Hello everyone! I am typing this looking out on the 2 inches of snow that we received last night. So pretty and the good news is, that it's not enough to cripple us and we really don't have to shovel to get out of the driveway.
This week I have been more focused on what I am doing and eating. I have been tracking everything in my fitness pal. I always try to do that, but I never really succeed 100%. I stop short or forget to put in a meal or snack. It's not always easy to figure it out, but I have been focusing less on if it's the exact item that I ate, and just trying to come as close as I can to entering every bite that I take.
Last night we went to a lovely place called the BlackFish for dinner with some friends. It was a cold, rainy/snowy night. We shared some great wines and had a great time catching up.
This was what I had for dinner last night:
1st course: Smoked scottish salmon, deep fried egg, potato, sour cream, mizuna ( the egg was inside with the salmon wrapped around. Unbelievably delicious!)
2nd course: Salmon 'confit', maitake mushroom, globe artichoke, brussels sprouts. ( The best salmon I ever ate. Confit is a french type of preparation. So tender and flavorful.)
As you can see I love Salmon and the waiter said they are very different preparations, so I tried them both. Both dishes were delicious and so beautifully prepared and presented.
To record this in my fitness pal, I just broke it down the best that I could and entered it in.
After entering all of what I ate yesterday, my fitness pal showed the following:
Calories 2376
Carbs 92 ( net carbs =69)
Fiber 23
Sugars 10
Now looking at this, I realized there is a very good reason why I struggle to lose weight. That is too many calories to consume on a regular basis. I am well within my limits for sugars and carbs according to the BFC. I am still eating my flasxeed bread for my morning meal and it contains wheat ( spouted organic wheat berries is the first ingredient.), but I really watch my carbs and sugars and still that is not enough. I know that calories do matter to some extent. Some people naturally have the instinct to keep their calories in check. I have the instinct to always figure out a way to eat what I want and stay within the set parameters of sugars and carbs.
So this week I'm going to continue to track in my fitness pal, and also pay attention to the calorie dense foods that I eat and try to cut back on them. Cheeses and nuts are hard foods for me to limit and they pack alot of calories even though they are relatively carb and sugar free.
I am also making a real effort to lower or cut out alot of the wheat products (I usually have toast at breakfast, sandwich or wrap at lunch). I just want to see if that helps me. I have had terrible luck with some of the recipes on Marias blog. The protein bread was terrible. I'm still so puzzled as to why it is a staple of hers and why it tastes fine to her. It really was like stryofoam and not good even dipped in egg for french toast. But there are others that I can try. I am always willing to find healthier swaps for foods, but I won't sacrifice taste.
I organized alot of the random scraps of paper containing recipes from all of you. I always print them out and shove them in a file. I am going to try some of those recipes in the coming weeks and come up with some new ideas for things to eat.
Have a warm and cozy winter Saturday, wherever you are! XO
Thought for the day:
“If you only read the books
that everyone else is reading,
you can only think
what everyone else is thinking.”
that everyone else is reading,
you can only think
what everyone else is thinking.”
~ Haruki Murakami
Same here w/the healthier swaps for foods but not willing to sacrifice taste. Love the Haruki Murakami quote - nice (and so very true).
ReplyDeleteWow! That salmon looks awesome! I love Maria and have bought 2 of her books, but find that the ingredients to her recipes are so dang expensive and difficult to find. I bought the Swerve and tried to cook/bake with it, but nothing turns out very good. I also tried the no wheat thing and I found that it didn't help me lose extra weight or lessen my PMS and my digestive system was very slow....Now I allow a little wheat (same flax toast that Rosie eats for breakfast, maybe a breaded chicken or something....sometimes and a corn tortilla) I really find that I stay on track better if I eat a little wheat. I'm just one of those people who when told to cut something out of my diet will binge on it! Anyhow....Sending warm thoughts to you.
ReplyDeleteCarey
I miss the snow but the benefit of living in So. Cali is that I can see the snow on the mountains like today. Your food did look great, but Yikes you are right that was a lot of calories in one day. Stay warm and have a great day :-)
ReplyDeleteThat food looks beautiful Pattie! One of our favorite shows over here is Top Chef, and that looks exactly like something they would serve. Yum! The ingredients don't even look too bad, salmon, brussel sprouts,artichoke, etc.- it really doesn't seem like it would add up to be that many carbs! I think that I'm at a point right now that I AM willing to sacrifice taste for at least a little while, if that's what I have to do to start burning fat again. I'm hoping that once I'm burning fat and losing then I'll be able to add in foods I really enjoy again that are also healthy. Ultimately we have to find a way of eating we can do forever, BUT it also has to be healthy right? Don't forget we already WERE eating the way we could eat forever and that's how we ended up here in the first place. I will say staying away from nuts and cheeses and limiting wheat for awhile sounds like a good plan. Maria says in her books to take baby steps in the right direction if you can't do it all at once.
ReplyDeleteGlad you got pretty snow and not the crippling kind!
Yummmm, everything looks wonderful. I also find it hard to track every meal and bite, but it's those bites I don't track that end up keeping me from getting to where I want to be. Have a wonderful weekend :)
ReplyDeleteI also love salmon, but it is one of the fattier fish with a higher calorie count to go with it. The upside is you get all those good omega oils too. :)
ReplyDeleteKim
I am with you Pattie - it is easy for me to find a yummy way to eat within whatever guidelines I'm given. The only time that I've been successful at significant weight loss is when watching the calorie limit as well. I've tried for years to find a way to eat where I didn't have to do that. but no dice. ;)
ReplyDeleteI know "calories" are a bad word to people selling the newest, greatest, best, easiest, etc. diet idea, but they do matter. I would venture a guess that 90% of the plans done correctly (strictly) average between 1200-1600 calories a day, dependent on how much you need to lose. The really structured ones are much less, and show significant initial weight loss, but as foods (calories) are added back in, the losing tends to slow. I know there is a strong argument that all calories aren't burned the same? I don't know the scientific answer to that, but they do have to be burned, to go into a deficit, for your body to shed weight.
ReplyDeleteWith that said, find the food/calories that you LOVE the most, and use them wisely. Look at the dishes that you loved (great pics) and see where you can remove calories and still have the style of the dish?
My final thoughts, I do 100% believe that the sugar/insulin connection does prohibit weight loss and that carbs should definitely be limited. I just don't believe that eating excessive amounts of calories that are "allowed" for our weight/body don't matter.
I know this is probably hard to understand:( I have the flu and am still in recovery mode but trying to refocus so I am not obsessed with my tummy:(