Yesterday marked the 30 day mark of my new way of eating. So I hopped on the scale to see what it said. To my surprize it read 287.4. Meaning that I was down 31.6 lbs in a month. (Being sick since Saturday HAS lowered my appetite,so I am not eating as much as I normally would). So I figure I will put some weight back on AFTER I shake this cold.
It was so bad that I did not BOWL. I never willingly skip bowling, but I knew that I had NO strength to even attempt it.
I did actually eat a bit on Wednesday.
Breakfast was an Orange and a Banana.
Lunch was a NUT salad. I used 1/4 cup of walnuts, 1/4 cup of cashews, 1/4 cup of almonds, tbsp of flax seed and tbsp of pumpkin seeds. I ground those all up and added it to a huge portion of baby spinach and romaine. As a dressing I used red wine vinaigrette. Mixing it all up, it was basically every spot of green was COVERED by nuts and seeds. I knew this was a way I could get some calories and something tasty.
For dinner I grilled up 4 veggie burgers on the George Forman. I had so no-salt catsup to use. I was able to eat 3 1/2. Just could not finish all of it.
Thursday, December 31, 2015
Tuesday, December 29, 2015
Good news on both Mom and Gramps
I talked to my Mother this afternoon for about 10 minutes. She seemed tired and admitted that yesterday was a REALLY rough day. I just talked to her about basic stuff, did not want to get into anything about long term plans. She did say that she ate about half her lunch. Which is actually a LOT more than she usually eats.
I just got a text that Traycie (my Little sister) talked to my Mom for over half an hour, said that mom is not giving up, but it is hard to fight "a losing battle". We just have to do whatever Mom wants. I have NO IDEA how I would react in her shoes. But she is a trooper.
As for Gramps, they got his fever under control and said his breathing was back to 90%. So hopefully he is on the mend. No update on Aunt Liz (his sister)
This cold is still messing with me, so I worked from home. I really did not have much I could eat, so I just microwaved 2 buffalo "Chickn" patties. They have a kick. I like them. For lunch I fortunately had some chili still in the freezer so I had that. Tonight I was out of Advil Cold and Sinus, so I had to go out to Walgreens, while I was out I stopped at Valli and picked up Apples, Oranges, Bananas, oatmeal, Romaine, baby Spinach, some pre chopped orange/red/green peppers and some chopped baby portobello mushrooms. This should get me through the next couple of days of meals. Dinner consisted of a big handful of nuts (Christmas gift from Doug and Denise) and a Cherry Banana Smoothie. (300 calories in a handful of nuts, got to be careful with them)
I only bought for about 2 1/2 days with NYE coming up. For NYE we are going to Potawatomi casino. We are going to do the buffet. (I think they have salad and fruits and stuff). Then on New Years Day we celebrate my Niece Reese's 5th birthday (her birthday is tomorrow), so again not sure what I will eat there, but I know it is at a pool in pheasant run resort in St Charles. But I will figure it out.
I am going to do a mid week weigh in tomorrow, since it will be 1 month since I started, and would love to see how much has changed in 30 days!!
The amazing part to me is that I have NOT had any meat. I did have some egg and cheese along the way, but never did I fall back into having meat.
I just got a text that Traycie (my Little sister) talked to my Mom for over half an hour, said that mom is not giving up, but it is hard to fight "a losing battle". We just have to do whatever Mom wants. I have NO IDEA how I would react in her shoes. But she is a trooper.
As for Gramps, they got his fever under control and said his breathing was back to 90%. So hopefully he is on the mend. No update on Aunt Liz (his sister)
This cold is still messing with me, so I worked from home. I really did not have much I could eat, so I just microwaved 2 buffalo "Chickn" patties. They have a kick. I like them. For lunch I fortunately had some chili still in the freezer so I had that. Tonight I was out of Advil Cold and Sinus, so I had to go out to Walgreens, while I was out I stopped at Valli and picked up Apples, Oranges, Bananas, oatmeal, Romaine, baby Spinach, some pre chopped orange/red/green peppers and some chopped baby portobello mushrooms. This should get me through the next couple of days of meals. Dinner consisted of a big handful of nuts (Christmas gift from Doug and Denise) and a Cherry Banana Smoothie. (300 calories in a handful of nuts, got to be careful with them)
I only bought for about 2 1/2 days with NYE coming up. For NYE we are going to Potawatomi casino. We are going to do the buffet. (I think they have salad and fruits and stuff). Then on New Years Day we celebrate my Niece Reese's 5th birthday (her birthday is tomorrow), so again not sure what I will eat there, but I know it is at a pool in pheasant run resort in St Charles. But I will figure it out.
I am going to do a mid week weigh in tomorrow, since it will be 1 month since I started, and would love to see how much has changed in 30 days!!
The amazing part to me is that I have NOT had any meat. I did have some egg and cheese along the way, but never did I fall back into having meat.
Monday, December 28, 2015
All around cruddy day!! - not much food talk, family health issue a plenty.
The weather today was AWFUL!!! Freezing rain/snow.
The events of today also could not be much worse.
First off, I have a cold. It started coming on Saturday when I was eating at Red Robin with Deb on Saturday. I have been taking Advil Cold and Sinus non-stop, so I have not had a lot of symptoms, but I don't sleep well and I fell sick.
Last night was the wake for Deb's 90 year old Grandmother (Her Dad's Mother). She had a stoke before Christmas and never regained consciousness. Then this morning was the funeral. While we were at the luncheon after mass, Deb got a call that her 101 year old grandfather (Her Mom's Father) was in the hospital will DOUBLE pneumonia. And that his 91 year old sister is also not doing well.
Not sure how many of you know, but my MOTHER has Colon Cancer. 2 weeks ago the tumor in her colon had ruptured the colon wall. This required emergency colon resectioning. She seemed to have pulled through the surgery okay. I had talked to her on christmas eve and we talked for over 40 minutes, and she seemed to sound like herself.
Well today she had a follow up a with the surgeon, and he gave her less than good news. He basically said that with all that she has gone through in the last year and with the surgery, he does not think that she will EVER be strong enough to start chemo again. I have not talked to my Mom, since I am letting this sink in, but she was the one who asked the Doctor to call my little sister and me. So we could hear it from him.
He is afraid the NEXT illness of any sort, may do her in. I really have NO IDEA how to process this information.
FOOD
At the luncheon, we were at a Greek Family restaurant, and the owner could not have been any more accommodating to me. He made a Caesar's salad with no cheese, veggie soup (instead of the cream of chicken rice everyone else had) and he made me a HUGE plate of Asparagus, Broccoli, Carrots and Portobello mushrooms. It was really good.
For some reason, I don't really feel like eating dinner now.
The events of today also could not be much worse.
First off, I have a cold. It started coming on Saturday when I was eating at Red Robin with Deb on Saturday. I have been taking Advil Cold and Sinus non-stop, so I have not had a lot of symptoms, but I don't sleep well and I fell sick.
Last night was the wake for Deb's 90 year old Grandmother (Her Dad's Mother). She had a stoke before Christmas and never regained consciousness. Then this morning was the funeral. While we were at the luncheon after mass, Deb got a call that her 101 year old grandfather (Her Mom's Father) was in the hospital will DOUBLE pneumonia. And that his 91 year old sister is also not doing well.
Not sure how many of you know, but my MOTHER has Colon Cancer. 2 weeks ago the tumor in her colon had ruptured the colon wall. This required emergency colon resectioning. She seemed to have pulled through the surgery okay. I had talked to her on christmas eve and we talked for over 40 minutes, and she seemed to sound like herself.
Well today she had a follow up a with the surgeon, and he gave her less than good news. He basically said that with all that she has gone through in the last year and with the surgery, he does not think that she will EVER be strong enough to start chemo again. I have not talked to my Mom, since I am letting this sink in, but she was the one who asked the Doctor to call my little sister and me. So we could hear it from him.
He is afraid the NEXT illness of any sort, may do her in. I really have NO IDEA how to process this information.
FOOD
At the luncheon, we were at a Greek Family restaurant, and the owner could not have been any more accommodating to me. He made a Caesar's salad with no cheese, veggie soup (instead of the cream of chicken rice everyone else had) and he made me a HUGE plate of Asparagus, Broccoli, Carrots and Portobello mushrooms. It was really good.
For some reason, I don't really feel like eating dinner now.
Sunday, December 27, 2015
WEIGH IN #4 ate out 2 times today. Was pretty good
With all the eating that I had done the last couple days with christmas, I was prepared for a less than stellar weigh in number. Much to my surprise, it was 291.4. Down 3.8 pounds from last week.
My first weigh in was Nov 30th at 319. So almost 28 lbs in 28 days. And honestly I am not starving myself. I feel that I eat as much as I want. I am so excited to go shopping for some the new recipes.
On to todays eating....
This morning Deb wanted to go out to Breakfast, so we went to Maxfield's in Schaumburg. There was not a lot of options, so I settled for an egg white veggie omelet, with an english muffin. I also had a blueberry muffing. No cheese in the omelet. It also came with some melon slices.
We did not eat until almost noon, so lunch did not happen.
Tonight we went to Donkey Inn in Palatine. They have a HUGE menu and had a few veggie options.
I went with the veggie skillet. It came with grilled peppers, mushrooms and onions. It also had salsa, beans with cheese, rice, lettuce and jalapeños. It came with 4 tortillas. I don't think that was TOO bad...
I did have a chocolate chip cookie for desert when I got home.
My first weigh in was Nov 30th at 319. So almost 28 lbs in 28 days. And honestly I am not starving myself. I feel that I eat as much as I want. I am so excited to go shopping for some the new recipes.
On to todays eating....
This morning Deb wanted to go out to Breakfast, so we went to Maxfield's in Schaumburg. There was not a lot of options, so I settled for an egg white veggie omelet, with an english muffin. I also had a blueberry muffing. No cheese in the omelet. It also came with some melon slices.
We did not eat until almost noon, so lunch did not happen.
Tonight we went to Donkey Inn in Palatine. They have a HUGE menu and had a few veggie options.
I went with the veggie skillet. It came with grilled peppers, mushrooms and onions. It also had salsa, beans with cheese, rice, lettuce and jalapeños. It came with 4 tortillas. I don't think that was TOO bad...
I did have a chocolate chip cookie for desert when I got home.
Saturday, December 26, 2015
Red Robin
For some reason I was not that hungry this morning. So this morning I just grabbed a cookie and went out shopping for cook books!!!
I found 2 cookbooks that were on my Amazon wish list at Barnes and Noble, I had a $50 gift card there, so I overpaid, just so I could have them. I ended up buying Eat to Live cookbook by Joel Luhrmann, it had some of the recipes that were in the book of his I already read, but it had plenty of new ones I want to try.
I also by "But I could NEVER go VEGAN!!" It is a cute book with lots of cool recipes.
I went through and took pictures of a bunch of the recipes, that way I can pick some I want to try and create a shopping list.
