Food Bits

For breakfast, i had 1/4 of a personal size microwaveable pepperoni pizza. It seemed small, but filled me up.

Later, I had a single piece of sausage. I wasn't hungry, but protein was good.

I also had two hot cocoas. That's probably why I needed protein.

For lunch, i had one of those microwaveable tv dinners. Lasagna. It also seemed small.

I'm not really HUNGRY....but my food portions seem small so I want to eat. What's up with that?

Wednesday I tried a new Wii game out - EA Fitness.
First off, it's REALLY hard to find low-impact exercises on it. In fact, their low impact workout isn't low impact. My chiro would kill them. Running isn't allowed. I did finally find some exercises I COULD do (upper body resistance training). spent 30min on that. Also did some of the old leg exercises my Physical Therapist had taught me when I ripped the muscle. So that went well. about 45min total.

Yesterday (Thursday) I walked home from work. it's .9 miles. It was cold, so I probably even walked a little faster than normal. LOL!

Today, I ate breakfast at home instead of at the cafe. I'm also trying to drink more water than normal and avoid the sugared drinks - which is kinda sad. I want cider and hot cocoa! LOL.

hello wet-and-cold season!

I want soup. They serve soup at work. It is laden with noodles and potatoes, and comes with bread. It's got lots of calories too.

I can make soup healthier. I can make it cheaper. I can make it tasty! (Probably not tastier - work soup is yummy).

Soup the first - Curry Vegetable.
Work makes curry noodle soup. it's good. this is without noodles tho.
Chicken broth, cabbage, onion, carrot, curry powder.

Soup the second - mexican soup.
Yum.
Chicken broth, tomato sauce, onion, bell pepper, taco seasoning, mexi-cheese.

Soup the third - Mushroom/corn chowder.
Work makes this. But they don't serve it often enough. at all.
Mushrooms, corn, broth, milk.

Other spices will be added, of course, to taste. Like I LOVE pepper with my corn chowders. mmm.

I shall need to go grocery shopping.

I need:
chicken broth. about 6 cans should do it. That's two per soup.
Tomato sauce. One can.
Cabbage - one head
carrot - one big one
curry powder
bell pepper - one
taco seasoning
fresh mushrooms
milk.

Water makes up 75% of your body weight. Water is your friend. I know water can make you feel full and help lose weight. But water helps with carb issues too!

I discovered this by accident.

Saturday was a bad carb day for me. Really bad. I went to bed hungry friday night. We were up late and went grocery shopping late and I just didn't feel like eating that late so I went to bed hungryish. not bad, just a little. I woke up with a god-awful sinus headache and did NOT want to eat with it. So I didn't.

Around 11am ish or so, we went through JitB and I got a chicken club salad. Low carb. Go me. I was trying to be really good. Mostly because we were meeting Jason's parents, sister, and nephews for dinner - at an italian place. I sensed doom coming.

We got home around noon. We were doing stuff at home, and I was getting an awful sweet tooth. And we were watching Food Network. Ace of Cakes. SUGAR. I went and got my leftover carmel sundae out of the freezer. I did not listen to the three bites rule. i did not remember the rule about not eating while watching tv. i ate the rest of my sundae. ALL of it. (Sonic Carmel Sundae)

Around 2:30 we get the call - the dinner @ 4:30 has been moved up. We are eating nowish. So to the italian place. I tried to be good - i ordered a salad sampler - three types of salad: spinach w/ basalmic vinegar, mozz, and italian spices (good!), a chicken artichoke heart salad (MMM!) and soup. somehow my soup got mixed up and i ended up with a pasta salad instead. um...kay? I ate it. it was ok, not great. and i knew the pasta could cause problems. there wasn't much of it, but...i'd had ice cream. Doom.

Felt ok afterwards, and we went to the mall. in theory this was to walk stuff off, but really...there were supposed to be stormtroopers at the lego store. so...yeah. no stormtroopers. but throughout the mall was the smell of:

CINNABON!

oh dear. i resisted. i resisted. i resisted...and then i didn't. Jason and I split a cinnabon. with extra frosting. mmm.

20 minutes later i am dizzy. i feel sick. the world is spinning. ugh.

Jason took me to a kfc. there we ordered a buttload of grilled & original chicken (10 pieces of each) and a water in the largest size glass they had. they gave us the water first. by the time they gave us the chicken i'd FINISHED the water.

and it helped. 30 minutes later i was fine. water flushes sugars. good to know.

water. it is your friend. drink water.

I have a scale now.

We got it from Target. ordered online (cause the local one didn't carry it. bastards.) It goes up to 400lbs. we got one so big so Jason could use it too.

It didn't work for him. Errors out. His current goal is to be able to use the scale. I approve of this. He's doing good about not snacking. And it totally helps that we hardly eat out now.

I CAN'T eat out, really. try doing next-to-no-carb at mcdonalds. Go ahead, try. HAH.

The scale arrived last friday. I stepped on it. 264. :(

I have been very careful about what I eat. This morning...258.

WOOT!

Tricks i'm using?

#1 - stick as close to no carb as possible. I'm allowed 60 a day, but I try to leave it out, so that the little things like condiments and splenda packets don't cause issues. This works well for me, and I have more energy without carbs. Odd, but true.
#2 - water, water, water, water. and tea. and crystal light. all things that use WATER. Water is going to get a post of its own
#3 - meat. the trick is not to replace carbs with meat. meat is still high cal. i stick to mostly veg. Deepthi would be proud of me. But when i feel like i just need FOOD...I don't pile on more salad. That way lies salad burnout...which leads to not eating veggies, and bad carb days with weight gain. ick. instead, that's when i pull out the meat. i'm slowly learning to balance this so I don't get to that point. Meat makes me feel full, you see. It's filling.
#4 - three bites. I read about this in a south beach diet holiday/party cookbook. I was looking for low carb recipes. That kinda failed. But it was talking about how on special occasions, dessert happens. And this isn't a bad thing..you just have to be careful. it talked about how, when you want something sweet, you GET it. And you eat three bites and set it aside. You wait 15 minutes and then ask yourself if you want more. If so, you eat three more bites and repeat. I got ice cream friday after work. a carmel sunday. i had three bites. after 15 minutes, i concluded that the ice cream craving was gone and it went into the freezer. three bites is awesome.

Jason went off to play Arcane Legions this morning, and I headed to Rivals to demo some SJ Games. Nobody showed to mine, but Jason's gonna be busy all day. So I cleaned house...and then....COOKED.

I'd bought the ingredients for my broccoli salad so I made that. Only I left out the bacon to try and make it healthier.

http://www.recipezaar.com/broccoli-salad-392715 (note: I recently got my first review! They loved it. YAY! I'm inspired to put some of my others up there.)

I always mix up the dressing in another bowl and pour it over the brocolli mix before mixing the whole thing together. And I pour it to one side. This is so I can then pour part of the un-dressed broccoli mix back into the dressing bowl, mix it, and get the dressing remnants out.

I did this, but still had some dressing bits. It's impossible to get them all out. So I shrugged, and threw some raisins and cashews in the dressing bowl after my salad was put in the fridge to chill. Maybe a quarter cup of each. And mixed. They were good...just coated enough to be slightly sticky and have the flavor - but not enough to SEE the dressing.

However, at this point I was TOTALLY smelling that apple cider vinegar and I wanted to do something more with it. And something way lower calorie/carb then my raisin cashew mix.

Green beans popped into my head. I don't know where. And so I opened a can of green beans, drained them, and popped them into a skillet. Then I used some of my leftover red onion and sauteed it with them. I added a bit of apple cider vinegar when the onions started to get translucent and mixed it up. Later, when the onions were carmelizing, i pulled it off heat and used more apple cider vinegar. There's no sauce to this, the vinegar cooked off almost immediately.

