Day 22: December 3

The last few days have been frantic work days... And nights just eating anything edible that entered my work space. Today for lunch, back on track, panini with honey whole wheat bread from Great Harvest. Tomato bisque soup from Leah! Dessert is pomegranate... Love them! Eaten with a friendly Time magazine. 

Day 20: November 30

What a day it's been. This is the first time I can say I don't even feel like I care how much or what I'm eating. Everything has gone wrong today. I think it's compounded by the reality that I'm leaving soon, unsure of what's to come or where to go after this. 

A lot of leftover spaghetti. 

Day 18: November 28

Luis and I went to one of his favorite restaurants in Omaha- Big Mamas. He says Southern food is the only "real" American food. This menu is complete with pigs ears!

This is one order. Crazy amount of food! It's 3 meals for me. Luis and I shared it. 

We went there spontaneously while we were already out so I didn't have my portion plates with me. I still served myself to choose how much I was going to eat. It's less than half, but still a lot. I didn't even finish this! I took a good part of the chicken home for a lunch. 

Enjoyed the company- doesn't get much better :)

Day 17: November 27

Day after Thanksgiving dinner. Simple homemade tomato sauce with ground bison. I doubt I would have had the salad before portion plates. It makes me want to think of something for each dish. 

Day 16: November 26

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!! So much to be thankful for - Friendship, food, and life!

Place setting ready for Thanksgiving dinner. 

My grandmas punch!

Indian Appetizers made by Shilpa. 

Turkey by Rob from England. 

The "family-less" residents sharing a Thanksgiving meal and fellowship. What a night it was!

My plate. I thought I would go back for seconds, but was full by the time I finished this... And I was going to allow myself more guilt free. It's good to have a moment to reflect on the fact that I was satisfied. 

Pumpkin pie dessert in my small bowl. Oh so good!

Tea to digest while talking over music and candles. It was a beautiful 

And best of all Luis was here! My heart and stomach are full, happy, and thankful. 

Day 14: November 24

Non workout morning breakfast- steel cut oats with banana and pecans. 

Dinner after a late night in the studio. I didn't want to cook so I grabbed fresh finger food. 

On a walk today I stopped by Kitchen Table, an amazing local restaurant in the Old Market. Healthy, good atmosphere, I highly recommend it! Here is today's menu!

Day 13: November 23

Noodles and Company! In the to go box it didn't look like much food, but when I put it in my portion plates bowl it surprised me just how much food it was! I also had some salad with it since all carbs is not balanced. Tea afterwards. It was an enjoyable lunch with a new friend!

Day 12: November 22

Treat of the day... And what a treat it was! I'm finding its better to get one special thing than eat a lot of ok sweets. For example, if I had baked cupcakes from a box mix I wouldn't feel bad eating 2 of them. Buying one really special one made it a treat to be savored. 

Day 11: November 21

One of my friends is visiting! We made enchiladas tonight. I forgot to take a picture of the ice cream snack we had, but I'm not craving sugar at all today- had some, but satisfied which is very different from before. Some usually leads to wanting more. 

Day 10: November 20

Dinner party tonight- pizza from all over Omaha and wine tasting. 

Day 9: November 18

Pre run breakfast- sweet potato muffin, see yesterdays recipe. 

Post run breakfast- green smoothie!

After lunch I seriously wanted something... So although I don't have any sugar in my apartment I walked over to Cubbys (too bad it's so close and easy!). I bought this chocolate bar and ate one row- good self control at least. It was delicious and satisfying! Had it with some green tea. 

Day 8 - satisfying low sugar snacks/ desserts

I'm making a list of things I can reach for to satisfy sugar cravings without refined sugar. Feel free to add suggestions!

Pomegranate 

Raspberries 

Blueberries 

Figs 

One of them, pomegranate, for lunch dessert! I am more satisfied if I eat more than one thing for lunch, which means less craving and snacking in the afternoon. 

Linda, Carly, and Alison, Bemis interns that work with me, come tonight! Dinner chopped and prepped so all I have to do is bake it when we are hungry and want a break from studio work. 

Day 8 - One week Reflections

True confessions . . . My eating has not changed much at all. I've still been eating a lot of sugar even though reducing it was my goal. I have been posting meals, but in between those meals, and after them, it's so easy to just grab chocolate or ice cream without photographing it. Inspired by Amy who has decided to instill a life change through this, I'm going to photograph EVERY sweet  that I eat - in the plates, in my hand, snack, with a meal. I think that will keep me more accountable and allow me to reflect on my patterns and/or change them.

I will admit I've successfully eaten all the chocolate, fudge, ice cream, and sweets I had around so I'm also setting the goal that I will not buy more to have around.

Last, I have realized I no longer desire sugar for breakfast. Sugar at the start of the day makes me crave sugar all day. Lately I've gotten in the pattern of green smoothies, homemade sweet potato or bran muffins, scrambled eggs, oatmeal, yogurt and granola, or toast with pb rather than jelly. It is a MUCH better way to start the day rather than pancakes with syrup or even cereal.

Here are my two favorite muffin recipes mentioned above:



Bran Muffins

http://www.food.com/recipe/the-healthiest-bran-muffins-youll-ever-eat-451212

Sweet Potato Muffins

2 ½ c. whole-wheat flour

¾ c. sugar

2 t. baking powder

1 t. ground ginger

¼ t. baking soda

¼ t. salt

¼ c. melted unslated butter

¼ c. vegetable oil

1 c. pureed or mashed cooked sweet potato

1 egg, beaten

½ c. buttermilk

Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease 12 muffin cups or add paper liners. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, ginger, baking soda, and salt. In a bowl, whisk butter, oil, sweet potato, egg, and buttermilk. Fold wet mixture into the dry; stir until just combined. Fill muffin cups three-quarters full. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Day 7: November 16

Yes, this lunch is exactly the same as last nights dinner. Sigh. Living alone makes for too many leftovers. 

