There is a place in the book that talks about feeling full and satisfied (they call it satiated). They talk about eating a large steak and how a steak requires time to chew it and gives your body the proper time to realize when it is actually full. It also talks about the nutritional value of steak and how being full on steak is better than full on the rolls that come out before the steak. But what they said in the book about that steak happened to me today at lunch while I feasted on a… salad!?
Yes. A salad. And I couldn’t finish the last 3 or 4 bites because I was certain that if I did I would throw it up and the whole thing would have been for naught.
I meant to take a photo of the beautiful salads I made for lunch, but if you read my “The Before” post you know that “memory and foggy brain” are on my list of things I need to improve, so I forgot the photo but here is what was in my salad:
A bed of cabbage, spinach and butter lettuce topped with a healthy portion of tomatoes, grilled chicken, sliced almonds, avocado, a boiled egg and oil & red wine vinegar. I added some extra protein and fat to the salad to help get me the extra calories I need for breastfeeding, but as it turns out I guess I didn’t need quite as much as I prepared.
To my delight, my daughter (after some gentle encouragement and parmesan cheese (she is still eating dairy)) ate REALLY well. She had a helping of spinach and then asked for more (dry spinach with some cheese… ok.), she ate an entire half a chicken breast, she tried two bites of the avocado and two bites of the egg but I think the texture wasn’t her thing because she half gagged it down. She asked for more avocado but then couldn’t bring herself to gag it down again… oh well – I give her an A+ for trying it all! She did not care at all for the kalamata olives… today. But sometimes if you reintroduce things a few days later she gives them a second chance and ends up liking them, so I will try that out later. And, of course, she ate plenty of almonds – she LOVES all kinds of nuts! I would call that lunch a success. No hot dogs. No mac & cheese. No potato chips. This is all good.
I will admit, that her Uncle is in town and brought along some chocolate treats from Valentine’s Day for her and I am allowing her to have them while he is here. But the chocolate has actually taught me more about myself than it has her… hear me out: after her beautiful lunch-eating performance today she didn’t “ASK” for a treat, but I felt so proud of her that I wanted her to know how proud I was so I offered it to her without her asking… apparently my food issues are deeper than I thought… AND luckily I am catching them now before I mess her up with them too! (Yay for progress… right?) (Sigh.)
Finally, the kids are down for a nap. My husband and brother-in-law are out of the house and I am being TOTALLY honest in telling you that I have thought 2 or 3 times about scourging the house for some crunchy chocolate (because regular chocolate won’t do… I am currently craving a KIT KAT BAR… I HATE Kit-Kat Bars – why, suddenly do I want one? Because my brain is totally messed up and enjoys messing with me!?!)
And the other thing I really, REALLY want is a nap. The toss up is do I take this time to prep the dinner sides (the main dish is already prepped just has to go in the oven) or do I just decide to give myself a little grace and mercy and let myself go take a nap? I think I am going to opt for the nap. One hour. That’s it. (Normally this wouldn’t be an option, but hubby is home today and my brother-in-law is visiting so I have helpers when I normally wouldn’t and so I can do “big” dinner stuff when the kids are awake today).
Okay, heading to take my nap. I’ll check-in again after dinner.
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