BellaOnline Forums Food and Wine Low Carb Lori's Food Journal

April 21:
Breakfast-coffee my husband made at 7/11. He puts in a cup of that chocolate creamer. 1 oz. cheddar cheese stick.
Snack-A fresh apple
Lunch-Avocado, tomato, red onion, Pepper Jack cheese wrapped in lots of fresh iceberg lettuce with just a bit of light mayo, oil and vinegar.
Snack-1 glass of lite chocolate soy milk, peanuts
Dinner-Surf and Turf salad (homemade) with 3 oz. grilled steak and imitation crab, cucumbers, red onion, micro-greens, fresh lemon citrus dressing.
Dessert-Chamomile tea

I am intent on making all of our meals at home this week.

That is a great plan Lori - I know I will be, since I'm doing this juice cleanse! Plus it's more eco-friendly. Perfect in so many ways!

April 22-
Breakfast-Green Goodness Juice from Bolthouse.
Snack-Fresh apple
Lunch-Fresh green salad with sesame ginger dressing
Snack(s)-Kale chips, peanuts (ten), a cup of clear fish broth
Dinner-Thai tofu lettuce wraps with shredded broccoli, carrots and cucumber. Peanut sauce, orange chili sauce. I tasted some of the chicken bits that went into my family's chicken lettuce wraps.
Dessert-Lite chocolate soy milk.

I was very hungry today. Not having protein in early in the day seemed to make me hungrier. I was snacking like a fiend and it took great willpower not to eat a high-carb snack! At dinner, I ate a lot of roughage and tofu so that satisfied my appetite.

Lori - I definitely make sure my morning shake always has protein in it for that reason. So that's a good thing to watch for! Protein is an important part of every diet.

It sounds like you did wonderfully! Congratulations!

We'll have to get you to try some veggie shakes in the future sometime. Veggie shakes have lots of nutrition without much sugar.

April 23:
Breakfast-A lovely frittata (baked omelet)with shredded broccoli, cheddar, garlic and tomatoes, topped with salsa. Coffee with half and half and Splenda.
Snack-1/2 cup cottage cheese with pineapple
Lunch-1/2 ham sandwich with mustard on 1 slice of 7 Grain bread. Was getting weary of eating salad veggies all day yesterday.
Snack-Coffee with half and half and Splenda and a squirt of whipped cream. Daughter and I realize how it suppresses our appetites!
Dinner-Sloppy Joes (mine will be open-faced on one slice of 7 Grain bread) Carrot sticks, mini-peppers with ranch.
Dessert: Lite chocolate soy milk. (I posted that this was my dessert last night but I actually skipped dessert yesterday. I can't go back to edit the post if I wait too long.)

Still making better choices. Half sandwich instead of whole. No chips. And no extra side starch at dinner. I was tempted to make Irish Nachos (french fries topped with melted cheese, bacon, green onions and ranch) but replaced that plan with the veggie sticks. It's only 3:20 here now but I will still to the dinner plan or post an update if anything changes. And still cooking at home.

Lori -

That is awesome, that you are doing so well. It is good to have a mix of items to choose from!

DAY SEVEN of our new and forever lifestyle! Woo Hoo!

It's supposed to be a "splurge" day according to the plan by our former trainer but we are not taking it. We *did* however take a splurge *meal* since it is National Administrative Assistant's Day. My daughter is my assistant. Gave her any Kindle download she wants and the choice of where to go for lunch, and she chose an Indian restaurant. (So, I slipped up this once as far as homemade meals this week.)

April 24:
Breakfast-cottage cheese and pineapple
Lunch-Indian food. Lunch buffet. No dessert. You don't want to know all the luscious dishes we ate, do you? Garlic naan, mini-samosas,chicken tikka masala, chicken tikka, palaak paneer, garbanzo bean masala, vegetable fritters, chutney, salad. Just a bit of each though. And I did not partake of every dish offered.
Snack-none.
Dinner-Chicken piccata with fresh lemon and capers. Fresh asparagus.
Dessert-I keep listing lite chocolate soy milk as dessert but I end up not drinking it and not having anything for dessert.

After the lunch, my daughter remarked that usually she would look forward to a splurge but it wasn't that appealing to her this time and she isn't looking forward to the next one. She said she never felt deprived during the previous week, and eating more than we should does not feel good.

By george, I think we've made eating smaller portions and healthier choices our *preferred* lifestyle! Our stomachs have shrunk. And guess what? After only one week of low-carb eating and walking daily, our waistlines have shrunk. She put on some jeans and a blouse that she couldn't fit in before and they are loose. She was very gratified to see that.

It sounds impossible, but it is true. She is sold on the low-carb lifestyle. Not the high fat, high protein low-carb program but the low-carb, healthier choices plan.

Lori -

Wow, you guys are doing so well! That is fantastic news that you are enjoying it and that you're seeing results.

I definitely agree that over-stuffing - while it might seem symbolically like "fun" - rarely ends up being fun. For me it's always better to truly savor a few bites of something vs eating so much that I'm unhappily sick. I.e. I lose the enjoyment if I overeat something.

It sounds like you guys did perfect at the buffet - enjoy bites of a variety of items, and savor the flavors!

Definitely most books on low carbing talk about the focus being on a balanced diet. If someone just ate protein all day long they would die. Their body needs other nutrients. So the key is about a healthy balance of good proteins, good fats (like omega-3 oils) and then good carbs. We're trying to avoid the "unhealthy" carbs like excess sugars and high-fructose-corn-syrup.

Lori, please don't think of yourself as slipping. You and your family are doing great and it's a "lifestyle" remember.

My husband and I call it "Zag" day, as in zig-zag. We zig in our routine then allow ourselves a zag.

Keep it up!

Thanks, Terri! I love it! Okay so yesterday was a "zag" day for us.

I planned on just having a "zag" lunch but it turned out the our dinner meal did not go as planned. I was in the editors' chat and my hubby decided it was too late for me to cook so he took us out to dinner at Mimi's Cafe. ugh. Yes, TWO meals out yesterday. I aimed for an all homemade meals week!

So the update on the April 24 dinner (oh, gosh I hate to post this...)

Dinner-two garlic flatbread crisps, a slice of baguette with sun-dried tomato butter, three spoonfuls of my daughter's French Onion Soup, six spoonfuls of my husband's red bean soup, some of the Danish Blue Cheese and Walnut Salad, some of the Spinach and Strawberry Salad, a blueberry muffin top with butter, some of the Scallops and Corn Chowder soup. And some chamomile tea. We tend to get dishes and share them all.

SO, it really was a two-meal zag day for us. The Mimi's meal would have been find if not for those luscious high-carb breads. Between us three, though, we have leftovers of both salads and my daughter and I will eat them tonight for dinner.

Today, we're back to zigging for the next six days.