What I Ate Wednesday (& an Update on Weight and Calorie Counting)

I thought it’d been a month since I shared a What I Ate Wednesday post.  I just looked and it’s actually been two months. Isn’t it funny how time slips by like that?  Before we know it, it’s going to be HalloweenThanksgivingChristmas!  Yikes.

Last time I shared I talked to you about calorie counting.  My shorts weren’t fitting and I was not happy with my weight and how I was feeling.  I was reluctant to start calorie counting, but knew I needed to do something to figure out why I’d gained five pounds in a relatively short amount of time.

I counted calories and used My Fitness Pal to keep track.  I did it for three days.  Then I got very sick of logging everything I ate.  But!  It was eye-opening.  It helped me see that I really was overeating. Just those three days gave me a good gauge of how much I should be eating and helped me focus on portion control more.

So while I’m not counting calories, per say, I’m much more mindful of how much I’m eating.  I have also made a conscious effort to workout more often and more intensely.  I was happy with 2-3 workouts a week and it wasn’t cutting it.  Now I’m at 4-5 workouts a week and feeling much better.

In the last two months I’ve lost the five pounds and everything is fitting better.  So this is a happy update!

Moving on to the food.  Let’s take a look at what I’ve been eating lately, shall we?

Breakfast

Sweet Potato and Kale Hash with 2 eggs

I’ve been varying my breakfasts a lot lately.  This is one that’s made a regular appearance and I really love.  It’s a great way to get more cooked greens into my diet and vegetables for breakfast is always a good idea.  I saute the sweet potato in a little coconut oil and when it’s soft I add the kale and a little water to steam it.  Then I add the eggs and cook them right in the same pan.  I season with salt, pepper, and turmeric (for anti-inflammation).

Lunch

Mixed greens salad and Roasted Tomato and Red Pepper Soup with Zucchini and Corn + a smoothie

 

The salad was mixed greens with cucumber, carrot, red peppers, pumpkin seeds, and hemp seeds, topped with apple cider vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper. The soup was leftover from dinner the night before.  I love this soup! I made it with frozen corn instead of fresh since corn isn’t in season anymore, but I’m still getting tomatoes, peppers, and zucchini in my CSA box, so the rest was local+organic.

 

I was still hungry after my soup and salad so I added a giant smoothie to my lunch.  This was one of my standard green smoothies made with coconut water, spinach, pineapple, and fresh ginger.  Ginger is another great anti-inflammatory food so I try to eat some everyday.

Snack

Apple “Cereal”

 

This is definitely one of my favorite and most-eaten snacks.  1 apple, diced+raisins+nuts or seeds (walnuts on this day)+nut butter (almond butter on this day)+almond milk=Apple Cereal.  Snack perfection.

Dinner

Roasted chicken breast with vegetables

Well, how do you like that?  You get a blurry picture to go with my boring, uninspiring dinner.  The truth is, every dinner can’t be exciting and inspiring.  So this is real life.  This is the kind of dinner I make mostly because it’s my kids’ favorite and it’s super easy. Plain chicken with vegetables, all roasted on one sheet pan. They’d eat it everyday if I made it everyday. The vegetables, for what it’s worth, were also from my CSA box, so they were local+organic.

You may have noticed the absence of bread (or any gluten at all) in this day of eats.  I’m trying, really hard, to not eat much of it.  I can tell a noticeable difference in my joints when I eat less gluten and grains overall.  It’s sad, but true.  I’m focusing more on gluten than all grains, but I’ve made an effort to eat less of them.  Maybe I need to post an update on my joint health; it’s been a while since I talked about my finger pain and the anti-inflammation diet.  Please let me know if you’re interested in an update.

I hope you find some inspiration here for healthy, nourishing meals.  Have a great week, everyone!