While I was cooking my beans, I was thinking about all the recipes I'd ever seen with beans AND nuts. I thought about mixing in my raisins and cashews, but decided that was a) too high calorie, b) something jason wouldn't help me eat, and c) a little too strong a flavor.

Inspiration hit. I opened up my fridge and found the spagetti squash i'd cooked friday. I heated up about 1/4 cup of that. I paired it with 1/4 cup of my beans and then sprinkled some cashew/raisin stuff over it and MIXED it.

omg yum.

then, just for fun, because now i was thinking italian, i sliced up a couple tomatoes in thick slices. I put them on top of a pam-sprayed baking sheet and sprinkled them with salt & pepper. Then i covered them with mozzerella and liberally sprinkled italian seasoning over them. Stuck them in the oven for about 5-7 minutes at 350 and MMM. the tomatoes hold together well but have that roasted flavor, and the cheese is melty and YUM.

So I had a couple slices of tomato to go with my little faux-pasta dish.

*content and happy* I do love cooking when I get the chance. :D

Breakfast: left over fajita meat w/ onion & pepper, cheese.
Lunch: Fajita with rest of meat/onion/pepper, cheese, sour cream (1 carb), & tortilla (10 carbs). 3 deviled eggs (where 1 = 1/2 egg). deviled w/ mayo, mustard, salt, pepper, paprika.

Breakfast: Scramble - egg, ham, mushroom, onion, pepper. Also, 1 tomato, sliced and salt/peppered. - 7 carbs

Lunch: chef salad at the pub. 1 piece of garlic bread (10-15 carbs, estimated). om nom nom.

Dinner: Fajita. Grilled chicken with carmelized onion & bell pepper, mixed with fajita seasoning. on a low carb tortilla (10g) with cheese, salsa (2g), and sour cream (1g).

Breakfast: 1 egg, 1 piece of bacon
Lunch: Taco salad: meat, lettuce, cheese, sour cream, salsa, olives, onion
Dinner: 3 hamburgers, with spicy chipotle mayo (no carbs!) spread on them and a piece of cheese on top of each. om nom nom.

Breakfast: meat omelette
Lunch: sandwich. ham, 1 piece of bread, mayo, cucumber, onion. 14g carbs
Dinner: ham & cheddar quesadilla w/ sour cream - 21 carbs

There are 7 grams of carbs in a single tomato.

S E V E N. 7. in ONE. 1. o n e. One.

WTF?

Breakfast: Scramble. Ham, onion, egg.

Lunch: Chicken Salad (cubed cooked canned chicken, mayo, mustard, onion, salt, pepper, mozz cheese), on cucumbers. YUM. also took some chicken salad and stuffed it in a tortilla (low carb, 10g). tortilla's pretty good.

Dinner: couple spicy hungarian sausages & 1 ear of corn (17 carbs)

om nom nom.

Breakfast: bowl of cereal.

Note: this is part of an experiment. I had a metformin last night and this morning. Cereal plus metformin = jittery, like on caffine, but no passing out.

Later in the day, lunch was running late and while i didn't pass out, i did get very...odd. distant, hard to concentrate. dizzy. Had a piece of string cheese. and a bottle of grape propel.

Did you know a bottle of propel has 8 carbs? Just weird. check your bottled water. Propel adds sugar.

Lunch: can of soup. 38 carbs.

Yes, i'm running high on carbs. this is because the metformin is in my system and we know metform + no carbs = floor.

Dinner: salad. Lettuce, pepperoni, ham, ranch, mozzerella. as the metformin is wearing off, i'm cutting down on carbs again.

Experimentation is done until next weekend. I won't experiment while I have to work. So far, the experiments show that I'm fine if i eat no carb/very low carb or if i eat normal-high carb w/ metformin. However, metformin has a few side effects I don't like and if I run late (hello, long calls!) I'm going to have trouble.

Personally, I prefer to adjust diet rather than take a pill.

...though i may take a pill a half hour before dinner some nights, and have some ice cream a half hour after dinner...

there are a few areas i get carbs from regularly that I need to look at.

1) Bread - I can replace bread with a leaf of lettuce for sandwiches. Something I've been doing a lot of recently is taking whatever i'd put on bread and scrambling it with eggs. Also...I can have ONE slice of bread - it's 11 grams of carbs - if what i'm putting on it is very very low carb. Somethings I can eat with a fork or a spoon instead of making a sandwich. Meatloaf, for example, is fine on it's own. Ditto on sloppy joes. I may want to add a side veggie to make up for lost bulk, but thats not a big deal. I sometimes eat stuff on crackers instead of bread. for the size difference, i'll just use cucumber chips. I can't think of anything that WOULDN'T be good with.

2) Potatoes - I can eat these! A standard red potato is 18-20 carbs, depending on age. that fits perfectly in my diet. gone is the potato as the meal, but it'll make a great side dish. I'm seeing pairing this with a pork chop or a chicken breast. mmmm. I have to watch the sour cream, cause it adds some, but I should be OK. Mashed potatoes, just have a small amount. same on potato salad. french fries are pretty much gone, sadly.

3) Rice - I have no idea HOW to sub for rice. I usually have it when i'm out and getting chinese, so I guess steamed veggies. I sometimes make it at home as a side dish, so also veggies. This one's hard...but I don't eat rice very often, so not too concerned.

4) Pasta - this is the hardest one. I love pasta. I've discovered i can sub in spagetti squash for spagetti. It's not ideal, but 1 cup of spagetti noodles is 42 grams! the Squash lowers that to 10. I'll take it. Contemplating what would happen if i roasted it, seperated it, and froze it. Can you freeze cooked spagetti squash? Also...how would that taste in a cheese sauce? Macaroni and cheese is SUCH a comfort food for me. I need to experiment. Also...1 C of eggplant is on par with the spagetti squash. I might be able to do something with that. Lasagna noodle replacement? The hard one is really the mac & cheese. *sad panda*

---

I have not found a low carb version of ice cream. Or rather, the low carb version was laughable. I haven't had ice cream since Tuesday. This saddens me. I'm not sure how I'll kill that craving when it comes up. Ditto on cookies and cupcakes. I adore frosting. And when I want a reeses peanut butter cup...there will be doom. Jello does not kill my sweet tooth.

Will have to look at sugar free / diabetic alternatives. There might be something there that works.

---

Did some tests with Jason over the week. We've determined both carbs and sugar make me dizzy. in the same amount of time. and faster than a standard blood sugar test will show. Like when I did the glucose test - they test after an hour. an hour in, i was FINE. at 30 minutes in, i was about to pass out. Our theory is that this is still insulin related - that maybe something about eating carbs/sugars is triggering the insulin too soon or too strong and thereby dropping my blood sugar before the system can assimiliate the new sugars.

That may also explain why when we do a fasting test, my sugars are normal but my insulin seems high. And it may also explain the metformin thingy.

Chart:

Taking metformin standard carbs everything fine
taking metformin low / no carbs dizzy BOOM
no metformin standard carbs sleepy girl
no metformin low / no carbs everything fine

It looks like what's happening is i either need to regulate my carbs OR take metformin. when i do both i pass out. when i do neither, i get sleepy and lethargic all the time. This also explains why i was able to go off the metformin earlier this year - i'd lost weight and was watching what i ate. when you calorie -watch, you have to carb watch. i didn't realize it, but that's where i was cutting things - the carbs. i replaced starches with veggies to cut calories. And it explains why i went back on the metformin - i'd quit watching what i ate, so i was having problems again.

We're going to test this theory tommorrow morning. I'm taking metformin tonight (they're slow release tablets). Tommorrow morning, I'm going to have cereal.

