Size Does Matter (Day 21)

So I sat down to this scrumptious lunch today ... starving ... picked up a tostada and had it positioned, ready to chow down on and my husband says, "What ... no picture?" So I had to dash for the camera and snap off a picture. It does look good, doesn't it?! So good I was going to eat it without sharing ... so you can thank my husband for the photo.

And that's just my lunch ... this isn't service for two ... uh uh ... both those babies are mine. Two ... count 'em ... two tostadas. That's a lot of food for only 325 calories. I love seeing a lot of food on my plate. It helps to stave off the feeling of deprivation. Size does matter, ladies. Portion size, that is. Get your minds outta the gutter! I like large portions. And when you're eating a low-fat vegetarian diet, you can have large portions because the calories are so much less than the standard American diet. For instance, I had two bean tostadas for lunch while my husband had two roast beef sandwiches on whole wheat hamburger buns. My lunch 325 calories. His lunch, double that (at least). It didn't look like he had any more food than I did. In fact, his small hamburger bun sandwiches were dwarfed by my 6-inch tortillas, but his lunch was at least twice the calories of mine. Give me beans over beef any day! I'm not totally vegatarian at this point, as I did have fish on Sunday. I do hope, however, to actually get to and move past vegetarian to vegan (no animal products whatsoever).

I exercised today (yesterday too!). I was able to do the full mile of my "Miracle Mile" walk aerobics DVD. Funny thing ... for about 1 1/2 hours after exercising I felt good ... almost no pain. Now ... pain is back. Today my legs are killing me, though I generally ache, pretty much, all over. I didn't cry today, so it's not as bad as yesterday. I ended up taking a muscle relaxant lastnight. May have to do the same tonight.

This was my breakfast today. Home made oatmeal pancakes with a fresh strawberry sauce on top (recipe below). Yum!!! Dinner was a baked potato, broccoli and baby bokchoy with garlic. My afternoon snack at the office was a handful of dry roasted soy nuts. And it's been a couple hours since dinner, so I'm thinking about dessert. I still have some calories in the bank today. Hmmm ... what sounds good?

Oatmeal Pancakes
1 serving

Ingredients: 1/2 cup oatmeal (regular, not quick cooking); 1/2 banana; 1/4 cup silken light tofu; 1/4 cup soy milk; 1/8 - 1/4 cup water; 1/4 tsp. cinnamon; 1/4 tsp. nutmeg; 1/8 tsp. olive oil (If you want your pancakes a little sweeter, you can add some sugar or sweetener too. I actually used about 8 drops of liquid stevia.)

Directions: Place all ingredients (except olive oil) in blender, holding back 1/8 cup water, and blend until smooth. Add the remaining water, as necessary, to thin batter. Spread olive oil over the surface of a nonstick pan and heat until water drops "bounce" across the surface. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

Nutritional info: 270 calories, 5 g fat, 45 g carbohydrates, 6 g fiber, 12 g protein.