December 29, 2010

Over Christmas I had a nasty gastro-intestinal virus that caused me to lose 7 pounds in five days. So I am currently at my ideal weight and will therefore not be recording my food in this on-line journal. I have sent copies of the Fiddle Diet out to the recipe testers and once we finish with the talks with publishers I will make the diet available to all.

Thanks for your support and interest and Happy Fiddling! Maili

Thursday, December 16

My Fiddle Food Journal will resume, Tuesday, January 4. Enjoy the Season.

Here is a link to a great article about enjoying what you eat from Michelle May, MD.

December 11

Today was the Army Navy Game and we had a party and I was cooking most of the day for it. I'm exhausted and working on Christmas cards so I'm not going to type up what we ate today. But I kept it healthy and made The Fiddle Slow Cooker Chili for the whole group. Then I had big platter and bowls of fruit and tons of cut up veggies. Then my homemade chips with No-Chop Salsa and my sister's famous artichoke dip.

I just had Albondigas soup for dinner with cabbage slaw and more veggies and cinnamon iced tea.

We're leaving tomorrow to Disneyland for a three day trip. Then I have to teach a cooking class on Wednesday. I will resume my blog food journal on the 16th. I'll still be eating well and exercising and enjoying myself. I just won't have access to a computer and I know I'll be too busy when I get back to get all the info up.

ENJOY THE SEASON!

Friday December 10, 2010

Forgot to weigh this morning, which is a bummer because I felt lighter after yesterday.

Tonight we have a big wine dinner and you can bet I will be drinking lots of Champagne and wine and eating every course. So for sure a planned boost day and I've had very healthy balanced meals all day long in order to prepare for my feast tonight. (although, I'm still craving Grapefruit because Costco has been out that last two times I've gone so I'm missing that!)

I'll record all the food tomorrow night after the Army Navy Game

Breakfast

Fiber One Raisin Clusters

1 cup 2% milk

4 ounces orange juice

2 cups of tea

Snack

2 plain Finn Crisp without butter

Pomegranate Chobani Yogurt

2nd Snack

1/4 cup pumpkin seeds

Lunch

1/4 cup Fiddle Egg Salad on a bed of Arugula

1 cup Pumpkin Soup

Iced Tea

4:00 Snack

2 Finn Crisp with butter

Bites of meat and beans while I'm cooking Fiddle Slow Cooker Chili for Army Navy game tomorrow

Radishes

Apple

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Was so hungry at 5:17 AM that I had to finally get out of bed and get something to eat. This happens to me a few times a month when I'm so hungry in the middle of the night or early morning that I have to get something to eat.

5:30 AM Breakfast

1 bowl of Go Lean Crunch (190 cal, 9 g protein, 8 g fiber)

1 cup 2% milk (122 cal, 8.5 g protein, 31% calcium)

9:00 AM second breakfast

1 1/4 cup Shredded Wheat n' Bran (200 cal, 8 g fiber, 6 g protein)

1 cup 2% milk (122 cal, 8.5 g protein, 31% calcium)

4 cups of hot tea with milk and sugar (31 each=124)

I need to go to the grocery store today to buy more fruit and veggies! I'm all out of grapefruit and I'd love some right now!

VITAMINS

Lunch

California Pizza Kitchen (will transcribe from purse journal on saturday)

1/2 order of spaghetti bolegnese

Arugula Asparagus Salad

3 glasses Iced Tea

Dinner

Los Arroyos

1 Crispy Beef Taco

5 tortilla chips and salsa

1 cup Cabbage Slaw

1/4 cup black beans

2 large glasses iced tea

Snack

1 cup of popcorn at Tangled movie with my girls

Wednesday December 8, 2010

Weight 145.0 down .4 from yesterday

On my way to Dream Foundation Fundraiser where I will be all day. It is always challenging to find healthy and low calorie choices when out and about. I'll do my best and report back. I'll pack and apple and tangerine in my purse.

Breakfast

1 1/4 cup Shredded Wheat n' Bran (200 cal, 8 g fiber, 6 g protein)

1 tablespoon of raisins (45 cal, 1 g fiber)

1 cup of 2% milk (122 cal, 8.5 g protein, 31% calcium)

2 cups of hot tea with 2% milk and sugar (62 cal total)

VITAMINS

Snack

1 cup of chopped pineapple

I'm entering this the next morning as I often do, transcribing the notes from either my purse journal or the notepad I keep in my kitchen.

