Food Diary Friday, May 4

Breakfast
Have A Good Morning Hot Flax Cereal

Snack
2 pieces of string cheese
1 bag of salt and vinegar flavored pork rinds

Lunch
(out for happy hour with coworkers)
1 taco salad:
lettuce layered with
beef chili (I picked out the beans!)
shredded cheese
salsa, sour cream, guacamole
skip the taco bowl- it's too tempting
1 1/2 ounce vodka with soda water, 2 lime wedges squeezed

Snack
3 ounces Breyer's carb control vanilla ice cream

Dinner
(out at sushi bar)
3 pieces tuna sashimi
1 serving spicy salmon sashimi
1 serving lobster salad
seaweed salad
small side salad with peanut dressing
1 glass unsweet tea with 1 packet Splenda

Supplements
raspberry ketones- 1 with breakfast, 1 with dinner
fish oil- 1 with breakfast, 1 with dinner
L-Glutamine- 1 with breakfast, 1 with dinner
fiber- 1 with breakfast, 1 with dinner
B complex- 1 with breakfast

Notes for today:
Pork rinds are an excellent snack.  Today I knew I was going to happy hour around 4:00 so I planned for a heavy mid day snack and a late lunch, late dinner.  Pork rinds satisfy my crunchy craving, come in lots of flavors, have no carbs, and are extremely filling.  If your grocery store only has the regular flavor you can try a gas station.  Often you will find snack size bags there in several varieties.

Again on eating out.  I'll say it again- Don't let your diet get in the way of your life.  Limiting your daily activities is a recipe for cheating and ultimately quitting.  Taco salad is a great choice when you are out, just make sure that you skip the bowl and try not to get more than a cup of lettuce.  Load up on sour cream, guacamole, and salsa (yum).

A sushi bar is also an excellent place to get a low carb meal, but it can get a little pricey so I try not to go there if I am starving and want a big portion.  Sashimi is just fish with no rice, so it's always a good choice.  Salmon is another power food and an excellent source of heart healthy fats, so if you don't know what to get you can start there.  Make sure not to eat the rice, tempura, or any of the sweet sauces.  Also, many soups and sauces are thickened with corn starch which has about 7 carbs per tablespoon.  Stick to what you are sure about and remember that if it tastes to sweet or thick to be low carb, it probably is.

Food Diary Thursday, May 3

Breakfast
Have A Good Morning Hot Flax Cereal

Lunch
Awesome Asparagus with Tangy Sauce
1 piece Juicy Lemon Chicken
2 wedges of goat cheese

Snack
1 wedge laughing cow cheese
1 cranberry spritzer-
1/2 C diet cranberry juice
1/2 C diet ginger ale
2 lime wedges squeezed

Dinner
1 C grilled chicken strips heated in microwave and covered with
1/4 C shredded cheese blend
2 Tbsp sour cream
2 Tbsp salsa

Snack
3 oz Breyer's carb control vanilla ice cream

Supplements
fish oil- 1 with breakfast, 1 with lunch
L-Glutamine- 1 with breakfast, 1 with lunch
raspberry ketones- 1 with breakfast, 1 with lunch
fiber- 1 with breakfast, 1 with lunch
B complex- 1 with breakfast

Why I am proud of myself today:
I had some major dental work around 3:00, and I am the worst kind of dentist phobe.  After my appointment I was loopy from all the sedatives they gave me, in pain, and extra whiny.  I had some of the worst cravings for comfort food that I've felt in a long time.  I'm talking deep dish pizza, french fries, mac and cheese, sweet potatoes, ice cream, and the list goes on.  Plus, the doc told me I couldn't have anything crunchy for 12 hours and that REALLY made me think of delicious Boston Market side dishes.

Awesome boyfriend came to the rescue fixing me chicken with cheesy goodness and it was soon forgotten.  I thought I was going to cave on the way home though.  I can't believe I made it.

Successes and Struggles: Week 4

Successes:

1. Awesome boyfriend and I both lost a couple of inches last week.  Progress is amazing.  
2. I've been popping out of bed like a toaster lately.  I think this is from cutting out alcohol and caffeine and generally maintaining a better diet.  
3. I'm working on a list of quick and easy recipes.  Next semester I'll be at school more night so these are going to be really necessary. 
4. I've never consumed so much water in my life!  I drink it all day every day.  I've noticed an improvement in my skin, especially my nail beds, and my overall level of hydration.  
5. A sports bar with awesome soul food just opened across the street from my job.  Hello ribs, baked chicken, broiled fish, collard greens, green beans, fatty ribeye steaks, and chicken wings.  

