I’ve been aggressively snacking between meals and all the nibbles are going undocumented. This bothers me because I want to have a better handle on my eats. I get frustrated because I don’t always have time to eat well so (excuses excuses) I just grab the easiest and fastest thing and shove it down my gullet between diaper changes, laundry, and all that jazz (the joys of motherhood I guess). But I want to be accountable for what I’m putting in my body.
I used to take photos of everything I ate and that not only made me more mindful of what I was eating, but it made me way more sensible with my food choices. Since this blog is my space to journal, I’m going to do just that. I’m going to attempt to take pictures of everything I eat again. Hopefully this will help me get back on track because, seriously, eating a bowl of nuts, and then another, and then another, and then another will be harder to do once I have to take photos of it again and again and again. I don’t think it will be a long term thing, but maybe a week or two of it will re-focus my health. I’m tired of feeling like crap at the end of the day and wondering why I wasn’t more on top of it with my diet. The random bites of this, that, and the other have got to go.
Here’s all of what I’ve captured thus far. Not in entirety…yet…but I will be soon.
Monday
This GF pancake mix (soooo in love – thank you Costco!).
I had 5 pancakes with sweet peanut sauce. I made the peanut sauce by thinning out a really big spoonful (maybe 3 tbsp?) of peanut butter with some almond milk, cinnamon, and maple syrup.
I saved the rest of the pancakes for the next day. I like making double batches so I don’t have to think about anything the next day and I just know I have a super yummy breakfast ready to go. I should do that with all my meals, but I often don’t have the self control to save the second portion. Ok, that’s not true. The real problem is that I am not good at judging how much Kyle and I will eat and I don’t make enough to begin with. We pretty much NEVER have leftovers. I have to start making bigger portions so there’s more food in the fridge and each meal doesn’t have to be a new thing.
After breakfast Kyle watched P so I could go for a quick run. Once I got back I nursed P and took him to the nail salon with me while I got a pedicure. He was a dream baby and sat on my lap the whole time just playing with my hair and checking everything out. I was happy he was a good kid because I know the employees as well as the other patrons were not thrilled when they saw me bring him in. But his beautiful big blue eyes and good manners won them all over by the end.
I got [Mermaid] sushi to further treat myself.
First time trying inari. It is GOOOOOD. New fave fasho. I had about half of the 3 rolls above and saved the rest for dinner.
In the afternoon I had several figs and a grapefruit citrus zevia but that didn’t quiet the hungry monster, so I had a bowl of nuts.
For dinner I had the rest of the sushi. And then I had an unpictured slice of banana bread for dessert.
Tuesday
I got up early to do level 3 of Jillian Michaels 30 day Shred.
Breakfast was the rest of the pancakes with more of the peanut sauce. If it aint broke…
Lunch was 3 pieces of GF toast topped with egg/avocado/goat cheese mash and carrots.
My afternoon snack was vegan hazelnut cocoa spread with figs.
I made the most bomb dijon tempeh spinach casserole for dinner that totes deserves it’s own post. It is literally the best thing I’ve made in months. I may re-make it a few seconds from now. Or sooner.
I had (a lot) scooped atop a steamed sweet potato. I didn’t mean to eat it all but I did. And I’m relaly glad I did too because from there I went straight to night shift and it was a doozy. I didn’t have time to grab a snack until midnight-ish.
I had the rise bar (above) and it was legit. And I had the salty sunflower seeds (below) and some dried coconut meat.
The next morning was rough.
Wednesday
I got home from night shift and immediately showered, nursed P, and passed out. I woke up 2 hours later to an empty house. Confused. Turns out Kyle had taken P on a walk to keep the house quiet while he took a business call.
More pancakes!!!! Can’t stop. So good. With a fried egg. Yolk porn followed.
I wanted to go back to sleep but I couldn’t. I had to much shiz to do and I felt like crapppppp.
I guess I forgot to take photos of lunch (or whatever you call the next meal after my breakfast at noon). I don’t remember what I had. But I had a macqui mojito kombucha as my drinkable dessert.
Kyle had a meeting and I was supposed to go in for another night shift but I literally couldn’t make my brain or body work properly so I called in sick. Instead, I put P in the baby bjorn and walked a few blocks down to Nugget market.
We needed milk and tamari, but I impulsively bought strawberries, salmon, and Justin’s chocolate. So my dinner had all of those things.
Spinach salad with carrots, strawberries, avocado, and soy ginger salmon.
Best. Strawberries. Ever.
Rice works chips afterwards = accountability for my snacking. I was going to have another bowl full too, but I stopped because I realized I didn’t actually want it. I’ll chalk that up to the fact that taking another photo of the same thing would have been annoying and lame. Go me.
Justin’s dark chocolate PB cups for dessert. They changed the packaging and now they are softer and more melt in your mouth yummy. I had a few in a row that were hard and cracked and crumbled (not good), so I’m glad they sorted things out.
