Habit a Week 7: Watch Your Portions

As always, a recap.

• #1: Fix Your Water Intake - Weather is becoming more chilly this week, but I still set myself to have at least 12 cups of water a day, and I think I was able to do that.
• #2: Move! - Happy to say that I can now do my morning walks alone. Also, even if I did my afternoon workout, walking to the market a few minutes after was easy for me. Could it be because I am getting lighter? *winks*
• #3: Eat a Veggie - This has been the habit that is truly part of my life. No need to elaborate, I was able to eat veggies every single day this week.
• #4: Increase the Fiber - I still haven't included oatmeal in my diet, but I think fiber intake was okay - thanks to the vegetables I ate as well as some fruits.
• #5: Slow Down - This is now part of my eating routine... my food may just be 1/2 cup of rice and some viand, but there were instances that my family (who had two or three servings of food) finished eating before I did. Chatting with the family, putting down the utensils while chewing the food, and getting up a few times (to get water or knife for the pineapples) did help to slow down the eating process.
• #6: Eat Healthy Fats - I did eat some fried food this week, but I was able to use the olive oil more.

This week is about Watching the Portions. Well, I don't think I need to train myself because I started watching my portions since I started this journey, and it has still a vital part of my diet. My measuring cups and diet scale are my closest friends now, and eating without them is simply not complete.

Lyn talked about using smaller plates, but that's something I don't think I will do, because that would somehow makes me the odd-man out in the family. Dinnertime is something sacred to us because it's the meal that we all share, so we try to use the same plates. Well, since I measure my food before eating it, the plate thingy will not be a problem for me.

I think I have also trained myself to eat a little some food, just so I won't deprive myself. If you check my earlier posts for my food journal, I had 50g of ice cream - just because the ice cream was a gift I received from an event I attended and I did want to enjoy the food. 50g may not be much, but I truly appreciated it. Likewise, when sister brought home 1 box of family sized pan pizza, I didn't turn her down by not eating... I still ate the pizza, but out of the 8 slices, I only had one. I think doing so was a win-win situation - it didn't hurt my sister's feelings, I was able to satisfy a pizza craving, and it didn't sabotage my diet completely.

When I first started measuring my food, 100g of protein and 1 cup of rice seemed too little. Now, I can go with 1/2 cup of rice, 50-70g of protein... and I still feel full and satisfied after. It's not magic, no tricks to do, just plain habit forming.

Let's now talk about goals...
Last week, I listed these as my goals. I decided to add a and icons next to the items to indicate if it was a success or not.

• Walk to Colinas Verdes everyday - as long as it's not raining. - Well, having my monthly period did make me feel tired and sore, so there were days that I didn't get up to walk.
• Be strict with the workouts! - Same reason as above.
• Limit rice to 2/3 cups for lunch, and 1/2 cup for dinner... even if the viand's delicious. :) - Happy to say that I passed this one!
• Opt not to fry food. - I guess I still can't give up fried food or limit my intake of it.
• Choose fish and chicken over pork. - This one's in the middle. I did eat less of pork, but it was still part of my diet this week.
• No canned / processed meat, but canned tuna and sardines are okay. - Well, this should have been a success, had I took out the ham off my pizza. Drats, I forgot to do that!

More cross marks, yikes! I still have to be real strict. Okay... considering that I still have traces of Bloody Mary and I needed to recover, my goals this week would be quite easy.

• Morning walks everyday, as long as it's not raining.
• No pork and beef - even having a sip of the sauce / soup / broth.
• No canned / processed meat, except canned tuna and sardines.
• 1/2 cup of rice for lunch and dinner.
• Coffee is allowed for only three times this week.
• Do "Hip Hop Abs (Cardio)" from Monday to Saturday, but do alternate the other workouts: "Ab Sculpt" for Monday, Wednesday, and Friday; "Hips, Buns, Thighs" for Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Sunday will be my rest day, but will do low-impact workout, just to make the day count.

Did I say the goals were easy? Well, come to think of it, my goals were S-M-A-R-T, I just have to really put my heart in it.

It's now Tuesday, but I was able to make a list of my meal plan for this week:

• Monday: Spanish Sardines (lunch) and Fish Paksiw (dinner)
• Tuesday: leftover Fish Paksiw (lunch) and Veggies in Coconut Sauce (dinner)
• Wednesday: Scrambled Egg - with garlic, onion, and tomato (lunch)
• Thursday: Sambal Kangkong (lunch) and Salmon Head Sinigang (dinner)
• Friday: Fresh Chicken Roll (lunch) and Fish Balls (dinner)
• Saturday: Grilled Tilapia with Eggplant Salad (lunch) and Canned Tuna with Vermicelli and Wombok (dinner)
• Sunday: Chicken Macaroni Soup (lunch) and Fish Fillet with Baby Corn and Black Bean Sauce (dinner)

These food list is created as a guide. If I can't follow any of these dishes, I sure will go for the next best thing, since eating less than the usual oftentimes leaves me with leftovers. Hopefully, I can follow this list.

By the way, I didn't list anything for my dinner on Wednesday because I will be attending an event. Don't worry, it may be a food blog event, but I will eat just enough.