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.

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.

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.

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!!

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.

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.

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

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.

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.