A Sensible Dinner - Pearlieq's Journal

[jay-nee]

Wow, wow, wow! That is a HUGE loss for your 1st week. Awesome!

You are so lucky that DH will be supportive of the new choices. That is so important to have someone in your camp right from the start. Thank God - I had my WISH friends and my kids too.

We had turkey chili yesterday, so yummy!

Have a great weekend! You are doing the right things... Keep up the GREAT work! 15.5 is amazing, take it girl, you earned it!

 

[sarahsmom73]

I find that drinking water out of a water bottle helps me drink more! I also have to drink water at room temp... I can't drink it cold!!!

You are doing great! Keep going!

 

[pearlieq]

3/13/05

10:45am

--McDonalds pancakes, plain (I used the syrup to dip only, so I only used about a 3rd of the packet)
--1 Fruit & Yogurt parfait

Getting hungry again. We have a 2 lunches for $10 coupon at Applebees, so I think we'll head there after DH's movie is finished. I hope we go soon. I'm hungry!!!

3:15pm

--six celery sticks with a little bit of buffalo sauce/ranch dressing
--Tango chicken sandwich
--4 pineapple wedges

We ran into some neighbors at Applebees--that was fun. They had ordered a huge plate of buffalo wings, but luckily they're not one of my favorites so I just picked at the celery. My sandwich wasn't that great. I'm getting really sick of chicken! Plus, it wasn't very tender--it took some doing to get a bite!

6:30pm

--1 bit of chicken
--1 sugar free kool-air pouch

I put all of the frozen chicken breasts I had in the freezer into the crock-pot to cook today. I'm going to make a pasta with chicken tonight, pulled chicken with manwich on Hawaiian rolls tomorrow night, and a chicken casserole later this week. So much for being sick of chicken!

I just got back to the store--I got sooo much food. There were a lot of "stock up" type sales, so I bought tons of cereal and frozen meals. I used lots of coupons, so I did pretty well!

7:30pm

--1 1/2 large barbecued chicken breast sandwiches
--large handful baby carrots
--1 cup natural applesauce

I think there were too many carbs in this meal, because I felt myself getting that "itch" where I just want to devour everything in sight. That usually happens when I eat too many refined carbs.

 

[wilderness01]

That's a great loss! So what kind of pasta did you eat at CPK? We ate there last week and I had a spicey dish that was soooooooooooo good!

 

[pearlieq]

That's a great loss! So what kind of pasta did you eat at CPK? We ate there last week and I had a spicey dish that was soooooooooooo good!

I think they called it Farfalle with Broccolini and Sun-Dried Tomatoes. It was mostly just the pasta, vegetables, oil, and spices, the chief among which was garlic. It was garlic-arrific! Which is fine by me, I loves me some garlic!

Was it the kung-pao pasta you had? I've heard that was really good.

 

[wilderness01]

Yes that is what I had. It was WONDERFUL! I had it with a more flat noodle than spaghetti and I loved it. This was a pretty new restaurant and very clean. How was yours?

 

[pearlieq]

3/14/05

9:00am

--small handful of Cinnamon Toast Crunch

I've got a quick conference call. Hopefully it will wrap up soon and I can get some breakfast!

9:15

--1 barbecue chicken sandwich on a hawaiian roll
--1 banana
--1 cup skim milk

My call was quicker than I thought it would be! Work troubles today--trying not to let it stress me out but feeling kind of overwhelmed.

1:45pm

--1 Souffers ravioli entree
--Garlic hummus with baby carrots (probably between 2 and 3 T)
--1 large navel orange.

I had forgotten how good oranges can be! This one was perfectly sweet and juicy--yummy! We'd gotten out of the habit of buying fresh produce since I got sick of throwing it away. I now buy lots of frozen veggies and put them in just about everything, but I was really missing fresh fruit. Canned just isn't the same. I bought bananas, oranges, apples, and pineapples as the grocery store yesterday since that's what was on sale. I'm trying to make sure each meal/snack contains at least one.

