Please Let Me Do Good Today Day Six

*** I had to repost this due to technical difficulties.  Not exactly the same as before, but oh well, you get the point.

This is called the back on track day a.k.a. please let me do good today because I was determined to take back my previous glory of nothing wrong with my diet. My goal was to eat the right foods, and not eat too much. I studied the guideline booklet I was given in the beginning and saw that the important thing was to have one dish of high protein food or two foods that were high in protein together.  Plus two sides, one usually lighter.  So that was how I would try to plan my meals.

Breakfast was very simple. Baby leaf salad with sprouts and the tiniest bit of low-fat cottage cheese.  Cottage cheese has zero carbs! Then, natto and last night's miso soup.

For lunch, I made wakame soup (consomme soup, sesame seed, and wakame), chicken breast, nira and enoki mushrooms.  I tried to keep it simple.  

So I had cheese for a snack today.  Did I mention I love that I can eat cheese for my snack?  (I'm sure I did.)  Oh, and kuki-wakame.  I figured out this was made with vinegar and I like it.  But it has almost 1g of sugar in 1 package, so I might need to watch my sugar content on days I have this.  (I am allowed 7g of sugar intake per day.)

Dinner was simple again.  You know triangle/grouping of three technique?  That is what I am aiming for now.  I had maguro, chingensai and bean sprouts, and okara.  

This is where I end:  Please, please let me do good today.  

Update:  

今日はだいぶシンプルになりましたね！

Today (your meals) were very simple!

特に目立つものもありません。

大丈夫です！

I didn't see any problems.

It's alright!

今日もその調子で頑張りましょう！

Let's try to continue like this (the next day)!

(He asked if I had thought about going to the chiropractor.  And I didn't mention it, but I actually did go!  Thank goodness I was being proactive.  (^_^;) My body got a little bit straighter than before.  )

Thank goodness I did well this day!  Stress unravelling....  Yay!!

This is called a Terrible Dieting Day Day 5

*** I had to repost this due to some technical difficulties, so it's not exactly the same as the original, but you get the point.  

Today shall be known as the terrible dieting day!  It might not look like it, but I ate too much food and had things that added up to a higher sugar intake.  I knew this as soon as I got my trainer's feedback from the previous day.  I'll mention that episode again later, but let's get to my meals today.  

Breakfast:  I wanted a salad and I love vegetables, so I put some avocado, tomato (half of each), and a couple slices of carrot left over from when I made the nabe.  Then I needed protein, so I had an egg, natto.  With okara on the side.  I actually didn't eat the cucumber and konbu for breakfast.  I thought this wasn't bad, but I know now that I should not have had the tomato, carrot, and avocado all together.   

Lunch:  I had cabbage and salmon with bean sprouts.  To add to that, I had an egg, mozuku, and plain yogurt.  I miss having yogurt whenever I want.  :(

My snack today was yakinori (roasted seaweed).  After I ate it, I realized I had seaweed all in my teeth.  Must be careful with this one.  

Around mid-afternoon, I got a mail from my trainer about my previous day's meals.  You can check that out in yesterday post here. I was freaking out and couldn't believe I was following my diet properly.  I already felt like I wasn't eating much.  I was lost, confused, and very worried.  I wanted to do my best.  I got picked up from work to go grocery shopping and it felt a lot better to talk to Hideki about it.  He is so supportive and lets me take all the time I need at the store checking everything and thinking about what I should eat.  Then I decided that the past was the past, I would move on and just think about this day on.  Half a day of fretting was quite enough for me.  

  

Dinner:  So our healthy dinner that night was aji (horse mackerel), miso soup (with tofu (100g), wakame, and nameko), and the leftover pickles from this morning.  My drink was just jasmine tea. Hideki had the same thing.  I felt very confident that this was healthy and prayed that tomorrow's critique would be much better.  Fingers crossed!       

Update:  

結構severeなんですよね。

一番の成功法としては、SIMPLE IS THE BEST　です。

豆腐、納豆、卵、こんにゃく、鶏肉、わかめ、サラダ等をシンプルに食べると経験上結果がでると思います。

(Today's meals) were pretty severe.  

The best way to succeed is SIMPLE IS BEST.

I think from experience that eating simple foods like tofu, natto, egg, konyaku, chicken, wakame, salad will give you results. 

