Friday 30 July 2010

Breakfast: 1 slice of flax toast with peanut butter and sugar-free jam.  2 cups of coffee with almond milk and half-and-half (1 shown).

Snack:  Mmmm, mmm!  Chia green tea!

Snack: 1 scoop of nuts and a bar (pre-errand).

I've been reading about "habit energy" in the book Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life, and Lori mentioned it on her blog the other day.  Here's a comment I shared over there:

I'd say the habit energy that I want to grow is to SLOW DOWN!  I had gotten pretty good at this, then having kids meant bolting down some food in between all the other stuff.  The kids are bigger, and the need to rush with eating is GONE.  Especially since Thing 2 eats as slowly as my mom...like a little grandma clone, is Thing 2.  Scares me sometimes. ;-)  Anyhow, having to stop and take pictures first helps, I guess it's serving as my "bell of mindfulness."  I also sometimes do the breathing in/breathing out exercise.  Although mine goes something like, "Breathing in, I know I am eating nuts.  Breathing out, I wish I hadn't inhaled that last cupful."  With today's cup, I took my time and really chewed and spent time focusing on the flavor in each nut.

Lunch:  I went with a co-worker on an errand for our company picnic today, and there was a Starbuck's, so I got a medium skinny caramel latte.  The above is the iced coffee & half-and-half I made in the cup to go with the beans when we got back.  (That container was full when I started; 1 cup.)

Snack:  Whoops.  What was that I was saying about mindfulness?  Gotta say I enjoyed the Pink Lady apple, though.

Dinner: Hot wings (there were more, and I didn't eat all of them); Brussels sprouts with olive oil, salt, and garam marsala; chocolate chip cookie; and a sugar-free mojito!

Couple of notes:

Debby asked whether all my obscure seasonings are Indian spices.  Garam marsala is; I get the pre-mixed stuff from Schilling, but it's a mix of spices, and from what I've read, different families and regions have their own preferred blend.  It's sort of similar to curry powder, but a little stronger to my taste.  (I do like curry powder, too, but I ran out recently.)

The "piri-piri" marinade I mentioned isn't from India, but is used in Africa and Portugal.  It features a "piri-piri" pepper that grows in Africa, although the recipe I used doesn't call for it.  The variation I did just uses hot chili flakes.  It's a very bright, spicy sauce, with garlic, lemon, thyme, oregano, cumin, and hot chili flakes.  (recipe here)

About the mojito:  One of my favorite drinks!  It's a combo of lime juice, mint, sweetener, rum, and club soda.  Click here for the recipe I use.  I think it would taste equally good as a non-alcoholic beverage.  I've made it with splenda and tried it once with erythritol, a sugar alcohol that's very blood sugar friendly and reputedly causes less "intestinal distress" than other forms.  It does not dissolve very easily, though, so if I use it again for these, I'd dissolve in warm water first.  I don't care much for a gritty mojito.

...another mojito, some walnuts, and 7 sugar-free gummy bears...

...and 2 of these little cups with peanuts (I had some after dinner, then after our movie)...

And here's what's left of the walnuts!  Looks like I'm not the only squirrel in the family. Mr. Handsome-and-Handy requested that I no longer bring large bags of these home from Trader Joe's.  I ate these while we watched the (relatively new) Sherlock Holmes movie.  I know! Watching a grown-up movie?  Kind of nice!  (Earlier, we all watched the old Batman 1966 movie, and then Thing 2 and I watched Wallace & Grommit shorts.  It was a fireplace and TV night.)

I feel like I ate a lot more than usual today.