Sonoma/Mediterranean weekly thread - 8 to 14 August

[pilgrim]

Much better, thank you gardenermom. I've been a bit more careful about my fruit portion sizes and haven't had any more trouble. The only thing I did notice was that last night, after drinking apple-and-raspberry juice with my dinner instead of my usual grape (at a friend's house), I did feel a lot hungrier than I would have expected. I guess the raspberry juice was just too sweet, even mixed with apple. Next time I can't get grape juice, I might add water like Connie Guttersen suggests in the book.

Seeing that you ate spaetzle brought back fond memories of growing up in Germany! Did you manage to find a wholegrain version?

Yesterday:

B: All Bran with low-fat milk; banana
L: Salad with egg; blackberries
S: Wholegrain crackers, mini goat cheese babybel
D: Wholegrain giant couscous in tomato sauce with butter beans, red peppers and halloumi; apple and raspberry juice.

Exercise: 15 mins yoga, 50 mins walking.

[gardenermom]

ha, no, sadly the spaetzle is all-bad white flour! I make it myself. I have tried making it with WW flour but it came out quite mushy. I should probably experiment with ratios of WW:white...but I don't want to make a mushy batch again! My husband is German.

[pilgrim]

Hmm, I wonder if gram flour (chickpea flour) would work either on its own or mixed with ww? I use 50/50 gram/ww for making pancakes, and it works really well. You've got me wanting to experiment now!

Anyway, yesterday:

B: Weetabix (I was at a friend's house), low-fat milk, banana.
L: Salad with eggs, ww bread, blackberries.
D: WW pasta with beans and loads of veg that needed using up! Grape juice.
S: 1 dark chocolate brazil nut. I need to order more of these, I've only got about 4 left. I'm doing really well at only having 3 per week, though.

Exercise: 60 mins walking.

[pilgrim]

Yesterday:

B: Crunchy Brand, low-fat milk, banana.
L: Ajja (spicy omelette), ww pitta bread, raspberries.
D: Summer squash chilli, grape juice.

Exercise: 30 mins Wii Fit, 15 mins heavy housework, 15 mins yoga.

[ping]

Hello!
Been a few weeks!
cereal skim milk
bean tostada with veggies
corn on cob and mushroom rice thingy
fruit
Been freaked out about a diagnosis of osteopenia---then did some reading and have decided it is a big drug company hype. You would not believe the treatment my doctor (ex-doctor I might add) wanted me to do. A horrible drug infusion that has side effects six pages long---I was flabbergasted that my doctor would think I would blythfuly offer my arm to this cocktail of the medical world.
Thanks for letting me vent! Let me know if any of you have heard of this. I am taking calcium, D and exercising more to strengthen my bones. And of course, prayer

[pilgrim]

That would freak me out too! I've heard of osteopenia, but I don't know much about it other than it's to do with a lack of minerals in the bones. You've clearly done your research, and what you're doing sounds sensible. I hope it works well for you.

I've just realised we all forgot to start a new thread this week and just carried on posting on the old one! Never mind, I'll try to remember to start a new one tomorrow.

Yesterday:

B: Scrambled eggs on ww toast, banana
S: Wholegrain crackers, mini babybel
L: Lentil salad, wholegrain crackers, raspberries
S: 1 dark chocolate brazil nut
D: Quorn mince with bok choy and ww spaghetti; grape juice

Exercise: 2 hrs walking

[pilgrim]

And today:

B: Ww pancakes, vegetarian sausages with a squeeze of lemon juice, banana
L: Broccolini salad, strawberries
D: Tofu and beansprout stirfry, grape juice

Exercise: 30 mins walking

[gardenermom]

Hi Ping, that would be my approach too. I am very cautious about taking medications unless absolutely necessary, and very skeptical of big pharma. Maybe you can keep regular checkups to monitor your bone density (with a different doc!) and keep going with your diet/exercise modification. I'm not a physician though!

Pilgrim, thanks for the spaetzle inspiration - i googled and found several recipes for WW spaetzle (with 100% WW flour). I will try one next time!

Weekends are always harder than weekdays for staying on track. I took my kids to a kids b-day party yesterday. Managed to resist the cake and potato chips, but I caved in to the pizza...thankfully it was cut into kiddie-sized slices!

Yesterday:
B: 1/2 sesame bagel toasted w LF cream cheese
L: 2 kiddie slices of veggie pizza (=1 adult slice)
S: grapes, red pepper slices, about 100cal of chick peas
D: WW pasta with tomato/spicy pepper/red pepper sauce, red wine

Exercise: Jillian Michaels Yoga Meltdown