I begin with 5.17
Most days at the time I get to the gym Paula Deen is on TV. She makes more biscuits than any woman alive. Yesterday they were baked in a skillet and served with smothered chicken.
How wonderful does that sound?
Dr. Rhonda Trousdale told me that the last thing you ever want to tell a diabetic is that he can never have cake again. The moment you say it, he will want cake, he will crave cake, he will think about cake. You can't ban any one food but rather teach them to be reasonable about portion size and frequency so that cake is not a daily main course.
I had done that with Paula's biscuits. Every time she made them I told myself that I could not have biscuits again til March. I had become biscuit obsessed.
Even when I realized that I probably had not made biscuits since 2003 and they really were not a part of my regular diet I wanted them badly.
Today I caved.
They are not terribly expensive to make with butter and cream my cost was 55 cents for a small batch.
"Don't those look good ya'all?"
I had 4 paired with sausage....what else?
Followed by some of the cherries from Chinatown.
Biscuits .44
Sausage .70
Cherries .50
Extra butter .10
Iced tea .03
Carbs 50 grams
Total 1.47
It was not the healthiest breakfast but there is an enormous satisfaction in satisfying a craving. If I can stay away from the white gravy I will be okay.
...and okay I am...it is 12:30 and it might be the fatty sausage, or the craving satisfied but I am not in the least hungry.
I will get some more work done and see when my appetite returns.
3:00 and I finally had lunch. I used beans again, cheese again but this time I chopped a very tiny onion on top.
I am trying to push the fiber a little bit and beans are a great way to do that.
Beans .50
Cheese .10
Onion .10
Chips .50
Iced Tea .03
Total 1.23
Carbs 55 grams of slow burning fiber filled carbs.
I did not take a photo of lunch, as...well it looked almost like last night's dinner.
...and speaking of dinner I had mine late. Remember those noodles I bought in Chinatown the egg noodles that were not too high in carb.
They made a lovely Chow Mein.
I ground two of the remaining chicken thighs with an onion, put that in a sizzling wok and then the Gai Lan leaves, hot sauce, soy sauce, vinegar and finally the noodles. It was lick the bowl good.
Most days at the time I get to the gym Paula Deen is on TV. She makes more biscuits than any woman alive. Yesterday they were baked in a skillet and served with smothered chicken.
How wonderful does that sound?
Dr. Rhonda Trousdale told me that the last thing you ever want to tell a diabetic is that he can never have cake again. The moment you say it, he will want cake, he will crave cake, he will think about cake. You can't ban any one food but rather teach them to be reasonable about portion size and frequency so that cake is not a daily main course.
I had done that with Paula's biscuits. Every time she made them I told myself that I could not have biscuits again til March. I had become biscuit obsessed.
Even when I realized that I probably had not made biscuits since 2003 and they really were not a part of my regular diet I wanted them badly.
Today I caved.
They are not terribly expensive to make with butter and cream my cost was 55 cents for a small batch.
I had 4 paired with sausage....what else?
Biscuits .44
Sausage .70
Cherries .50
Extra butter .10
Iced tea .03
Carbs 50 grams
Total 1.47
It was not the healthiest breakfast but there is an enormous satisfaction in satisfying a craving. If I can stay away from the white gravy I will be okay.
...and okay I am...it is 12:30 and it might be the fatty sausage, or the craving satisfied but I am not in the least hungry.
I will get some more work done and see when my appetite returns.
3:00 and I finally had lunch. I used beans again, cheese again but this time I chopped a very tiny onion on top.
I am trying to push the fiber a little bit and beans are a great way to do that.
Beans .50
Cheese .10
Onion .10
Chips .50
Iced Tea .03
Total 1.23
Carbs 55 grams of slow burning fiber filled carbs.
I did not take a photo of lunch, as...well it looked almost like last night's dinner.
...and speaking of dinner I had mine late. Remember those noodles I bought in Chinatown the egg noodles that were not too high in carb.
They made a lovely Chow Mein.
Noodles .35
Gai Lan .54
Onion .10
chicken .62
Total 1.61
Carbs 36 grams
(My wok is well seasoned and I did not use fat while cooking but after the meat had cooked I added water to steam fry)
Day Total 4.31, I have .86 to carry into next month.
Let's look at the month.
I have gotten better at this. At first I tried to confine my shopping to Harlem, but in doing so I spent more than I should have and had fewer vegetables. Adding in Trader Joe's and Chinatown improved the quality of my meals but added hours each week to travel/prep and shopping time.
Even with all of that I am not getting as many calories as I should, I eat more meat than I want to fill me and provide those calories and it is incredibly hard each day to budget and still eat well.
I have a visceral and very real understanding of why it is so hard to reduce/give up white rice with meals. Nothing has been more satisfying than even those tiny portions of rice or pasta.
Let's look at the stats for first the day and then the month.
My monthly averages...
tThe first chart compares with the USDA stats
The second compares to the goals set by the dietician and includes fiber content et.
Fat is blue, protein yellow and carbs, purple, that tiny slice is alcohol. Fat is 7% higher than ideal.This is the average calories over the month.
My calorie goal was 2,400 to maintain my weight and activity level. You can see in my effort to eat the right things and be healthy I have not met my caloric goal.So what explains obesity with those on food assistance?
They give up on being healthy because they get tired of being hungry most of the time. I know I could have a big bowl of buttered rice with an egg on top and I would not be hungry for hours but that rice would blow up my blood sugar and make me fat over time.
I have kept my meals varied, tried everything from empanadas to pig's tails. I have a high skill level and a fully equipped kitchen and it is HARD and many days I get pretty hungry.
That is life for many, many Americans, not only those on food assistance but those scrambling by on slave wages.
What are we going to do about it America?
1 comment:
It is also about having discipline. You have been rigid with your pennies and very creative.
I am not on assistance just on a very tight budget and not diabetic, but I do eat a lot of rice.
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