Well all the shopping made me hungry, so I came home and heated up some chili. I only have 2 packages left, so that will definitely be on the list of things I am making.
Later in the afternoon Deb and I went shopping for some stuff for her. We went to Rosemont outlet mall first, we had to exchange a leather jacket we had bought Deb's mom. There was really nothing else there that appealed to us. A little too high end for our tastes.
We then went over to Woodfield. Deb had seen a ring at Macy's when were at Walnut Room with the girls. So she wanted to see if Woodfield had it. Well they did not, so we went about to start wandering the mall. Deb made it to Rogers and Holland, and there she not only found a ring similar to the one she had seen at Macy's but it was one she like MORE. So..... She now has a new ring. At this point I was hungry again, so we went over to Red Robin. They have a light menu that allowed me to do the "burger" as a lettuce wrap, with tomatoes, onions, pickles and jalapeños. I was also able to choose a Boca burger and a side of Steamed Broccoli. I went with unsweetened Iced Tea for my drink. It was not a bad Boca. It was not 1 I had tried. I did steal 2 of Deb's french Fries.
Tomorrow is my next weigh in. I wonder if Christmas did me in??
I found 2 cookbooks that were on my Amazon wish list at Barnes and Noble, I had a $50 gift card there, so I overpaid, just so I could have them. I ended up buying Eat to Live cookbook by Joel Luhrmann, it had some of the recipes that were in the book of his I already read, but it had plenty of new ones I want to try.
I also by "But I could NEVER go VEGAN!!" It is a cute book with lots of cool recipes.
I went through and took pictures of a bunch of the recipes, that way I can pick some I want to try and create a shopping list.
Well all the shopping made me hungry, so I came home and heated up some chili. I only have 2 packages left, so that will definitely be on the list of things I am making.
Later in the afternoon Deb and I went shopping for some stuff for her. We went to Rosemont outlet mall first, we had to exchange a leather jacket we had bought Deb's mom. There was really nothing else there that appealed to us. A little too high end for our tastes.
We then went over to Woodfield. Deb had seen a ring at Macy's when were at Walnut Room with the girls. So she wanted to see if Woodfield had it. Well they did not, so we went about to start wandering the mall. Deb made it to Rogers and Holland, and there she not only found a ring similar to the one she had seen at Macy's but it was one she like MORE. So..... She now has a new ring. At this point I was hungry again, so we went over to Red Robin. They have a light menu that allowed me to do the "burger" as a lettuce wrap, with tomatoes, onions, pickles and jalapeños. I was also able to choose a Boca burger and a side of Steamed Broccoli. I went with unsweetened Iced Tea for my drink. It was not a bad Boca. It was not 1 I had tried. I did steal 2 of Deb's french Fries.
Tomorrow is my next weigh in. I wonder if Christmas did me in??
Christmas Day
Sorry that I did not post this yesterday. That was the first day I have missed. Was too tired when I got home last night.
Knowing that we were going to Tom and Lynda's in the afternoon and that there would be a TON of food, I started the day slowly. Here is why. We went to midnight mass at our church and it was probably 2 AM before we got home. Of course, I cannot just hop right in to bed, so I was up until 3:30. That meant that I "slept in" until 11 AM. We were leaving the house at 1, so I just steamed up the left over Veggie Delight from the night before.
Off to Tom and Lynda's......
Deb was bringing the appetizers and she purposfully purchased a Veggie Tray and a Fruit Tray, so that I would have something I could munch on. So MUNCH I did!!! I had carrots, broccoli, snap peas, cauliflower, strawberries, pineapple..... There were also pretzels with spinach dip (I had a few of those). So far not bad. At dinner I had a large Caesar's salad, some home made coleslaw, a lot of corn.... and here is where I cheated.... she makes the BEST cheesy potatoes, so I had 2 LARGE scoops of those. I also had 2 rolls. But the parts where I was GOOD, was in that they had the most amazing beef tenderloin, I did NOT have any of that. Lynda is an incredible baker and there were more desserts than I could name. Well I stayed in the dining room talking to Gramps and never even went in to the kitchen to look at was available. So all in all, while eating a little TOO much food, I did not eat and meat, nor did I eat any desserts.
1 of the other cheats for the day was that Tom had received a bottle of Gold Label scotch for his birthday, so we had 1 of those before dinner and after dinner we had some Dewers 12 mixed with Ginger Ale (I think that is a HighBall)
Last night I could tell that I had eaten too much, but today we plan on running around and doing some shopping for the gifts we did not receive. So maybe I will work them off.
I did not get any cookbooks for christmas, so I will be buying some today... then I will be shopping for the ingredients to make some new dishes...
Knowing that we were going to Tom and Lynda's in the afternoon and that there would be a TON of food, I started the day slowly. Here is why. We went to midnight mass at our church and it was probably 2 AM before we got home. Of course, I cannot just hop right in to bed, so I was up until 3:30. That meant that I "slept in" until 11 AM. We were leaving the house at 1, so I just steamed up the left over Veggie Delight from the night before.
Off to Tom and Lynda's......
Deb was bringing the appetizers and she purposfully purchased a Veggie Tray and a Fruit Tray, so that I would have something I could munch on. So MUNCH I did!!! I had carrots, broccoli, snap peas, cauliflower, strawberries, pineapple..... There were also pretzels with spinach dip (I had a few of those). So far not bad. At dinner I had a large Caesar's salad, some home made coleslaw, a lot of corn.... and here is where I cheated.... she makes the BEST cheesy potatoes, so I had 2 LARGE scoops of those. I also had 2 rolls. But the parts where I was GOOD, was in that they had the most amazing beef tenderloin, I did NOT have any of that. Lynda is an incredible baker and there were more desserts than I could name. Well I stayed in the dining room talking to Gramps and never even went in to the kitchen to look at was available. So all in all, while eating a little TOO much food, I did not eat and meat, nor did I eat any desserts.
1 of the other cheats for the day was that Tom had received a bottle of Gold Label scotch for his birthday, so we had 1 of those before dinner and after dinner we had some Dewers 12 mixed with Ginger Ale (I think that is a HighBall)
Last night I could tell that I had eaten too much, but today we plan on running around and doing some shopping for the gifts we did not receive. So maybe I will work them off.
I did not get any cookbooks for christmas, so I will be buying some today... then I will be shopping for the ingredients to make some new dishes...
Thursday, December 24, 2015
Christmas at my house
Had to go in to work today, so for breakfast I microwaved 2 of the "Chikn" patties. I brought in some chili for lunch.
We had our traditional Chinese food for Christmas eve. Deb order "Veggie Delight" for me. It consisted of onions, mushrooms, peppers, broccoli, and some other green things. It was pretty good.
I was doing great until DESSERT came out. That is where I cheated. I had a small brownie, some of the hershey kisses melted into the round pretzels, and I had 4 or 5 chocolate chip cookies. AND a glass of eggnog.
All in All not too bad. Tomorrow we go to Tom and Lynda's house. Lynda always has a TON of good food. Hopefully I will not be tooooooo bad.
It is Christmas, I think I can get away with a little bit of cheating. Right????
We had our traditional Chinese food for Christmas eve. Deb order "Veggie Delight" for me. It consisted of onions, mushrooms, peppers, broccoli, and some other green things. It was pretty good.
I was doing great until DESSERT came out. That is where I cheated. I had a small brownie, some of the hershey kisses melted into the round pretzels, and I had 4 or 5 chocolate chip cookies. AND a glass of eggnog.
All in All not too bad. Tomorrow we go to Tom and Lynda's house. Lynda always has a TON of good food. Hopefully I will not be tooooooo bad.
It is Christmas, I think I can get away with a little bit of cheating. Right????
Trader Joes
I woke up early today, so actually had time for some breakfast. I had some oatmeal and almond milk. I did not have any berries to add, so I just added a lot of cinnamon. For lunch I met Deb at Salata, it is a new salad place near Golf and Roselle road. I was like a Subway concept for making your salad, you got to pick the lettuce types and all the veggies, there was a huge selection. It was reasonably priced around $10. So a good way to eat healthy for relatively inexpensive.
I ended up working until past 5PM. I was messing around with Java and the time got away from me. So I stopped at Trader Joe's on the way home to see if they had something I could eat.
I found this, and it turned out pretty good.
It only took about 4 minutes in the microwave. It looked like there were a lot of good things I could try there. I will probably go shopping on Saturday. I think I am going to go to Marianos and check out what they have. I am hoping that I get some recipe books for Christmas, so that I can go beyond the simple menus I have been eating so far.
I ended up working until past 5PM. I was messing around with Java and the time got away from me. So I stopped at Trader Joe's on the way home to see if they had something I could eat.
I found this, and it turned out pretty good.
It only took about 4 minutes in the microwave. It looked like there were a lot of good things I could try there. I will probably go shopping on Saturday. I think I am going to go to Marianos and check out what they have. I am hoping that I get some recipe books for Christmas, so that I can go beyond the simple menus I have been eating so far.
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
Sweet Tomatoes
I thought that I had some oatmeal left, so was all ready to have that for breakfast. DOH, I did not have any made, so just decided to have my last 2 apples. I still had lettuce and spinach from yesterday left over, so I brought that in with the rest of the portobello mushrooms, some balsamic vinegar and a bunch of seeds. I knew from yesterday that just the salad would not be enough, so I grab a frozen bag of chili for my afternoon snack.
For dinner tonight I met up with Tony. He and is wife, Donna, are the vegan couple that Deb and I used to mock for the types of foods they would eat. The irony is that now that I have adopted this eating lifestyle, I use them as an inspiration for knowing that you can still eat good tasting food that is healthy. We went to Sweet Tomatoes in Glenview and I grabbed 2 plates and filled them with Romaine, baby Spinach and red lettuce. I added broccoli, kidney beans, garbanzo beans, sesame seeds, carrots, mushrooms and onions. Topped it all of with some vinegrette and vegatarian Italian dressing. They had strawberry lemonade to drink. I was craving Corn Bread, so I went and got a piece, while I was getting the cornbread, I saw that they have garlic cheese flat bread. So I grabbed 2 little pieces.
That was it, no pudding, no pasta, no cookies. All the things I used to eat there that turned my meal into something LESS than healthy.
Tony and I talked for about 3 hours about different philosophies on the lifestyle. He gave me some suggestions for ways to change up some of my foods I eat.
