For the last few months, we have done quite a bit of traveling, which generally translates to compromising the quality and healthfulness of what Im eating. I wont go into details, but it seemed after I got off our cruise in August, I kept on cruising in my mind with regard to my eating. I kept thinking, Oh, I will just start again tomorrow, or on Monday." This thinking never ever works for me.
Finally, a few weeks ago I buckled down and started my version of Chef AJs Ultimate Weight Loss Challenge. Earlier this summer, I donated some money to her IndieGoGo campaign to fund finishing her first season of her Foodytv.com show, Healthy Living with Chef AJ. If you havent checked it out yet, I would highly recommend it! She has some plant-based rock stars on her show including Dr. Esselstyn and Dr. Campbell. In new episodes she has recently filmed but are not up yet include Lindsay Nixon from Happy Herbivore and Wendy from Healthy Girls Kitchen.
As part of my donation perk, I got a digital copy of her 21-Day Recipe Guide for Ultimate Weight Loss. You can find more information about her full program here. Her full program comes with video and audio downloads as well as the 21-day recipe guide, but I didnt quite have the budget to afford the full thing.
So I went at it alone with a few give and takes here and there. Here is generally what I did/have been doing:
Morning: water and tea on the way in to work
Breakfast: 1 lb raw, water sauteed, steamed, or roasted non-starchy veggies
Mid-morning snack (if Im feeling hungry, but generally I havent been): fruit or fruit with a bit of raw oats soaked in soy milk
Lunch: baked potato, vegetable or bean soup/chili, apple or other fruit
Afternoon snack (if Im hungry): 1/2-1 lb raw veggies
Dinner: bean and rice or bean and potato dinner with more veggies
The first day I did this, it seemed like a lot of food! And it was! In the week or two following, I found that I wasnt hungry for my mid-morning snack, but enjoyed my afternoon veggie snack on my way home and before making dinner. One of the items I am still needing to work on is not to overeat at dinnertime. I make these meals at home every night, and tend to overestimate how much I need to plate for myself.
Some items I have limited or removed from my diet include excess salt besides the occasional low sodium soy sauce, all oils, refined carbs, nuts and seeds (which ARE NOT bad, but I have a hard time limiting myself within my caloric needs), baked goods, avocados, olives, most alcohol, and obviously all animal products.
Another aspect that I have been working on are managing my cravings and to limit my exposure to "food porn". Being a blogger, I like to follow other bloggers to see the beautiful and creative recipes they make, but this really does nothing more than tease my brain and cause me to have an unhealthy relationship with food. Its hard to admit, AND even harder to stop, but until I get a full handle on my cravings, my weight, and overall health, food blogs are a no-no for me. Wendy at Healthy Girls Kitchen explains this same thing very well here.
Overall, I have been keeping my meals very simple. It is when I make more complicated recipes with dozens of ingredients that I get into trouble with overeating. These past few weeks I have had staples of brown rice and baked sweet potatoes. One of my lifesavers has been Donnas Cheeze Sauce that I found on Nutmeg Notebooks blog here. I find that it goes well with just about everything and is potato and carrot-based, so it follows my rules and goals.
Ah... that seemed long-winded, but I wanted to give an update with what I have been doing during my absence. My next post will be about my results so far, so stay tuned!
Health and Happiness,
Amy
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