Struggles:

1. I just made a reservation for awesome boyfriend and I to go on a haunted brewery tour in Annapolis on May 19.  We are stoked, but this will be our first cheat day since we started back up at the beginning of April.  I always have mixed feelings about cheat days because there is no such thing as moderation for me when it comes to bread.  Doing low carb at a brewery would be a fruitless effort since most of the beers are so carb heavy.  I always say not to let your diet get in the way of your life, so I guess I'll be putting my money where my mouth is.  I'll make a plan to take a day off and get right back on the next day.  
2. I'm getting a little bit bored of not going out.  Some of my girlfriends invited me to a birthday party at a club but I declined.  I don't know how much fun I would have if everyone else is drinking.  I think that soon I'll be ready to go to events and have one or two carb free cocktails, but I just wasn't ready to face the temptation that night.  
3. I wish I had more time to post on the blog!  I have all these ideas about supplements, cheating, individual food products, power foods, etc that I want to share with you all and I just can't do it right now.  I feel like good ideas are slipping away from me some days.  The semester is over in two weeks and I'll break for the summer.  I'm hoping to get more content live at that time.  
4. A sports bar with awesome soul food just opened across the street from my job.  Hello fried chicken, mac and cheese, mashed sweet potatoes, fried fish nuggets, pulled pork sandwiches, and beer.  

Food Diary Wednesday, May 2

Breakfast
1 Have a Good Morning Hot Flax Cereal
1 Cup Bigelow vanilla caramel tea with 1 packet Sweet'N Low

Lunch
(out)
1 C cooked collard greens
1 small side salad with onions, tomatoes, and ranch dressing
1/2 rack ribs no sauce
diet coke with 1 ounce Bacardi

Tomato garlic butter mussels.  

Snack
3 chicken wings tossed in buffalo sauce
1 Tbsp sour cream
1 string cheese

Dinner
1 box mussels in tomato and garlic butter sauce
served with melted butter

Snack
Sweet and Creamy Chai

Supplements
fiber- 1 with breakfast
fish oil- 1 with breakfast
L-glutamine- 1 with breakfast
raspberry ketones- 1 with breakfast
B complex- 1 with breakfast

These mussels are one of the secret weapons in my arsenal.  They come
in a couple of flavors and they are SO GOOD.  The tomato flavor is a little
carb heavy, but these are extremely filling so I just cut the veggies if I
want the tomato kind.  The butter flavor has only 4 carbs in the whole
box!  They sell them in my grocery store next to the seafood counter.  If
you can find them buy them, and pull them out when you need
a quick meal.

They're all frozen together when they come out of the box.  All you do is
add them to a pan, cover it, and cook for 5-7 minutes.   Serve with some
butter or maybe some hot sauce on the side. 

Food Diary, Tuesday May 1

Breakfast
Have a Good Morning Hot Flax Cereal
1 cup Bigelow vanilla caramel tea with 1 packet Sweet'N Low

Lunch
1/4 rotisserie chicken topped with
cayenne pepper, salt, black pepper
1 C chopped Romaine tossed with
1/4 C shredded Parmesan and
2 Tbsp Newman's Own creamy Caesar dressing

Snack
1 banana nut flax muffin

Snack
cranberry spritzer-
large cup with 1/2 sugar free cranberry juice
1/2 raspberry flavored soda water
squeeze 2 lime wedges

Dinner
1 piece of Juicy Lemon Chicken
with 1 serving of Broccoli with Feta and Shallots

Snack
1 banana nut flax muffin with
1/4 C Breyer's carb control vanilla ice cream*

Supplements
L-Glutamine- 1 with dinner
raspberry ketones- 1 with dinner

*I may have eaten too much flax today.  I had a mental moment and forgot that I already had a flax muffin with lunch when I had the second one after dinner.  Flax is a seed rather than a grain, so it's okay for a low carb diet but still in moderation.  I'm going to do some research tomorrow and report back.

Normally I STAY AWAY from fake low carb foods, for a couple of reasons.  First, even though the box says 4 net carbs that's not necessarily true.  Breyer's subtracts out the sugar alcohols to reduce the carb count, but some people's bodies are still susceptible to those.  Another issue is that these foods taste pretty close to the real thing and are therefore feeding your sweet tooth.  The idea here is to teach your body not to crave sugar in any form, and ingesting ice cream is not helping with that effort.  That being said, there's nothing wrong with having a small amount from time to time in moderation.  I have some restaurant style ramekins at my house that hold about 3 ounces and I fill one of those if I do want some ice cream.

