Day 7 (continued) and Day 8

So I figured it was time to get creative in the kitchen so I wouldn't get sick of fish.  I spent the evening cooking (Day 7) and with some GREAT success!  Thanks to my friend Elaine who was on Facebook with me to advise about seasonings, I made two fantastic dishes:

First, I made a vegetable stuffing for a whole striped bass: Sauteed carrots, celery, zucchini, rainbow chard stems and leaves seasoned with paprika and chives.

Then, I made a clear fish chowder with carrots, celery, chard and cod seasoned with thyme, basil, Old Bay, bay leaf, salt and pepper.

I was looking forward to coming home and having the chowder for dinner, but now that I am writing this out I remember that I have the bass!  So much fish - so little time. The chowder will keep so I will make the bass tonight while it is fresh.

I am finding an abundance of wild caught fish and it is hard to keep my purchases to just one or two things at a time - I would rather buy fresh and cook, than freeze, but it is so hard not to buy one of everything!.

Today for lunch I am having wild caught coho salmon, sweet potato, beets, and roast cauliflower. I have been buying cut up melon from Whole Foods - they have a lovely mixture of cantaloupe, watermelon and honeydew - and everything is perfectly ripe and sweet.  Honestly - when people ask me, "Then what can you eat?" I have to answer that I have never shopped or cooked more healthfully in my life - and believe me, I was already cooking fresh and healthy!  This is not to say that I might not be able to look at fish for a month after this, but so far, so good.

Last night I didn't time my shakes right and so landed up having a shake for dinner and one later in the evening.  Today I am going to make sure to have a shake on the way home from work so that I will be able to have dinner, then save the third shake for the evening.  I think replacing breakfast with a shake is enough of a meal replacement - I don't want to do more than that (nor do I have to).

Today I added "Intuitive Eating" to my labels because with this plan, I find that I am really tuning into my hunger, fullness, desires, tastes, etc., and it is a much more natural way of eating - more so than any excursion I have made in the past into Intuitive Eating.  Granted my available foods are not endless (which is one concept of IE), but I find that within the boundaries of what I am allowed to eat, I am picking and choosing most naturally.  I like that the dietitian said that this period is not about losing weight, it is just about getting healthy.  That instruction has freed me from monitoring every bite that goes into my mouth (other than being sure it is on the allowed list).

I am so excited that yesterday I almost met my step goal on Fitbit and the day before I exceeded it.  I find that I am moving more with it.  For instance, I took stairs up and down at work yesterday where I might normally have taken the elevator.  It is so much more fun than a pedometer - I enjoy reading all the tallies at the end of the day and seeing what my friends are doing too.

Anyway - Day 8 and doing good!

Miriam