Meatballs and Dieticians

Well the other day, I had my (free) consultation with a dietician. Yay! I will get to that and her advice in a few minutes. First, I will just give you a shot of what I ate today.

Breakfast: 2 eggs with American cheese and 2 slices of bacon

Lunch was a couple of cups of this stuff. Seriously, even a little salt and hot sauce couldn’t jazz this stuff up. I want my old brand back! 😦

Snack #1: a couple of white chocolate truffles . . . yummy

Snack #2: handful of honey wheat pretzels

Snack# 3 (Pre-workout snack): small wheat pita with some cheese and a little hummus

Dinner was some yummy spaghetti and meatballs with a side of roasted asparagus (I will include the recipe for my meatballs below. They are so tasty!)

So I met with a dietician on Wednesday and thanks to the people of Moderation Nation, I don’t have to pay anything! Who says you can’t get anything for free? 😉

Prior to our meeting, I had logged my meals for three days and then sent those meals to her. She had also sent me an extensive questionnaire to fill out prior to our meeting that included things such as my weight, medical history, any dietary restrictions, how much I exercise, etc.

I was anxious to hear what she had to say about my habits and what I could do to improve them. After reading over my meals, she did state that I wasn’t getting enough protein or iron in my diet. I guess that wasn’t too surprising. I have been feeling really tired lately and I have suspected that I may be anemic. I do have an appointment for a physical soon so that I can get some blood work done and check that out. She said that based on my iron consumption, I may be anemic. She also said I wasn’t getting enough calcium. Calcium isn’t really something I think about on a regular basis, but I guess I should. She suggested that I may want to take a calcium supplement.

One thing that definitely doesn’t surprise me is that I need to eat more veggies. I do manage to eat fruit, but my vegetable consumption is sporadic. One thing that kind of surprised me was when she spoke about my calorie consumption. Of course I don’t count calories at all. When I was logging my food, that was the first clue I’ve gotten in a long time as to how much I am eating. My average calorie intake for the three days was around 1500, which I thought was pretty good. But with how much I exercise, my calorie intake should be around 1800. Who knew? Of course that can slow down my efforts to lose weight. I have tried to be more observant of that over the past few days and I have tried to increase my calories a little bit. But I certainly don’t want them to be empty calories.

All in all, it was a good consultation. And the good news is that I will get her expertise for the next month and still won’t have to pay anything. Woo-hoo!

As promised, here is my recipe for meatballs:

Italian Meatballs (makes 24-30 meatballs, depending on the size)

1 lb. ground beef
1/2 c. panko bread crumbs
1 egg
palmful of red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon parley
1 tablespoon garlic powder
.5 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon oregano
pinch of black pepper
pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients together (preferably with your hands, because that’s the fun part).

Shape into 24-30 1-inch meatballs. If you are like my husband, then you will take this process very seriously and measure out each meatball to make sure they are each the same size.

Bake for 10 minutes or until done. Serve with pasta and sauce! Enjoy! And if you are like me, then this batch will make plenty of leftovers that can be frozen for future meals.

So delicious!

Moderation Nation

While reading Julie’s blog recently, I discovered that the website Moderation Nation was setting aside tons of money so that people could go see a dietician in their area for free. I was totally up for it. I have always wanted to see a dietician, but money has always been an obstacle.

I have already booked an appointment with a RD in my area (this Wednesday) and I am very excited. I do try to eat healthy, but I know that I could do better. It will be nice to get tips on ways I can eat healthier, especially since I am trying to lose weight. The RD I have an appointment with instructed me to keep a food log for three days. I have to say that I haven’t kept a food log in a long time. I even have a CD program that she mailed to me so she can analyze the food and give me a more detailed plan. It also keeps track of my calories, which I also haven’t paid attention to in a very long time. I have to say that my calorie intake has been pretty reasonable, but I’m pretty sure I could be eating more veggies.

The RD did tell me not to worry about what I am eating just because I am logging it and not to skip out on eating something just because I knew it would be going in the log. I really tried hard to do that. I couldn’t help but think about how healthy my meals were though and what she would think of my choices, especially for today.

Breakfast: one egg white with two eggs and American cheese with two slices of bacon

Green Monster Smoothie which included spinach, 1/2 c. fat free milk, several strawberries, a peach, some vanilla protein powder, and ice

Lunch at my parent: chicken, asparagus, macaroni and cheese, corn casserole, and a roll

Dessert: a yummy piece of strawberry cake (so tasty!)

I never actually had dinner because I had such a late lunch. All in all, I didn’t do too bad today. And I made the best choices I could at my parents’ house. But I enjoyed every tasty delicious bite of that macaroni and cheese (which I got seconds of!).

If anyone would like to make an appointment with a RD, you may want to check out the site. I think it’s worth it!