What do I eat?

Here is a question that I get asked often, "What do you eat?"  Usually with a look on their face that says, "You must not eat anything." No, I don't starve myself.  I tried that many times in the past.  It doesn't work.  Well it works, but only until you get really freaking hungry.  So maybe it works for about a week, and then I ate everything in sight.  To answer the question of what I eat...I eat all kinds of stuff.  The difference is that I try to eat the right amount.  It's not about eating less but eating RIGHT.  Before I changed to a healthy lifestyle, I would skip breakfast, some days I would skip lunch.  Then for dinner I would pig out on whatever was in sight, usually fast food.  Oh let's not forget about eating dessert, because chocolate cake is the perfect thing to help wash down a double quarter pounder.  And lastly I would eat a bunch of junk food before bed.  So I had to relearn how to eat.  I stopped drinking sodas, sweet teas, Kool-aid, all those sugary drinks.  I cut out all junk food.  Now I try to get 2-3 servings of fruit and 3-5 serving of vegetables a day.  I had to force myself to get used to eating breakfast.  Incorporate a healthy lunch.  Learn how to snack properly, and start cooking healthier dinners.  I'm also part of fatsecret.com where I enter in my meals and keep an eye on my calories.

Monday through Friday, my day starts at 5:00 am.  I walk my dogs.  Ten minutes till 6 I waked up my daughter so she can shower and get ready for school.  I make her lunch.  Then I do a mini workout.  After my 10 minute workout, I have breakfast around 6:30. My workout class starts at 7, and my daughter goes with me.  I take her to school at 7:40 and head back to the gym for my friend's class.  I have a snack in between classes and another one when I get home from the gym.  I have lunch at noon.  Pick up my daughter and my cousin from school.  We all have a snack at 4.  Dinner is usually ready between 6 and 6:30.  I used to have another snack after dinner but I stopped doing it because I didn't like going to bed with food in my tummy.  Bed time is 9:30.  Weekends our eating schedule is pretty much the same.

Here's what I eat:

Breakfast: Usually for breakfast I cycle through three different things.  Yogurt with chia seeds, steel cut oatmeal sweetened with brown sugar and made with unsweetened almond milk, or cereal with unsweetened almond milk with half a sliced banana.  Every once in a while I'll make breakfast taquitos.  I don't menu plan my breakfasts, in the mornings I just pick from one of those three options.  Of course I try to not pick the same thing consecutively.  So one day is cereal, next day yogurt, the next day oatmeal, and then start all over.

For yogurt I just pick what looks good to me.  I don't try to get any specific brands, although I don't really like the Chobani ones, they are too liquidy and tart.  I like my yogurt to be thicker.  So I tend to get Yoplait or Dannon.  Dannon being my favorite yogurt.  I'll add about a tablespoon of chia seeds to my yogurt.  I have been doing this for about a year now. Chia seeds are super good for you.  They have a lot of calcium, potassium, iron, protein, and other health benefits as well.  http://premeditatedleftovers.com/naturally-frugal-living/health-benefits-uses-chia-seeds/  They assist with weight loss by helping you feel full longer, boost strength, give you energy and positive effects on your health too.  http://www.healthyfoodmind.com/ancient-super-seeds-that-will-change-your-life/  So look into adding chia seeds to your diet (I don't mean like a you're on a diet but your eating routine) but don't eat them dry, they really should be included with something that way you can get all the benefits of that super seed.  http://www.popsugar.com/fitness/How-Eat-Chia-Seeds-35976785?utm_campaign=social_share_button_d 

The second thing I like to have for breakfast is oatmeal.  I prefer the steel cut oats.  They are more toothsome than regular oatmeal and that's what I like.  You can make it with water, but I use unsweetened almond milk.  I remember when I first switched to almond milk I bought the sweetened one.  WHOA it was way too sweet so I stopped using that one and just bought the unsweetened vanilla one.  I have also made my own unsweetened almond milk and it's not that hard.  http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2012/03/how-to-make-almond-milk.html
The only thing is that the recipe doesn't make a whole lot so if you have a lot of people drinking almond milk you might be better off buying it instead of making it.  Right now I'm trying an almond/coconut blend and I really like it.  It's a little bit thicker than regular almond milk, but not as thick as cashew milk.  I tried cashew milk before, I didn't like it.  Too thick.  The wonderful thing about oatmeal is that you can add all kinds of flavors to it.  My favorite has to be Banana Bread Oatmeal.  When my bananas get too ripe I'll peel them, cut them in half, wrap them in plastic wrap and toss them in the freezer.

