Has anyone ever seen Gordon Ramsay's F Word? Well the F, and if you know Gordon your mind could jump ahead to what that means to him, really stands for FOOD! Yes, the dreaded, dreaded F word!
When I went to the gym today I told my trainer that I just feel bored with the food side of things. I'm not craving as much, yesterday's 'cheat' was more to save face and play the game for work, I don't actually enjoy pasta and it's not something I would choose if I were 'cheating', but even without the cravings I am just BORED! I want to be able to stock up on yummy healthy choices that are delicious that make me feel like I am enjoying eating fewer calories because those precious little bites just make me feel like I am enjoying food so much that I don't miss the cravings. But I am not there yet. And is this even possible?
Cutting out carbs has left me somewhat energy depleted and this may be the reason why. She told me that I can have oats which even though I am not a porridge person per se, I am finding a way to enjoy gluten free oats in the morning now and again. I buy Straw Propellor brand from Target in ready to go cups, I get the maple variety, it is non GMO and gluten free and only 200 cals per cup and 34g carbs. About the same as my one serving of kashi, but as it's just oats, probably better for me. I pair that with a yoghurt and it's really quite filling. I find that oats takes longer to digest so it keeps me fuller for longer.
She also said that I can have a sweet potato. As in one sweet pototo a day. Just a regular sized potato, baked or steamed with no filler and cut in half and eaten for lunch and dinner. She said this should get my energy levels up and keep them up. A medium sweet potato has about 181 calories and 41g carbs.
From a carb front she said that I SHOULD NOT have the oats and sweet potato on the same day though, it's one or the other. I know that 100g carbs per day is about the 'sweet spot' and if I calculate having oats and a sweet potato that puts me at nearly 400 cals plus 75g carbs for the two. That is cutting it pretty close as far as adding other things. Yoghurts have about 9g carbs and snacks etc have carbs too. About 6 cups of low cal veggies comes to about 24g carbs. So we see how it adds up. If I did the oats, sweet pototato, 3 cups of veggies (which don't cook to much volume) at each meal plus 2 yoghurts, even though I would probably be within my calorie range, I'm already at 117g carbs for the day which will just put me at burning what I am putting in instead of dipping into fat stores. I feel like my trainer does give me good solid sound advice!
I'm going to work on looking for 'new food'. If I go with the oats in the morning plus 2 yoghurts during the day, that puts me at just over 50g carbs ... so I can probably have snacks that have about 25g carbs for the day, knowing that I'm covered for the inclusion of my veggies and protein for the day. It all adds up pretty quickly!
The calendar diet also recommends 3x 15g carb servings per day only. Assuming that you are eating 2 dairy serves, 2 fruit serves and a good amount of low cal veggies, that altogether will bring you up to the sweet spot, so about 45g carbs in the form of actual carb type food is all you therefore need to be focused on. I see where that puts me at either the pototo only OR the oats with an additional 15g leftover which could be used for bran crackers or a slice of ezekial bread. It's making sense ...
Happy Wednesday!