Not hungry.

I am totally not hungry today. Made myself eat a banana and one of Melissa's blueberry muffins. Had a bowl of cereal for breakfast.

I took a walk early this morning...well, early for me...as it was in the 60s. Could smell the fire already started at the Mediterranean restaurant and sugar odor from the dessert catering establishment. Kept walking.

But I pulled a muscle in my thigh and now am limping around. I need to go to the grocery but don't feel like messing with it. I have a veggie burger and fresh squash and zucchini that I can fix for dinner.

I have already had a nap and it is barely 4 p.m.

At Qdoba

I hate to eat at a restaurant with such a goofy name (wiki writes it may be from the Navajo word for 'house of food') but I did today. It was pretty easy to stay safe...a naked mango salsa salad. Here are the layers that I chose: no tortilla shell, lettuce, black beans, pinto beans, veggies and the mango salsa. They do put some sort of cilantro-lime dressing on it but sometimes you just have to live dangerously.

The nutrition calculator on the website totaled the meal to be about 350 calories. Not bad and I am full.

So now I know one place to go when traveling. Next time I will ask for the dressing on the side.

Blueberry muffins

Another Monday delivery from Melissa. Blueberry muffins and veggie burgers.

I still have vegetables left from last week, so no cooking show.

I wouldn't eat this well if not for Melissa and her goodies.

The End of Overeating

I just finished reading The End of Overeating by David Kessler, M.D. The author says we are preconditioned for hypereating. It's a brain thing, not a willpower thing. The fat, sugar, and salt that we consume in processed foods and restaurants makes us want more even though we don't want to eat more. If that makes any sense. It does to me. Like alcoholics who don't want to drink because they know the consequences, but they drink anyway. One drink sets up the phenomenon of craving. He writes about the cue-urge-reward. See the candy bar, want the candy bar, eat the candy bar even though you are not hungry. And then come the self-recriminations.

He has a rehab plan that I need to reread. Awareness of the cues, right-size meals, support, and pretty much total abstinence from the trigger foods. Easier said than done with TV commercials, billboards, and fast food places on every corner. Ever vigilant.

He feels that eventually a piece of something with fat, sugar, and salt will be safe to eat. I am not so sure. Once in the body, the brain tells you to have another. And another. You deserve it. You have been so "good," worked so hard, blah, blah, blah.

The brain is sometimes our worst enemy.

My personal chef

Having Melissa as my personal chef is really paying off for me. I always have something healthful in little tubs to grab and put together to make a satisfying meal.

Tonight it was a rice/quinoa mixture with green beans, sauteed onions, and one little new potato. I also fixed a spinach salad with mushrooms. For lunch is was her vegan raspberry/pecan muffin with kale. And for breakfast oatmeal with almond milk and dried cranberries.

The onions were already sauteed in a bit of vegetable broth and are easy enough to spoon on top of anything. The grain mixture has a good flavor. Really the only things I have actually cooked this week are the green beans and steamed asparagus. I think one night I steamed some squash, zucchini, and broccoli. Which reminds me I have more to cook for tomorrow.

The veggie burgers or black bean patties are a nice touch. Last night I put half of one on my big salad.

I love having a personal chef.

Dietary guidelines from the government

It seems as if the government, or more specifically the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is catching up with what some already know: a plant-based diet that includes grains and nuts is more healthful than our supersized meals of meat and animal proteins and fats.

The 677-page report tells us that we are overweight or obese and that includes children. We should slash our salt intake and get two-and-a-half hours of moderate activity a week or 75 minutes of high-intensity exercise.

Now if we could just get the producers of fat/sugar/salt processed foods to read and follow the report, we will all benefit.

Skinny Bitch...The Book

Ok. So I discovered I like green beans cooked....and cooked. Fixed a bunch of fresh ones in some vegetable bouillon and a little onion. Lots of salt and pepper. Very yummy over the quinoa and rice for lunch.

My new breakfast is oatmeal. The past few days I have fixed it with fresh peaches on top. Oh my. A little bit of heaven in the morning.

I had the book "Skinny Bitch" on request at the library. I read it advocates a vegan diet. Then I started reading reviews on Amazon. Many of the reviewers noted that it is full of the same loathing messages that those with eating disorders tell themselves. And lots of profanity. Who needs that. I cancelled the request.