied toddler, unexpected guests, necessary corrections for multiple children, and...worst of all...insolence and a crushing realization with a young man that I pray truly does have his heart broken over these issues and finds the Lord's grace...SOON. :(

With all of that, I have to tell you, resisting the ice cream that David brought home for dessert is HUGE.  Insert Your Candidate for Presidency here _________  HUUUUGE.

So, there's my day one. I'm off to bed with my glass of ice water, praying for deep, sweet sleep, the bags under my eyes to one day disappear, the ache in my heart to be lifted, and The Lord to keep showing Himself strong to me during this time of weakness.

So grateful for Him and who He is.  I can be sure I never am without HOPE.

Week 3 - Day 6

Well, yesterday was great.  Wednesday wasn't so much.

And, well, I thought I was have a really great week, overall, but the scale doesn't agree.

I certainly didn't eat like I should have gained 4 pounds. No way.

Sigh.

So, I guess I just keep going forward.  I don't know why that number showed up. Is it the salt from eating out?  I have no clue but I'm pretty frustrated at this point that I can eat right and not see that scale move.

Other points to note, however:

My head cold is almost completely gone
I have had much more energy this week
I'm getting to bed earlier and not waking in the middle of the night with insomnia
I'm not battling awful cravings so much at the mid-afternoon time
I'm satisfied with eating less

So, aside from the scale, I feel like those are certainly worthy places of improvement. Definitely enough to keep me focused and moving forward.

Still, I see my guy binge eating do deal with stress and, I have to admit, it's hard not to join in. This is a really crazy time of life around here. If I can get through without completely giving in to comfort food, junk, and food-as-my-salvation, it will definitely be the grace of God.

It's Friday.  Gulp.  Always a hard time for me.

Week 3 - Day 2

My food:

Breakfast - out to eat with my guy, fried potatoes with spinach, broccoli, mushrooms; 1 slice ww toast with jelly, decaf coffee with flavored creamer

Lunch - Breakfast salad

Snack - trail mix (dried fruit and nuts and seeds) and about 4 bbq potato chips (boy, are those hard to resist!)

Dinner - bowl of Broc-n-shrooms covered with mushroom gravy; decaf coffee and frozen cherries dusted with cocao powder for dessert

My Thoughts:

I feel good about my day. It wasn't perfect and I did cave with those few chips. BUT, it was a FEW chips instead of half a bag or so like I have been doing while out and about with my guys. I was really happy with myself. 

Dinner was filling and I was so happy that I got my lazy self to just cook up some easy food. A bag of broccoli from the freezer with some mushrooms, onion and garlic powder and I have a great meal.  Bonus was the leftover mushroom gravy in the fridge that I reheated for a topping.  A bowl of healthy goodness stepped up to Comfort Food just like that. 

 

I feel like I've got some good momentum going. My step is lighter, I'm getting better sleep, my energy I increasing.  I'm hopeful this continues. The fog of battling illness, sleep deprivation, and the high stress have been getting the better of me.  The stress is still lingering but the others things seem to be lifting a bit. 

I'm hopeful for the days ahead.

Oh! I finally tried this little treat that I learned about from my friends at Love Chard (check out their website and fb page, great, encouraging folks. :) 

Grapefruit wedges dusted with cinnamon.  It's good! I never thought to cut my grapefruit like this and I never dreamed to sprinkle with cinnamon.  What a great taste.  I love finding something new to enjoy. :)

Week 3 - Day 1

My food:

Green Apple, black decaf coffee, bottle of water

Two bowls of leftover 15 bean and veggie soup, head of romaine leaves, whole grapefruit, tea

Cup of decaf coffee with flavored creamer

Bowl of frozen cherries dusted with cocoa powder

My Thoughts:

I feel so great about my day today.  What you don't see above is that I ate that wonderful lunch while my family was pigging out on KFC while visiting after church today. So, there I was in the midst of some of my favorite SAD food, even having to feed some to the baby, and I didn't cave!!! Yay me. :)

I feel pretty good about this week. I stepped on the scale on Thursday and saw a new decade, even. That made me smile. :) 

Saturday I crashed by eating pizza. Way more pizza than I should.  That stunk. But I followed up today with a great day cleansing with raw foods and lots of water.  I'm really happy with how I finished the week. Hopeful for the days ahead. 

