Measurement Day

This morning my weight was down a kilo since last Saturday. So that’s 2kg in 2 weeks. How did I do it? Involuntary portion control - my tummy started cramping every time I had more than a few mouthfuls of food. But while the scales are showing good news, the measurements are not. My ‘squishy bits’ (chest and waist) have increased since last weekend (hips are the same), while my shoulders and thighs (where I’m trying to put on muscle) have decreased. So it reads like I’ve put on fat and lost muscle. Nooooo! I haven’t been to the gym for nine days (stomach hasn’t been up to it) so hopefully things will reverse themselves once I go back.

Since eating the yoghurt yesterday my stomach has felt much better. Perhaps I just needed some good bacteria in there to sort things out?

Breakfast today was sprouted grain toast topped with refried kidney beans (Eden Organic brand – not very tasty), salsa and avocado, with a side of sautéed mushrooms:

 

For a snack I had some low-fat Greek yoghurt with grated apple, walnuts and cinnamon:

 

Lunch was an ‘almost’ Greek salad – romaine lettuce, tomato, mushrooms, red onion, diced tempeh, chickpeas and an olive-oil dressing:

 

I think tofu would have been much nicer in this salad – I’m not a big fan of tempeh but I had some in the fridge that needed using up.

Since the refried kidney beans I had at breakfast were pretty bland, I decided to try and disguise them in something for dinner. Enter the Mexi Pizza. I used the ‘Spicy Style’ version with the following ingredients:

• Easy Bakers gluten-free baking mix to make the base
• refried kidney beans
• Old El Paso spicy bean salsa
• Nando’s hot peri peri sauce
• oregano, cumin, chilli powder, black pepper, garlic powder
• low-fat cheddar
• jalapenos
• red pepper
• onion

This got me sweating but it tasted sooooo good!

For dessert I had a mixture containing chocolate protein powder, cocoa, cherries and walnuts:

I love cherries.

Butterfingers

Just wanted to point out an awesome article by Ryan Andrews on the Precision Nutrition site today: Be Your Own Nutrition Expert.

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Got out for a walk with Rob and TJ this morning. Here’s TJ waiting to cross the road:

 

We bumped one of our neighbours and his dog in the park. ‘Say hello to my little friend’:

When we got home I had porridge with soy milk, raisins and almonds for breakfast:

 

Mid-morning I went to get a snack out of the fridge. Yesterday’s leftover smoothie was still sitting in there so I reached for the glass… and it slid right through my fingers and smashed on the floor:

 

That took a while to clean up (amazing how far all the liquid and glass went!) so for a snack I just grabbed a small container of chopped pineapple I had in the fridge:

That didn’t keep me full for long so I had an early lunch – a sandwich made with hummus, shredded lettuce, sliced avocado, tomatoes, red onion, sprouts and a sprinkle of cajun spice:

 

Now that was filling!

Later I had a snack of some walnuts and an apple:

 

Rob wasn’t that hungry at dinnertime so I had another snack to keep me going until later. Low-fat Greek yoghurt and strawberries:

This was so good! I haven’t had Greek yoghurt for ages and I’d forgotten how much I liked it.

Dinner was grilled salmon with lentils and spinach, and slow roasted tomatoes:

 

The best thing about this was the tomatoes – they were so sweet and had lots of flavour!

For dessert I had some chopped walnuts, dried figs and cinnamon mixed together: 

I love figs.

Peanut Butter and Pizza

After having the creme egg last night I work up thirsty but not hungry. So I started my breakfast with a smoothie with made with water, vanilla whey protein, banana and rainbow chard. I whizzed it a bit too long in the blender and it came out like an ice-cream soda:

 

The shake didn’t sit well in my stomach though so I didn’t get through it all:

A bit later I had Peanut Butter Cup Oatmeal (I made mine with soy milk and less stevia). It was quite rich – like having dessert for breakfast:

 

That kept me going for quite a while, so my next meal was a late lunch. I used up the last of my refried black beans and had them on sprouted grain toast again with avocado, salsa and salad:

 

I saw Meghann’s BBQ Pork Pita Pizza a few days ago and, since I had all the vegetable ingredients, decided to do a variation of that for dinner. Instead of the pita bread base, I used this gluten-free pizza base made from polenta, and instead of pork I used chicken:

another angle:

 

It wasn’t a huge meal so a bit later I had a snack. Some pineapple:

and hummus with carrots:

A yummy day of food!

