The crock pot saved dinner for me again last night. When planning meals for the week I didn’t intend to have two crock pot meals back to back. Then, I two very long days and I became very thankful for crock pot options. Who cares if that meant potato, bean, and veggie dinners two nights in a row?

Monday, we had the golden potato, veggie, white bean, and pesto mix…

[recipe from Monday night’s post]

…and last night we had sweet potato, veggie, black bean, and salsa as a chili.

[recipe from Gina]

As I was enjoying dinner last night a thought struck me. A couple years ago I would have never had such a mix for dinner. Then, here I am happily enjoying meatless meals two nights in a row. I wouldn’t have avoided such meals in the past because I loved meat that much. No. I would have avoided such meals because they didn’t have what I would have considered a protein source back then.

With my old food rules, protein only came in the form of lean meats – a source that would provide almost purely protein with limited added fat or carbs. Tofu? No. It has extra fat. Beans? They have more carbs! That just isn’t possible. Plus, I thought the only way I could get enough protein would be with such meat sources.

When I was at my most restrictive I tried to severely limit carbohydrates in my diet. I remember calculating out my macronutrient splits (% of carbs/fat/protein in my diet) and having only about 35% of my calories coming from carbohydrate sources…most of that in the form of veggies, not oats. 50% of my calories came from protein like chicken. How sad considering I don’t even really like chicken!

Then, after becoming pregnant with Makenzie I wizened up and began eating more intuitively. I certainly ate more carbohydrates, but still strived for more protein. I couldn’t give up the notion that I needed at least 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight. I honestly believed my body needed it to function normally. Then, somehow I stumbled across the fact that the recommended amount of protein for a woman of my size and activity level is only around 60-70 grams per day. Say what?!

Over the past year I have grown even more in tune with my body and the things I prefer to eat. Intuitive eating is a continuous growth process, after all. I discovered that while I do still enjoy meat, I love meatless meals too and enjoy eating them numerous times out of the week. Now, I get most of my protein from sources like beans, tofu, eggs, nuts/nutbutters, Greek yogurt, and maybe 3-4 servings of meat a week. I actually inputted my meals for yesterday into Sparkpeople just to see how my eating balances out these days.

Yesterday, I ate 2184 calories. 54% of that came from carbohydrates, 25% came from protein, and 21% came from fat. I don’t normally track (and proved to myself I have no desire after taking the effort for that little experiment), but I believe these stats are standard for me these days. You know what? I feel better. I feel like I have more energy for workouts. I have steadily been making what I consider great progress in my “Body After Baby” goals and likely even better progress than I did after Makenzie. I feel more satisfied and less hungry than when I ate more meat. Even without meat, I still exceeded my recommended protein amount. I enjoy all my food and no longer eat anything because I “should”. Listening to your body works. Food rules don’t. Each body functions differently and you have to fuel it a way that suits you best. I truly believe my body functions best with more carbs and I’m not afraid of that anymore. Bring on the beans! <—I think I just scared my husband with that statement. 😉

Question of the Day – What type of eating do you think your body thrives on? More carbs? Higher fat? Lots of protein? A very equal split?

Don’t forget to enter the CSN Stores Giveaway! Ends Monday!

Guess what we did for dinner last night?

Yep. Went to Scalini’s so I could eat some of the famous, labor-inducing eggplant parmesan! I feel kind of silly doing things like this, but when it boils down to it, we had a fun little family outing at worst. And at best, the legend may be true. Plus, when you reach a certain stage of discomfort and deliriously wanting the baby out, you will do anything.

And the food was goooood. It started with one of the best house salads I’ve ever seen in an Italian restaurant.

It included beets, chickpeas, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, garlic, and a vinegary dressing. As well as some little balls of garlicky, doughy goodness.

And we can’t forget the super-star of the night. THE eggplant parmesan.

It doesn’t look like anything special, but it sure tasted phenomenal. Now let’s see how phenomenal it is at starting labor in 48 hours like it claims. All of these babies made it.

300+ babies! I even had to sign a special book. That way if I do have baby B in 48 hours they can send me a gift certificate and a special onesie for him. I’m not counting on it, but it still made for a fun night.

Guess what else? We should think like dudes. I recently read an article claiming that women would benefit health-wise if they thought or acted more like men in certain situations. These are the ideas from the current issue of Shape on what men do from which us women could learn.

• Men Eat A Real Meal: Women may not eat enough calories in their meals, in an effort to be “good”. Then, they consume extra calories mindlessly in a non-balanced manner. If we ate a real meal, we wouldn’t have the fluctuations in blood sugar or feel the need to overeat.
• Men Don’t Hold In Emotions: Women will hide feelings until they become too much to deal with in a rational manner. Men get it out right away.
• Men Drink Beer: Drinking the manly beer over the girly wine or fruity drink is a smarter choice for health and weight management. Something to do with the bubbles making you drink slower and it being more filling.
• Men Play Team Sports: Even as adults, men more regularly join in on team activities together. Women go their activity alone. The community of a team would provide more enjoyment in the exercise.
• Men Take Risks: Men will more likely do things like ask for a raise or go on an adventurous trip. Women try to take the safer approach in fear of the possible outcomes. Risks would provide us opportunities and help us embrace change.
• Men Don’t Mind Their Bodies: 8 out of 10 men are either indifferent or pleased with what they see in the mirror. Women critique themselves way too much and create a negative body image that can affect other areas of our lives. We need to learn to love what’s in the mirror more.
• Men Don’t Dwell On Things: Men will analytically approach a situation, find the solution, do what they can to resolve it, and move on. Women will emotionally dissect things for an extended amount of time before making any real changes or improving the problem.

Shape presented the ideas above. I guess quite a few of them make sense. Not too sure on the beer over wine thing though. I also know women out there do many of these things too. It still provided an interesting read and something to think about. I certainly can get on board with the notion that, as women, we tend to criticize ourselves way too much and could learn not to focus on the mirror. Personally, I can dwell too much on things in an unproductive way. I also could take more risks to really go for things I want. I certainly do more than I used to, but fear will still hold me back at times.

Question of the Day – What are your thoughts on the “Man List”? Do you agree/disagree with any of the points made?