Moving Forward (or getting my ass back on track)
It's time. We've had a bad few weeks, and we've been letting ourselves
grieve hoping it would get easier in time. It is, slowly, and we've
begun to focus on our new home and picking out carpet, furniture, etc.
We've got about 10 weeks before we move, so we've got time to shop
around and get ideas. We've been spending a lot of time together to
help each other get through this, and I think it's time to put some of
the focus back on myself and my fitness goals. I worked out maybe once a
week for the last couple of weeks, and that's not good. Happily I
didn't seem to have lost my endurance during those workouts - I cranked
out sit-ups with the best of them, but I can definitely tell that I've
not been focusing on diet and exercise lately, and it shows on the scale
as well.
Last week TOM was here so I expected the slight increase I saw last
Saturday. But this Saturday I was up again, and I'm not going to slip
and ruin the good work I've done since the start of the year. Grieving
the loss of a beloved pet is human; I'm not going to feel bad for
shifting my focus these last couple of weeks, but now it's time to shift
it back again. Last week's gain of 0.4kg (.88 lb) and this week's gain
of 0.6kg (1.32 lb) have brought me back to 109.4kg (241.19 lb) this
week.
The clocks have changed, we're officially in autumn now, and it's
getting chillier. I've planned meals for the coming week that focus on
warm, comfort food that's also low calorie, like these favorites:
Chickpea and Swede Stew
Rainy Day Lentil Soup
Spicy Lentil Chili (see below)
Tonight is the stew, and while Susan's original recipe calls for
turnips, I prefer to use Swedes (rutabagas) instead and use my own spice
blend which is a blend of cumin seeds, fennel seeds, mustard seeds, and
fenugreek seeds. I'm looking forward to it. Hubby even eats that with
me, though he enjoys slathering butter on some crusty rolls with his
serve.
If you're interested in trying the Spicy Lentil Chili, it's from Dr
McDougal's Quick & Easy Cookbook and the recipe follows, but I add
one chopped bell pepper and leave off the cilantro because I don’t care
for it.
QUICK SPICY LENTIL CHILI
2 cups red lentils, rinsed well
2 quarts vegetable broth
2 cups diced onion
1 16 ounce can chopped tomatoes
1/4 cup tomato paste
2 tablespoons chopped fresh garlic
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon thyme
Several twists of freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of crushed red pepper
Dash of cayenne pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Combine all of the ingredients except cilantro in a large soup pot.
Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat, cover and simmer over
medium-low heat for 30-35 minutes until the lentils are tender, stirring
occasionally, adding more water or broth if needed for proper chili
consistency. (It didn’t need any.) Remove from heat, stir in the
cilantro and serve.
Servings: We got 4 large bowls which were very filling.
Nutrition facts (from Spark People) per serve:
225.0 calories
1.5g total fat
0.2g saturated fat
0.6g polyunsaturated fat
0.4g monounsaturated fat
0.0mg cholesterol
2120.2mg sodium
870.8mg potassium
43.4g total carbohydrates
12.0g dietary fiber
8.2g sugars
12.0g protein