Banana Bread Oatmeal:

1/4 cup steel cut oats
2/3 cup almond milk
1/3 cup water (if you like your oatmeal thicker then omit the water)
1/2 tsp. brown sugar
1/2 frozen banana, mashed (I mash mine while I'm waiting for the milk/water to boil)
mini chocolate chips
chopped walnuts

Pour almond milk and water into a small sauce pan.  Bring to boil and add brown sugar and mashed banana.  Stir.  Bring to a boil again and add the steel cut oats.  Lower heat and simmer for 3-5 minutes.  Pour into a bowl, top with mini chocolate chips and chopped walnuts. 

A few months ago I found a Peach Pecan Amaretto Preserve and I thought "Hey I can add this to my oatmeal."  So I bought it, tried it, and loved it.  Follow the same steps as the Banana Bread Oatmeal but leave out the banana, chocolate chips, and walnuts.  During the last minute of simmering add 1 tablespoon of preserves.  I have also added PB2, the powdered peanut butter, to my oatmeal.  Once I made some oatmeal with chopped apple and apple pie spice.  So really you just have to use your imagination.  I also recently started adding 1/2 tablespoon of ground flax seeds to the oatmeal.  I just pour them in with the oatmeal.  Flax seeds are another one of those things that help with all kinds of stuff.  http://www.skinnymom.com/glossary-of-foods-flax-seeds/  They are good for blood sugar levels, moods, joint mobility, rich in anti-oxidants, and they are good for your hair, eyes and skin, and they provide with many other health benefits as well.  http://www.brainyweightloss.com/benefits-of-flax-seeds.html

Another breakfast item is cereal.  Right now I am trying out the new Cheerios with ancient grains.  It has spelt, kamut wheat, and little clusters of oats with quinoa.  It's good.  I usually have two different kinds of cereal that I pick from, so I have some Special K in my pantry as well. And that one is vanilla almond.  It's only been a few months ago that I went back to eating cereal.  Because I do have a little bit of a lactose problem.  Milk makes me phlegmy.  Which is why I switched over to almond milk.  To my bowl of cereal I'll add half of a banana that I have sliced up.  I save the other half for a snack.

Every once in a blue moon, I will also make breakfast taquitos.

Bacon Breakfast Taquitos

1/3 cup egg substitute

1 light creamy Swiss cheese wedge

2 yellow corn tortillas

1 slice bacon

Preheat toaster oven to 375. Spray baking pan with nonstick spray. Cook 1 strip of bacon according to package directions.   In a large microwave-safe mug sprayed with Pam, microwave 1/3 cup of egg substitute for 45 seconds. Stir and microwave for another 45 seconds, or until set.  Mix in cheese. Chop or crumble bacon and stir into mixture.  Place tortillas between 2 damp paper towels. Microwave for 15 seconds, or until warm and pliable.  Evenly distribute egg mixture between two tortillas. Tightly roll each tortilla and place seam side down in the baking pan. Lightly spray with Pam. Bake until crispy, 10-12 minutes.   Serve with salsa.

And you can make these taquitos with turkey sausage as well.  If you don't like the flavor of egg substitute you can use a flavored Laughing Cow cheese wedge, like garlic and herb, French onion, pepper jack, and you can season the egg substitute with Mrs. Dash and pepper. I hate Egg Beaters, but these taquitos are delicious!

I do have protein powder, but I have yet to try it.  When I do I'll let y'all know how it goes.

