2 posts tagged “diet”
Lifetime is airing a new cooking show called "Cook Yourself Thin" which shows you how to make all of the foods you love, but in a healthier, lighter and even tastier variation. The idea is that if you can make your favorite foods healthier, then you can stick with changes and therefore see long-term results. Intrigued by this idea, I have decided to give it a shot. There are a ton of recipes on their website already that I really want to try, so it should keep me preoccupied for awhile. Here, I'm going to review a few of the recipes and provide some additional insight and modifications that I did.
Side note: It seems like all I ever write about on here is food, but I'm not sure I am quite ready to bite the bullet and pronounce it a food blog, per say. *shrug* Anyway, on with the deliciousness!
Look Ma, Steak and Mashed Potatoes!
Last night I tried the Steak and Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes. I am pretty sure that I am not eating the right serving size of the potatoes, so I need to measure it and figure it out instead of just slapping two heaping spoon fulls on my plate. It doesn't matter what diet you are on if you ignore portion control. Keep that in mind when you are preparing any Cook Yourself Thin recipes.
LEVEL: Easy, 1hr
This recipe was very easy to prepare, though a bit longer than a recipe I make reguarly. The food processor we have is apparently not very powerful nor big, so I ended up dividing the cauliflower into about 4 different batches. Next time I will put everything into the blender, which should save some time. I also had to cut the flank steak in half because it was too large to fit in my skillet, which also added some minutes. Without those issues, it would have been a more reasonable 30-40 minutes.
I attempted to make the balsamic sauce, but it didn't quite work out in my skillet (let's just say I am glad the fire alarm didn't sound). Instead, I took the juices from the meat and poured them into a small cup and mixed in a little balsamic vinegar and the tiniest drop of olive oil. Whisked it all together with a fork and stuck it in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds. I also used dried rosemary for the salt rub because I don't keep any fresh herbs in the house. I also did not want to have half a head of cauliflower go bad, so I doubled the potatoes recipe and omitted the buttermilk. I also skipped the cherry tomatoes mostly because I just forgot about them and didn't get any in the store.
TASTE: Delicious
Okay, so the potatoes were not quite the same, but it was not necessarily a bad thing. It had the same creamy texture with mashed potatoes, and the hint of butter, scallions, salt and pepper actually flavored it really well. I also sprinkled a tiny bit of shredded cheddar cheese on top (approx 2tsp). The steak was fantastic, but if you don't like medium rare steak you may want to cook it longer. I am typically an A1 girl, but it is seriously not necessary - the rosemary, salt and pepper seasoned perfectly. I typically add garlic to everything, so it was with great restraint that I did not add any garlic in the potatoes or steak, but I may try it next time. I wanted my initial trial to be consistent with the recipe as much as possible, though on the show they encourage you to change the spices out to your favorites and play with some new ones.
OVERALL: Success
Hey, even the hubby liked it, and he doesn't usually like "diet food." He has said before that I can make whatever I need to and he can fend for himself, but I think it's important for him to eat healthy too, even if he doesn't have any extra pounds to lose. My gut (no pun intended) is that most people wouldn't realize it was supposed to be diet food. Now, if I can just make sure to follow the recommended serving sizes I may get somewhere with this.
I seriously made a HUGE to-do list and haven't done that much on it yet because I didn't get up until 4pm today, then by the time I took my shower and ate, John wanted me to go to band practice with him. I'm a softie, so I went, even though the only thing I could do to entertain myself was read my bible and play Magical Starsign on the DS, then we came home and hung out for a bit and I finally started to when he left for work. I have 16 clients and about 9 of them are "high priority" yet I still find myself itching to write something here?
I do have quite a bit on my mind. Like, why can't I be confident to talk to people on the phone? Why can't I come up with something interesting to talk about? I feel somewhat distant to everyone around me, not sure what to say or what to do. I know that I can be shy and introverted, but I wish I could walk into a room and "command attention" as John would say. I have a bad habit of not speaking loudly enough and tend to fade into the background. Whenever there is attention on me and perhaps I'm telling a story, I get nervous and tend to lose people's interest or completely ruin the the punchline anyway. It's just, sometimes I take myself out of the situation and wonder why am I so socially awkward sometimes? I miss my friends from home, though I know that even if I still lived there I probably would never see them, but I knew a lot of people. I enjoy Florida but I just don't know anyone, and it's not like I could strike up a conversation with someone I maybe didn't see much in high school and form a friendship that way. It's just hard to start all over again, especially since I lived in Illinois for so long.
