Food!

Can you believe that I ate a whole bag of baby spinach last night? (Applebee's had to be postponed until tonight-I forgot Ry had class) That's right, I cooked up an entire bag of spinach and got 1 serving out of it! That's not even a full-size dinner plate, it's a "lunch" plate and look how little it made! It felt good to eat it though, I just sauteed it up with a little "Smart Balance", salt and pepper and it was great. Served alongside the spinach is a teryaki chicken breast (previously frozen from Costco-I know there's some sugar in this but I didn't have time to cook up raw meat). This may not look like the most appealing dinner, but it really was satisying.

My life has always revolved around food: when I'm going to eat next and what, what am I going to make for such-and-such, and CHOCOLATE! I am detoxing from chocolate and sugar in general. It's hard. I was just at Target and saw this yummy Mrs. Field's chocolate mix for cookies and I about went birsurk! I felt like how Edward and the vampires must have felt when overcoming the craving for human blood. I needed it. I had to have it. But with all my strength I quickly turned the shopping cart in the other direction and went about my business. I just have to avoid the tempting stuff as much as possible. I can't have it in the house. None of us need it, it's junk. There are way healthier alternatives to have around for the kids to snack on. It also helps that Ryan is a very healthy eater. He doesn't do sweets. Give him fruit, veggies, yogurt, and meat and he's good (oh, and Carnation Instant Breakfasts). So it makes it easier for me to have us all on the same page food-wise. I seriously think about my blog everytime I have a craving and it works!

So I'll share with you some foods I've been enjoying that are low-carb and low-fat. I've been eating for lunch lately what I call Omelet Eggs. I kind of burned myself out on eggs when I did Atkins 5 years ago so it's hard for me to eat them in the morning. BUT, I can eat them for lunch and be fine! So what I do is in a little olive oil I saute a chopped onion, bell pepper, small container of mushrooms, and some ham (not honey-baked). This makes a lot so I keep it in a container in the fridge and use a little each day or each time I want some eggs. I spray a frying pan, add the eggs, sprinkle as much of the veggie mixture as I want, mix it all up and cook until done. Actual omelets seem to take more time so I just scramble everything up. I then sprinkle lightly with some reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese. A little of the sharp goes a long way. So this is what I've been having for lunch (I don't eat much breakfast, but I'm working on it). I also love turkey or lettuce roll-ups with all sorts of veggies, sprouts, low-fat string cheese, yum! Also a good snack from South Beach is a Laughing Cow cheese broken up and put in a stick of celery. And whenever I do have a sweet craving, I either chew a piece of sugar-free gum or chug down an ice-cold Diet Barq's Root Beer (it has to be Barq's) and the craving passes. It feels good to have my eating habits under control, and I know that once I get in the habit it won't be such a big deal. My body feels so much happier, seriously! So what changes have you made in your eating habits for the new year? How are you going to live a more healthy lifestyle?