I've lost count of how many times I have restarted....

[amandamechele]

Thanks Karen - I have been eating more simply than I usually do, partially because that is my goal, partially because its all I can easily accomodate right now and partially because I am a lazy cook. I like to sauce things up like you do too.

Day 22 Amy's October MWL Challenge:





Big meals and no snacking today...not that I've been snacking much during the challenge. I usually tend to graze throughout the day and evening AND eat meals, so this has been a good change for me. I have been successful with not eating after dinner but I wonder how much of that is due to circumstance (this challenge/living in someone else's home)? Time will tell if I have gotten enough days in to keep those circuits from misfiring once I no longer have external conditions that facilitate this change in behaviour.

Whether being alone with my fridge in the evening will continue to be a problem is yet to be seen. Here's hoping it won't.

XO Amy

[amandamechele]

Day 23 Amy's October MWL Challenge:






Breakfast: oatmeal, banana, green tea
Lunch: cucumber, bell peppers, asparagus, grapes and mashed sweet and white potatoes
Snack: green tea and Moroccan red lentil soup (hold the orzo)
Dinner: more soup, romaine lettuce, brown basmati rice and bean chili

[Cathmc]

Looks very yummy Amy

[amandamechele]

Thanks Cathmc. This may be the only place I have any hopes of hearing that...lol. So as Dr. Lisle said in a recent podcast fish where the fish are (different context but same principle).

Day 24 Amy's October MWL Challenge:






When the days are busy I guess the important thing is to just keep going through the motions even when there's little time to think.

[Suey51]

Food's looking great Amy

[Bougainvillea]

Amy, how did you cook the sliced potatoes? Those look so good - with catsup for me, of course LOL. They look like they might even be crispy on the outside? How do you cook them like that without them sticking to a pan?

[Bougainvillea]

Food's looking great Amy

Suey51 - I just saw that you met your weight goal! Well done! How exciting!

[amandamechele]

Karen - They were really delicious, I had them with ketchup too! I sliced up a couple of cold baked potatoes (I always have a few in the fridge) and then dry fried them in a not stick pan, probably 10 minutes on each side, I flipped them periodically.

Day 25 Amy's October MWL Challenge:






Breakfast: oatmeal, apple, cinnamon and green tea
Lunch: Moroccan Soup, snap peas and cucumbers, a pomelo
Dinner: Broccoli, brown basmati rice, chana masala and microwaved blue potatoes
Late evening: green tea

[Bougainvillea]

You know, that might actually work with my new cast iron griddle I bought at Walmart - it's a Lodge and it was only around $12. Total score and it was a splurge for me. I was in desperate need of pans. When I moved, I tossed all the gross ancient ones with the peeling off non-stick surface - scary!

But, the cast iron griddle worked great for dry grilling green peppers. I use it to heat up tortillas. I will try it with the potatoes. At least with the cast iron, if I scrape some of the iron into the food, it won't be bad for me.

Maybe I'll try it tonight. I have some white potatoes in the fridge.

[amandamechele]

Sue - Sorry, I missed thanking you for your compliment. XO

Karen - I love a great deal, good score. I hope the potatoes turned out.

Day 26 Amy's October MWL Challenge:





Breakfast: Green tea
Lunch: snap peas, carrots, cucumber, sliced potato, mashed sweet/white potato, 1 small blue potato
Dinner: Brown basmati rice, romaine lettuce, sweet potato stew, green grapes

I ordered a scale online tonight. I hope it arrives before the end of the month so that I can provide more details about how the challenge went. In the stock market positive earnings surprises often lead to an uptick in the price of a stock (not always sustained). Maybe if I am able to keep my expectations modest and then surpass them I will receive a brief uptick in motivation which will hold me through the transitionary period when I am no longer putting my food choices on display and thus will lose that current motivator.
Who am I kidding, I can't control my expectations...lol.

[amandamechele]

Day 27 Amy's October MWL Challenge:







Breakfast: oatmeal, banana, green tea
Lunch: sweet potato stew and brown rice, pan fried sliced blue potatoes, sweet and spicy mustard, an apple, snap peas and carrots
Dinner: Romaine lettuce, aloo gobi mataar, papaya and kiwi
Evening outing: Sparkling water and lime x 3 (I just used the same picture because I forgot to photograph the other 2 drinks)

[amandamechele]

Day 28 Amy's October MWL Challenge:






Breakfast: oatmeal and banana and green tea
Lunch: aloo gobi mataar and salad
Dinner: green beans, cabbage stir fry, blue potato slices, sweet potato stew and kiwis and papaya.
Leftovers: I couldn't finish those potatoes....this has to be my most unphotogenic dinner yet....but the cabbage was a hit! Chopped cabbage, onion and garlic, dry fried for about 20 minutes until sweet and slightly softened. I can't wait for more tomorrow. Yum.

In addition to listening to podcasts while doing food prep, I also like to watch YouTube videos. Today I watched a quick 5 minute recording called The Dangers of Being Too Agreeable by Dr. Jordan Peterson, a University of Toronto psychology professor whose YouTube channel I enjoy.

If you think you may be more agreeable than average, take a look. It had me wondering if I am more agreeable than I realize. (My family will definitely tell me I'm NOT overly agreeable...lol). It also had me wondering if due to the nature of that personality trait, one can accurately reflect on it and understand their place in comparison to others. An agreeable person seems more likely to more easily think they're being disagreeable and the opposite would be true for a more naturally disagreeable person - they are more likely to think they are conceding more than they are in a difference of opinions.
Wouldn't this lead to personality test scores, of this trait, to be more and more misrepresentative the further away from the mean that your actual personality is?

Have a nice night!
Amy

[Suey51]

Food's looking great Amy

Suey51 - I just saw that you met your weight goal! Well done! How exciting!

Thanks Karen xx

[Suey51]

Amy that aloo gobi mataar looks soooooo delicious!

[WeeSpeck]

I love the little Lego man in your breakfast photo.