week 4 - new recipes

Week 4 is over, it's been pretty great!

getting a little frustrated about having to be so careful with certain foods but its not bad. I've been eating things I wouldn't have eaten in the past (french fries, sweet potatoes) from fear of too many carbs. Of course, I'm not eating french fries super often and only nice quality ones at restaurants, not fast food. I don't order them, if someone gets them and they don't look greasy and they don't have any added spices then I'll have some. And its funny... no GI issues from them, and I'm still in great shape!

I've been trying to eat more a little bit later in the evening so as not to lose too much weight. I lost 5lbs the first week I did this just from so many issues and being so limited. Now I gained about 2lbs back, which I'm fine with. I've been eating, I feel energized, and I'm trying to vary it up as much as possible so as long as that's where I'm at I'm OK if I dropped just a few pounds. What I didn't want to do was lose a lot because of the diet... because I know that's not the healthy way to lose weight and could also lead to some negative thought patterns. If I lose any weight, it'd be just a few pounds, and I'd want to do it because I was trying to focus on it.

Anyway, some new recipes I've tried this week that have been great!

Raspberry chia "jam" --- mashed up a bunch of raspberries to a pulp, then mixed in 1 T. chia seeds. then you leave them overnight in the fridge and it sort of gels up like jam. Not nearly as sweet as jam, but does the job :)

Vanilla Almond "ice cream" --- blend 1/2 frozen banana, 1/2 fresh banana, 1-2 T. almond butter, splash of lactose free milk, 2 tsp. vanilla, and then I added a dash of cinnamon. suuuuper creamy and decadent, it was SO good

Beef 'taco' Lettuce Wraps --- sautéed ground beef (without onion or garlic :(  ), then scooped into romaine lettuce leaf. Topped with diced tomatoes, shredded cheddar cheese, minced cilantro and lime drizzle.

*** I have noticed that sometimes when I eat a lot of lettuce I'll start to get bloating or gas build up later in the night. I'm thinking I'm going to eliminate this for the next 3 weeks and test it during reintroduction phase. I feel like that tough rib part of the romaine might be the issue.

Another thing, I had some drinks this weekend --- a couple glasses of red wine did not feel great. I'll have to limit my red wine, or at least not have it if I've had anything questionable that day. I'll need to plan this out better for next time to see if its the red wine or the fact that I was eating a lot of lettuce and iffy things that night.