After several months of not really losing, I seem to be back to my old patterns. I lose steadily for a couple of weeks, and then there will be a sudden biggish gain (1.5 - 2.5 pounds!) and then it either goes down just a little, or holds steady for a few days, and then starts all over again.
This time, the gain was triggered by sashimi. I always gain when I eat sashimi. It may be the sodium in the soy sauce, or it may be that I trick myself into thinking I'm eating less than I really am, since hey --- it's mostly seaweed and raw fish. Nevertheless, I am keeping up with the exercise and after the Sashimi Peak, the scale is inching down again.
I have two big eating challenges this week. Tomorrow, the cast for the opera I am directing is coming to my house for dinner and a musical rehearsal. Since most of them are coming from work, I volunteered to make dinner for everybody --- fajitas. Fajitas can actually be very healthy, but I decided to go the easy route rather than inflict my healthiness on everybody else, and I copped out and bought traditional fixings. That includes flour tortillas, chips, sour cream, and cheese.
To keep myself on the straight and narrow, I will sub my delicious corn tortillas for the traditional-for-fajitas flour, skip the cheese and sour cream, and fill mine with lots of veggies. I like to slice up jicama to eat instead of chips --- it's nice and crunchy. I'm making homemade salsa and guacamole, both of which are very healthy (as long as you don't overdo the guac, since avocados are high in fat --- healthy fat, but fat and therefore calories nonetheless).
It's been horrifically hot here, and that just makes me crave ice cream. I bought a half gallon for dessert --- just enough that the cast will probably finish it off. So I'll save some room for a small amount, and make sure that any leftovers go home with someone else. I absolutely cannot keep such a dangerous substance in my house! I will also make sure any remaining cheese and sour cream exit the premises.
The other challege is a dinner invitation to some friends' home. Now, these friends very thoughtfully asked about our food preferences, but I always feel weird about making special requests when I'm a guest in someone's home, even if they ask! I never really know what to say. Eric is a vegetarian, but he hates for anyone to make a fuss over him. I need to find a way to handle this so no one feels awkward. I just try to be flexible and if a food is something I'm not comfortable with nutritionally, to just take a very small portion.
In other food news, one of the great discoveries of the past couple of weeks are the E2 Diet's really delicious fatfree salad dressings. I made one today consisting of nothing more than toasted sesame seeds, low-sodium tamari, and maple syrup. It was terrific over my spinach, jicama, orange, and red onion salad (with a few toasted cashews for crunchiness). I recommend it highly for "sweet" salads. We also like E2's honey dijon salad dressing. The fatfree dressings really save on some calories, calories I'd rather spend on being able to dip into the big bowl of fruit salad I keep in the fridge for a cool, refreshing snack bite; or a post-workout snack of homemade bread and homemade pecan walnut butter. Another really great hot weather snack: frozen cherries or grapes.
Planning ahead, not just the day's meals but a few days in advance, is really helping both my waistline and my budget. Keeping healthy snacks prepped and on hand is also very helpful. We shop twice a week, and I highly recommend planning all your meals for the days between trips. I've been making a lot of things like hummus and a hearty bean-rice-corn-tempeh mixture that can be used lots of different ways. We eat the hummus in wraps or on salads; the bean mix is great for tacos or by itself with a salad of green onion, lettuce, salsa, and a little guacamole on top. Stir-fries are another great way to get a lot of veggies in. And last night, I made a terrific and super-quick pasta sauce: can of Muir Glen fire-roasted tomatoes, with some sauteed chopped onion, zucchini, fresh basil, and mushrooms (really, whatever veggies you have in the fridge) and a little red wine. It takes all of ten minutes to throw together and serve over whole wheat pasta. I added some crumbled tempeh into mine. It made two full meals for two adults, with enough for Eric's lunch tomorrow. Meat eaters could easily crumble in some ground beef or turkey, or even sausage.
The point is, there are a LOT of quick, healthy, inexpensive meals you can make and modify however you please. It makes it easier to choose wisely when you're in a hurry!
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