Originally, my doctor thought it might be good for me to add a little meat for the extra protein. I ditched that advice, however, because I didn't feel any better eating more meat, and I gained 7 pounds. I don't blame that only on eating more meat, but it didn't help. I only added chicken and a little fish, and I never really enjoyed it. Still, eating a little meat did make me want more meat. It was a vicious cycle. So once again, I am meat free.
I also gave up most dairy products since my doctor said that the sugar in milk and yogurt was not good for me, and egg yolks since they were a carrier of oodles of cholesterol. I had actually been eating eggs frequently before that, probably 4-5 times a week, which, I admit, was way too much. So I went to eating eggs once a week, mixing the whole egg with an egg white, and then, just the egg whites. Now, no eggs. I have not had yogurt or skim milk in months. My last dairy holdouts were cheese and cottage cheese (mainly for the protein), butter, half and half in my coffee, and sour cream, just because I love it (I don't eat it very often, though). Now, only half and half remains as a regular staple for me. I still eat sour cream and butter occasionally but not very often.
Last week, I started back to being vegetarian. I felt a ton better.This week, I'm going mostly vegan. I had 2 slices of cheese last week and for me that is amazing. I would be completely happy living my life on cheese and bread, but I'd be bigger than a house if I did. So tomorrow, I will be redoing the 21 Day Vegan Kickstart . I just feel the need to get back to basics (mostly). My biggest challenge is to find a vegan protein powder that I like. I am a little concerned since I don't like tofu, and since I don't eat soy everyday, that I may not be getting enough protein, but I'm going to go with it for now. I am also investigating acceptable ways to eat quinoa (which I do not care for) that will not make me want to hurl.
I am also trying desperately to get off artificial sweeteners. I'm doing better, but that is still a work in progress.
Currently, I am reading Dr Neal Barnard's 21 Day Weight Loss Kickstart.
I find it helpful to read about health, healthy eating, and making healthy choices when I am trying to change my eating patterns because I feel like it helps to keep me grounded and focused. I also have been using this almond milk in my oatmeal. I can't go drink almond milk because it still doesn't satisfy me the way a glass of ice cold skim milk always did, but I can sometimes bake with it or use it in oatmeal with no problems. At least it's progress.I am trying to refocus my health quest by not actually focusing on my weight, but more on just what I am eating and putting into my body. that way even if the scale doesn't move, I'll still feel successful by just eating real foods and putting good things into my body.
Today, I made a crockpot apple butter recipe that my beautiful sister, Tricia, sent me. You can find the recipe here. Basically the ingredients are apples, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, and brown sugar. Excellent flavor and consistency, but way too sweet for me. We will still eat it, but next time I make it, I will use even less brown sugar than I did this time. I cut the recipe in half including the brown sugar, but it's still too sweet. I think if I had used a tart apple like Granny Smith, it might be okay, but I used a mixture of Golden Delicious, Jongold, Honey Crisp, Braeburn, and Jonathon. The apples had so much natural sweetness already that a lot of extra sugar was not needed except to make the butter truly brown maybe. Since I want to try to cut out as much unnatural sugar as I can, I think I'll still used a mixture of apples, just less brown sugar. I'd rather have the natural sweetness anyway, even if the apple butter is lighter than normal apple butter. Anyway, the flavor is great, and I will definitely make it again with modifications. Here is a picture of how it looked this time. Consistency is spot on. Tomorrow morning it will be swirled in my overnight oatmeal.
It's not my own recipe, but it get 5 spoons.
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