First Day of Summer 2014 - what's "cooking" in photos, new Thai Cuisine cookbook!

Hello All!  First Day of Summer 2014 was yesterday. I was too "into" cooking and beach walking to remember to comeback and hit publish on this blog post! Here's what's "cooking" at my house, in photos:

Savory Egg Wrap: Eggs, celery, onions, avocados, freshly chopped basil, garlic sea salt, coconut oil.  Cup of black coffee with a teaspoon of gelatin and sprinkle of Ceylon Cinnamon. (coffee not pictured)

Win for summer flavors, win for a great Protein, Fat, Carbs from veggies (PFC), win for morning energy.

Keeping on my weight maintenance food template. Onward!

Headed to the beach Friday evening to make up for a lot of sitting at my desk during the day. Stopped by Starbucks for a decaf Americano (black) and grabbed my camera.

Win for getting in 60 minutes of non-chronic cardio, relaxation, and activity. Win for being able to practice my hobby, win for completing work goals at my desk.

Keeping work life balance in check. Onward!

I picked up my favorite Paleo cookbook author's new book at Costco- Sarah Fragoso's Everyday Paleo Thai Cuisine.

One of the things I chose to stop doing when I went Paleo was I stopped buying most pre-made sauces and pastes. I found I got either triggered by processed additives, there might be MSG or a like substance included, or heavy conventional salt that would cause bloat.

Curry is one thing I've experimented a lot with this year, so I'm excited to add a few more favorite dishes to my regular rotation.

As I'm reading the cookbook, I realize that I'll need to order some specialty ingredients, so right now I'm using up left overs and my own spice mixtures and ideas from the cookbook. Win for using fresh ingredients that are within my food template.

What's working right now:
1. Summer flavors- using basil, not heating up the oven so much, fresh vegetables, etc.
2. Using my fit bit to make sure I'm not sitting too much.
3. Using my own spices and using up leftovers. Getting creative with food. (meat, natural fat, veggies, savory spices)

What did not work in the past:
1. Buying lots of processed, frozen diet foods from the freezer, on sale and trying to pair those with fresh veggies and fruits. The processing, high salt, and low nutrients did not match with my health goals and I thought they "tasted great" and were "easy" and low in WW points. Not really, and being 70 pounds overweight was not easy.
2. I sat at my desk. A lot. Walked 4,000-5,000 steps per day and thought "I walked a lot". Pedometer is a truth bomb.
3. Spices, what spices? Packets pre-made at the grocery had a lot of MSG and salt. Glad those days are over!  Creative with food meant every low calorie summer dessert recipe at Cooking Light & Weight Watchers. Summer sugar was not a good feeling!

Wave breaking on the eve of Summer Solstice 2014