…since we have eaten anything we pleased while the whole house was torn up; we had yams with butter, pasta, pizza, Mexican, all-you-can-eat Chinese, we had desserts, cookies, candy, even the dreaded Swinging Door carrot cake [enough for an army] and you name it.
I feared I’d have gained at least 15, maybe 20 pounds. To my delight, in spite of epic reckless behavior, I have only gained 8 pounds. They’re where I don’t want them (waist)—but they’ll be easier to shed than some.
I think that’s a tribute to the sanity of the South Beach style diet we’ve been on: mostly stir-fries, a little noodles and rice with a huge amount of veggies, a moderate amount of bread and dairy, and a very little meat—mostly chicken. When off it, the weight didn’t pile back on.
So I went shopping today to fill the veggie larder. And then I realized it’s Valentine’s.
So I got Jane a card, remembered we’d sworn not to get more flowers that have to be planted, added the cost of most all cut flowers, and decided, y’know, there’s the bakery. Who should start a diet on a holiday? So I got a cream cheese filled cake and a card, and we’re having ham and baked yams tonight. Yay for us! We’ve earned it!
One should be moderate in all things, even moderation!
I’ve been exploring the paleo comfort food cookbooks to find ways to ‘replace’ the grain-based foods I’d miss if I went this direction whole hog. I did research the South Beach approach but it’s not something that works for me (and lots of others). Too many grains, and not enough protein/healthy fats. Off to google nut-based flours…..
ALmond flour (you can order Red Mill flours online, from Amazon) is good. Flaxseed is great, but has an unfortunate resemblance to codliver oil if heated. Imparts a fishy flavor to bread. Quinoa they say is good—I’ve been meaning to try it. Sunflower seeds.
A real nice thing with nutbased breads is muffintop muffin pans. They have no body, just a shallow depression that gives you one big muffintop, no muffin. So you get all the crunchy part. You can also use them with bread dough to bake your own hamburger buns.
Unfortunately, almond flour is on the NO NO list. Almonds elicited my greatest reaction on an IgG antibody panel. I’m really only interested in nut flours….not any seed/grain flour (like flax or quinoa). I’ve found filbert/hazelnut flour and chestnut flour. I can always grind my own, I suppose and that way I can get organic versions. I found a recipe for a nut-flour based pancake that can function as a wrap (anti-inflammtory diet book).
I used to use freshly ground flaxseeds in my oatmeal, and never tasted anything fishy. But I ditched it in favor of fish oil capsules (NOT in my oatmeal….grin!) since I was using flaxseed primarily to boost my omega 3’s (as an anti-inflammatory measure). Since I wasn’t positive that my body was converting the flaxseed oils into DPA and DHA, I went with fish oil (where conversion isn’t necessary).