Yesterday was day 55 of my diet. Although I never went in much for pre-processed foods, now I am even more determined to cut down on salts, fats, sugars, and unpronounceable chemical additives in foods I consume. Therefore, nearly all my food is prepared by me. While shopping at Woodman's, my favorite grocery store (employee-owned), I searched the section that had the foods "on the cusp", as it were, or shortly about to expire. Most of it is still quite good. I bought a pound of mustard greens and 4 chicken sausages with cranberries and cognac. They had only 100 calories each and were exceptionally low in salt and fat, but high in protein. I put them together with other foods and created a new, nameless recipe. Maybe some day I'll make a recipe book of all these low-calorie meals I'm creating. Here's the calorie count I did on the recipe. You are welcome to try it.
calories
mustard greens, 1# 100
chopped tomatoes in their own juice 145
potatoes, 5 fairly small 400
carrots, 4 small, peeled and left whole 45
chicken sausages, 4 left whole 400
Italian seasonings 2 T miniscule
chopped onion 30
hot sauce I made 2 T miniscule
garlic, chopped 2 T miniscule
Total calories 1120 / 2 servings=
560 calories per serving
I shared this meal with my adult son. It was not only extremely tasty with all those good things in it, but it needed NO SALT because of the seasonings, and I added no form of fat whatsoever. That hot sauce turned out really hot; I made it from water and hot peppers blended together. I used enough water in the pot to cover the food while it was cooking. I did not serve bread with the meal because I felt there was enough starch in the potatoes. We were completely satisfied after eating that great amount of food out of two large serving bowls. Later I ate a small scone to satisfy my sugar craving. I must admit that after having only 1316 calories yesterday, I awoke at about 4 AM terribly hungry and unable to sleep, so I ate three crackers mindfully and finally got back to sleep. Betsey got only a few pieces from me.
This is my calendar entry for the day:
Saturday, April 2, 2011
+ 1316 =
85,379 / 55 =
1552
(106,865) [total calories I would have consumed over 55 days if I had been eating only to maintain a healthy weight]
On April 18 I'll be seeing my cancer doctor and I will have a weigh-in at a good scale. I'll let you know how many pounds I lost. I know it's going well because my clothes are getting loose. Now I guess I'm sorry that I donated 20 boxes of my old size 10 clothes. Many of them were brand new. Just think, I could have been WAY out of style if I wore those 20-year-old clothes again. I think I'd have some fun with that.
At last I finished the painting I was working on. It's not my usual subject. I do people portraits and landscapes, and I like for them to be quite dramatic. In this case, I painted flowers, but they are not done in a "feminine" style. (I've frequently been told that NONE of my paintings look like a woman painted them. I guess I just have to figure out exactly what that implies.) I made a portrait of dramatic peonies in my garden. I photographed them in June, and the time of day was sunset, with the sun very low on the horizon.
Follows a weight-loss diet begun Sunday, February 6, 2011, by a woman aged 64 who wore 2X tops and 1X bottoms. Her diet is not guided by a professional. She counts calories and averages them daily. She occasionally does sit-ups, takes walks, or exercises on a recumbent bike. She buys no special foods or supplements, but eats ordinary food. At age 42 she weighed 131 pounds. She is not trying to be 42 again, just aiming for a healthier weight.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Feeling Full after a 560-Calorie Supper
Labels:
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diet,
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You are doing so good and are such an inspiration! I'm excited (and nervous) about my weigh in on Thursdays at Weight Watchers. I think I've been doing well, but my home scale isn't showing any loss at all, which is disheartening. I picked up a cool book called "Eat This Not That" which I found interesting and I understand he has a new one called "Now Eat This" that I'm looking for. Also found a website for straw bale gardening that looked interesting and the guy lives in the twin cities. Thinking of going up for his workshop or at least getting the book.
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