A new thing that's happened to me this week is that I've started getting fuller sooner. Normally I can put food away like nobody's business. Last night I served myself 2 large chicken sandwiches which I used to be able to eat no problem. Last night I finished one, my fruits & veggies, and about 1/4 of my husbands (he couldn't finish either--they really were big!) and I was done. I didn't even have my usual nighttime snack.

What happened today was that I've been getting hungrier and hungrier for the past hour and I've been ignoring it. (did I think it was going to go away or something?) By the time I talked some sense into myself and went to get some lunch, I was pretty darn hungry. So, while I was waiting for my meal to cook I gobbled up the carrots and hummus pretty fast. Then I peeled the orange and had it half of it eaten before I even sat down with my meal again. By then I was feeling pretty full. It occured to me that I've gone through most of my life without really listening to my body. I tend to ignore its demands (be it hunger, thirst, tired, alert, need to go to the washroom, etc.) until I can't possibly ignore them anymore. It's almost like I spend a lot of my time fighting my body. I guess the idea that I consider my body something separate from "me" would be my first clue. Just something to think about. I wonder if things would be better for me if tried doing what my body wanted when it wanted it. Something to think about...

4pm

--1/2 cup lowfat cottage cheese
--7 reduced-fat Triscuits
--1 snack pack of prunes

Hungry again!

5pm

After days and days of reporting no exercise, I finally took the bull by the horns today and took a 35 minute walk around the neighborhood. It was very, very pleasant--I hope to be able to do it again tomorrow.

6:50pm

--1 cup Bush's baked beans
--1 1/3 hot dogs
--1 ear of corn, no butter, with salt-free herb blend
--1/4 of a fresh pineapple

 

[pearlieq]

Yes that is what I had. It was WONDERFUL! I had it with a more flat noodle than spaghetti and I loved it. This was a pretty new restaurant and very clean. How was yours?

I'm going to have to try that--so many people have raved about it!

Ours was really new as well--they just opened on March 1st. It was really pretty, they had a big open kitchen and the whole restaurant was decorated with honey oak, stone, and some slate-type colors. Very warm and cozy!

 

[sarahsmom73]

I know I am trying hard to not eat so fast, but it is hard when you have a million things to do...

Have a great day!

 

[DoeWDW]

Look at you!! You're doing a great job of writing down your food AND your feelings about it. The weight is starting to melt away - 15.5 pounds WOW!! You've made a great start!

I tried eating low-fat and actually gained weight. I would eat a bagel for breakfast and be starving a half hour later. If I don't eat some protein and fat with every meal, I get hungry so quickly. I've learned to keep some snacks handy that are mostly protein and fat, so I feel full longer. I always have nuts on hand (count them out though - portion sizes are small). String cheese is an excellent snack. An apple with peanut butter smeared on it or yogurt with some almonds or walnuts mixed in will hold me for hours. You'll find what works for you!

Congratulations on getting that 35 minute walk in! It's always hard for me to get started but once I walk, I feel awesome!

Best wishes for a terrific Tuesday!

 

[pearlieq]

3/15/05

8:45am

--barbecued chicken sandwich on a Hawaiian roll
--1 banana
--1 cup skim milk

Oof! That was a big meal. Hopefully it will hold me for a while. I'll be glad when the Hawaiian rolls are gone--they pack quite a whallop. I think I'm going to get some pita bread next time I got to the store--it's got many fewer calories and lots more fiber. Of course now that I'm all full my little girl cat has decided to crawl up on my lap and start marching on my stomach--ugh!

1:45pm

--1 cup leftover beans & franks from last night
--1 orange

Honestly only a little hungry, but I figured I should eat anyway, just so I'm ready for dinner and so I don't get too hungry this afternoon.

