There is a sad and incontrovertible truth that must be faced when it comes to being an Asian gal with a fitness fetish:

Half a cup of cooked rice is just not satisfying.

What is half a cup anyway? Four or five bites? It isn’t nearly enough to go with the cup of veggies and 3-4 ounces of chicken, beef, shrimp, fish, or pork I normally stir fry (with nonstick cooking spray) for lunch.

I suppose I could have a piece of fruit or some sweet potato with my stir fry, but dang it, stir fry and rice are like peanut butter and chocolate: made for each other. :biggrin:

I cooked up one dry cup of rice anyway yesterday morning (that’s six 1/2 cup servings when cooked) anyway, thinking I could just suck it up and deal with the miserly portions for the month of October. How bad could it be, right?

I spooned the cooked rice out into a Rubbermaid container and divided it into six equal portions. I took one of them with me to work for lunch along with some tuna and broccoli stir fry.

It was bad. It was paltry. It was only half a cup per meal!

I couldn’t deal with it. Fortunately, while chatting with my sister about the rice situation later, I recalled something wonderful. My parents and grandparents used to take the leftover rice from the night before and boil the hell out of it with what looked like a gallon of water to make a sort of watery rice porridge or congee that was eaten for breakfast with, well, the OTHER leftovers from the night before. Brilliant!

I trotted home after work, chucked the remaining 5 portions of rice into a big pot, added a full bag of frozen Peking mix veggies, poured in at least half a gallon of water, and turned on the stove for 20 minutes.

Voila!

Five 1.5 cup portions of vegetable-enriched rice gruel ready to go with whatever lean meat I want to add for lunch.

Sometimes being on a fat loss diet is a lot like living in the Depression. One is always trying to stretch out a limited number of calories into the most filling meal possible.

Thank goodness rice soaks up water like a sponge. Even though I am still only having less than 1/4 c. of dry rice, it looks like a cup and a half and does a creditable job of filling my belly and taking care of the rice cravings.

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Nutrition: Non-Training Day Menu
(SGX nutrition details omitted by request of trainer)

1: 3×1 spinach omelette with 1/3 c. (dry) oatmeal, 1 T. raisins, and 1 T. wheat bran
2: Apple, 1 scoop whey
3: 3 oz. tuna, 1 c. mixed veggies, 1/2 c. rice
4: 2/3 c. LF cottage cheese, small orange, 1 T. oatmeal
5: SGX Meal
6: SGX Meal

Daily Supplements: multivitamin with iron, calcium 500 + D, 1 T. flaxseed oil or natural peanut butter
Water: 16 cups minimum

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Workout:
7:00 AM YF Upper Body (30 minutes)
7:30 AM HIIT Run (4.5-8.5 mph / 0% incline / 20 minutes)
8:00 AM LISS Walk (3.5 mph / 10% incline / 25 minutes)

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The Awful Truth:
1. Swapped times for HIIT and YF this morning due to major downpour at 7:00 AM.

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Brownie Points:
1. 3/31 Perfect LMH Challenge Days
2. Stayed 100% on plan yesterday.
3. Cooked broccoli and rice congee.
4. Went to bed at 11:30 PM.
5. Woke up at 6:30 AM.
6. Back on my preferred morning workout schedule again! WOO!

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Short-term Goals:
1. Update HandBase workout module.
2. Organize desk.
3. Defrost chicken leg quarters.
4. Cook chicken, Napa, and green onions.
5. Buy cheap plastic shelves from Target or Ghetto-Mart and move plants to balcony.
6. Read a few chapters from NASM book.