I totally relate re: snacking! I find myself eating an extra bowl of nuts, handful of crackers, or chocolate when I don’t actually need it. I am trying to cut down on snacking by making sure that I eat more food at meal times to get be satisfied. Your blog post inspired me! Thanks!
I really like seeing what people eat during the day! If I didn’t have to eat lunch at work, I’d try documenting my meals more often! I think accountability is totally important!
I think it’s great that you are trying to take photos of everything you eat and document them again. Plus, I always take nibbles of nuts or these raw carob bars I make…spoonfuls of nut butter…top my meal off with something sweet or savory so we all do it! I know the feeling though when you want to reign it in.
I just bought tempeh yesterday for the first time in almost a year so I hope you post that amazing looking meal soon!
way to go! I’m so guilty of snacking too- especially on the weekends when I’m around home more! you can totally conquer this!!
I don’t know how you do it all when working a night shift! But on the other hand it sounds good to work a few evenings and then off for a few days. When I delivered our baby our nurses raved about the chance to work nights when having kids and schedules though.
I love the peanut sauce for pancakes that you made!! I defo have to try this out on my next GF pancake indulgence.
<3 dani
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I love the “this is what i ate” posts. I base my whole blog around it too, because I’m not as focused on making beautiful recipes (other people do that so well) as I am trying to figure out what I’m cramming in my mouth ever day. I definitely think taking pictures of things has helped me realize what I eat. I was definitely getting too snacky, not documenting, etc, so I’m trying to be a lot better about that as well! I loved this post 🙂 P is so cute!
Ok, well you’ve convinced me that I need to buy some Justin’s PB Cups again. I try to stay away from those bad boys because I love them just a tad too much, but obviously I need to buy some more to try them with their new packaging. 😉
Everything looks yum!! Sorry if you have posted aboit this recently, but what is P eating now, if anything? And what do you think about cows milk for him after nursing? 😉
I cannot wait for that casserole post! I am seriously obsessed with tempeh right now ;).
I love the idea of holding myself accountable for what I eat. I tend to be on the other end of the spectrum: not eating enough. I could go on and on about why I think this is, but I’ll just say that I have to be mindful that I eat enough throughout the day. Anyone who says, “I wish I had that problem,” just be careful what you wish for…
Anyway, it all looks great and I LOVE the peanut sauce idea. I may do that for my son some time for dinner (aka brinner). Also, I think meal/snack between breakfast & lunch is officially called “Elevensies” 🙂
Justin’s PB Cups are AWESOME but… they go bad very quickly. Obviously, since they are organic. I went through a period just now at Whole Foods where every last one I bought was dry & crumbled – when you open the package, you can see the chocolate looks “waxy” and you know nothing good is going on inside. If they sit on the shelf (or in the stock room) too long, they’re sure to be yicky.
Good luck keeping track of your food to get back on track! It’s enviable and maybe I should take a lesson from you…
I’m sososo guilty of this too. You’re not alone. I think it’s awesome that you’re doing something to hold yourself accountable- although, how you do it while working night shifts and taking care of P is beyond me!
PS: After dealing with tummy troubles recently, I’ve been experimenting with GF (most of the time) and it’s already making a really big difference. Your blog has helped SO much. Thank you.
Your eats all look delish, but I am most jealous of those figs! I love fresh figs! Mmmm…I could have totally eaten the whole basket/container in one sitting 🙂
Courtney
You are doing a really great job with everything, Elise! Seriously — the night shift and little sleep, with full-time mama duties during the day = amazing. I just wanted to say that. I have two kids under 3, and work from home as a freelance writer, and I am notoriously hard on myself. As a mom, and Type A, it’s so easy to get down on yourself, but you really are doing a great job!
I totally know what you mean–I feel like I had a lot less random snacking back in the days when I took pictures of everything I ate. It looks like you’re eating well though–lots of F+V and lean protein.
I want that salmon salad!
I love seeing what people eat during the day, always gives me good snacking ideas!
I was doing great cutting useless carbs and snacking out of my eating all summer but these last couple weeks have totally reversed that. I wonder if there might be some sort of primal bio trigger that when the days start to shorten, our bodies send a signal to consume more in prep for the winter.
I am sooooo glad that you took care of yourself and called in sick- that kind of exhaustion really can be disabling!
I am very pro- snacking, but i totally get how too many snacks instead of real meals can make you feel mindless and crappy. I am excited for the tempeh recipe! Love the stuff and love casseroles!
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you know, i really dig this post. i have to admit that since marathon training, i’ve been midnight snacking and not the good kind. i have a bag of kitkats that s bought me because he was at some place called “walmart” and it’s been difficult not to have those as a go-to snack. i tell myself that it’s only the “bite size” kind. ugh, but no bueno. or i stuff my face with several handfuls of salted peanuts. giant fail. thanks for being accountable so that i can somewhat share my guilty midnight snacking. i suppose i could just drink more water.
love you rubia.
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