Custard Apple

I got out this morning and did a bit of walking around. My stomach didn’t like the movement that much, but the activity seems to have increased my appetite!

We got a custard apple in our fruit and vege delivery last week and by this morning it was very ripe. I decided to make custard apple oatmeal for breakfast. I made the oats with soy milk, cooked the custard apple into it, mixed in a bit of vanilla protein powder at the end, and topped it with some chopped pecans:

 

I got some of the texture and tang of the custard apple in the oats, but I think I would have enjoyed the custard apple more on its own.

For a snack I had hummus, carrots and celery:

Then a small coffee to help me meet my work deadline:

 

The benefit of not drinking coffee very often is that it has an immediate effect – I only needed half of this cup!

I enjoyed yesterday’s lunch so much I had it again today (sprouted grain toast topped with refried black beans, avocado, salsa and coriander, with salad on the side):

 

For a snack I had a sliced apple:

and some crunchy peanut butter mixed with cocoa and stevia:

I felt like ‘Mr Ed’ eating this – it really stuck to the roof of my mouth!

Dinner was a garlic tempeh stir-fry with peanut sauce:

And tonight I also had some dessert. Half a very ripe custard apple (so yummy!):

and a creme egg:

I forgot how sickly sweet these are!

Three Square Meals

My stomach is almost back to normal, although I still don’t have much of an appetite. For the last five years or so I've eaten at least five small meals a day. Today I only managed three.

For breakfast I had Blueberry Dumpling Oatmeal (I used soy milk and less stevia):

I would normally have a smoothie with my breakfast but I just couldn’t fit it in.

Lunch was a piece of sprouted grain toast topped with refried black beans, salsa and avocado, with some salad on the side (this was yum!):

Dinner was leftovers from yesterday's tofu stir-fry:

and half a pear:

Had a late night working to meet a deadline, propped up by a coffee with lactose-free milk:

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Chelle, something odd happened with my comments yesterday and I can't get them to publish. Rainbow chard is similar to silver beet but it has coloured stalks.

(pic from Miss Organic)

Coconut Oil

For breakfast this morning I had a smoothie made with berries, vanilla protein powder, rainbow chard and flax oil:

plus a piece of sprouted grain toast spread with coconut oil:

Coconut oil supposed to be a digestive-friendly compound - it has strong antiviral, antimicrobial and antibacterial properties that help rid the body of toxins without interfering with the activity of friendly flora (source) - and I already had some in my pantry so thought I’d give it a go!

Since breakfast was quite small, I had a biggish snack composed of sprouted grain toast, avocado, tomato, cucumber and onion:

(Late) lunch was a stir-fry with tofu, cabbage, onion, zucchini, celery and capsicum, cooked with sesame oil, chilli, tamari and garlic. I had mine with a little bit of brown rice and sprinkled some coriander and sesame seeds on top:

For a snack I had a vanilla protein shake:

and two mini caramel Easter eggs (x2)

Think it’s probably the ‘cleanest’ Easter I’ve ever had!

Feijoas

After being house-bound for the last 72 hours I was hanging to do something this morning. Had a lovely walk to the park. When we got home I had a breakfast smoothie made with water, chocolate protein powder, banana and rainbow chard:

Then I made the mistake of having some granola – my stomach was in agony afterwards. Anyway, I had it with lactose-free milk, and diced strawberries and feijoas:

Feijoas are common in New Zealand (people often have feijoa trees growing in their back yards in the upper North Island) but quite hard to come by in Melbourne. They are shaped like a roma tomato, but have firm green skins:

To eat them you cut them open and scoop out the flesh:

The texture is quite grainy. This one was only just ripe, so it was quite tangy. They can become quite sweet when very ripe though, almost like a banana.

The granola was pretty sweet so the tangy feijoa made a nice contrast. It was all a bit too much for my stomach though.

Craig made roast lamb for lunch, so I just had a side plate with a little bit of meat, a piece of pumpkin, a couple of small pieces of sweet potato and some broccoli:

Later in the day I had a snack consisting of some grapes:

and a vanilla protein shake:

Then a bit later another snack of an apple and almond butter

My stomach has definitely shrunk!