Whoops

Speaking of SOY i spilt it ALL OVER MY LAPTOP so I have been away for a while
I'm feeling GREAT on this IBS diet! You dont need the gross details, but at least its bearable to stay in an unventilated room with me now.

So yes, reviews... Haves a few

Soy Life Soy Yogurt - Vanilla and Peach&Mango
Overall - a little more exy than normal yogurt, no-where near as 'soy-y' as I thought, this tastes a bit like diet yogurt (except its FULL of sugar) that is a little off BUT NOT IN A BAD WAy. Just no yogurt tang or creaminess. It makes a good subm especially seeing as its got a fair bit of calcium. It was tasty enough. I had it plain, in overnight oats and on this morning's breakfast pizza (more about that later)

Australian Eatwell Chickpea and Spinach vegetarian sausages
Oh how i miss sausage sizzles - a tube of unidentifiable meat encased in a white nutritionally empty piece of fluff, drizzled with a sugar and sodium packed sauce. No seriously, I loves it. But its better healthy! These tasted pretty good. A bit dry and they dont have that outside case so they tend to fall apart. Last night I put them and some onion (and mango kabobs!) on the griller, witha little fry light on baking paper, and had with a little bit of sauce on wonderwhite high fibre bread. YUM. Tasted like sausages, with a more 'earthy' tone. I had them microaved today on cous cous and not as good. But edible and filling. Also a little exy compared to sausages, so wait until they are reduced (happens often in little stores as not many veggos around) I want to try thr sweet chilli next!

So Good ice-cream caramel
YUM. I love soy. They boy even said its edible. Wish there was a real swirl of caramel and not just colours... and some calcium. Once again exxy. more cals than grams each as usual. 40g scoop is a good little treat.

I'm struggling to keep up my calcium. Any ideas peeps? Other than lots of soy milk? Esp in snacks. Also have to use up some peaches

Log
B- Breakfast pizza - half a pita topped with soy yogurt, cherries, mango, peaches and sprunkled with Just right. Messy yummy.
L - Veggie sausages on cous cous with cherry tomatoes, mushrooms and pineapple. calcium orange juice.
S - The boy will make a smoothie, putting in my friendly ingredients first (banana, watermelon, mango, peach) and I will stir in a little soy yogurt. He'll then add kiwifruit, rockmelon and yogurt to make an awesome treat for his poor mouth which is lacking 4 wisdom teeth.
D - @ wagamama and the first solid food the boy will have since de-wisdoming. I will have the Yasai yaki soba assuming the cals about 600 (altho its only 4.5 points. I dont see how this can be when the tama rice is 16.5, wish they had cals up!)
S- So good caramel ice-cream. WHY DONT YOU ADD CALCIUM SANITARIUM. Can only have a little so I can fit in Special K and glass of Soy life hi cal+ milk.

Does anyone know any good calcium fortifed cereal that goes well as a snack (vogels is good but its like eating twigs.) I wish they fortified their clusters!

Soy to the world!

I'm back, baby, and on the new IBS diet.
Man its hell. Well its not so bad if you have control over your meals, but when you dont its hard. First few days I couldnt get to any snacks so I have major sugar withdrawel (and prolly balanceing cals out withdrawel. I'm used to eating every 3 hours!) I barly had any fruit eaitehr, so the sugar hit hard.

FYI its a
NO - red meat, dairy (NOOO), fats (n.p except its not low fat, its super low!)
Eat with caution (have with soluble fibre) - insoluble fibre eg. celery, skins of fruit, pumpkin, anything fibery that isnt mushy like oats. So even salads I cant munch on!!! I broke that rule a few times. I wasnt going to have an all white dinner. White fish + rice. Need me greens!

I was really tired at first as I had barley any nutrients :( my first meals were pasta and pumpkin and bread-bread-bread and carrots. Then I finally got some chicken and fish (chicken, fish, then fish fish, chicken chicken, tuna for the next days) and have balanced out. Lots of less bad IBS side effects but I still have up to 4 weeks (aiming for 2)

Anyway, thought today I'd look at the non dairy options for you all. Introducing SOY! In terms of health there's a LOT of ka-hooey going on about soy making men gay and giving people cancer, but I hear similar stuff about normal milk, sugar, fake sugar, eggs, ANYTHING! I think if you're ot used to soy TAKE IT SLOW. It'll give you gas. But I was brought up with a bit of it, esp through tofu, and it was a staple part of my diet until now, when it forms a large part of my "meat" and calcium source.

Milk
Too easy. Soy! I loves it. However, many don't like the taste. If its just the lactose that gives you a problem, try whey milk or Lidells Lactose free milk. If you're vegan or dairy intol try rice or oat milk. Make sure you check the calcium content - its not inherent, they have to add it. You can also get almond milk or make it yourself! My fav soy milks are Soy Milky (more soy-y than milky) and So Good Essential which has heaps of calcium, omega 3's etc etc. You can also change your recipes - some dont need milk. Ever had water on your cereal? Its not too bad! Juice I find too sweet but some like it. Or you can mush up banana, heat it and mix with milk alternative for a thick winter breafast goop to mix cereal in. Here's how to make your own soy and almond milk. Mm natural

Yogurt
You can get lactose free yogurt (I tried the vaalia - tastes fine!) but also soy yogurt. I'll give you a review tomorrow. I Chose the soy life brand as it has almost 3 times the calcium of the other brands.

Cheese
You can get soy cheeses, but I cant speak from experience - I'm low fatting it up.
Try the tofutti brand. America, you have a huge range. Gah.
Also look for recipes for it!

Spreads
Many spreads are dairy free, but you miss your cottage cheese and mayo? Google some recipes for it. Im too lazy, lol.

Meat
If you're a vegan or veggo, you still needs you your protein. I love tofu. But I know many people who dont. The truth is, just like if you had a bacon and sausage mcmuffin at maccas, thats not what ham and meat tastes like. That spongy stuff is a TYPE of tofu. As is that gooey fluidy stuff. I like the softer tofu, without the spongey casing - silken (FIRM or its floppy) and some of the solid stuff is ok. I avoid the fried stuff. Eww. Anyway, you can use tofu like meat in some cases.Check out fatfreevegan and santiarium's veggie delights website. Even if you're not veggo, consider "Meat free Mondays" or trying veggies sausages (esp if you're a low cal-er. 2 sausages for 80 cal and they're not empty cals? YUM! Or salamI?) I'll do an Australian Eat Well review soon.

Snacks
This gets tricky, esp if you're going NO dairy. Check the packets of everything. Even rice-creackers can have milk hidden in it. Try the freedom foods or organ brands if you have limited time to browse ingredients labels. Also many of the uncle toby's are ok (not the yogurt or chocolate ones) Also check out this website - its a huge help for cal counters, shoppers and dietary intolerant people alike.

