Every time I publish a “What I Ate Wednesday” post, I get at least one or two emails or comments thanking me and asking me to do them more often. Getting that kind of feedback is helpful and I really appreciate it, so thank you when you take the time to let me know what you like to see (or not see!) here on Happy Healthy Mama. Your opinions are always welcomed!
Without further ado, here’s a look at what I ate on a random day in my life.
Breakfast
Coconut Blueberry Breakfast Quinoa
I’ve been eating a lot of smoothie bowls and colder breakfasts lately, but sometimes I want a warm breakfast, even in the summer. I’ve also made a conscious decision to switch up my breakfast more often rather than eat the same oats every day, so for the last few months I’ve been eating a lot of different breakfast items. This Breakfast Quinoa is an old favorite that I love. I actually made it without the maple syrup and was surprised that I still liked it without the sweetener. It really fills me up even though it’s not a huge serving. It kept me satisfied until lunch.
Lunch
Asian Kale Salad with Salmon
In an ideal world, I’d make 100% of the meals I eat and know where every piece of food that passes my mouth comes from. That’s not reality, though. This was a pool day and for the convenience of it, we often eat our lunch at the pool. They don’t have a ton of healthy options, but they do have a few salads to choose from. This one is the Asian Kale Salad with Salmon. Their idea of a kale salad is a few token pieces of kale thrown in the mix, but that’s okay. It’s a tasty salad.
Snack
Apple
I was 100% ready for dinner when we got home from the pool, but it was only 3:30 so I grabbed this apple instead. I was not craving an apple, but I forced myself to eat that instead of something heavier. I always remind myself: If you aren’t hungry for a fruit or vegetable, then you probably aren’t really hungry. I was hungry.
Dinner
Salad with (sliced) Homemade Baked Chicken Nuggets
This dinner is an example of how I adapt a kid’s meal to an adult version. The kids had Homemade Baked Chicken Nuggets with raw vegetables on the side and I had the salad you see above. (Tim was not home for this dinner.) The dressing was an Avocado Ranch with some chipotle added for spice and flavor. For the nuggets, I veered from the original recipe by trying ground turkey instead of chicken. Some commenters let me know that they tried it with almond meal instead of breadcrumbs so I gave that a try, as well. My “almond meal” was whole almonds I ground up in the food processor
. Both worked, but I prefer the chicken and breadcrumbs. And can I just say that I semi understand why food companies feel the need to add colors to food? The dressing was delicious, but avocado+chipotle don’t make an appealing color at all.
Dessert
Dates Stuffed with Almond Butter
Eek! Sorry about the blurry picture. Clearly, I couldn’t wait to stuff those dates in my mouth. I was craving something sweet and this was the quickest option. I was really craving some chocolate, but we had none in the house. (HOW does that happen?!)
Snack
Spiced Banana Almond Smoothie
Meghan had gymnastics and when we got home, I couldn’t believe how hungry I was. The kids had their snack before bed and I whipped up this smoothie. It really hit the spot.
Let’s Talk About Counting Calories
This part is hard for me to write, but I have to be real and make sure you see the whole picture. Something weird has happened in the last few weeks. I’ve gained about 5 pounds. It’s really strange how it’s happened so quickly. When I’ve gained weight in the past, it’s been much slower of a weight gain and I can usually pin it to my slacking with exercise. That’s definitely not the case this time. I’ve been working out consistently and my intensity’s been good. I’m actually feeling strong and toned. Yet my shorts don’t fit. If my shorts fit, I probably wouldn’t worry about it, but I want my shorts to fit.
So this brings me to counting calories. I don’t count calories and I don’t really want to. But my best conclusion right now is that I’m overestimating how much I need to eat and eating too much. Before I start counting calories, I’ve started to be more mindful of how much I’m eating and trying to keep my portion size in check. I’m hoping I can lose a few pounds without counting calories.
If this doesn’t work, then I will try to count my calories for a while. As much as I don’t want to, I know it can be an effective way to lose weight. If that doesn’t work and I keep gaining weight, I’ll head to the doctor and get my blood levels tested to try to figure what in the what is going on.
It’s such a tricky balance, this eating thing, isn’t it? My number one focus is always my overall health and longevity. I want to live a long, healthy, disease-free life. But I also have to feel comfortable in my skin and maintaining a certain weight helps. Thanks for being supportive and sharing this journey of health and happiness with me.
