Day Twenty

Wednesdays are usually the days where I blow the diet, so I went about my day somewhat cautiously.

Breakfast

• ham & cheese on whole wheat bread with mustard
• skim milk
• raisins

This really is a nearly perfect breakfast, and I enjoyed it immensely. My boyfriend teased me because I usually skip past the heel ends of a loaf of bread and go straight for normal slices, so this time I made a sandwich starting at the beginning of the loaf - it was surprisingly good.

Lunch

• Weight Watchers Smart Ones beef with Asian vegetables
• fresh herb salad with lite creamy Parmesan dressing
• sliced kiwi

I ate this meal in two parts: the frozen lunch before class, the salad and fruit after. Everything about it was perfection.

The beef was tender and flavorful, the vegetables crisp and in a nice proportion, the sauce really quite spectacular - I couldn't believe this was diet food! I enjoyed this more than I usually enjoy take-out from our local Chinese place, and I wondered if I could come up with a similar recipe - yum!

The salad is a funny situation. Last week the grocery was out of our usual brand, so my boyfriend picked up some other "organic fresh herb salad." I didn't think it would make a difference, but blech. That other package had bits of rotten lettuce mixed in, and what was fresh was still flavorless and bland. The store finally got back our preferred kind - Earthbound Farm - and I was so happy to find a package of it in the fridge when I got home! I've concluded that this particular blend is probably my favorite salad of all-time, and I hope they never run out again.

Snack

• Smart Balance peanut butter and Polaner sugar-free strawberry preserves on a whole wheat roll

I made this little sandwich just after my lunch meal, and my goodness, it was heavenly. My boyfriend has been making little snacks of graham crackers with peanut butter and jelly spread on top, and I've been coveting them mightily - I scoured the snack options, certain I'd remembered some kind of peanut butter and jelly, and voila, there it was. Delicious!

Dinner

• Gardenburger with barbecue sauce on whole wheat roll
• fresh herb salad with diced cucumber and lite creamy Parmesan dressing
• skim milk
• sliced kiwi

When I was looking for my PBJ snack, I reread the actual ingredients that this meal calls for and realized I've been forgetting the milk all along! I really love milk, so I was glad to make this discovery.

Unfortunately I lost my mind a little while cooking this and put the Gardenburger in the microwave for 4 minutes, turning it into a dried-out hockey puck. Strangely it still tasted okay, but the mouth feel was terrible - I'd snap a bite off with my teeth and then it would crumble up in the barbecue sauce. Blech.

I was really happy I made it through a Wednesday sticking on my diet. It gives me hope that even with days as lousy as this past Tuesday, I can maintain self-control and restraint. This week I've also come to see how helpful it is to prepare a large portion of one or two meals ahead that I can reheat through the week - a good strategy and it definitely helps diminish thoughts like "might as well order take-out."