What do I want for dinner?

I receive a ton of questions about what exactly I eat. Variety is HUGE for me. Boredom is the enemy and leads to mindless snacking. But, I also work full time+, engage in volunteer work and spend 1 or more hours a day working out. So I also require simplicity in my variety. I don’t ask for much.

Once I started logging the calories again, I determined that in order to lose 2lbs a week (far from what I wanted to aim for, but it was time for me to welcome reason into my diet) I needed to short myself 1000 calories per day. This could obviously be through a combination of eating less and more activity. When you have to earn your food, you really start thinking about what you choose to consume.

The plate on the top left was a meal of shrimp ceviche, pico de gallo, guacamole and cojita cheese. I basically mixed it all together on my plate. I checked my journal, and it appears I also had a low carb tortilla and an ear of corn on the cob with butter. That’s a pretty large meal for me and also a bit high on the carb count. The macros for that were 50% fat, 30% carb and 20% protein. Total calories were 502.

To the right is a simple lunch of grass fed roast and green salad which I dressed with lemon juice. I think I was in a hurry that day, because my go to dressing is olive oil, lemon juice and LOTS of fresh garlic. This was just over 300 calories.

This next one is a great example of the moderation I now enjoy in my meals. Its a simple green salad with a few oz of pork loin and 1/2 cup of a caprese salad (grape tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, olives). In the past, I would have to stay completely away from cheese to feel like I was on plan. Now,  I can occasionally include it if its not the main part of the meal.

There are still combos I have to avoid. I wont be cooking up any grilled cheese sandwiches any time soon. However, when my son announced that he was going make his amazing cubano sandwiches the following day, I decided I wanted to have one. With a full day to plan, I was able to eat  low calorie, nutritionally dense foods early in the day and fully enjoy, guilt free, the sandwich for dinner.

 These next two are my version of fast food. When I haven’t prepped in advance, I will meander through the produce section of the store and look for something fresh and preferably in season. In each case, I’ve added a few items from the olive bar, but the majority of the meal is fresh produce. Almost none of my food comes out of a box or a can now.

This recipe was THE BOMB. I got it off the Real Plans site (another tool I will be highlighting this week). It only took about 30 minutes to prep and the flavors out of this world. The pork loin is seared on all sides and then put in the oven until it reaches an internal temp of 145. Then you cook up fresh cherries, chopped shallots and a bunch of other numminess until it reduces down quite a bit. The whole recipe can be found on PaleOMG. It was outside of my usual repertoire, but was a it with both Hugh and myself.

I usually eat a pretty small portion at dinner and try to make lunch my biggest meal. Lunch is usually leftovers from the night before. In this case, it was hard not to gobble it all up the first night. I LOVE mushrooms, and these were sauteed in grass-fed butter and garlic. When I have meatless meals, they almost include mushrooms.

As I am refreshing my memory as to where these came from, I am reminded that I am not a food photographer, and will have to perhaps put forth a bit more effort to showcase the finished product in the future.

This last one is a ginger, garlic, onion and pork that were stir fried in a bit of avocado oil. I mixed in some chopped cilantro at the end. I am also a huge fan of ginger, and the amount I use would probably be too much for most folks. I like my veggies still a bit crunchy, so I time the order of what goes in the pan so that none of it gets too soft.

Mornings I usually have bullet-proof coffee and a supplement shake. Its about 330 calories for everything. One in a while I will skip the coffee and have a couple eggs. This is the one meal that variety is sacrificed for consistency.