今日の朝食はとってもシンプルなんですが、トマト、アボカド、ニンジンがそろってますね。

量を控えなきゃいけない食材が3つ揃うとちょっと厳しいかも知れません。

Today's breakfast was simple, but you added tomato, avocado, and carrot.

Adding three foods you should be using less of, it's severe (equals bad!)

たとえば、写真のサラダに上３つの代わりに、豆腐、わかめを乗せる。

Instead of putting them on the salad, you could put tofu and wakame.

...試してみて下さい　：）

So please try that.  (Okay! :) )

Dieting Adventures - Day Four

Today went okay! I ate some different foods and some same foods. I was hungry at the exact same times I usually get hungry. I thought a couple of times about what I would eat for a snack but remembered I would be allowed a piece of cheese instead of cookies and chocolate that are in the kitchen at work. I wasnt dying or feeling like it and meals were actually quite filling. So a successful day, I might say, though it is still day four.

Breakfast: I made this on Monday, cabbage, pepper, bean sprouts, a can of tuna, a beaten egg, and soya sauce mixed together and cooked in the rice cooker. It's good and you can vary it. I ate half of that (shown in the picture below).  I added some lightly pickled cucumber (浅漬け) and a boiled egg.
I also made miso soup with 50g of protein, wakame (seaweed), and nameko mushrooms.  And I had plain yogurt.  It was yummy and filling!

I have been trying to make my lunches the night before.  It's helped a lot.  I made this for lunch:  mushroom, chicken, spinach and yellow pepper.  I followed my trainer's recommendation to add a little bit of shoyu to some water and boil the chicken in it.  I also followed by doing the mushrooms and pepper too.  It wasn't bad.  My side dishes were natto (fermented soya beans) and okara (I added a bit of spinach, a tiny bit of carrot, soya sauce, and spices). 

My snack was a tiny piece of Gouda cheese.  And it was oh, so good! 

 After a training day, I am supposed to get lots of protein.  I'm not sure if I got enough, but I tried.  And it was only the first session.  I bought Savas Weight Down Protein Powder (as recommended by my trainer).  This I had as soon as I got home.  

Dinner:  Miso soup (like breakfast), more cabbage dish (like this morning), salad (grilled chicken, mushrooms, misuna). 



When I went to Canada in July, I bought a couple backs of diet jello.  It has almost no calories and has no carbs, no fat - and tastes good!  I made the lemon one.  I had the serving size which is 5 calories.  Even Hideki liked it!

I was confused about yogurt.  Instead of non-fat, I am supposed to eat no sugar added yogurt.  I came to the realization that it probably means plain yogurt, which I have been eating all along up before my diet.  Sent a message to ask my trainer. 

Hideki's eating healthy too!  Here's his dinner - Mickey-inspired. 



Update:  

 お食事、少し量が多い気がしますが、経過を見ましょう。

Your meals seem a bit bit, but lets wait to see some results.

パプリカ気をつけて下さいね。

Please be careful of yellow or red pepper.

ジェローに関しては大丈夫でしょう！

(Diet) Jello is no problem!

プレーンヨーグルトは無糖ヨーグルトです。

...量に気を付ける必要がありますね。

Plain yogurt is the same as no sugar added yogurt.  (As I asked him.)  

You just need to be careful of the amount.

Day Three

Okay, so I am holding up so far.  I  woke up not nearly as hungry.  I had leftover miso soup and the 糸寒天, which had expanded from the nice before and was quite yummy.  To add to that, I had a tofu and okara hamburg　(豆腐とおからのハムバーグ）, celery and yellow pepper　(セロリとパプリカ炒め）, and mozoku　（もぞく）. 

 I made this last night for my lunch.  It's spinach and salmon with mushrooms and a tofu and okara hamburg, to which I added some tomato and cucumber.  For my other sidedish, I included a cabbage salad.  I put a little bit of sesame oil on top and put a bit of salty konbu (seaweed) for topping.  I planned to use the non-oil dressing that we have a work.  It was a really yummy lunch!

My afternoon snack was plain, no-sugar added yogurt.  I love yogurt and was so happy I could still eat it.  That, and cheese ( yes, in very small quantities it is considered good for you). 