Day 5: November 14

Day 5: November 14

Lunch out with friends at Spaghetti Works. It was 99% a failure. I packed the dishes, excited to use them in a restaurant for the first time, and got them there. I forgot to use them at the salad bar, but when I got back to the table I put it into the large bowl. They had arrived early and the kids were hungry so had just about finished when I arrived. Because of this I tried to eat quickly, forgetting to even transfer the lasagna. All of this rush ended with me eating fast and eating MUCH more than I needed. I should have cut it in half and served myself that, but I ate mindlessly without my dishes because I was in a hurry. Sigh. I need to slow everything down. Today was just an exhausting whirlwind trying to do too much. Sometimes less is more - in food and in life. BUT . . . it was fun to have company!

I traveled with the plates wrapped in brown paper and a plastic bag. It felt dangerous and make them not feel as important as they are. I didn't wash the large bowl I used for salad at the restaurant so I put a napkin in it, then wrapped it. When I got home it was all stuck to it and gross . . . I need to figure out a good way to travel with them.

Dinner - yogurt, granola, and raspberries. I was so full from lunch that I didn't eat a real dinner. I came home exhausted and lazy.

Day 4: November 13

Breakfast-eggs, toast

Lunch- sandwich and homemade tomato soup. This is an amazing recipe! I omit the pasta and use the base.

Tomato Soup with Pasta and Basil

Prep time: 25 min   Total Cook time:  35 - 40 min    Serves: 4

Ingredients:

3 large 2 Tbs 1 med 1 clove 1 small 4 cups ¼ cup 1 tsp ¼ cup 1 cup To taste	Very Ripe Tomatoes Olive Oil Onion, finely chopped Garlic, crushed Red Pepper (capsicum), finely chopped Chicken or Vegetable Stock Tomato Paste (tomato puree, double concentrate) Sugar Fresh Basil Leaves Conchiglie (shell pasta) or macaroni Salt and Pepper

Directions:

1.  Score a small cross in the top of each tomato.  Plunge the tomatoes into boiling water for 1 – 2 minutes, then into cold water.  Peel the skin down from the cross and discard (I actually just keep the skins). Remove the seeds and roughly chop the tomatoes.  Heat the oil in a large heavy-based pan and cook the onion, garlic and red pepper, stirring for 10 minutes, or until soft.  Add the tomato and cook for another 10 minutes.

2.  Add the stock, tomato paste, sugar and salt and pepper to taste.  Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.  Remove from the heat and add the basil leaves.  Allow to cool slightly before processing the mixture, in batches, in a food processor or blender until smooth.  Return the mixture to the pan and reheat gently.

3.  While the soup is cooking add the pasta to a large pan of rapidly boiling salted water and cook until al dente.  Drain, add to the soup and heat through.  Garnish with basil leaves if you wish.  NOTE:  Basil is added at the end of cooking so that its flavor is not impaired. The quality of tomatoes makes a HUGE difference in flavor. Use heirloom tomatoes grown locally (or your garden) if you can!

Nutrition Per Serve:  Protein 10 g; Fat 10 g; Carbohydrate 40 g; Dietary Fibre 5 g; Cholesterol 0 mg; 1200 kJ (285 cal)

Dinner- Friends visiting this weekend! What a delight to have company! We had leftovers from Tuesday's dinner.

Day 3: November 12

My first public outing with the cup! Leah and I went to Coffee Smith in the Old Market for "office hours". I asked if they would serve me in the cup and they were happy to. She said it was beautiful as she handed it back to me :)

 

Lunch - Leftovers from the first dinner, plus raspberries for dessert. I consciously drank a full 16 oz of water!

Dinner with Linda! We are working in the studio tonight and took a break to have dinner. Leftover tea afterwards!

One thing that I'm finding challenging is having only one set of dishes. I usually wash the dishes once a day and now I'm doing them after every meal, or right before I eat. It's kind of annoying, but I admit my kitchen is much cleaner! 

Another thing I'm realizing is that the dishes are very thin. I usually make my work on the thicker side because I don't want them to feel fragile, rather useful and approachable. I made these thinner because they were meant to nest and I thought bulky would make them be strange together. I'm not sure that was a good choice. Please let me know what you all think!

Day 2: November 11th

Most mornings I make a smoothie, but I had NO idea exactly how much I was making. Even healthy things in large quantities isn't good. Tomorrow I will try to use less ingredients- I'm never good at that because I throw in what I've got. 

Other reflections from the day:

1. I ate some of the leftover pie for a mid afternoon snack. I really had every intention of eating the rest of it . . . it didn't look like much. Then not all of it fit into my small bowl so I heated some and had every intention of finishing off on a second round. After eating my first portion (like I said, I'm seriously addicted to sugar) I felt satisfied. If I had put it all on my plate right away I wouldn't have stopped. Having to go back and make a second portion gave me the few extra seconds to stop myself from eating more.

2. Bringing the dishes along is tougher than I thought. Dinner was finger food at a Bemis Auction preview party. Not healthy at all nor did I use my dishes. At the end a few of us spontaneously decided to go out for a beer. As I started drinking my cider I realized that I forgot my dishes. I should have been drinking from my cup! It was good to at least be conscious of it and hopefully remember next time.

Before Portion Plates Dinner: November 8

Shrimp creole- I made the tomato sauce with Bemis garden tomatoes about a month ago when it was in full bloom and froze it. It feels anticlimactic to cook a good dinner and eat alone, but lots for leftovers.