Here's hoping I don't end up passed out at some point! *laugh*

Also definitely making the appointment with the endocronoligist. Here's hoping they can figure out what my system's doing!

--

Also, Jason just totally made my night. he put pizza sauce on bread, topped with pepperoni and cheese and had me take a bite. it will TOTALLY take care of the pizza craving. Next step: locate some super low carb bread (alternative: use a low-carb tortilla)

*glee* I can have PIZZA.

--

also of note:

http://www.examiner.com/x-355-Low-Carb-Examiner~y2008m6d4-Cauliflower-Pizza-Crust-Worth-its-Wow-in-Gold

first off, it's not that i didn't log dinner yesterday...i just didn't EAT.

I didn't get hungry, and didn't realize i'd skipped a meal until this morning. Oops?

Breakfast: scramble. 2 eggs, 1 1/2 slices of ham, some cheese. 0 carbs. :D

Drinkage: 1/2 a venti mocha. lost consciousness for a few moments.

Lunch: Was out with brandee. Stopped at blue moon diner. had chef salad, sans carbs. lettuce, hard boiled egg, cheese, meat, ranch, tomato. drank hot tea. used splenda.

Snack: 2 1/2 grilled chicken strips courtesy JitB. no dipping sauce.

Dinner: Salad. Lettuce, cheese, ranch. 1 piece of bread & butter.

breakfast:
potato salad. about 40carb.
lunch: chicken marinara

this is so good...jason helped me think of it. i grilled up chicken breast, then sliced it in half the long way, like a book. put cheddar in the middle, and closed it up. sprinkle cheddar on top, then spagetti sauce. I made my spagetti sauce by browning hamburger, adding a can of mushrooms, some chopped onion, garlic, italian seasoning, and a can of spagetti sauce. Total carbs: 10.

woot.

Thursday night:
2 sausage thingys. No idea what cal/carb content is. but it's chicken apple sausage...shouldn't be bad.
potato salad.
---

salad: took 3 large potatos (approx 63 carbs each). peeled, cubed, boiled. mixed w/ lite mayo (1 carb / tbsp, about 6 tbsp), mustard (no carb), salt, and pepper. total carb (rounding up) about 200. tried to eat about 1/10th of dish. eyeballed it. know i'm a little low, but safer that way.

total known carb for day: 36. There was some in the sausage i'd bet though.

Tuesday:
already posted breakfast
Lunch: salad. pulled pork, lettuce, salsa, onion, cheese. then another salad cause i was still hungry. lettuce, pulled pork, salsa, cheese, sour cream, a little parmesan.
I felt kinda dizzy after lunch...like sugars were low. it didn't make much sense, but i followed my body's instructions and had a cookie. One cookie. vanilla sandwich variety.

5 minutes later I was at work, feeling woozy and dazed but taking calls. 10 minutes after that I was leaning over a trash can trying not to puke. I sat up, saw sparklys. 10 minutes more...I was on the floor with a manager next to me asking if I was OK. After that it's fuzzy for a while. I know someone was making me drink water, and I know Jason suggested I take an extra metformin. I don't know if I did or not.

We got me to a doctor and discovered my blood sugar level was at 77. There is NO WAY in hell it should have been that low. For it to be that low after I'd eaten that much I should have been DEAD before I ate. 50 is unconscious. Standard fasting for a healthy person is around 100. you eat, it goes up. There's no real question - that's why I passed out. I was probably floating around 55-60 when I got back from work.

We also weighed me - 262.

Doctors instructions were simple. Stay away from carbs. Quit taking the metformin. Come in the next day for testing.

For dinner, I had grilled chicken breast. 3 small ones. and a bit of mozzerella.
--
Wednesday.
Got up and went to the doctor. did fasting blood sugar. did some other tests. drank this orange glucose stuff. very nasty. waited an hour. at 30 minutes I felt awful. Sick, dizzy, woozy. at an hour, I felt great. wanted to bounce around and do things. At the hour she pulled blood and sent me home.

Breakfast: 2 sausage patties. 2 eggs.

Lunch: 3 pieces of ham grilled with mozzerella.

Mid-afternoon: dizzy. sick. had 3 more pieces of ham. this time with cheddar.

Dinner: 1 piece of Steak.

10pm: hungry. had some nuts.
--
Thursday
made a scramble. 2 eggs, 1/2 piece of ham, 1/4 piece of steak.
went to the dr for results. fasting blood sugar was 93 - perfectly fine. an hour later it was 147. also perfectly fine. did an ekg and some blood pressure tests - all fine.
pulled blood for insulin test. Have to make appt w/ diabetic specialist. something called an endocrologist? appt should be in about a month.
In the meantime, directions are: avoid metformin. go low carb. approx 60carbs/day. rough estimate.

Lunch: 1 piece of Papa Murphy's deLite meat pizza (1/8th of pizza) = 16carbs, 95cal

was talking with a friend this morning and discovered the insulin issue isn't as unheard of as i thought. apparently, this is what's referred to as pre-diabetic.

meaning i'm heading there but can still control it with diet. Huh.

Breakfast: 1 egg, 1 tbsp cheese, 1 sausage link, 1 piece bacon

Breakfast: 1 egg, about 1tbsp shredded cheese, 2 pieces bacon
Lunch: 1 egg, slice of ham (thick), some onion, some cherry tomato. about 2 tbsp shredded cheese. (scramble ftw)
Dinner: Lettuce (about 2 C), pulled pork (about 3/4 C), onion, 2 tbsp shredded cheese, about 3tbsp salsa.

1 ben & jerry's cookie dough single

---
so....aside from ice cream, good! and it was the last ice cream in the house.

I'm not diabetic.

I seem like I am. But I'm not. See, Diabetics have problems with sugar. And sometimes I describe things as 'my sugars are off'...but they're not.

See, there's this thing called insulin. Diabetics either have trouble processing it or don't produce enough of it. Insulin lets the body use sugar. When you can't process sugar, your blood sugar goes high - a sugar spike. When you over-compensate your body gets excess insulin, uses it to process the sugars, and then you go too low. It's a balancing act.

My sugars are fine. My INSULIN is off. I overproduce it. My body uses exactly what it needs and then stores the rest. A diabetic has high sugar. I have high insulin. So while they're fighting with too much sugar in the system, I've got too much insulin - which ACTS like my sugars are too low.

Too much insulin has the exact same effects as too little sugar - i get dizzy. I get nauseous. I pass out.

So I take metformin, a Diabetic-type drug. And, in theory, regulate my diet. When I screw up, if I eat too much sugar (IE: have NOODLES for lunch) the insulin gets used quickly and I run out. I have too LITTLE insulin.

Too little insulin has the exact same effects as too much sugar - I get verrrrry sleepy. I can't think clearly. I may pass out.

The big difference between me and a diabetic? If a diabetic has severe issues and goes to the hospital, the problem shows up on a glucose monitor. mine doesn't. Mine looks perfectly normal on a glucose monitor. I can't TEST my sugars to see where I'm at.

However, the medications and tricks that work for a diabetic work for me, I'm finding. So I spend some time talking with one of my best friends, Alan, about it when it bugs me. And he explains how these things affect a diabetic (cause he knows about that WAY too much, poor guy). And I translate it.

---

Apparently, this means that carbs and sugars are pretty bad/limited for me. With that in mind, breakfast was:

1 egg, with cheese
2 slices of bacon.

protein good. carbs bad. sugars worse. mental note made.

Breakfast: Scramble of yum - 265cal
2 eggs, scrambled (2 x 70=140)
1 slice ham (40)
some onion (5?)
1 slice cheddar (80)

This was so good. I was going to just make poached eggs...but my egg poacher broke! *sob* Jason says he'll get me a new one tonight.

