Diet

The Good Box PH and #MrsCsWellnessProject

July 29, 2014 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan 10 Comments

You know that you are starting to get older when your tummy begins to feel funny after a night of pizza and beer. Or burgers, fries and milkshakes. Or greasy Chinese food. What I’m saying is that, yes, I feel my body getting older, and that it’s my tummy that’s telling me so.

Now is as good a time as any to start making better food choices. But you see, I do love to eat. Asking me to cut certain things out of my diet, or having me abstain from eating particular types of food would result in a very sad, very cranky MrsC. That’s why I choose to go for calorie counting. It allows me to have a little bit of everything that I like, but within proper proportion, or less, if only to satisfy my cravings without wiping out my caloric allowance for the day.

The thing with calorie counting is that it can really be tedious. I know this because I had to monitor my serving size and log them while I was pregnant with Little MrC. My blood sugar started to spike halfway through my pregnancy, and controlling my food intake was the only way for me to manage my gestational diabetes. The nutritionist monitoring me was pretty strict, so I was lucky that we actually had a book of meal exchanges at home.

Fast forward to today. When I discovered that there are groups who offer meal plans that can be customized according to your calorie requirements, I got super excited. Oh, if only guys like The Good Box existed years and years ago when I was preggers!

My pretty pink bag of 1200 calorie goodness from The Good Box PH

This amazing opportunity to try The Good Box was specially arranged for members of Mommy Bloggers Philippines. We were to be given a full day’s worth of meals, and that included breakfast, lunch, dinner, and AM and PM snacks. Our total calorie count for the day was 1200 calories, which is super manageable for me. I know that others might find this to be too little, especially those who are heavy rice eaters. The first thing I noticed when it was delivered was that the meal was packed in wither reusable or biodegradable containers. Plus points agad!

With The Good Box, you can choose from several meal programs, starting from 1200 calories to 2700 calories. There are also special programs available – South Beach Diet, Diabetic Diet, Hypertensive Diet and Pregnant-Diabetic Diet Programs. They take food allergies into considerations, too, which I feel is really important. Oh, and the price will vary depending on the weekly meal program that you choose.

Here’s what I had during my one day trial:

Breakfast - Fruit and Nut Pancake + Coffee — Breakfast: Fruit and Nut Pancake + Coffee

Breakfast was a fruit and nut pancake and coffee. I love that they thought to include coffee with my meal. I saw that the other moms had juice with theirs. You know how I need my caffeine fix in the morning, and I like that this one was nice and creamy without being overly sweet. I wish that I could order bottles and bottles of this and store them in my fridge. The pancake was good, and the fruits in it made it sweet enough to not need any syrup, but I kind of had a hard time with the nuts. I’m used to eating smooth, fluffy pancakes kasi. The chunkiness is something that I could eventually get used to, though.

For my AM snack, I was given two chewy caramel apple cookies. Like I shared on Instagram, I left the house for a bit for a meeting after breakfast, and I came home at a little past 11AM already. I though I’d be dying of hunger by then, but I wasn’t! I excitedly tore off the wrapper of my cookies though, simply because I was so excited to be eating cookies. These were good. As in really good. They were soft and chewy, and not too sweet. And they were pretty big, too. These did not feel like diet food at all. I ate them cold, straight out of the refrigerator, and I think this is the best way to eat these cookies.

Lunch: Lemon Poached Chicken and Potato Salad, Vegetable Sticks and Dip

I did a bit of work in between my snack and lunch. By the time I started to feel hungry, I was happy to have a ready meal that I could just pop into the oven. Since the boys are out during the day, I usually have lunch with my mom or alone. This makes my solo meal a no-brainer, and I like having that sort of convenience in the middle of a busy day. Lunch was a lemon poached chicken and potato salad, and come vegetable sticks with thousand island dip. This was my favorite meal of the day, and I am already planning to make my own version of the chicken at home. So, so, so, good, and the serving was just right to carry me through until snack time. Yes, even without rice. The potatoes did the trick.

PM Snack: Pita Chips and Guacamole and Hummus Dip

Like I usually do, I had my PM snack at my computer (attempting to squeeze in a little bit more work for the day) while my son had his after school snack across the table from me. The pita chips and tiny tub of guacamole and hummus dip looked really small for a snack, but I was fine with it. I couldn’t figure out though if the dip was actually hummus, guacamole, or a combination of both.

Dinner: Salad and Eggplant, Ricotta and Tomato Pappardelle

When dinner time rolled around, I was actually pretty hungry. It’s a good thing that we have dinner early at home, otherwise I might not have made it, given the small afternoon snack. I was excited that I had both a salad and pasta, two of my favorite things to eat. The salad came with a vinegar-based dressing and a few salami slices. The pasta dish was an eggplant, ricotta and tomato pappardelle. I really liked the pasta, which was light and fresh-tasting. This I can also make myself at home.

I went to bed completely satisfied with my food for the day. I enjoyed my experience with The Good Box so much that I’m actually thinking about ordering from them for at least a month. This whole experience jump-started my #MrsCsWellnessProject, and I’ve been monitoring what I’ve been eating since that trial day.

