Day 5

of my 30-day challenge.

so this is a late post.  i've been waking up so early for the past week or so that my eyelids shut down on me even before i finished reading my blog roll last night.  so i was too sleepy to stay up and recall yesterday's food report.  here goes:

yesterday i had:
a mug of coffee and 2 cold chinese lumpia for breakfast [it was yummy, and it felt strangely okay even if the insides were kinda frozen, it gave it a bit of an extra crunch, lol]

i had a late lunch at around 2pm and had a hot roast chicken on bread which was smothered with gravy and a scoop of potato salad at Pancake house, while waiting for my car to finish being washed.

in the afternoon i had guests from cebu city [my college classmate and her hubby], i brought them to my house to see my bebes and for some durian treat.  i had 3 pcs downed with coke light. [i had to show them how to eat it okay, =P]

for dinner we went to a chinese resto, AHFAT III, and i had Hototay soup, kinilaw, french beans in garlic sauce, a few pieces of spicy pork ribs, and 1 steamed garlic and chili prawn.  take note, NO RICE!  and i drank hot chinese tea in the hopes of melting the fried pork ribs i had. =P

i'm going to meet up with another friend from cebu tonight and because i was too busy to exercise again yesterday, i will have to skip the sweets again,  and go without rice again, today.

self-analysis:
this is becoming more of a food diary than a challenge-to-exercise blog.  i admit defeat in the exercise department but i'm finding the "writing down everything i eat" habit really helpful on being mindful of what i eat and how much of the tempting but really bad for me food i allow myself.

i really tried the gym thing but it is just not for me right now.  i end up getting more stressed trying to fit it in into my already full life.  and if i pressure myself more i end up miserable and harassed, so for now i guess its not just worth it.

i'm sticking with my twice a week pilates though and i might embark on a new physical activity after i finish this book i am in the middle of reading.  it is health-related and timely for me, and am actually excited to start the program it is recommending.  i'll write about it tomorrow.

i am also reducing my intake of fried food and trying my darnedest best to drink nothing but water. err, morning coffee not included in the beverage ban, okay.

Day 3

of my 30 - day challenge.

this is going to be quick cause i'm sleepy already.  today started really early.  and no i did not exercise.

6am - coffee, 1 cup corn grits, corned beef hash, lemonade

10:30am - a banana

12noon - 3/4 cup corn grits, an invented salad [i don't know what to call it but it was yummy], broiled fish, dessert: a banana with nut nougat spread, orange juice

2pm a cup of cofffee

5pm - 2 chinese lumpia, orange juice

7:30pm 2 servings of pork meatball soup with patola and bihon [rice noodles], orange juice

and i also had the following somewhere in between the above times: 2 jellybeans, 1/5 of a chocochip cookie, a handful of milo cereals. THESE WERE FORCE-FED TO ME BY MY BEBES

note to self:

• stop drinking juice, go by water instead.
• i can always spit the junk into the trash bin when the bebes aren't looking.
• i meant to experiment on a german potato salad recipe i just received but the hubby wanted soup for dinner, so soup it was.

Day 2

of my 30 day challenge.

Today started really great.  i had what i call the breakfast of champions because i actually copied it from the blogs of some of my fave weight-loss champions, Ben and Theodora. 

breakfast of champions

i had it at 6:00 am. can you believe that?  if i did not actually eat them, i wouldn't have believed it myself, lol.  once upon a time i was the kind of person who did not eat till lunch time.  well, sometimes i'm still like that.  but this morning i had to arm myself because i was going to be stuck in guela's school and the canteen serves mostly starchy and fried food.  so i decided to try the banana and peanut butter on whole wheat toasts which i often see in my champions' blogs.

i also brought with me a quarter of a cup of corn grits which i ate with guela's left over chicken nuggets at 10am.

i returned to my pilates class after a week-long absence and was happy that i aced all but one of the routines.  my shoulders were weak today and i could hardly finish one of my arm exercises.  but i sweat buckets so i declare the session a success, ha ha.

i had late lunch with the hubby at 2:30pm and had a cup of corn grits and something we call picadillo over here.  it is ground pork cooked with diced potatoes, peas and raisins, and it was good.  the downside was it was a bit too oily. =(

before heading out to the supermarket at 6pm i had a banana and a handful of peanuts.  i did this to stave off hunger so i wouldn't go berserk at the mall and order the first sinful thing i laid my eyes on [it worked!]

for dinner at 8pm, i had my last cup of corn grits for the day [shoo, go away cholesterol, shoo, go away evil sugar in my blood!] and the left over picadillo and 1 cheek of a ripe, sweet, juicy mango.

today was a big improvement to my usual convenient but really-bad-for-you choice of food.  i also bought more veggies to make our meals healthier.  i also chucked my plan of preparing fish and chips tomorrow and instead serve baked fish and german potato salad, the recipe of which was recently shared to me.

i hope to be able to make it to the gym tomorrow.  there was lightness in my step today.  maybe it's the excitement of taking on a challenge.  maybe it's the good feeling you get when you know you did right by yourself.  whatever it is, i hope to keep it up, so that the lightness i feel inside will be reflected on what is seen on the outside. =P

couscous in my tummy

so i cleaned out my ref, and unearthed some ingredients which have been hybernating in it since more than just a couple of years.  one of this was a half a packet of couscous which i refused to throwaway even if it was beyond the best before date, why?  because they were sooo expensive when i bought them and my nose didn't smell anyting funny when i did the sniff test.