 That evening, I was supposed to have a lesson from 9pm and I wanted to eat before I went.  My trainer said he had a cancellation so I could go from 7:30, which was good cuz I wouldn't get home super late.  I didn't have much time to eat before, but I knew I would be starving, so I grabbed some sashimi - hiramasa and maguro.  It was yummy!

When I got home, I was a little bit hungry, but more so, I knew if I didn't eat that I would wake up extremely hungry.  So I ate natto, without the sauce (not yummy).  And some pickles (I ate half shown in the picture and left the juice).  I also drank 100ml of non-fat milk.  I would have drank more, but I was worried about the nutritional content.  And as the serving size was for 100ml, I thought I was safe.

Wish me luck tomorrow!!! 

Update:  

お食事はまだ昨日の残物があるので、それ除いては、特に目立つものはありません。

You have the same food from yesterday, so other than that,  I see no real problem.

そのままで経過みましょう！

Keep going like this!

Today's Meals

Day Two of my program. I woke up feeling like I had a headache. At first, I thought I might be getting sick. Then I realised how hungry I was.  おなかが空いた！(Onaka ga suita! I'm hungry) Well, I will do my best today, I thought.

Breakfast: Leftover soup warmed up in the pot, to which I added a beaten egg for variation.  I had more celery and yellow pepper too.  Plus non-fat yogurt (無脂肪ヨーグルト). 

Snack: Colby Jack Cheese (surprised I can eat cheese) (チーズ)

Lunch:  Tofu and Okara Hamburg (豆腐とおからハムバーグ）, Salad with Faux Crab Meat　(かにかまぼこのサラダ), and Slightly Roasted Green Pepper (焼いたピーマン)

Snack:  Natto and Toasted Seaweed (納豆、焼きのり)

Dinner:  Asparagus and Salmon Dish, Mozoku, Pickles wih Salty Konbu, Miso Soup And Kanten Noodles, Non-fat Yogurt (アスパラとサーモン、もぞく、きゅうりと塩こんぶ、寒天ヌードルの味噌汁), 無脂肪ヨーグルト

Update:  My trainer said (in person) that kani kamaboko (fake crabmeat) should be avoided, as well as balsamic vinegar, since it is made from grapes (thus a fruit).  :(  I really like balsamic vinegar!  But I guess the regular kind is okay, he said - so long as I don't eat it!

A New Way of Eating

It is going to take a lot of adjustment to get used to my new diet. The main thing is no carbs and no sugar. Instead I can have high protein and lots of vegetables. I am going to have to get creative with my cooking.
Last night, I had my first meal. I made chicken balls and added nira, mushrooms, and bean sprouts.  The soup base is made from boullion cubes.  I also steamed spinach and added salmon flakes on top. I put a little bit of soya sauce on this before eating. The last sidedish was some celery and yellow pepper cut up and fried with a little bit of sesame oil and Mrs. Dash lemon and pepper no-salt spice.  As soon as I started eating this I immediately began thinking about what to eat tomorrow. Any suggestions?

Update:  I received an email back from my instructor on my first meal. I translated each line for you.

 

アスパラ、ズッキーニはOKですよ。  Asparagus and zuccini are okay!   (I wasn't sure...)
アスパラは食物繊維も比較的多めなので、オススメです。 

Asparagus is a good source of fibre, so I recommend it!
お食事も問題ないですね。  No problem with you meal!
先日も言った通り、パプリカは一日半分ですのでよろしくお願いしますね:-) 

As I told you yesterday, you can have half a yellow pepper a day. 

残り半日、頑張って行きましょう！  Good luck with the rest of your day!

 

Not bad, if I don't say so myself.  (Pat on back!)

My New Journey Begins...

If you do not already know, I try to be healthy through proper balanced meals and exercise. And most of you probably know, it's not always that easy to do with your schedules and obligations.  I have decided to start a new program, or a journey, as the post tile would suggest, that involves eating a particular diet and exercising a certain way to get desired results.  I chhose not to disclose the particulars yet, but hope to do so in the near future.  Like many women, I wish to lose some body fat. It's not always easy, but here's to my hard road ahead. I will need all your strength and support. By the way, Hideki has been a dear. I like to think of him as my rock. Wish me luck!
My before shot...