Tasty Thursday - Easy to prepare

Yummy yummy.. its time for another Tasty Thursday. This weeks edition is focussed on low-prep, easy to prepare food that go easy on your tummy. As someone who works eight hours a day, the last thing I want to do on some days is go home and cook. This doesn't mean I don't want to EAT! and if I am eating I would generally prefer tasty food to plain old fill-your-stomach food.

Necessity often breeds invention and this has certainly been the case for me recently. Trying to get in balanced nutritious food while still keeping prep time to a minimum has become a daily battle. Being vegetarian means that I can't just pop a piece of meat/fish/chicken on the grill as a solution. So, here is another quick meal for the list. The potatoes provide the carbs, margerine and olive oil provide the fats and the cottage cheese is a protein and dairy. Serve with a green salad for the veg component and the stewed clementines as fruit. This was a hearty winters evening meal that satisfies and warms you to your bones. The warm cinnamon flavour of the dessert mellowed by the burst of fresh citrus was the perfect ending to a rough day.

Garlic Baked Potatoes

-Serves 2

4 medium thin skinned potatoes

1 bulb garlic / a scallion bulb

Olive oil

Low fat chunky cottage cheese (flavoured if desired)

Wash potatoes thoroughly

Pour approx a teaspoon of olive oil into your palm and coat each potato completely

Using a sharp knife, pierce the potatoes randomly ensuring that each side has a few cuts

Coat garlic with olive oil

Pour a little oil into a baking try for good measure

Arrange potatoes and garlic so that each potato rests near the garlic

Bake at 180 degrees celsius for 45 mins or until cooked through and skins are golden

Remove from oven, and cut open

add margerine and salt to taste (optional)

Squeeze roasted garlic onto potatoes (optional)

Top GENEROUSLY with chunky low fat cottage cheese

If you used the scallion bulb, chop finely as a topping for the cottage cheese (optional)

Enjoy

Caramel Stewed Clementines

half a cup brown sugar

1 cup water

2 seedless clementines (mandarins)

1 to 2 sticks of cassia bark (cinnamon)

place sugar in a non-stick pan with 1 tablespoon of the water and cassia bark

cook on low to medium heat stirring all the while

when the sugar darkens to a rich colour, add peeled and segmented clementines

coat the clementines with the syrup as they cook

while cooking, add water a tablespoon at a time as the mixture thickens to keep it at the right consistency

gently turn the clementine segments regularly to ensure cooking on both sides but try to keep the juices from squeezing out completely

Add a little more water at the end to thin the syrup

Serve warm

The leftover syrup is a great topping for ice-cream

Almost Time

It is almost time to share. Will it make this more real? Or less special?

I've already shared with some. But not all.

The tingles dance along my nerves at the thought of sharing here.

And if, after all this, something happens?

Maybe I should wait a little longer?

Yes, maybe just a little.

Appreciate what you have..while you have it

“You may not be her first, her last, or her only. She loved before she may love again. But if she loves you now, what else matters? She’s not perfect – you aren’t either, and the two of you may never be perfect together but if she can make you laugh, cause you to think twice, and admit to being human and making mistakes, hold onto her and give her the most you can. She may not be thinking about you every second of the day, but she will give you a part of her that she knows you can break – her heart. So don’t hurt her, don’t change her, don’t analyze and don’t expect more than she can give. Smile when she makes you happy, let her know when she makes you mad, and miss her when she’s not there.”

— Bob Marley



Dear You

(Stolen from Another Suburban Mom )
Dear You,

Hello again. It’s a little while since I wrote to you last, isn’t it? I was just thinking about you. Yes, you! And you. You too, over there in the corner. I’ve been thinking about you a lot.

I want you to know something. You’re ok, you are. Oh I know, you’re not perfect and sometimes you feel fraudulent, like you’re only pretending to be ok, but the truth is, imperfection and “faking it” are ok too.

I want you to know, you don’t have to feel invincible all the time to be ok. You don’t have to be permanently fabulous to make a difference to the world. Nor do you have to be completely loving of yourself, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to be ok. It’s ok to feel afraid, to have doubts, to be a little less than your shiny self from time to time. It happens to all of us, and that’s ok. The key thing is to acknowledge it, feel it and allow it to pass. Or if you need it, it’s totally ok to ask for help. You don’t have to change the world all on your own.

Also, don’t feel you have to perform all the time either. There will be times where you just need to step back and BE without worrying about what you have to DO. Anyone who expects you to be perfectly “on” all the time doesn’t really care about you – they’re caring more about themselves and their own expectations than your needs or feelings.