Looking forward to the challenge of the Christmas holiday. If I can make it through the next week without eating any meat, I will have gone the whole month. It has not been bad, and honestly the ONLY food I miss is Pizza. Unfortunately Tony let me know that I may just have to get over it, since there is really nothing vegatarian that can replace pizza. (small crying sounds)
For dinner tonight I met up with Tony. He and is wife, Donna, are the vegan couple that Deb and I used to mock for the types of foods they would eat. The irony is that now that I have adopted this eating lifestyle, I use them as an inspiration for knowing that you can still eat good tasting food that is healthy. We went to Sweet Tomatoes in Glenview and I grabbed 2 plates and filled them with Romaine, baby Spinach and red lettuce. I added broccoli, kidney beans, garbanzo beans, sesame seeds, carrots, mushrooms and onions. Topped it all of with some vinegrette and vegatarian Italian dressing. They had strawberry lemonade to drink. I was craving Corn Bread, so I went and got a piece, while I was getting the cornbread, I saw that they have garlic cheese flat bread. So I grabbed 2 little pieces.
That was it, no pudding, no pasta, no cookies. All the things I used to eat there that turned my meal into something LESS than healthy.
Tony and I talked for about 3 hours about different philosophies on the lifestyle. He gave me some suggestions for ways to change up some of my foods I eat.
Looking forward to the challenge of the Christmas holiday. If I can make it through the next week without eating any meat, I will have gone the whole month. It has not been bad, and honestly the ONLY food I miss is Pizza. Unfortunately Tony let me know that I may just have to get over it, since there is really nothing vegatarian that can replace pizza. (small crying sounds)
Monday, December 21, 2015
Simple day
Today was a normal day in the office.
I took in some of the overnight oatmeal and had it with Blackberries.
I was out of any sort of Lettuce, so I stopped at Valli Produce on the way in to work to buy some Romaine and some Spinach. I bought enough for 2 lunches. Knowing that I was going to stop on the way in, I also brought in some 0 calorie 1000 island and 1 tbsp each of Sunflower, pumpkin, sesame and flax seed. I also brought in a bunch of sliced portobello mushrooms.
After work I had to finish (better known as START) my Christmas shopping. So I was running around. When I got home I just nuked 3 of the veggie "chicken" patties.
I am still hungry, so not sure if I have anything downstairs that I can blend up into dessert
Sorry this was so short. I think I am saving up some calories for Christmas Eve and Day :-)
I took in some of the overnight oatmeal and had it with Blackberries.
I was out of any sort of Lettuce, so I stopped at Valli Produce on the way in to work to buy some Romaine and some Spinach. I bought enough for 2 lunches. Knowing that I was going to stop on the way in, I also brought in some 0 calorie 1000 island and 1 tbsp each of Sunflower, pumpkin, sesame and flax seed. I also brought in a bunch of sliced portobello mushrooms.
After work I had to finish (better known as START) my Christmas shopping. So I was running around. When I got home I just nuked 3 of the veggie "chicken" patties.
I am still hungry, so not sure if I have anything downstairs that I can blend up into dessert
Sorry this was so short. I think I am saving up some calories for Christmas Eve and Day :-)
Sunday, December 20, 2015
Weigh in #3
Weight today was 295.2. Down another 4 lbs. I was VERY happy with that number. So far it has just been with diet, I have only had the 1 day to exercise. So I hope once our schedule clears up I will get to use the pool, basketball court and racquetball courts at LA Fitness.
So far today I have had some of the Overnight Oatmeal I made, with blueberries. (I really like blueberries!!!)
For lunch we are going to Granite City in Naperville. I think they have a veggie wrap, if not, I think I will just have a salad.
Looking forward to seeing the Nutcracker tonight.
So far today I have had some of the Overnight Oatmeal I made, with blueberries. (I really like blueberries!!!)
For lunch we are going to Granite City in Naperville. I think they have a veggie wrap, if not, I think I will just have a salad.
Looking forward to seeing the Nutcracker tonight.
Saturday, December 19, 2015
Walnut Room
Today was a busy day. My little sister was dropping of Reese and Zoe, my nieces, so that Deb and I could take them downtown to Macy's for lunch at the Walnut Room. We thought it did not open until 11, we got there at 10:45, at that point we found out it had been open since 7AM, so we got a pager which would go off when we could be seated. That happened to be in the 1 - 1:30 window. The girls had not eaten, since we thought we could eat at 11ish. So we went down to lower level where there is a bunch of food areas, we did not want them to eat a lot, since they would be eating in 2 hours. So we decided, lets to DESSERT first. I got the girls, Deb included, a blueberry muffin and a red velvet cupcake (Deb's favorite). I had 1 small bite of the muffin that was left over, and 1 finger swipe of frosting from the cupcake. So now we had to kill 2 hours, thankfully Macy's has a LOT of stuff. We started by going outside to look at the windows. They really liked that. Then we went to the 5th floor to look at the Tiffany ceiling. Girls thought it was so pretty. Then we went to look at all the ornaments and christmas stuff they had. Deb waited in line to pay for something, so I went to sit down. We happened to be by bedding, so the girls hopped up on a bed, and were playing with some of the figurines they brought with.
Finally at about 1:10 our pager went off, that meant we got to go wait in line. After about 10 minutes we were seated, unfortunately far from the tree. But one of the fairy princesses did come by. The girls got to make a wish and they were sprinkled with magic dust and their wish was granted.
I did take them over by the tree to get a picture. Here is one of the cute ones.
.
I ordered Apple Cider Roasted Acorn Squash and Wild Rice Salad. Apparently I had never had roasted Acorn Squash. It looked ODD when I got it, but it tasted pretty good.
It was a long day. We got on the road a little before 3. We had to take the kids back to Elgin, then head home. Deb and I were exhausted.
Dinner tonight was the big Salad I had made for yesterday and the chili. (Star Wars day derailed the normal weekday meals). I was surprised that 7 or 8 days later the lettuce was still good. I could tell that it was the last day it would be good, so I am glad I ate it when I did. Tomorrow we have lunch plans with some of Deb's college friends, then we are seeing our god daughter in The Nutcracker.
Finally at about 1:10 our pager went off, that meant we got to go wait in line. After about 10 minutes we were seated, unfortunately far from the tree. But one of the fairy princesses did come by. The girls got to make a wish and they were sprinkled with magic dust and their wish was granted.
I did take them over by the tree to get a picture. Here is one of the cute ones.
.
I ordered Apple Cider Roasted Acorn Squash and Wild Rice Salad. Apparently I had never had roasted Acorn Squash. It looked ODD when I got it, but it tasted pretty good.
It was a long day. We got on the road a little before 3. We had to take the kids back to Elgin, then head home. Deb and I were exhausted.
Dinner tonight was the big Salad I had made for yesterday and the chili. (Star Wars day derailed the normal weekday meals). I was surprised that 7 or 8 days later the lettuce was still good. I could tell that it was the last day it would be good, so I am glad I ate it when I did. Tomorrow we have lunch plans with some of Deb's college friends, then we are seeing our god daughter in The Nutcracker.
Friday, December 18, 2015
STAR WARS!!!!
Today can best be classified as a strange eating day.
Since most of our team was going to the movie at 11:30, they decided that we would get no REAL work done, so they brought in breakfast and let us play games.
They catered in from Jason's Deli. There was fruit (Pineapple, Strawberries, Grapes and sliced Apples). They also had small breakfast wraps which had egg, mushroom, onions and spinach. There may have been more, but I identified only those ingredients.
We left around 11 to go see Star Wars, and afterwards we stopped at Lucky Monk to discuss to movie. There I had a Fallen Angle beer (they brew it there) we ordered the pretzel appetizer. I was hungry, so I had 1 with some of the dipping sauces they provide.
Since most of our team was going to the movie at 11:30, they decided that we would get no REAL work done, so they brought in breakfast and let us play games.
They catered in from Jason's Deli. There was fruit (Pineapple, Strawberries, Grapes and sliced Apples). They also had small breakfast wraps which had egg, mushroom, onions and spinach. There may have been more, but I identified only those ingredients.
We left around 11 to go see Star Wars, and afterwards we stopped at Lucky Monk to discuss to movie. There I had a Fallen Angle beer (they brew it there) we ordered the pretzel appetizer. I was hungry, so I had 1 with some of the dipping sauces they provide.
We had dinner plans with Karen and Roger (our old neighbors, who now live in Seattle). We went to WildFire. I was going to have the chopped salad, but I saw that it had chicken in it, so I opted for just a plate of roasted veggies. I was a decent amount of food
I did steal a SMALL bite of the KeyLime Pie that was part of Deb's dessert.
We put up the Christmas tree tonight, and I had a banana as my dessert.
So even though I was in lots of places where I could have been BAD, I made the sensible choices and did not over eat.
Hackneys for a salad
Last day of Java class today for me. Had time for breakfast this morning. Last night I had made some "overnight oatmeal" from a recipe in Fuhrman's book. It calls for letting the oatmeal set over night in the fridge. In the morning it is more of a pudding type consistency. Had it with blueberries.
Lunch was an apple and the salad. I remembered the cashews today, so it was more filling.
This evening Deb had her follow up with her doctor. He examined the stitches and he said everything was going GREAT. She still cannot lift over 20 lbs, cannot work out and cannot go in pool. She has a follow up in a month. But great news.
Dinner with Gramps was at Hackney's, they had a Strawberry Spinach salad on the menu. It was small, but it had a nice dressing and had candied walnuts in it. So when I got home tonight I heated up some of the chili.
Tomorrow is STAR WARS day!!!! So not sure how that is going to impact my food. Also, former neighbors of ours are in town, so we are going to WildFire for dinner. So it may be a weird day.
Lunch was an apple and the salad. I remembered the cashews today, so it was more filling.
This evening Deb had her follow up with her doctor. He examined the stitches and he said everything was going GREAT. She still cannot lift over 20 lbs, cannot work out and cannot go in pool. She has a follow up in a month. But great news.
Dinner with Gramps was at Hackney's, they had a Strawberry Spinach salad on the menu. It was small, but it had a nice dressing and had candied walnuts in it. So when I got home tonight I heated up some of the chili.
Tomorrow is STAR WARS day!!!! So not sure how that is going to impact my food. Also, former neighbors of ours are in town, so we are going to WildFire for dinner. So it may be a weird day.
Wednesday, December 16, 2015
Squash and Zucchini
This is becoming a pattern, but I was later than I wanted heading in to work, so just had to grab 2 apples.
At lunch I had a meeting for half of it, so was only able to eat my salad. Which takes 20 minutes to eat, it is so big.
Had an orange for an afternoon snack.
Dinner was some of the chili. This batch is spicier, since I put in 2 jalapeños instead of 1. I LOVE spicy food. Along with dinner I remembered that I had some veggies in the fridge, so I decided to water sauté them.
At lunch I had a meeting for half of it, so was only able to eat my salad. Which takes 20 minutes to eat, it is so big.
Had an orange for an afternoon snack.
Dinner was some of the chili. This batch is spicier, since I put in 2 jalapeños instead of 1. I LOVE spicy food. Along with dinner I remembered that I had some veggies in the fridge, so I decided to water sauté them.
