The last week has been full of dramatic changes for me. First, I went to a new endocrinologist here in Cambridge. Before the appointment I wrote down everything I ate and checked my blood glucose regularly so she would have some data to work off of. However, when recording all of this it became glaringly apparent (as if it wasn't before) how badly I eat and how poor my blood sugar control is. So I decided to buy a fancy new food journal and start fresh. I've been recording my daily caloric intake, carbs eaten, protein, fat, and cholesterol. It's pretty intense.
I hate going on diets because I have been on a number in the past and they never did anything for me. It occurs to me now that this was likely because back then I didn't actually have any weight that I needed to lose--I was a skinny 105lbs. Now it is a different story. I wouldn't call myself "fat" in the typical sense of the word, but I have gained about 15-20 pounds that I would like to lose.
When I was diagnosed with Graves Disease a couple years ago (which I no longer have--I've been in remission for about a year now) I gained about 10 pounds from the medication they had me on to regulate my throid hormone. [For the brief time I had Graves, I'm not going to lie: it was awesome. My metabolism was super fast and I could eat whatever I wanted and still lost weight. The only part that sucked was the death part--there's no point in having an amazing metabolism if you're dead, so I took the fattening meds and gave up my skinny build]. On top of that, I worked as a teacher during the last academic year and constantly had students and parents bringing me in Starbucks gift cars, giant bars of dark chocolate (which I would occasionally use to barter with other teachers), chocolate covered cookies, Fererro Rocher chocolates, teacher appreciation luncheons, everything. So of course, there was another 10 or so pounds added over the course of that year.
Now, I am sick of feeling fat. But this time, I'm not going on a diet: I'm making a lifestyle change (which is what all diets should be, anyway). I'm not going to eat bad food because I have made it simply just not an option anymore. I already get more exercise here than I ever did in Phoenix because I walk everywhere. For example, I walk .6 miles from my apartment to the bus, and then another .4 miles from the bus stop to my office building. That's 2 miles of walking a day, just going to work! I plan to slowly (and I mean slowly) increase my exercise as I go (I kind of hate traditional forms of exercise)
The only thing that sucks about this is I definitely have to cook every night when I get home from work and am all tired or I get to starve. When I went to the store last time, I bought a ton of vegetables and whole wheat multi-grain high fiber whatever. One of the things I made with all of that is this recipe for a Cheesy Squash Bake (I forgot to take pictures of it while I was cooking, so the picture below is from its website, even though I technically found the recipe in my diabetic cook book). From the name, it sounds like it would be bad for you but it is actually really healthy and didn't take too long to make.
1 lb. yellow squash, cut into rounds
1/2 c. chopped onion
1 T flour
1 T low-fat margarine
1/2 c. fat-free skim milk
1/2 c. reduced-fat shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 c. whole wheat bread crumbs, toasted
Preheat oven to 350 F. In a large saucepan, place your squash and onion in a small amount of water and boil until squash is tender. Drain squash and onions and set aside. Over low heat melt 1 T margarine and add your flour. Add your milk all at once, and stir until milk is thick and bubbly. Add your cheese, salt, and pepper until you have a cheesy sauce. Add your squash and onion mixture into the sauce, coating thoroughly. Pour your cheesy squash into a 1 or 2 qt. casserole dish and sprinkle the top with whole wheat bread crumbs. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until your squash bake is cooked through and toasty on top.
Makes: Six 1/2 cup servings. Per serving: Calories: 72, Total Fat: 3g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 7mg, Total Carb: 8g, Fiber: 1g, Protein: 5g.
This will hopefully be the first of many, many more healthy recipes to come!
Oh! And I got this amazing nutritional scale in the mail today! It's very exciting. You put what you're going to eat on there, put in the nutritional code in (so for example, if you're eating an apple you put in 002), and it will give you calories, fat, carbs, fiber, protein, cholesterol, and 5 other stats that I forget. A carb counter's dream :) You can see/buy it here.
No comments:
Post a Comment