Think outside the box - yogurt makes a great snack yes, but what's wrong with a slice of toast and honey? Or a few pieces of shaved ham wrapped around cherry tomatoes?
My fav snacks are
* LEDA bars - also gluten free. Small, but YUMMY. Microwave for 10 sec then pop in the toaster.
* 100 healthy calories bars
* Fortified bread and spread (jam, honey, vegemite, IXL spreads)
* Corn cakes
* Cucumber/Carrots and hummus, or toasted pita triangles.
* Oats/muesli
* Cereals (check)
* Lemon sorbet, Mmm

Dessert
Many recipes can be adapted using soy milk. If you need help, email me
Also So good has a GREAT range of ice-creams, low fat too. I LOVE them. I'll do a review of the caramel soon. There's also a new mango and banana! Try also gelato (non milk) and ice-pole type desserts. Or fresh fruit. If you crave creamy, freeze up a banana, chop up, then whizz with a little water, vanilla or soy milk for a yummy cool summer treat. Or a mango!! YUM
Tomorrow if my tofu pudding works, I'll post the recipe. Yum yum

Sorry, I'm off!

Thats right, I'm going away on a 4 day hike (yipes!) and then going on a little retreat thing, so may not be back for about a week and a bit. Sorry all.

FYI
B Toasted oats and oatbran --> porridge, milk
S Up and Go.
L Cous cous with cucumber and tomato. Cottage cheese, lemon juice and salmon, mixed and warmed
S Half a Boost Power juice. Tasted like FISH so I threw it out!! Waste of money! LC cheese on cracker
D Satay chicken and mango pizza (with capsicum, cherry tomatoes, no cheese on bakers delight hamburger bun cut in half) YUM!!
S Cocoa oats with ice-cream and almonds. My treat before camp


Today
B 2 yummy waffles (added sugar and vanilla to the diet waffle recipe) with yogurt, mango and some cherries. Soy milk.
S Soy milk (had to finish the bottle) Peanut butter and cottage cheese trial, apricot
L Wholegrain sundried tomato pasta (made without the butter) pumpkin, cherry tomatoes etc (leftovers to clear the fridge) rest of yogurt
S Will sneak along a muesli bar
D ?? We'll see, happy campers

When I come back I'm going on an IBS diet, so my foods will change A LOT!

Today and recipe: Porridge Brulee

B Banana porridge brulee (recipe to follow) with soy milk
S Banana and special K (calciummm)
L Yum Cha!! (Dim sum for Americans) Except this is an all you can eat place, so no stamping. For those of you who dont know its an early lunch where you yum cha (drink tea) chat and get little dumplings in carts wheeled around. there's also noodles, veggies etc. but the dumplings! Prawns, scallops, pork, mmm... must avoid fried...
D Going out. Assuming I'm full from yum cha, Atlantic Salmon salad
S Swiss miss diet, maybe some bran

Recipe - Uses a toaster oven

Porridge Brulee
40g oats ( I used 35g oats, 10g oat bran. If you do this, you need to soak the oats then add the oat bran after they oats are half cooked or they stay chewy)
50g yogurt (I used no fat greek - nice and thick)
3 tsp sugar (I used 2, but I have a big bowl, and didnt make a proper layer)

1. Make oats as usual. I added banana. Turn the grill/toaster oven on high
2. Tip into oven proof bowl that fits under a grill/in a toaster oven. Pour the yogurt on top of the oats and sprinkle the sugar on - no lumps. Its best to have the one blob of sugar than bald patches.
3. Place the bowl under the grill and WATCH. The sugar will melt and begin to form a nice layer.
4. Once it is done, pull out your bowl and either stick it in the fridge or leave it on the bench, whist you prepare any sides you have. This is so the hot sugar sets a bit, forming a hardish layer.
5. Gobble up.

Calories = 228 (using all above ingredients, using less or adding suggestions below will change calorie count)


To cut calories = diet yogurt, less sugar. add psyllium husk instead of 5 g oats (makes it thicker and more filling), add blueberries instead
To add calories = more banana, more sugar, higher cal/fat yogurt. add linseed/flaxseed, drizzle honey, add almond slivers to the top layer, add milk powder to the oats, drink with milk powder

Some people use a lot of sugar, especially if you want a thick layer you can crack with a spoon. I dont mind not having it as I've never had real creme brulee.

Fun recipe links

I havent posted many recipes as of late and I'm going away so I think you need some good recipe links... to hit the cravings.

Chocolate muffins!!
Here for choc-zucc sans the fat
Here for no fat muffins that are like cased fluffy brownies
Here to mocha your muffin
Sneaks in some more veggies here
Here if you want some hearty oatness
Enough of the veggies! Add some cherries without being high cal
Or cut away the cupcakes and try the new chocolate decadence

New brekkies to try out!
Here is an idea for Goldilocks porridge that uses barley too! Its soo fatty! Replace the cream with nothing or evap milk.
Here overnight porridge gets protein kick!
Here cous cous gets used up well! Tip - to make it extra fluffy, hydrate the cous cous in a large shallow dish, to give it max fluffing up room
You add milk and splenda to cofee... you add it to oatmeal.. would it be ok to add them all together??? What do you think>? (comments)
PBH porridge
Sweet vegetarian brekkie here
Or just steal ideas here
I swear, everything tastes better on carbs!

Going away? Use up those staples that go off easily
Cottage cheese - in burgers!
The rest of the molasses before it crystalises in a no fat cake
Egg whites (as if you'd have those leftover!)


Songs to download (i mean purchase legally)
Erasure - A little respect

Yummy picckies
Lunch is better pretty

Also, try this link, replace dorm food with dining hall food. Its scary cos its true!

Today

Almost fell off the wagon. Was angry, sick of it all, had an exam, starving, but couldnt find anything right adn then my food digested (i gobbled down lunch) and I was full for hours! I had a snack at 430 (an hour and a bit later than usual) because i knew I'd be hungry before dinner, but if i ate later I wouldnt have dinner, and i need it.

B - YUMMY. Try this. Mixed 25g granola clusters vanilla and almond (basically a high sugar, not too high fat high cal cereal thats SO ADDICTIVE that i had to buy the 50g sample pack to stop me eating it all day) with 30g special K (calcium) and 5g Vogels Soy and Linseed Cereal (sub fiber one or all bran) with a chopped strawberry and the leftover bits from a bag of frozen rapsberries. The bowl was HUGE and i had cals left for warm soy milk, nofat yogurt and 1tsp linseed. I miss having huge bowls of yummy cereal like the boys and too much bran isnt fun, so this was great, tho i crushed up the clusters to spread the sugar :) 575mg calcium!
S: Cottage cheese, SF maple syrup lightly mixed, dipped in a granny smith
L: Beef and pumpkin wrap with salad, orang and the leftover kenya rush milk ( i usually dont like coffee but I dont mind this. Lucky i'm going IBS diet or I'd get addicted!)
S: milk and vive light cookies (was a muesli bar but it was a treat)
D: Turkey stroganoff with beans and pasta
S: Muesli slice with no sugar (low fat) ice-cream

Today and recipe: FFVegans' chocolate tofu pudding

Another day down peeps!
Since starting this blog I've had somewhere else to be accountable. Maybe that was the key?
I was emotionaly several times today. At lunch I ran out of bread!! But still, I held it together :)

B - Hot multgrain oats (not cooked, just soaked. Chewy and flavourfull) two fruits on cottage cheese. Soy milk
S - Banana and peanut butter mashed and heated, as a dip with apple. Yummo
L - English Muffin (no bread!) toasted LC cheese, tomato and mushroom. Up & Go. Filling, despite its size! Must have been the up and go
S - Post gym, 200ml Mocha Kenya Rush milk (first time I've liked coffee flavour!) and be natural trail bar
D - Cheesy risotto. YUM And totally filling!!!
S - Treat for the day - berry gelato callipo (new) and small serve of tofu chocolate pudding (home made)

Recipe for the pudding - I thought it still tasted of tofu but was yummy. me wants more. 1/4 a packet isnt enough! Is shrinks down...

