TYPICAL DAYS

 I mentioned in my last post that I would list a typical day or two of eating at 4 months post op.

I start each day with about 1/4 cup of grape juice with my potassium supplement mixed in.  Then I usually have a protein hot chocolate and a protein bar.  I make my own and I have an assortment of them from different companies. I try to make sure they are at least 10 g of protein. So usually my breakfast is between 20-30 g protein.

This is what the taro one looked like!

Mid-morning I have a snack, right now I am enjoying Trader Joes Protein Banana Muffins - 7 g protein but 22 g carbs, so I don't eat them too often! Otherwise I might have some sunflower seeds, nuts or finish my protein bar from breakfast.

Lunch is when I get the most variety and opportunity to experiment.  Costco had a good price on Bay Shrimp so I bought a few pounds and portioned them into baggies and put them in the freezer.  If I take one out the night before, it is thawed enough to add some chopped celery, mayo and seasonings.  I have been putting it in a container with 1/2 avocado and it makes a great lunch with some Wonderslim crackers - 19 g protein. I also look for soups with higher protein and add the protein pretzels or crackers to up my intake.

The other day my boss took me to lunch at a Dim Sum place (I managed to get a customer to finally pay off a $10,000. bill he had owned since last April!) I had almost 4 pieces of Dim Sum.  I am terrible about the names, but one was shrimp in a translucent wrapper, two were minced shrimp and pork dumplings and one was taro with something in the middle.  It was great and I was thrilled that I could eat so much.  I suspect the "wrappers" added up carb wise - but what the heck.  It was a treat!

In the afternoon I sometimes have a protein bar/chips depending on how much I ate for lunch and when I managed to take a lunch break.

Dinner, for some reason, is the meal that I have trouble with.  By the end of the day I am hungry but my stomach is easily upset.  I usually have a small portion of chicken and few bites of veggies.  One recent dinner I added about 1/4 of a potato skin (potatoes scooped out but with butter and salt!)  I have been trying out a lot of recipes from low carb cookbooks to expand my dinner menus. If my protein isn't adding up to 90-120 g for the day, I have a protein drink or another protein hot chocolate.

For a treat, I love to have my red grapefruit sections.  The other night I was wanting something different so I melted some semi-sweet chocolate chips and put roasted almonds in the melted chocolate, spread them out on wax paper to harden and broke them into pieces.  A few of these nuts is a nice treat with hot tea at the end of the day.

STEP 1 AGAIN

I mentioned in my main blog that I don't need to make a resolution to lose weight and get into shape - it holds honorary,  perennial status.

But I do need to have an approach.  January my goal is to get off and stay off sugar.  I started today.  My experience is that the physical "withdrawal" hits on day 2 or 3.  So I have planned to have some celery, carrots, nuts and popcorn on hand to nibble when the cravings hit.  I am also going to avoid the other bugaboos - like things made with white flour which can also set off those cravings.

My many years of experience tell me that after 5 days or so the sweets craving will subside and I can move to a new phase in my attack.  I am giving myself all of January to get my carby little  ducks in a row.  I have been pulling out veggie recipes and making meal plans.

I have a big clean out the pantry day planned, too.  My husband loves his sugar, but I can buy him things I won't be tempted by.  However, when the will power is low, I am known to go through the pantry and get creative.  So all the little leftover cookie makings will go out - the coconut, the toffee bits come to mind.

I am trying to get up the nerve to put one of those weight loss "tickers" on the sidebar.  I am not in the habit of revealing my actual weight.  Who am I kidding? I NEVER reveal my actual weight.  So we'll see about that leap.

SOMETHING INTERESTING IS HAPPENING

I am at heart a nurturing person.  Becoming wife and mother of 3 made me hyper aware of the needs of those family members - not to the total loss of my own needs, but the awareness was/is always there.

Since I decided to start this dietary plan, I have been thinking about my meals first.  I have been searching recipes and meal plans and went shopping today for a few things, including something to make for my husband's dinner.  (I take my dinner to work with me 5 days a week and usually make something for him to eat at home.)

I cruised the aisles a bit looking for some new things to add to my pantry, I picked up his Diet Coke since it was on sale, got some veggies and thumped a few watermelons before I gave up and decided to pick one up elsewhere tomorrow, then I checked out.

It was while I was in line that I realized that I had picked up some ingredients for my meal - but nothing for him.  Wow.  I didn't even turn around and go back to find something for him - I figured he could make a sandwich or order in or eat some leftovers or something.

I went home, sauteed some mushrooms and garlic in a bit of olive oil, combined that with some brown rice from the frig and added a couple spoons of Tikka Masala sauce.  Packed that with a peach and a couple bottles of water and off to work I went.

BUILDING A ROUTINE

I finally updated my statistics to show my yo-yo activity of the past few months.  I hated putting a gain for December because I had started off so strong and had been losing until the end of the month when it all reversed! 

Working 5 days a week is really helping me stay on track.  I have breakfast and a good sized lunch and then pack my dinner to take with me to work at 3.  This keeps me out of the kitchen during the hours I am most likely to snack and otherwise run my calories up.  I have gotten past feeling hungry when I get home after 11 by breaking my dinner into 2 parts and having the second part around 8 pm.  Then when I get home a cup of tea is enough to help me relax before bed. 

Lately I have been relying on the "protein pretzels" from Lifestyle for part of my dinner.  I can dip them into hummus or eat them with some string cheese or Laughing Cow soft cheese.  I have a couple of carrots and celery sticks and a little tomato and I am full.  My second dinner break favorite has been 1/2 cup each of strawberries and vanilla Greek yogurt -   kind of like a dessert.

I have been managing my calories at 1200-1350, and I am back to losing 2 pounds a week.  Next step is to up the exercise intensity and hope my knees continue to feel strong.

Plus, 2 more days and I get a manicure!