Lunch: The old unhealthy me would more that likely skip lunch.  When I did have lunch it was usually a big grab bag of Hot Cheetos with melted nacho cheese.  Not very healthy.  The new me learned how to prep salad ingredients and that is my number one go to for lunch.  Like I said I try to have 3-5 servings of vegetables a day and this is where most of them come in.  Pretty much I have salad 5 days a week.  And no I don't get tired of it.  I love it.  I have spinach, carrots, celery, yellow bell peppers, cucumbers, radishes, and cherry tomatoes.  I will add my prepped chicken, http://harddoesnotequalimpossible.blogspot.com/2015/04/recipes-for-prepped-chicken.html  some dressing, and a crunchy topping.  I stopped eat Ranch Dressing a long time ago.  I wasted so much time on ranch when there are so many different salad dressings.  Right now I have a balsamic vinaigrette that is delicious.  I keep my salad stuff prepped and ready to go in a basket in my fridge.  http://harddoesnotequalimpossible.blogspot.com/2015/03/menu-planning-and-meal-prep.html
All this prepping makes pulling a salad together quick and painless.  Again I don't menu plan my lunches.  And here I really don't mind having a salad almost every single day.  I don't get tired of it.  There are so many different salad dressings you can use, and there are many different toppings as well.  And not just croutons.  I have Marzetti Salad Accents: Asian Sesame.  It has almonds, rice noddles, and sesame sticks.  Yummy!

Another thing I like for lunch is a wrap.  I'll use a Flatout flatbread, Laughing Cow Cheese, mustard, spinach, tomatoes, and turkey.  If you want to cut some sodium then you can use prepped chicken instead of some processed luncheon meat.  Roll it up and slice it in half.  I have some fresh veggies as a side or some cracker chips.

Since I also prep black beans when I do my chicken there are days that for lunch I'll make a quesadilla.  To prep the beans, I buy a can of No Salt Added whole black beans, not the refried ones.  Rinse them in a colander.  I take a medium size skillet add about 1/3 cup of water.  Heat over medium, and once the water is hot I add the beans.  Then I season them with garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, pepper, crushed red pepper, cumin, hot sauce, and 25% less sodium seasoned salt.  Stir it all up and then mash them.  You can add more water if you want them to be bit more runny.  And all the seasonings are to taste.  Just depends on your taste buds.  I cook them for about 5-7 minutes on low.  Then I keep them in the fridge for times just like this.  To make a quesadilla I'll use a Flatout flatbread, Laughing Cow Cheese, black beans, and hot sauce.  Then I'll warm it up on a comal (griddle) and eat it with cracker chips.

Dinner:  This is where I do my menu planning.  On Thursdays I'll look through my recipes, which I get off pinterest, my cook books, or magazines.  On Fridays I'll do my grocery shopping.  I start my dinners on Saturdays.  And now that I started this blog, Saturday is the day that I post last week's menu along with pictures and recipes.  When I'm doing my menu planning I try to make a variety of dinners.  One day is for fish, one day is for leftovers, one day a recipe with ground beef, I try to make something new at least one day out of the week, and one day I'll try to make something with pork.  I use lean ground beef, 93/7.  I have been menu planning dinner for about a year now.  I keep all my dinners written in a spiral so that I can flip back through it and find something that we really liked.  Sometimes I'll ask my daughter or my husband if they have any requests they would like. So if you are interested in what we have for dinner, you'll have to follow my blog...hahaha!

Snacks:  This is where I try to have my fruit servings.  I also have a fruit basket where I keep what ever fruits are in season.  And I have another basket for protein bars, 100 calorie popcorn, and other snacks of that nature.  I have half of a banana for breakfast, then I'll take the second half to the gym with me.  My fitness class starts at 7 am.  And most of our workouts last 30-45 minutes.  After my class I take my daughter to school.  And head back to the gym for my friend's class which starts at 8:15 am.   I'll eat the second half of the banana on my way to drop off my daughter.  I'll also take a granola bar or a protein bar to eat after my friend's class.  For the afternoon snack I'll slice up a small apple and peel a cutie and toss them into a baggie.  Sometimes if there are mangoes at the store I'll buy one and add it to my fruit baggie as well.  When grapes are in season, I'll buy some of them and then I might toss in a few of those too.

I also keep 100 calorie packs of walnuts and almonds. If you take the time to prep your veggie and fruit baskets you will always have fresh fruit and veggies on hand for snack time.  And that way you don't have to snack on candy bars and salty chips.  It works.