I have this thought in my brain that I've got about 1.5 months before life gets packed up in boxes. I'd really like to not even take the size clothes I'm in now with me. Wouldn't it be great if the only clothes I pack to bring to the new house are the next size smaller ones?? :)

Week 2 Day 2 - March 1

My Food:
Breakfast salad

Romaine topped with black beans and a scoop of buffalo chickpea dip, carrot sticks

2 chocolate date balls

My thoughts:

I've been missing, but, overall, I've had some really great days.  I haven't stepped on the scale recently, so I don't know if I'm making progress, but I've been trying and avoiding junk.

That said, we are fighting colds here and I wish we were eating even better so we could get it out of the house for good.

I shared our presentation again tonight at our library. I love doing that. It's so fun to talk with other people and encourage them to make changes for their health.  Two teenaged girls came on a whim and I think they really enjoyed the talk and I know they loved the food. It makes me so happy to think about them being there. 

We've been pretty overwhelmed with some stressful things going on in life right now. I am trying my best to keep focused and eat well so that it doesn't make it all worse. Sickness, intense work schedule for David, and some big changes on the horizon leave me with all sorts of excuses to deal with stress in wrong ways.  I'm really grateful that for the last few days, at least, I've made good choices and am doing pretty well.

Week 1 Day 3 - 2.23.16

My Food:

Breakfast salad

Lunch was taco lentils with rice over romaine and a small scoop of a breakfast salad I made for our friends for lunch (light on the kale, heavy on the fruit)

Dinner was baked falafel burger wrapped in romaine with mustard, oven baked fries with ketchup, green beans with mushrooms

Dessert of frozen cherries dusted with cacao powder.

I did have a cup of coffee while visiting with my friend today. Then I had a cup of decaf with flavored creamer when I got home.  Ugh with the coffee, already!

My thoughts:

Overall, good day.  I'm feeling good about my food choices today. Still need to keep working on those coffee binges. I didn't mind sharing a cuppa with a friend, but I could have easily skipped the cuppa after. David asked me to get one for him on my way home. I didn't need to get one for myself too.  Especially with the creamer.

I got myself to bed on time last night.  Hoping to do the same tonight. 

Week 1 Day 2 - 2.22.16

My Food:

Breakfast salad

His, mine, and theirs

 

For lunch we had our usual Monday Taco Salad.  I was on schedule today so I had it all prepped by 9am.  Just needed to cook up the veggies and add the beans, corn, and seasoning.

 

 

And then it happened.  Stress.  Emotion.  Emotion overkill, to tell all the truth.  And I caved.  Two slices of whole grain bread with mustard.  Down it went. :/

 

For dinner was still just so emotional.  I had two small bowls of the pasta the kids were eating. I was just too fried to come up with something more.  It was good.  The sauce had a buttery texture and taste even though it was made from cauliflower.  Great recipe here.

 

 

Evening dessert was a green apple with peanut butter and decaf black coffee.

 

My thoughts:

 

I just really stink at dealing well with stress.  Especially mothering stress.  I need a coping tool. I prayed. I breathed deep breaths.  I tried stuff. Really I did.  I need to try other stuff.  But I did NOT have the soda, chips, coffee or cookies that people were offering to me.

 

Week 1 Day 1 - 2.21.16

Food:

Breakfast - Breakfast salad
Lunch - leftover Creamy Broccoli Rice Casserole
Dinner - Buffalo Chickpea dip, carrot sticks, broccoli, corn chips and shared a chocolate bar with my guy. *ahem*

Coffee with flavored creamer at evening rehearsal

Exercise:

Family walk this morning.  Walked home from rehearsal tonight.  It's just so lovely out there. Feels like spring.

Thoughts:

I've been fighting some kind of bug. I was battling some bad stomach cramping yesterday and spent the afternoon in bed.  Today I was able to be up and out but still felt queasy and heavy-headed this afternoon.  I did perk up this evening, though, and felt great during rehearsal.

I'm not sure what kind of bug it is, but those of us that have it seem to be doing pretty well fighting it without too much interruption in life.  A little icky, a little tired, but mostly able to keep on with life.

Tomorrow is a new week. I'm looking forward to getting out for more walks and fresh air. We've got a lot of busy work to do around the house, getting ready for our next new adventure.  I'm feeling determined to keep on task with my goals:

> Tea and water, not coffee
> No snacking, fill up at meal time instead
> Work on rebuilding good habits (these and more)
> Begin giving serious prayer to the issue of emotional eating, *pray, don't pick* (at food)
> Bed by 10pm

Just some thoughts on a restful Sunday

First Session of 2016

Blah. What a terrible month for eating. Such a bummer.

