We had my husband’s family over for dinner tonight. The food was fantastic and it was good to see his brother once more before he leaves to head back to Tulane.
Cocktail Hour
I started with a 4 oz glass of wine around 5:30. One of my tricks is waiting out cocktail hour through the first round. I still get to enjoy a glass, but I’m on my first when everyone else is on their second. If you start with everyone else, then you feel left out not having a second, so start on the second round and make yourself busy during the first with some water or getting dinner ready.
I also had 1 piece of brie cheese from the hors d’oeuvres platter, which I didn’t remember to photograph.
The Table
Stuffed Pork Tenderloins, hot off the grill! Spinach, goat’s cheese and sun-dried tomato filling on the left and dates, bleu cheese and pecans on the right! I esimated the calories on these based on Wegman’s stuffed pork tenderlion in Calorie King’s database and weighed out what 3 oz looks like in the kitchen (roughly 2.5 slices) before we brought it to the table. Then I just took 2.5 slices once there. Discreet!
Roasted Acorn Squash with Brown Sugar
Whole Wheat Couscous with Portabello Mushrooms
Homemade Bread:
Decanting Wine
Table Settings –
My Plate
~500 kcal here
Afternoon Snack
I had hot chocolate and graham sticks around 3:30 – I LOVE hot chocolate! ~173 kcal.
Recap
I did great at dinner!! Drank my planned 5 fl. oz of wine, stuck to my portions, enjoyed the good food. We didn’t have any dessert, but I do have room for a chocolate if I want one! But I think I’m more in the mood for water and some reading in bed.
Total Saturday Calories: ~1789
-635 from morning workout and 50 minute walk with Maran
= net of 1155
Tomorrow
Tomorrow I head to my hometown of Hillsborough before my sister and I embark on a 4-day trip (with 22 hours of driving!) to visit our grandparents in Towson, MD and Lakewood, NJ. It’s going to be nuts, and the most unpredictable 4 days I’ve had in a long time, but I feel that I have the knowledge to make it as healthy as possible.
I might not be able to post on Tuesday night, but I should be able to at my other grandparents’ house. My workout on Monday might just be shopping and a walk, but I’ll do the best I can to MOVE some despite a 5.5 hour drive.
See you for breakfast after our run in the morning!
Kath
NATI says
Hi, I just happened upon ur blog by chance, and i really find it interesting! I am a college student did gain the freshman 15, and on top of this i needed surgery and this cost me another 15 pound gain! This puts me at 5'4" and 151 pounds. I noticed this is just where you began! I dont feel extremely overweight or anything, i have a pretty muscular build… however i would love to get back down to 130 and then try to get to 120-ish…. Reading that you did this healthily and in a YEAR really gives me inspiration. I always find it frustrating because magazines will tell you in 3 months I could/should be 30 pounds lighter. Since finding your blog i have adjusted my goals to be much more realistic and focused on health. so thank you!
also, I dont eat unhealthy foods, i think it is just to eating when not hungry thing that gets me…. what did you find were your greatest obstacles while trying to lose the weight???
once again thank you for your realistic inspiration and honesty.
Mel says
Dear Kath,
Well I've been reading your blog for a couple weeks now and felt compelled to finally comment because I just love it! I love hearing (err..reading I guess 😉 someone else's thoughts behind food and food choices, and I can totally relate to so many of them! I've lost over 40 lbs in the past 2 years but what I'm having difficulty with is when will I go from "weight loss" to "weight maitenence." How did you know when to make the switch, and what did you do?
Also, I wanted to share this super awesome website I just found: whfoods.com
It lists the 100 "world's healthiest" foods, plus tonssss of recipes for them. This week they're featuring a squash soup which I'm sure you'll love!
kristin says
Great job at Dinner Kath! Food looks delish and the table decor looks so classy!
Annie says
Hey Kath, I was just wondering if you bake the acorn squash the same as the spaghetti, and some ideas for what you do with it. Just eat it with a fork right out of the shell (if thats what its called). Thanks!
Justy2003 says
Hi Kath!
Just wondering what kind of hot chocolate you drink? Don’t know if this has been mentioned before…
I buy the “diet” hot chocolate that is only 25 calories per packet, but was just curious as to what you use.
