Patting myself on the back ...

bethy73

I decided to make a conscious effort to eat better [though I will admit there are going to be times when I am going to cheat]. However, I must say that I have been really proud of myself this week.

I've always kind of been on of those people who feels that things have to have a lot of dressings and sauces, etc. in order to have any kind of flavor in order to taste good. I proved myself wrong the other night. I went into Subway because I didn't feel like cooking and instead of buying a sub, I asked for a grilled chicken and baby spinach salad. Honestly, I think I shocked myself when I asked for it! I shocked myself even more when I told the gal at the counted that all I wanted on it was tomatoes, red wine vinegar [what??] and just a dash of honey mustard. When I got home I chopped up 1/2 of an apple and put that on top of it and, wondering why on earth I didn't order a nice, flavorful sub, I took my first bite and you know what? It was delicious!!

Yesterday I went to the grocery store on a mission ... I was going to buy some more healthy foods. I bought a bag of baby spinach [which I've NEVER done before], some celery [because I was told I needed to start incorporating a snack or two into my day ~ that's going to be a big challenge for me], a lean 5 oz. steak [because I can't give up EVERYTHING], some low-fat cottage cheese, and a couple of bottles of vinaigrette dressing. I also bought a box of some cracker sticks for a snack because it's cheaper to divide a box up into 8 snack bags of 14 cracker sticks than it is to buy a box of those 100 calorie things [and it's about the same calories and amount].

Last night for supper I marinated that steak in the sun dried tomato and olive oil vinaigrette and broiled it. Wow! It was delicious ~ and I didn't need steak sauce or anything! I have a lot of boneless, skinless chicken breast in my freezer and I'm really excited about what I can do with that! I also had a spinach salad with a fruit and mixed berry vinaigrette. It was also very delicious! Just a word of advice ~ you need very little vinaigrette on a salad. I ended up throwing most of what I added away. I was full on those two things. Who would've thunk it?

I'm so glad I found this place. I know that I'm going to be able to stay motivated with all of the encouragement that I've gotten so far! :flowerforyou:

~Beth

TourThePast

Good for you, what a positive thing to do!

For years, I didn't have any sauces on anything because I didn't like vinegar, but even after getting over that and coming to like them, I stopped having them so much because I found they masked the taste of my food.

I would put money on the fact that you'll go right off sauces after a while and if you have something covered in a creamy sauce in a few months, you'll find it slimy and horrible!

There are a lot of interesting fresh flavours that you'll discover, that have been masked by sauces. I'm excited for you!

bethy73

Thanks! I can't even tolerate melted butter on stuff anymore ~ too greasy. My family still laughs at me, but I use Butter Buds in place of melted butter. No fat and very few calories [5 calories, I believe]. I get physically sick when I see that commercial on TV with the girl eating a stick of butter plain. Ugghh!! :sick: Needless to say, I'm MUCH better that I used to be, but I still have a long way to go!

TourThePast

I use Butter Buds in place of melted butter. No fat and very few calories [5 calories, I believe].

I'm in England and had never heard of Butter Buds, but just googled it, and found that they are available in a speciality store here. Rarely have butter, but do miss it on baked potatoes so maybe I'll get some.

I get physically sick when I see that commercial on TV with the girl eating a stick of butter plain.

Not seen that ad, we may have it over here, but I rarely watch TV. Sounds disgusting though, about as appealing as eating a tub of lard, ugh!

hales_04

Good Job!!
I have found I use just the right amount of dressing if I put it in a little dish and just dip my fork into it and then spear the lettuce. I had the problem of always have too little dressing so I'd add more and it would be way too much. But this works great!
Keep trying new things, you never know what might be your next favorite healthy meal!

bethy73

I like the idea of putting a little dressing in a dish. I might have to try that. Tonight I marinated a boneless skinless chicken breast half in the berry vinaigrette and another one in the sun dried tomato vinaigrette. I broiled the one that I marinated in the berry vinaigrette tonight and think that I'm going to get a couple of tomatoes and make some baked tomatoes with mozzarella and a baked potato to go with the other one. I'm looking forward to that already. =o)