This is the week before my period and I'm starving. So to help my sister work at the Solvang Bakery Gingerbread Boutique fundraiser for the Dream Foundation is not the most ideal place to be when you are hungry and trying not to eat dessert. Actually, I'm not really a sweets fan and can walk by it any day of the week. As my friend Sarah said "Cheese is my chocolate." So that is truly me and I'd rather eat Cheese and Bread any day over cookies. But there is one giant exception: GINGERBREAD! I love Gingerbread and our bakery makes the best gingerbread so I sat there at the boutique and literally ate gingerbread samples the entire day. The hosts, The Spivey's, also made all sorts of food. So I'm going to list everything I ate but please know that this was not an intended Boost day, nor is it a Fiddle Diet day to replicate. I'm just trying to stay true on this blog to what I'm actually eating, so here it is for better or for worse. (and perhaps I should go back to my main goal during the holidays being to MAINTAIN weight and not lose)

Since I ate the food pretty much continuously from 10:30 to 5:30 I'm just going to list it without times or meals:

Gingerbread Cookies (yum!)

2 mini quiche

fruit from fruit platter

chobani yogurt that I packed

veggie tray with yummy dip

tea sandwiches (chicken salad, cucumber, etc.)

chocolate almonds from Jessica Foster

Then I went to make a Starbucks run about 3:30 and swung by Mike and Jill's and was hungry so had Veal Scaloppini and Asparagus.

Then picked up two Venti Starbucks Tea Latte's for my sister and me.

3 glasses of Champagne

Croccantini Crackers

Then back to Mike and Jill's for Fish Tacos! Delicious!

Definitely not enough fruit or water during the day even though I had 3 bottles of Perrier. I usually drink a lot more!

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Weight 145.4

Because fresh Fruit and Veggies are such a big proponent of the Fiddle Diet I'm no longer going to list the calories with the fruit, but just the fiber and vitamins. The benefits of fruit in your diet are enormous!)

Breakfast (late breakfast at 9:00 AM)

1 cup Fiber One Raisin Clusters (170 cal, 11 g fiber, 3 g protein

1 cup 2% milk (122 cal, 8.5 g protein, 31% Calcium)

2 cups of hot tea with milk and sugar (62 calories total)

5 ounces of fresh pineapple (2.2 g fiber, Vitamin C 123%, Iron 2%, .8% protein)

12:00 Snack while I'm making lunch

1 cup oil popped popcorn (55 cal, 1 g fiber, .8 protein)

12:30 Lunch

1 Cheese Quesadilla (140 cal in tortilla, 90 cal in cheese. 8 g protein)

1/4 cup Fiddle Egg Salad

1 cup arugula

1 small apple (2.6 g fiber)

Grapefruit La Croix

VITAMINS

took them after lunch because I forgot to take them after breakfast

1:30 Snack

1 cup of oil-popped popcorn (55 cal, 1 g fiber, .8 protein)

3:00 Snack

Raspberry Chobani Yogurt (140 cal, 1 g fiber, 14 g protein)

4:00 Sample at Fresh n' Easy

Small Sample of Bangers and Mash (guesstimating 35 cal)

5:00 Snacks while cooking dinner

Pineapple, Cherries, Radishes and Cabbage

6:00 Dinner

Fiddle Chicken Enchiladas (252 calories)

Cabbage Slaw (from just cabbage: 22 cal, 2.2 g fiber, 1.1 g protein, 54% vitamin C)

(ingredients from Cabbage Slaw are shredded cabbage, lime juice and salt. That's it! Radish, jalepeno, cilantro are optional)

1 tablespoon sour cream (29 cal)

Lime La Croix Sparkling Water

then made chicken broth so munched on some celery while I was making that

7:30 After Dinner Snack

a handful of cherries

Cinnamon Apple Tea

Monday, December 6, 2010

Finland's Independence Day. Usually I don't have BOOST days so close together but sometimes you have to make your social schedule fit your diet. and the great news is that I had this hearty dinner and didn't gain an ounce:-) So this is a BOOST DAY even though I just had one on Saturday.

Weight 145.4

Breakfast

1 1/4 cup Shredded Wheat n Bran (200 cal, 8 g fiber)

1 tablespoon raisins (45 cal, 1 g fiber)

1 cup 2% milk (122 cal, 8.5 g protein, Calcium 31%)

2 cups of hot tea with sugar and 2% milk (31 cal each=62 total)

1/2 cup of fresh raspberries

VITAMINS

Snack

1 banana

Lunch

Fiddle Egg Salad Sandwich (egg salad=65 cal, 6.3 g protein)

on 2 slices of Trader Joe's Whole Wheat FIBER bread (per slice: 90 cal, 5 g fiber, 4 g protein)

with Baby Spinach on Sandwich (245 cal for complete sandwich)

