Wednesday, April 17, 2013

I Get That Question a Lot

The number one question I get is, "What CAN you eat?".

I like to call myself a poultry and fish eating vegan.  There is no official classification for this - maybe I should make up my own name for it.  Popescaterian?  Fishpoultarian?  Fishtrytarian? No?  Those don't work for you?  I can't really call myself a semi-vegan because I eat poultry or fish with every main meal.  I need the protein.

What I eat in a typical day looks like this:

Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner
I'm combining the list of foods here because I pretty much eat the same types of food for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
  • Grilled turkey burgers (I buy the pre-made patties from Costco) with black bean & mango salsa
  • Hummus (made with white beans and garbanzo beans and no tahini) with cut veggies
  • Salmon - usually pan fried in olive oil but sometimes broiled with balsamic vinegar
  • Canned Tuna packed in olive oil
  • Chicken 
  • Snap Peas - these are very high in protein and make a great entree fresh out of the bag
  • Green salad - made with a spring lettuce/spinach mix, radish, orange, red or yellow pepper, cucumber, celery, carrot and avocado.  I make my own salad dressing.  Usually an herb or lemon vinaigrette
  • Oven roasted sweet potato, drizzled with olive oil
  • Black Bean Soup
  • Chicken and White Bean Stew
  • Oven Roasted Cauliflower
  • Avocado drizzled with fresh lemon and olive oil or balsamic vinegar

Snacks
I eat a snack mid-morning, mid-afternoon and before bed.
  • Almonds
  • Walnuts
  • Fruit - cantaloupe, watermelon, honeydew, tangelo, orange segments or banana
  • Honeycrisp apple slices or celery stalks with Almond Butter
I try to eat every 3 hours to maintain a stable blood sugar level but honestly, I'm not always hungry.  I end up eating something small to keep it stable.

Very rarely do I miss the foods that I used to eat.  When I do though, it's big time.  Today I'm missing the flavor of diet soda and crunchy crackers or pretzels.  I miss bread.  I miss cheese.  I miss Mexican food.   In case you didn't know this about me, I should have been born in Mexico.  At the tender age of five or six years old, I was begging my Mom to take us to Taco Bell.  Poor excuse for Mexican food, I know, but even then, I loved it.  When she said we didn't have the money, I said she should write a check because they had a little sign in the bell shaped walk-up window that said they took checks.  As far as I was concerned, she had checks - it was a no-brainer.

It seems like lately, Facebook has become a dumping ground for new recipes people want to try.  What's up with that?  If you post more than two recipes in a row on Facebook, I will hide you from my newsfeed.  It's just what I have to do to protect my sanity.  I've also un-followed all food related boards on Pinterest.  It was making me very sad.

I have created a Pinterest board called Anti-Inflammatory Diet.  I've been collecting recipes that fit the criteria that Red River Health and Wellness originally gave me for the Anti-Inflammatory diet.  Some of the recipes contain ingredients that I no longer include in my diet but I kept them on the board in case someone is out there looking.

Since overhauling my diet, it appears as though I have a ton of restrictions.  The reality is that I'm more free in my diet than I've ever been.  I eat when I'm hungry.  I don't count calories or points.  I'm very careful to eat just the things that I'm allowed and it's working for me.  Sure, I get cravings but I've learned that it's not really the actual food I'm craving.  I'm usually thirsty or in most cases, my brain reaches back in to the memory vault and tries to tell me that in the past, I've used food for reasons other than nourishment.  I'm trying to break that cycle and so far, so good.

So, when people ask me "What CAN you eat?", I simply say, "More than you think..".



2 comments:

  1. Those foods sound like a wonderful array of deliciousness! I am still working on the emotional eating issues I have. It's a daily, no hourly, struggle some days. I commend you for your strength.

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  2. Last week was crazy. I'm just now catching up on all these great posts of yours. I have to admit your new food program is making all of us healthier.

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