This morning, after I got Noah off to school, I had to take Eli for yet another blood test. The doctor told us to go to the lab at the hospital because he would get the results faster. I had no idea that the wait in the waiting room would be FOREVER long.
Eli was SO mad at me because he really didn't want to get his blood drawn again. I let him bring his Nintendo DS, but he was so mad that he didn't even want to play it. While we were sitting in the waiting room, a man across from me said, "Boy, he doesn't look too happy." I took one look and just laughed and said, "Hmm, how can you tell?"
See how thrilled he looks? He literally sat with that scowl on his face and his arms crossed for about 20 minutes. All the people in the waiting room thought it was funny.
His blood work came back to be the same as yesterday, which isn't good, but it isn't bad either. The doctor stressed that he is to do NO activity whatsoever. Mentally, he feels totally fine and wants to play, so it's hard to keep him lying on the couch all day.
So Day 2 of the Real Food Challenge went well. I still don't feel any different, but like I said, I'm not expecting much so soon. I've been craving my Cinnamon Raisin Ezekiel bread with peanut butter. This afternoon when the craving hit, I had a spoonful of peanut butter and that helped (a little).
One of my favorite snacks (and something that I'm used to eating just about every day) is a piece of Ezekiel bread (toasted) with some sort of nut butter. I've been having pistachios as a snack instead--they're good, but certainly not as good as my toast with nut butter!
My food journal is pretty boring today, because it's nearly identical to yesterday... but that's the way I am. I go through food "phases", where I find something I like and I eat it every day until I find something else ;) I'm still on the salad kick for lunch, which actually started on Christmas Eve. It's so funny--I ate probably two salads the entire time I was losing weight, because I just didn't like them. And out of nowhere, I was craving a salad on Christmas Eve, so I had one for lunch. And now I've had one nearly every day since then!
I still much prefer the French+Ranch dressing combo, but since that's not "real" food, I've made my own vinaigrette dressing. It's pretty good, but not the "Franch" I was used to eating.
A lot of you asked for the recipe for the fudge I made yesterday. I will warn you, if you're expecting it to taste like Mackinac Island Fudge, it doesn't. Not even close. It's good, though--very chocolatey and rich, but not super sweet. If given a choice between it and the Mackinac Island Fudge, with no concern for health or calories, I would certainly choose the Mackinac Island Fudge!
But anyway, I don't have a real "recipe" for it, but here is how I made it (measurements are approximate, because I don't measure).
Simply combine:
3 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp. honey
dash of vanilla extract (or almond extract, coconut extract, or whatever you'd like)
Enough water to bring it together (probably about 1/2 to 1 tsp)
Combine the ingredients in a small bowl. Add the water a very tiny amount at a time--you have to stir this for a long time to get all the cocoa moistened. It will be very thick, like a dough. Separate into two pieces and roll into balls. It tastes best if you refrigerate it until cold, but I can never wait that long ;)
And for those of you that asked for the recipe for the fried rice, you can find that here on my recipes blog.
Today's food log:
Breakfast--oats cooked in milk with dates, walnuts, and maple syrup
Lunch--salad with avocado, chicken breast, and almonds, with balsamic vinaigrette
Dinner--homemade chicken soup with brown rice instead of noodles
Snacks--pistachios, string cheese, spoonful of peanut butter, chai latte (see below), popcorn with oil and salt
*One of my favorite treats while I was losing weight was a chai latte that I made myself. I love the Stash brand chai tea bags, so I would heat 1 cup of milk in the microwave until very hot (about 2 minutes), then steep a tea bag in the milk. Add 1 Tbsp. honey. It's very sweet, which makes it almost like a dessert; and steeping it in milk instead of water makes it very decadent. A great bedtime treat!
Eli was SO mad at me because he really didn't want to get his blood drawn again. I let him bring his Nintendo DS, but he was so mad that he didn't even want to play it. While we were sitting in the waiting room, a man across from me said, "Boy, he doesn't look too happy." I took one look and just laughed and said, "Hmm, how can you tell?"
His blood work came back to be the same as yesterday, which isn't good, but it isn't bad either. The doctor stressed that he is to do NO activity whatsoever. Mentally, he feels totally fine and wants to play, so it's hard to keep him lying on the couch all day.
So Day 2 of the Real Food Challenge went well. I still don't feel any different, but like I said, I'm not expecting much so soon. I've been craving my Cinnamon Raisin Ezekiel bread with peanut butter. This afternoon when the craving hit, I had a spoonful of peanut butter and that helped (a little).
One of my favorite snacks (and something that I'm used to eating just about every day) is a piece of Ezekiel bread (toasted) with some sort of nut butter. I've been having pistachios as a snack instead--they're good, but certainly not as good as my toast with nut butter!
My food journal is pretty boring today, because it's nearly identical to yesterday... but that's the way I am. I go through food "phases", where I find something I like and I eat it every day until I find something else ;) I'm still on the salad kick for lunch, which actually started on Christmas Eve. It's so funny--I ate probably two salads the entire time I was losing weight, because I just didn't like them. And out of nowhere, I was craving a salad on Christmas Eve, so I had one for lunch. And now I've had one nearly every day since then!
A lot of you asked for the recipe for the fudge I made yesterday. I will warn you, if you're expecting it to taste like Mackinac Island Fudge, it doesn't. Not even close. It's good, though--very chocolatey and rich, but not super sweet. If given a choice between it and the Mackinac Island Fudge, with no concern for health or calories, I would certainly choose the Mackinac Island Fudge!
But anyway, I don't have a real "recipe" for it, but here is how I made it (measurements are approximate, because I don't measure).
Simply combine:
3 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp. honey
dash of vanilla extract (or almond extract, coconut extract, or whatever you'd like)
Enough water to bring it together (probably about 1/2 to 1 tsp)
Combine the ingredients in a small bowl. Add the water a very tiny amount at a time--you have to stir this for a long time to get all the cocoa moistened. It will be very thick, like a dough. Separate into two pieces and roll into balls. It tastes best if you refrigerate it until cold, but I can never wait that long ;)
And for those of you that asked for the recipe for the fried rice, you can find that here on my recipes blog.
Today's food log:
Breakfast--oats cooked in milk with dates, walnuts, and maple syrup
Lunch--salad with avocado, chicken breast, and almonds, with balsamic vinaigrette
Dinner--homemade chicken soup with brown rice instead of noodles
Snacks--pistachios, string cheese, spoonful of peanut butter, chai latte (see below), popcorn with oil and salt
*One of my favorite treats while I was losing weight was a chai latte that I made myself. I love the Stash brand chai tea bags, so I would heat 1 cup of milk in the microwave until very hot (about 2 minutes), then steep a tea bag in the milk. Add 1 Tbsp. honey. It's very sweet, which makes it almost like a dessert; and steeping it in milk instead of water makes it very decadent. A great bedtime treat!
