Pursuit Of Idle Pleasures: Habitual Nourishment

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Habitual Nourishment–End of Week 5

I had a really good week – all green days with no slipups, small or large. I didn’t do the exercise that I should have though… only a few times on the treadmill.

I did go to Curves on Thursday with Christina. I’m happy to say that I’m not in as bad shape as I thought I was. I can’t breeze through the workout though! I’m not sure yet if I will join at the end of the trial... if I do it will be because of the great visit with Christina!

After that bit of work-out I was in the mood for a bit of a treat. So I cooked up some brown & red rice, and grilled zucchini, portabella mushrooms, and red pepper. I topped the rice with the grilled vegetables & steamed kale, and served it with a bowl of garlicky hummus on the side. Yum. I forgot to add the tofu though – it had been marinating in some chili garlic sauce and would have been a good addition. We always have some sliced cucumber (1/2 an English cucumber each!); last night we had some sliced red & yellow pepper as well. The whole meal was very satisfying :-) and right on plan. I was trying to get a healthy version of the chicken shwarma plate, and I think this did the trick for me. No greasy, salty chicken, or fried potatoes. No fatty garlic sauce, or rice bathed in oil. No feeling yuck the next day!

I consider Friday to be a huge success! We had guests for dinner (a cabbage, kidney bean soup – vegan of course), with cucumber, celery and red pepper on the side. I made the bean bread (cumin as the spice), and served it topped with hummus and roasted red pepper for the first course. Now here is where my success comes in. Trudie had brought a plate of homemade, triple chocolate brownies... I was reasonably tempted, but kept my head and passed. I also passed on the red wine (although a glass is allowed). So a totally GREEN day! (edit: later in the day Trudie called to suggest that the next get together be a potluck and she’ll bring a meat dish! I guess some people have a hard time giving up their animal protein…)

We were at the grocery store checkout – I usually snoop at what the people around me have in their carts. Well, the lady behind us had a loaded cart with packaged foods, pork roasts, cream cheese, and two lone zucchinis. The greens accounted for less than 5% of her cart. Ideally, fruits, vegetables and beans should make up 90% of our diet. All nutrient and fibre rich foods.

What was in our cart? Ten cans of no-salt added diced tomatoes, 1 bottle of cranberry vinegar ($0.44!), and one tube of fresh cilantro. The diced tomatoes were on sale – we saved about $10! I’ve never tried the herbs in a tube, but sometimes I want a bit of cilantro in a dish but don’t need a whole bunch, which usually rots in the fridge. My fingers are crossed that it will do the trick. (note that our cart never used to be so healthy – we were never big meat eaters, but there would have been bread and pasta galore.)

We’ve been trying to reduce our salt intake – I use a lot of canned beans and tomatoes – wowzers! Unless you buy the salt free ones they have a TON of sodium. We’ll run thorough what we have left in the pantry and start using no salt added cans. Or maybe I’ll start cooking my own beans, although that is a bit of a pain.

On the Hypertension Canada site, I came across this study on the effects of “dietary pulses” (legumes) on blood pressure. Pulse eaters showed a significant reduction in BP.

Our final meal of the week (Saturday night) was water stir-fry green beans, mushrooms and red peppers, a little bit of rice (a mixture of brown, red and wild), and 1/2 salmon fillet. We had oranges for dessert, and then I tried the Eat to Live Chia hot chocolate. What a meal!

And all that leaves me down 3 pounds this week! For a total of 8 pounds in 5 weeks. Of course there are the health benefits as well. I don’t feel deprived at all – there is plenty of fruit to satisfy my sweet tooth, and having a bedtime snack of chocolate peanut butter “ice-cream” smoothie, or chia pudding with fruit, satisfies the craving for a extra special treat. If I cut that treat out I’d possibly lose a bit faster, but maybe I’d just be tempted by other things instead. One change I will definitely be making is replacing the peanut butter with almond butter in my smoothie as that will better meet my 1oz of nuts required for the day (pb is not a nut).