Dessert: You can have dessert, maybe not a piece of chocolate cake.  I totally have dessert.  Not every night but just because you change to a healthier lifestyle doesn't mean that you have to give up on desserts.  I have found a couple of ways that you can still enjoy ice cream.  The first one is Banana Ice Cream.  This is also a good way to use your ripened bananas.  For banana ice cream all you need is a frozen banana.  Take the banana, wrap it in plastic wrap so it doesn't get freezer burn, and place it in the freezer for a few hours.  After the banana is frozen break it up into a couple of chunks, although I guess you could do that before you freeze it, and toss it in a food processor and pulse.  It may take a bit but it will turn into ice cream.  I do like to add about 1/2 to 1 tablespoon of unsweetened vanilla almond milk, depending on the size of the banana, just to help with the creaminess.  Now that's just the base and it's delicious as is, but if you want there are several things you can add to the ice cream.  You can add peanut butter, mini chocolate chips, frozen strawberries, a bit of chocolate sauce or really anything you can think of.  Just remember that with every mix in or topping you add more calories.
 
Another dessert I make is frozen yogurt sandwiches.  This one takes just 2 ingredients.  Healthy Choice Frozen Yogurt, they come in individual servings, and a graham cracker.  Just scoop out the frozen yogurt, place between the graham cracker and enjoy.  Recently I found Blue Bunny Double Strawberry Light Ice Cream that is only 90 calories for 1/2 cup.  And this also made a very yummy ice cream sandwich.  There is also a Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream that is 110 calories for 1/2 cup.  It's delicious.  You just have to look around and find what works for you.



Here are two simple and delicious recipes that are perfect for a summer time dessert:

Cantaloupe Granita

4 cups cubed cantaloupe melons

2 tbsp lime juice

1/3 cup light agave nectar

1/8 tsp salt

Place cantaloupe in a food processor or blender. Process until smooth.  Strain through a fine sieve over a bowl. Discard solids.  Stir in lime juice, agave nectar, and salt.  Pour mixture into an 8" square dish. Freeze at least 8 hours.  Remove mixture from freezer and scrape entire mixture with a fork until fluffy.

Watermelon Granita

10 cups diced watermelon, seeded

1/2 c. light agave nectar

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

In a blender or food processor, place watermelon. Cover; blend on high about 2 minutes or until smooth, you may have to do this in two batches. Use a sieve, over a large bowl, to strain out any large pieces and any seeds. To the watermelon juice add 4 tbsp. lime juice and 1/4 c. agave nectar; stir until well blended. Pour into ungreased 9x13 inch glass baking dish. Cover; freeze 1 hour.  Scrape with fork. Freeze 3 hours longer, scraping every 30 minutes. Serve.

See I don't starve myself.  In fact I eat more now than before.  Once again you don't have to eat less you just have to eat right.  And for those that say it's too expensive.  It really isn't.  For the price of a footlong from Subway, you can buy a pack of boneless, skinless chicken breasts; prep them and have chicken all week.  Even if you save have of the sub it won't last all week.  Another thing, the price of a bag of baby carrots is LESS than a 12 pack of coke.  And I have seen plenty of people with a couple of 12 packs in their baskets.  It just depends on what you want to spend your money on, being healthy?  Or eating yourself to an early grave.  Yeah yeah I know, eat right, exercise, die anyway.  But at least you'll have a better quality of life if you choose the healthy way.  You want to know what's expensive?  Medication.  My husband is diabetic, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, bad thyroid (that's the source of all his problems), and I tell you his medicines are expensive.  I once told my doctor that eating healthy was expensive, and he said to me, "Triple bypass is expensive."  WOW truer words have not been spoken to me.  And I hope I never know exactly how much a triple bypass would cost.  And I'm pretty sure he didn't mean just monetarily.  If you don't want to spend the money on healthy eating, you will probably spend it later on medicine and hospital bills.

And for those that say it's too hard, I spend 2 hours at the gym and the rest of the time controlling what I eat. Yes, eating right is hard.  But it's the first thing you have to do to get healthy.  And if you think that all that fast food and junk food is easy, it's wrecking your body.  It's not easier, it's harder.  Make a healthier choice, it will be the best decision of your life.  You only have one life to live, you might as well make it the best you can.