5:30pm

--1 regular bowl cinnamon toast crunch with skim milk
--1 Stouffers ravioli entree

I feel like I'm dangling on the edge of a cliff right now. I really want to go on a bender and I'm not sure why--I'm a little stressed about work and a scheduling mess for tomorrow, and I'm getting a bit of "diet fatigue", but I'm not quite sure why I had 15 minutes there where I wanted to eat everything in sight and then go out for more. Luckily I was able to fake it out with a bowl of cereal, which tasted great and made the urge to clean out my fridge and then go to Arbys pass. Still, I'm a little worried about the ferocity of my desire to overeat.

9:20pm

--breadsticks and cheese handi-snack

It's funny--I knew a bender was coming tonight.

10:30pm

--1 cheeseburger
--1 large garlic roll
--4 cheddar bacon potato skins with sour cream

I don't know why this happened. Only the cheeseburger was really worth eating. I don't know why I was so determined to overeat tonight. I think part of it is work stress and part of it is that I'm losing sight of "one day at a time". When you have 200 pounds to lose, it's really hard to think about. It feels like climibing Mt. Everest. You start thinking about how far you have to go and all the work there is to do, then you start doubting that you can do it. That gets really depressing, and then the bender starts.

Time to get back on the horse.

 

[pearlieq]

3/16/05

8:45 am

--larger bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch
--skim milk

Not the best breakfast. Time to regroup--I can still make a good day of this.

12:45

--1 cheese & breadsticks Handi Snack
--1 Lean Cuisine Lasagna

I will have some fruit for my next snack. I'm glad that was the last Handi-Snack. I'm pawning off the last of the Girl Scout Cookies on my mom (an ethical gray area, I know) tomorrow and that will be the last of the "junk" in the house. I have to keep reminiding myself of something I read in a diet book as a pre-teen--you are not a garbage can. You don't have to eat up food just to have it be gone or so it won't be wasted. That's what the trash can is for. It's a hard lesson for me to learn. One thing I am happy about, though, is that I seem to be sticking to the idea of only eating when I'm hungry. I may slip up and overeat/choose bad foods, but at least I was hungry when I ate. I haven't eaten purely out of boredom, stress, etc. for almost 2 weeks now.

Bunco tonight. It's a group of ladies in our neighborhood that get together to play, so there's always tons of unhealthy snack food. It's my turn to bring some of the food this week. My strategies for coping tonight:

1.) Eat a full, healthy dinner before I go.
2.) Stick to no more than 1 serving of any food. I'm bringing grilled chicken skewers, a pineapple-upside down pull-apart bread, bottled water, and possibly fresh pineapple.
3.) Eat only foods worth the splurge. I've had Ruffles and onion dip before--nothing new to experience there.
4.) Take one pass at the buffet, enjoy what I've chosen, then GET OUT OF THERE! Go find someone to talk to. Stick to water/diet soda for the rest of the evening.

3:30pm

--2 Trefoils cookies
--1 or 2 tastes of brownie batter

OK--the other girl who was supposed to be providing snacks for Bunco totally bailed today with nothing but an email. She didn't make any arrangements for her snacks, so I threw some brownies in at the last minute and made up a plate of Girl Scout cookies. I'll be glad to get them out of the house.

7pm - 12am

Well, I had nice ideas, but that's not actually what happened last night. I found out an hour before Bunco was supposed to start that our hostess's kids were sick. So, without really thinking, I offered up my house since I'm just across the way. So in under an hour I had 16 women in my house! I've never cleaned that fast in my life! I wound up skipping dinner totally and eating much more than I planned. I can't rememember exactly what I ate, but it must have been about 10-12 chicken skewers, 2 small brownies, 1 real Coke, 2 propels, 2 pieces of beach bread, a large handful of ruffles, a few tostitos, and may tastes of dip. It was pretty much the opposite of what was supposed to happen.

 

[Rachie0507]

Pearlieq---I have enjoyed reading your journal so much!!! You are doing awesome. We have very similar backgrounds. I have always been overweight and both my parents are overweight. I am 26 and feel a lot older. My knees hurt so much sometimes that I use a heating pack. I've had two kids though, and pregnancy is tough when you are already carrying extra weight. That is one reason I am trying to get control of my issue now, though, because I want a third!!