I added some Mrs Dash seasoning and some Balsamic Vinegar and ended up with
It is frightening how much I enjoy bowls of veggies. I have baby bok choi that I will be making on Friday. Tomorrow night I am taking Deb for her post surgery follow up. She has been doing GREAT. So I hope tomorrow will be great news. After the Dr appointment in Evanston, we will be going to dinner with Deb's grandfather in Glenview. I get to pick, so I will see what I can come up with.
After bowling snack was another smoothie. Here are 2 pictures of the blender.
I added some cocoa powder to the smoothie. That was a mistake. Deb pointed out that somehow it made the smoothie smell like a band-aid and she was right. Now I know. No chocolate in the smoothie.
Tuesday, December 15, 2015
Short post today
Still in class this week, so breakfast was 2 bananas (they are starting to turn brown, so needed to eat them before they became MUSH)
Took a big salad and chili for lunch. Had an apple and an orange for a snack.
During the day I got an email letting me know that my blender was available for pickup. I was not expecting it until Thursday, so this was a good surprise.
Got it home and decided to use up the last 2 bananas I had along with some frozen strawberries I had to make a smoothie for Deb and me. There is a smoothie button on the blender. So in went the 2 cups of almond milk, the 2 cups of frozen strawberries and 2 bananas. Push the button and 40 seconds later (after the blender had gone through 4 stages) came a silky smooth drink. Both Deb and I really enjoyed it.
Dinner tonight was 3 veggie burgers. No more new ones, so no pictures.
I will take a picture of the blender tomorrow. It came with a recipe book as well, I briefly looked at that.
Now off to add some veggie cookbooks to my christmas list.
Took a big salad and chili for lunch. Had an apple and an orange for a snack.
During the day I got an email letting me know that my blender was available for pickup. I was not expecting it until Thursday, so this was a good surprise.
Got it home and decided to use up the last 2 bananas I had along with some frozen strawberries I had to make a smoothie for Deb and me. There is a smoothie button on the blender. So in went the 2 cups of almond milk, the 2 cups of frozen strawberries and 2 bananas. Push the button and 40 seconds later (after the blender had gone through 4 stages) came a silky smooth drink. Both Deb and I really enjoyed it.
Dinner tonight was 3 veggie burgers. No more new ones, so no pictures.
I will take a picture of the blender tomorrow. It came with a recipe book as well, I briefly looked at that.
Now off to add some veggie cookbooks to my christmas list.
Monday, December 14, 2015
Chick'n patties and LA fitness
At work I am taking a class this week and I had not done any of the class pre work, so I had to go in to work early, so I just grabbed 2 bananas for breakfast. For lunch I brought in one of the pre made "salads" and a chili. As promised yesterday, here is a picture.
I did not bring a big enough bowl, so I had to mix up the salad in the bag and dig in to pull out a bowl sized portion. I ended up with over 3 "normal" salad bowls full. So this led me back shopping to find bigger storage tupperware. I first went to Walmart, where I had to return the onion chopper I bought YESTERDAY, since it was plastic and broke while I was trying to dice my second onion. Thankfully the return process at Walmart was a breeze, they took back the broken onion chopper and the corresponding unopened slicer (same company, cheap plastic) I returned the slicer since I figured it would probably break anyway. Took me only about 2 minutes to do the return.
Walmart did not really have anything that I liked. My co-worked Bryan had suggested that I check out Gordon Food Services on Golf for bulk Veggie burgers. So I figured, MAYBE they have something I could uses. I was in luck, they had 3 packs of GIANT storage containers for $4, so I bought 2. The salads are now resting in their new plastic containers in the fridge.
Tonight's dinner was the remaining 3 veggie burgers that I had purchased a week ago. The 3 were morning star Buffalo Chik, morning star Spicy Black Bean and boca original Chik'n
All 3 were really good. The buffalo patty was pretty spicy.
After dinner I wanted to try out my new LA Fitness membership. So I went over to use the pool. They have a 25 meter pool, that is "heated". (it wasn't very warm, but that is what I wanted). All I did was laps, walking laps, but laps. It took me about a minute to walk the length (I was not trying to work up a sweat, just wanted to be in the pool), so I did 10 laps, then I went into the HotTub for 5 minutes then from there spent 5 minutes in the Sauna. Then back to the pool. If I thought the water felt cold the first time, it felt REALY cold after 10 minutes in the heat.
Tomorrow will be a lot like today. Maybe I will have time for oatmeal breakfast though.
I did not bring a big enough bowl, so I had to mix up the salad in the bag and dig in to pull out a bowl sized portion. I ended up with over 3 "normal" salad bowls full. So this led me back shopping to find bigger storage tupperware. I first went to Walmart, where I had to return the onion chopper I bought YESTERDAY, since it was plastic and broke while I was trying to dice my second onion. Thankfully the return process at Walmart was a breeze, they took back the broken onion chopper and the corresponding unopened slicer (same company, cheap plastic) I returned the slicer since I figured it would probably break anyway. Took me only about 2 minutes to do the return. Walmart did not really have anything that I liked. My co-worked Bryan had suggested that I check out Gordon Food Services on Golf for bulk Veggie burgers. So I figured, MAYBE they have something I could uses. I was in luck, they had 3 packs of GIANT storage containers for $4, so I bought 2. The salads are now resting in their new plastic containers in the fridge.
Tonight's dinner was the remaining 3 veggie burgers that I had purchased a week ago. The 3 were morning star Buffalo Chik, morning star Spicy Black Bean and boca original Chik'n
All 3 were really good. The buffalo patty was pretty spicy.
After dinner I wanted to try out my new LA Fitness membership. So I went over to use the pool. They have a 25 meter pool, that is "heated". (it wasn't very warm, but that is what I wanted). All I did was laps, walking laps, but laps. It took me about a minute to walk the length (I was not trying to work up a sweat, just wanted to be in the pool), so I did 10 laps, then I went into the HotTub for 5 minutes then from there spent 5 minutes in the Sauna. Then back to the pool. If I thought the water felt cold the first time, it felt REALY cold after 10 minutes in the heat.
Tomorrow will be a lot like today. Maybe I will have time for oatmeal breakfast though.
Chili, I bought a blender AND we joined a health club
Today was the christmas kids program at my little sister's church. Check out Deb's Facebook post for 2 ADORABLE pictures of the girls. With that being said, it meant that today was going to be another not just stay at home day. Her church is on Randal road between Elgin and St Charles.
Deb wanted to do some christmas shopping for my other sister's 2 girls. They wanted stuff from Aeropastle and Pink. Both of which are in Geneva commons. So that sets the stage for what is to follow.
After church we went to Village Squire in Elgin. They had a Strawberry Walnut salad with balsamic. But do you think lunch can be that simple. NO! Jason (my Brother in law) ordered Saganaki. (OOOOMPA!!!) It keeps haunting me. Today I had a piece that was probably half the size of the piece I had the other night, but flaming cheese is going to get me every time!
After lunch we started our running our errands. This took us near a Petco. I needed kitty litter, so I went in. Deb suggested I pick up something for Allie. This is what I found.
That big container in front is 2 large onions chopped. The left is the garlic powder, cumin and oregano. The green stuff is 2 chopped up jalapeños. The right is about 12 cloves of garlic chopped up. All in all it took probably 75 minutes to cook the chili. Bigger batch meant longer until things browned or came to a boil. Since there were many times along the way where I had a 10 minute wait for things to cook, I made my lunch salads for the week. I had Red lettuce, Kale and Romaine. So I split them evenly up into 5, I also had some raspberries and black berries. The two together got there own 5 tupperware containers. I sautéed some mushrooms as well and split them out into their own 5 containers. Then I measured out 5 containers of balsamic vinegar and flax seed that will be the dressing. ((I will take a picture of these tomorrow))
The chili made enough for Deb and I tonight and it made about 12 other 2 1/2 big soup ladleful sized portions. It was fun putting together the 12 bags. I wish I had take a picture of them all laid out, but I did not!! Again I will add it to the lunch picture tomorrow.
Last but not least.... I watched about 10 - 12 youtube review videos on all the different blenders out there. What I finally picked was from Walmart.
I bought it refurbished, since all the videos seemed to point out that most new blenders may have an issue and need to be sent in. If you buy refurbished, then you know you basically have a hand made blender that has been thoroughly tested. It should be here by Friday.
Deb wanted to do some christmas shopping for my other sister's 2 girls. They wanted stuff from Aeropastle and Pink. Both of which are in Geneva commons. So that sets the stage for what is to follow.
After church we went to Village Squire in Elgin. They had a Strawberry Walnut salad with balsamic. But do you think lunch can be that simple. NO! Jason (my Brother in law) ordered Saganaki. (OOOOMPA!!!) It keeps haunting me. Today I had a piece that was probably half the size of the piece I had the other night, but flaming cheese is going to get me every time!
After lunch we started our running our errands. This took us near a Petco. I needed kitty litter, so I went in. Deb suggested I pick up something for Allie. This is what I found.
She looks extremely cute!!
After shopping we went to check out LA Fitness in Hanover Park. Let me say it was the nicest experience I have ever had going to look at a fitness place. Normally there is some muscle head who wants to tell us FAT people what HE can do to whip us in to shape. When all Deb wants is Zumba classes and a recumbent bike and all I want is a pool. David was the person that helped us and asked us what we wanted out of our fitness goal. When we mentioned our 2 wants, he stopped his questioning and said, ok lets go look at the pool and the zumba room. They have a 4 lane 25 meter pool. The locker room has a sauna and there is a whirl pool next to the pool. All it is missing is a steam room. After looking at the zumba room, I thought I heard the bouncing of basket ball. I did. They have a regulation size basket ball court that is wide enough to have side by side volleyball in it. Apparently there is 1 volleyball night. They also have 4 or 5 racquetball courts. I have not played that in forever, but I used to like it. So it had EVERYTHING I wanted (and more). We ended up signing up. I may even go there tomorrow!!!
I knew I wanted to make chili today, so I needed some storage stuff for the DOUBLE batch I was going to make. So we stopped at Walmart. There I picked up Freezer bags, figure it is easier to store stuff in bags versus jars. I did buy a dozen mason jars, incase I ever want to use them.
Finally home around 7:30 NOW I can start my cooking. I love the chili, so I decided to make a double batch. Wisely I cut up and measured out EVERYTHING before I even started. Here is what the BEFORE picture looked like
That big container in front is 2 large onions chopped. The left is the garlic powder, cumin and oregano. The green stuff is 2 chopped up jalapeños. The right is about 12 cloves of garlic chopped up. All in all it took probably 75 minutes to cook the chili. Bigger batch meant longer until things browned or came to a boil. Since there were many times along the way where I had a 10 minute wait for things to cook, I made my lunch salads for the week. I had Red lettuce, Kale and Romaine. So I split them evenly up into 5, I also had some raspberries and black berries. The two together got there own 5 tupperware containers. I sautéed some mushrooms as well and split them out into their own 5 containers. Then I measured out 5 containers of balsamic vinegar and flax seed that will be the dressing. ((I will take a picture of these tomorrow))
The chili made enough for Deb and I tonight and it made about 12 other 2 1/2 big soup ladleful sized portions. It was fun putting together the 12 bags. I wish I had take a picture of them all laid out, but I did not!! Again I will add it to the lunch picture tomorrow.
