eggplant

Yes, I've been a product photographer for so many years.... I have to say this is not my best work.... you know?... cell phone, bad light, shaky hand? It's too late to do a reshoot, I ate the product already :)
This is a test I did today with a new food. (I'm all about "testing" as some already know...)
I have never had eggplant until today.

I've started again with eating non-processed foods. I have to say I liked the way I felt while doing it before, my workouts were awesome, and it makes weight loss easier, or at least it has for me. And really, it's just healthier all around.

This time I am challenging myself to 30 days, instead of like last time when I did it for a week. Last time I allowed myself protein shakes.
This time I am adding three foods instead of the one. No, these three things are not foods like pizza or cookies....
I'm still going to allow protein shakes. I initially allowed myself peanut butter (the least processed verity), but after two days I decided that was not the right thing for me to add considering I went through a jar in two days... ya, not so good there :)
I was allowing myself to put it on everything.
I think the key word to any kind of eating is moderation.

So I knocked that off and I substituted it with cottage cheese. The final item is Ezekiel bread. It's barely processed. It says it's not processed, but someone had to put it together? I don't know how far I should take it yet on whats acceptable to me and whats not. Some say if it comes out of a box or a bag - it's processed or not "clean". Personally I'm not sure were I'm drawing my line yet, what about the peanut butters that have nothing in them but peanuts, nothing added. It could be ok for me?
It's when you see ingredients on the labels that assist in persevering the food, that's what I'm trying to steer clear of. Oh, and the sugars and sodium, and hydrogenated oils (which is another name for trans-fats) and a bunch of other junk you see on labels - too many to name... Manufactures try to push the limits when it comes to labeling, and I bet people are eating more trans fats than they think.
I could almost start a rant there, but i will refrain :)

ok, just let me say this....
in the United States if a food has less than 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving, the food label can read 0 grams trans fat. Though that's a small amount of trans fat, if you eat multiple servings of foods with less than 0.5 grams of trans fat, you could exceed recommended limits.
just saying......

My friend Jessica is taking this challenge with me, and is doing an awesome job. Her three items are peanut butter (obviously she has more control than me with PB), milk, and protein shakes.

OK.... getting back on track with the test -

The test I did today was with an eggplant. I cut it up, dipped it in egg and fried it in EVOL. I've heard people say eggplant is bitter, it might be a little, but it's not too bad to me. I toasted two pieces of Ezekiel bread or what I like to call "bible bread". I also cut an avocado in half (I only use half at a time), smeared it on the bread and put a few pieces of eggplant on it. I salt nothing so I just peppered it.

I will rate this on a scale of a 7 out of 10. It was good. I would eat it again. It was quick to make, and it hardly made a mess. I think if I would have added a slice of tomato on it - it would have been perfect. I will remember that for next time.

Eggplants are low in calories and have no fat. It's a fair source of potassium, iron, and protein. A cup of plain eggplant has only 38 calories. it's a very good source of fiber.

Avocados are very high in fat - at 22 grams, but it's the good fat. Mostly Monounsaturated Fat. They actually have more potassium than bananas and have huge amounts of fiber.

This was a good sandwich.
I think I will try to blog about a new food every week.

* I hope these posts don't come across as preachy. My intent is to share with you what's happening to me through my transformation of getting healthy and fit. It's life changing on so many levels. It's almost spiritual :)

peace out!