Chocolate Pudding

Recipe by: Susan Voisin

1 box silken tofu (Silken firm by Joyce is quite low cal)
1/4 cup cocoa
1 tsp. vanilla
dash salt
1/4 cup sugar

Blend all ingredients in food processor until smooth. Let chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

Instead of the sugar I used 1/2 honey and 1/2 splenda (to taste)

Recipe: Low fat creamy-cheesey Risotto

Ah risotto. A delicious dish that traditionally aint so good for the waste. What with the oil, butter, cream even, white high GI rice and then cheese on the top, fried rice (without oil) is a much better choice.
But sometimes I crave a thick gooey cheesey dish, to warm the cockles of the heart. And then IBS jumps up and says "Ha! With 10-20g fat per serve, rissotto is a no-no"

Well not anymore. Enter cheats risotto! Now this recipe you can adapt to your calorific needs. Mine was less than 400 cal less than 5g fat and enough for dinner with some gai choi.

My recipes are always easy and cheaty - i like ones I can remember off my head.

Low fat creamy-cheesey Risotto

Amount of rice you want. If you are having it plain, vegetarian, you'll have cals to play with. just being to the gym I used 65g of Basmati rice.
Vegetables - onions (I used 60g) mushrooms (50g) peas and corn
Pepper
garlic (about 1/2 tsp)
3/4 tsp reduced salt Chicken stock powder = 3/4 ready made (if you use ready made, you may lose falvour during the cooking if you microwave)
1 slice 50% less fat cheese (i used bega. You can also use parmesan if you want biter, but measure your cals and fat)

1. Dont rinse the rice. Cook garlic on high for about 20 sec in a spare dish. Set aside
2. Cook rice in the microwave (i used a mircowave rice cooker, but a big dish will do) with extra water.
3. Keep stirring and cooking until the water is absorbed. Add stock powder and garlic. Add more water and cook until desired consistancy is reached. About 15 mins. At the same time i prepped the veggies. Add the veggies when almost done.
3. Rip up the cheese. Transfer the risotto into the bowl you are going to eat it in and stir through the cheese. Cover with wrap and clean up the messy kitchen. Pop it back in the microwave, stir, go to your room with a big glass of water (its HOT) and enjoy!

Voila! No oil or butter and really easy. When I did this with chicken it was much better (flavour) and a bit more satisfying, even with less rice.

To lower cals you could use cottage cheese (creamed) but it might be a bit funny. havent tried it yet. Or instead of cheese, cos its not nesseary, you could use a bit of milk, or just cook the rice a bit more.

Also try asparagus in there. Yummy. Or serve half as much as a side to a nice grilled chicken. You can also try a pumpkin version - you can try vegetable stock, and add some pureed pumpkin which would make it 'creamier'

Here's an oven baked risotto that looks nice too

How Keen are you?

Being a frugal foodie, I try to either plan around the ingredients I have, rather than buy new ones (so using a maggi satay packet mix, I'll do a satay chicken, satay dip for rice-paper rolls, satay pizza, and then whichever was good again!) Sometimes I'll plan and then sneak in some extra veggies on hand, like mushrooms, peas or corn.

How keen are you to get rid of an old can of tomato soup?

In a chocolate cake?

Click here for the recipe.
Or here for a simplier version, using up an old packet of cake mix whilst you're at it!
I've heard of beet chocolate cake, and one day I will make it, but I'm going to hold off on this one for the moment!

Today and recipe: Diet Waffles, Banana no-lo cupcakes

B - Wholewheat homemade waffles (recipe to come) with berries, yogurt, flax and sugar-free maple syrup
L - Tuna pasta bake with beans, corn and cherry tomatos
S - Banana no-lo cupcake (recipe to come) with some of the boyfs mango-peach-banana-kiwi smoothie
D - Mapo Tofu with rice and greens
S - Hunts fat free snack pack with strawberries, Xanabar (its a treat day, day 5 of being good!)

Diet Waffles - found on the net. That picture isnt them, but close enough (execpt mine were square)

I put these in a single serving waffle maker. They over flowed a bit but not enough for 3 waffles. Maybe 2.2

50g wholemeal flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 egg white
3/8 c skim milk

Didn't use but recommend 1/2 tsp vanilla, 1 sachet splenda or 1/8 tsp salt (if you dont want them sweet)

1. Mix the above together. Pour in waffle maker. Made 2.2 11cmx11cm waffles. 200 cal (including run off batter)

They were a little plain and so the toppings helped. Tasted a bit like flour so i suggest either make them sweet and use less sweet topping, or make them more savoury so they stand out. They could have made a nice waffle-which.

Perhaps you could times the recipe by 3 for the whole family, or freeze the leftovers and pop in the toasted.

Banana no-lo cupcakes
No fat (added) low sugar

I made 5 with 1/4 of the recipe at 97 cal each

2 c self-raising flour (300g) (I used wholemeal in muffins and they worked fine, but you may want to blend then sift to make it lighter)
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
Pinch of salt (I didnt use)
1 tsp ground cinnamon (or nutmeg)
1/2 cup (110g) caster sugar (I used brown)
3/4 cup (125g) sultanas (I used 30g dates for 5 muffins)
2 eggs, lightly beaten (I used egg whites)
1 cup (250ml) skim milk
1 cup mashed banana (about 2 large ripe bananas)

Method:

Preheat oven to 180°C. Line the base and sides of a 23cm x 13cm loaf pan with non-stick baking paper. Or if you are making muffins, the muffin pan (I used silicone)

Sift flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt and cinnamon into a large bowl. Stir in sugar and sultanas.

Combine eggs, milk and bananas in a large jug. Whisk with a fork, until well combined. Using a large metal spoon, stir egg mixture into dry ingredients, until well combined.

Pour mixture into prepared loaf pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Turn onto a wire rack to cool completely. Slice and serve lightly buttered, or toasted.

NOTES: I did these in a toaster oven, so they werent as nice as they'd be in a real oven. I only made 1/4 of the batch, hence only using 1 egg white. If you use all egg whites (4 to replace the two whole eggs) dont beat too hard. I also had to add a bit more banana as my banana was big, etc. and so in the end my recipe had 5 muffins at 97 cal each. Nice little snack muffins. You can use splenda for half of the sugar to reduce the cals, or omit the dates (but it may not be sweet enough, they really help)

passed the boyf and dorm mate test :)

Today and Recipe: Sweet peanut dip for one

B - Vegemite toast with grilled cottage cheese on top, soy milk, apple, yogurt mixed with flax and wheatgerm
S - 1/2 Up and Go (banana and honey... weird flavour) apple, sweet peanut dip (recipe to follow)
L - Hokkein noodles, egg white, BBQ pork, asparagus, sesame seeds
S - Meringue nest with Vaalia Cheesecake yogurt and kiwifruit
D - 10 Minute Chicken and rice (Adapted to the microwave)
S - Apricot grain instant oats with no sugar ice-cream and a little molasses, Just right cereal

Trying to make 2000 cal today even tho its no exercise day - getting a needle soon!