Last but not least.... I watched about 10 - 12 youtube review videos on all the different blenders out there. What I finally picked was from Walmart.
| Blendtec 1560 Watt Total Blender Classic with Wild Side Jar Refurbished | $249.00 |
WOW Another long one.
Sunday, December 13, 2015
Weigh in #2
Stepped on the scale this morning. Not expecting another 15 pound loss. But hoping to NOT see something that I had seen too often. I did not want to see a 3 as the first digit of my weight. So timidly I stepped on the scale and.....
I hope that I can say Saturday December 12, 2015 was the LAST DAY EVER that my weight would be over 300 pounds.
I am excited that the weight is coming off, but more excited about how good I feel and how much I enjoy eating food that is good for me and good tasting
Saturday, December 12, 2015
Bulls Game
Apparently weekends are going to be an adventure in eating. Hard to make home cooked meals when you are not at home!!
We had lunch plans with Deb's 101 year old grandfather. We picked him up and went to his country club (North Shore CC in Glenview). He was so excited about the Cubs signing of Heyward. He is amazing. He probably knows as much about the Cubs as I do, and he actually knew more about the Bulls this year than I do. He still gets around great. And is sharp as a tack!!!
Luckily they had a Bibb salad on the menu. It had lettuce, baby spinach, radish and some other veggies. It came with a vinegrette dressing. I LOVE the rolls they bring to the table, but I was able to NOT have one. I decided to have coffee for my drink. Did not want iced tea, I guess.
Late afternoon came along and I was still hungry, so I had a banana.
We went to the Bulls game with another couple and decided that eating at the UC was the easiest option. The UC has stepped up the food choices since last year. The location right by our seats had burgers and hot dogs. They had a veggie burger option. So that is what I ordered. It came on a bun with Cheese, Lettuce, Tomato and Onion. It was EXTREMELY tasted. So much so that I tried to find out what kind it was. Turns out that Levy (the company that runs the food at UC) makes it on their own. It is a shame, because I would probably buy a lot of them. Bottled water was my drink. And that is it. I did not go to the concession stand right next to the burger, the one selling cupcakes and other sweets. I fought of the urge to do that. So I did not eat a lot today. But the choices I made were good ones (and the things I did NOT choose were an even better good choice)
At times it is hard to talk about this change I am making. People naturally ask, "what about fish?" or "would you still eat chicken?". I have to keep answering that for now it is still new, and for a while I REALLY want to stick to the items the book suggests. Not to say that I would never eat meat of any kind again. But the best and easiest for me now is to avoid them.
Tomorrow is a christmas play at church for my little sister's 2 girls. Not sure if we are planning food afterwards. So again tomorrow will be a new challange.
We had lunch plans with Deb's 101 year old grandfather. We picked him up and went to his country club (North Shore CC in Glenview). He was so excited about the Cubs signing of Heyward. He is amazing. He probably knows as much about the Cubs as I do, and he actually knew more about the Bulls this year than I do. He still gets around great. And is sharp as a tack!!!
Luckily they had a Bibb salad on the menu. It had lettuce, baby spinach, radish and some other veggies. It came with a vinegrette dressing. I LOVE the rolls they bring to the table, but I was able to NOT have one. I decided to have coffee for my drink. Did not want iced tea, I guess.
Late afternoon came along and I was still hungry, so I had a banana.
We went to the Bulls game with another couple and decided that eating at the UC was the easiest option. The UC has stepped up the food choices since last year. The location right by our seats had burgers and hot dogs. They had a veggie burger option. So that is what I ordered. It came on a bun with Cheese, Lettuce, Tomato and Onion. It was EXTREMELY tasted. So much so that I tried to find out what kind it was. Turns out that Levy (the company that runs the food at UC) makes it on their own. It is a shame, because I would probably buy a lot of them. Bottled water was my drink. And that is it. I did not go to the concession stand right next to the burger, the one selling cupcakes and other sweets. I fought of the urge to do that. So I did not eat a lot today. But the choices I made were good ones (and the things I did NOT choose were an even better good choice)
At times it is hard to talk about this change I am making. People naturally ask, "what about fish?" or "would you still eat chicken?". I have to keep answering that for now it is still new, and for a while I REALLY want to stick to the items the book suggests. Not to say that I would never eat meat of any kind again. But the best and easiest for me now is to avoid them.
Tomorrow is a christmas play at church for my little sister's 2 girls. Not sure if we are planning food afterwards. So again tomorrow will be a new challange.
Friday, December 11, 2015
Restaurant food
I knew that we were going to be going to dinner tonight, so I tried to eat a little less for breakfast and lunch. So all I took to work was 2 bananas, 2 oranges and an apple. I decided after the apple, banana and orange for breakfast and morning snack, that I needed something else for lunch. So I went to the cafeteria a got a small salad. Then when I got home after work, I was still a little hungry, so I had the banana and an orange. Hoping that this would keep me from overeating at dinner.
We were going out to celebrate Deb's brother's birthday. We went to St Charles Place on North Ave in (surprisingly) St Charles. There was a mix up when they seated our party and it was almost 10 minutes before we grabbed a waitress to ask WHO would be waiting on us. Because of that the restaurant brought us a free appetizer. The problem is that the free appetizer was saganaki (which happens to be one of my favorites). So I "cheated" and had a small piece. (Can't pass up flaming cheese!!!!). There was 1 extra piece left, normally I would have JUMPED across the table to get at it, but today, I passed. So I started to look at the menu and see what I could have. I saw that they had a vegetable platter, so that is what I ordered. It came with a salad, which I ordered with balsamic vinegar dressing. I did NOT have any dinner rolls (that was hard to do). I asked for the veggies to be done without oil (hard to tell if that was the case) but here is what it looked like
We were going out to celebrate Deb's brother's birthday. We went to St Charles Place on North Ave in (surprisingly) St Charles. There was a mix up when they seated our party and it was almost 10 minutes before we grabbed a waitress to ask WHO would be waiting on us. Because of that the restaurant brought us a free appetizer. The problem is that the free appetizer was saganaki (which happens to be one of my favorites). So I "cheated" and had a small piece. (Can't pass up flaming cheese!!!!). There was 1 extra piece left, normally I would have JUMPED across the table to get at it, but today, I passed. So I started to look at the menu and see what I could have. I saw that they had a vegetable platter, so that is what I ordered. It came with a salad, which I ordered with balsamic vinegar dressing. I did NOT have any dinner rolls (that was hard to do). I asked for the veggies to be done without oil (hard to tell if that was the case) but here is what it looked like
It smelled so good, it had mushrooms, onions, roasted pepper, asparagus, green beans and a browned apple. (some other things in there that I could not identify). I also came with a sauce, which I should have skipped, but tasted too good to not use. I gobbled it up and REALLY enjoyed it. That is such a GOOD feeling to say that I did not feel cheated. I also want to give a shout out to Deb, she ordered a strawberry and spinach salad. She said she really liked it.
Then it came time for DESSERT. I had hoped they had a berry dish or something but they did not. They did have Key Lime pie, Beignets, and carrot cake. (all on the list of desserts I love). I did not order anything (neither did Deb), but someone ordered carrot cake for the table, because she said it was the BEST!!!. They passed it around, and who was I to pass up the BEST carrot cake. I took about half a forkful, and I have to say it was AMAZING. I did not go for anymore bites. Trying to learn to not cheat myself, enjoy my flaming cheese, savor a bite of cake. Life is too short to avoid everything, but eating a plate of veggies and being satisfied, is a great feeling!!!
Company christmas party
Today started out like any day in the past week and a half of this new way of eating.
I did not want to get out of bad (maybe that was due to the fact that it was after 2 AM that I had GONE to bed in the first place). So because of that I was not able to eat breakfast at home. So I measured out my oatmeal, chia seeds, cinnamon, and almond milk. Packed them all up in a bag. Then I put together what was intended to be my lunch and snacks. The last of my chili (big sad face that I will not have any of that tomorrow) an apple, an orange and 2 bananas.
Once I got to work, I remembered that today was the day of our company christmas party..... I made my oatmeal and ate it during my 9 am meeting (I get to be on the phone for that, so no-one saw that I was eating). Our party was not until 1 PM so I figured I would have time to eat lunch before the party and therefore not be tempted by any food they had out there. Well I ended up getting busy chasing down a minor issue with a program I had changed last month. Next thing you know it is 12:55 and everyone else in the office has already left to go to the party. Oh well, no lunch for me, hopefully they will have stuff for me to eat.
I was in luck, the snacks before lunch were veggies (broccoli, carrots, zucchini) so I ate some of those. Confession ---- I did cheat and have some ranch dressing. (promise you won't tell). They had the hot trays laid out with labels before the food was out. I saw Veggie Empanadas, and Veggie Eggrolls. So that is what I had. Probably had a few too many, but I definitely did NOT pig out by any means. The other options I that I did not choose were, sliders (pulled pork, chicken or hamburger) Beef Empanadas, and 3 different kinds of little bite sized pizzas. So given the fact that the old me would have had 2 or 3 of EACH of the above offerings, I feel good about ONLY have a few to many egg rolls. These were tiny little 2 bite sized egg rolls.
When I got home tonight and thought about what kind of salad should I make, I remembered that I had the chili and fruit that was supposed to be my lunch. So that is what I ate.
WOW that is a lot of stuff, and all I did was talk about food. Well there is more to my evening.
As I prepare these home cooked meals now, most of them make more than 1 serving, so I have been putting them in containers and either freezing them or just putting them in fridge for the next day. Well we were like most families in that we had a "tupperwear" drawer of lids and containers of various sizes. We actually had 2 drawers. Well it seemed that I could NEVER find the correct lid for the container I found. So I emptied them BOTH out onto the island and went about finding homes for all the lids. Much to my surprise I only ended up with 3 lids without a container to match and 4 bowls without a lid (but I think some of them may be the SAME as others that did find a lid). Either way I decided that I had the space to put all the lids on the containers, and store them as a set. Here are the results.
I did not want to get out of bad (maybe that was due to the fact that it was after 2 AM that I had GONE to bed in the first place). So because of that I was not able to eat breakfast at home. So I measured out my oatmeal, chia seeds, cinnamon, and almond milk. Packed them all up in a bag. Then I put together what was intended to be my lunch and snacks. The last of my chili (big sad face that I will not have any of that tomorrow) an apple, an orange and 2 bananas.
Once I got to work, I remembered that today was the day of our company christmas party..... I made my oatmeal and ate it during my 9 am meeting (I get to be on the phone for that, so no-one saw that I was eating). Our party was not until 1 PM so I figured I would have time to eat lunch before the party and therefore not be tempted by any food they had out there. Well I ended up getting busy chasing down a minor issue with a program I had changed last month. Next thing you know it is 12:55 and everyone else in the office has already left to go to the party. Oh well, no lunch for me, hopefully they will have stuff for me to eat.
