What Did I Eat Today?

 I've noticed a few posts asking what people are eating, so I thought I'd post what's on the menu for today! It can always help to see what others are doing to inspire us with our food choices.

Breakfast:

O'Dough's Pumpernickel Bagel Thin
1 tbsp cream cheese
fresh dill
75g of hot smoked salmon

I smoke my own salmon after brining it with a mixture of coarse brown sugar and sea salt. I wasn't sure how to calculate how much brine remains in the salmon but I found an estimated calorie count for hot smoked in my Lose It app, and I'm going with that.

Having a high protein breakfast really helps keep me alert and satiated, plus it's delicious. I tried the O'Dough's bagel thins not because they're gluten free (which they are) but because I couldn't find a low calorie pumpernickel bagel, and smoked salmon just calls out for it! They're actually not bad, as a dedicated gluten eater, although I do toast them nice and crispy.

Breakfast Summary: 308 calories, 15g fat, 25g carbohydrates, and 23g of protein.

Lunch:

2 Schneider's Turkey Pepperettes

1 cheddar string cheese

1 Oikos 2% blueberry Greek yogurt

cucumber slices

I was still pretty full from breakfast, so I decided to have a light lunch. I like to cut the pepperettes and string cheese into little rounds so that I can munch on them slowly. It also feels like I'm eating a bigger lunch, which was a trick I used pre-Ozempic. It's not as necessary now, but I still like the tapas feeling. The blueberry yogurt was dessert, but since it's Greek, it's still loaded with protein.

Lunch Summary: 258 calories, 11.5g fat, 16g carbohydrates, and 23g protein.

I try to get in my physical activity in the afternoon as well. I aim for a minimum of 20 minutes of activity a day, every day. So far, I've been pretty on target and I'm hoping to up to 30 minutes so that I can cover the occasional missed day if necessary. They recommend 150 minutes a week of physical activity so I'm close but not always quite there, but I'm trying.

Lately it's been walking, mostly. I'm still experiencing a lot of daytime fatigue (not related to the Ozempic but my other chronic health issues) and it's made it more difficult to work out hard like I used to with my Jillian Michaels DVDs. Today I can't go walking because of the terrible freezing rain, so I'm going to try doing a VR workout on the Oculus Quest. I've never done that before so I'm curious!

<workout> Well that didn't quite go as planned. The Oculus was dead and needed more than an hour to charge, and I knew if I didn't do my workout when I was all dressed and ready to do it, I wouldn't. So I did level one of the 30 Day Shred instead, just took it a little easy because I haven't exercised that hard in a while. According to my fitness tracker, I burned 229 calories and worked out for 27 minutes.

It feels like I'm eating all day sometimes, but I do try and squeeze in an afternoon snack post workout. Today it was a Nutrisystem Trail Mix Bar. They're really good for a protein bar in my opinion!

Afternoon Snack Summary: 200 calories, 8g fat, 24g carbohydrates, and 12g protein.

Dinner:

285g raw shrimp, peeled

1 tbsp teriyaki sauce

225g broccoli florets

170g raw shredded cabbage

28g cashews, chopped

1 tbsp sesame oil

60g yellow onion, diced

2 tbsp soy sauce

This is another Hellofresh meal box- each week they do offer both calorie and carb reduced meals, and this one is both! If you'd like to give them a try, you can get a free box through my referral link! 

Before starting, wash and dry all produce. Cut broccoli into bite-sized pieces. Using a strainer, drain and rinse shrimp, then pat dry with paper towels. Add shrimp, 1 tsp oil and half the teriyaki sauce to a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper, then toss to coat. Set aside.

Heat a large non-stick pan over medium heat. When hot, add cashews to the dry pan. Toast, stirring often, until golden-brown, 4-5 min. Transfer cashews to a plate.

Heat the same pan over medium-high. When hot, add 1 tsp sesame oil, broccoli and onions. Cook, stirring often, until broccoli is tender-crisp, 5-6 min. Add coleslaw cabbage mix and soy sauce. Cook, stirring often, until coleslaw cabbage mix is tender, 3-4 min. Transfer veggies to another large bowl. Cover with foil to keep warm.

Heat the same pan over medium. When hot, add 1 tsp oil then shrimp. Cook, stirring occasionally, until shrimp just turn pink, 2-3 minutes. 

Divide veggies between plates. Top with shrimp. Drizzle remaining teriyaki sauce over top, then sprinkle with cashews. Serves two.

Super colourful and healthy, not to mention delicious. You could add more veggies if you liked as well.

Dinner Summary: 439 calories, 11g fat, 46g carbohydrates, and 34g protein.

I'm also a bit of a late night snacker, since we eat dinner early. I'll often have another mini meal or a substantial snack around 8-9pm.

Dessert/Evening Snack:

Tonight I thought I'd make myself something a bit decadent and delicious, so I prepped it in the afternoon so it would have time to chill in the fridge. If you haven't tried my NY Style Cheesecake recipe, you're missing out! 

1 large graham cracker, crushed into crumbs
2 oz fat free cream cheese
2 tbsp light ricotta cheese
1 tbsp vanilla Greek yogurt
2 1/2 tbsp Splenda
1 1/2 tbsp Egg Beaters
1/2 tsp lemon juice or vanilla extract

2-3 tbsp of fruit or sugarfree pie filling
1-2 tbsp fat free whipped cream

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix together cheeses, yogurt, Splenda, juice/extract and Egg Beaters and stir until well blended. Spray your baking dish with cooking spray (I used a mini silicone loaf pan). Add in the graham cracker crumbs and shake around to coat bottom of dish. Pour cheesecake filling into dish and put the dish into a larger oven safe dish and add water about half way up the side of the mini pan in the larger dish to create a water bath. Bake the cheesecake for 40 minutes, then turn off toaster oven or oven and let it sit in the oven for 10 minutes. I put mine in the fridge to let it set while I had dinner, and then topped with the cherry filling and whipped cream.

It's so delicious, you won't believe it's healthy! This recipe serves one, so you may want to double or triple it so that you can have more in the fridge for another day!

You can also do variants- use different flavours of Greek yogurt! I like using key lime and some lime zest, or lemon meringue and lemon zest. I'd love to hear how you experiment with it!

Dessert Summary: 176 calories, 2.7g of fat, 18g carbohydrates, and 14.5g of protein.

Daily Total: 1381 calories, 48g of fat, 129g of carbohydrates, and 106.5g of protein.

A balanced diet works best for my body; restricting food groups is not healthy for me although I know it works for other people. I try to stay daily between 1200-1600 calories because I know this is the zone where I'll lose weight and not feel unsatisfied.

What do you eat in a day? Feel free to share in the comments!