I've also had the issue of my weight heavily on my mind lately. I have lost some weight though I'm not really sure how much. I can tell because my clothes are fitting a little better, and I can wear shoes comfortably that were a bit too tight before, but I still have a long way to go. It's basically depressing, but I try not to dwell on that. I wonder if I should maybe go to a doctor and get a physical exam and blood test... maybe go to a nutritionist? I just don't know. It'd be nice if I could do this on my own, but maybe I don't have enough discipline or will power, as my track record suggests. Obviously I haven't been able to manage it myself otherwise I wouldn't be in the place I am now. To be absolutely honest with you, I don't think my diet really needs much altering. I don't eat a lot of junk food, if at all. The biggest issue are my portions. So, my first step is eating almost half of what I used to. Maybe more like 40%. Example: I used to eat the whole 8" sub and bag of sunchips or baked lays from Quiznos & Sobiks. Now I eat half of the sandwich & chips and save the rest for lunch the next day. I went to Sonny's and ordered a Lunch and ended up boxing about 40% of it and eating it the next day for a meal.
Now, I will be honest with you, sweets are a big soft spot for me. I LOVE chocolate, especially fancy good chocolate. It's easy for me to buy a chocolate bar with maybe 4 or 5 servings, eat about one serving and then carry on with my day. But then I start thinking about the chocolate. I know it's there. It's calling out to me and I obey. I'll eat the whole thing in one or two days unless I can forget about it, which rarely ever happens. I don't eat lots of other candies -- no gummy this, gummy that. No hard candies that are pure sugar. I like CHOCOLATE and ICE CREAM. And really, neither would be so bad for you if you buy products with high quality ingredients and practice a little self control. I don't think I have to give it up, I don't think I could. BUT, I need to learn to be satisfied with only a little piece and make one chocolate bar or pint of ice cream last. If I eat it while sitting at the computer or in front of the TV I will be thinking about something else and tend to want more, because the sensation has not taken the full effect with my mind on something else. I need to sit at the table with nothing but my treat and focus on how delicious it is and savor it. When it's gone, then I should walk away and put it out of mind.
I don't like to have things that I can never have again. For example, I'm not really a huge soda fan. I've more or less decided to stop drinking it, but there may be some occasions where I might have one. For example, I really love rootbeer, ginger ale and stewarts orange cream, and if I get a craving for it, I will indulge. When we go to restaurants I usually get water, but if the water is terrible, I may get a sprite or rootbeer instead. Or, if I go to someone's house and all they have is beer and soda (which happened today by the way) I am definitely going for that POP! But the point is, I don't like totally ruling something out, because then if I have the craving I may be more tempted to totally pig out when I finally cave in, rather than saying to myself, "OK, I can satisfy this craving if I can exercise some self control."
In addition to my portion control plan, I need to exercise. I have started to play tennis with John and a few other friends at least once a week now, though sometimes more. Aside from that, I'm trying to get in the habit of playing DDR 3 or 4 times a week. I played tonight, but I tend to make excuses as to why I can't play. Work is a big one. The thing is, even if I only do it for 30 minutes, 3 days a week, I will definitely be seeing some results from that. I mean, I really enjoy DDR and I love to play it, that's not the problem. I'm not really sure what the problem is. Maybe because I am afraid of failing or something? That's what John thinks my problem is. He could be right, I just haven't studied my motives much. Maybe I should. Maybe I am afraid of giving it my eveything and then having it fail. If I give it my all and I fail, then maybe I am condemning myself to an episode on BIG medicine. Unlike some large people, I really hope that I don't have any medical reason for my weight gain. I'd rather it be the plain and simple cause of simply eating more calories than one burns, because that means that all I need to do is eat less calories than what I burn and *ta da!* I lose weight. Simple. Easy. If there *IS* a medical reason, then I'm going to have to go to doctors, get medicine, who knows what... but I do know it will be a costly affair for someone trying to get by without any medical insurance.
Maybe I can finally get over this demon that I have been running away from since I was a child. All I've ever wanted was to be normal and comfortable with my own skin.