Juicy Lemon Chicken

Awesome boyfriend and I were shocked at how much moisture this chicken retained.  Sometimes when you put chicken on the grill it can dry out, but this recipe made for a perfect crunchy crust and a juicy inside.

Ingredients
1 lemon
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 Tbsp minced garlic*
1 Tbsp oregano*
5 bone in chicken thighs*

Directions

1. Use a lemon zester to collect 2 Tbsp of lemon zest from the outside of the lemon.  If you have no idea what I'm talking about, see video below.  Add lemon zest to a small bowl.  
2. Cut lemon in half and squeeze 2 Tbsp of lemon juice into lemon zest.  
3. Add olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, and oregano to lemon.  
4. Add chicken thighs to a container with a lid.  The container should be big enough that all of the chicken can lay flat.  
5. Spoon lemon mixture onto the chicken thighs.  Cover and marinate for at least 30 minutes.  
6. While chicken is marinating, turn on grill to medium heat and brush with olive oil.  
7. After 30 minutes, add chicken to grill.  Cook covered for 10 minutes on each side.  
8. Remove chicken from grill and serve hot.  

Notes on ingredients*
Lots of cooks prefer fresh garlic, and if you are one of them that is fine.  I am lazy and I hate chopping garlic so I buy the stuff in the jar.  Whichever one you choose will be delicious.

Same deal with the oregano- buy the fresh stuff if you like it better but I use the oregano that you can find in a jar in the spice section.

I know that chicken thighs are dark meat and some of you may not like that.  If that is the case you can substitute a chicken breast, but you'll have to add more olive oil to the marinade.  You could also try cooking this in a pan instead of on the grill.  The dark meat is known for retaining flavor and moisture, so it is preferable for this recipe.




I use a zester to zest lemons which looks like this.  They sell them in the grocery store for around $4 so you might as well buy one.  Plus, next time you have friends over for drinks, you can use it to make lemon twists.  They will either be with the kitchen tools or maybe with the lemons.

Citrus zester.  

Lemon zest and juice.  

Broccoli with Feta and Shallots

This recipe was inspired by something I read in Food Network magazine.  The magazine version called for Lima beans which aren't allowed on low carb and some fresh herbs which I don't usually mess with.  I'm all about simplifying where you can.  The flavors are all really strong and distinct and made for a delicious and pretty easy side dish.  Make sure you eat it with someone you love because the onions, while extremely delicious, will give you bad breath!

I got some new mixing bowls at TJ Maxx last weekend.  Love this blue.  

Ingredients

2 C broccoli crowns

4 oz crumbled feta*

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 medium sized shallot*

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Add water to a medium sized pot and set to boil over high heat.
2. Add 1 Tbsp kosher salt to the water.  
3. Once water has reached a rolling boil, add broccoli and cook for 4 minutes.  
4. After 4 minutes, dumb broccoli and water into a colander to drain and set aside.  
5. Cut shallot into thin slices.  
6. Add broccoli and shallot to a large bowl.  It's okay if broccoli is still warm, but it should not be hot enough to soften the shallots.  
7. Add feta, olive oil, salt, and pepper to broccoli and mix with a wooden spoon or spatula.  (I think I used around 1/2 tsp of salt and pepper, but you can use as much as tastes good to you.)
8. Enjoy!  

You'll know the broccoli is done when it takes on a bright green
color like this.  

This recipe makes two servings.  Remember, only 2 Cups of low impact veggies are allowed per day.  If you need to make one serving you can half the ingredients, or eat half and take the other half to lunch the next day!  This would be great with some Rotisserie chicken (my favorite lazy ingredient).  

Notes on Ingredients*

Feta usually comes in 4 ounce containers.  I think I've mentioned this before, but I usually don't spend money on the good stuff.  If you go to the regular dairy section in your grocery store they should have some there for about $3 per 4 ounce container.  

Shallots are good for a recipe like this because they are much more delicate than regular onions.  Usually I'm not too picky about ingredients but this is an exception.  Regular onions are going to have too strong of a flavor and overpower the recipe.  Your grocery store will definitely have shallots.  If you can't find them, ask someone in the produce department and they will be able to help you.