Your progression with your food choices is great. The first few days you ate a lot more, and unhealthy foods, then you are now. I think you have the right attitude to succeed. I love these journals. I think it keeps us in check and honest. Keep up the good work!!!!!

 

[Strings]

Pearlieq,

I'm sorry it has taken so long for me to get to your journal. Congrats on your loss. That is a great start. You goals are definately reasonable. You should be very proud of yourself today. You binged yesterday, but you are back on program today. No one is perfect, but getting back to the dtraight and narrow is really what will make this time different.

My suggestion is that you add more fiber and protein to your meals and snack. Doe's suggestions are great. You have really come a long way in a short period of time. I suggest that when you get discouraged, you read the 1st 3 days of your journal to compare.

Keeping your eye on small goals is a great way to stay motivated. That is why so many of us use the clippies. Breaking the loss down in 5 pound increments can help. I have a little over 100 pounds to lose when I started. I am 70 pounds closer to goal because of the support I have found here and the clippie system.

You mentioned needing sports bras. I am a bit busty. Ok, that is an understatement. I would suggest the Nike style 223977 or go to title9sports.com. They are expensive, but so worth it. I have been using the last resort bra. Believe me when I say that there is NO movement.

Enjoy tonight and Keep up the great work,
Beth

 

[sarahsmom73]

Baby Steps! Lots and lots of baby steps!

 

[pearlieq]

3/17/05

1:30 pm

--1 regular meatball sub from Quiznos
--1 bag barbecue chips
--16oz real Coke
--1 mini pineapple upside-down cake

Again, not a stellar morning. I'm really on kind of a slide, but I'm still comitted to regrouping. It's funny how it seems like being OP is so easy for some days--I can't imagine why I haven't eaten like that all the time. Other days you can't get OP to save your life. I'm going to try to deal with this in the most postive way possible. Good things:

1.) Still committed to being OP.
2.) Have gotten rid of all of last night's leftovers. No junk is sitting around the house to be eaten.
3.) I am going to drink plenty of water tonight and tomorrow to flush out the excess salt and other junk I've taken it.
4.) I am going for a walk today, even if it's just 5 minutes.

7:30pm

--1 raspberry lemonade
--2 servings salad
--4 breadsticks
--2 bites whole wheat pasta with marinara
--1 to 1 1/2 cups whole wheat pasta with meat sauce.

Olive Garden tonight. Next time I'm going to have to ask the waiter to take the breadsticks away. They always were my downfall. I'm so thrilled to see they're offering whole wheat pasta. My pasta didn't get drained very well, so I had pasta soup. The manager came and took it back to the kitchen, so I wound up just finishing DH's pasta. I had the manager pack up the fixed pasta to go, so now I have lunch for tomorrow.

 

[pearlieq]

3/18/05

7:15am

--1 small bowl frosted mini-wheats
--skim milk

I'm still going to eat when I'm hungry today, but I'm going to cut my portions given the overeating of the last few days. Back on the horse! Lunch today will be left over pasta from last night with chicken and veggies, and then sometime today I'm going to make a double batch of chicken casserole with all of the rest of the chicken. I've got to use it up!

10:30am

--1/2 cup lowfat cottage cheese
--7 reduced fat Triscuits
--3 prunes

1:30pm

--2 cups chicken cacciatore
--2T parmesan cheese

I took last night's linguine, added chicken, peas, and canned diced tomatoes and made a "cacciatore" out of it. It smells good--hopefully the protein & fat from the chicken and cheese and the fiber from the veggies and whole wheat pasta will hold me. Just found out we're going to Maggiano's tomorrow night. Going to have to eat light today and tomorrow morning to get ready for the splurge. No way I'm sticking to salad, but hopefully I can have small portions of my faves.

