In Praise of Cabbage

My very large and satisfying dinner last night was 170 calories- 1/3 pound of grilled shrimp sprayed with Pam, veg kabobs and 1 cup steamed cabbage. I had a sugar free pudding for dessert that added another 60 calories to bring the total to 230. The trick is to find low cal foods that really satisfy you. Cabbage works great for me at 30 calories per cup. I use it to replace rice and pasta, saving 240 and 195calories per cup respectively. I add it to salads, I make a fabulous beet borscht with lots of cabbage. One night next week we will have boiled cabbage and potatoes for dinner- I now skip adding the really fatty meat to the boiled dinner. I will eat mostly cabbage. I add cabbage to stir fry, to Mexican, oven roasted cabbage when I make pork roast, coleslaw with fat free sour cream, cider vinegar, sweetener and horseradish. Do you get the picture? It seems I eat at least one head my self per week.

I am thinking about starting to use zucchini too. On "The Biggest Loser" they substituted half of the pasta with zucchini ribbons and it looked good. If it were me, I'd have done all zucchini because I like the flavor and texture of zucchini better than pasta. Zucchini is also 30 calories per cup cooked, as is summer squash.

The reason this is so important to my program is that I still like to eat a large quantity of food. I want to feel full or satisfied. I can eat a lot of bulk this way and not have many calories. I don't feel like I am on a diet. I feel that I am just making better choices for my body. And it is showing up on the scales- down to 188 this morning.

I generally eat at least one salad a day for the same reason. Lots of bulk with out the calories especially if I use the spray, at one calorie per squirt I can eat tons with very little calories. My husband has much better self control about quantity. He looks at his plate and knows that he shouldn't eat more than is there. If it is over loaded he thinks to himself,"wow, I am going to put all of that in my body." I had never looked at it that way. I still fill up, but with 2 cups of lettuce at 15 calories and 1 cup of cucumber 20, it is hard to do too much damage.