Hi! I am new to your site and love it, thanks for having such a great blog. I eat a clean diet 80% of the time and also try and follow the 21 day fix good plan as a guide. It has been helpful to me, especially knowing I need to get 4 servings of protein in in a day as well as all my veggies. Instead of calorie counting try watching your portion sizes 🙂 p.s I’m not a beachbody coach trying to sell you on the 21 day fix.
Can’t wait to try some of your recipes!
Thanks, Kayla! I actually ended up counting calories for 3 days. It really helped for me to see how many calories I was actually eating, which was more than I thought. Now I’m just more aware of my portion sizes, which is helping a ton!
Thanks! Keep these posts coming! Gosh! My feeling is, if you’re hungry, you’ve got to eat! Maybe you need more healthy fat in your diet to keep the hungries at bay, to feed your busy body, and help it know that it’s getting enough! (fat with low calories). Truth is, I’ve never counted calories!
“If you’re hungry, you’ve got to eat!” Exactly. 🙂 Thanks for your feedback.
I hate counting calories, too. However, I find if I do it every so often faithfully for a week or two, it helps reset my portions and I can go back to just estimating things. It makes me adjust back to healthy portion sizes and just be more aware. So if you do have to go there, I bet you won’t have to for long.
That’s what I’m thinking. It’s been so long since I’ve counted calories, though, that I’m dreading it!
I’m just going to throw this out there, but could it be weight in muscle that you’ve gained at least in part? I know that you run, but can’t recall if you’ve been doing any other muscle training exercises.
Personally I count calories here and there, and once in a while go back to counting everything in a day for a week or so. It’s a good way for me to check the pulse of what I’ve been eating lately as far as healthfulness and with portions. For example, I’ll sometimes I like to add tablespoon of peanut butter in my oatmeal, and while I try to usually just make a guesstimate on how much that is, measuring it out is a better way to help me remember what a tablespoon looks like and remember that the extra little glob on my knife might be full of protein but is also full of calories that I not only don’t need and won’t miss (let’s face it, 1tbsp is plenty in my oatmeal). Sometimes I also need the reminder that while I’m choosing healthy foods, sometimes I’m also choosing a more caloric option when there’s something better I can opt for. I’m probably better off most days adding some blueberries into that oatmeal rather than peanut butter, and will spare some calories, too doing that.
I hope you figure out what’s going on! You’ll get your shorts on again soon, I’m sure of it 🙂 And thanks for my new favorite phrase, “If you aren’t hungry for a fruit or vegetable, then you probably aren’t really hungry.” That will keep me out of the fridge!
I have been doing a lot of strength training, so typically I wouldn’t think too much about the number on the scale. Except that my clothes aren’t fitting well. I can just tell that it’s more than muscle I’ve gained. I was looking back at this post and realized there were a few bites here and there that I didn’t take pictures of–the crust from Meghan’s peanut butter and jelly, a few almonds when I was making the almond meal….those bites add up, too. I guess I just really have to be more mindful. Thanks for your input!
What kind of workouts are you doing? My weight fluctuates about 5 pounds here and there depending on what is going on in my life, what my go-to foods are, my workouts, etc. I think eating every couple of hours is a good strategy because it keeps your metabolism moving.
I do like your WIAW posts, but I’ve noticed you don’t include as many snacks as I would eat 🙂
My weight fluctuates, too, but what was alarming this time was how quickly I gained and my clothes stopped fitting the way I liked.
My workouts right now are weights and cardio 2X per week, an intense Body Blast class 1X per week, and the rest depends. Sometimes I just run another day, other times I’ll do a HIIT workout. I’ve been averaging 4X per week.
I’m not sure about the eating every couple of hours. I usually eat pretty big meals, so snacking in between isn’t always the best strategy for me. There’s a lot of different theories out there, am I really am not sure which I believe. Some “experts” say to eat 6 small meals a day, while others say that causes your body to not burn fat because you are constantly releasing insulin. Since I’m not sure what to believe, I just try to eat intuitively. Eat when I’m hungry, stop when I’m satisfied. I think I just need to be more mindful of how much I’m eating.
Thanks for your input!