The thing is, self love is about so much more than just declaring “I am awesome!” and believing it. You are awesome. But you are also human, and part of caring for yourself is acknowledging that all humans are flawed, and cutting yourself some slack. Forgiving yourself. You will make mistakes, and you will be flawed, but that’s fine. We are all flawed, we all make mistakes. What matters is how you work through those mistakes and flaws. The most perfect thing you can do is acknowledge them and learn from them. But most importantly, be responsible for your mistakes. That’s the thing that will make a difference.

Because really, it’s all about doing the best you can within whatever circumstances you’ve got in your life at any given time. So what if someone else is able to do more, give more, be more. That’s them, in their lives. You have yourself, in your life, so that’s what you’ve got to work with.

But there is something I REALLY want you to know. You are a perfectly acceptable human being right now, this minute. You are just as valid as any other human being, without changing a single thing about yourself. That doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to want to grow, evolve or improve yourself, or you can’t do better sometimes, it just means right now this instant, you are worthy of your own self love. Even if it is hard to love yourself sometimes (and boy, is it!), or you’re struggling with some really difficult stuff in your life, you still deserve it.

So dearest you, be kind to yourself, be kind to others, and give the best version of you that you can give, but know that even in the tough times, you are still valid, worthy and deserving of your own self love.

I love you.

The kilo's - they come off

Two progress updates in a month?? Unheard of, I tell you! But since I had a doctors appointment on Monday and there was PROGRESS, you get another update. Amazing, isn't it?

Starting weight (19 Jan 2011) : 80kg
Last weight check (13 May 2011) : 71.1kg
Current weight check (23 May 2011) : 69kg
Current Loss : 2.1kg
Nett Loss : 11kg

YAY! I broke the 70 mark :) This calls for a celebration. Lets go have cake :P
Actually. Ignore that last part. I don't want to go back to 70 before I get to enjoy being 69.

So. There you go. Good times.

Additionally, the changes I was talking about in my last post are progressing well. Soon, I'll be able to discuss them here.

Soon.

I'll keep you posted.

Progress Report - May

I know I have been quiet on the bloggosphere lately. Real life sometimes takes over and it becomes impossible to keep up a steady stream of posts. Rest assured, however, that I still here. There have been things going on, exciting new things, that I am unable to blog about just yet. I know was on a bit of a backslide on my last post, but I am fine now.. Really.

Here is my latest progress report.

Starting weight (19 Jan 2011) : 80kg
Last weight check (1 Apr 2011) : 73.9kg
Current weight check (13 May 2011) : 71.1kg
Current Loss : 2.8kg
Nett Loss : 8.9kg

Yes, current loss has slowed down a little. There are reasons for that as well as the fact that I've cheated a little more in this past month. There is only so far you can go before you start to go crazy. While I always strive to have "perfect" days, where I eat everything correctly, there are times when I just can't do it anymore. I've learned to forgive those days and get back on that wagon the next day. And the results prove that it is still possible to lose, even with those days.

So, physically, I am doing well and still losing weight. Emotionally, I am also doing well. I take things one day at a time and try not to let my fears overwhelm me.

As I allow myself to hope,
Even when I am scared.
I am happy.

Ups and Downs and Ups

Life is hard. Feelings are difficult to control. You can be puttering along, feeling happy and then suddenly, BHAM! the pain and hurt depression rears up and grabs you by the throat.

This is pretty much how I have been feeling the past few days. Things had been going well. I was making a good effort at losing weight, the diet was going well, and I felt positive about myself. I was working towards my goals. And then, out of the blue, the feelings of hopelessness and pain hit me.

Its not fair. Why am I forced to starve myself and to pray and beg and plead for something that should have been a normal facet of life? Other women, known to me personally, have no trouble. In fact, the one person actually got pregnant by accident and had to get married ahead of schedule. A classmate of mine from high school is expecting her second child. At least 5 other classmates have children who are 2-3 years old. Family members, friends, work colleagues.. all expecting a child or have had children in the last 2 years.

And the pain of losing my babies hit me again. Fresh, almost as if it had just happened, rather than having happened a full year ago. And the same words that were said to me last year were said again. Don't worry. It will happen. Just pray. Just be positive. You will have a child.

And all I could do is cry.

Slowly, I am pulling myself back out of this. It takes time to forget again. To make myself whole. To shut that door again and continue trying to move forward.
I recently read a passage that explains this better than I can.

Its from a book called "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss :

 

PERHAPS THE GREATEST FACULTY our minds possess is the ability to cope with pain. Classic thinking teaches us of the four doors of the mind, which everyone moves through according to their need.
...
Second is the door of forgetting. Some wounds are too deep to heal, or too deep to heal quickly. In addition, many memories are simply painful, and there is no healing to be done. The saying “time heals all wounds” is false. Time heals most wounds. The rest are hidden behind this door.
...
While my mind slept, many of the painful parts of the previous day were ushered through the second door. Not completely. I did not forget what had happened, but the memory was dulled, as if seen through thick gauze.