Sweet Peanut Dip
Serves 1

If you have the room, this is an odd dip I made to use up some ingredients and boost me.

15g light and crunchy peanut butter (can be reduced to 8g)
30 g extra light cream cheese
2-3 tbsp hot water
Splenda to taste

Add the hot water to the peanut butter and stir in the cream cheese. Keep adding until its a little runnier than you want, and then put in the fridge to harden. Add splenda to taste. I used a lot of peanut butter today, but if you want it cheesier, thats fine.

113 cal for the whole thing, but if you used less PB, it'd be a lot less - the cream cheese is only 40 cal.

Its not a taste sensation, just if you were curious :) If we ever get PB2 then this would be worth it. But I did enjoy it with an apple.

Drat

Not a binge, as I seriously planned this, but for me to keep in mind
30g low fat PB and 26g dates isnt warranted even if you are trying to gain weight, and exercised a bit that day, before bed as you feel sick.
Lesson learnt. Still a good day, maybe 7/10. I need to be serious about gaining weight, or not bother I think. So altho tomorrow I wont mind as I dont think i can squeeze in exercise, friday I am going for a run so really should eat at least 2000.

Recipe: Cheesecake Oats

I don't have a picky but in case you're curious to what is it...

Oats cooked to gooey perfection, stir in about 30g of extra light cream cheese and heat a little, add splenda and lemon juice. Ideal toppings are strawberries/raspberries and soemthing crunchy like wheat germ... see here for the details...

Review: Be natural trail bars

I like me muesli bars. I know many people see them as a waste of cals, or full of sugar, but for me, they are filling, handy and yummy! Here's a new range I noted and love!

Be Natural Trail Bars - Honey nut, Fruit and Date, Cranberry. website

Nutrition (Honey Nut, from website. The others are similar)

Price - I got them for $2.99 but are usually $3.99 for 6. If I see them on special again, getting them
Taste - I dont like Uncle Toby's normal muesli bars. They are way too chewy and sickly. But these, these are nice. They are very dense and firm, at first seem small, but if you pick them apart are perfect! Plus the bits in them are whole - no weird bits of make nuts crushed together. They pull apart easy, but dont fall apart. And are sweet and yummy, but not too sweet. I think my fave is the fruit, then the honey, then the cranberry.
Recommendations - If you like muesli bars these kick the pants off Uncle toby's which are rock hard and too chewey. Plus they're not too bad on the whole healthy side. Great as a pick me up snack. If you like to stick to 100 cal snacks, maybe half with an apple? They are good for eating on trail hikes I guess. 8/10. These are keepers for me, until i find my own recipe. Don't get them confused with the nut bars.

Sorry

Sorry there havent been fun posts, but this blog is a way of keeping me accountable without freaking people on CK out. Plus my digi camera is broken, so no good picckies :(

B - tiny bit of muesli and almonds. Today I switched my breakfast as I had an exam
S - (didnt post yesterday but I had cheesecake oatmeal) BIG banana oats with soy milky light and flax seed.
L - bite of veal and cous-cous. Was super hungry after exam and I'm a sucker for cous-cous at the dining hall. For real lunch I had 1/2 an up and go, and tuna melts (two slices of bread, tuna, celery, cottage cheese and mustard mixed, with one slice of 50% light cheese torn up and on top and melted) Was so yum. Like a weird pizza! Nibbly so had a box of Just Right (40g box!)
S - Trail bar and yogurt
D - Sandwhich steak marinated in garlic, grilled, with asparagus spears in the juices, spicy cous cous, corn off the cob, salad. YUM. And more filling 1 hour later!
S - 1/2 slim muesli slice with scoop of No Sugar, and swiss miss and psyllium husk.

Done and done peeps! 3rd day of no binging!

Healthy lunch ideas

I'm never short for ideas, because I used to be, then made a list, and now am BRIMMING. I find it easiest to use the ingredients on hand, but if i want variety I plan a week of dinners, and then the lunches, go out and buy the goods and then last minute may change things. This way I'm not having chicken 4 days in a row, and i am using up what's in the fridge.

So here are some ideas for different situations. First I'll write up the base meals (mid cal and healthish) then the substitutions or modifications to make it either lower cal, low-carb, high cal but healthy etc and put them in RED

Sandwiches Base - wholewheat, multigrain, soy lin etc. If you're cal cutting try bakers delight country grain, sandwich sliced. To bulk it up, use thick slice of extra seeded like 9 grain, or denser breads. To make it low carb... haha. Kidding. Try something else or make your own bread from, of all things cauliflower. Also poach super large mushrooms, but they make better pizza bases. Or just get one thick slice of bread and cut it in two or have a half sandwhich - use the one piece of bread and have soup with it to fill you up.
Can also use English muffins or bagels, but weigh them.
Crisp breads
Foccacia bread tends to be a bit calorific, but if you can fit it, remember to try and get wholemeal.

Wraps/Pita
Mountain bread
100 Healthy calorie bread
Sorj bread (thicker but smaller too. I usually spray with water before i wrap so its more flexible.
Nori (sushi paper) About 100 cal per slice.
Buttercup fill'em wholemeal pitas are the smallest we have
Use lettuce leaves

Fillings - this is the fun part...
Chicken + lite sweet chilli and thin slices of cooked/mashed sweet potato, alfafa and cherry tomato, salsa, pineapple,
Tuna/Salmon+ cucumber, shallots and onions, lemon pepper, pineapple and tomato, mixed with cottage cheese and mustard and celery,
Turkey + hummus and alfafa, cranberry sauce, extra light philli and lite sweet chilli
Ham + cheese and pineapple, cheese and tomato, cranberry and alfafa sprouts
Beef/roo + beetroot&pineapple, terryaki sauce, onion, aussie mustard, sweet potato/pumpkin, dips (french onion, pumpkin) and snow peas, spinach
Lamb + hummus, mushrom and garlic, pumpkin, mint sauce
Veggo = cucumber and light philli, marinated tofu, egg salad, mashed potato and spinach, mushroom, fruit (bananas, mangoes, apples, apple pie filling), peanut butter and diet jam, almond butter and apples, cashew butter and dates, two cheese and garlic (chedder and cottage), leftover roasted veggies (like egg plant, pumpkin, capsicum) Good old vegemite. Massive marinated mushroom cap, BBQd.
LEFTOVERS - seriously, nothing better than a stroganoff jaffle, or roast lamb and gravy wrap, just add your veggies on the side or inside. This way you dont have to stress about the amount of leftover you have. If its still not enough but you have sauce, add things like mushrooms and onions to bulk it up

