Foodie on a Diet

I love food. If you really think about it, the significant occasions in our lives are usually centred around a meal. As I pack M's lunch every day, I have realized that food is my love language. But here's the thing... I'm on a quest to find optimal health, and losing weight is one piece of the puzzle. Where I have failed in the past, and indeed where a lot of us probably fail, is in trying to cut out the things we love completely. That makes life really boring, especially for the foodies among us.

For example, I simply *adore* this recipe for Dragon Noodles from Budget Bytes. I literally salivate while I'm making it. Gross, but true. I feel like a real grown up when I'm eating it because it's WAY too spicy for my kids and I like it like that. However, it's not remotely compatible with the Insanity Max:30 nutrition plan. I could go eight weeks without my spicy fix, or I could come up with an alternative.

Now, because I am, well, me, there are a few things I always have on hand like cooked chicken and sliced bell peppers. Here are the ingredients I used for my version:

Instead of the recipe directions for noodles
1/2 cup thinly sliced bell peppers
1/2 cup thinly sliced onion
1/2 cup cooked chicken breast, cut in to small, thin strips
1/3 cup cooked chow mein noodles

Sauce (See original recipe for directions, HELLO copyright. Also, I am lazy!)
1 large egg
2 tsp butter
1/2 tsp chili flakes
1/2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp sriracha hot sauce
1 tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce

First, I started the onions and peppers in a non-stick pan. Then I started the sauce in a separate non-stick pan. I added the chicken and the noodles just long enough to heat them up and mixed it all together for something truly delightful. According to the FitBit food tracker, here's the difference:

The Original

Calories	Fat	Fiber	Carbs	Sodium	Protein
555	14.5	3.7	93.5	700.3	9.9

My Version

Calories	Fat	Fiber	Carbs	Sodium	Protein
466	19.2	2.8	33.5	1315.4	38.9

So, the sodium goes up quite a bit, but a lot of that is naturally occurring in the food. For example, the chicken brings 435mg to the party. And look what happens to the protein and the carbs. Anyway, I'm not suggesting this as an every day food, more like an indulgence here and there. If you're following the Insanity Max:30 or 21 Day Fix meal plans, this works out to 1.5 red, 1 green, 1 yellow and 2 tsps. 

When all is said and done, it looks like this:

And it tastes like this:

And it makes my belly feel like this:

Disclaimer: This post was not sponsored by any of the sites linked. I receive no compensation if you click a link or buy a product. I have provided links so you know the actual products that I use. 

Back to School

It should come as no surprise to my regular readers that I'm at my best when I'm busy. REALLY busy. Just in case life as a full-time mom to two small children and a small business owner wasn't challenging enough, I decided to add something else to the mix. Because I'm CRAZY like that.

Back story... My University days were tumultuous. I didn't have a lot of structure growing up so I was a little unaccustomed to the notion of study habits and setting realistic goals. Predictably, as I was fumbling my way through post-secondary life with no idea what I was doing, the results were pretty far from spectacular.

However, the fact that I have allowed that failure to bother me for nearly 20 years (holy shit!) is all on me. I can continue to feel like a failure, OR I can do something constructive to address the problem. Thus far ignoring my feelings on the matter hasn't been working out for me, so I guess I'll have to give the latter a shot. 

Today, my first class as a distance learning student at a very prestigious University is officially under way. Because I am only able to manage a very small course load until Z starts school, it's probably going to take me five years to upgrade my degree to something that gives me a sense of pride rather than one of shame and defeat. And that's fine, because when something is worth the reward, it's worth the work. 

I'm asking your for your help, my dear readers. If I haven't given any updates on the state of school in a while, I need you to give me a little nudge, OK? Thanks!

Tying Regret

The struggles we went through to conceive Z are well-documented. The intrusive daily ultrasounds, the daily needle in the ass, finding out we were having twins and then losing one of them early on. It was heartbreaking. Then there were the pregnancy complications. The Subchorionic Haemorrhage that never did resolve during the course of the pregnancy. That was followed by an unexpected spike in blood pressure, which lead to stress contractions, which got the clot flowing, which caused a spontaneous rupture of membranes (SROM). Broken waters + no labour = a repeat c-section instead of the VBAC my heart was set on, and the rest is history.

All in all, it was a pretty shitty year. Except for, you know, for the awesome baby that came as part of the deal. The Husband and I discussed permanent measures to prevent pregnancy because of how hard everything had been on us both. We decided that if I did end up having another c-section, we would have a tubal ligation done while they were in there. I had all the consent forms done in advance, pretty sure that it wouldn't be necessary because surely the second time around, after everything I had been through in BOTH pregnancies, I would get the birth experience I wanted.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Fuck you, fate!

Image: David Castillo Dominici at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

So I had the surgery, my tubes were tied and the deed was done. For a year, it was all good in the hood. Z didn't sleep through the night and frankly, I am closing in on the Big Four-Oh. I am too old for this baby shit. Or so I thought...

Now M is nearly six, Z is a happy, thriving toddler and I just couldn't be any happier. Except that deep down, in places I don't really like to talk about or even admit exist, part of me wonders if there isn't the teeniest, tiniest little bit of me that regrets making a permanent decision in the throes of another difficult pregnancy.

Oh, I know it's crazy and this little family of ours is perfect. But it was supposed to be THREE kids, had we not lost Z's twin. Is there something missing? No, not really. I'm sure if we hadn't made the decision at that moment we would have made the same one by now and we'd be in the exact same spot. I'll just give my babies a great, big hug and stick to wondering, "What if?"