1 small apple (2.5 g fiber)

2 stalks of celery (12 cal, 1.2 g fiber)

Lime La Croix Sparkling Water

2:45 Snack

1/2 cup rice pudding (120 cal, 4 g protein, 10 calcium)

4:00 Snack

1 tablespoon of pumpkin seeds (57 cal, .3 g fiber, 2.7 g protein)

Small Mocha from Starbucks (200 calories)

1 tangerine

1 blueberry Chobani yogurt

7:00 Finnish Independence Day Dinner at Consul General's in Bel Air

2 vodka tonics

Cheese and Crackers

Mashed potatoes

Salmon Casserole

Sauna Sausages with Mustard

1 Cabbage Roll

Finnish Beet Salad

Green Salad with Pecans and Pears

Finnish Meatballs with Lingonberry Jam

Karjalan Piirakka (my favorite!) with egg butter

small fried cheese with cloudberries

Pulla

I had small portions as all of this fit on one plate, except the piirakka that was passed and fried cheese with cloudberries that were also passed

Sunday, December 5, 2010

I don't recommend starting diets on Sunday because generally see the benefit of a "BOOST" day it takes a couple days to see the results. In general making Wednesday or Thursday your official "Weight Tracking" day is the most ideal. But since I'm the most impatient person on the planet and when I decide to do something I often decide to do it immediately I started last Sunday.

Weight 145.6 down officially 2.2 pounds from last week.

Breakfast

1 cup Go Lean Crunch (190 cal, 8 g fiber, 9 g protein)

1 cup 2% milk (122 calories, 8.5 g protein, 31% calcium)

4 cups of hot tea with milk and sugar (31 cal each = 124 cal. It is cold outside today and I'm loving my hot tea and drinking it all morning long!)

11:00 Snack

Fage Peach Yogurt (130 cal, 10 g protein, 10% calcium)

Water

11:20 Snack

1/2 cup blackberries (would gladly have eaten an entire cup but a 1/2 is all that was left.)

Grapefruit La Croix Sparkling Water

12:15 Lunch

Fiddle Soft-Boiled Eggs (225 cal, 18.3 g protein)

1 slice Ezekiel Toast (80 cal, 3 g fiber, 4 g protein

with 1 teaspoon butter

1 cup spinach (7 cal, .7 g fiber, 56% vitamin A, vit C 14%, Iron, 5%, .9 g protein)

(because I always want spinach or arugula with eggs and then whenever I have spinach it makes me want an apple to go with it.)

1/2 of a small apple (27 cal, 1.3 g fiber)

1 medium tangerine (45 cal, 1.5 g fiber, .7 protein, Vitamin C 37%)

Hot Tea with milk and sugar (31 cal)

Snack

other half of the small apple (27 cal, 1.3 g fiber)

Snack at 4:30 while I started making dinner

3 shrimp leftover from Pad Thai last night. (approx 30 cal)

5:00 Dinner

4 ounces of pork chops (223 cal. I usually only have three ounces but I was extra hungry tonight)

1/4 cup cranberry sauce (110 calories, 2.8 g fiber,

1/2 cup of white rice (121 calories, 2.2 protein, 10% iron)

with 1 teaspoon butter and salt (29 cal)

1/2 cup zucchini sauteed in olive oil (30 cal, 1.7 g fiber)

Arugula (3 cal)

After Dinner Snack

1 medium tangerine (45 cal, 1.5 g fiber, .7 protein, Vitamin C 37%)

1/2 of a Stonewall Kitchen Dark Chocolate Salted Carmel (40 cal) I'm usually not a big sweet fan and am rarely even tempted but the salty and sweet of this Christmas gift is just what I love. Rich enough to just have a bite or two! Yum!

1 prune (I love dried fruit!) 22 calories

Hot Peppermint Tea

9:00 PM Snack because somehow I was hungry

more Hot Peppermint Tea (hot fills you up more than cold)

2 Finn Crisp with a teaspoon butter

Saturday, December 4, 2010

BOOST DAY!

On Boost Days you are just supposed to eat and enjoy yourself! You don't worry about tracking and you eat a lot in order to fool your body and boost your metabolism. After documenting the weight loss of over 100 people on the Fiddle Diet, those who were sure to include "Boost Days" lost more weight than those who did not. Boost Days fool your body and also prevent plateaus in dieting. Plan your BOOST days by looking at your calendar and social schedule. They are best when the fall on birthdays, holidays, special dinners, etc.

