Diet Toolbox #thatappleiswatchingme #eatyourGBOMBS #FOODisMEDICINE

For various reasons I've had a hard time maintaining my weight over the past few weeks. Its hard to adjust and easier to put it on than it is to take it off. It may be the decreased level of activity due to the winter weather.  More likely it's the increased time indoors, stress associated with the slow season and just plain paying no attention to how much and how often I'm eating, hungry or not. Stress has me eating for comfort when I'm already full. There is no accountability. In spite of perfect compliance with a whole food plant based no oil diet my portion control has failed.

Back to basics. I thought I'd gotten over the need for a food diary. For most of the year it's not necessary but right now it is a simple tool to help me regain control. My brain does not want to acknowledge how full my stomach is through the usual neurological and hormonal pathways. The food diary gives my brain the feedback I need to know how much I have already eaten and when to stop!




Here's how it's going so far today:

Breakfast
7:00 am.  One cup of dry quick oats mixed with 2 cups of boiling water, a teaspoon of ground cinnamon, a quarter teaspoon of turmeric, 2 tablespoons of milled flaxseed and 4 tablespoons of mixed berries.
I cooled it down with 1/2 cup of vanilla almond milk.

10;00 am. One cup of black coffee.



Lunch
Noon
Leftover 1 pan pasta with gluten free chickpea rotini pasta, red Swiss chard, curly parsley, fresh grated ginger, fresh tomato, sliced carrots, sliced celery, garlic, onion, purple cabbage, onion flakes, cayenne pepper, 2 pinches of black sea salt and 2 cups of water. Also fresh pear slices on the side and another cup of black coffee.

2:00 pm.  One 16 ounce bottle of water.
3:00 pm.  One large apple.

Already by the end of lunch I got in my Greens, Beans, Onions, Berries and Seeds.
All I have to do to complete the Dr. Fuhrman acronym is eat some Mushrooms and I can cross off my G-BOMBS for the day.

The more I write down, the more aware I become of all the things I put in my stomach today and the fuller I feel. That's why I'm putting in all the detail. It becomes a change in thought pattern between "what can I eat next?" and the healthier  "what have I already eaten?".

That's the idea. It's not complicated and doesn't cost anything. Spring is around the corner and I want to get back into the 5K races. I started training yesterday. It's my way of taking control of my own health. It's not my Doctor's responsibility to make me healthy, its mine.
I can do this and I know you can too!  All it takes is 1 step at a time. Take that 1st one!!!