Lunch: sandwich & frappe - 460cal
Sandwich: 300cal
1 hamburger bun (110)
2 slices ham (80)
1 piece cheese (80)
onion (5)
sour cream (25cal)
pickles (free!)
lettuce (<2cal)
Frappe: 158
i made a green tea frappe. using the mix, but with WATER. and then, i had to add some whipped cream. HAD to.
mix: 135cal
water: (free!)
whipped cream (3tbsp. 2 tbsp = 15cal, so 23)
a little high on lunch, i know. But i was super-good yesterday, and i was CRAVING the frappe. badly.

Dinner: Rice stuff - 556
This is a variation on a 'poor food' I used to make.
1 C rice (200cal)
3 slices ham (40cal x 3 = 120cal)
1 slice cheese (80cal)
2 tbsp ranch (140cal)
1/4 C onion (16cal)
lots of pepper

oh,the poor food. so i was working at stream several years ago, and was broke as HELL when i opened the pantry to find lunch food to make for the next day. and found...a box of rice. that was it. no canned goods left at all. no meat in the freezer.
i inspected the fridge and found assorted stuff that was no help, and a bottle of ranch. I had nothing to eat with the ranch. This seemed to me to be an obvious match - something to eat and something with nothing to go with. So i cooked a bunch of rice, put it in bags, and had lunch for a week. Each morning, i'd pour ranch on my rice and take it to work. At work, I'd get pepper (I had plenty of packets I'd stored in my desk) and pepper the hell out of it. Food.

Grand Total: 1281.
2 day average: 1085.5

Breakfast
Vanilla Slimfast - YUCK!!!!!!! (180CAL)

For the record. Choco slimfast is ok. Strawberry's actually quite good. Vanilla tastes like shit. DO NOT DRINK!!!

Lunch: 353cal
salad - lettuce mix (1ocal), a whole can of mushrooms (35cal), some onion (10cal), a piece of pepper jack (80cal), and a lil bit of ranch (about 1 tbsp - 70 cal )

a can of green beans (88cal) , a can of mushrooms (35cal), a piece of pepperjack, and fat free sour cream (2 tbsp - 25cal)
--
Dinner:
Sandwich: 312 cal
1 hamburger bun (110cal)
2 tbsp sour cream (25cal)
1 tbsp honey mustard (10cal)
2 slices ham (40 x 2 = 80cal)
1 slice cheddar (80cal)
1/4 C lettuce (15 cal in 2 c... 15/8=2)
6 pickle slices (0cal)
a few rings of onion (5?)
---
Snack: 45cal
Salad
2 C lettuce (15 cal)
8 pickle slices (0 cal)
2 tbsp sour cream (25cal)
some onion (5?)

Grand Total: 890.

Wow. smaller than i THOUGHT. Also...went for my walk and went swimming. Could not swim the 10 laps across the short end due to ppl being in the way, so did 6 the long way. Not sure how it compares, but after 4 my legs hurt so I stopped at 6. They still ache today. Ugh.

Breakfast:
2 Large poached eggs (2x70) - 140cal
1 C lettuce (10cal)
1/2 roma tomato (8 cal)
1/2 C fat free cottage cheese (35cal)
1 raw onion ring (not the fried kind, just sliced, and the outer ring) (5cal)
Total: 198 cal

(slightly more than a slimfast, but i wanted FOOD. substance!)

Snack:
15 wheat thins, cinnamon flavored (140cal)

Lunch:
Baked potato bar. OMG calories (no count)

Dinner:
salad. I didn't count but i was very good. :)

I'm hungry.

No, really. that's my complaint. I'm ALWAYS hungry. I've paid attention. When I quit eating after a 'proper' meal, I'm still hungry. A half hour later - still hungry. I can make myself stop being hungry by eating approx 2000 cal at once. And then, 2 hours later? Hungry.

I ate breakfast this morning at 7. I ate an extreme sausage sandwich @ JitB. I don't know the cal content, but I assure you it's enough for breakfast.

10am, I'm starving. Bad enough I'm biting people's heads off.

This is why I keep failing at the dieting. Or food planning. Or whatever. I know I SHOULD.

BUT I HATE BEING HUNGRY!!!!!!!

Breakfast
subway 6 inch veggie - 230cal
--
Snack
5 nuts - 25cal
cup of noodle - 300 cal ( STARVING!)
--

Breakfast: 165cal
1/2 a hamburger bun (55 cal)
1/2 tbsp baconaise - 15cal
sprinkling of shredded cheese - 25cal (1/4 c was 110, i have maybe 2 tsp)
1 large egg - 70cal

Snack: 25 calories
5 nuts

Breakfast: 350
1 piece of pizza - 350cal

Lunch: 315
1/2 slice of pizza - 160cal (yes, i can divide in half. different kind of pizza)
salad - 155cal
lettuce - 15 cal
cottage cheese - 70cal
salsa - 20cal
baconaise - 30cal
parmesan - 20cal
pepper

Dinner: 200
KFC indiv mashed potatoes & gravy : 130
KFC corn on cob: 70

Snack: 170 cal
120 cal in chips (they're target brand carribean jerk flavor, baked...omg. 15 chips for 120. YUM)
salsa:15 cal
1/4 C cottage cheese:35 cal

Grand Total: 1035

Breakfast
1 poached egg (100 cal)
1 piece toast (70cal)
baconaise (30cal)
Total: 200cal

Lunch
slimfast chocolate shake (190cal)
This actually worked really well at keeping the food cravings down. The problem is, you still want the TEXTURE of food. About 3 1/2 hours after I ate it, I grabbed 5 nuts out of the mixed nut container. That was quite enough to fix the craving.

Dinner
3 1/2 pieces of pizza @ 350 cal each
Total: 1225

Grand Total: 1615

So today pretty much is sucking food wise. Meh. But I went grocery shopping. That was good. Got salad. And eggs. And...stuff for milkshakes. Oops.

So I suck. But my back hurts so I went to the hot tub anyway. It's doing better. Not by myself today. Some guy's here. No. Not awesome hair. But he's quiet. And still. I'm good with that.

Breakfast,
BK cheesy bacon bk wrapper - 390 (so not worth the cal content, FYI)
Starbucks Drinkage: Venti carmel frappe -500 (OUCH!)
Total: 890 (not off to a good start)

Lunch
BK Whopper Jr - 370

Snack
Gardettos - 200

Dinner
Salad 1: 160cal
lettuce (30cal), cottage cheese (70cal), baconaise (30cal), salsa (30cal), chives, red pepper flakes, pepper
Salad 2:150cal
lettuce (15cal), cottage cheese (35cal), salsa (30cal), boca patty (70cal)
Milkshake:570cal
2 dulce de leche haagen daaz individual thingys (270cal each)
splash of milk (30cal?)
Total: 880

Grand Total: 2140

I weigh too much. I put on a lot of weight pre-wedding with stress eating. It needs to come off. It comes off easier when I track, so I'm doing so for a while.

breakfast, courtesy MCD
fruit n yogurt (no granola) - 130
choco milk - 180
Total: 310

The choco milk i'm rationing out w/ diet coke (yes, caffinated). I love the combo. Just a little choco milk in the coke changes the flavor. MMM.
---
Lunch, courtesy the cafe at work.
salad - 300cal est
Total: 300

I don't really know what the content is. I hit the salad bar and made something tasty, while trying to stay low cal. My salad has lettuce, corn, peas, sunflower seeds, raisins, celery, onion, mushrooms, cheddar, cottage cheese, and salsa. I know the corn, peas, sunflower seeds, raisins, and cheeses are the problem, so i went very minimal on them. Mostly my salad is mushrooms and lettuce. I know i've got about 80cal TOTAL on the cheese. 20 MAYBE on the salsa. so I'm estimating the rest...which is more of a guess. I've got about a tablespoon each of corn & peas, 1/2 tbsp or so of sunflower seeds...and 10 raisins. the rest is so minimal as to not really matter, i'd think.

