Buying Salmon, on Purpose

Right, I can't believe it either.  If you follow me on IG, you may have noticed that I'm re-reading an old diet book and learning new things that I apparently never learned the last time.  In fact, in looking at this book, the only things I had marked were the meal plans - sounds about how I used to diet.  I would stick with something on the weekend and then by Monday, when I had to go back to work, it was just too hard because I couldn't make all those things the books told me to when I had to go to work.  Things are supposed to be easier now that I'm home all the time, right?  Ha, right. 

So, I'm reading up on how to 'fire up my metabolism' from the Nutrition Twins, Lyssie Lakatos and Tammy Lakatos Shames.  I figured if I could also share my journey, maybe that would make me a little more likely to stick with it this time as more of a lifestyle than a traditional 'diet'.

The book is based on 9 proven principles to help you burn more fat and lose weight.  What stuck out to me the most is that, shockingly (not really) most of us have a warped view of portions.  But I have to say that I'm on day 3 (probably more accurately day 2) of really trying to follow this thing and I think I'm feeling pretty good.  The basics are that you get a certain number of carbs, protein, fruit and fat per day.  I would say that you get to have a certain amount of vegetables as well but they basically say to eat as much of those as you want (oh goody). 

So my parameters are that I'm supposed to have the following:
Carbs: 6
Protein: 6
Fruit: 3
Fat: 3
Veggies: 4.5 or more

Monday was my first day on the job.  We had some leftover baked oatmeal from the weekend which, aside from the chocolate chips (even with the chocolate chips) really isn't that bad.

Baked Oatmeal - 1 cup - 2 "always" carbs, 1 fruit

String Cheese - 1 - 1 "thumbs up" protein
1/2 banana (the baby didn't feel like eating it) - 1/2 fruit
Yogurt (Dannon Greek Yogurt if we're being specific - love that stuff!) - 1 "thumbs up" protein

Whole Wheat Tortilla - 1 "always" carb
Pecorino Romano Cheese - this is probably a "never" cheese because I couldn't find it on the list and it didn't melt properly but I just called it 1 "thumbs down" protein
Ground Beef (leftover hamburger from the night before) - 1/8 of a lb - 1 "thumbs up" protein
Baby Carrots - 3 oz - 1 veg
Peanut Butter - 1 Tablespoon - 1 Fat

Wheat Bun (not whole wheat, but enriched wheat) - 2 "sometimes" carbs
1 egg - 1 "thumbs up" protein
Avocado - roughly 1/4 cup - 1 fat
Basil Pesto - a smear - 1 fat
Mozzarella Cheese - 1 slice - 1 "thumbs up" protein
Pineapple and Peach salad - 1.5 cups/fruit

So I rounded out my day at:
Carbs: 5/6
Protein: 6/6
Fruit: 3/3
Fat: 3/3
Veggies: 1/4.5

Tuesday I was feeling good.  I had really finished the book again by Monday night so I felt like I had a better handle on this thing after one day of sort of doing it, however, around 4:30 or 5 pm I had a major headache.  I'm not sure if sugar withdrawal headaches can come on two days later but it was bad.  I drank extra water (I already drink a lot) and drowned my headache in pizza for dinner.

Baked Oatmeal - 1 cup - 2 "always carbs", 1 fruit

Greek Yogurt - 1 "thumbs up" protein

Whole Wheat Tortilla - 1 "always" carb
1/4 cup Mozzarella cheese - 1 "thumbs up" protein
Chicken Nuggets (2 - baked) - 1 "thumbs up" protein
Pineapple and Peach salad - 1 fruit
Mini Carrots - 3 oz - 1 veg
Peanut Butter - 1 Tablespoon - 1 fat

Cheerios (dry) - 1 cup - 1 "always" carb
Almonds - 11 - 1 fat
1/2 Peach - 1 fruit

Mini Eggplant Parmesan Pizza - hmm...I mean, I have to guess at what I think this is, right?
4 Pieces, probably about equal to 4 slices of bread - so maybe 4 "sometimes" carbs since it wasn't whole wheat. 
Even if the eggplant is breaded, I can still count it as a vegetable, right?  Let's say 1
Marinara sauce - can that count as a vegetable?  Sure, let's say that
And the cheese, oh the cheese - probably a good 2 servings per piece - yikes, that's 8 protein servings

So before I ate that whole pizza, I did ok, but after the pizza, let's see

Carbs: 8/6
Protein: 11/6
Fruit: 3/3
Fat: 2/3 that I recorded - probably a few in that pizza as well
Veggies: 3/4.5 - probably generous considering the pizza but hey

Clearly, I could use some more veggies - they're practically free and they'd probably help to fill me up a little bit.

Today, Wednesday, we're doing good so far.  I'm feeling a little bit better, a little smaller, feel like I may have slept better last night, even in spite of my pizza annihilation.  And I'm so inspired that I'm actually going to purchase salmon on purpose (not that I've ever bought it by accident but you get the point) to cook with some broccoli for dinner tonight. 

7:45 am
Greek Yogurt - 1 "thumbs up" protein

10:25 am
Oatmeal - 1/2 cup - 1 "always" carb
Milk - 1 cup (3/4 cup is a regular serving so I'll adjust this next time) - 1+ "thumbs up" protein
Walnuts - 2 Tablespoons - 1 fat
Strawberries - 1/2 cup sliced - 1 fruit

Normally, I think that I need some type of sugar in my oatmeal.  I usually reach for the brown sugar and give a little sprinkle (or a hefty sprinkle if we're being honest) but I was shocked today that I didn't really miss it.

12:15 pm - I prepared my lunch in between giving the baby more pieces of cheese, sweet potato and chicken.  It was relatively simple to do while he was occupied.
Whole Wheat Tortilla - 1 "always" carb
Mozzarella Cheese - 1/4 cup - 1 "thumbs up" protein
Chicken Nuggets - 2, baked - 1 "thumbs up" protein
Baby Carrots - 3 oz - 1 veg
Peanut Butter - 1 Tablespoon - 1 fat
Popcorn - air popped, 3 cups - 1 carb (that's right, only 1 - for THREE cups of food!!)

Time for a snack and time to nurse the baby.  I'll let you know how salmon goes...