Options
Toasted
Open toasted and grilled (with 50% light cheese if wanted) like a mini pizza - spread pasta sauce from a tube on the bread with cut up tomatoes, pineapple, onion, shaved ham etc. Also try spinach and mushroom with cottage cheese
Jaffle - try the chicken parm - chicken, pasta tomato sauce, herbs, some lite cheese and a thin slice of sandwhich ham. Or fruit such as ricotta, splenda and blueberries, or sugar free maple syrup and bananas, spagetti from a tin, Bean cuisine (canned) Spinach and reduced fat fetta or cottage cheese with a little parmesan
Pitta pizza - on top or inside. Stuff a pita with chopped tomatoes (warm) ham cheese and pineapple and microwave quickly. Or use a big steamed mushroom - SUPER LOW CAL

Meals
Sushi - brown rice and leftovers
Rice-paper rolls - can be VERY low cal. Or use leftovers like satay or mango chicken. If you eat out, this takes the pressure of having that tiny bit extra thats not enough for a meal in instefl.
Cous cous salad - 30g cous cous mixed with spices, chopped tomato, cucumber, onion (cooked) and vinager
Pizza Pita
Omlettes - mushroom and garlic, spinach and cheese, salsa, asian leftovers
Baked potato - pile on the cottage cheese
Salad and chinese dumplings (low cal ones) cut in half
Leftover roast beef, cut into pieces and soaked in a thai sauce, on salad
Quiche - pumpkin and spinach
Soup is low cal and filling and great in winter. Try add some cottage cheese for a protein boost, or f its a chicken broth/asian soup, slowly tip in and swirl an egg white (so its cooked, not mixed in the soup) Bulk them up with low cal veggies like spinach or mushrooms. if you need bread, try toasting 1/2 a mountain bread, or crisp breads.
Questadila - fold a wrap in half and split. Spread with laughing cow cheese and (optional) veggies (such as mushrooms) Place other half on top and grill until cheese is melt and wrap crispy. Dip in salsa, serve with salad

Weird? Tasty? You be the judge!
Cheese, pear and turkey toasted.
Cheese and banana (they boyf had them. I say gross!)


Sides
Celery sticks and low fat yogurt
5 rice crackers and salsa (le snack makes one)
Laughing cow cheese
A few pretzels
Pumpkin chips/leftover roast

Desserts - for when you have the room
Small pieces of fruit - mangoes, apples STRAWBERRIES!!
Cottage cheese and fruit
Baby food - fruit/custards (if you havent tried it, bring some splenda)
Applesauce/pear puree (SPC)
Diet jelly - 9 cal per 1/4 made up dish. Go for it!
Small tub of trim custard
fruit salad - rockmelon, blueberries and strawberries
Diet yogurt tub, Or save smaller tubs and fill up so its a little less cals.
Frozen grapes

To up the cals
Thicker, seedier bread, sesame seeds, avocado instead of butter, nuts, add a dessert, have a half a glass of juice, less lettuce, more meat. Add dried fruit to dessert, add a trail bar

Steal ideas from sandwhich places when you go out, or their salads. Places like sumo salad have calorie counts and ingredients lists, so you can re-create easily

Links for recipes
Recipezaar recipe books
CHOWs top 10 Toasted sandwiches - replace cheese with low fat version, laughing cow, or cottage

Review: Maggi World Flavours Carribean Mango & Prawns

Maggi World Flavours Carribean Mango & Prawns - with rice and corn
Apparently using this tasty frozen meal you can "explore the zest of life on the carabean islands.
The first thing I noticed is on the pack its very nice looking, in two little bowls and looks scrummy. When I pulled out the rectangle box I was glad I was getting my money's worth but wanted little bowls! Plus there;s a lime in the picture. I want a lime. A "carnival of flavours, blending succulent prawns in an exotic Carribean sauce combining coconut milk, mango, pineapple and a hint of chilli" sounds good but I never get my hopes up with frozen meals. I mean come on 11% prawns? 38g prawns = 5-6 shelled, so maybe 7 unshelled. I'll be counting..

Nutrition: 1400kj/335cal, 5.2g fat (3 sat fat), 9g protein, 3.2g fibre, 440mg sodium (low for a frozen meal. Needs bulking up with veggies for sure. Its all sauce. I can tell.
Price: Usually $6 but I got a BOGOF so $3. Well worth it
Taste: As usual, frozen meal, high sodium, tastes like it needs more salt. Esp the rice. But impressed with the sauce! Its a really rich tasting thing for a frozen meal, which are usually watery messes. But this is nice and thick and went nicely with my added brocolli. It also has a little kick, but not enough to linger annoyingly. The prawns are a little eh, but not completely tasteless. I also had a side salad so wrapped some up in the lettuce. Yummy. Just a tip - mix the rice with the sauce at some stage. I usually eat my rice plain, or with sauce for a little bit, but this rice is pretty bland.
Reccomendation: Get your Caribbean on and bulk this baby up with some veggies. I used asparagus, mainly cos thats whats in the fridge. Its a decent size for a frozen meal, i spilt rice and now I'm full but not over-full. I ended up putting it in another bowl as it was HOT. Oh and guess how many prawns? 8 :) So it gets a 8/10 :D Will buy another from the range this week as they are on special plus fly-buys points

Today

Okies, today

B - overnight muesli oats with psyllium husk (WAY too much) and yogurt, crumpet and light marg, soy milky
S - Celery and various dips - no fat greek yogurt, pumpkin dip, ixl spreadables
Going for a short run
L - Spinach, garlic and cheese omlette, v8 juice. My mushrooms went off :(
S - Milk and mashed sweet potato with maple syrup and cinnamon (getting my American on) If I'm hungry, an apple
D - Frozen meal - Maggi world delights, Mango prawn, with extra veggies
S - Hot choconana, Xanabar - Hazelnuts.

Morning Madness

Yay! Random bitza post for the week.

Got exams coming up (like me?) Check out foods that make you smarter. I'm doing cheesecake oats tomorrow :) Kinda like the first, just with added low-fat cream cheese. Hehehe...
Starting out? Ways to low-calorise your meals. If you're already in the midst of dieting you prolly know these.

Here's a tip - if you make overnight oats, dont add 1 tbsp of psyllium husk - way to much, turns to jelly, but it does make you VERY full!

And another. Instead of using breadcrumbs in your meatball/patty recipes try oat bran, and shape them really well with your hands so you can use less! I dont even use egg when I make kangaroo meat balls

Food porn of the week
Now I want you to pretend this CHOCOLATE MOUSSE CAKE is low fat. Just pretend. Note, not posting up the link to the recipe... One day I'll try and lighten it but some things just canot be done.






Also just letting you know of the SERVICES i provide - if you ever need help lightening, (or heaving) or healthifying a recipe, just pop me an email and I'll be happy to help, if its possible :)

"It" word of the moment: Portion control (or portion distortion) You'll see it everywhere. Basically its about not being a pig and eating the amount of food you need not what you THINK you want. The size of "portions" have been increasing and also the amount we eat. may sound dumb, but I bet as a kid you were made to eat everything on your plate for the starving kids in africa. I agree - dont waste food, but that's why we have fridges! Or count out your portions properly. A serve of rice is just 1/2 c. So don't superszie you meals, eat sensible portions and be healthy!

Recipe: Easy Peanut Butter Fudge Sauce

Warning. Not a low cal topping. It can be if you follow the stuff at the end, but that's untried.
This is for those times when you NEED something sweet, yummy and peanutty and have 100 cals ++ leftover ON TOP of plain ice-cream.