Because it is a BOOST Day you don't really need to track what you eat on that day. You are just supposed to eat and enjoy. I'm going to track (without measuring or calorie counts) just so you can see an example of what I'll typically eat on a boost day. Some are wine dinners were I've had 6-9 courses and tons of wine. Just remember the "Thanksgiving Principle" on Boost Days and eat and enjoy!

Breakfast

1 cup Go Lean Crunch

Hot Tea

Snacks and Lunch

I MUST taste the food when I work. I cook by taste and feel and that is how food comes out the best. So here is what I ate while cooking and then after I was finished working and had lunch

Gougeres

Wedge Salad with my Thousand Island Dressing

Brisket

Butter and Cream Mashed Potatoes

Sweet Potato Fries

Haricots Verts

Mac and Cheese

Brussels Sprouts

Beignets, both plain and with drizzled chocolate

Pumpkin Creme Brulee

Chocolate Raspberry Tart

2 Glasses of Dom Perignon Rose (one of my favorites!!)

1/2 an apple, only because I realized I'd hardly eaten any fruit

Dinner

at our favorite Thai Restaurant. My girls love Thai food. I was cold so I ordered two soups and hot tea.

Won Ton Soup

Tom Kha Kai

Pad Thai with Shrimp (only a taste because I was full from the soup)

Dark Chocolate Pudding

Blackberries

Movie Theatre

some popcorn and one piece of Katherine's Swedish Fish

10:00 Snack

because I was tired and I tend to eat more when I'm tired after a long day of work. I went to bed at midnight the night before cooking that entire time and then got up at 6:00 AM to make the Raspberry Chocolate Tarts.

Stonewall Kitchen Dark Chocolate Carmels with Sea Salt. (incredible! I'm not usually tempted by sweets but this was so good!0

Hot Tea

Friday, December 3, 2010

I'm catering an event tomorrow and cooking like mad today. I'm keeping track of what I'm eating in the journal I keep in my purse. I will get all of it posted to the blog tomorrow night on Sunday morning. Happy Eating to All!

Weight 145.0

Breakfast

Shredded Wheat n Bran (200 cal, 8 g fiber,

1 mini box of raisins (45 cal, 1 g fiber)

1 cup of 2% milk (122 calories, 8.5 g protein, 31% calcium)

2 cups of hot tea with milk and sugar (62 cal)

4 ounces of orange juice (50 to 56 cal)

10:30 Snack

Peach Chobani Yogurt

11:00 Snack

Tall Decaf Mocha at Starbucks (200 cal)

12:00 Lunch at Noah's Bagels

1 Cinnamon Raisin Bagel Toasted (270 cal)

Whipped Cream Cheese (70 cal)

3 glasses Iced Tea

In Costco

1 cup blackberries (helps me avoid eating all the samples if I open a package of blackberries and munch on those. At the checkout they always look at me and ask if I was hungry:-)

1 sample of eggplant baked something or other (37.5 cal each)

3:30 Meal

1/2 of a bean, cheese and cabbage burrito from Cabo Beach (guesstimating 500 calories for entire burrito so 250 for half. Beans are whole pinto beans. Cabbage gives extra fiber and you can order that instead of lettuce)

4 tortilla chips with salsa

5:00 Trader Joe's

1 gingerbread cookie sample (25 cal)

6:30

Not that hungry for dinner because burrito was so filling

1\2 cup dark chocolate pudding (140 cal, 4 g protein)

2 Finn Crisp (40 calories, 3 g fiber, 1 g protein)

with 1 teaspoon butter

1 medium tangerine (45 calories, 1.5 g fiber, .7 g protein)

Cooking for event and kept tasting the Pumpkin Creme Brulee as I was making it. (i love pumpkin!)

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Today I have to teach a cooking class so I won't be able to get all of the food entered until late tonight. The days that I work, whether teaching or catering, are the hardest for me. I'm on my feet all-day, there is no time to sit down and have a proper meal and it is crucial that I taste everything I cook so that I know it is good. I cook by taste and feel instead of by recipes.

Also, I'm going to do an entry on scales and weighing yourself everyday and why some diets recommend that you do it once a week and why I weigh myself daily with the understanding that there are normal fluctuations and that sometimes you can half a pound before you lose two. Sometimes the body holds on to fluids just before there is a drop. All very interesting to me.

Weight 145.6 up .6 since yesterday, but still down 2.2 since Sunday. I will be writing an entire post on the Fiddle Blog on normal weight fluctuations and the variables. What you are looking for is a downward trend on the entire week.

BREAKFAST (have you ever met a more boring person for breakfast than me! I just love cereal! I love other breakfast food too but I often eat that for brunch or lunch. I just have to have my bowl of cereal and hot tea every morning!)