My sister is awesome and broke this down for me a lil more.

Lettuce 15
Corn 9
Peas 8
Sunflower Seeds 24
Raisins 16
Celery 4
Onion 4
Mushrooms 30
Cheddar 29
Cottage Cheese 27
Salsa 15
---------------------------
Total 184

Dinner, courtesy KFC
honey bbq snacker 210
green beans - 25
corn on cob -70
Total: 305

Snack (and this is where I fail)
Sonic Jr deluxe burger - 350
Reese Sonic Blast (Regular) - 560
Total: 910

Grand Total: 1709

I'm kinda not going to list everything i eat for now. Unless my weight goes back up, it just takes time to list it. I"m keeping track, just not blogging constantly.

That said, breakfast was YUMMY.

one piece of toast (70cal)
2 pieces of ham (15cal each)
1 piece of american cheese (70cal)
1 tbsp lite baconiase (30cal)
230 total. the baconaise totally made the sandwich. get some. it's good. qvc carries it here.

so, weekly weigh-in (missed last week)

2 weeks, no checks
gamestorm

238.5

and i STILL went down. go me!

breakfast: 336cal
hamburger helper

snack: 10cal
jello

*pokes head up*

OK,weekend was INSANE. I have no idea where I was at. I don't even know what half of the stuff I was eating WAS.

Breakfast: 270cal
2 pieces of bread @ 70 each = 140
2 pieces of ham @ 30 each = 60
1 tbsp butter = 70cal

Snack: 10cal
jello

Lunch: 250 cal
deep fried mushrooms. mmm.

snack: 10 cal
jello

dinner: 436
hamburger helper: 336cal
salad (salad mix 15, salsa - 30, cottage cheese - 55): 100

daily total: 976

breakfast: 190cal
cereal - 130 cal
milk - 60 cal

snack: 80cal
1 piece string cheese

Lunch:280 cal
2 cup salad mix:15cal
1 egg: 70cal
1/4 C Cottage cheese: 55cal
1 tbsp ranch: 70cal
boca burger: 70cal

Dinner: 400cal
1 1/2 slices of papa murphy's large pizza - cut into 12ths
1/10th papa murphy's is 320, so 1/12 = 266

Daily Total: 950 cal

Breakfast: Burgerville Toaster biscuit sandwich w/ egg, sausage, tillamook cheddar
680 (holy cow)

Lunch: Round table salad bar - OK-ish, no way to be certain. figure at 400


Dinner: a handful of tater tots. 200cal

daily total: 1280ish

breakfast: noon
2 pieces of pizza schmizza pizza ?

dinner: 7pm
potluck @ a wedding reception - no way to tell.

daily total...dunno

Jason and I had a lil chit chat last night. Cause I came home, and was a WRECK. Food didn't help, relaxing didn't help. We determined i wasn't stressed or sleepy, i just wanted to CRY. I was an emotional basketcase.

Well, he came up with an alternative to my switching from jello to something else for afternoon snack. He doesn't think the food will fix it, since it didn't last night. I tend to agree with him. And he reminded me of something my doctor told me about a year ago - that if i could eat better and drop some weight, I probably wouldn't need the metformin. She wanted to check me when i got below 240.

Well, I'm below 240. So I'm going off the metformin. Jason and I will watch me VERY carefully, and I'm carrying it with me JUST in case. But we're thinking diet regulation PLUS med regulation is OVER regulation.

gods, i hope so. i would LOVE to be done with these pills

239.4

PROGRESS!

Today is the first day of spring!

Breakfast: 7:45 - 190
1 small red apple - 55 cal
1 piece string cheese - 80cal
1/4 C cottage cheese - 55cal

Orange Juice: 220 cal

Lunch: 1:15pm - 470 cal
Safeway Eating Right Mediteranian Chicken - 230cal
1.5 C choco milk - 240cal

Dinner:
one of those 'no way to tell' meals with other people. I was as careful as i could be.

Daily Total: 880 + dinner

note: not taking the metformin also means i'm missing an appetite suppressant. this sucks.

Breakfast: 7:30am -238cal
Salad Mix - 15cal
Tomato - 15 cal
Cottage Cheese - 83cal
salsa - 55cal
egg - 70cal

Snack: 11am - 10 cal
Jello

Lunch: 1pm - 540 cal
Safeway Eating Right Chicken with plum sauce & 5 grain rice. - 310cal
(it's ok. i'm digging the peas).
still hungry. and low on energy. grabbed food
2 pieces of sliced turkey - 60cal ish
1 piece of sliced ham - 30cal ish
2 pieces of sliced...i don't know. some sort of ham-like meat. - 60calish
some pepperjack, some provolone, some cheddar - about 80cal total

dinner ended up being one of those dishes where you're not quite sure what's in it, and the cook didn't keep exact track or measure. So i've got no idea. it was yummy tho.

daily total: ?

Jason went grocery shopping last night before I got off work. I'm always so afraid when someone else does the grocery shopping - what will they buy? Will they understand how dedicated I am to eating right and losing weight, or will they pick up crap?

Jason, I'm happy to report, gets it. He came back with:

• 1 small bag of salad mix - he likes to buy things in bulk, but I tend to not want to eat salad when it starts getting yucky. So he didn't. So I'll eat it. We'll get more when I run out.
• A ton of string cheese. Literally, the biggest package he could find. He noticed i was using it a lot, and so he picked up a bunch.
• Jello. He even remembered the sugar free variety. We both like saving money, and he saw a store brand that came in a bunch of flavors, but wasn't sure if i'd like it. So to make sure I'll actually eat the right stuff and NOT stop because my options taste like crap, he bought the real stuff. In the right flavors. And more than I expected - because, as he puts it, at 10 calories, i can just keep eating it when I'm hungry. I now have orange, strawberry, cherry, and black cherry.

He did NOT come back with:

• New high-calorie sauces I absolutely must try
• ice cream
• candy
• chips

In conclusion, support is awesome.

Breakfast - 7:45am - 270 cal
2 C salad mix - 15cal
1/4 C cottage cheese - 55cal
a tbsp or so of tomato - 5cal
1 tbsp baconaise - 30cal (i love this stuff)
3 tbsp salsa - 15cal
1 hard boiled egg - 70cal
1 piece of string cheese - 80cal

Snack: 11am - 10cal
Jello

Lunch: 12:45am - 230 cal
Safeway Eating Right Lemongrass Chicken
Note. I don't care for lemongrass sauce. good to know.

Snack: 4pm - 10cal
Jello

dinner: 7:30pm - 544cal
6 chicken nuggets (5 = 220cal, so 220/5*6) - 264cal
about 2 servings of french fries (1 serving = 110cal) - 220cal
2 tbsp bbq sauce = 60cal
I should also note that the nuggets & french fries were deep fried. I'm sure that adds something.

Daily total: 1064cal

Breakfast - 7:45am - 190
3/4 C Safeway brand blueberry crunch cereal - 130cal
3/4 C fat-free milk (1 c = 80cal, 80/4*3) - 60 cal

Snack: 11:15am - 65 cal
1/8 C raisins

DID NOT WORK - got more food (nibbled @ snack, rest for lunch)
2 C of assorted low cal veggies -60 cal
1/4 C of ranch - 300cal

Lunch: 1:45 - rest of snack

Snack: 3:30 pm - 65 cal
1/8 C raisins

Dinner: 6pm - 305cal
we went to KFC. I had:
1 honey bbq snacker (210 cal)
1 corn on the cob (70cal)
1 indiv side green beans (25cal)

I totally recommend this meal. it's yummy as hell, it's eating out, and you feel like you're eating a LOT. where else can you get that combo? it sure as hell beats a burger that you have to leave the mayo and half the bun and the cheese off of!


