Monday, January 9, 2012

Soup-er Monday

And we're back to Monday - I hope everyone had a great weekend! This weekend wasn't exactly relaxing for me; I worked both Saturday and Sunday, went grocery shopping, made a big batch of soup for the week, experimented a bit with kale (stay tuned for a kale post!) and worked out. Whew...makes me tired just thinking about it. But that being said, I did veg out catching up on Big Bang Theory and getting some good sleep. So all in all, a balanced, productive weekend - which honestly are my favourite kind.

My eating is back on track. After being completely "on plan" for just 4 days the scale has dropped 5 lbs (so I was right about at least some of it being water weight). My hip bones are back and my pants are fitting much better so all is well. At this point I know what it takes for my body to lose weight. The important thing is to get back on plan sooner rather than later. It's no big deal to lose 5 or 6 lbs - the important thing is not to let that stretch (or rather balloon) to more! That being said one of the things I really want to work on is to become better at moderation - so rather than repeatedly gaining 5 lb and then losing 5 lb, I can hover closer to the same weight.

Here I am heading out the door this morning. Sorry, the lighting isn't great but this is the only floor-length mirror in our apartment!


One of the things that really helped me lose the weight initially and continues to help me lose and maintain is....SOUP! Last night I made a double batch of Tomato Bisque from Gina's site, www.skinnytaste.com. (I absolutely love her recipes because not only are they healthy and tasty, they are made from REAL FOOD). I now have a ridiculous amount of tasty, very low calorie soup that I can have whenever I'm hungry over the next week or so. I take it everyday as part of my lunch or eat it as a snack (i.e. before dinner). I tend to stick with lower-point soups since I use it more as filler rather than a meal. Some of my other favourites are:
Vegetable Soup (like the WW Zero Point soup)
Chicken or Turkey Soup

I think next I'll try a carrot soup. No matter what the flavour, I just love knowing that my fridge is full of tasty, guilt-free soup whenever I might need it!

My giant soup pot and the fruits of my labour


Something else that I find helps me is bring a BIG lunch that I actually WANT to eat. Before I changed my lifestyle, I would eat out most days for lunch. My office is near a ton of different places that make it really easy to grab lunch. Fast food, Pho, Chinese, sushi, Whole Foods, pizza, Indian...whatever you want is a 5 min walk away. I used to bring my lunch and then not eat it. I mean, really - how can a thrown together PB&J compete with all those delicious options?? So the key for me was to pack a lunch that would satisfy me, both physically and mentally.

My typical lunch consists of:
- A medium sized salad with low-cal dressing or a bunch of cut-up veggies
- A big bowl of soup
- Some sort of "main" - today is tuna on cucumber slices, sometimes it's a bagel thin with chicken and cheese
- Yogurt or cottage cheese
- Fruit (e.g. apple, orange, etc)


My lunch bag


Filled to the brim!
Yes, I realize that's a ton of food. (Sometimes I feel people are staring at the size of my lunch in disbelief. But the funny thing is they pull out their sandwiches or leftovers and even though it's much smaller, it's more calories/points!) I like to have options! I actually spread that food out throughout the day and eat some of it as a morning snack if I'm hungry, then save some for the afternoon. I sit at a computer most of the day and don't really have a defined lunch time so I can eat my lunch throughout the day as I get hungry. Also, I don't usually eat all of my lunch. For instance, today I had my salad and soup and then decided I was full (the soup was soooo filling!). Then at 3 pm I decided it was snack time - but opted for a tall non-fat latte and an orange. (Today was a little light on the protein for lunch other than the latte, but I had a protein-rich breakfast and dinner). The rest I'll save for lunch tomorrow.

The afternoon snack of champions - some days just call for a latte!
Lunch at my desk - ooh, pretty graphs!

I still go out for lunch from time to time so it doesn't get boring (yay for variety!) - most often for sushi!! But packing and bringing this sort of lunch most of the time allows me to:

1. Eat enough food to be satisfied but stay on plan
2. Learn to listen to my hunger cues and only eat what I need

If people want to make fun of my big lunch, that's just fine, because I'd rather my lunch be a bit bigger than me ;)

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