I can hardly believe that there are only two weeks left in my Lenten healthy eating diet! The time is going by quickly and we are busy getting ready for Easter.
I am not tempted to cheat at this point because I am so close to reaching my goal. My husband says it is like a prisoner not wanting to violate eligibility for parole.
Day 30
Breakfast, the Almond Kale Smoothie. Gwyneth says in her cookbook, “This might sound like a bummer, but it’s incredibly delicous . . . .” It’s not bad I have to say.The huevos rancheros version of the egg white omelet.Lunch: leftover Quinoa with Butternut Squash, Scallions and Parsley.Dinner: leftover Braised Chicken with Green Olives & Lemon over polenta/grits. It looks terrible but is very delicious.One of the great side benefits of this diet is that my cooking skills are growing. For dinner one night when the fridge was somewhat bare, rather than defaulting to something like frozen food or spaghetti, I managed to rustle up a whole wheat tortilla with chicken, onions, peppers and black beans. My husband said it was delicious!
Day 31
It was time to break out the juicer to try “The Best Green Juice.” I learned that while I have a Grade A blender, I have a Grade D juicer. It generated almost no juice from all of those vegetables.Gwyneth advises that if you don’t have a juicer you can just blend the veggies with a little water and then strain them. This seemed to work much better for me.It was quite a lot of work to make just this amount of juice. I was a bit nervous to drink it. Gwyneth describes it as a “sort-of grassy lemonade.” It has a surprising flavor and you definitely taste more of the citrus and ginger than the kale.Snack: apple with almond butter.I finally found no-sugar almond butter! The Wegman’s house brand has no sugar and no salt, just roasted almonds.Lunch: Leftover chicken with green olives and lemon.Snack: Creamy Avocado & Cacao Smoothie. I used a small avocado this time and there was no avocado aftertaste. This was just like a chocolate milkshake! (My only complaint is that I just noticed that Gwyneth recommends that this serves 2. I would say this is a single serving recipe.)Based on what I have learned from It’s All Good, I created a strawberry banana protein smoothie for my husband. He likes it as a pre-dinner snack when he gets home from work and it’s also great for breakfast.I have been using this cookbook long enough now that I feel comfortable making a few tweaks here and there. I really needed a crockpot recipe to simplify dinner preparation. Gwyneth’s Teriyaki Chicken recipe worked just fine in the crockpot. Just make the sauce, pour it on some raw chicken breasts and cook on low for about 8 hours. Done!Dinner: Teriyaki chicken over greens and broccoli.
Day 32
Breakfast on a busy Saturday: the almond kale smoothie.The pumpkin pie smoothie. This is a great drink to have when you are hungry but still need some time to prepare your lunch or dinner.Lunch: leftover lentil salad.Snack: apple and almond butter.Teriyaki chicken over brown rice and beans with broccoli. A variation on Gwyneth’s recommendations but I really needed the carbs.
Our family has been struggling this week with the stomach virus my son picked up somewhere. Just as my son recovered, my daughters came down with it. Then, Saturday night, I wasn’t feeling so hot. When you feel queasy, the last thing you want to eat is healthy food and particularly not vegetables. Growing up, we always relied on 7UP or Sprite. I just had to go to bed and hope for the best. For some reason I thought of the ancients at Mesa Verde limited to yucca and squash In that situation, I suppose you just wait until you feel better and have recovered your appetite. Fortunately, I felt much better this morning.
The other struggle this week has been a pulled hip muscle. I think I slept funny on my leg and pulled something. My exercise has been put off for several days as a result. The one thing that has helped me was the Dance Anatomy book I bought at the National Portrait Gallery. I checked it on a whim to see if it said anything about hip muscles and it had so much to say! There was a hip flexor stretch that helped tremendously. It also had an answer to an ongoing problem I have had with my hip joints snapping during leg lifts.
It turns out this is a whole series of books on movement anatomy, including topics for yoga, pilates, running, cycling and weightlifting. They seem to be written by athletes/physical therapists. If you do any of these exercises regularly, these would be great reference books to have.
Day 33
Today was another weigh-in day.
Due to my lack of exercise this week, I was surprised by these results. I am now about 5 pounds under my weight goal but still a healthy weight for my height. After you discontinue an extreme diet (like this one), there is always a bit of a weight rebound so it’s nice to have a little caloric room to spare.
Tonight’s his and hers fasting salads.
Tomorrow I will start a 3-day juice cleanse. Gwyneth recommended a 3-day juice cleanse for spring. I have never tried such a thing before. I think of it as the high-intensity aerobics portion of my fasting diet. The advice I have read suggests that you not do one of these cleanses unless you have already cleaned up your diet for at least a week beforehand. Since I am well past that mark and used to drinking smoothies for meals and snacks I hope it will not be too bad.
