Tag: Feta

PlanetBox Lovin’

Small blog hiatus is over! Sometimes I just need a break from talking about what I’m eating and doing and just do. Fellow bloggers, am I alone here?

I’ve been making a real effort to spend more time outside. It’s crazy, but I can go days and days and never step outside. It just makes me feel unbalanced, so I bought this little bistro table for $20 at one of those discount/family dollar stores because I was desperate and live 35 minutes from anywhere else. And I love it! It’s real glass and metal and a perfect table for two.

We’ve started walking/wogging in the neighborhood in the evenings again. My loop is a quarter mile and I find that I can do about seven or eight loops in an hour by wallking/jogging. It feels good to be outside again, and humbling to feel like I’m starting over again with physical activity.

I’ve been eating things like homemade hummus in cucumber cups and topped with paprika. So refreshing and surprisingly filling.

Rediscovering my love for egg and cheese sandwiches. One of these keeps me full for hours and they also prevent me from splurging on my fast food biscuit cravings.

My new favorite chicken recipe is so easy! Roll chicken breasts or thighs in jerk seasoning, sprinkle with sea salt and drizzle with honey and olive oil. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes (or until done).

I finally broke down and purchased a PlanetBox and it’s a-mazing! I love that everything is portioned out and it feels kind of creative putting these meals together. I also like that I can snack out of it throughout the day to stay full. I calculated the calories in the box and it came to about 400. This box includes a strawberries, homemade granola cookie, spinach salad with peppers and almonds, a small bunch of homemade dark chocolate biscotti, whole wheat pasta salad with feta and tomatoes, and a chicken sausage.

Chicken and spinach pizza – yum!

I took this little turtle out on the deck. Yes, this happened. Yes, he has a pink leash. I can’t make this stuff up.

And working on keeping this birthday orchid alive! Which is very little work at all (three ice cubes a week!). I’ve always wanted an orchid, they are such pretty, intricate little flowers.

And…

I’m down 15 pounds! Not gonna lie, my weight spiked up during birthday week (and seemingly march in general) or I’d be down more, but I’m down again and heading straight toward the -20 pound point! My paints are loose!

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On The Mend

I’ve been on the couch since Thursday afternoon nursing a sprained knee. Picture me tripping over and ON a dog. Who does that? I laugh because it’s pretty ridiculous. Thursday was the worst of the pain, Friday was better and today, while it still hurts a lot to bend my knee, I can move much better. Luckily, I’ve had these two to keep me company:

I’ve been keeping a food journal these past couple of days and would like to move that documentation on the blog. I always say that though so we’ll see what happens!

Yesterday mid-morning I was starving and needed something quick, easy and filling to make. My friend Courtney’s Tamale Pie came to the rescue! Oh my, this was glorious and so darn easy…

To make this all you need is a roll of prepared polenta, diced tomatoes, salsa (optional), black beans (one can), salt, cumin, garlic, green onions and cheese. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Crumble warm polenta in the bottom of a medium to small casserole dish. Top with black beans. Sprinkle with salt, cumin, and garlic. Add a layer of diced tomatoes (I used 3/4 of a very large can), then sprinkle with seasoning again. Finish with green onions and cheese. Bake for 30 minutes.

I ate two plates of this and another serving a few hours later with a turkey sandwich. Snacks included three clementines, a bite of turkey, and a little feta. I drank tons of water. I’m drinking about 12 oz. every hour which I believe is helping with the injury swelling. I like to think so at least.

And then later on in the evening I made vegetable fried rice and ate about a cup.

****

This morning I gave myself a little spa treatment. I was feeling gross and restless and desperately needed to shave my legs. The miracles of a hot shower!

I had a banana in the early morning and then made this plate before noon:

A slice of oatmeal bread with butter, three slices of local/nitrate-free bacon, and scrambled eggs with feta, green pepper and green onion. And more water!

I’m working really hard on not eating out of hunger. Some days are better than others and I’m finding comfort and control in a daily food diary and weekly weigh-ins. Yesterday was a hard day. I wanted to snack on everything, and I just had to sit with it. I remind myself every day that it will get easier. Admitting that it’s not going to always be effortless is important to me. At some point yesterday I wanted to eat so bad that I was literally biting down on my hard plastic straw and I knew then, that these are the hard days of breaking a habit.

I think before I would have thought that my desire to eat more was caused by being bored, lonely, sad or deserving. I would have believe it was because I wasn’t getting enough of one type of food or another. And the more I do it and the more I practice, the more I realize that I’m beating a bad habit and nothing more than that. I’m breaking a 20+ year habit of eating despite of hunger.

Today is much better, I am getting restless though. I’m making sure to move every hour and to stretch my legs to prevent them from getting stiff. Do you guys have any recommended exercises that I can do for the next week or so while I’m on the mend? Something that I can do at home with my upper body and good leg without impact on the bad knee? I’d love to hear!

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Hello Blue Skies

First week of eating better plan is down. Last week I ate really well, loosely tracked my calories, lost seven pounds, was incredibly productive, two days of Zumba and one day of strength training. I couldn’t have asked for a better week.

Here is a sampling of what I ate:

honey apples with raw almond butter and raw honey

sweet potato with sea salt, olive oil, cayenne pepper and garlic

peppers and steak with cauliflower “rice”

lots of local fruit

eggs with mushrooms and chevre

feta and local beef meatballs with homemade tomato and basil sauce over local zucchini

I also had ribs, chicken, kale, salads and some un-paleo rice and peanut butter. I only had a craving once for sugary/floury comfort food which was quickly put out of my mind when I knew how physically horrible I would feel. I feel good eating this way- clear, less moody, less depressed. Not up or down, just like a (relatively) normal person. I had one episode of feeling depressed and that was after eating way too much peanut butter before realizing that it was made with sugar. I remember thinking “why do I feel so bad?” It’s taken me a very long time to realize that my issues with depression are directly related to food and activity.

I don’t feel deprived, bloated or unsatisfied. I eat when I’m hungry. I’m not overly concerned about calories. I just feel a little more sane. And I’m losing weight.

I have three sessions of Zumba planned, the new Insanity workout DVD to try and another session of strength training.

Here’s to another successful week!

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