some ramblings... diet etc..

I've been trying to not only eat healthy, seasonal food at the moment, but am also on a mission to lose weight. In the past 3 weeks I've lose 2 kilos, even though the past 3 weeks includes (more than just) a few nights on the town (i.e. pissed + munchies), a wedding, and a week in Rome!

Mum got this “diet” from a dietician, which is based on eating rather than starving oneself. I like this! I can have carbs (i honestly feel so weak if i don't eat 'em!) and I'm not opposed to losing weight slowly but healthily. Basically this diet limits your protein, starchy foods, dairy, fat and fruit, whilst you can supplement all of the above with as many veggies (and “non sweet fruit” like pumpkin, tomatoes, zucchini, aubergine etc) as your heart desires. Summer in Malta is fantastic for this diet! :D



For breakfast today I had 2 slices of bread and a tomato with some basil, salt and pepper, and a caffe latte. The suggestion is 40 grams of cereal with milk, but I don't like cereal all that much and love love a real caffe latte every morning so I adapted it. The good thing is this diet works much like the whole “exchange” thing of Weight Watchers diets, in that you can swap one thing for another.

The diet suggests a morning snack (2 fruit or one banana), but seeing as i woke up late I just had lunch when i was hungry.

Lunch was supposed to be 4 ryvita with 140 grams of chicken/fish/ham and a tablespoon of light mayo, but instead I had 1 slice of Maltese bread, 70 grams of chicken and a fuckload of tomatoes, rocket and some leftover greenbeans (which had about a teaspoon of good raw extra virgin olive oil). I don't eat Maltese bread too often, and certainly not at lunch, however seeing as I'd bought a loaf this morning, I thought I'd have one small slice instead of 4 ryvita.



Again, this diet suggests an afternoon snack (it varies, but usually is another fruit, or one of those ~100 calorie cereal bars or similar) however dinner was ready by then so we ate that.

Dinner consisted of:
2 chicken breasts divided between 3 people – I cut into chunky strips and marinated them with lemon juice, some peperoncino powder (the Italian chilli, very mild for a chilli but still packs a punch and has heaps of flavour), white wine and marjoram.

2 massive potatoes (i would say it was about 400 grams in total) peeled and cut into chunks and boiled in very salty water (after they are just done, I leave them in the water for about 20 minutes,makes them deliciously 'melt in your mouth') lightly sprinkled with raw E.V olive oil when placed in serving bowl.

I made “qarabali fgata” which literally translates to “smothered zucchini”. Chop up Zucchini and plenty of garlic, chuck into a saucepan with a teaspoon of olive oil, about 5 cloves of garlic (chopped roughly), pepper, salt and a little bit of water. Cover tightly with lid and cook for about 10-15 minutes till the zucchini are tender. It's like halfway between sautéed and steamed. Absolute deliciousness and very very Maltese. I think the traditional recipe calls for a lot more oil though.

And made some “peppers and onions”, again a very traditional and frugal Maltese dish. Simply chop up a couple of onions, about 4 or 5 capsicums (i used 2 red and 3 green) and sauté in a tiny amount of oil and a couple of tablespoons of water. I used a wok. When they are softened, add about 4 or 5 cloves of roughly chopped garlic. Cook for a couple of minutes then add a couple of roughly chopped up Roma tomatoes and turn the heat right down and cover, leaving to simmer for about 10 minutes. When it's done, add a dash of red wine vinegar. Serve hot or cold. This dish is purely delicious, and reminds me of being a kid in Malta, as my mum loves it so much it would be coming out our ears by the end of it. I have these memories of mopping the olive oil/garlic/onion/tomato mixture left on the plate with Maltese bread, and it goes so SO well with BBQ'd Swordfish or chicken.



nomnom! I love this food! :D

The good thing about it also, that i have a few things that I can "snack" on later this evening, when I get the munchies. I'm a very late sleeper and would rather have something later on than eat all my allocated calories throughout the day. The fruit in season at the moment is awesome, and I can afford to have a couple of peaches or even 25 grams (which is about 3 blocks.. yes i weighed it to see!) of dark chocolate! :D hooray! :)

tralala :D