Easy Peanut Butter Fudge Sauce

20g Woolworths Light and Crunchy Peanut Butter (or any low cal PB which isnt only peanuts. You need sugar in there) - 97 cals

1. Put PB in a microwave safe cup. A little one. Add about 3/4 tbsp water (Hot is best, but if you dont have a zip boiler)
2. Use a little spoon (otherwise you end up licking most of it off the darn spoon!) and stir it in best as possible.
3. Microwave on high until the mix starts to bubble. Stir well. Do it again. Sitr well. The PB should change from clay-coloured to kinda see through like caramel topping. You can ekeep adding water or even a dash of soy milk/milk to make it more runny, but it should be pretty solid - too much as its a weaker flavour, altho microwaving helps with that.

Now for you cal counters, I found this. Perhaps you can use it instead of this sauce, hot. There is also Aimee's spread for mock peanut butter. And americans with PB2. :( Enjoy. Damnnit

Review: Nestle/Peters No Sugar

After low-carbers and cal-counters weeped over their lost "Carb smart" ice-cream, Nestle came back with a new one! More cals but apparently an improved taste. I never had the first one so I can't realy compare but it was a you either "loved it" or "hated it" for many.

Before I get started, note that I bought the ice-cream on the day of review and ate it within three hours of freezering it so it may be totally different as it may have defrosted. I'll let you know.

Nestle/Peters No Sugar - Vanilla

Nutritional stats - a little over 1 cal per 1g. 1 47g scoop = 50 cal, 1.3g fat, 1g sat fat, 80mg calcium, and a whopping 3.9g fibre!!
Price - $5.69 for 1.4L (so wait till its on sale!! I only got it cos the so good wasnt in vanilla)

Taste - Pretty weak I found. If you have a big 70g scoop you get hte taste, but with 70 cals of ice-cream you almost may as well have 100 cals of real taste from weight watchers. 6/10
Texture - really soft and creamy - almost like soft serve. I didnt mind it tho not your lickable stuff - too soft. 7/10

Recommendations - Dont rush out and get this. Yes its a lot lower in cals than other ice-creams but why eat twice as much if you still dont get the good flavour. It might be good if you need to make an ice-cream cake, with others flavours (like a baked alaska) or if you want to have a BIG ice-cream in the hot weather, but you can only fool really young kids that its not real ice-cream, and then its way to expensive to give it to a young kid who will prolly drop it! If you are a carb-counter however, this is a good choice, as most of the other ice-creams are too high in carbs (I think this one is ok)

Other good brands include coles lite (with the woman, not the girl on the front. 606kj/100g) or even light and creamy (660kj/100g) If you're not a massive vanilla fan, try some of the weight watchers ones which altho you dont get as much/more cals come in fun flavours like mint, hazelnut swirl, butterscotch, or even double choc sundae! Its like a maccas sundae. I'll review it soon.

I'll have a taste of it today, and let you know if its still 'airy'

:( Bad girl

Had a pretty bad weekend. No binging really. Sorta...
Started with a VERY oily take away on Saturday. I decided I'd ruined it anyway and ate a little more and the boyf took so much of my rice there wasnt enough for leftovers, so I just finished that. Then the next day we went to all you can eat yum cha/dim sim, which is ok, except they only brought out fried stuff first and my guests didn't get why I wouldnt eat. Then after I had a but of oil my FAVS came out, but oily, so I had about 4 I shouldnt have, and lots of steamed ones. Soo full I only had a small brekkie, and porridge for dinner. But dessert I coudlnt stop easily. I had some no sugar (i'll do a review) and peanut butter sauce (recipe to follow) and then a xanabar and milk vanilla (which wasnt nice). Weird. Anyway I did stop after the xanabar, with 200 odd cal to go but still.

So its the start of 2 good weeks before I go camping. I want to be at peak health for this. :) So I might eat under today, more to avoid junk than to lose/gain or anything.

Today

Well yesterday arvo didnt go so well, but I was ok after that. Today has been good (so far)

B - egg, english muffin, apple, soy milk (was going for an early mornign walk)
S - 1/2 up and go and Be natural trail bar (116cal, fruit and nut, yummy and chewy)
L - Super yummy salmon and extra-light cream cheese wrap, with rockmelon
S - Apple, cottage cheese and maple syrup (yum!!)
D - Lamb and veggies in oyster sauce, on cucumber and mushroom cous cous (simple but yum)
S - Mango gelato (callippo) yogurt (calcium boost. I want something to flavour it up tho) wheylite.

Today

I've been going shocking. There's no point lying
I am both an emotional eater, and not one. See sometimes I amangry/upset and aet. But other time, everything is there set up for me to fail and I dont touch the food. Its not comforting. Last night was from column A. I coudlnt find my student ID and looked EVERYWHERE. I just kept on running into food on the way. I'd had a filling healthy dinner, but that didnt stop me. How horrible is that?!?

So yesterday
B: Peanut butter toasted wrap with soy milk. Feeling a little seedy from last night. Still had a marshmallow in chocolate foundue and a lot of fruit. Decided to give myself free fruit for the day. Didn't help
L: Leftover hokkein noodles bulked up with HEAPS of veggies. Yum. v8juice
S: Natural yogurt and a Be Natural fruit and nut bar.
D: Baked salmon (YUM) with mashed cauliflower made like mashed potatoes, with asparagus and garlic roasted brocolli and salad with beetroot and cherry tomatoes.
S: Hooked into gourmet chocolates x 6. Raisin toast and low fat marg. Felt horrible. Told the boyf.
S: Before bed = Milk and molasses as I was short calcium

*sigh* How do you beat the urge to eat. I cant look at chocolate now. Makes me sick (literally too) but it goes away.

And for real today, I'm being healthy, so its
B: Soaked oats with soy milk, with banana and slivered almonds and bran
S: Grapes and crunchy muesli bar
L: Brocolli & garlic pasta (wholemeal) with cottage cheese and cherry tomatoes. v8 juice
S: Yogurt, apple and cinnamon
D: Rosemary and Garlic kangaroo steaks with sweet potato mash, snow peas and salad.
S: Meringue nest with yogurt and grapes. Wheylite drink

Fingers crossed I don't screw it up.

Calcium

I'm no doctor so don't quote me. Often I'll eplain things to make the easier to understand using laymens terms that arent 100% correct such as salt leeches the calcium out of your bones. Well it doesnt LEECH, but it does effect the quality of calcium in there through a chemical reaction. So no whinging if I'm not 100% correct. This is all what I have learnt and understood.

Often overlooked by dieters, in particular women, is the importance on calcium. Many people cut out dairy as its 1. high fat, 2. seemingly unnatural (cow juice) 3. Seems calorie loaded for one glass, but why be skinny if you're bones are breaking anyway? I'd rather have padding and puddin' then break my legs when I'm old.

"Calcium is an important component of a healthy diet. A deficit can affect bone and tooth formation, while overretention can cause hypercalcemia (elevated levels of calcium in the blood), impaired kidney function and decreased absorption of other minerals" Thanks Wiki!
How much a day?
It depends on your age/gender/country. I aim for 1200mg, but am happy with 1000mg. I usen't to get enough calcium and am trying to get more now, whilst I'm absorbing it efficiently (slows after 30) It also depends what else you have - things can help and hinder absorption, from vitamin D, which helps to iron, caffeine, over-exercise and salt which inhibit absorption or leech the calcium out.

