confession #000022

... or, the punisher

last night was a night of sheer indulgence.  i don't know what led me to it but i just could not help myself.  there was just not enough chocolate in the apartment to satisfy by sweet tooth.  being a very diligent person and somewhat of a control freak whenever i set myself to losing weight, i registered every gram onto myfitnesspal food tracker and by the time i got to bed, i realised i blew my target by about 700kcal! to be fair with myself, it was more in the region of 500kcal.  when i set up myfitnesspal account and set my targets, it allowed me a daily intake of 1200kcal but since i'm not exercising much at the moment (as in, not exercising at all), i'm trying to stick to 1000kcal per day instead.  

so today, is punishment day.  and the punishment comes in the form of soup.  it's not that i don't like soup - far from it.  i generally say that i wouldn't mind having it on a daily basis but truth be told, it can get quite boring ... still, i suppose with a little bit of imagination, and a strong determination to reach my weight goal, i can outlive the boredom.  

one thing i always mention whenever i speak about my life in krakow is the soup kit.  this is a very ingenious way of getting veg into one's system at a very, very low price! all the groceries or supermarkets i've been to so far stock this so i really don't have any excuse.  basically, this is a polystyrene tray with (usually) 2 carrots, 2 parsnips, 1 or 2 onions, a piece of leek, a segment of cabbage and a chunk of kohlrabi.  some stores would also include a couple of celery sprigs. all of this costs approximately 2.60zł which is something like €0.63c!  the contents of the kit yield 2 hearty portions, each of which is something like 107kcal.  how's that for healthy, cheap, low calorie and tasty all together?! 

vegetables organised neatly

it only takes a few minutes to wash, peel and chop all these veggies and throw them in a saucepan with a vegetable stock cube.  a few more minutes on the hob until all vegetables are nice and tender and voila - your soup is ready. i usually prepare this while i'm having breakfast in the morning so i find it ready when i stop for lunch.  also, i tend to prefer my soups pureed rather than seeing all the chunky bits, but that's purely a personal preference.  

the soup cooking away nicely

as i said, having this soup on a daily basis would be rather tedious and can certainly lead to the motivation levels diminishing with every spoonful.  but having such a low calorie basis allows for a few twists which can certainly enhance the flavour and make it more interesting and wholesome.  i love marmite so whenever i feel a little low on energy, i just add a teaspoon of marmite to it before serving and it takes on a whole new flavour.  also, a 3cm cube of feta cheese is a nice addition at about 90kcal, or even a couple of tablespoons of baked beans (approx. 150kcal for half a small tin) - the spicy variety work best.  meat eaters can obviously add some lean meat to it to give it some substance.  even a slice of heavily toasted bread can make the difference and not break the weighing scales.  

and here's the pureed soup.  i added 3 sauerkraut and mushroom pierogi (my personal favourites) as i needed to keep going for a busy afternoon full of errands and appointments (approx. total soup + pierogi 290kcal)

the bottom line is that this punishment, is not necessarily so punishing after all!