Hello! I had my first day of Winter Quarter classes! My schedule is weird this quarter in that I don’t have any classes before noon…

Today I wanted to talk a little about how my eating habits have and will continue to change as a result of my newly diagnosed stomach condition (delayed stomach emptying). My treatment is to eat half meals, instead of full meals. The easiest thing for me to eat is soup, which is why we made a TON of soup over break! I scoured the internet for Crockpot recipes and made my mom a Crockpot cookbook for Christmas, which included lots of soup! The first 2 recipes we made were winners. Tuscan chicken vegetable stew and tomato soup.

This had a bit of tomato paste, but also had fresh rosemary, fennel seeds, and balsamic vinegar. Served with gluten free parmesan toast.

The tomato soup was not ordinary tomato soup! It was full of shred carrots and zucchini, and had parmesan and skim milk stirred in at the end. I topped it with some shaved parmesan, but that wasn’t really necessary.

Today was my first day eating in this new manner at school, so I was a little nervous. Breakfast for me didn’t really change because I always eat something before and after working out.

Preworkout I had a slice of cranberry orange bread. I made this recipe at home over the weekend. I made quite a few substitutions because of my nut and coconut allergies, but it turned out well! I added milk chocolate chips to half and dried cranberries to the other half. Surprisingly, I actually liked the dried cranberry half better! To split the halves, I placed a spatula in the pan while I poured in each side, and then pulled it out. I marked the line with chocolate chips but you can actually see the half mark!

Anyways, before Crossfit I had a piece with dried cranberries. Even though I don’t have class until late, I want to maintain my early schedule and have a productive morning.

Crossfit was tough. Front squats for strength and then this WOD:

EMOM 8 minutes: 5 burpees, 10 Russian kb swings

2 min rest

10 minutes to complete: 30-20-10-30 wall balls, 30 double unders, 15 sit ups

I was cut off in the last set of double unders. Also—side note: I got my Crossfit sweatshirt! It’s actually the coziest thing ever and I’m pumped.

After Crossfit, I had some Fage 2% plain yogurt with cranberry sauce made from leftover cranberries from the bread.

For lunch, we had another new chef and so far I really like him! Since lunch was wraps, he made me a special one on gluten free bread. It was filled with chicken and grilled veggies, topped with hummus. On the side I had apple fennel slaw. I was a little unsure about how much to eat and the size of it. I ended up ditching the gluten free bread (all GF bread is not created equal) and think it may have been a bit more food than I should have had on that day at that time (so complicated). For “dessert” I had 2 slices of dried persimmon.

I had a perfect 40 minute break between classes for a snack so I packed a Raaw Macaw bar (custom made). SO good. My has a date and sunflower butter base, with chocolate chips!

For dinner #1, I tried my best to get a half meal and I think I did pretty well.

A bite of mashed potatoes, a few roasted veggies, maple glazed salmon, and salad with feta. For mini dessert, I had 1/4 of a peppermint bark bar (I proportioned a few desserts so it would be easier to keep track).

FYI, William Sonoma has the BEST peppermint bark.

An hour and a half later, I had dinner #2.

A persimmon with cheddar and doe honey roasted turkey slices. Plus a couple gluten free chocolate covered pretzels.

Overall, I’m proud of how well I did today given the new circumstances. To be honest, I’m a little anxious about sticking to this style of eating. Half meals are very much not the norm for me, so it requires a ton of control. All I can do is focus on the present and take it one (mini) meal at a time!