Day 1 - Starting Over

I've been missing for a few days, and I confess it is because I have been randomly snacking and not wanting to be accountable to my blog. I haven't really been able to understand why; I cannot find any explanation in the book, nor do I feel that the exercises help me understand my behavior. I wonder if my random snacking is purely rebellion at this point? (Unfortunately, I have always considered diet success to be an "all" or "nothing" measurement.)

I think it's related to the number of food decisions we make in our daily lives. A Cornell study published in 2009 said that participants estimated they made about 15 food decisions per day. But, when they answered specific questions about when, what, how much, where they ate, and who made decisions about meals, the participants actually made an average of 221 food-related decisions each day.

"So many food decisions are made on mindless autopilot," Brian Wansink, the John S. Dyson Professor of Marketing and of Applied Economics at Cornell, said in a prepared statement. Wansink said the problem with making more food decisions than we are aware of is that each decision is influenced by the environment.

He has published a book: "Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think" that maybe I should read.

Although today was quite difficult, I made it through...


BREAKFAST (9:00 am)

Berry Wafflewich (folded in half like a sandwich):

1 cup frozen Trader Joe's Very Berry Cherry Blend (cherries, blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries), thawed
1 Van’s brand whole grain waffle
8 oz. organic skim milk
2 TBSP Trader Joe’s all-natural almond butter
Dash nutmeg

LUNCH (12:30 pm)

Refried Bean Wrap with Side of Broccoli florets:

1 cup fresh spinach, ¼ cup all-natural salsa, ¾ cup raw broccoli
1 whole grain wrap
½ cup vegetarian refried beans
¼ cup Wholly guacamole
Dash cumin

I had my daily dark chocolate right after lunch.

SNACK (5:30 pm)

Peppery Kiwi Almond Twist:

1 kiwi, peeled and sliced
No whole grain
½ cup skim-milk cottage cheese
2 TBSP slivered almonds
Dash pepper




DINNER (8:00 pm)

Toasted Tuna Pita with Tomato and Cucumber Salad:

1 cup chopped cucumber and 1 plum tomato, sliced
½ whole grain pita
3 oz tuna
No plant-based fat
Balsamic vinegar for the salad/Pickle relish and dried dill for the tuna pita

(I did manage to have a few of my son's sweet potato fries at dinner too.)