Day 1 (Sorry I couldn't come up with something catchier :-)

All in all, I think I've done pretty good today...for the first day anyway. I haven't felt good at all today and will probably go to the doctor this week to get some blood tests done.  Ok, so here's what I've eaten today. I have not had my night snack yet but I'm gonna go ahead and write it in anyway.

Breakfast: 1c. of Kashi Oat Flakes and Wild Blueberry Clusters w/ almond milk

Lunch: Taco salad - Romaine and Arugula, 3 oz. lean beef, 2 tbsp. salsa, sprinkle of cheese, small handful of crushed whole grain tortilla chips, 1tbsp. Newman's Own Ranch dressing

I bought myself a 2qt. pitcher so I can make big batches of herbal tea throughout the day. I really like this so far. I brewed enough lemon ginseng green tea to fill the pitcher..I watered it down some. I sweetened it with Stevia and refrigerated it. It was very refreshing and made me feel good to be receiving the health benefits from the green tea and Stevia. Stevia is great for your pancreas which in effect is good for insulin resistance...and well I'm sure you guys have heard about all the great benefits of green tea. So, I drank 2 quarts of this and now I'm going to make a pitcher of peppermint tea which benefits digestion...it slows it down which I need for the evening time b/c that is my weak time when I do the most snacking.

Snack: 3 tbsp. of antioxidant trail mix (cranberries, almonds, raisins, dark chocolate) This was really yummy and it could be addicting so I won't have it every single day.

While I was cooking dinner, I ate 5 or 6 cashews to stave off hunger.

And here is dinner.....Oh, and I made a big salad with this. The salad consisted of romaine/arugula, dried cranberries, sprinkle of cheese, baby carrots, and sunflower seeds. I drank more of my lemon ginseng green tea with dinner.

Dan Dan Noodles

Ingredients


1 pound frozen fresh wide Chinese egg noodles, thawed ( I almost bought some of these but opted for whole grain spaghetti noodles instead since I already had them on hand and they are healthier)
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/3 cup dry-roasted peanuts
3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon sambal oelek (ground fresh chile paste) ( I skipped this b/c I couldn't find it--hot sauce instead)
1 teaspoon sugar
2 garlic cloves (next time I'll probably use a little bit more garlic)
1 (1/2-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled (I'll probably use a little bit more the next time around)
8 ounces lean ground pork
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
3/4 cup thinly diagonally sliced green onions
1 1/4 cups chopped seeded peeled cucumber
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro   ( I'm not super fond of cilantro so I skipped this and it was still yummy)

Preparation

1. Cook noodles in 6 quarts boiling water for 3 minutes. Drain in a colander over a bowl, reserving 3/4 cup cooking liquid. Place noodles in a large bowl.

2. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add peanuts to pan; sauté 2 minutes or until fragrant. Remove from heat; cool slightly. Combine peanut mixture, soy sauce, and next 4 ingredients (through ginger) in a mini chopper; process until finely ground.

3. Cook pork and salt in skillet over medium-high heat 8 minutes or until done, stirring to crumble. Add peanut mixture and 3/4 cup cooking liquid to pork; bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Add pork mixture, juice, and onions to noodles; toss well. Place about 1 3/4 cup noodle mixture in each of 4 bowls; top each serving with 5 tablespoons cucumber and 1 tablespoon cilantro.

Nutritional Information ( It says 4 servings but we had plenty of leftovers so I'm pretty sure it wasn't this many calories)
Calories:541
Fat:17.2g (sat 3.5g,mono 8.2g,poly 4.2g)
Protein:31g
Carbohydrate:66.1g
Fiber:3.9g
Cholesterol:43mg
Iron:1.6mg
Sodium:914mg
Calcium:54mg

This was a great dinner and I will definitely make this again. Tonight I will have 1/2c. organic plain yogurt w/ blueberries sweetened with Stevia.  I walked for 15 minutes today outside and threw a football with my kids. All in all I think it was an ok day and I could have done worse.