Daily Total: 985 cal


----
I'm out of Jello. Jason says he'll pick some up after work, but in the meantime, I need a snack. I think the jello thing worked out GREAT - it kept me from starving, and kept me well within my goal.

Today, I'm taking raisins. I brought 1/4 C raisins (130 cal) which i'll split between my breaks. Yes, it's a lot higher than jello. So i'm also going a little less on my breakfast snack and a little less on lunch. It'll work out. :)

Breakfast (8am):
1/2 of my leftovers from the Shepherd's Pie (1/4 a lunch portion) - 294 cal

Snack: (11am)
one jello! - 10cal

Lunch: (1:30pm)
1/2 of my leftovers from the Shepherd's Pie (1/4 a lunch portion) - 294 cal

Snack: 3:15 pm
one jello! - 10cal

Dinner: (5:30pm)
Salad. Lettuce (15cal), salsa (30cal), ham (60cal), cottage cheese (55cal), cheese (80cal) - 240cal

Snack: (8pm)
1 sugar free jello pudding - 60cal

Daily Total: 908 cal

Breakfast: 9:45am
Salad: 2 C lettuce (15cal), 2 slices tomato, diced (5?), some pepper jack (80cal), 1 tbsp baconaise (30 cal), 1/4 C cottage cheese (55), 3 tbsp salsa (15) - 200 cal

Lunch: 2pm
We went to Cheesecake Factory, for Jason's Parent's Anniversary. As this is a celebratory Dinner, I am making serious exceptions to my food rules. I intend to do the same for other important Dinners - Thanksgiving, Christmas...my Wedding. Also, Cheesecake Factory does not list their nutritional info online. Nor can I find what I ate listed elswhere.
Lunch size Shepherd's Pie - ate 1/2 of it.
Blueberry Cheesecake. I skipped the whipped cream (yeah, I know...that's the little parts).
Sheppherd's Pie is 1178 - 1/2 would be 589
Cheesecake is 785

It's 4:30pm, and I'm still SO full...I may just skip dinner tonight. Oi.

Dinner: 7:30pm
I was SO hungry.
Repeat of breakfast - 200cal.
Still hungry - Jello - 10 cal.
Waited 30 min, STARVING - had another salad, w/o the pepperjack - 120cal.

Daily Total: 1974

Breakfast: 8am
1 piece of combo pizza - 410 cal

Lunch: 12 noon
4 pc chicken nuggets & apple bits - 225 cal

Snack: 2:30 pm
(i was STARVING)
kids meal of saffron rice & aloo mutter masala from bombay express (?)
Rice: I had about 1/2 - 3/4 cup cooked. and bout 1/4 cup of the masala. the masala's all vegetarian - peas, potatoes, and a sauce - The rice would have been about 150 cal. and i'm not sure on teh masala - 100 should cover it easy, though. so 250cal

Dinner: 7pm
Burger (100cal) + bun (120 cal) + 1tbsp lite baconaise (30cal), + tomato (?) + lettuce (?) + Pepper jack (80cal) = ~350cal

Total: 1215

I will start weighing in Friday afternoons

242.3 lbs

Breakfast: 8:15am
Sandwich (1 piece of bread - 70 cal, 2 pieces of ham - 60 cal, 1/4 C mushrooms - 15cal) - 145

Snack: 11am
Jello cup - 10 cal

Lunch: noon
Safeway Eating Right BBQ Chicken Pizza - 340 cla

Dinner: 3:30 pm
Protein Salad - 233 cal
(1 boca burger - 70 cal, cup of salad mix - 8 cal, tbsp of mushrooms - 5cal, 1 poached egg - 70cal, 1 piece string cheese - 80 cal, 1 capful of vinegar, worchestshire pepper, creole seasoning)

FOOD: 8pm
1 Piece of mushroom pizza - 300cal

Daily Total: 1028cal

I'm trying something different today. I've noticed that I do better with less time between meals. So today I brought a couple jello cups (10 cal each) and I'm going to eat them on my breaks and see how it goes.

Because Jason is awesome. (edited somewhat for brevity)

carisaacs: and he's changing my schedule
bostickjwork: oh?
bostickjwork: what now?
carisaacs: yep
carisaacs: 9-5:30
carisaacs: m-f
carisaacs: starts tmw
bostickjwork: kinda kills afterwork stuff..but
bostickjwork: u get to sleep in
bostickjwork: looks like I get to start prepping dinner
carisaacs: yeah
carisaacs: guess so
carisaacs: i'll be hungry when i get off work
bostickjwork: grill up some chicken and make side salads
carisaacs: that be good tmw
bostickjwork: kk
bostickjwork: can do that
bostickjwork: I try to make good dinners..promise
bostickjwork: not feed you junk

Breakfast: 7am
Apple Nutrigrain Bar - 130 cal

Lunch: 9am
Santa Fe & Rice Safeway Eating Right meal - 310 cal

Snack: 2:30pm
MCD Grilled Chipotle BBQ Snack Wrap - 260 cal

Dinner: 6pm
rest of my bbq nachos - 600cal

Daily total: 1300

I like visual representations of how I'm doing. Maybe you do too.

Breakfast: 4:30 am
Meatloaf - 300cal

Lunch: 8:30 am
Safeway Eating Right Orange-glazed Chicken: 300cal

NO.
I am in stressy mood and upset over my kitty, and I'm NOT counting calories tonight.

I went to Buffalo Wild Wings. I ate BBQ nachos and I ate potato wedges with cheese.
I came home and ate girl scout cookies and ice cream.
I did not measure. I did not count. Right now, I do not care.

I am going to go look at pictures of my kitty and be sad. I'm giving myself permission to not count today.

---
edit: so regret's a lovely thing, and with my sister's help i figured this out
i ate about half the bbq nachos - 700 cal
tater wedges w/ cheese - 390
part of jason's tater wedges - 187
2 pepperoni kickers: 188
1 pb girl scout cookie: 53
1 thin mint girl scout cookie: 40
1 sugar free choco chip girl scout cookie: 53
2 lemon sandwich girl scout cookies: 114
ice cream: 454

Daily Total: 2779 cal

Breakfast: 7:45am
Oatmeal: 200 cal

Lunch: 9:30 am
Safeway Eating Right Chicken Poblano - 310cal

Snack: 11:30 am
Nutrigrain Blueberry bar - 130cal

Dinner: 5pm
Giant Salad - 350cal

Daily Total - 990cal

Breakfast: 7am
Insta-Oatmeal (Baked Apple Flavor) - 200cal

Lunch: 9am
Safeway "Eating Right" Butternut Squash Ravioli - 280 cal
Cup of coffee with Splenda & 1Tbsp of Chocolate Milk - 13 cal

Snack: 5pm
JITB Grilled Chicken Pita - 310 cal

Dinner: 7pm
meatloaf - 300cal
salad mix w/ salsa - 30 cal

Daily Total: 1133cal

Breakfast: noon
Arbys Bacon Cheddar Roast Burger, add Mayo
Arbys Loaded Potato Bites (small)
1/2 Arbys Moz Sticks (small)

Dinner: 8pm
baked potato w/ butter, sour cream, cheese, onion, salsa, and bacon bits.

