Yee-ha cowboy. She is back. After a few really dreadful days of overeating and particularly eating too many white refined carbs, I woke up this morning feeling fairly grotty. White bread, which I ate too much of yesterday, does not agree with me. It makes me feel bloated, windy and lacking in energy and vitality.
To get myself back on the wagon, I chose to keep my diary clear for the day and not go out. I chose instead to sit inside, read some healthy living blogs and websites and get my diet mojo back. While I was doing that I put some goodies in to a jug to soak for breakfast:
30 g porridge oats (3 WW points)
1 tsp chia seeds (1 WW point)
100 ml coconut water (1 WW point)
100 ml water
1 cup of frozen raspberries
The point of soaking the ingredients is so the oats soften which makes them easier to digest and so the chia seeds swell up which makes 1 tsp seem more than it is. It helps keep you feeling full.
I soaked all the ingredients for a couple of hours, then poured them in to my blender with a banana and blitzed until smooth. Raspberry pink is one of my favourite colours. So pretty.
This smoothie was just about right in terms of thickness and a good quantity. It made about 1 and a half of these glasses full.
I read all morning. I found some sites about people who “juice feast” i.e. live on fruit and vegetable juices only for a period of time. One man did this for 92 days! This is not something I want to do, but reading their blogs, about how their energy levels, emotional wellbeing and overall health improved dramatically served as a powerful reminder that eating well makes you feel well. It really is that simple. EAT WELL. FEEL WELL.
While I was reading I made some chicken stock (see how here ). I had a carcass left over from the roast I made last Thursday. I used the stock to make a nourishing and tasty soup for lunch which was perfect for such a cold and grey day.
Chicken and Parsnip Soup
Ingredients (Served 1 hungry person)
- 1 litre of homemade chicken stock (4 WW points)
- 150 g parsnip (1 large parsnip, peeled with core removed) (3 WW points)
- 50 g chicken (picked from carcass after making stock) (2 WW points)
- ½ tsp turmeric
- ½ tsp paprika
- ½ tsp tarragon
- Salt and pepper
- 100 g cottage cheese (optional) (2 WW points)
Method
- Pour chicken stock in to a large saucepan and bring to simmering point.
- Chop the parsnip in to 1 inch chunks.
- Add the turmeric, paprika and tarragon. Simmer for 20 – 30 minutes until the parsnip is soft.
- Season according to taste.
- Pour soup in to blender and blitz until smooth.
- Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
- Add cottage cheese and blend until smooth.
- Serve.
When I decided to make soup for lunch, I did not plan to add cottage cheese. But when I tasted the soup I felt it lacked something. The cottage cheese blended perfectly to lose its lumps, which some people dislike. It thickened the texture of the soup and imparted a slightly cheesy flavour. An excellent addition. The parsnip gave the soup an earthy sweetness and the turmeric and paprika gave it a wonderful orange colour. This was delicious.
I drank mine from a large mug as I was continuing my research and eating soup from a spoon is too troublesome when you are simultaneously engaged in another activity. Since I was home alone I was perfectly happy sipping my hot soup from a large mug. Lunch was contentedly slurped and research continued :-).
I was sent a link to a blog by The Fresh Network who I ordered some groceries from last week. There was a very interesting article about detoxing and I read more and more about it. I am going to do a one week detox, when the kit arrives. Unfortunately I have to wait 5 to 10 days for it but in that time I can prepare my temple. I have been sent a useful document about how to prepare yourself for the detox so I am starting.
Supper was leftovers.
I had a portion of the Aduki Bean Chilli ( 5 WW points) which I made last Monday. I didn’t realise it had been in the fridge for so long but it tasted fine. I had that with 3 of the Chick Pea Patties (8 WW points) I made last Wednesday. Searching for the recipe for them made me realise I had not added them to the recipe index so I will get on to that. I also had a large tomato which I chopped up and seasoned with salt, pepper and fresh basil. Finally I added 1 tbsp of the Tahini Dressing (3 WW points) I made on January 4th. I can’t believe I made it so long ago! It tasted great though and went really with the chick pea patties and juicy tomato.
I braved Weight Watchers tonight. I was dreading it and could easily have not gone as I knew I had put some weight on. Plus it was freezing cold outside. But I had to go to get a measure of how bad it was. I was hugely relieved to see I had only put on half a pound. So a gain is not a good thing but this was a small gain following a very stressful week. I have been weighed, so I know the extent of the damage, which is minimal.
I have spent my time wisely today, reading about healthy eating and rekindling my diet mojo. I am back on my wagon and looking forward to tomorrow.
WW Points Totals
Breakfast 5
Lunch 11
Dinner 16
+ 2 for semi skimmed milk in tea
Daily Total = 34
Zoe it is so great to read that Make It Happen Motivational Monday has inspired you to do some research and make some realizations about how the food you put into you affects you. Keep track of the “whites” in a journal while you are waiting for your Detox to arrive and make a note about how you feel before you eat “white” anything, or any kind of starch.
You said you felt grotty and bloated from too much white bread and it may very well be that you have a Gluten “intolerence” not allergy. I personally know this is true with me. As much as I love to delve into the occassional binge of hot French or Italian bread, or pasta and rice, my stomach tells me I have to go find my buffet pants really fast because of the intolerence. Keeping the food journal of how you felt before you ate and in the hours after will let you know soon enough and you will find yourself remembering and asking yourself if it is worth it on not to feel like that.
I love the idea of putting the protein into your soup with the cottage cheese. I love tonnes of your ideas and why I love reading what “Zoe made today” that I can add to my foods, especially when winters are a time for experimenting with the foods.
Congratulations are in order for the fact your WW meeting did not make you come home regretting your weigh-in day. Keep up the great work and on the research. It is how we come to reach our final goals by starting with the research first and taking action.
Hugs,
Laura
Brougham, Ontario, Canada
Thank you Laura for yet another wonderful and supportive comment on my blog. I really do appreciate them.I find the blog very useful as a tool for checking back to see what I ate and how my weight loss was affected by that. Do try the soup – it was lovely. Thanks again x
Well done Zoe, after possibly the most stressful week ever you have done amazingly well. The soup looks and sounds delicious, may have to make some this week – have a bit of cold and a sniff so what could be better than homemade chicken soup xxxx
I believe home made chicken soup is referred to as “penicillin” by some as it is so nourishing. Perfect for this cold weather too. Hope you feel better soon x