I was in luck, the snacks before lunch were veggies (broccoli, carrots, zucchini) so I ate some of those. Confession ---- I did cheat and have some ranch dressing. (promise you won't tell). They had the hot trays laid out with labels before the food was out. I saw Veggie Empanadas, and Veggie Eggrolls. So that is what I had. Probably had a few too many, but I definitely did NOT pig out by any means. The other options I that I did not choose were, sliders (pulled pork, chicken or hamburger) Beef Empanadas, and 3 different kinds of little bite sized pizzas. So given the fact that the old me would have had 2 or 3 of EACH of the above offerings, I feel good about ONLY have a few to many egg rolls. These were tiny little 2 bite sized egg rolls.
When I got home tonight and thought about what kind of salad should I make, I remembered that I had the chili and fruit that was supposed to be my lunch. So that is what I ate.
WOW that is a lot of stuff, and all I did was talk about food. Well there is more to my evening.
As I prepare these home cooked meals now, most of them make more than 1 serving, so I have been putting them in containers and either freezing them or just putting them in fridge for the next day. Well we were like most families in that we had a "tupperwear" drawer of lids and containers of various sizes. We actually had 2 drawers. Well it seemed that I could NEVER find the correct lid for the container I found. So I emptied them BOTH out onto the island and went about finding homes for all the lids. Much to my surprise I only ended up with 3 lids without a container to match and 4 bowls without a lid (but I think some of them may be the SAME as others that did find a lid). Either way I decided that I had the space to put all the lids on the containers, and store them as a set. Here are the results.
This will be SOOOOOO nice to just be able to reach in and grab a container that has a lid already attached to it!!!
A talk I had today at work about the PAIN it is to keep having to clean measuring cups in the middle of food prep, led a friend of mine to tell me that she has 3 or 4 sets of them for just that reason. So off to Bed Bath and Beyond for me!!!!
I am WEIRD about money. There are times that I can go gambling and lose $100 in 10 minutes and be like "Oh Well" then there are other times, at the race track, where I will hem and haw about whether to spend $6 on a hot dog , or would I be better off getting the $8 pizza. Mind you I may have bet (and lost) over $40 on the last race...
The reason I went on that tangent was to explain that NOTHING was purchased at BB&B, because I was not going to pay $8 for EITHER of these items.
So I just ended up walking around the store and taking pictures of the stuff I did NOT buy.
Side note, tonight Deb and I went to Target and I found a set of 8 measuring cups and spoons for $2.19, so I bought 2 of them!! Now I am about to go look online for CHEAP measuring cups!
Apparently someone put an EXTRA quarter in me, since I have MORE!!!! (I know, what else could there be???)
I have been talked DOWN from the $400 blender, the same person who advised me to get more than 1 of everything told me that she uses a set that cost her around $200. So now I am thinking in that direction.
Hopefully I have distracted you all long enough. Happy Friday!!!
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Veggie Burgers
This morning was oatmeal, cinnamon and raisins. I was running late, so did not have a chance to be fancy.
Lunch was chili and an orange. Snacks during the day were 2 apples.
After work I decided to see how much more expensive Jewel was compared to Valli. They were considerably more expensive for most things. Some were a little less, but now I know to just go to Valli.
I picked up ingredients to make the chili again. I also picked up some more mushrooms, apples, oranges and bananas. I decided to venture into some new foods as well. I picked up squash, zucchini, avocado and eggplant. Not sure what I am going to do with these, but I will figure it out.
To ease my daily prepping of food, I decided to pick up some veggie burgers. I ended up buying 6 different kinds (actually 2 of the were "chicken" patties, not "hamburgers")
For dinner I tried 3 of them
Lunch was chili and an orange. Snacks during the day were 2 apples.
After work I decided to see how much more expensive Jewel was compared to Valli. They were considerably more expensive for most things. Some were a little less, but now I know to just go to Valli.
I picked up ingredients to make the chili again. I also picked up some more mushrooms, apples, oranges and bananas. I decided to venture into some new foods as well. I picked up squash, zucchini, avocado and eggplant. Not sure what I am going to do with these, but I will figure it out.
To ease my daily prepping of food, I decided to pick up some veggie burgers. I ended up buying 6 different kinds (actually 2 of the were "chicken" patties, not "hamburgers")
For dinner I tried 3 of them
My first thoughts as pulling each 1 out of the package.
Roasted Garlic - was dark, looked like a bean burger, could see other veggies
Boca All American - looked like a light hamburger
Grillers original - this looked like a McDonald's sausage patty.
The suggestion was to microwave or cook in skillet for 8 - 10 minutes. I chose the skillet to get the better results. I cooked them for 9 minutes, 3 minutes per side, then 1 1/2 minutes per side.
I decided I should prep with some Ketchup, to "enhance" the flavor.
The Boca is on left, Grillers in center and Roasted Garlic on right.
Taste/Favor comments
Boca - had a slight meaty taste, but had the texture of a chicken patty
Grilliers - this tasted like a McDonald's burger. Had a meaty enough taste
Garlic - this was a little crunchy and tasted like beans (I don't think this is trying to pretend to be anything other than what it is) I did like the spices in them
All in All, I am happy with all 3 of them. Next time I will probably eat with Lettuce, onions and mushrooms on it to give it some more.
Tonight was bowling night, so between store and grilling, I was running late and no time for dessert.
After bowling I made a pudding of dates, cocoa, vanilla and avocado. It is chilling overnight in the fridge. I will be having that tomorrow.
Tuesday, December 8, 2015
$400+ blender?????
Today was a day to eat up the last of what I had bought my 2 trips to the grocery store. So pretty much the same menu.
Breakfast banana and the rest of the chia oatmeal (I really liked that) I guess I like blackberries.
Lunch was an orange and some more chili (Still really liking it. Will be making again this weekend)
Dinner was a simple salad with Romaine, Walnuts, Balsamic Vinegar and Flax Seed.
Snacks during the day were an apple and a banana.
I did spend some time today looking at High Powered Blenders. I cannot believe I am looking at spending over $400 on a blender. If anyone has purchased these monsters and has recommendations, I would be happy to hear them. Currently I am thinking that I will buy the Blendtec 625 model. Seems to be the one out there that will do what I need and has some cool bells and whistles.
Since I am out of food (basically) I will have to do some shopping tomorrow. I think I am going to buy some remade Veggie burgers. I need something that does not take me 20+ minutes of chopping and cooking and cleaning.
Anyone with store bought suggestions (low sodium, probably gluten free) please feel free to comment.
Pictures tomorrow of my shopping conquest.
Breakfast banana and the rest of the chia oatmeal (I really liked that) I guess I like blackberries.
Lunch was an orange and some more chili (Still really liking it. Will be making again this weekend)
Dinner was a simple salad with Romaine, Walnuts, Balsamic Vinegar and Flax Seed.
Snacks during the day were an apple and a banana.
I did spend some time today looking at High Powered Blenders. I cannot believe I am looking at spending over $400 on a blender. If anyone has purchased these monsters and has recommendations, I would be happy to hear them. Currently I am thinking that I will buy the Blendtec 625 model. Seems to be the one out there that will do what I need and has some cool bells and whistles.
Since I am out of food (basically) I will have to do some shopping tomorrow. I think I am going to buy some remade Veggie burgers. I need something that does not take me 20+ minutes of chopping and cooking and cleaning.
Anyone with store bought suggestions (low sodium, probably gluten free) please feel free to comment.
Pictures tomorrow of my shopping conquest.
Monday, December 7, 2015
Follow up with the Doctor
Today was the day I got my BEFORE numbers from the doctor. They were not good, they had gotten worse from when I had seen him a little over a month prior. That was to be expected. I had eaten like a pig up to the cruise and then kicked the bad eating into high gear on the cruise!!
The numbers that were bad were
Hemoglobin A1c 6.1% anything over 5.7% is a warning for Diabetes. 6.5% is where it IS diabetes.
AST 75 (should be 10-40)
ALT 69 (should be 9-46) Both of those are liver indicators, they have been high for a while
Cholesterol 202 (should be 125-200) I am on medication to get it DOWN to this level
HDL 27 (should be greater than 40) This is the "GOOD" cholesterol.
Triglycerides 266 (should be less that 150) that is the fat in your blood <<< this is the scary number
I told my doctor about the food changes I have made and he wanted to see me again in 6 weeks. There are certain vitamins and minerals that this diet may cause me to lack, so we want to watch that.
He has been my doctor through the 2 times I had lost a lot of weight before, so he knows I am capable, I just need to stick to it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now on to the food for the day
Last night I made some oatmeal to set overnight. It came out like a pudding, it was really good. I ate it with blackberries. I also had a banana.
For lunch I heated up some of the chili I had from yesterday. It still tasted just as good.
I also had an orange.
So that was not much food. After entering that into the MyFitnessPal app, it showed that I had only had about 875 calories. No wonder I was hungry for dinner!!!
I had some Baby Bok Choy that I wanted to make. So I steamed them in my Pampered Chef steamer for 3 minutes. In the mean time I made a glaze of soy sauce and some sautéd garlic. It was really good.
The soup was called Boston Pea Soup. I followed the direction for everything EXCEPT the amount of peas. It called for 10 oz, but the bag I had was 16 oz. I did not realize until the soup was cooking for 5 minutes. So the soup came out a little too runny and with too much of a pea taste. (I ended up having to crumble in some pretzels just to give it some crunch) I will be making some crackers from another recipe, so after I do that, I think the soup can be salvaged. I ate 1/3 of it. Put the rest in 2 containers in the freezer.
So dinner not too much of a success, so I made myself a Strawberry, Banana and cocoa smoothie. THAT saved the day.
All told I ended up at almost 1,500 calories.
The numbers that were bad were
Hemoglobin A1c 6.1% anything over 5.7% is a warning for Diabetes. 6.5% is where it IS diabetes.
AST 75 (should be 10-40)
ALT 69 (should be 9-46) Both of those are liver indicators, they have been high for a while
Cholesterol 202 (should be 125-200) I am on medication to get it DOWN to this level
HDL 27 (should be greater than 40) This is the "GOOD" cholesterol.
Triglycerides 266 (should be less that 150) that is the fat in your blood <<< this is the scary number
I told my doctor about the food changes I have made and he wanted to see me again in 6 weeks. There are certain vitamins and minerals that this diet may cause me to lack, so we want to watch that.
He has been my doctor through the 2 times I had lost a lot of weight before, so he knows I am capable, I just need to stick to it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now on to the food for the day
Last night I made some oatmeal to set overnight. It came out like a pudding, it was really good. I ate it with blackberries. I also had a banana.