so now, these ingredients are now waiting in line on the kitchen counter, either to die or be transformed into something palatable [if i make it to them before they die.]

i checked her out today, she's one of my faves in a new blogroll, and her post made me remember the couscous on my kitchen counter line-up.
wanting to experience the same healthy and cleansing properties of eating a meat-free meal, i stir-fried whatever i had in the ref and in the pantry  which i thought would be great with the couscous.  and i came up with an instant hit, even my kasambahay who are not a bit adventurous and are fearful of unfamiliar food couldn't get enough of it.  the finished product was practically gone in no time.

here's what i did.

and here's how i did it.

rice, my downfall

ever since it mattered, i have had a love-hate relationship with rice. 

i love how a great partner it is to most if not all of the main dishes i can think of.  Heck, i even pair it with other starchy food like potatoes or even noodles [shhh! that's our dirty little secret okay].

but i hate how it puts on curves on all my wrong places.  and so, i have successfully lessened its impact by always choosing brown rice.  even if most people hate it, i love brown rice.  but for the past 2 days, i've been a loser to the battle with white rice.

hubby is here and so i decided to open the big bag of basmati rice that has been sitting in the cupboard for months now.  well, actually hubby pointed it out to me, the fact that i never cooked it.  and so yesterday and today, i prepared basmati rice [the short way].

yesterday, i cooked it plain with just a hint of salt.  we paired it with fried left-over lechon and some soup.  today i cooked the basmati rice with dill herb and butter.  i paired it with baked dill chicken and an okra salad i invented inspired by the many recipes i found on the internet.

needless to say i had more than my usual 1 cup of brown rice and now i am feeling as guilty as ever, not to mention heavy on the belly.

maybe next time,  if i'm not too lazy, i'll cook it the traditional way [long way].  this get's rid of the heavy starch and will yield rice that is fluffy and light.  plus the extra work will justify the second cup i intend to eat when it's done. =P

tsk, tsk, tsk

two things which are disturbing me right now:
 
Number 1
i'm not liking this new routine of mine.  i starve myself in the morning and have my first meal at 1pm at the earliest.  this happened twice last week, and now, a monday at that, i'm at it again.

it's not by choice ok.  i just have to leave for work much too early, i'd rather sleep some more than prepare and eat breakfast at 6 or 7 am.  and once i'm at the school, more often than not, there's work piled up waiting for me that i forget to eat.

so you can imagine that by afternoon i'm famished.  i have to bring guela to school at noontime so it's either i eat before or after that.  i gotta fix this or else i'll end up either with ulcers or an even worse metabolism.

and Number 2
i gotta get rid of all the junk [food] we have.  i also wanna start seriously feeding my kids veggies.  how do i find a way to make it attractive for them?  i've tried mashing them up to unrecognizable goop, but even when they still had no teeth, they spit it out before they even got to really taste it.  and now that they love soup, and meat, and rice, they cunningly remove whatever green thing is hidden in every spoonful.  the only reason i'm not THAT scared of them being undernourished is because of the enormous amount of milk they drink [pediasure and gain].

any of you got any advice out there?  i've tried them all, from being a good example to cutting the veggies up into cute shapes.  and don't tell me to smother them in cheese or cream as i can not do that each and every meal, it's gonna defeat the purpose, too much cream and cheese cannot be healthy.

or am  i just making such a big fuss?  i hated veggies when i was a kid and i love them now.  should i do something about it or just let them be?

tsk, tsk, tsk.... what do i do?

p.s. i made spaghetti alla carbonara yesterday, you might wanna check it out, i can't believe that even in a recipe blog, i managed to let my o.-c.ness get the better of me.

delicious brown rice

the secret?  follow the instructions that come with it.  no instructions?  here's how to make that once-is-enough-coarse-and-bland-tasting but oh-so-much healthier version of that thing you can't live without:

1. rice to water ratio - 1:2, that means if you cook 4 cups of rice, you will need 8 cups of water [yes, its that much]
2. add a bit of salt to taste [optional, i don't feel the need though]
3. soak it in the water for an hour before you hit the cooker switch.

i promise you soft but firm morsels akin to the arborio variety we adore.

savor every spoonful. =D

p.s. you can mix it with wild black rice like i did as you see in the picture, that is if you like a hint of  nuttiness.

what i need to age well, gracefully - notes taken while watching OPRAH

Antioxidants [5 servings [ fistfuls] a day]
examples:
steel cut oatmeal with apple juice
whole wheat grains and pasta
100% whole grain or whole wheat bread
blueberries
red beans
brocolli
concord grape juice
red wine - 1 glass daily
flaxseed - grind and sprinkle on oatmeal or cerals, or whatever
walnuts
spirulina algae - sea weed
olive oil 1-2 tablespoons a day [use to coat food before cooking]
tomatoes
4 cups green or white tea

daily supplements:
25 grams of fiber [psyllium husks]
omega 3 DHA - 600mg
vitamin D 1000 iu
calcium with magnesium [take together or as a combination]
a multivitamin withno more than 5000 iu of Vitamin A and iron - split it in half, first half morning, 2nd half at night

herbs and spices to load up on:
rosemary
cayenne
paprika
curry

exercise:
cardio to keep heart rate up - at least 20 minutes, 3 times a week [ formula: 122- age x .80 = heart rate up
strength training at least 30 minutes a week
flexibility exercise
meditation

sleep: 7 to 8 hours per night
sex: 2 to 3 times a week