The Report: Thursday, January 3, 2008
Ugh. Today was a long, difficult day with some significant and painful professional and personal things going on. I stumbled through, and while I made a few mistakes and didn’t have as good a day as the last two, I got through it.
BREAKFAST
Yogurt-Granola Bowl
I put together a container of plain nonfat yogurt (a cup, I believe) with a tablespoon of mixed berry spreadable fruit (that really thin stuff that’s hard to use, because it runs all over the place) and added a couple of tablespoons of dried cranberries and a quarter-cup of granola that I got from Fresh Direct a while ago. It came out good, though it was a little thin. I think that some of the fruit yogurts I often favor are usually a bit thicker. But it was good, and I wasn’t hungry much in the morning (though I ate a bit later than I sometimes do).
LUNCH
Chicken Capri Panini
I ate lunch late, at a time when I was very upset about events at work. I freely admit that I got a panini and fries because I was really, really looking for comfort and satisfaction. The good news is that (1) I ate only a small portion of the enormous haul of fries they handed me; and (2) the sandwich was really good and well worth it. If I’m going to go a little over the top, I’d rather do it on something I really like. And I really like the chicken capri panini, which has roasted chicken, mozzarella, pesto, and sun-dried tomatoes. I wouldn’t be above looking for a way to make a similar sandwich at home. I should put that on the list of aspirations, because that was really, really good.
DINNER
Shrimp And Pasta In Peanut Satay Sauce
This was my last meal before the arrival of my real groceries, which shows in two ways: not very many ingredients, and use of something I’m trying to get rid of. In this case, I’m trying to use up a two-pound bag of frozen shrimp, which is one of the stupidest things I’ve ever bought, seriously. I mean, if I had a use for it, okay. But I didn’t, really, and it just sat and sat. Tonight, I took a nice chunk out of it by just thawing it out, cooking it, and mixing it with some penne and a couple of tablespoons of the peanut satay sauce I bought the other day. The peanut sauce wasn’t the right consistency — it was a good idea, but it didn’t really work, texture-wise, though it was all right. I was pleased, though, with the way the shrimp turned out, given how old they were. I used a method I dug up in a cookbook, which was to put the shrimp in water, bring it to a boil, lower the heat to a low simmer, and cook it for about five minutes. The shrimp were done just about right for me, so that was promising. There’s still plenty of shrimp left, believe me. I’m going to be eating shrimp when we’re all old and gray and reading Reader’s Digest and complaining like Andy Rooney about how remote controls have too many buttons.
SNACKS
Only two. Small dish of ice cream, medium margarita. I don’t mean to be a cliche ending my terrible, horrible, no-good, very-bad day with ice cream and a cocktail, but I…did. What I was pleased about was that I didn’t sit around and nibble all day, despite the high stress levels. Like, if this was as bad as it ever got when I was stressed, I’d be all right.
It wasn’t a great day full of victories, but I got the groceries into the house, and I did well at breakfast and at dinner as far as not overindulging. The inspiration of the panini was a good one — I should figure out how to make a panini substitute at home with the Foreman grill. (I can’t even talk about a Foreman grill anymore without thinking about grilling my foot like Michael Scott on The Office.)
Not everything is going perfectly so far, but I do feel like just keeping this record and making notes about everything is giving me a lot to think about as well as really reducing the amount of what that book would call “mindless eating” that I do. I may not have made a perfect dinner, and I probably should have chosen between the cocktail and the ice cream, but if I explained about work, it would make sense that today tested my abilities on that front. For now? I’ll take it.