For lunch I heated up some of the chili I had from yesterday. It still tasted just as good.
I also had an orange.
So that was not much food. After entering that into the MyFitnessPal app, it showed that I had only had about 875 calories. No wonder I was hungry for dinner!!!
I had some Baby Bok Choy that I wanted to make. So I steamed them in my Pampered Chef steamer for 3 minutes. In the mean time I made a glaze of soy sauce and some sautéd garlic. It was really good.
The soup was called Boston Pea Soup. I followed the direction for everything EXCEPT the amount of peas. It called for 10 oz, but the bag I had was 16 oz. I did not realize until the soup was cooking for 5 minutes. So the soup came out a little too runny and with too much of a pea taste. (I ended up having to crumble in some pretzels just to give it some crunch) I will be making some crackers from another recipe, so after I do that, I think the soup can be salvaged. I ate 1/3 of it. Put the rest in 2 containers in the freezer.
So dinner not too much of a success, so I made myself a Strawberry, Banana and cocoa smoothie. THAT saved the day.
All told I ended up at almost 1,500 calories.
Sunday, December 6, 2015
Chili - and first official weigh in.
I made the chili today. It was VERY good!!!. Mind you it took about an hour or more to make. I am just not used to cooking stuff for that long. It made enough to serve 6 or 8. I did the calorie calculation using MyFitnessPal and it turns out to be about 275 calories per serving. I will be having 1 more for dinner tonight. I froze the rest to use as lunches this week. I think this will be a Sunday regular thing to make this big pot of chili!
For breakfast this morning, I woke up late, so all I had was a banana and an apple before bowling.
In the afternoon I had a snack of steamed broccoli.
Dinner will also include a nice big salad tonight. I chopped up 2 carrots, a large Orange Pepper, some mushrooms. I also ground up 2 oz walnuts and 1 oz cashew. All tossed with the no cal 1000 island dressing.
But here is the exciting news.... I am trying to limit my weight checking to just Sunday mornings. Focus on the goal of eating healthy and not so much on the weight loss (which I know will come)
I cheated and had weighed myself Friday night and saw a good number.... Well today I saw an AMAZING number.
303
Down 16 pounds (before all of you freak out about that is TOO much) let me remind you that I had just spent a week on a cruise, where I probably added 5-6 lbs of weight, that would have come off. Also in the past when I have dieted it is easy for me to lose 8-10 lbs the first week. I truly do not expect to lose this much every week. At that point I would know something was wrong.
This morning at bowling I was talking to my teammate about what I the weight loss and someone from the next lane was listening in. After I finished, he came over and told me about the MyFitnessPal app (and how he used it to lose over 65 lbs). It is a cool app that allows you to enter all the food you eat and to track your activity. It has a GREAT feature that allows you to scan the UPC code of the food and it pulls in all the info. It also allows you to build your own recipes (and save them) So I was able to enter ALL the ingredients from the chili I made. It calculated the whole nutritional profile. Now any day I eat that, I can just pull it in from the database.
So my calories for today were 1,575. (not sure if there is a banana/strawberry smoothie in my future)
So I am not starving myself. On the contrary, I eat when ever I want and as much as I want.
Sorry to post more big belly pictures, but I want to keep tracking how the tummy looks.
For breakfast this morning, I woke up late, so all I had was a banana and an apple before bowling.
In the afternoon I had a snack of steamed broccoli.
Dinner will also include a nice big salad tonight. I chopped up 2 carrots, a large Orange Pepper, some mushrooms. I also ground up 2 oz walnuts and 1 oz cashew. All tossed with the no cal 1000 island dressing.
But here is the exciting news.... I am trying to limit my weight checking to just Sunday mornings. Focus on the goal of eating healthy and not so much on the weight loss (which I know will come)
I cheated and had weighed myself Friday night and saw a good number.... Well today I saw an AMAZING number.
303
Down 16 pounds (before all of you freak out about that is TOO much) let me remind you that I had just spent a week on a cruise, where I probably added 5-6 lbs of weight, that would have come off. Also in the past when I have dieted it is easy for me to lose 8-10 lbs the first week. I truly do not expect to lose this much every week. At that point I would know something was wrong.
This morning at bowling I was talking to my teammate about what I the weight loss and someone from the next lane was listening in. After I finished, he came over and told me about the MyFitnessPal app (and how he used it to lose over 65 lbs). It is a cool app that allows you to enter all the food you eat and to track your activity. It has a GREAT feature that allows you to scan the UPC code of the food and it pulls in all the info. It also allows you to build your own recipes (and save them) So I was able to enter ALL the ingredients from the chili I made. It calculated the whole nutritional profile. Now any day I eat that, I can just pull it in from the database.
So my calories for today were 1,575. (not sure if there is a banana/strawberry smoothie in my future)
So I am not starving myself. On the contrary, I eat when ever I want and as much as I want.
Sorry to post more big belly pictures, but I want to keep tracking how the tummy looks.
Saturday, December 5, 2015
Visit from the Reese and Zoe!!
Not much new to report today.
Tried a new breakfast oatmeal today. Ended up taking almost 40 minutes to prepare. It called for 3 apples peeled and cored. I could not find the apple peeler, so had to just cut of the skin after I had cored the apple. This was a pain. Also the apple had been in the refrigerator, so I think they took longer to soften up when cooking. It turned out really good. Deb enjoyed hers as well. Now I know to allow extra time (more on this later)
Deb was tired of being cooped up in the house, so I took her to get her nails done. They needed it, since she had taken off her last polish before surgery in case the needed to to remove them for the oxygen monitor. While she was doing that, I got a pedicure, don't judge!! When we were at an all inclusive a couple months ago, we had a free pedicure as part of some massage package we booked, and I really enjoyed it. So I did it again. Deb was done first and wondered what was taking me so long. I told her I was waiting for my nail polish to dry (Okay, maybe now you can judge)
When we got home Deb was asking about how I made the oatmeal and why it took so long! I told her about the apples, she walked over to our utensil drawer and, after some digging, found a peeler. So maybe I will not have to allow as much time!!!
As I have been using the kitchen (basically for the first time in the almost 10 years) I noticed that we had a lot of the same types of kitchen things in 2 or 3 cabinets. I decided that I wanted to organize and put like items together and get the things I will be using all close together. This was kind of fun to find pyrex dishes, cake pans, serving bowls and all sorts of other things that I did not know we had.
I was working on this for about an hour and a half and realized I was HUNGRY. Not wanting to stop and prepare something (and honestly not being ABLE to prepare anything, with the cabinet contents on every flat surface in the kitchen) I just ate 2 oranges. (so no new recipes tried)
This evening my little sister Traycie brought over our nieces to see Aunta Debbie and to wish my 20 year old cat Happy Birthday (Yes, Allie is 20 years old!!!!!)
I knew they were going to be ordering food, so I wanted to just make something simple. So hours before they came over I chopped up a carrot, a small onion, a large orange pepper, and some mushrooms. I put them all in a bowl so that I could just sauté them up when I was hungry. Part of the diet calls for eating beans with the salad. What I decided to do was chop up some walnuts and flax seed and combine it with a cup of garbanzo beans. I blended them all together into a paste.
When it came time for dinner I grabbed some Romaine lettuce and did lettuce wraps again. This time I spread the bean and nut paste on each leaf before I added the veggies. This helped keep everything together. I like the idea of the bean paste. Will probably try that again.
I had some strawberries that were starting to get soft and a browning banana. So I made a smoothie. 1 banana, 6 strawberries, tablespoon of Cocoa powder, 6 chopped walnut halves, 1/4 cup almond milk and 6 ice cubes to chill it. Blended that all up and it was a very nice dessert.
Tomorrow I am going to make the chili after I get home from bowling.
Tried a new breakfast oatmeal today. Ended up taking almost 40 minutes to prepare. It called for 3 apples peeled and cored. I could not find the apple peeler, so had to just cut of the skin after I had cored the apple. This was a pain. Also the apple had been in the refrigerator, so I think they took longer to soften up when cooking. It turned out really good. Deb enjoyed hers as well. Now I know to allow extra time (more on this later)
Deb was tired of being cooped up in the house, so I took her to get her nails done. They needed it, since she had taken off her last polish before surgery in case the needed to to remove them for the oxygen monitor. While she was doing that, I got a pedicure, don't judge!! When we were at an all inclusive a couple months ago, we had a free pedicure as part of some massage package we booked, and I really enjoyed it. So I did it again. Deb was done first and wondered what was taking me so long. I told her I was waiting for my nail polish to dry (Okay, maybe now you can judge)
When we got home Deb was asking about how I made the oatmeal and why it took so long! I told her about the apples, she walked over to our utensil drawer and, after some digging, found a peeler. So maybe I will not have to allow as much time!!!
As I have been using the kitchen (basically for the first time in the almost 10 years) I noticed that we had a lot of the same types of kitchen things in 2 or 3 cabinets. I decided that I wanted to organize and put like items together and get the things I will be using all close together. This was kind of fun to find pyrex dishes, cake pans, serving bowls and all sorts of other things that I did not know we had.
I was working on this for about an hour and a half and realized I was HUNGRY. Not wanting to stop and prepare something (and honestly not being ABLE to prepare anything, with the cabinet contents on every flat surface in the kitchen) I just ate 2 oranges. (so no new recipes tried)
This evening my little sister Traycie brought over our nieces to see Aunta Debbie and to wish my 20 year old cat Happy Birthday (Yes, Allie is 20 years old!!!!!)
I knew they were going to be ordering food, so I wanted to just make something simple. So hours before they came over I chopped up a carrot, a small onion, a large orange pepper, and some mushrooms. I put them all in a bowl so that I could just sauté them up when I was hungry. Part of the diet calls for eating beans with the salad. What I decided to do was chop up some walnuts and flax seed and combine it with a cup of garbanzo beans. I blended them all together into a paste.
When it came time for dinner I grabbed some Romaine lettuce and did lettuce wraps again. This time I spread the bean and nut paste on each leaf before I added the veggies. This helped keep everything together. I like the idea of the bean paste. Will probably try that again.
I had some strawberries that were starting to get soft and a browning banana. So I made a smoothie. 1 banana, 6 strawberries, tablespoon of Cocoa powder, 6 chopped walnut halves, 1/4 cup almond milk and 6 ice cubes to chill it. Blended that all up and it was a very nice dessert.
Tomorrow I am going to make the chili after I get home from bowling.
Friday, December 4, 2015
Back to work!
Deb is getting around much better, so I went in to work, to try to get my life back into a normal weekday pattern. (It had been 2 weeks since I had been there).
Food for the day was some of the same and somethings new.
Breakfast
Oatmeal with a Banana. (I finished all the blueberries I had )
Lunch was the first time I had to bring in something. So I brought
Broccoli, an orange and an apple. I did bring in the No-Cal 1000 Island to dip broccoli in.
Food for the day was some of the same and somethings new.
