So Saturday, J had an all day retreat for group he is on the Board of Directors. We decided to host since we have a great community room in our building. Part of hosting was making food for a continental breakfast and lunch. For anyone who reads my food blog, you should know that I love to cook and entertain. I love cooking for a crowd. Since being diagnosed with diabetes, I haven't done much entertaining. That's less about having diabetes and more about being new to the area. Nevertheless, the one time I did cook for a crowd, I made sure all of the dishes were within my limits for what I could eat.
This time, I wanted to make a big hearty meal. This included lemon ginger muffins (tip to the nib scotte!) for breakfast and a full chili bar for lunch. That comprised of both vegetarian and chicken chili (a staple of mine since finding out I had diabetes), a whole bar full of fixin's that included cheese, sour cream, scallions, tomatoes, tortilla chips, and chopped red peppers, and cornbread. I went the whole hog and decided to make a nice fruit cobbler for dessert. This was a classic T & J meal. Easily prepared ahead of time and reheated, hearty, comforting, and filling.
This was the first time in a long time, I baked. More than EATING baked goods, I realized I missed the baking of baked goods. I love pulling out my stand mixer. It's cold (well cold her the Bay Area) and that prime baking weather. It was nice to bake. It felt like reconnecting with a piece of myself.
On top of that, I had no urge to partake of the baked goods. I filled up on turkey chili and salad and fruit. By the time I had turkey chili goodness with scallions, cheese, sour cream and cilantro, I was really happy eating my sugar free ice cream while others were enjoying the cobbler with vanilla ice cream.
Part of this learning is separating the ritual from the food. Sometimes you need get something for lunch because you are sick of being in the office. So go to Teaism and get a bento box. Get a turkey sandwich. Sometimes you need a salty snack in the afternoon. I go to town on Trader Joe's gorgonzola crackers(21 grams of carbs for 33 crackers).
Don't deprive yourself of treats. Superbowl Sunday I had nachos smothered in cheese, scallions, bell peppers, cilantro and tomatoes and to wash it all down I had root beer floats with sugar free ice cream and diet root beer. It's nice to have the rituals without shooting myself in the foot.
Checking in / On the road...
12 years ago
1 comment:
Totally a milestone! Weight Watchers has a name for these kinds of things - NSVs, or "Non-Scale Victories." It's a way to recognize a success, like making a good choice or buying smaller clothes or running an extra mile, etc., that doesn't relate just to numbers on the scale.
I had one today. Work is super-stressful again -- funny how that always happens around big events?? -- and I want nothing more than to stress-eat. I went out with friends to see what I could get in the neighborhood, and my friends wanted to go to the really bad, greasy food deli. I went in with them and said I'd take a look at the hot bar and decide from there. And, there on the hot food bar, was a gorgeous, gooey, cheesy, heavy-looking pan of lasagna. YUM. But, I walked away. I went to the better deli and got a relatively healthy tex-mex wrap - a tortilla wrap with grilled chicken, shredded lettuce, black beans and salsa. Tasty, filling, pretty good nutritionally. Yay me! Now, I did indulge in chips and a cookie and need to get over that -- but I definitely chose better than the lasagna!
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