Garden Bounty and a Piece of Cornbread

Garden Bounty!
Fresh-picked from my brother's garden.

I drove over to my mom's house on Saturday, and my brother, Jack, who is quite the gardener came for a visit too. He brought a big bucket full of fresh-picked vegetables and herbs. I had a great time unloading the stash to discover lots of tomatoes, squash, red bell peppers, jalapenos, cucumbers, and more. For dinner, Mama and I stir-fried the squash with some vidalia onion; and we sliced some of the tomatoes, cucumbers, and red peppers. Also on the menu were fried chicken, turnip greens, and potatoes. Mama rounded out this southern meal with a big pan of her perfect cornbread. So for dinner, I had fried chicken (skin removed), lots of vegetables, un-sweet tea, and a piece of that cornbread. I chose to forego the potatoes, limiting my splurge to just one high carb selection. I felt in control of the situation rather than controlled by the situation. That's a big difference from the past, and I attribute it to this new way of eating. Maybe I'm a little more motivated right now than I have been, but mainly I attribute the difference to the change in my diet - eating fewer carbs and more protein and fat.

I'm really happy that I had this little "cheat" and was able to get right back on track. I noticed that I felt hungry within a couple hours of this meal. Not only did I have the cornbread, but I also had a smaller protein serving than normal. So the increased carbs and the reduced protein set me up for hunger later in the evening. On the drive home my stomach was growling, and I was thinking a good bit about food. But after a week of eating more protein and no grains or refined carbs, I was able to resist the mild temptation to stop for a snack. When I got home, I made myself a cup of coffee and had a handful of nuts. Sunday morning, after a good breakfast with plenty of protein and some fruit, I felt grounded again and satisfied.