Breakfast
Oatmeal with a Banana. (I finished all the blueberries I had )
Lunch was the first time I had to bring in something. So I brought
Broccoli, an orange and an apple. I did bring in the No-Cal 1000 Island to dip broccoli in.
That is 1/2 lb of broccoli and a big orange
Dinner, I was not really sure what I was going to do....
So I chopped up a medium onion, a LARGE yellow pepper, 6 or 7 pieces of garlic and a hand full of mushrooms and started to sauté them in a little bit of vegetable oil. I then saw that I had a bunch of lettuce left, so I decided Veggie lettuce wraps sounded good. Right as I was about to take the veggies off the heat I added so low sodium soy sauce for some extra taste.
I was surprised at how much I enjoyed these.
I am thawing the melon smoothie that I made and froze last night. That will be my dessert.
A past co-worker of mine gave me a recipe for veggie chili that I will be making over the weekend (Don't have all the ingredients, so will have to shop) When I taste how great it is, I will ask her if she will let me share it.
I think I am going to go read through the book some more and see if I can find some things for next week.
Thanks to all who continue to give words of encouragement. It helps!!
Thursday, December 3, 2015
SALAD!!!!
So I did make the salad I talked about. Using some of the things from the edible arrangements sent to Deb for her recovery. (She did eat the salad with me, so I did not steal them from her)
I made it with the Strawberries and grapes that Deb had received. I cut them up into quarters. In addition I used my new Veggie cutter to turn a carrot into little spaghetti like strands. I chopped up some walnuts, but A) I chopped them too fine and B) I did not use enough. I used 3 kinds of lettuce, Romaine, Red leaf and Green leaf. I added some Balsamic Vinegar to the whole thing (again, I did not use enough). I topped it all off with some garbanzo beans.
For desert, or maybe for some time tomorrow I also made some Berry-Melon smoothies, using the Cantaloupe from Debs gifts along with some blueberries and some blackberries and some of the green leaf lettuce. I tasted it and it was very fruity. I put it in the freezer to maybe try it chilled.
Deb ate some of the salad and she actually liked it. I will probably be doing something similar tomorrow. Or I have some onions, peppers and mushrooms that I may sauté, and make a little stir fry for myself.
I talked to my friend Karen for awhile about this and the more I talked the more I was reassured again that I am doing this for the right reason. Do I think it will be easy? NO I do not, but I really have enjoyed making my own food and eating simple, but good tasting foods.
Some of the reasons I have decided to do this blog are
a) Document how the transition is going, as it is happening.
b) Keep myself accountable.
c) Inspire others.... Those of you that know me, probably can count me as one of their FATTEST friends. And definitely as one of those that never shyed away from a hamburger and fries. I want to show them that someone like me who would say things like..... "I can't eat that lettuce, it is green, therefore it must be spoiled" or "I don't eat vegetables, my FOOD eats the vegetables and turns them into BACON", is capable of making a dramatic change in the way I think about food.
I have lost over 60 pounds 2 different times in my life and BOTH times not only did I gain it back, but I ballooned up over my previous weight. I never learned moderation. My hope is with this new way of eating, I don't have to worry about that. If I want another Orange, or MORE salad, or more Kale (okay maybe I won't go that far), then it is okay to "pig out" on those foods.
I made it with the Strawberries and grapes that Deb had received. I cut them up into quarters. In addition I used my new Veggie cutter to turn a carrot into little spaghetti like strands. I chopped up some walnuts, but A) I chopped them too fine and B) I did not use enough. I used 3 kinds of lettuce, Romaine, Red leaf and Green leaf. I added some Balsamic Vinegar to the whole thing (again, I did not use enough). I topped it all off with some garbanzo beans.
For desert, or maybe for some time tomorrow I also made some Berry-Melon smoothies, using the Cantaloupe from Debs gifts along with some blueberries and some blackberries and some of the green leaf lettuce. I tasted it and it was very fruity. I put it in the freezer to maybe try it chilled.
Deb ate some of the salad and she actually liked it. I will probably be doing something similar tomorrow. Or I have some onions, peppers and mushrooms that I may sauté, and make a little stir fry for myself.
I talked to my friend Karen for awhile about this and the more I talked the more I was reassured again that I am doing this for the right reason. Do I think it will be easy? NO I do not, but I really have enjoyed making my own food and eating simple, but good tasting foods.
Some of the reasons I have decided to do this blog are
a) Document how the transition is going, as it is happening.
b) Keep myself accountable.
c) Inspire others.... Those of you that know me, probably can count me as one of their FATTEST friends. And definitely as one of those that never shyed away from a hamburger and fries. I want to show them that someone like me who would say things like..... "I can't eat that lettuce, it is green, therefore it must be spoiled" or "I don't eat vegetables, my FOOD eats the vegetables and turns them into BACON", is capable of making a dramatic change in the way I think about food.
I have lost over 60 pounds 2 different times in my life and BOTH times not only did I gain it back, but I ballooned up over my previous weight. I never learned moderation. My hope is with this new way of eating, I don't have to worry about that. If I want another Orange, or MORE salad, or more Kale (okay maybe I won't go that far), then it is okay to "pig out" on those foods.
Veggie Burgers?? and Green Smoothies
Last night for dinner I made the Sunny Bean Burger recipe from the book. The results were "interesting". I ate me 3 patties with LOTS of mustard and catsup. I think I may have cooked them a little too long, so they were a little crunchy. I think I may try it as more of a "meatloaf" next time, with tomato paste and more onions. Oh well it was filling.
This morning I had the oatmeal and blueberries again. This time with a little less almond milk and more cinnamon. I really enjoyed it.
For lunch I decided to try making a Kale smoothie. It called for 5 oz of kale. That is a LOT. Kale is near weightless. I think I used too much. Next time I will do about half that. It also had a banana and raspberries and flax seed and almond milk. Overall it was not that bad. I think if I had frozen the raspberries it would have been better. I added some ice to chill it and it turned out to be not that bad.
I will be hunting around online to find more smoothie recipes.
I think tonight will just be a salad with romaine, green leaf and red leaf lettuce. With some strawberries, walnuts and vinaigrette dressing. (Scary but that sounded yummy as I typed it)
Now there is a lot of fruit coming to my house. 2 of Deb's co-workers sent her an edible arrangement. This is in addition to the 1 she got from the owner of the company. So I think she will have some that she can share with me.
This morning I had the oatmeal and blueberries again. This time with a little less almond milk and more cinnamon. I really enjoyed it.
For lunch I decided to try making a Kale smoothie. It called for 5 oz of kale. That is a LOT. Kale is near weightless. I think I used too much. Next time I will do about half that. It also had a banana and raspberries and flax seed and almond milk. Overall it was not that bad. I think if I had frozen the raspberries it would have been better. I added some ice to chill it and it turned out to be not that bad.
I will be hunting around online to find more smoothie recipes.
I think tonight will just be a salad with romaine, green leaf and red leaf lettuce. With some strawberries, walnuts and vinaigrette dressing. (Scary but that sounded yummy as I typed it)
Now there is a lot of fruit coming to my house. 2 of Deb's co-workers sent her an edible arrangement. This is in addition to the 1 she got from the owner of the company. So I think she will have some that she can share with me.
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
And so it begins.....
I took the day off from work today. Deb is still feeling pain in her right side, so she is not able to get up by herself. So I get to play nurse Jimmy (Which is a roll I love playing. I love to dote on my Wife)
I had blood work this morning at 9. Apparently I was tired, since I went to bed a little after 10 and ,with a few times getting up to help Deb, slept until 8:40. So flew to doctor just in time. After that I went shopping at Valley Produce. Talk about OUT OF MY ELEMENT. I saw dozens of displays of fruits, veggies and greens. I was overwhelmed.
Luckily I had prepared a shopping list. It contained items such as Kale, Almond Milk, Chia Seeds, Dates, Bok Choi and oats. I can honestly say I have NEVER purchased any of those items in my life. So I was on a scavenger hunt for random items.
I finally finished all my shopping. I spent $85 but I was buying large quantities of things that I will need to use repeatedly.
Here is my haul
I had blood work this morning at 9. Apparently I was tired, since I went to bed a little after 10 and ,with a few times getting up to help Deb, slept until 8:40. So flew to doctor just in time. After that I went shopping at Valley Produce. Talk about OUT OF MY ELEMENT. I saw dozens of displays of fruits, veggies and greens. I was overwhelmed.
Luckily I had prepared a shopping list. It contained items such as Kale, Almond Milk, Chia Seeds, Dates, Bok Choi and oats. I can honestly say I have NEVER purchased any of those items in my life. So I was on a scavenger hunt for random items.
I finally finished all my shopping. I spent $85 but I was buying large quantities of things that I will need to use repeatedly.
Here is my haul
In order to put that all away, I had to rearrange the fridge and 1 whole cabinet. I then set out to make breakfast. (which was a true break of fasting, since I had only had an Orange and a Banana since 10 PM Saturday night). Oats were the meal of choice. 1/2 cup oats, 1 cup Almond milk, cinnamon, blueberries and chia seeds. Here are the results
It was pretty good. Not sure if that was because I liked the taste, or that I had not eaten in 84 hours!!
I also have an apple here to eat, but that was pretty filling.
I am concentrating on the HEALTHY eating side of this more than the weight loss, but I know that will happen. So I plan on only weighing myself Sunday mornings. That way I have my focus on the correct reason I am doing this. To eat healthy.
Lunch was a HUGE salad of Romaine lettuce and sauté'd mushrooms, sauté'd carrots and a sauté'd orange pepper. Tossed with some flax seed and some no calorie dressing.
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
Day at the hospital - and planning a menu
Today was spent at the hospital as Deb recovered from her surgery. They let her go at 4PM. She still has pain in her right side when she moves, but she went home with some good pain meds.
I put together a list of all the things I thought I might want to eat for my first day.
There are so many items on there that I have to create a better plan.
Here is my thought
Breakfast
Oatmeal with blueberries
Banana
Lunch
Romaine salad with celery, carrots, peppers, onions and broccoli and balsamic vinegar
Orange
Dinner
Bean Burger (recipe in the book)
Apple
Desert
Black Cherry Sorbet (another recipe from book)
Now I just have to go shopping for all of this.
Also, Wednesday morning I go to have blood work done, so this will give me a starting point. I have a follow up with the doctor on Monday.
I put together a list of all the things I thought I might want to eat for my first day.
There are so many items on there that I have to create a better plan.
Here is my thought
Breakfast
Oatmeal with blueberries
Banana
Lunch
Romaine salad with celery, carrots, peppers, onions and broccoli and balsamic vinegar
Orange
Dinner
Bean Burger (recipe in the book)
Apple
Desert
Black Cherry Sorbet (another recipe from book)
Now I just have to go shopping for all of this.
Also, Wednesday morning I go to have blood work done, so this will give me a starting point. I have a follow up with the doctor on Monday.
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