Cutting back on starchy foods (aka "carbs"), Part 2: Low-starch Dinners

I'll admit, dinner is the easiest meal for me to go "low-carb." (As noted in an earlier posting, what we're really talking about here is mostly starchy, white-flour carbohydrate-laden foods, such as bread, pasta and cereal.) Here's a typical dinner that works for me: pan-sauteed fish--in this case, Arctic char-- with large portions of a fairly elaborate veggie. The char's plate companion is a roasted ratatouille, sort of. In a 375 degree oven, I roasted one medium eggplant, diced, for 10 minutes, then stirred in strips of one large zucchini and a red bell pepper, along with whole cloves of garlic and fresh oregano, among other seasonings. That stayed in the oven for another 10-15 minutes, stirred once along the way.
A larger challenge for me is lunch, at least on work days when I often have brought turkey sandwiches to eat at my desk. Too much bread! So I'm working in such things as salads with strips of chicken and cottage cheese (high protein items) or frozen meals from Kashi with at least 22g of protein. You pretty much have to replace those starchy foods with protein-rich foods.
That really becomes hard at breakfast, as I am no fan of eggs. Today I tried mixing protein powder with milk and adding it to my oatmeal, and all that happened was it came close to ruining my oatmeal. The saga continues on making breakfast less starchy!

Working with a Trainer, Week 1 -- and learning more about "Clean Eating"

So far, the personal training sessions (just two) have been easy, for the most part. He did show me the correct way to do push-ups, with my elbows close to my body, which makes it more challenging to do them. (Push-ups have always been among my least favorite exercises, in any case.)
The day after my first PT workout, I expected to have sore muscles, but it was insignificant -- slight soreness in my triceps due to the proper push-up form. I told my trainer --Dorsey, in the photo here -- and he said we'd kick it up a notch next week.

Pama and her trainer at Fitworks

As for eating, part of my assignment this week was to keep a food diary. Doing that makes me more conscious of what's going in my mouth, of course. The only new (for me) "clean eating" principle that I was able to incorporate was to eliminate any starches (aka carbs) at dinner....not including wine, which I still had a pretty hefty glass of each night. Thanks to cutting back on carbs at other times of the day, too, and paying closer attention overall, I lost about 2 pounds this week.
However, I'm flying to Raleigh this afternoon to spend the weekend with my brother and his family. He and his wife are foodies par excellence, wine collectors (their cellar dwarfs mine by a factor of 100) and he is a great cook. Plus we have dinner reservations at one of their fave restaurants, in Chapel Hill, Saturday night. I'm not expecting to maintain my slight weight loss, but we'll see.
Next week, Dorsey will give me a cardio plan as well as feedback about my diet.
Thenceforth until Thanksgiving, I plan to do my utmost to make real progress with my PT fitness goals:

• Improve my posture
• Strengthen my core and leg muscles
• Begin to lose fat as I drop a few pounds (long term goal is 5-7 lbs)
• Improve balance and mobility.

Clean eating: What is it? Can I do it? (Can you?)

Maybe you CAN "teach an old dog new tricks."

After decades of step classes, Jazzercize, ab crunches, "power" classes, daily exercise walks and countless gym visits, I'm finally taking the plunge to work with a personal trainer. Beginning tomorrow, I embark on a six-month program to improve mobility and flexibility, reduce body fat while building muscle, and balance my body so that I end up with better posture and greater strength.
Among the papers that the trainer gave me is some info about CLEAN EATING, a term that I somehow have heard very little about. 

But there's a magazine called Clean Eating, which I vaguely recall someone mentioning to me a few weeks ago. She recommended that I look into it, because it's got lots of good, healthy-foodie principles. Here's a quote from their mission statement (though that's not what they call it): "In every way, clean eating is all about consuming whole food in its most natural state, or as close to it as possible. Taking a creative yet doable approach to cooking, you’ll find it easy to enhance the natural flavors of any meal without compromising the integrity of your food."
That sounds great, although I have to say that the literature my trainer handed me sounded way less appealing due to a very restrictive eating plan. I'm good with keeping processed foods to a minimum, but the trainer's diet reduced carbohydrates almost to zero, even restricting the amount and type of fruit you can have. "No carbs after 6 PM" was also on the list, and since we don't eat dinner until after 6, that was not going to fly in my household. No alcohol, either -- again, not likely that I'm going to adhere to that and give up my wine, and occasional cocktails (although I try to minimize those -- too much sugar).
Here's a less restrictive take on CLEAN EATING, from a website called The Gracious Pantry.

1. Eat  Lots Of Plants – Eat food that is straight from nature. (Some people say “as close to the way nature made it as possible”. But I think that leaves too much wiggle room – in my humble opinion) Eat mostly foods that are off a tree, bush, plant or vine, and you’ve pretty much got it covered. The idea is to stay away from anything that humans (food corporations) have altered in any way.
2. Include Meats - Eat meats that are whole and straight from the butcher. Don’t buy pre-packaged meat products because you never know what’s in them. When possible, buy whole meats and grind them yourself. You’d be surprised what’s in ground turkey meat! You can also select a few turkey breasts and ask that the butcher grind them for you. Many butchers are more than willing to accommodate.
3. Enjoy Grains - Eat grains that are still complete and haven’t been broken down into “glue”. Stick to brown rice, whole wheat and other whole grains.(For a list of foods to stock your pantry with, check out this list.)
4. Read Labels I don’t know how many breads I’ve picked up at the store that say they are whole grain. But when I take a look at the ingredient list, white flour is the second ingredient after whole wheat flour!
5. Eat Fewer Ingredients. Try not to purchase foods that have more than 3-6 ingredients in the ingredient list. And be sure you recognize each and every ingredient. If you find a “mystery ingredient” such as “spices”, contact the company! Ask them what they consider to be spices. If it’s anything other than honest-to-goodness herbs and spices, avoid it! And remember, if you can’t pronounce it, it probably shouldn’t go into your body.
6. Eat 5-6 small meals per day. This may seem like a lot at first. But remember, you are eating smaller portions. If you really have a hard time with this, prepare your regular three meals and a snack for the day, and divide lunch and dinner in half. You’ve instantly got 6 small meals! 

I'll blog about my progress with the trainer, as well as what kind of dietary changes he can persuade me to make. :-)