But, I'm ready to take on the next Six Week Session. This will welcome in the new year, which I plan to work hard to make a great year.

Clearly I don't do well with not logging my food each day. I need the accountability so I'm going back to doing that.

And....I'm armed with the best new tool!! I've finally got a Vitamix!! Wahooo!!!

I'm excited to highlight this awesome tool for my next session. I plan to use it at least once a day (though I know it will likely be used more often).  So, look for ways that I experiment with this lovely machine.

This morning I enjoyed a simple, tasty smoothie. I love the smooth, creamy texture that it creates. I love, even more, how the self cleaning feature. Boy, do I love anything that cleans itself easily.

So, I guess I'm marking Sunday as my starting day. I may as well. I keep putting it off and messing up. In fact, I've already eaten off the 6-week plan this morning, but I'm still counting today as my start day.

I won't be rewarding myself with tools this time around. I've got the best tool and need to keep the spending down.  I do, however, want to reward myself with some time alone. I've got a lot of learning, studying, and reflecting to do in the coming weeks. I need some time alone to do it. So, even though I'm starting off track for the week, I'm determined to stay strong and work for my Sunday afternoon alone treat. 

I'm not even stepping on the scale until I get some momentum built up. I know I'm going to be completely depressed with the numbers I see on the scale. I don't need to do that to myself.  So far, I'm still fitting in the next size down clothes I moved into from the last session. That's good enough for me to know I can keep going and stay motivated to do well. Hopefully I'll see another new size and decade after this session is completed. 

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Breakfast: Berry, cherry, kale & flax smoothie (made with water), two slices toast with home made currant jam

Phase 2 - Day 1 & 2

Ummm, I'm sort of lost.

I'm not even sure what I'm posting about anymore.

My last two days have been chaotic and messy.

I think I still need to log my food. I feel like I'm all willy-nilly about what I'm eating after this weekend *off*.

Saying that I'm going to start focusing on poor habits seems to have brought them to the surface in full force. Sigh.

Habit #1  Develop healthy and nourishing sleep patterns

I haven't been working as hard on this as I ought. I've been getting to bed early but not going to sleep at a consistent time.  I've also been feeling so unbelievably tired all day long the last two days. I do feel as though I'm recovering from something. I could likely give a list of things but, honestly, I'm pretty sure it's just life. 

Habit #2  Develop healthy and nourishing ways to deal with stress

THIS is my huge downfall.  These last two days I've battled incredible stress and frustrations. My constant battle when this is going on, especially relationship stress, is to grab some kind of junk food. I've been able to stay away from that, mostly, but...I've taken to having little fits by raising my voice, emotional drama, and just hiding away in my room. Sigh. Nothing healthy or nourishing about any of that.

Habit #3 Set aside laziness

This seems to be connected to #1 and #2.  When I'm tired and stressed I want to ignore my work and my responsibilities.  I want someone else to do it all for me. I want to get away from the stressors.  That more than not means that I step away from those duties that would actually help me deal with the stress correctly.  I zone out instead of pray and read.  I push off my work to another who isn't going to do it well.  I look for *easy* when it comes to food and then feel guilty and angry for making that choice.

So, there I am.  I guess I'm working on those habits. But, honestly, I need to see how they are connected and work on one for now.  And, the one that doesn't seem so scary is the sleep habit.  I'm choosing a 10pm (latest) and a 6:30am wake time (latest, unless I'm up with baby in the night) and just focus on that directly. 

I know I need to have these other things in check, but I'm not sure how much this tired brain of mine can handle at this point.  The Lord is gentle with mothers that have young. I'm choosing to be gentle with myself.

And as for what I'm eating, well, it's not much to talk about.  The last two days I've done good with breakfast and lunch. But, I get to dinner and seem to struggle. It's not awful, but it could be a lot better.  And, I've taken to allowing a little creamer in my coffee again.  A little sugar in my trail mix. These are the slow, sneaky habits that kept me from losing weight all last year. WHY would I want to go back to that? Especially when I'm focusing so hard on breaking bad habits? I spent the last 6 weeks breaking free from those poor choices.  I know it's because I feel like I deserve a reward or something for my hard work. But, truly, I need to stop looking to food as my reward. Argh.

So, rebooting myself with tea in place of coffee on a daily basis.  No more convenience store junk. Back to being excited about what I put in my mouth and what I see on the scale.  I hope and pray.

Phase 2 - Day 1

I've decided to take the time to go back and read through the journal entries I wrote during my Daniel Fast two years ago.  I know the Lord taught me important truths during that time and it's obvious I need to revisit those much more regularly than I have been.

