Man, my Moo Goo will was really tested over the last few days! I was out of the office for CPE (continuing ed) on Thursday and Friday. So I was confronted with all kinds of goodies... delicious breakfast buffets full of savory biscuits and other cheese-covered goodness. Bagels and all kind of breakfast pastries and muffins. Coffee bar! You should know that days at CPE are those that I drink more coffee than any other day of the year. So I was stuck with fruit and water.
Lunch was the hardest. We eat in a big banquet room and are served a plated meal. So our salads are already sitting out when we're seated. Can't eat salads... so I'm just like twiddling my thumbs and hoping no one's really noticing that I'm not touching mine. The main course is doable... it's usually a meat and at least some veggies. The second day was a filet with veggies and polenta - sweet! I could eat it all! Except for the cheese mess on top of the filet. I of course had to pass on the dessert each day - which is just sitting there behind my plate during the entire meal, staring me in the face! Luckily, neither dessert from either day really did it for me. So I wasn't missing much! (I'm really weird about desserts - there are only a few I like.) But not getting to eat certain things at lunch wasn't hard - it was the attention that I hated! "Do you not like salad?" Yep, I knew that was coming, so off I went explaining my Moo Goo diet to a near stranger. It's funny - some people are totally fascinated by it and others look at me like I just told them I'm thinking about joining the circus.
Oh but the worst? The afternoon snacks! OMG. First day they had ginormous cookies. Not too hard to pass up, but next to those? This gorgeous tiered display of all these fab cheeses. I could live on cheese alone - this was killing me. Goat cheese, gouda, brie, bleu cheese, and everything in between... Lord help me. But I was good. I passed on it. And the second day? Giant baked pretzels with mustard. Those are fun, but easily passed. But then... ice cream. Freaking Ben & Jerry's ice cream. Are you kidding me? Once again... I ate fruit and sipped on my room temperature water.
This weekend we also had a party to go to and party food has always been my weakness! Chips and dip... bring it! But there are very few chips I can eat. They have to be all natural, etc. And dips? Yeah, considering most are made with some form of dairy, there's few of those I can pig out on too. So really, Moo Goo is not all that bad - all of my true "weaknesses" when it comes to food have pretty much been nixed from my diet. BUT the party hosts happened to have crackers that I *can* eat along with hummus and guacamole (both of which I can eat!)... that was such a fun surprise! And the main feast was BBQ, which I can also eat my fair share of... I know the sauce and whatnot most definitely has some sugar and other crap I'm not really supposed to have, but I honestly don't get that severe with it. So I was able to gobble up some BBQ pork, baked beans, and potato salad. Had to pass on the flowing wine (swoon) and brownies and ice cream for dessert (double swoon). But I had a full belly - I was happy.
So yeah, I find that challenges really come when I'm not in control of the food. But I'm dealing - it's all good. And I feel great, so it's all worth it. Plus, I'm picking up some new recipes! We tried out a great turkey meatloaf recipe last week. Loved it! I went by the book but for the bread crumbs (used oats instead and you totally can't tell!). And I tried a black bean cake recipe. It was OK, but I was missing some of the ingredients. I'm going to keep experimenting with those - I think I can find a really good one. If y'all have one, do share! A lot of them call for sweet potatoes, so I want to try one of those. Oh! And I also made chicken salad for the first time ever! Not hard, just never had actually done it before! It turned out great - I truly surprised myself. I just boiled chicken, shredded it and mixed it with some light mayo, celery seed (I can't do raw veggies, so seeds it is), black pepper, sunflower seeds, and some bacon. It was great!
Not to pat my own back, but pat pat! I am doing great sticking to this diet. Which surprises this food-obsessed girl! Many people have asked if the hub is doing it along with me. He definitely offered but I told him no way - that is silly. Plus, his needs are different from mine. This diet is specially geared for me and my issues/needs. But he has given up the coffee. Our poor Keurig is collecting dust right now! I've been on the hunt for some teas but haven't found any decaf varieties yet that really appeal to me. Any suggestions out there?
And one thing I find oddly fun and strangely satisfying is discussing food fantasies with the hub. We'll just be driving somewhere and I'll randomly say, "OK I want a mint cookies n' cream milkshake from Steak and Shake. YES! OK as soon as we get pregnant and are in the 'safe zone' I am having a mint oreo milkshake!" When do I ever eat milkshakes? Um, never. Talk about a calorie buster. But I just keep coming up with these off-the-wall food items that I decide I must have. So I've started a food fantasy list and it looks something like this...
- The obvious mint cookies n' cream milkshake from Steak and Shake, sans whip cream and cherry (those take away from it, if you ask me)
- A big ole bottle of my favorite wine, Nobilo Sauvignon Blanc, chilled to perfection
- All the corner pieces from a pan of Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate Brownies (best brownies in the world!!!!)
- Cheese dip and a big carafe of red Sangria from La Paz all to myself
- A Carvel chocolate ice cream cake (Not sure when or why that one came up! Random!)
- A big pitcher of frozen margaritas and fajita nachos at our local dirty Mexican joint
And the list keeps growing... it seems to revolve around cheese, alcohol, and chocolate. Haven't had any coffee fantasies. Guess I don't miss it all that much! Ha! So what's your food fantasy? What's that one thing you can't have because of diet restrictions or illness or whatever that sounds like pure heaven? A girl can dream...
5 comments:
I love that you call your local fav Mexican place a dirty Mexican joint! I do the same thing and one of my friends always makes fun of me, but it's exactly the perfect description! Sounds like you're doing well...without cheese and wine, I would definitely have a hard time. Keep up the good work! :)
I am SO impressed. Seriously. I've only given up foods a few times in my life, and in no case was it so severe as this. Wow.
In fact, I'm so rebellious that I've never been able to be on a diet that was restricting. I lost 70 lbs on Weight Watchers and kept it off for years (only gained back when I got pregnant, and I'm working it off v-e-r-y slowly now), and the only reason it worked for me was because it was all about all things in moderation but nothing forbidden. So from a food rebel to a food lover, I gotta say, I am impressed!!! Keep it up, you Moo Goo Girl!
Are you allowed to eat the rotissery chickens from the grocery store? When they are on sale, I buy one or two and shread them to make chicken salad. I use dried fruit - this weekend added cut up appricots. Mmmm!
Judge away but when I am at school I crave THE VARSITY which I certainly cannot get in Knoxville.
Chocolate-peanut butter ANYTHING is usually high on my cravings list... that, and this sinfully delicious cake from the P'tree Diner that reminds me of my wedding cake--it's white chocolate with a rasberry filling and drizzle across the top. Super moist, and OH so good!! I'm sitting here drooling just thinking about it!
Oh-- and teas. I kicked caffeine last year myself, and try to stick mostly to teas. Trader Joe's has a good decaf green tea, and Stash (can find that brand at either Kroger or Publix) has a lot of good decaf teas-- I like their white tea with raspberry, and I absolutely LOVE their licorice spice tea (trust me--doesn't taste like licorice at all--more like a chai or spice tea, but naturally sweet...I don't have to put anything in it at all to sweeten it!).
Just some ideas for you~
Post a Comment