Enjoy your trip and your few days off before you start school again! It’s exciting for us (your readers!) and for you…we’ll all learn a lot, I’m sure! 🙂
Kath says
Justy,
It’s skim milk with 1 tbsp Nesquik No Sugar Added. I also like CIB but I can’t find the canister kind and think 1 packet is too much at once. I like that I can add half a serving of the Nesquik and it has pretty similar nutrition stats as CIB.
Kath
Courtney says
Hi Kath! I’m excited to hear that you’re coming to Baltimore! I live in Baltimore County and go to Towson University! I hope you have a lovely stay in Baltimore! Let me know if you’re looking for any good places to shop or eat!
Kath says
Courtney,
I'd just lunch but we're cramming a lot into 4 days and I don't think I have an available meal! My grandmother is taking us to Leomann's – her favorite store – and we might stop by the big mall there on Monday. Turn the heat on for me!
Nati,
Wow, we are/were a lot alike!! Ahh..eating when you're not hungry.
1) I think the number one people do this is boredom. Think about when you're out store hopping for a day of shopping or doing something you really love – food doesn't really cross your mind that much. Because you're doing quality things. I'm much less hungry on the weekends when I'm doing things I like than during the work week when I'm just chugging along at my desk and get "hungry" every hour. It's hard to change your job and lifestyle, but just be aware of what you're doing when the need to snack arises.
2) Earlier this year I used to eat 300-400 kcal for breakfast and have 100-150 kcal for a mid-morning snack. I would dwell on the snack all morning, hungry or not, and often eat it just because it was planned to be there. Then I decided to up my breakfast calories as an experiment and started eating 400-500 kcal breakfasts – suddenly there was no need for a snack!! And you know what, I was SO much happier not dwelling on the snack or having to "worry" about getting hungry. See if that might work for you.
3) I read somewhere once that if you have to ask yourself if you're hungry, you're not hungry. All humans know what hunger feels like. It's not a complicated feeling. It just is. So if you have to ask, you're most likely just craving something in your mind and not your stomach. This really hit home for me. Along the same lines, if a can of string beans sounds appealing, you're probably hungry. If you're only "hungry" for specific foods (that sweet LaraBar you packed), you probably just want to taste the LaraBar out of boredom rather than fill your stomach because it's growling.
4) Lastly, the oldest trick in the book: when you're hungry, guzzle water. It works. Really.
Wow that was long!! I have too much time at 7 am. on a Sunday morning 🙂
Mel,
Read the FAQ on Maintenance to read about my strategy. What I don't recommend is suddenly adding back 400-500 calories to your day. That sets you up for easy gaining if you overeat a little one day, and it would probably feel strange to start eating that much more. Instead, think about it as a balance "gain some, lose some" and allow yourself to be more lenient with your choices. Do NOT start eating junk food again "because you can" (the biggest downfall of maintainers). But DO enjoy yourself and celebrate your hard work!! Congrats on the 40 lbs – that's quite a lot!! I've seen WHFoods.com before and really like the site 🙂
Kristin,
Thanks!
Annie,
Yup, same procedure, but a little less cooking time. We cut them in half, put them face down on a cookie sheet with about 1/4 in. of water and baked for about 20-25 minutes until they were fork-tender. We eat the skin (shell 🙂 ) but you can also just eat the flesh right out of it too.
Kath
bev says
What a elegant dinner party. Will you be posting Whole Wheat Couscous with Portabello Mushrooms and the stuffed pork tenderloins receipes. You should write a cookbook. You and "the husband "are a great pair.
Sara says
Looks lovely, I love the way you arrange your food on your pretty plates 🙂
Had to tell you that I tried the spaghetti squash yesterday and loved it! I added some diced tomatoes, red onion, a few black olives, feta cheese and a bit of white wine vinegar and thought it was delicious! With some of the leftovers I'm going to try it with brown sugar. And I even bought a butternut squash to try some fries this week, exciting!
Have a great trip.
Erin says
I saw the pork chops on everyday italian yesterday! That recipe looked soooo good! How were they?