Progress Report

I just got back from the dieticians office. I'm soo stoked! I lost 3.4kg in 1 month!
So just to keep things official heres the progress report :

Starting weight (19 Jan 2011) : 80kg
Last weight check (25 Feb 2011 : 77.3kg
Currrent weight check (1 Apr 2011) : 73.9kg
Current Loss : 3.4kg
Nett Loss : 6.1kg
3 Month goal  (i.e. by 1 June 2011): 68kg
Long term goal : 58-60kg

Looking back over this one month, I can safely say that I have only had one tantrum. It was a public holiday, a Monday. And I just couldn't do it anymore. I sat there crying because it felt like there was nothing I was allowed to eat and I was sick of the things I was allowed. By the next day I was fine once more and wondering what on earth had gotten into me.

I have cheated slightly, here and there. A little bit of popcorn here, a bite of hubby's food (rice or whatever) there. But for the most part, I was strict. And I managed. I never felt HUNGRY.

Anyways, just thought my readers would like to know :D The lifestyle change works.

Tomorrow is a free day. Eat whatever I want with the dieticians blessing. Yippee! I was missing toast :)

Wordless Wednesday - Long weekend

Progress Diary - 26 Feb to 8 Mar

Day 1-3 of my insulin reducing plan. Days 1 & 2 were painful and exhausting but I think my body is starting to get used to the idea now
day 4 : spoke too soon on day 3... was finished by the time i got home.. body was craving sugar like you would not believe. Felt faint and dizzy in the evening. I seem to be doing well in the mornings, but by 5pm my body realises its not getting ANY sugar and freaks out. I would have given anything to eat a slice of bread with my meal. ANYTHING!

Day 5 : have discovered that the cinnabalance really does keep the withdrawal symptoms away. Took only one this morning and am feeling the difference. Will take another in the afternoon and maybe the afternoon withdrawal wont be so bad (for those of you just tuned in, withdrawal from carbs and sugars .. not drugs, alcohol or nicotine! It feels like it though :P )
Day 6 : Spreading out the cinnabalance is a good thing.. feel slightly high for the whole day rather than being completely fine until I feel completely sick.
Have discovered papad is made with urad ni dhar (a type of lentil) not flour :D Since lentils are allowed, YAY for me

Day 7 : "I feel good! (nuh nuh na na na) Knew that I would, now" :P

Day 8-10 : Cheated a little over the weekend. Half a slice of pizza. Ugh, Never cheating again. Migraine and much unhappiness followed. Feeling slightly better now. If only my tummy would settle down again.

Day 11: Kinda bored with salad. I never liked salad to start off with and now I'm eating it every day. sigh Anyone got any ideas for interesting salads (within the parameters of the diet)?
On the up side I'm seeing some wonderful side-effects. No more acid reflux/burn. No more migraines (when im good :P). No more food cravings or intense hunger pangs.
 
The weight is definitely coming off though. Even though I am not allowed to weigh myself, I can see a difference. My jeans are looser and I feel slightly smaller. The exercise regimen is soemtimes hard to keep up (life intrudes and I don't get home till late, exhausted) but Im keeping at it. So far I have missed 3 days out of 11. Thats not an acceptable ratio and I will be working hard to drop it. I have found that exercising before bed, then showering gives me a better nights sleep and that this diet has given me more energy and the ability to stay awake later (says the person who used to want to go to bed at 8pm!)
 
Seeing the positive effects of this is whats keeping me motivated to continue, even through the sometimes boredom from the food choices and the difficulty of the exercise.

Tasty Thursday - Crumbed Schnitzels and Creamed Spinach and Feta Sauce

If you have been following the last few posts, you will know that I am on a very strict insulin controlling plan. Part of this plan is a diet that excludes carbs and sugars. No carbs and sugars, you say? How boring!  The food couldn't possibly be yummy without those food items. Surely not!

But it can and it is. This recipe debunks two of the greatest misconceptions of following a diet plan.
Misconception 1 - Following a diet plan makes food tasteless
Misconception 2 - Diet plans are time consuming. It is impossible to whip up a quick tasty meal that still exists within the parameters of the plan.

To the first, I challenge you to try this out and let me know just how "tasteless" it is. And to the second, well, this particular meal took me under 30 mins from deciding what to eat to sitting down and eating it. If that isn't "fast food", I don't know what is.

This recipe balances high protein soy against vitamin rich spinach to produce a healthy low fat meal. And if you want dessert, how about a scoop of Huberto's sugar free ice cream or some delicious Vegan Mousse (recipe next week)?

