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Monday, April 9, 2012

Menu: April 2-8

I have decided to rethink how I am eating... I just realized that when I'm pregnant I give myself a license to eat more junk food than I should (really me?, I hear a lot of women start eating better, oh but not me!) Especially this time when I was on a diet for year before I got pregnant. And can I tell you a secret - Easter candy is a serious weakness for me - I love cadbury mini eggs and I adore robins eggs... So we've had an abundance of them this year. 

Today I woke up and decided to make a delicious blueberry smoothie to kick start my eating healthier. Then I entered it into a website that shows the whole nutrition info that I'm getting. I then looked up the nutritional recommendation of sugar, which is 20 grams of sugar every day for an adult woman. Do you know what I realized, that number is TOTALLY bogus. If you were to follow a 2000 calorie diet and tried to only eat 20 grams of sugar, you're going to go over just by eating your 2 cups of fruit... unless you eat blackberries or strawberries (14 grams total)... (2 cups of apples is 26 grams of sugar) then you'll have a whopping 6 grams of sugar left for EVERY other food group. A cup of 1% milk - has about 12 grams of sugar. So tell me, honestly how realistic is it to expect an adult woman to eat all the recommended food groups in the serving sizes expected AND still only eat 20 grams of sugar? If anyone can honestly answer this question for me, I'd love to hear it! (Or you can just state your grievances with unrealistic expectations - food related or otherwise...)

{Edit: in looking at it again... the 20-24 g (4-5 tsp) of sugar is ADDED sugar, not sugar that occurs naturally in food. However that would get into a whole other issue when you think of flavored yogurt - it has some natural sugar and some added sugar... but they are NOT listed separately on the label. So I've decided that actually monitoring it that closely would be very complicated unless you were on a diet that focused in natural foods and didn't ever eat pre-made food - including bread, cereal, flavored yogurt, etc.}

Here's what we had last week:
Monday: Cauliflower puree (aka mashed cauliflower - I learned that doing this in a food processor is TONS easier than using a mixer.) with turkey & gravy open faced sandwiches (if you'd like a recipe -  click here. We just used leftover turkey and gravy on toast.)

Tuesday & Thursday: Had long days and didn't feel like cooking so we had a eat whatever night... I know one night I had some yogurt and granola as well as a PB& Banana wrap - no clue what hubby ate though.

Wednesday: Grilled Pork Chops (marinaded in Italian Dressing) and Grilled Sweet potatoes with grilled flat-bread (I adore this flat bread and will have to share it soon... as soon as I actually take pictures while I make it!)
 Friday: Five cheese stuffed shells, mashed sweet potatoes, and a strawberry-pineapple crumble

 Saturday: Baked Potato Bar

Sunday: Spiral Ham, baked sweet potatoes, Green beans and rolls (at my parent's house)

What did you have for dinner last week, or what are you planning for dinner this week?

 One Year Ago:  Macho Nachos
 Two Years Ago: BBQ Onion Burgers

2 comments:

  1. Hi,

    I fully agree that the 20g sugar are completely unrealistic with a normal eating habit. I think one must go sugar-free to get there and not everyone wants that (me does not) :)

    So I am not sure what we will eat this week - but I really like to try out a really freaky recipy: a nettle-tofu strudel. I try to try out every spring some wild-herb cooking, in case you wonder :)
    So I wish you a wonderful week and if possible, enjoy your pregnancy ! Congratulations!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was discussing this with my husband and the only way it actually makes sense is if the 20g is added sugar... but that is still only 4-5 tsp of sugar every day and would include sugars added into cereals, breads, yogurt, etc.

      I have a cookbook about foraging and would be interested in using wild herbs sometime, sounds like fun!

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