This first entry reflected on a couple of verses in the book of Job.  Such words of conviction, humility, promise, healing, and hope.  As I read through those words I was referenced to this passage in Hebrews.  This is where I know I need to land right now.  This idea of discipline is hard, heavy, and something I desperately work to run from in most every area of my life.  Discipline. Just the word makes me cringe.

Definition:

activity, exercise, or a regimen that develops or improves a skill; training: punishment inflicted by way of correction and training.

the rigor or training effect of experience, adversity, etc.: behavior in accord with rules of conduct; behavior and order maintained by training and control:

I will say this regarding discipline and habit training. My first area I need to work on is my sleeping habits.  "Early to bed and early to rise" has always proven to bring greater health in my life. I'm going to be working this week on building a better habit of healthy amounts of sleep as much as it is in my control to do so.  And, silly as it sounds, even that simple act of discipline rubs against my flesh that wants to have *freedom* and *control* and cries out *what about me?!* as though getting more, regular, consistent sleep would somehow bring harm to me in some way. 

Such foolishness wrapped up in this heart of mine.

Phase 2 - 6 Week - Beginning

So, I've been thinking about how I want to do my next 6 week session. I want to change things up a bit. I want to find the next level of focus. I want to work at my weak spots. I want to find something to focus on that's going to keep me going strong, especially over the stressful weeks ahead.

Here's what I'm thinking: I need to dig a little deeper and start working on the habits and sources of those habits that are bringing me struggle. 

Right now I know what to eat. I don't need to research that more. I don't really need to log my daily food because I know what choices to make and what will nourish me as I go. I know what works as far as what I put in my mouth.

However, the WHY, the WHEN, and the HOW MUCH, well, that's still tripping me up.

So, I want to decide on a way to look at my daily choices and the motivation behind those choices and give some thought and prayer into understanding more about my relationship with food, health, exercise, and life. 

How that's going to look, I'm not altogether sure.  In the past I've been greatly convicted by the principles of putting on and putting off.  I've got a detailed post about it here.  For now, I want to return to these thoughts, this scripture, these principles and work on applying them each day.

What will I find? What patterns will be revealed? What will I see in myself that I haven't before? I would love to be changed and win victories in some areas of my life in the coming weeks. 

So, I'm still thinking through how I'll type this up each day. For now, I'm content to dig in deeper on the soul food that will challenge me toward humility, get honest about the hard things that are revealed, and keep working the 6 week eating plan and watch the Lord work to bring healing physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. 

This advent season really is the perfect time to be waiting on the Lord and the mighty work he wants to do in and through me. This time of waiting and expecting and seeking him, it fits. It really fits.

6 Week - COMPLETE!!!

That's it! I did it! My first 6 weeks back at it and I've done it!

Results:

I've broken some really bad eating habits and addictions.

I've built some positive, healthy habits to replace the ones that were derailing me.

I've tried some new recipes.

I've got some great new kitchen tools.

I'm down one pant size.

I can now wear button up shirts and my bras are fitting looser.

I'm not sure my total weight loss. I need to weigh myself in the morning, as I didn't weigh-in today.  However, I am estimating that I've lost about 10 pounds since I started. I can't know exactly since I didn't weigh myself when I started.

Most importantly, I've regained my sense of confidence and hope that I can do this. Again. I no longer feel stuck or like I'm fighting a losing battle. I know that I can keep working hard at this and I'll keep growing stronger, healthier, and free to enjoy my progress.

Now, to make some decisions on how to spend the next 6 weeks. I'm getting bored of recording everything I eat every day. Yet, I know it's created a sense of accountability for me that I don't want to give up.

I also need to decide what kind of reward system I am working on this session.  I could still use some new tools, but I'd also like to work on something that won't create a big expense with the holidays now here.

So, any ideas for me?

6 Week - Day 40, 41, 42

Oh, so where have been for the last three days?? You've missed me? It's the finish line and I disappeared?

Wellllllllll, it's Thanksgiving, dontcha know???!!

I spent Wednesday prepping food and home for the big Feast on Thanksgiving.  Well, I worked until 4pm and then I was d.o.n.e.

That morning David and I went out for breakfast. I had oatmeal, plain, with raisins and a bowl of fruit.  For lunch I had a breakfast salad and a small serving of kung pao veggies that David ordered.  For dinner we had popcorn, chips, some bean tots, and...sigh...French onion dip. 