So where do I get it?
Well you're heard the ads - a glass of milk, a slice of cheese a tub of yogurt. Do this and you're ahead of MANY others, even tho its not 1000mg. Here are some ideas...

Skim milk has more calcium than full cream. If you're desperate try the ones with extra calcium, such as Boost.
Yogurt is a good source too. I like the natural yogurts, such as vaalia and no fat greek as they are versatile and have more calcium/100g than the diet ones, but if you're cal cutting, the diet ones make great alternative. Try Nestle Blissful fromage frais as a way to get calcium, without eating 'boring' yogurt.
Cheese. Yep. Fatty, but a slice of 50% light cheese has over 200mg for 50 cal. Just dont LIVE on the stuff. Even laughing cow has a little
Bones. Heh. Canned salmon WITH the bones is high in calcium (come on, you're EATING bones) If you can't stick the bones, mash them up or make patties with them. Also see sardines.
Nuts. Have some calcium, but for the cals, not THAT worth it.
Leafy greens .esp your dark spinachy, chinese brocolli ones
Suppliments

Watch out tho! It can inhibit absorption of iron (and vice versa) so dont have a big glass of milk with your evening beef and brocolli!
What if I dont "do" dairy?
Many people don't have dairy as a part of their diet, for phsyical, health or moral reasons. Getting calcium nowadays is a little easier than it was before. Here are some ideas, in particular some aussie-specific
* Soy milk - make sure its fortified with at least 300mg/cup. So good essential packs in 375mg plus other vitamins/minerals. Use in place of milk or as another drink all together. Dont try and trick the kids, telling them its just like milk. Its not. Just like a strawberry milkshake doesnt taste like milk. Its a different flavour. Try with the banana soy milks first if you're trying to get the kids used to it, or heat it up and add honey and cinnamon. Dont mix it with things they're used to, like milo or on cereal, unless they like it.
* Calcium fortified foods - P&N do a breakfast and calicum juice (200mg/cup) Weetbix crunch cereals are fortifed, as are light n' tasty and cocopops. Aldi and coles do a calcium fortified bread (as does mighty soft, but its more $$$) Tofu is often fortified too.
* Dairy based products - like hunts fat free snack pack contain some calicum(40mg), tho not that much, so dont live on these
* Fruit, veg, grains and beans- contain some, so the healthier your diet is, little by little, it'll all add up. Take strawberries - 90 cal of strawberrise = 40mg of calcium and a full tummy. (270g of strawberries)

For more info see here

Today

What I ate/planned today for those of you wanting ideas...

Breakfast: Yakult, psyllium husk in lemon tea, Crunchola (its a low fat granola with apple and blueberries pieces) mixed with greek yogurt and mixed berries, two strawberries, soy milky lite
Snack: Carrot, popcorn made in the microwave drizzled with 3/4 tbsp sugar free maple syrup and cinnamon
Lunch: 9 grain english muffin (bread) with egg, pineapple, beetroot and salad and v8 melon burst juice
Snack: Vaalia lime cheesecake low fat yogurt with green apple
Dinner: Kangaroo meatballs in tomatoy sauce, with mashed cauliflower (tastes like mashed potatoes) and vegetable cous cous.
Snack: Have chocolate tasting, in which I cant eat any, so a milo afterwards. Short on calcium

Will need to have more snacks as I'm running around today, hence the milo rather than plain milk.

Chocolate!

I'm hosting a chocolate tasting night tonight, so I'm in the mood for some CHOCOLATE.

A few myths to bust:
* Chocolate doesn't make you fat - too much of anything makes you fat
* Chocolate doesn't give you pimples
* Chocolate doesn't make you high - you'd need to eat a LOT of chocolate to feel the effects of the caffeine
* Dark chocolates isn't a health food - contrary to what the doctors seem to say, you cant eat dark chocoalte guilt free. If you look at any statement from a research professer, its the cocoa that really is the healthy part - the fat and sugar are just vessels. And they always say watch your portions. So eat a while block of lindt 85% isnt that much better than eating a block of normal lindt - dont fool yourself. But if you must have a small portion regularly then there is some benefit of higher cocoa over normal. Some more info

The best ways for a dieter to have chocolate is in cocoa form, or portion controlled high quality. Think the lindt mini bars that come in a pack. Nick the high cocoa ones and enjoy ONE per day. Cocoa is a very versatile product - not just for adding to muffin mixes. Here's my fav chocolate busting recipes/ideas-
Hot choconana - Yes, Boost makes one and I liked it UNTIL I MADE MY OWN. Much better, didn't even need to add sugar, very thick, and surprisingly creamy. I add about 1 tbsp of cocoa (after assing 2 tsp water to make it a paste) to 1 c warm skim milk and stir well until dissolved, whizz up about 40g of banana in a blender, add the milk, whizz whizz, pop it in the micorwave until hot and watch it froth up, and enjoy. I sometimes add a little sweetener, but unless you'er a real sweet tooth you dont need it. To lower cals, use Vitasoy soy milk lite (70 cal per cup), a little less banana, 200mL of milk. To up cals, use more of a banana, use some milo, add honey or sugar and have with a biscuit.
Chocolate syrups - there's plenty of low fat syrup recipes, like this one, or this one, but I haven't tired them yet. If you use splenda, use half sugar, and dont cook with the splenda - stir it in at the end. And to use up the syrup...
Chocolate Milkshake - here
Add cocoa to... oats! Honestly! For dessert i had cocoa oats with a few dates (and had to add sugar/splenda) Really yummy! Also try adding them to muffin recipes, instead of chocolate. You can even make dinner with it!
A little goes a long way - learn to properly taste chocolate, rather than eat it. Enjoy your mini treats with a big cup of hot water, so you stay full but still get the sweet hit.

And for those of you who hate cooking, my fav pre-made chocolate snacks -

Hunts Fat Free Chocolate pudding - I always have this micorwaved (in another bowl) and either dip in strawberries, or swirl through a tsp of reduced fat peanut butter, or half a scoop of ice0cream on top. Damn you Americans who have sugar and fat free pudding in every flavour
Wendy's chocollo - a low fat, low cal ice-cream you can get at hte shops? 90 cal per serving (approx) and made from grapes! Dont double the cals with a cone - get it in a cup. Also see Colombo's soft serves and New Zealand natural's low-fat chocolate (not zilch, unless you're a low carber) Its hard to find now, but VERY nice. Also you can try Baskin and Robbin's NAS chocolate, but higher cals.
Slim Secrets bar - Choc nut caramel decadence (tastes like plain chocolate), Mint, Cofee - 135 cal or so for a 40g bar. Check them out here!!! A great site too. A bit like a rice bubble bar smothered in chocolate. High protein and satisfying. See also Pria bars in cookie and mint flavour - 119 cal and 200mg of calcium! Yummy healthy chocolate bar switch!! A little expesive. There's also a white chocolate and raspberries one. I dont like mint but the caramel nut isnt very caramel and nutty.

For some people chocolate can trigger sugar cravings. Hence why I stick to cocoa when I can! I seem to have a bottomless put for chocolate, and always regret it later!