Per my sister - Daily Total is around 1621 cal

Breakfast: 9:30 am
JITB Extreme Sausage Sandwich on sour dough
JITB Hashbrowns

Dinner: 5pm
Salad w/ hamburger patty

Snack: 11pm
1 apple slice (about 1/8 apple)
1 sugar cookie

http://www.quakeroats.com/products/oatmeal/oatmeal-express/baked-apple.aspx

Brought to you by the little free food cabinet at work.

This is oatmeal, plain and simple. More of the free food I can get around here. This place can be pretty scary with the amount of free food - a diet can be hard to stick to!

Oatmeal makes a good breakfast though, when I'm running late and forget to grab something. And this is pretty good. We've got the Golden Brown Sugar & the Baked Apple varieties. Both seem to be the same calories.

It's a decent breakfast.

Breakfast: 7am
1 Quaker Oatmeal Express (Golden Brown Sugar) - 200 cal
1 Piece of String Cheese - 80 cal

Lunch: 9am
Safeway "Eating Right" Cheese Ravioli Meal - 280cal

Snack: 11am
1 C Fat-Free Milk - 90 cal

Snack: 3:20 pm
1 Piece of String Cheese - 80 cal

Dinner: 5pm
1 Big Mac - 540cal

Daily Total: 1270 cal

This is an awesome product. It's soup, in a little packet. You put it in a mug/bowl, add water, and have insta-food.

http://www.cupasoup.com/

The website shows the retail versions, but it also comes in big much-plainer packaging for businesses. Here at work, we have Chicken Noodle, Cream of Chicken, and Beef flavors free to grab. The Chicken Noodle one at work is only 50 calories. Which is a quick, easy (and cheap!) way to get some quick protein in.

Esp when, say, someone feels like they're going to pass OUT. My metformin's been wonky the last couple days. I think this saved me. Yay!

I did it! Yesterday, I DID IT!!!

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

Breakfast: 4:30
2 eggs, poached (2x70) = 140 cal
1 piece of string cheese = 80 cal
1 Tbsp Salsa = 10 cal

Lunch: 8:30
1 Nutrigrain Bar - 130cal
1 Lipton Insta-Soup, Chicken Noodle - 50cal

Lunch: 9:00
1 C Fat-Free milk -90 Cal
Safeway Eating Right Roast Turkey - 320 cal

More food: 11:00 - 1:30
Arby's All-American Roast Burger - 420 cal
Small order Arby's Curly Fries - 360 cal
1 Carls Jr Crisp Burrito - 217 cal

Dinner: 7pm
Potato Stroganoff - 300 cal

Daily Total = 2117 cal

Yes, it's all messed up today. My insulin levels went NUTS about 7am, and I spent the next several hours just trying to stabilize them so I wouldn't pass out. Since I only have pills I can take a couple times a day, I have to use food to stabilize. UGH.

I wanted something kinda stroganoffy tonight. But I'm out of sour cream, have no steak, and no noodles. Time to get creative! Here's what I got

1 Medium-Large baking potato (Leftovers FTW) my size is about 200 cal
1 lb ground beef. Mine's only lean, but I rinse and drain it - 620 cal *
1/4 Cup-ish of yellow onion, chopped. My sister says an onion is 110cal. I used about an eighth of one, which I estimate at roughly 1/4 C - 15cal
1 BIG Can mushrooms - 90cal
1 Can Campbells Mushroom soup - 250 cal
some Worchestshire Pepper (This is pepper flavored like worchestshire sauce - I LOVE it - no cal)

Total for dinner dish: 1175

Divide into fourths for portioning. Figure it at about 300 cal!

*see http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/reducedfatgroundbeef.htm on rinsing and draining

Breakfast: 7:15
1 indiv side KFC mac & cheese 180 cal

Lunch: 12:30
3/4 C Safeway Brand blueberry crunch cereal - 130 cal
1 C fat-free milk - 90 cal

Dinner: 4pm
Potato Stroganoff: 300 cal

Snack: 7:15pm
1/4 C of ben & jerry's PB Cup ice cream - 170 cal

Daily Total: 870 cal

Breakfast: 4:20 am. (UGH-o-clock)
1/2 C Safeway Brand Blueberry Crunch Cereal. 3/4 C = 130 cal, so 130/3*2= 87 cal
3/4 C fat-free milk. 1 C = 90 Cal, so 90/4*3=68 cal

Lunch: 10am
1 Chicken Enchilada - 425 calories (estimated by the daily plate. This one's from Chevy's, but they don't have it in their nutrition list.)

Dinner: 4pm
1 Baked potato (btwn med & large) - about 200 cal
Butter substitute (I can't believe it's not butter) - about 3 tbsp - 210 cal (and *I* need a new substitute. My god!).
A sprinkle of onion - negligible
A bout 4 tbsp of salsa - 40 cal
1/2 a baked apple/raisin thingy - 150cal?

Total Daily: 1175 Cal

I'm really proud of myself with this Chevy's thing. I mean, I KNOW it's throwing me over my cal budgets, but the three meals I've had off it are all part of what I'd normally eat as ONE meal.

Other healthy things I'm doing: I started taking 800mg of folic acid/day, on the advice of my Dr, who is happily NOT afraid of nutritional supplements.

I canceled my chiro appt for today - I feel FINE. I could do cartwheels (well, as well as I usually do).

I'm home today - I went to work, cause I feel fine, but I've still got this cough, so they sent me back home. I tried the baked apple recipe...only I didn't have splenda, so I used brown sugar twin. We'll see how it works. I think a good addition to the sugar/cinna mix would be molly mcbutter.

So...here's the deal. I don't seem to have a problem sticking to 1200 calories on a regular basis. it's that extra 300 btwn 900 & 300 that's the problem. Where do i cut it? obv, dinner is my problem....but...how? without feeling hungry all night? hrmm

Breakfast: 10 am
1 Cup Refried Beans - 275 calories
2 Tbsp Salsa - 20 calories
Tortilla Chips - about 150 calories

Snack: 1pm
1 chocolate bunny rabbit - 130 calories

Lunch: 3pm
1 KFC Snacker - 300 calories

Dinner 6:30 pm
1 indiv side KFC mac & cheese 180 cal
1/2 indiv side KFC mashed taters & gravy 1/2 * 130 cal = 65 cal
1 KFC biscuit 180 cal

Comfort Food with TV: 8pm (i got REALLY bad news from the dr)
1/2 C haggen daaz dulce de leche ice cream - 290 cal (at least it's out of the house now)

Total: 1590 cal

hmm..I'm definitly over budget today.

We eat @ OSF when Jason has had a really rough day or when he needs a treat. I like it, but he absolutely loves it. He always gets the same thing, whereas I like just about everything on the menu. I was surprised at how NOT bad for me some of this stuff can be, actually. I just have to be careful.

http://www.osf.com/menu/nutrition.htm

The idea behind this place is, you get a full meal, served in courses. They start you off with bread, then bring Soup or Salad, then your entree, and then desert.

So...Bread:
They bring out one loaf for everyone to share. This is apparently 4 servings, at 328 calories a serving. The loaf we cut into about 8 pieces, and I generally have one slice.

328x4/8= 164 calories. I think I'll skip the bread.

next, soup or salad. After scanning the list, I have two options - one for when I'm cold and want soup, and one for salad.

Minestrone soup: 60 cal
Salad w/ FF Honey Mustard: 120 cal

Next, the Entree. I don't have any one special, so this was just a matter of scanning the menu.

Spinach & Cheese Ravioli - 480 cal. I think I'll eat half - 240 cal.

And then there's desert - spumoni ice cream - 180 cal.

So, my total is 540 calories, or 480 calories.
either way, this is a little out of range for me. I can still do it, but I need to know ahead of time to adjust the rest of my meals to leave room.

Red Robin is one of my favorite restaurants. For years, they haven't had any sort of nutitional guide, but I found out today, they added a 'build a meal' thingy. So I used it.