4:30pm

--1 1/2 cups teriyaki chicken & veggies
--10 reduced-fat Ritz
--1 orange

7:00pm

--1 regular cheeseburger
--3 melon slices

We tried the new restaurant up the road. It's just a plain family restaurant, but the food was pretty good. I was so fed up with chicken and had a strong craving for a cheeseburger. I got the sandwich only with fruit on the side and I enjoyed every bite!

8:45pm

--1 Kozy Shack sugar-free pudding.

Calories Eaten: 2248
Calories Burned: 3532

 

[Strings]

You'll have to tell me about Maggiano's. We have one opening in our area soon. Keep up the great work.
Beth

 

[pearlieq]

3/19/05 - Weigh In

352.0 this morning, so down 0.5 pounds from last week. Given the week I've had, this is nothing short of a miracle.

I'm adding in a interim goal between my May and September goals. I'd like to get down to my college weight--330 lbs--by July 4th.

Things to focus on in the coming week:
1.) EXERCISE! I need to be doing something, even if it's just a quick walk around the block or some situps in front of the TV.
2.) Water. I need to be more conscious of having my mug made up and refilling it throughout the day.

 

[pearlieq]

3/19/05

7:30am

1 1/2 cups chicken cacciatore
1 cup skim milk

Maggiano's tonight. What I'd like to do is to stay right around 1000 calories for breakfast, lunch, and snacks. My breakfast here is 337 calories, and I plan to carry some almonds for an afternoon snacks, so between the two of those I have about 500 calories available for lunch with DH at Egg Harbor Cafe. I'm going to get the spinach and low-fat mozarella egg white omelet with fruit. Normally I would have the toast or english muffin too, but I'm going to stay low on the carbs this morning and focus mostly on protein and fiber. That will leave me with around 1500 calories for tonight. I love their cream of chicken soup, so I'm going to have a cup of that with 1 or 2 crispbreads. It's chock full of fat, but so are all the rest of the appetizers and at least the soup is portion controlled and filling. I'm going to have 1 Amaretto Sour, because Maggiano's makes the best one I've ever had anywhere. Then I think DH and I will split the filet medallions and the spinach/chicken manacotti. We'll see. I may order a side of asparagus or broccoli, and I'll definitely share in dessert.

My goals:
--Stay away from the bread basket. 2 crisp breads is my limit.
--Enjoy my food, but leave some behind for each course.
--1 cocktail, then switch to Diet Coke or Iced Tea.
--No doggie bags. What happens at Maggiano's stays at Maggianos.

11:15am

--1 Dynamite Veggie White omelet at Egg Harbor
--1 cup fresh fruit salad.

I went shopping after lunch. I took a lap around the entire mall before I went to my store, plus I parked far out at all the places I stopped, so I got about 25 minutes of walking in today. I think I'm going to go take a nap. It's a cool, dreary day--perfect for napping.

3:45pm

--1 english muffin
--3/4 cup cottage cheese
--1 cup carb clever peaches
--1/4 cup roasted garlic hummus

The veggie omelet didn't hold me quite as long as I would have liked. So, I'm having a hearty mini-meal with lots of protein and fiber. With any luck we'll be eating in about 3 hours so the timing should be just about right.

6:30pm - 8:30pm

--1 amaretto stone sour
--2 crispbreads
--1/4 breaded cheese slice
--1/4 cup onion straws
--2 1/2 crepes of spinach/chicken/cream sauce
--1 filet medallion
--1 cup mashed potatoes w/portabello gravy
--1/2 cup onion straws
--1 large slice poundcake, toasted
--3 caramelized banana quarters
--1/4 cup hot fudge
--2 T vanilla ice cream

This dinner went perfectly--exactly how I wanted it to go. They were out of soup, but I had just a small taste of the breaded mozzarella and a few onion straws. I enjoyed a little over half of my manicotti and one of DH's filet medallions with some of the yummy mashed potatoes mixed with gravy and onion straws. Awesome! Finally I had a toasted pound cake dessert with caramelized bananas and hot fudge. So good! That was the one I had the hardest time letting go of, but I did leave most of the ice cream behind. We had horrific service, but the food was good and the company was better. It was a great night.