Day 34 - Morning Check-In

Good morning.  As I mentioned before, I have reading the book "The Doctor's Diet" and I have found a lot of useful tips in it.  One of the tips was to eat protein and fruit for breakfast.  For the last few days I have wanted to try this but every morning I wake up I crave cereal.  This morning I woke up and, like always, craved cereal.  I remembered that I had wanted to try eating a protein rich food instead and my initial reaction was to put it off until tomorrow.  But then I remembered that today is Sunday and if I wake up a little late tomorrow (Monday) I will have to grab something quick which will most likely be cereal.  If I am going to start switching it up, a weekend morning is the best time to start.

In the book there's a list of food that's high in protein.  Most of the foods on the list are not what I could consider "breakfast foods", for example: chicken, turkey, meat,fish, and beans.  The only foods I could imagine having with breakfast are: milk, eggs, and yogurt.  The problem was, after my first pregnancy I stopped eating eggs and after my second one I stopped eating yogurt.  Both foods grossed me out due to the experiences I had with them while pregnant.

One of the things I have noticed since I started eating healthier is that my preferences are changing.  When I started this diet I wasn't a big fan of broccoli or asparagus.  I ate them because they were healthy, not because I enjoyed them.  One of the other tips from the book is to slowly eat your food to enjoy all of the flavors.  The books says that your tastebuds will go through a trasformation after you cut out the processed foods and sugary foods from your diet-- you may even enjoy some healthy foods that you used to dislike.

I decided that I would yogurt another go last week and bought several flavors of Yoplait that I used to like (orange, lemon, and lime).  I also bought several containers of Greek yogurt, something I've never done before.  Last Thursday I brought a vanilla Greek yogurt with me to a clients as one of my snacks.  I paired the yogurt with a cup of fresh raspberries.  I was shocked out how freakin' good it was!  Since then, I have not eaten my usual snack of pretzels and instead of yogurt with raspberries.

So back to this morning (wow, kind of got off in a tangent there)... When I woke up I craved cereal and did NOT feel like yogurt.  I was tired and I wanted to grab something and go sit down so I could enjoy my morning caffeine.  I knew that today was the best day to start eating protein in a.m. but I really didn't feel like it.  But then I remembed that it was that type of thinking that got me into this mess in the first place so I grabbed a cup of yogurt and my caffeine and came back here to sit down.  I didn't grab the raspberries because, even though I'm hungry in the morning, I can't eat a lot.  The yogurt I chose was Dannon Light & Fit Greek Raspberry Chocolate.  It wasn't bad but it wasn't a favorite of mine.  I ate the entire container and will be focusing on how I feel for the next couple hours.  I ate the yogurt at 8am and it's already 11am and I am not hungry at all.  Maybe eating protein in the morning is better.  The next step will be trying some scrambled egg whites for breakfast.  I haven't eaten eggs in over twelve years so I have no idea how it will go.

For those of you interested, here is the list of protein rich roods:

1 cup milk: 8 (grams) of protein

1 cup soy milk: 6-8 grams

1 large egg: 6 grams

1 large egg white: 4 grams

½ cup low-fat cottage cheese: 12-15 grams

3 ounces meat: 21 grams

8 ounces of plain, low-fat yogurt: 14 grams

½ cup cooked beans (black, kidney, etc…): 7-8 grams

½ cup cooked lentils: 9 grams

½ cup chickpeas: 6 grams

3 ounces chicken or turkey: 24-27 grams

3 ounces sirloin steak: 18-21 grams

3 ounces tofu: 6-13 grams

Today is supposed to be HOT.  The weather app on my iPhone says it supposed to be around 95 degrees today!  I wasn't sure what we were going to do today but after seeing how hot it's going to be I am leaning towards going to the beach or going to the pool.  I have really wanted to go stand-up paddle boarding.  Maybe today will be the day.

Today's food plan:

Mid-Morning Snack: Raspberries

Lunch: Left over tacos or micro meal

Mid-Day Snack: Apple and carrots

Dinner: Cheeseburgers w/ 85% ground beef (the butcher said it's actually leaner than 90%), w/Trader Joe's lowfat white cheddar cheese, and a side of grilled asparagus or artichokes.  I also bought some kale I've been wanting to try so maybe I'll cook some of that up.  I also have some romaine that needs to be eaten before it goes bad so I might also make a salad.  If my family is coming over for dinner I will have to check to see if they can all eat red meat...If not I'll just cook chicken.  :)

Alright, I'm off to do some housework and finish my laundry.  Have a great Sunday everyone!!!  xoxo