It was WAY good, as evidenced by the picture. I don’t think many folks realize how substantial just two eggs can be for one person. The only minor bummer I ran into was due to gluten free substitution. I had selected some gluten free rolls and they have about twice as many calories per roll than a regular English muffin (330 vs. about 120, I think). So I cut it in half and did more of an open-face sandwich thing, which worked out pretty well. I think I might just use my tapioca loaf next time, although I just saw some interesting high fiber options on the Ener-G site. If I can find them in the store, that is.BT-dubs, for those interested in GF alternatives, Ener-G brand gluten free pretzels are SO FREAKING GOOD. Seriously, I think they’re better than regular pretzels. But I digress.
This seems to be the biggest challenge I’m encountering so far: balancing the need for gluten free breads with a higher fiber content and not going crazy with too many calories (and not too big a price tag, please and thank you!). I assume the Glycemic Index is thrown off a bit too since most GF stuff seems to be rice based. Not sure about that, I’m not as well educated about GI levels. Anyway if that’s as tough as it gets I should be A-OK.
The breakfast sandwich and fruit left me feeling really FULL. I’ve never felt totally FULL and satisfied on my way to work, EVER. The smoothie is very filling too but I think the sandwich was a little more so. It made my morning so much better! I never thought eating a real breakfast would make so much difference, but I was off and running without bemoaning how little sleep I got last night (I didn’t get much, maybe 5 – 6 hours tops). Usually on this little sleep I am not anywhere near the top of my game, so this was pretty awesome. At about 10:30 or 11 AM it occurred to me that I still felt pretty good – not hungry, not even thinking about food. It’s kind of sad to think HOW OFTEN I thought about being hungry and wanting to eat before. God forbid I can actually concentrate at my job first thing in the morning, ya know?
For lunch I had chicken and white bean soup with chard and peas. Remember how I was talking about cilantro being a mood enhancer? Add dill to the list. I don't know if you can really TASTE the dill in this soup, but you sure can smell it. The flavor is really delicate and super good. I'm also impressed by how the texture of the vegetables has been maintained over time - the soup has been sitting in my fridge since Saturday, but the peas are still crunchy - well, crunchy isn't the word - they're "al dente" I suppose. Fresh.
So anyway, I was thinking about the mysterious slice o' avocado that has made its way into the meal plan's lunches the last two days, and two things come to mind: one, I never realized I like avocado so much. They're dang tasty. Two, what is so magical about an avocado that it's worth putting an eighth of one into my lunch bag? Now that the logistics of the plan and all the information has started to gel and become managable in my brain, I am curious about the role of different things I'm eating, and why I haven't eaten them before. I had no idea how narrow and boring my diet was before - I'm not a super picky eater so I just thought boring food was no big deal. Anyway, I did a little googling. It sounds like avocados are basically little multivitamins, though I'm sure the folks at avocado.org would call this a gross over-simplification. Whatev. Also, my boss offhandedly mentioned that peas have a bunch of fiber in them. Never noticed that. You never know where the good stuff is hiding.
I will admit that I fell into a little late night pig out session yesterday. Meh. It was more a behavioral issue than it was a hunger issue. Basically it was a 100% behavioral issue. I EAT FOR FUN AND I CAN'T BE AN ADULT AND MAKE MYSELF GO TO BED AT A DECENT HOUR, OK??? Judge me if you will, I'm not happy about it, but I'm working on it. Anyway, I found that with all this fresh stuff in the house, probably the worst thing I pigged out on was buttered gluten free toast and some leftover yoplaits that were gonna go bad if somebody didn't eat 'em. I had a bunch of toast and some fiber loaded crackers with peanut butter. So, yeah. A lot better than past experiences, in which I would actually down an entire container of Ben and Jerry's all by myself (no joke, there is an entire DAY'S worth of calories in one container, on average), usually supplemented by french fries or popcorn or something equally salty in nature to you know, "balance it out". And I'm surprised when I gain wait - dumbass. Oh, and like 8 gallons of diet coke. Before bed. Great idea. So when I wake up the next morning and can barely open my eyelids because my face is so swollen, I have only myself to blame.
Basically I'm saying that even if I deviate from the meal plan there is a kind of safety net in place just from having better quality options in the house.
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