I posted my basic breakfasts lunches and snacks a few weeks ago and they are pretty standard. You can find them here. I will need to think these through, especially on Tuesday because we have a strangely packed week with two trips to Ann Arbor.
Dinner
Each week I am making a chicken ala Julia Child. I plan to start blogging that this week or next. I serve these with steamed green beans and mashed potatoes with gravy. Turkey Avocado Cobb salad. I will be using chicken thighs instead of the turkey. Turkey with green Mole. Again...chicken thighs. (I don't like turkey. Can you tell?) Palominlla Patty Melts with Yellow Mustard Slaw. I saw Rachael make these are her show and they do look yummy!
Some sort of Slow cooker concoction with bone in chicken thighs.
I can tell it isn't going well. I am sticking to the plan with one small diversion which involved several rolls of homemade oatmeal cookie dough that I had stashed in my freezer. It isn't as bad as it sounds. Friends were coming over who were also GFCF and I needed to entertain. Still I had a few to many. The cookies were incredible. It is a day to day adventure. If I do this 80% of the time and 'cheat' 20% of the time, I am fine with that regardless of the results.
The Flat Belly Diet has a 4 day jump start which includes Sassy Water and even more calorie restriction. I just knew that if I did that, I'd go straight off the diet on day 5 and I am not quite sure that Sassy water would taste too great. I'd rather just go for something straight from the tap.
The other item that is 'off' the menu for this diet is coffee. Say it ain't so!!! That just is not palatable to me. I have had zero Diet Cokes in the last 4 years, very little cream and have made the move to just a tiny bit of sour cream and goat cheese to feed my dairy habit. My friends who know me well know I am a "good enough gal" and so the coffee is staying. I am moving to tea in the afternoon though and I actually feel better when I do that instead of coffee then. But I can not be a perfectionist and stick with it. Because in the end, it is all about course correction..not pass or fail.
Along the same lines I ran across a young man who has blogged his weight loss. He takes the right track in my opinion. We can't all be on the Biggest Loser. In addition, although I think exercise is healthy, I don't think many of us can manage hours at the gym every day. He has lost over 100 pounds in the last year by diet and exercise and still having cookies and setbacks every now and then. But he keeps on going.
Last week I ran short on time... and energy. I didn't really plan or shop. I even pulled out some cookies from the freezer because, "we were having company." That caused the scale to become mean and ornery on me. So this week we plan. The MUFAs are in bold. I think the key to this diet is the planning and the eating..not so much the mufas. But the 400 calorie meals every 4 hours make it seem not so much like dieting.
Breakfasts:
Bob's Red Mill Steel cut Oats with cinnamon, maple syrup, nuts and rice milk made in Zojirushi rice maker. (It is ready when I wake up and lovely.)
or
Eggs fried in Olive Oil and toasted rice tortillas
Lunch choices:
Pizza: pesto, arugula, cheddar goat cheese using rice tortillas as crust. Bake for 10 min at 350F and top with fresh tomatoes.
End of week one and I'm down 2 1/2 lbs. I'll take it. Here is just one of the yummy snacks I made. First I made a batch of pesto without cheese. I used basil, pine nuts, olive oil and a squirt of lemon juice. (I forgot the garlic but that would be great.) You have to calculate your own calories because it depends on how much basil you you put in the recipe.
Here is the pizza recipe:
Use a rice tortilla for the crust. I find them at Whole Foods by the other tortillas. Spread 1 TBS (or desired amount) pesto on the crust. You can obviously do this with whatever you want but I added a large bunch of arugula and some shaved goat cheese. I keep a stone pan in my oven and preheat it to approximately 400F. Then just heat it up for 5-10 minutes. Add tomatoes when you pull it out and it is very delicious.
The extra pesto can be used with pasta, in soups or any bread. A friend who also does this diet scrambles an egg and puts the egg and pesto on a piece of toast in the morning.
