July 10, 2019

Not the most flattering face angle, but I’m taking a bunch of OOTD shots for a project I’m putting together eventually.

Black linen “ninja” pants, black knit tee-ish V-neck, mixed metals leather sandals, jet & black pearl necklace and pink glasses.

July 9, 2019

Date palm

Those things in bags are fresh dates

July 8, 2019

Just my boys, hanging out 😍😍

FODMAP Diet Week 3

This was my third week on the FODMAP Diet.

Week 1
Week 2
An explanation

ACTUAL MEALS

This week, the hubby and I were on vacation in Germany, so I did what I could and ate compliant foods where possible. It was hard to not bury myself in a vat of sauerkraut & pretzels.

Breakfasts

  • For the most part, I erred on the side of breakfast meats – sausages, bacon, cured meats – lots of protein. Some breads when I was tired of straight protein.
  • There were a few pastries when that wasn’t possible, and a language barrier day where I accidentally ordered something containing bread, dairy & onions – which I only ate a few bites of.

Lunches/Dinners

  • I did what I could here, and if it was something I knew was not compliant, I only ate a bit. Ish.
  • Had warm sauerkraut, a potato dumpling & a couple bites pretzel one day.
  • Had currywurst and the bun on a slider the next.
  • Had mostly-compliant ham-stuffed pork – and then some pasta one day.

Snacks

  • Mostly cured meats. Man, I missed prosciutto.
Sunday: Cured meats and some fruits for breakfast, currywurst for lunch, a mid-afternoon vodka tonic, a pulled pork slider & sweet potato fries for dinner & prosciutto snack
Monday: Lunch was a roadside affair and contained a pretzel. Oops. Dinner was fairly back on track.
Tuesday: Ummmmm …. erm …. ok, so no excuses here – I just. Didn’t. Wanna, and I knew bread wouldn’t hurt me.
Wednesday: Breakfast was a language barrier fail, so I only had about a quarter of mine and ate the hubby’s roll instead. Lunch was not what I wanted, but was what they had in stock – dinner was the one thing on the menu that didn’t list garlic as an ingredient. Ate half the pasta.
Thursday: Could have been better. Ate 1 of those doughnuts then found pastry with rhubarb, which I’ve been sorely missing.
Friday: Split the pretzel, I’m actually beyond tired of fries, and dinner wasn’t horribly off track – there may have been dairy in the potatoes, but there most likely wasn’t garlic and maybe not even onion.
Saturday: Went off the rails with sweets, bread and pasta. At least potato chips are FODMAP? (I’m sure not this flavor)

What did I learn this week?

Vacation while FODMAPping is hard. I mean, I already figured it would be – and I was right. While meat-centric meals were pretty easy to come by, this being Germany and all, staying away from bread when I’d already worked hard (before FODMAP) to give myself permission to eat bread again was hard and I didn’t do the best job. I could have chosen to do better, but I wasn’t really feeling it tbh.

I think I’ll postpone my doctor checkup and give this thing a solid week, maybe two more (especially given that the vitamins the doc had me taking only just came in this week).

July 7, 2019

Baroque extravaganza at Nymphenburg Palace, Munich, 🇩🇪

Easy Japanese-Style Chicken Zoodles

This is an easy, FODMAP-friendly, low calorie and carb dinner for nights when you don’t want to be bothered and/or have macros to hit.

Gluten-free (check your labels), FODMAP, keto (especially if you increase the fat), could be Paleo if you use coconut aminos, but that will be higher FODMAPs

Easy Japanese-Style Chicken Zoodles

1 large zucchini, spiraled into zoodles

2 tsp. sesame oil

1 Tbsp. soy sauce or tamari (coconut aminos will be higher in FODMAPs)

In a large skillet over medium-high, heat the sesame oil. When it starts to shimmer, add the zoodles and stir-fry until just beginning to soften. Add the soy sauce and continue cooking until the zoodles are to your liking. I like mine still a bit toothsome (or at least not mushy).

While that’s working, whisk together:

1 Tbsp. sesame oil

1.5 Tbsp. soy sauce

1 Tbsp. rice vinegar

Juice of 1 lime

Pinch of red pepper flakes

When the zoodles are ready, add to the sauce and top with 4 ounces shredded poached chicken and 1 tsp. sesame seeds per serving.

Serves 2 as a light dinner

Macros per serving (assuming your zoodles come out to 1 cup and you use standard soy sauce):

345 Calories

36.6g Protein

6.6g Net carbs

16.9g Fat

July 6, 2019

Munich CBD and the Glockenspiel all decked out for Pride 🌈😍

July 5, 2019

Today’s adventures included 🚠 up a mountain to hike, standing on the border between 🇩🇪 and 🇦🇹 while on a suspension 🌉 in the 🌲, then a 🚢 around a lake. A busy day, and all within 5km of our hotel. And I almost forgot: we met the cutest little security Teckel (dachshund) in the elevator – apparently the poor babe rides the elevator up and down while her mom is working in hopes it will open onto the floor she lives on so she can go nap. 😍🤩😍

July 4, 2019

Today was a day of castles. The fairytale Neuschwanstein (on which Sleeping Beauty’s Castle was based)

And the scenic Hohenschwangau

Some of the vistas from the castles:

July 3, 2019

Back to accurate dates!

Today was more traveling down the Romantic Road in Bavaria 🇩🇪, through medieval walled towns and scenic countryside.

This picture was taken from the top of the bell tower in Nordlingen. See the city walls? This city was built in the crater of a meteorite strike. Super cool 😎