Tuesday, April 03, 2007

The "Healthy" Gain/Maintain

I have been asked several times what I eat on a daily basis to maintain my weight. Tomorrow I am going to post a recipe for the mock "ice cream" sundae I make for myself to enjoy 6 out of 7 days a week. One ingredient that I have been sneaking in is EAS powder, because I never meet my daily requirements for protein. I love meat of all kinds except bacon, but living alone makes it very unpractical to cook things of that nature for myself every night. Being small, I prefer to eat one BIG meal instead of 3 or 4 or 6 small ones... I like having QUANTITY in one sitting...So my one big meal is dinner... Sure, for breakfast I usually have coffee with skim milk, and a mix of 1Tbs unsweetened cocoa and sugar substitute (no more than 50 calories total). The medicine I take for my Crohn's disease (a no-taste powder soluble in liquids) goes in there, too. For lunch, I have raw vegetables or a salad of some kind. I make the dressings myself because there is corn syrup (grrr...) in nearly everything on the shelves in the store (so the salad mix clocks in around 200 cals or so). Thinking about the corn syrup thing makes me want to go on a rant, but I won't right now.

So that leaves dinner, and for that, it's the "sundae". And it can weigh in anywhere from 600-1200 calories depending on what I put in it. Also, I usually snack on veggies during its preparation. It might sound like a bizarre thing to have on a daily basis when I actually am a very good cook and have so many options for meals, but I know that by eating this, I won't put on weight (if I maintain my exercise), the mixture fills me up pretty much, and I can enjoy the entire thing without feeling GUILT. I don't need to feel any more of that than I already do on a normal basis. :)

Why am I writing about this? Well, because I would like to make this blog more of a one-stop shopping place for diet tips, healthy discussion, recipes (both healthy and not-so healthy), restaurant reviews, and food/wine events in the area.

My diet and maintenance issues are still/have been a real struggle for me (especially lately). I would like to share with my readers things I have learned and maybe learn things from others as well. :) It's all about balance, right? I prefer the word balance because I don't like the word moderation, and with the word balance, I can imagine the exercise part of my life as well as the diet part. I wish I was balancing on the arc trainer right now...

1 comment:

Jennifer said...

I'm terrible with my meals. My thing is the desperate need for weight loss. It's been a LONG journey here.

Whey Protein is good though- I used to make breakfast smoothies with that!