[Coldrun Fitness] Level 20: Beef Stew

tw: weight, food, calories, fatphobia

I hadn't been working on this for a while. I weighed in a few weeks back and just got depressed. I'd gotten heavier. My lifetime heaviest, at 285.

But FUCK IT. I can do this. It's not too late. I have to believe that.

Back to the basics for this level with a few habits I'll start building:

• Aim to not go much higher than 2,700/2,800 calories/day
• Walk for 30 minutes/day 5 days/week - Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday.
• Don't order in. DoorDash made it way too easy to access high-calorie impulse binges, so I'm only going out to eat if I physically get it myself. (This also will save a lot of money.)

I'm also going to weigh in every 3-4 days. Will try not to get too high or low about it, and I know this wasn't something I planned on at level 1, but I want to see progress. And this (for me) is progress.

Starting weight (Sat morning): 285.0

Ending weight (Tue morning): 284.0

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Saturday

• Breakfast: Grilled buttered (130) wheat bread (220) sandwich with a fried egg over hard (80) and two slices of American cheese (120). (550 cal)

• Lunch: Vegetarian chili (500) with oyster crackers (140) and half a cup of cheddar (220). (860 cal)
• Dinner: Chipotle steak burrito bowl with cheese, salsa, guacamole. (850 cal)
• Snacks: Bottled frappuccino (180). Crackers (100). (280 cal)
• Total: 2,540

Sunday

• Breakfast: Buttered (70) slice of wheat toast (110) with two egg (160) cheddar (110) omelet. (450 cal)

• Lunch: Linguini (400) with marinara sauce (100) and cheddar (220). Bottled frappuccino (200). (920 cal)
• Dinner: Roast beef sandwich with lettuce, tomato, mayo (660) and Doritos (260). (920 cal)
• Snacks: A baked onion (40) with butter (80) and salt. Chicken noodle soup (130) with oyster crackers (80). Gummy candy (300). (550 cal)
• Total: 2,840

Monday 

• Breakfast: Two eggs sunny side up (160) with a slice of buttered (80) wheat toast (110). (350 cal)

• Lunch: Steak burrito bowl with white rice, salsa, cheese, corn, guacamole (850). M&Ms (300). (1,150 cal)
• Dinner: Slow cooker beef stew (470) with oyster crackers (140). (610 cal)
• Snack: Clif bar (260). Bottled frappuccino (200). (460 cal)
• Total: 2,570

First Attempt at Beef Stew!

Dumped the following into a slow cooker and set it on low for 7 hours.

Beef stew: total 1390

• 1 pound cubed beef: 760
• 14 oz small red potatoes: 400
• Carton of beef broth: 40
• Carrots and bag of mixed vegetables: 50
• 8 oz pasta sauce: 120 cal
• 1/4 cup flour: 120 cal
• Packet of taco seasoning mix

It came out pretty good. But I basically put it together from what I found at a small store. They didn't have straight-up tomato sauce, and they didn't have beef stew specific seasoning mixes. 

Also, it was thinner than I wanted. Suggestions? Thinking maybe more flour, or tomato paste instead of tomato sauce. Probably a second pound of cubed beef too, and maybe just straight up onion, carrot, and celery instead of the carrot-heavy mixed veggie bag.

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Later note: some friends specifically suggested tomato paste instead of tomato sauce, and cubing the potatoes so the starch thickens the stew. I'll try that next time.

Another suggestion: maybe try corn starch instead of flour, though don't just add more flour. Apparently it might make it gluey.