What are your fav pre-made chocolate snacks? What do you do when a craving hits?

Today - meringue nests, asparagus

Guess I'd better start with today :)
This is day one of my 2 weeks of healthy eating challenge. For me, healthy eating is basing the majority of foods on superfoods and foods on the whfoods.com website, with treats on the side. I have a treat a day and if sucessful, another bigger one per week. I ruin a day if I binge (eat things that I'm allergic too, eat without control, "mindless" eating, eating until I'm full and then keeping on, eating when emotional instead of hungry) Often I have two treats, but as I'm trying to gain weight and eat pretty healthily, I dont mind as long as its controlled and justified (worked hard, was hungry, needed calcium, would stop a binge)

Hopefully this blog will help both dieters and healthy people alike.

Before you freak out, I'd better say I eat pretty low fat, and unless you have health reasons you should add some more healthy fats in (I'll do a post on fats) and cut down on the grains and protein. I'll talk about low cal, and maybe make it sound like I think its healthy. Yes and no. I dont think eating sugar free jelly every day is healthy, but for most people, they eat too many calories, and cutting back whislt maintaining health is good for them. For me, fat is very calorie dense, so often my foods are low-cal. I just stock up on the grains etc. I eat diet foods not because I want to lsoe weight but because they suit me, eg. weight watchers is often low fat, Slim Secrets bars are high protein and hit my chocolate craving, pria protein bars are high calcium


Breakfast: Vanilla, date and fig porridge with flax seed (oatmeal for you americans :P) with Soy Milky Lite (I'll do a post on my fav brand foods). Yakult, psyllium husk in hot water.
Snack: Slim Secrets Snack Attack Bar and skim milk. Then I was really hungry and had an Uncle Toby's nut crumble bar, 100healthy calories bar and rice snacks.
Lunch: Really full so had it late. Multigrain Tuna, pineapple, tomato and 50% light cheese toasted sandwhich (only just been able to eat this) and v8 Melon burst mixed with diet lemonade.
Snack: Sip of lemonade. Too full. Ate a LOT at morning tea
Dinner: Leftover noodle box (mongolian beef and shrimp, but I ate the beef yesterday, leaving friday red meat free) bulked up with veggies and leftover frozen salmon. About 1/4 of the box. Ate about 1/3 last night and froze the rest for Bento :) SO yummy!!!!
Snack: Meringue case with vaalia lime cheesecake yogurt. Milk (calcium time!)
Excercise: High-intensity circuit (using med balls, running, push-ups etc.) about 30 mins and waterpolo (relaxed) 30 min.
Today's treat:
Verdict: Not the most healthy day I've had, but no binge, and ate wholegrains for 50% of my grains + Usually I have 2 serves of fresh fruit a day, and missed out today. Too full to eat more, depite being under cals. Should have less diet soft-drink but its SO hot. Pass! One day down, 13 to go.

Daily Tip: Enjoy dessert the healthy way, every day
I don't think anyone can be 100% healthy all the time. But why waste your daily snacks on a tiny amount of unhealthy food if you can find a tasty dessert, leaving more room after you reach your health goals for a decadent treat? Bulk up your dessert with low-fat dairy and yummy low cal fruit. Think of it this way. You'd happily spend $3 on an drumstick ice-cream that can impact your healthy way of life, or buy a punnet of strawberries for that much, and have it last longer (albeit with other ingredients...) Healthy doesnt have to be expensive. A banana costs the same as a chocolate bar, but can go a lot futher (now with choclates at $1.80 and bananas at $3.kg its even cheaper!)

For example, for a low fat, low cal dessert, try buying meringue nests and filling with yogurt or fromage frais and topping with fruit. The nests are only 35 cal and quite big and the yogurt provides some calcium. Easily under 100 cal if you need, or you can bulk it up to 150.
Ideas:
* No-fat Greek yogurt, strawberries and a tiny drizzle of honey, or sprinkle of splenda (about 90 cal for a decent serve)
* Diet mango yogurt with thin slivers of canned mango on the top
* Diet cheesecake yogurt with 1tbsp passionfruit pulp
* Cottage cheese mixed with splenda and lemon juice, topped with blueberries
* Light whipped cream, apple pie filling and cinnamon
* Yogurt and crunchola/low-fat baked muesli
* Low fat custard pre-prepared with gelatine, topped with strawberry halves, kiwifruit slice, canned mandarin and halved grapes
* Sprinkle on flaked almonds, crushed walnuts, hazel nuts or macadamia nuts for good fats and extra energy. Also try drinking chocolate powder
*A little chocolate can go a long way. Melt 70% dark chocolate and just drizzle a tiny bit over your berries.
*Sub full-fat cream and ice-cream for low-fat yogurt, fromage frais, light whipped cream, ricotta cheese (sweetened) or look up some great recipes
* Sugar-free jelly is a great vessel for fruit, and an easy way to get kids to eat up their fruit. If they dont like the chunky bits, puree it up when you make the jelly! Also look up recipes like this, that incorporate dairy. Sneaky-sneaky :)

Vegetable of the Week: Asparagus
Its my IT food at the moment. I used to HATE it and still can't stand the canned stuff, but cooked correctly makes a delicious healthy low cal side.
Why?: High in vitamin K, folate, fibre to name a few, great for your heart and tummy!
Good for: Bulking up without adding fat, giving a fancy twist to a plain dinner,
Try it in/with: Risottos, salads, stir-fries, omlettes, baked chicken (in the last 10 min, cook it in the natural chicken juices or grill), kebabs with salmon and mango, as a side with a packet cheese sauce. Try the other colours for a fun twist!

Welcome

This is my fourth attempt at blogging
This time its a mix of the last few - both personal and public
I plan to blog my experiences with health, food, nutrition, fitness and life in general, and add things like tips, recipes and reviews to make it more interesting for you.

So I guess a quick into about me?
You can call me Red
I'm a uni student, struggling to balance frugality and health, as I have some mysterious sickness (IBS they say) which stops me from eating fat in huge quantities. I'm a lot better now, usually I just get cramps and smell bad, but before I was everything from sick to malnutritioned (and lost 15kg, and lots of muscle, so trying to gain back healthily and slowly) and physically injured, although this was unrelated. For a while I hated food. I couldn't eat anything and wanted to and kept "poisoning" myself with high fat foods, trying to break my intolerance. I'm still struggling with it, and sometimes succumb to a chocolate bar, but I pay for it the next day. Now I'm trying to set my body up for life - I was always the runt of the litter phsyically, and avoided exercise as much as I could. Now I can't hide any more and want to be healthy and happy, so I've got to overcome my unco-ordinatedness and push my limits. I guess I sorta had an eating disorder, if you define that as having problems with food, and if you count my occasional "binge" on bad foods (which could be 3 tim tams for me, or it could be half a kg packet of raw muesli, depending on me) then I do. But I'm, getting rid of it. I dont make myself spew, I NEVER starve myself. If anything I'm too anal about health: wholegrains, lean protein, and dairy are my vices (esp Iron) as before I abused my body with junk and I'm paying for it now.

So welcome and hope you enjoy your time. Some of you may recognise my old recipes from mini-spoons. :)