Good, Better, Best

I've been re-committed to my lifestyle change for about a week now.  Things are going well and I'm excited to have some goals set and on my way to achieving them.

I was talking with a friend about changing your diet (his based on food allergies) and it was brought up that it becomes a challenge of finding something you can eat that still tastes good.  It's odd, but you actually look forward to tackling the task, kind of like a game!

I don't claim to be a nutritionist by any means, but I wanted to jot down something I've noticed in the process of changing what I eat.

Even, when I'm not watching what I eat, I almost can't stand to eat pancakes, waffles, or french toast in the morning.  I immediately get sick from all the syrup.  My blood sugar spikes high and then I crash really low, really fast.  It's just not worth eating them for how crumby I feel after.  Because of this I know a high protein breakfast is more beneficial for me.  Only problem with that is, there are only so many high protein breakfast meals that I can come up with so I get bored fast.

This morning Mr Medic made pancakes, and while I planned not to eat them, I remembered that I'm consistently short on carb servings almost every day (sad predicament to be in, right?) I decided I would have one small one, about the size of the palm of my hand.  Now I just had to figure out what I was going to put on top.  I knew syrup was out of the question and I've tried a few other things like yogurt or fruit, but I wanted to go for something different this time.

I wanted to include protein, but not eggs since I've had egg whites with spinach every morning in the last week.  I decided to with with cottage cheese on the pancake (sounds weird, I know) with a little something to sweeten it. My choice was strictly based on calories, so I'm sure I might now have made the healthiest choice possible. Who knows though?

Fruit would be ok, but I plan to have a smoothies for a snack later and want to save my fruit servings for that.  I decided to pull out the "sweeteners" I had on hand to see which would be the best choice.  What's your guess from the above 4 choices?

Th yogurt has 250 calories per cup, brown sugar has 15 calories per teaspoon, honey has 60 calories per tablespoon, and the syrup has 200 calories per 1/4 cup.  Putting them all on the same level:  Yogurt has 5 calories per teaspoon, honey has 20 calories per teaspoon, syrup has 17 calories per teaspoon, and brown sugar has 15 calories per teaspoon.

I knew if I chose the yogurt I would have to put more than just a teaspoon on to make it taste good, plus it has way more ingredients I'm not sure about listed.  I went with 1 teaspoon of the brown sugar, and it was delish.  I enjoyed this new combination, without feeling like I'm "dieting" and got the protein that I needed too!

I am learning that eating better is about being more conscious of what I am putting in my mouth, rather than doing what is easiest or most logical.  Sometimes what you think is best might not be, and usually you can find a better alternative that tastes just as good.  GOOD.BETTER.BEST.