Going against the grain

Wow. My new job has kept me crazy busy and the longer hours have had a huge impact on my free time. Really, a big adjustment but I love it! I'm actually learning again and it's wonderful. This has meant two things for my CR though:

1. I have had *no* time to weigh and measure everything I eat so have been DTBIC for the last week.
2. I've hardly had time to think about food. This means I eat less but have also been eating more quickly and perhaps not getting the best nutrition (steamed frozen veg vs fresh for dinner etc).

I've also been getting way too little sleep and I've found this makes me 'hungrier' during the day. Tiredness is a big stressor for me so I look to food for comfort. Nothing horribly bad mind you, but I've found myself eating grains, namely bread, which is so available when eating on the run.

Every so often I re-read April's post How to Start CR for girls and each time I agree a little bit more. I'm fine with my protein intake and regularly get over 70g per day, with over 30g at breakfast. This mostly comes from whey protein, low fat yogurt and prawns (shrimp). I've had issues with cutting out grains though. It's just so friggin difficult (wah wah wah)... but I know I can do it and I know it will be totally worth it. I just don't like how I feel after eating grains - bloated, sluggish and craving MORE, no matter how low GI or whatever they are. This weekend I ate rye bread on Saturday and whole grain cereal (all bran) today. Both supposedly "healthy" options but both kicked off huge carb cravings which I detest. So, I'm going off them. I find it much easier to go cold turkey than to have a little every now and again, so it's bye bye bread and cereal. I won't be missing how wretched you make me feel!

I'm also going to try to lower my saturated and up my non saturated fat. Balancing omega 3s and 6s however, may take a little more time...

Too busy to CRON?

No way! I've had a super busy week since last Wednesday. I left my old job, spent the weekend in scotland, started a new job on Monday and had major boyfriend issues all week. The weekend wasn't great as I visited my parents and I can never resist my mum's cooking but otherwise it's been pretty good. I've been too busy to put everything into CoM but I can tell I'm on track: my weight's dropping and my skin is clear and I feel energetic. One of the good things about my new job is that I'll be working hard all day, not having to think about food or nutrition and I'll need to prepare lunches in advance. The office has a microwave, which is a novelty for me after 2 years of working where they were considered a threat to health and safety. I doubt the weather in London is going to get much better in the coming months so does anyone have any good recipes for reheatable food I can make in a batch on the weekend, freeze and eat all week?

I've given myself a new rule of not eating junk (free or otherwise) at the new office. I think I'll be pretty successful as the staff there are so busy they just don't have time to think about buying treats to offer other people. The cafeteria has a cheap but meagre salad selection, though they do have oil roasted vegetables which I love. I've been eating salads there since I started and probably will do again tomorrow. Today a had a couple of spoonfuls of rice and peas and a couple of spoons of tuna pasta with my veg. For dinner I had some canned sardines, canned vegetable soup, and steamed frozen soya beans with wasabi. I'm on a semi-vegetarian-craving-beans kick at the moment.

Also going to navigate the route to work tomorrow on my bike. The shower facilities there are nice - they even have a steam room!

Storing avocado

Does anyone have any tips on how to store an avocado without it turning brown? I'd like to eat one over the course of a few days. Is this even possible?

Cat eats corn

Camo Peach

Camouflage Peach
Originally uploaded by cronuk

So I calmed the hell down a little over the weekend and stopped worrying so much about food, calories, hunger and meal timings. I ate when I was hungry and I ate things that perhaps weren't optimal (dark rye bread and brie!) but I feel much better about myself.

Still I'm 2lbs over the weight I need to be for my competition on Saturday so I need to be quite careful with my intake this week.

I re-realised that I too often concentrate on my failures with cr and forget my achievements. This afternoon for example, I chose not to have lunch but joined my colleagues in the canteen. I won't lie, it is near torture to sit and watch people eat my favourite foods (of course the one day I go to the canteen they have burritos) but I keep reminding myself it's *my* choice and not giving in to each and every food desire, both mine and other's, makes me feel so much better in the long run. I think about my camo peach sitting at home waiting for me after taekwondo tonight and how much more satisfying it will be to eat it knowing I triumphed over my learned reactions to the sight and smell of gak. Unlike Mary's healthy canteen, ours serves its fair share of gak along with adulterated healthy options (fish and veg slathered with butter; salad with dressings).

I've also noticed that eating a high-protein breakfast and not having lunch actually helps manage my hunger better than eating a big salad at work. The experimentation continues...