Week Four Results
Last week was a good week – at least until I got to the weekend. I was on pace to have a 2 pound loss for the week, until I went to a Mexican restaurant on Saturday. It wasn’t in my plan, but sometimes things happen and you just have to roll with it. I tried to be mindful of how much guacamole I had, but after a couple of vegetable tacos, I knew I was in trouble. Chips, cheese, sour cream, double flour tortillas, rice. I didn’t know exactly how much damage was done until I got on the scale this morning. Up 1/2 a pound for Week Four! It made me realize that it doesn’t take much to get off track. So I’ve lost a total of 6 pounds and want to lose 4 more by the end of this challenge. Last week I thought I was going to be way ahead of the game, but this little set back puts things in perspective. Don’t take anything for granted! Then, almost as a punishment, to add insult to injury, I picked up some kind of flu bug (probably at the restaurant!) and have been bed-ridden all day. Ugh.
Week Five Grocery List & Food Prep
My grocery lists from week to week are pretty similar. Here’s what I picked up this week:
Fresh Veggies: parsley, cilantro, kale, English cucumber, 2 red bell peppers, 1 bunch of green onions, 2 sweet onions, cremini mushrooms, 1 bag mixed salad greens, 1 bag baby spinach, 1 bag baby arugula, 2 pints grape tomatoes, celery, carrots
Fresh Fruits: 6 bananas, 1 cantaloupe, 1 honeydew melon, limes, lemons, 2 avocados, 3 apples
Frozen Fruit: mango, blueberries, raspberries
Staples: 3 extra firm tofu, almond milk, 2 cans no-salt diced tomatoes
My husband liked the Middle Eastern Salad from last week, so we made a repeat of that, along with the tahini dressing and Basic Salad. We also made a curried hummus, which is quite delicious! Here are the recipes:
Middle Eastern Salad with Tahini Dressing
1 large English cucumber – diced
3 medium tomatoes – diced
1/2 sweet onion – thinly sliced
1 can chickpeas – rinsed and drained
Tahini Dressing Ingredients
1/4 to 1/2 tablespoon garlic – minced into a paste (to taste – I like a lot of garlic!)
1/2 cup tahini
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
water – as needed to achieve desired consistency
Directions
- To make the tahini dressing, place all ingredients in a blender or small food processor and blend. It will be thick, so add water 1 tablespoon at a time to achieve desired consistency.
- To make the salad, place all ingredients in a salad bowl and chill in refrigerator. I do not recommend adding the dressing directly in with the salad as the tomatoes will bleed out into the tahini and turn the entire salad pink.
Curried Hummus
2 cans chick peas – rinsed and drained
1/4 sweet onion
1/2 cup tahini
1/4 to 1/2 cup lemon juice (to taste)
1/2 tablespoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
3 – 4 garlic cloves
Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. If needed, add a small amount of water to achieve desired consistency.
Basic Salad
Click on this link to get the ingredients for the Basic Salad.
Week Five Day One Recap
Breakfast: Fruit & Cucumber Smoothie
This is a great post workout drink — or hangover cure as they seemed to think! I thought it would be good for my flu bug. I modified the ingredients to fit the Eat To Live program as follows:
1 cup diced Granny Smith apple
1 cup diced English cucumber
1 cup diced honeydew melon
1/2 banana
1 cup almond milk
1/4 cup lime juice
1 tablespoon hemp seed
2 teaspoons grated ginger
Lunch: Middle Eastern Salad with Tahini Dressing and Curried Hummus on a Sprouted Grain Tortilla
Dinner: Basic Salad with Black Beans, Sliced Almonds & Black Currants
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