Day 14 - Same Salad, New Day! / New rule

Once again, I listened to my own advice and had a good breakfast before scooting out the door this AM. There is no doubt that it makes a difference in the day, and my hunger level. The paradoxical added benefit is that showing the body calories early in the day, ramps up the old metabolism, and helps to lose weight. All of my patients who weight 300+ basically eat 1 meal per day in the evening, and I was slowly getting there myself.

I was out on a little day trip with some friends who wanted to stop at a Dairy Queen for lunch, my first fast food in 2 weeks. DQ did have a nice turkey sandwich on the menu though, which I ordered without mayo, and a couple large glasses of water, and that did the trick. I can't say I really wanted the fries etc, especially after the progress I have made in the last 2 weeks.

As I write I am wearing a pair of jeans that I was about to donate to Goodwill, since I never thought I would fit in them again. Just 2 weeks!

For dinner, I made another big Thai-ish salad, similar to the one I had last night that was so wonderful.

Since I used the last cucumber & red bell pepper last night, I substituted broccoli (lightly steamed and chilled) and carrot strips (use a peeler), which I added to the spinach, asparagus (also lightly steamed and chilled), chopped nuts , cilantro and my new favorite dressing. (for those not following along diligently, this is simply 2 parts bottled Thai peanut sauce, 1 part rice vinegar, or a little less white vinegar, and honey or sugar to cut the vinegar's edge a bit. It's color is a not so appealing brown, but wow. In the end I like the first night's pepper and cucumber combo better, but both were satisfying.

I wanted to also mention the benefit of steaming some veggies for a salad. There are many raw vegetables which benefit not only in color and tenderness by cooking gently, but also in terms of nutrient availability. By that I mean that some vitamins and nutrients are poorly absorbed from when eaten raw, but are released by cooking. Steaming instead of boiling prevents these from being leached away into the cooking water. Some plants even contain enzymes which inhibit absorption of some nutrients, but these are mostly inactivated by heat. (Spinach is one which provides more iron and antioxidants in the cooked form - for more read this and this) Nonetheless, any veggies are better than none, I like a raw spinach salad.

Addendum to diet rule -  "Don't eat in front of TV, it causes overeating."

Unless it is a giant low cal, high fiber salad, or other fresh fruits or veggies, in which case eating in front of the TV might help non veggie lovers to consume a bit more. 

Just watch out for high fat additions such as dip or dressing.

Breakfast  - cereal with nuts and berries (redundant but who cares)

Snack - handful nuts, H20

Lunch  - Dairy Queen turkey sandwich, no mayo

Snack - Sweet and Salty granola bar

Dinner - small bowl leftover pasta with tomato sauce, huge bowl of Thai salad #2