Sunday Summations

Affirmation:

I choose to view this journey to health not as a diet but as an opportunity to grow in knowledge and trust of God

Sundays are when I look back over the past week and summarize the information I kept in my food journal and analyze and look for patterns and cues that I can work on or ways to create change.

Last week I almost always ate when I was hungry and my hunger lever was well below the ½ way mark. My mood was pretty good all week, I didn’t find myself eating out of emotions.

I have noticed that the difficult days correspond with days I have greater pain than other days. Maybe it is a way of self soothing or a way of distracting myself from the pain. Not sure, but also on the days I have more pain I am less able to work on anything and am in bed or on the couch and watch more TV or read, both of which can be triggers for me.

Exercise was non-existent except for the set given to my by the PT. But last week even those didn’t get done regularly. Too much pain this past week, gave me an excuse not to do them. Even though I do know that not doing them sets me up for stiffness and more pain.

My negative self talk was the “I’m hungry” check, hoping I am hungry enough to justify eating. But my positive self talk was to ask if that was truth, if I was really hungry enough that I NEEDED to eat. Particularly at night, I would ask and or talk myself into seeing if I could wait until morning.

I did struggle a lot with munchies this week. I know that is because I didn’t really plan or stick to a menu and ate kind of haphazardly. Many of my meals were not satisfying, although I was full. It left me with cravings more than hunger. Next week I have planned a menu that should take care of that.
I did find myself less hungry and getting full faster, which meant eating less at meals That is good. I think it will help to remember to use smaller plates to help keep portion sizes at a normal size.

SUNDAY SUMMATIONS

Affirmation:
I am fearfully and wonderfully made

I have kept my journal every day so far. But I find that I really don’t like keeping track of the journal…both what I eat and keeping track of where the journal is. (grins) I always seems to be where I am not when I need to record something in it.

But it is showing me something. I do eat less when I keep track. I am more aware of my hunger levels. I am more able to tap into that self dialogue where I ask myself if I am really hungry or if I just want something else. Right now I am realizing that my pain level affects my desire to eat. I think that it will distract me from the pain, or maybe it is that I feel the need to soothe myself or that I deserve a little something something because I am hurting.

I have also realized that how important it is for me to make meal plans. It helps me so much with the “I don’t feel like cooking tonight, let’s order pizza” syndrome. I also am finding that using the crock pot to cook dinner in is also a lifesaver. Getting the dinner on first think in the morning, I feel like cooking more then. The trick is to find ways to make those recipes healthy. I have found a few that I have adapted.

Tonight’s crock pot recipe is Pasta Sauce with Meatballs. This is a really easy one. I get the Italian meatballs at Sam’s. But you could make your own. Cooking them long and slow in the pasta sauce makes them taste wonderful. I usually cook enough for 2 meals (for mom and me) and have enough meatballs and sauce left over for Meatball poorboy sandwichs at lunch one day.

Quickie Crock Pot Meatballs in Pasta Sauce

Ingredients:
1 large bottle of your favorite pasta sauce (I use the large bottles from sam’s of Clasico sweet basil)
10-15 meatballs, depending on size, thawed
½ cup water to wash out pasta sauce jar

Toss everything in crock pot on high until hot and turn to low and cook until supper. Because all the ingredients are already cooked you can cook this for as long as you want, but at least 2-3 hours to develop flavors.

NOTES: I have made this with cut up Italian Sausage and added sliced green pepper and onions to the sauce. Yummm.

Italian Poorboy Sandwiches

Ingredients:

Crusty hoagie buns
3-5 meatballs (or as many as you need to fill the size of your bun)
spoonful of sauce
sprinkling of mozzarella cheese
Warm meatballs and sauce in micro or on the stove top (if cold). Add the meatballs to the bun in a nice little row. Spoon some of the sauce over it and sprinkle with the cheese. Run under the broiler until cheese is melted. Serve…careful not to burn your mouth on the hot cheese!