Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Day 16- Can I just get a pizza and forget this whole thing?

I think this has been my toughest day yet.  The sugar cravings are turning me into a bit of a lunatic. I threw something at my boyfriend tonight when he refused to take me out for pizza and ice cream. I researched desserts for hours with little success, although I'm secretly planning to push the envelope tomorrow and make something, anything. I am about to lose it.  I've also considered adding turkey to my diet until this program is over. I have been a vegetarian for 14 years and only once in that time did I break down and ate turkey while I was sick and anemic from protein deficiency. This is drastic. I never act on initial impulses so I will sit on this for a few days. I am hungry. I want a cookie. No, I want a box of cookies. This better work.  If I'm going to continue to have pain,  I'd rather it be from something delicious and worth it.

This is what I use in smoothies

Tuna salad lettuce wrap
Food Journal Day 15
Breakfast: hemp protein shake with spinach, carrot juice, cultured coconut milk, raspberries, splash apple juice (protein=16g)
Lunch: tuna salad lettuce wraps (avocado, tahini, celery, cucumber, dill, lemon juice, hemp seeds, toasted pumpkin seeds) yummy! (protein=37g)
My favorite tuna is RainCoast Trading solid albacore- while it is more expensive, it's worth its weight- all tuna-no water and it's delicious.
Snack: mini pickles

Dinner: baked salmon, gingered collard greens, cauliflower "mashed potatoes (protein=32g)
Snack: applesauce (to help get the pills down at night)
Daily Protein estimate 85g



Salmon, chard, cauliflower
Dinner portions
Food Journal Day 16 Wednesday
Breakfast: protein shake with carrot juice, spinach, cultured coconut milk, blueberries, 4 drops of stevia (trying it instead of fruit juice to reduce sugar content) (protein=15g)
Lunch: leftover salmon and greens, nectarine (protein=30g)
Snack: mini pickle, beet and sweet potato chips
Dinner: seared ahi tuna with sesame seed crust, lettuce, ponzu sauce (forgot to ask for it on the side) (protein=30g)
Daily Protein estimate 75g

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Day 15-Where do I begin?

Do I begin with slicing my finger open and using that as an excuse not to type for 5 day?
Do I begin with "The Superbowl Party" that almost ruined my streak of good behavior?
Or how my boyfriend had to literally pry a bag of chocolate coconut macaroons out of my cold "dead" hands at the store last night?
Well, lesson learned this week:  I need to write more often because I've been on a roller coaster of emotions and now you are only going to get the cliff notes.

I started out feeling pretty good, my cravings aren't ruling my days and I've been feeling better about cooking and trying new things. I am looking forward to a list of ideas my friend Virginia (The Kitchen Mistress) is working on for me, and I've been continuing with daily research on what foods are power houses of anti-inflammatory magic and incorporating those daily.  While researching, I've come across many contradictory ideas and everyone has a different opinion about everything. Take the Glycemic Index- the ratings are all over the place. If you are trying to find out if grapes, for example, are OK to eat, good luck because depending on the website, you'll see low, medium and high ratings. They respond by stating each item may be tested differently, and also depends on where they come from.  Well, that is just not helpful. What is the use.  I must remember to take all the information I soak in with a grain of salt.
Then the Superbowl party, ugh.
I knew I was going to be challenged so in defense, I brought all my own food. I made homemade pesto shrimp, toasted pumpkin seeds, and a giant fruit salad. I thought I had a chance. Until I saw the brownies. And cookies. And cheesecake.
It didn't help that I wasn't in the best mood, the interview I just came back from was a waste of time, plus rejection sucks even when I didn't want the job. Oddly, the Frito's caught my eye, not a snack I typically eat, but I watched the bowl obsessively and salivated over the imagined salty crunch.  I think I was trying to distract myself from the desserts. By the 3rd quarter, all I could focus on was how to sneak a brownie without my boyfriend noticing (my personal food police, thank goodness for him) or hide a cookie in my jacket pocket for later. The only way I got through it was telling him what I wanted to do, so he had his eyes on me the whole time.  I really felt like an addict, I got mad and my brain even concocted an old habit I once had-smoking. I knew at that point I was going into desperation mode so it was time to leave. Amazingly I got through the night without any slip-ups and I am really proud of myself for not giving in. It was one of the toughest back and forth battles my brain has fought since beginning the program (reasons to eat a brownie vs. Stephanie knows better).

On a different note, with a suggestion from a reader, Dr. M., I am going to try and count my protein intake for awhile to get an idea of how deficient my diet is. I have always struggled with this but without my tempeh go-to, it feels like I'm going to eat all the fish of the sea. Any ideas you have for protein are welcome (except meat, it's not gonna happen) or any other comments you have as well. It drives me to keep writing when I know someone out there is reading, and when you respond it's the easiest way to make someones day!


Food Journal Day 12 Saturday
Breakfast: protein shake with spinach, carrot juice, strawberries
Lunch: salad with salmon, artichoke, pumpkin seeds, avocado, balsamic vinaigrette
Snack: herbal tea (Traditional Medicinal's Throat Coat has a wonderful sweet flavor)
Dinner: leftover roasted vegetables, half grapefruit, peppermint tea

Food Journal Day 13 Sunday
Breakfast: surprise! another protein shake with spinach, carrot juice, blueberries and apple juice
Lunch: (smoothie at 11a, interview at 230p, then off to Superbowl party where "dinner" was all night)
Dinner: pesto shrimp, fruit salad (apples, kiwi, strawberries, blueberries)


Food Journal Day 14 Monday
Breakfast: protein shake with the norm
Lunch: leftover pesto shrimp, half grapefruit
Snack: sweet potato and beet chips with half avocado
Dinner: poached sole over greens with warm vinaigrette