My Good Box day was on a Thursday and the next Friday I prepared a 1200-calorie meal plan for myself at home. Over the weekend, I didn’t count calories, but I tried not to eat too much. I’ve been doing the same thing also so far this week. Honestly, I’ve had fewer hyperacidity and hypoglycemic episodes since I started. Guess it really was time to make a change.

If you feel that calorie counting would work for you as a weightloss or a wellness program, I recommend that you try The Good Box.

THE GOOD BOX
105 Hawaii St., Pasig Greenpark, Pasig City
Mobile: 0917-7111732
Email: thegoodboxph@gmail.com
Website: http://thegoodboxph.com/
Facebook: The Goodbox PH
Twitter: @thegoodboxph
Instagram: @thegoodboxph

I Made A Bet With My Grandmother

March 5, 2014 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan 30 Comments

Yes, people of the world, you read that one right. I made a bet with my grandmother. It happened over lunch at her house on my birthday. We were joking about my weight, like we always do, with her telling me that I’m pretty but unfortunately I’m chunky, and me saying that, well, it would be difficult if I were perfect, in response. This is a dialogue that she and I have each time we see each other, without fail. I think she’s been on my case about my chubby bunny-ness for over a decade now.

Here’s a 2010 photo I took of my lola with my equally beautiful mom

Now, just so you know, my grandmother had movie star looks when she was younger. Even now, when you see her, you’d say she’s really pretty for an old lady. She’s one of those people who really takes care to look her best, and I suppose that’s why she bugs me about the way I look. I think maybe she feels that I’ve let go after having a kid and getting married.

The bet.

I honestly can’t remember how our kidding led to this bet. All I remember was her saying that she doesn’t think I can lose the weight any more, and me asking if she’d like to bet on it. Much to my surprise, she said yes. I asked what she’d give me if I won and she said anything I want. Of course, I said a house. An she laughed and said she’s confident enough to say okay coz she’s pretty sure I can no longer go back to being my thinner self. Note that I said “my thinner self” and not “thin”, because I never was thin. I was born chunky, and that’s why I don’t really have extreme insecurities as far as my weight goes.

Amid a lot of laughter, we decided that this bet was on. I know I won’t really be asking her for a house if I make it. But that little competitive side of me won’t stop bugging me to go for it just to show her that I can do it. I suppose I’d like to show myself that I can too, even just a little bit.

Diet? What diet?

Funny how, as I was telling MrC this story, he told me that I never really took any of these diet or exercise commitments I’ve made seriously. I never saw it as that. But of course, now that I’m looking back, I do see the halfheartedness that led to countless weight loss and wellness goals that remain unfulfilled. I’m talking about this and this and this and this and this and this. And those are just the ones that I blogged about, so you get what I mean when I say countless, right? Ugh. I think I might have too much self-love for my own good sometimes. How am I ever going to win this bet?

The good news is I actually have an instant jump start now that Lent is here. Yes, my Lenten sacrifices often involve food,simply because food is something I love. So each year, I try to go the whole 40 days without a certain something. A couple of years ago I gave up coffee. Most of the time I give up meat with feet. This year’s Lenten commitment for me is no white rice, no white bread, and no meat with feet. And I have to do it for a month and a week, so that should be enough time for me to get used to the switch.

For good.

I am actually planning to permanently shift to wheat bread and brown rice. This is something that’s easy enough for me to manage without affecting the meal planning for the rest of our household, whose members only eat the white stuff. As for giving up meat with feet completely, I don’t think I can or want to do that just yet. But let’s see. I read somewhere that the reason why Jared Leto‘s hair is so fab is because he’s vegan, and believe me, I want fab hair like his too. But right now, life without ever having a steak again doesn’t sound to me like a very happy life. But still, let’s see. Oh and yes, I really had to mention Jared Leto, who was my Mr Dream Boy during his My So Called Life days, was resurrected as my Mr Dream Boy when I first discovered 30 Seconds to Mars, and is now officially my Mr Dream Boy forever after this year’s awards show season. *Insert dreamy sigh here*

Guys, seriously, I want to win this bet. Cheer me on, send me some tips, or whatever, in the comments. I can do this. Yes, I can.

Challenge Accepted.

October 19, 2011 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan 2 Comments

I’m going on a diet and my target weight loss is 50lbs. Frank and straightforward – I believe that is the only way to say it. I wish I were more excited about this, but maybe that will come when I start to see results.

To keep myself motivated, I have enlisted the support of my husband. The deal is that by the time I hit the 50lb weight loss mark, he should have already quit smoking. He accepted after I reminded him that he has A LOT of time to work on it.

How do I plan on doing this? The right way, of course. Time to develop better eating habits. More fruits and vegetables, less sweets and refined carbs. Time to kick the soda habit and to save fastfood for cheat days. Time to go back to that good old calorie counting and food journal habit. Lucky for me there are now apps that serve as both a calorie counter and food diary. Don’t you just love technology?

And of course, since misery loves company, I have every intention of blogging about my 50lb challenge. And maybe eventually I’ll post my real weight. Maybe.

*Chumsy*

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