Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Week 2 Day 3

Saturday (2-18-12) I finally felt okay with our walk - my energy level was okay. It was also a cooler day than those previously in the week, so that may have had something to do with it. Fortunately today (2-20-12) I felt normal energy level on our walk, and we added to the distance and time. At this rate, I should start to feel the increased energy level soon. Yeah!

Some of the books I ordered about this type of eating (low carb) and cookbooks for ideas arrived on Saturday. So I've been trying to look through those. I continue to find some good things to eat. One really yummy breakfast I found (online at AllRecipes.com) was low carb pancake crepes. They are made with eggs, cream cheese, cinnamon, and sugar-free maple syrup. They are great plain, but I made a filling of cottage cheese flavored with some sugar free strawberry jello powder. Very yummy! Today I made them again and tried a new filling of cottage cheese and cream cheese. Very yummy also! The recipe (for two servings) is:
     3 ounces cream cheese, softened
     2 eggs. beaten
     1 tsp. ground cinnamon
     1 tbsp. sugar-free syrup
     1 tsp. butter for each crepe.
1. In a bowl, mash the cream cheese and then add about 1 teaspoon at a time of the beaten eggs until the mixture is smooth and free of lumps (you'll still have a few specks of cream cheese). Then add the cinnamon and sugar-free syrup. (Don't try to mix the cream cheese and eggs all at once because it won't get smooth, even with an electric mixer, and then it doesn't hold together well when flipping.)
2. Melt the butter in a nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Pour in several tablespoons of the batter. Swirl to coat the bottom of the skillet. Allow to cook until set, about 4 minutes on the first side; flip the crepe with a spatula and cook the other side for another minute or two.

These crepes were a wonderful change from eggs. :)

Today I made a vegetable lasagna which had nine different vegetables in it. Even though it was good, it took two hours to prepare (chopping, slicing, mixing) and another 1 1/2 to cook, so I don't think I'll be making it again. If it was awesome, I would still have to figure out how to make it faster. The only thing I'm willing to spend that much time cooking are the holiday meals. Even my awesome mac 'n cheese doesn't take that long to prepare (about 45-60 minutes and an hour to cook). Ah, mac 'n cheese. Hopefully those days will return if only in small servings. :)

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Day Six

It's been almost a week on the Metabolism Miracle diet and we're still determined to stick with it. Neither of us has felt the increased energy that is mentioned after the first 3 days, but we did notice today that when on our walk we made if further before we started to feel out of energy. We're hopeful now that each day will bring more energy.

As the hardest part is planning what we will eat, I found myself looking for cookbooks to help, so I have now placed an order on Amazon and will be anxiously waiting for the new books. Breakfast and snacks seem to be the hardest, at least if we want some variety. Before the diet, we were definitely dependent on cereals with milk or protein bars if we were running out the door. Now it takes more planning to make sure we eat something low in carbs. I told Paul today that we might have to think outside the box and eat non-traditional breakfast foods for breakfast, because eggs every day is already getting old (and probably too many eggs for optimal health). Our snacks have usually been string cheese and a few almonds. On the up side, we eat frequently enough that we seldom feel hungry. If we do, it's because it's time to eat. :)

Our favorite new meal was a "spaghetti" meal using spaghetti squash. Ground beef, seasonings, and fresh tomatoes was the "sauce." It was great! Even Paul thought so and he really likes a lot of traditional tomato sauce. A chicken and paprika recipe was also very good and the mashed potatoes (cauliflower) were wonderful also. Paul still doesn't know what they were made from (he doesn't like and won't eat cooked cauliflower). Tee Hee :) I don't plan to tell him anytime soon.

We've had some great desserts which has been fun. We've had ricotta and cocoa powder as one "dessert" which I think is great and I don't feel guilty eating it. I made a great dessert two nights ago that we are still enjoying. It is a strawberry souffle and I have to admit that I feel guilty eating it but it is low in carbs and that is what matters most right now. Tonight I'm having a late night snack of cottage cheese and a chocolate protein powder - I really like it and again I don't feel guilty eating it.

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Metabolism Miracle 1st Day

This diet is going to have some serious accountability, hence the blog.
After reading about the Metabolism Miracle diet, I decided that it might be the answer for weightloss for my husband and I. I've never had much of a problem until the last 10 years and now it doesn't seem like my traditional dieting/watching what I eat works anymore. This diet addresses the metabolism B body and how to change your body into a fat burning rather than carb burning machine which will then cause the loss of all that stored fat (especially around the middle). It seems very similar to other low carb and high protein diets, but it takes a serious commitment for 8 weeks just for phase I.

Today is the first day and all has gone well. I did get hungry, but then I just had a snack. Probably the hardest part has been remembering to eat frequently and to follow the 5X5 rule of only having 5 carbs (deliberately) within any 5 hour period of time. It is also necessary to remember to not go any further than 5 hours without eating.

Today I didn't get to the store and home until 6:30 so that put a damper on what I wanted to fix tonight, but since I had a snack coming out of the store, I was able to prepare a good dinner (not going out for something - high in carbs). As I was bagging up my groceries, I realized I was really hungry and was trying to figure out a snack as soon as I got home. Then I thought, "duh", I have string cheese and walnuts somewhere amongst all the groceries. As I was pushing my cart out the door, I was opening a package of string cheese and taking a bite. At the car, I found the walnuts and finished up my snack.

After dinner, I prepared a dessert that I am looking forward to. It is a chocolate "pudding" made with ricotta cheese. Don't get me wrong, dinner was wonderful with spaghetti squash and a meat sauce. Actually I think I liked it better than the traditional spaghetti meal, but then I haven't had that for a while in order to properly compare. I lucked out in that my husband liked it and would like to have it again - yeah! I made enough for another night this week. I wonder what he will think/say about the dessert.
Bye :)