• Garden Burger (no bun or sauce)- 141 calories. The bun adds 250 calories, the sauce 126.
• Lettuce Wrap burger (no cheese) - 332 calories. The cheese adds 90 calories
• Grilled Turkey Burger (no bun or sauce) - 262 calories. The bun adds 250 calories, the sauce 192.
• Crispy Fish Burger (no bun or sauce) - 217 calories. The bun adds 250 calories, the sauce 136.

None of these include the steak fries. The side of them is 390 calories by themselves.
They also include a salmon burger in their lighter fare section but I detest non-deep-fried fish.

stuff I usually like from them:

• Fish & Chips is 1067 calories. I can eat a third of it.
• Santa Fe Burger - 1042 calories. Not including the fries. OUCH. I won't remove the sauce, cause it MAKES the burger. Ditto on the sauteed onions and cheese and pablono pepper. But if I remove the bun, the tortilla strips, and the guacamole, i can get it to 680 calories, at which point I can eat half of it.
• Fajita Fiesta Pollo Salad - 1265 calories. Ow, Ow, Ow. So I take off the nacho cheese and the salad dressing and get it down to 652 calories. I can eat half of THAT.

Today, I'm not paying much attention to what I eat. Primarily, this is because I am rather ill and running a fever, and sleeping a lot on the couch while the TV's on. Jason's also sick and is doing the same.

Breakfast - IHOP's chicken fiesta omelette. I only ate 2 of the pancakes though. - no idea what time or calories.
Lunch - slept through it.
Dinner - Chevy's Chile Relano & a lil thing of corn. Left the rest of my meal for later.

Total Count - clueless, but I don't think it's too bad.

I started my day off with about 30 minutes of fairly strenuous activity from 8:15 - 8:52. Hee.

Then I had a terrible breakfast - Sonic's Chili Cheese Tots - Sonic Sized. 720 cal (EEP!) - 9:30 am
Lunch was a Sonic Jr Deluxe burger - 350 cal - noonish
Later, I had most of a bowl of Vegetable Korma - I have no idea how many calories it was, but it was REALLY tasty - and mostly veggies. Peas, carrots, Cauliflower. All in a spicy sauce. It came from the Indian hole-in-the-wall restaurant down the road. They didn't have nutrition info. MMM. that was about 2:30
Then, we went over to Hughs. I had 1 (JUST ONE!) piece of pizza. And even that was a half a slice. I had 2 chocolate chip cookies. Both the pizza and cookies were from Papa Murphys (I don't know what kind of pizza). I had a handful of veggies - carrots, tomatos, and broccoli with 1 tbsp of ranch to dunk them in - that I didn't finish. And I drank water, and that was IT.

I didn't do great, but I did ok, I think.

Total Cal: no idea.

So, tommorrow is going to be a really HARD day for me to maintain healthy eating. It's one of the type of days where Jason and I are never home. I could seriously use some help on how to manage this.

At 10am, we have to be @ Beth's for a D&D game. Snacks are available - namely, donuts. I have a weakness for donuts. Also, I'm not moving at all, I'm sitting at a table, rolling dice. Moving is disruptive and not an option. The snacks are within arm's length.
This lasts til noon.

At 1pm, Jason has a dentists appointment. It's all the way on the OTHER side of town, so we don't have time to swing home for a balanced meal. Likely, it will be McDonalds or Burger King, in the car, on the way.

Once Jason's done with his dentist appointment, we come home and prep for the next game. I'm not really able to go do my own thing at this point - I need to help him. There's barely time as there is - certainly no time to make/eat a salad, or create healthy snacks.

At 4pm, We have to be at Hugh's for the next D&D game. I have the same problems - lots of snacks. Not donuts this time, but more stuff I love. Chips, dips, cheese, pizza...etc. Everyone snacks the entire game. Ditto on the not moving as well. This generally runs until 9, 10 pm. Whenever everyone's too tired to continue.

Help?

Today's goal is simple: eat better than I did yesterday.

I went with protein for breakfast, and still lower cal than my usual breakfast bar. And I traded in my normal hot cocoa for something better for me.

Plus, I'm being better to my back, after having fallen DOWN this morning. I took the rest of the day off, and rested.

The trend continued at lunch, where I had to get creative. I woke up from a nap later than my usual lunch, and was starving. I was also cold. I wanted something yummy, filling, and WARM. The problem being, to get something warm, I had 3 options: 1) Grab insta-food easy to heat up and use up my last remaining lunch meal. 2) Heat up something in fridge - all we had were some cheddar dogs that are 270 cal for JUST the dog. 3) Cook something - which would have been disobeying Jason's orders to rest. So, I had to get creative. And I did.

I started with salad - 2 cups of my salad mix is 15cal. I didn't measure, but it looks like i have a cup and a half. I'm rounding up. Dressing always kills me - i can NOT stick to the '2 tbsp for 40 cal' on my light ranch - i always at LEAST double that. So I switched to salsa - because it's thicker, i can use less, so i put in roughly 2 tbsp. that came out to 20cal. woot. I wanted something filling, so I added a piece of string cheese, split up into little nibbles. that was 80 cal. At this point, I decided I needed a little MORE oomph to my salad, so I poached up another quick egg at 70 cal. That added some heat. Now, none of this is all that warm (the egg doesn't do that much in a salad!) so I added a calorie-free mug of peppermint tea and a sweater!

For a snack, I had about 6tbsp of salsa (30 cal), 7 toasted ritz crackers (sour cream & chive flavor - 130 cal for 14 = 65 cal) , and a piece of string cheese (80 cal)

One egg, poached with/ salt & pepper - 70 cal 7am
Mug of hot chamomile tea - 0 cal AND no caffiene! 7am
Lunch Salad - 185 cal 11:30 am
Mug of hot peppermint tea - 0 cal AND no caffiene! 11:30 am
Snack - 175 cal 4:30 pm

For dinner, we're went to a friends house. I couldn't really track calories, so I just tried to be careful. I had:

• A hamburger (small) with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, and very light may on a potato bun.
• About a quarter cup of Potato salad
• About a quarter cup of some sort of macaroni tuna salad (I did not know it had tuna. YECH)
• 10 kettle chips, lightly salted variety
• a touch of some sort of garlic onion mustard - trader joes brand. I dunked a few chips in it. Maybe 1 tbsp total, but I doubt it.
• 5 thin mint girl scout cookes

All this was at about 6:30ish.

I was hungry on the way home, so we swung through Jack in the Box and I got a grilled chicken pita snack. That was about 11:30pm


Daily Total: no freaking idea.

Nutrigrain breakfast bar -130 cal 7am
Sugar Free Hot Cocoa - 50 cal 8am
Smart Ones Chicken Parmigan Meal -290 cal 9am
Nutrigrain breakfast bar - 130 cal 11:30 am
McDonalds Side Salad w/ Ranch - 190 cal 1:30 pm
Dinner Salad - 135 cal 5:30 pm

Total Calories 925

Dinner salad's an estimate based on ingredients. I didn't measure.



I was doing GOOD! So Good. I even went for a walk (about 20 min, broken up, and slow cause of the back and the cane) and used my wiifit (about 20min, most of it boxing). AND I resisted the urge to have that donut that was yelling my name when I passed the shop.

Then...I screwed up.

I was up late with Rose, going over Wedding flowers. And Jason started DEEP-FRYING chicken nuggets. And he handed me one, and I nibbled, and next thing I knew the two of us had killed the entire bag. 290 calories a serving, 9 servings a bag. so 290 x 9 / 2 = 1305 calories. That doesn't include what deep-frying added.

Total Calories for the day: 2230+ Ouch. :(