Crumbed Schnitzels and Creamed Spinach and Feta Sauce

2 Fry's Vegetarian Golden Crumbed Schnitzel
1 Sachet McCains Creamed Spinach and Feta
1 teaspoon crushed ginger and garlic
1 teaspoon crushed chillies
1/4 cup low fat milk
Low fat Margerine
Salt to taste

Heat a non-stick frying pan
Remove frozen Schnitzel from packaging and very lightly smear with margerine on each side
When pan is hot, place schnitzel on pan and cook on both sides
Place cooked schnitzel on plate

While schnitzel is cooking, defrost the spinach mix
Decant into saucepan with milk, ginger-garlic, chillies and salt
Allow to heat through and cook until desired consistency is reached

Ladle sauce over schnitzel and serve.

Change of plan

So, I was supposed to be updating with my weight every week, right? But that plan has been changed.  I finally got an appointment with the dietician last friday and one of the things she said was not to weigh myself. The only place I am allowed to weigh myself is in her office. So there goes that plan. For completeness sake, here is last weeks weight update.

Progress Report : 1 Mar 2011
Starting weight : 80kg
Current Weight : 77.3kg
Last goal met : YES
Goal for this week : Not set.

Crickets, Cliches and Kilograms

Pssst... can you hear the cricket chirrping? Its been a while since I last posted, though the urge to write here has not left me. There has just been some major things going on in my life which I will now fill you in on... if you're interested :) Be aware though, there will be alot of cliches in this post. I can't help it.. they're cliches for a reason!

Happy Anniversary, darling

“I don't pretend to know what love is for everyone, but I can tell you what it is for me; love is knowing all about someone, and still wanting to be with them more than any other person, love is trusting them enough to tell them everything about yourself, including the things you might be ashamed of, love is feeling comfortable and safe with someone, but still getting weak knees when they walk into a room and smile at you.”

Four years. Where did the time go? There's been ups and downs, happiness and anger. But through it all, my love for you has never wavered. This is our life. Together. I can think of nothing better than spending the rest of mine entwined with yours. When we first met, there was a recognition. A level of comfort that usually takes years to build. That feeling has only grown with each moment we have spent together.

So Happy Anniversary, darling. The past four years have been an adventure.

Lessons I learned - Happy New Year

Hooray.. 2010 IS OVER! Finally!

While many of you won't share this sentiment, for me its almost all I felt as we rang in the new year. I threw a party for my family and as we danced the year away, the absolute relief I felt was indescribable.
Normally the end of a year and the beginning of a new one is a time for introspection. A time for looking back at the mistakes, the joys, and pain and learning from them. Here are 5 lessons that I learned from this painful year :

1. Living is not just existing. And Living is well worth the effort it takes.
For a good part of this year, I simply existed. I crawled into myself and tried to shut out the world. My pain was too much and I refused to let anyone see for fear of hurting them. When I started emerging from this shell I'd built around myself, I discovered what it meant to live. To smile and mean it. To once again be a part of the living instead of just pretending. This is something my pain taught me to appreciate and its a lesson I will hold on to as tightly as I can. I will be more courageous and live my life in the happiest way possible.

2. I am not a selfish or hurtful person. I should be kinder to myself.
Pain teaches you about yourself. It pares everything down until you reach the core of yourself. I've always had this impression of myself that I am a selfish person who is fairly mean. I could never understand it when people used words like "sweet" and "quiet" to describe me since I spent endless time feeling guilty for the selfish or hurtful things I've done. I have discovered that most of that was in my head. If I was a selfish person, I would have wallowed in my pain and dragged everyone else with me. If I was hurtful, I would have lashed out when people hurt me. Instead, I turtled. I hid behind a mask. And only when people continued to hurt me, did I lash out to make them stop. So I have learned that I need to be kinder to myself and to stop shoving myself down in the mud.

3. People can only hurt you as much as you allow. I will not be allowing this any longer.
I will stand up for myself and make myself heard. I am old enough to know what I want in life and to know what will not work for me. The people who hurt me in order to force me to their wants, will not be allowed to affect my happiness.

4. Some things just can't be controlled. Some dreams only come true according to God's and the Universe's plan.
When I was young, I internalised the lesson that "If you want something, you have to work for it. Nobody is going to hand it to you on a platter. All dreams are achievable if you are willing to work for it. God helps those who help themselves". This year taught me that although this is true, there should be an additional waver. Sometimes, no matter how hard you work, you have to step back and accept the universes plan. If the time is not right, it will not happen. So work as hard as you can, but don't obsess when the dream doesn't come true. This is a hard lesson to learn and even harder to put into practice.

5. The cycle of life means that good must follow bad and bad will follow good.
In other words, "this too shall pass". The lesson is that no matter how much it hurts right now, there will come a time when the pain lessens and joy will slowly take its place. There will always be ups and downs and our job is to feel both to the fullest. To do otherwise, would mean we are dead inside.

So, Happy New Year everyone. May 2011 be all that you hope it will be.