It's All About The Food

Thank you all so much for the positive feedback and comments you are giving me as I move into this journey of changing how I look at food. It's been really helpful to me to put all these feelings and self-discoveries into words. Who needs therapy, right? Just blog it!!!

Of course, I have more to babble about, but I have make it quick so I can spend some family time , so it's just all about the food tonight!


I had an early workout this a.m.: a 30 minute run followed by 10 minute upper body strength workout. I had to be out the door quick to pick up Gram, so I went with an easy breakfast - Fiber One Strawberry yogurt sprinkled with Grape Nuts Cereal , CranBran Vitatop and joe-to-go...



The daughters and I took Gram to our local indoor farmer's market for some shopping. It is chock full of amazing fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, meats and lots and lots and lots of baked goods. Did I mention there were lots?? There were so many drool-worthy items. We walked around for a good hour oogling all the yummy stuff, then the daughters were getting hungry, so we stopped at one of the sit-down cafes inside the market. I wasn't very hungry yet, and for some reason, nothing on the menu really jumped out at me. I finally decided on Insalata Florentina - a spinach salad topped with portabello mushroom, roasted red pepper and feta dressed with a balsamic viniagrette...


There were lots more chunks of cheese and peppers under the mound of salad, too. I ended up eating only half the salad and brought the rest home, along with the roll, for another time.

We did some more exploring in the market. I loved the selection of bulk grains and nuts, not to mention the array of cheeses and MORE baked goods. I came across some organic foods and some interesting healthy treats, too. I wasn't much in the mood to buy anything today, but next visit, I will definitely give some of those treats a try. I did end up with a bag of these pretzels, though...


After we got home, I had a serving (3) for a snack...


I did some kitchen clean-up the rest of the afternoon, only to dirty it up again for dinner! I had thoughts of making calzones for dinner but, I wanted something a little different than the traditional calzone. I saw the Dominex Eggplant Cutlets in my freezer and thought it would be fun to make Eggplant Parmesan Calzones. I baked the cutlets in the oven for 15 minutes until crisp, then set aside. I rolled out Trader Joe's Whole Wheat Pizza Dough, spread some homemade marinara on it, layered on the eggplant cutlets and topped it with some shredded mozzarella and a couple tbsp. parmesan cheese. I folded it over, sealing the edges and baked in 400 degree oven for about 15 minutes. With a side salad, it was the perfect Friday night meal...

Mangia!

Now, I know I said that I didn't feel much like buying any goodies at the farmer's market, however, Gram bought up a storm! I think because she is diabetic and can't have them, she buys them for everyone else!! She bought a vat of chocolate covered pretzels for the daughters and gooey sticky buns for the husband. I just posted yesterday about being able to have it all, remember? Today was definitely a test in being able to "walk the walk". It's funny, I really wasn't affected by looking at all the food today. I was intrigued by it all and enjoyed looking at all of the interesting and delicious foods but, I think it was a big trigger today. Maybe too much all at one time. I know I can have anything I want in moderation, but this day conjured up that old dieting mentality. It's almost as if I was looking at a buffet of "don't haves"; a running list of all the things that I have "given up" during my years of dieting. Kinda like a "food-life flashing before my eyes", so to speak. I was fighting some big cravings when I got home. I kept telling myself it was okay, I can have something if I really want it. But, I didn't really want anything, I just craved something, anything, all of it. I fought the negative feelings that were coming and the guilt feelings. This is okay, I kept saying. So, I decided it was okay to eat a few chocolate covered pretzels...

And I wanted it to be okay to eat a whole lot more, but I stopped. I got to taste them and they were good, really good, and that's all I need. I don't need to scarf down half the bag because it is okay to eat a few chocolate covered pretzels. Yes! But, the dieting feelings were still in the background. I did feel a little guilty. I realize now why: deep down I still want to see a loss on the scale and I worry that eating chocolate covered pretzels and a small taste of ...

(oh, yes I did)... will keep me from losing. So, to be honest, I felt a little uneasy tonight. This past week, I had some pretty good momentum with intuitive eating and I was feeling so liberated from those heavy dieting thoughts. But, they made a mini-appearance today and it was kinda sucky to feel those feelings again. I know this change will take time and I'm going to have these "tests" along the way. I think what's going to matter most is consistency not perfection. So, I'm shakin' these stinky feelings off and I'm excited to keep on keeping on!

Have a great night, everyone!!!

Catch Up

It's been a day of playing catch-up. I woke up at my 6:30 a.m. "Florida exercise time" -ugh! I spent a few minutes blog reading(still not caught up - you all have been so busy!!), then geared up for a workout. It never happened though because the rations were low, so I needed to head out to grocery shop instead. My shopping list was a mile long with veggies and fruits. I am craving them like crazy and would have bought every fruit and veg in the store! Who knew a week of staring at chicken nuggets, fries and hot dogs would cause such PMS-ish cravings!

Along with my produce desires, I was really missing Ezekiel english muffins. Thankfully, I had one lonely Cinnamon Raisin guy left in the freezer. I did a quick toast and topped with 1 tbsp. lite cream cheese for a yummy 3 POINT breakfast before the grocery shopping marathon...


Another item on my list was greek yogurt. The lovely folks at Stonyfield Farm sent me some coupons to try out their Oikos Organic Greek Yogurt (thanks, Kristina!) and I was really looking forward to tasting it. I was able to find 2 flavors of nonfat - Vanilla and Blueberry. I decided to have the Vanilla for lunch today...


This 5.3 oz. container has 110 calories, 0 fat and hello--15 gr. protein!!!! The ingredients are all natural, organic and contain no artificial sweeteners. As I was scooping it into a bowl, I noticed it had a rich and creamy consistency unlike the nonfat yogurt that I usually buy. I topped it with some beautiful strawberries and 1/4 c. Grape Nuts cereal for an "unusual-for -me "4 POINT lunch...

This was so rich and filling! I loved the consistency of the yogurt; even though it was nonfat, it had a "full fat" feel to it. It wasn't very sweet tasting and I didn't pick up much of the Vanilla flavor, so this was a very different yogurt experience from the artificially flavored type that I have become accustomed to. Overall, I really liked it! I am excited to try the Blueberry flavor to see if there is a bit more sweetness to that. I don't normally think of yogurt as a "meal", but this was so filling that I was good to go until way late in the afternoon! Can't say that about my other yogurts :)

After lunch, I headed to Trader Joe's for the remainder of my list. I also got a million and one things that weren't on my list! That store is just impossible to get out of without finding a bunch of yummy new items. One thing that caught my eye was this...

I love Tabbouli! My mom first introduced me to it; she used to make it and I always enjoyed it, especially with pitas! I had 2/3 c. (3 POINTS) for a snack today with TJ's flax and honey flatbreads (1 POINT). So delish...

I finally got everything put away and prepped some veggies just in time to make dinner! No Friday night pizza; the husband and daughters ordered it last night when we got home from the airport, so I made Philly Cheesesteaks and Fries. I decided to make mine into a wrap using a La Tortilla Factory Smart and Delicious Tortilla, 1 Landis sliced Beef Sirloin Sandwich Steak, slice 2 % cheese, sauteed mushrooms, onions, a squirt of ketchup and a couple pickles. Instead of regular fries, I nuked a 7 oz. sweet potato for a couple of minutes, then diced and pan-fried them in 1 tsp. olive oil. An awesome 8 POINT dinner...

I did have a couple of chocolate covered almonds for dessert but forgot to take a pic - oops! I am out of practice!!!! A week off will do that to ya!

So glad to be back!