1 1/4 cup Shredded Wheat n' Bran (200 calories, 8 g fiber)

1 mini box of raisins (45 calories, 1 g fiber)

1 cup of 2% milk (122 calories)

4 ounces of orange juice (56 cal)

2 cups of hot tea with 2 teaspoons of sugar in each cup and 2% milk (31 calories each cup, 62 calories total)

10:30 SNACK

1/2 Grapefruit (52 calories, 2 g fiber)

12:00 LUNCH

1 Fage Cherry Yogurt (130 cal, 10 g protein)

1 cup Pumpkin Soup (120 cal, 3 g fiber, 2 g protein, vitamin A 310%, Iron 10%)

1 small banana (90 cal, 2.6 g fiber, 1.1 g protein)

Snack in the Car

Small Apple (55 cal, 2.5 g fiber)

Whole Foods

I cheese and cracker sample (35 calories)

Trader Joe's

1/2 mac and cheese balls sample

Bristol Farms

2 cheese samples (25 cal each= 50 cal.)

4:00 Meal before teaching Cooking Class

Beef Bourguignon Soup from Whole Foods

1 cup of Blackberries

At Cooking Class

Cheese and Cracker

Champagne

Sarah's hors d'oevures

3 Fingerling Potatoes with Caviar and Creme Fraiche

then more of the incredible Caviar Michelle's husband brought back from his trip! So good!

1 spoon Ahi Tuna Tartare with Roasted Macadamia Nuts

Grapefruit, Watercress, Celery Root and Avocado Salad Duo

Spinach Salad with Apple and Celery. Grapefruit Vinaigrette (home version of fancy Duo salad)

2 scallops with Ruby Red Beurre Blanc

Gougères

(lost count because we all just kept popping them in our mouths because they are so good! Recipe coming soon!)

2 Tiger Prawns with Thai Chili Sauce

Then I DID NOT eat when I got home at 11:00 from the cooking class. I'm usually very tired when I get home from a cooking class and want some small snack before I go to bed. So I was very proud of myself for resisting the temptation to eat just because I was tired and truly not hungry. I did have a sparkling water. Sometimes your body is just thirty and not hungry.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Weight 145.0 Down .6 since yesterday, down 2.8 pounds since Sunday

Breakfast 8:30 (later than I usually eat)

1 cup fiber one Raisin Clusters (170 cal, 11 g fiber, 3 g protein)

1 cup 2% milk (122 calories, 8.1 g protein)

2 cups of Hot Tea with 2 teaspoons of sugar and 2% milk. (31 each cup=62 cal)

1/2 grapefruit (52 cal, 2 g fiber)

11:00 Snack

Chobani Blueberry Yogurt (140 cal, 14 g protein)

12:00 Lunch

Fiddle Soft-Boiled Eggs (225 calories, 18.3 g protein)

1 slice Ezekiel Toast (80 cal, 3 g fiber, 4 g protein)

1 cup spinach (7 cal, .7 g fiber, 56% vit A, 14% vit C, 5% iron, .9 protein)

1 small apple (55 cal, 2.5 g fiber)

La Croix Grapefruit Sparkling Water

Peppermint Iced Tea (made from leftover hot tea last night)

VITAMINS forgot to take them in the morning so I took them after lunch. Sometimes I take vitamins throughout the day and will take extra vitamin C if I'm feeling run down

2:30 SNACK

1/2 cup of rice pudding (120 cal, 4 g protein)

1/2 grapefruit (52 cal, 2 g fiber)

5:00 at Costco and starving.

It took forever for the oil in my car to be changed and the brakes to be fixed at the dealership. So had to run to Costco to get food for dinner and for cooking class tomorrow. In Costco I ate:

1 Manchego Cheese sample (approx 25 calories)

1 cup of blackberries (62 calories, 7.6 g fiber)

6:00 Dinner

3 oz Scallops seared in olive oil and garlic (95 calories, 14.3 g protein)

2 oz Shrimp (57 calories, 11.9 g protein)

1/4 Full of Life Flatbread (131 calories, 1 g fiber, 5 g protein) DELICIOUS!! I ate this because it was ready before the rice. So chose this as my starch

1/2 cup Spinach, sauteed in garlic and olive oil with kosher salt (50 calories, 6 g fiber)

1 8 ounces glass of 2% milk (122 calories, 8.1 g protein)

Total Calories: 1627 Daily I'm aiming for 300 to 350 calories in fruit and veggies plus about 1400 in other calories. I'd like to be around 1700 daily. I'm 5' 4" and am moderately active.