Shabbat Challenge

paprikas

Yes its the Jewish day of rest. The day of family meals. The day when we serve (and eat!) challah, fish, meat, soup and desert each meal, 3 times within 24 hours. The day when we can gain back all the weight we lost all week.

How are we going to handle it people??

Some resolutions I have come up with for this week:

Buy wholemeal Matza as a replacement for home made challah (light fluffy bread which includes egg and oil)
Only cook exactly as much fish and meat as we absolutely need
Go for a walk with a friend in the afternoon
Prepare salads with lo cal dressings beforehand...

Any more ideas?

Lets see how we go this week and whether we can get through the day of rest happy, healthy and lightly!!

bathsheba_c

I'm of the theory that you don't need to serve a full, five-course meal for every meal. In any event, I can think of some ways to make things more diet-friendly.

Challah: Buy whole-grain, or buy/bake smaller loaves
Soup: Go for low-calorie soups, like lentil soup, vegetable soups, gazpacho, etc. Serve large portions so that you aren't as hungry for the rest of the meal.
Fish: I have to admit, I usually skip this, so I don't really have any good ideas here. Maybe cerviche instead of gefilte?
Meat: Serve small portions of something baked or grilled. For example, marinated grilled chicken is still good cold and it retains its juiciness when reheated.
Dessert: Focus on fruits, and limit things that are total sugar.

Lastly, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3ecTb-IHHQ. :laugh:

sarah6336

Shabbos is always tough for me. Sometimes, I'm invited out and have to make wise food choices. If I'm having shabbos at home, I plug my recipies into mfp and meal plan. This week, my meals look like this:

Friday night:

chicken soup with a matzoh ball
meatballs and sauce over challah kugel
steamed snap peas
cantelope
red wine & homemade multi grain challah

Saturday Lunch:
deviled egg
indian cholent
cantelope
red wine and homemade multi grain challah

Third meal:

indian cholent
homemade multi grain challah

After Shabbos:
chicken soup with a matzoh ball
sugar snap peas

I sometimes have guests. Then, I make a variety of dishes and just portion out what I'm eating. I've been able to stay on the 1200 calorie diet since June. (Even while at seminary for 5 weeks during that time.) None of my guests or hosts have been offended that I eat a tiny bit.

Piqueaboo

I always try to stick with chicken soup with kneidlach, and then chicken with vegetables. That's low cal and high in protein. I also take chicken soup to work, it has virtually no calories!!

shironz

I serve tilapia or salmon for fish. they are healthy, filling, and delicious.

RonitMig

I also do roasted chicken in the oven and chicken soup. My downfall is challah- I love it so much!!! I have also done salmon to keep it healthy and mix it up a bit.

FunnyGirl613

I'm having a very hard time trying to fit shabbos into my meal plan.

I'm off of white flour and sugar, so I'm planning on one slice of WW challah at each meal (we don't eat shalosh seudas).

I'm doing my best to eat my salads "plain" all week and am looking forward to having a dressed salad on shabbos. The green salad I can survive without dressing but the asian cabbage salad needs toasted sesame oil and it's SO HIGH in fat...

I was looking forward to a 4oz piece of salmon and a piece of chicken that wasn't a grilled chicken breast.

But if I eat the way I planned, I'm using almost all my calories for Friday in just shabbos dinner!

I am trying to find a walking buddy for Friday night after the meal so I can walk off my "extra" calories.

shosh413

heyy everyone

im having such a hard time with eating on shabbat..
mentally just sitting there knowing i shouldn't have a lot of food basically leads me to pick at a million things and seriously exceed my calories...
it ruins my weight loss for the whole week

shabbat is supposed to be special and amazing but it just leads me to beat myself up over overeating
anyone have any suggestions of what i can focus on during the meal so i don't keep picking at everything, how to distract myself...
i don't know..

kugelette

Veggies are your friend. Instead of focusing on kugels and challah and dips and other super fattening (albeit delicious and 'homey') shabbos foods, make a lot of side dishes with low-calorie veggies. I personally love grilled zucchini and eggplant (both of which can be served hot or cold) and fresh green beans roasted with lemon slices and pine nuts.

You can make your standard chicken soup a lot healthier by fat skimming; they sell pitchers that help you skim the fat off the soup, or you can make ahead, toss in the fridge, and the fat will solidify on top for easy removal.

Opt for israeli salad and cut up veggies with low-cal dips and try holding off on more than a few bites of challah until you've finished some 'real food' - often people snarf challah because they're sitting around waiting for the next course.

I make my own kishke for the chulent; it's super easy and I just toss the ingredients in the blender. It's carrot based and uses ground oats in moderation instead of flour. tastes a lot like the tam-tam recipe. kishke otherwise is a deathtrap of calories and fat.

Go with baked apples for dessert. Filled with dried fruits and nuts and a tiny bit of honey, they're amazing and make a really pretty presentation for guests. ditto wine-poached pears.

If anyone has a question about how to alter a specific recipe to be more diet-friendly, feel free to message me. I'm a classically trained chef with extensive experience in creating meals that are healthy and diabetic-friendly.

shosh413

thanks!!
I really think its the dessert that kills me and i have to prepare before hand. I like your apple idea!

shonovo

shabbos also used to always get me down... but i try to plan ahead.. i premeasure my chicken/turkey into the amount of ozes im supposed t have and i try to stick to green tea and cut fruit for desserts... i love making low cal side dishes... my favorite is popcorn cauliflower....soo easy to make and sooo soo good! roasted cut eggplant is also good... on fri night a nice hearty veg soup fills u up... its tough that our religion revolves so much around food.. like chanukah right now... but we can do this

David_273

I have just read this thread. It has a lot of good ideas.
If I am a good boy all week long does it really matter if I am 400 calories over the top on Friday and Shabbat? If I allow myself things for Shabbat it makes it easier to be ruthless with myself the rest of the week.

Any thoughts or further suggestions?

MostlyWater

Just think about it. If you are over, then you aren't going to lose, or not as much.

David_273

Harumph!

I'll try to stay under the limit but if I do it I want more than a "Yay". I'll PM you my address and I want a crate of beer delivered to my house. Hang on, what am I going to do with a crate of beer if I can only have 1680 calories every day?

MostlyWater

hehyehe

ChallahMonster

Hi Sarah,

Indian Cholent sounds delicious - is there anything special you out in it? Or is it just a curry left in the crock pot overnight?

MostlyWater

that does sound good, huh? She posted that in August 2012.