I caved. I totally gave in to my emotional eating. I had worked so hard all week and I rewarded myself with food.  I'm honestly not sure I feel badly about it. We were having a special night, made some special munchies to enjoy together and I simply wanted an old favorite to go with it. It's out of my plan, but I guess I just decided that it wasn't going to hurt me and I wanted to enjoy it. So, I did.

Thanksgiving Day I started with a breakfast salad and one small breakfast patty. (chickpeas, spices, oats)  I had a few appetizers (one stuffed mushroom, a few chips with bean dip, a couple cut veggies with buffalo sauce) and lunch. My plate was FULL with cornbread stuffing, lentil loaf, gnocchi with spaghetti sauce, Caesar (my own dressing) salad, green beans, and gravy, of course. :) For dessert I had my own pumpkin pie and pumpkin bars with pumpkin frosting.  Yeah, pumpkin all around. For dinner that night I had the rest of the Caesar salad and more pumpkin bars. I think that's all. I can't remember more.

Today I fasted until this afternoon. I enjoyed an amazing day out for coffee with a dear friend. When I got home around 3pm I made a plate of leftovers: Cornbread stuffing, Lentil loaf, green beans and gravy with a pumpkin bar.  Later this evening I had another pumpkin bar (they are small, I promise ;) ) and a green apple and munched on carrot sticks while we watched some tv together.

I've been drinking a lot of water today. I'm feeling pretty good about how I did over the holiday. Mostly, though, I'm so thankful for the time we spent together making our feast and enjoying our day. I had some pretty special helpers and we made an amazing spread to enjoy.

 

So, the holiday was great. I worked hard and I'm pleased with how the meal came together. The foods that our family brought to share helped round it all out and everyone enjoyed eating such a great feast.  I couldn't help but think of how God's abundance overwhelms me like that every day. His goodness surpasses what we can take in. It overflows to us each day, promising to nourish, restore, and fulfill His purposes in our lives.  How can I be anything but grateful and give Him praise?

6 Week - Day 39

Soul Food: Hymn, Speak O Lord

My food:

Breakfast salad (big one!)

Lunch: nothing, but around 3pm while I was working in the kitchen I ate some leftover salad, roasted cauliflower and Brussels sprouts. About 1 cup worth of food

Dinner: This :)

I packed our dinner of twice baked potatoes and bean burgers for our dinner at karate (boys take karate). The burgers were great, but the potatoes really stole the show tonight. :)

 

Dessert: an orange

Exercise: Walk downtown to karate

 

My thoughts:

 

I didn't eat much today until dinner. I'm wishing I had had just one potato half because I was uncomfortably full after dinner. But, boy, was I hungry when I started.

 

I was not happy with the scale this morning. Not at all.

 

Also needing to get more water down. I'm busy in the kitchen this week so I'm forgetting to eat and drink.

 

Looking Ahead:

 

Cooking All the Thanksgiving Things tomorrow!!

 

Well, almost All the Things. :)

6 Week - Day 38

Soul Food: Psalm 119: Kaph; Psalm 34

My Food:

Breakfast salad (with strawberries...finally!!)

Lunch: potatoes, spinach, mushrooms, broccoli at the local diner

Dinner: Caesar salad made with pecans in place of croutons (great new dressing recipe, though I need to use less lemon juice the next time I make it - which will be on Thanksgiving - tonight was a trial run) topped with roasted Brussels sprouts and cauliflower, sautéed broccoli, 1 ladle of cinnamon cocoa chili (a variation of this recipe and my old recipe that I tweaked. I didn't use quinoa, added mushrooms and cinnamon, oh, and celery, too.) with a small bit of vegan cheese sauce

Dessert: Peanut butter munchy squares (these are probably my all time favorite dessert now, but sooooo easy for me to binge on. They taste like my old favorite, no-bake cookies) We alter the recipe in the link by using oats in place of dry cereal.

My Thoughts:

Today was good. I felt really happy with my choices at meal time. I'm a little bummed I overate on the dessert but I'm still pretty happy with how the day went. Honestly, I just end up feeling so full for so long with the meals we eat, I sometimes feel like I am way overdoing it and then get all worried that I'm overeating.  It's hard to believe, but all those veggies really do make you feel so stuffed for a long time.

Looking Ahead:

Tomorrow I'll start getting some foods on my Thanksgiving menu put together. I printed out the recipes and plan to make a binder for them to have for future feasts. I'm excited about the menu. I'll make a separate post to give details.

Today I made the Caesar dressing for the salad and I'm happy with how it turned out. It needs a little tweaking, but I think it's a great start.