Holy Crap Fast Food Calories!

Out of curiosity I looked online at the 2 closest fast food places to work and what I normally order.

At lunch if I ate from McD's, I'd consume 1130 calories.
That's just lunch!!

If I went to Taco Bell, 1020 calories.  And even their chicken quesadilla is 510 calories.

I'm definitely doing a good thing changing my eating and drinking habits!!

NS - Day 5

WOO!  I'm so hyper.  But maybe it's just me having my energy back and I haven't had it for so long, I didn't realize it was this great.

Breakfast today was a blueberry lemon baked bar.  Pretty good.  I also had a couple baby carrots on the way in.
Bar -
150 Calories
4.5g Fat
5g Fiber
6g Protein
23g Carbs


Turbo Shake around 10.

Lunch today is beans and ham soup
170 Calories
2.5g Fat
5g Fiber
12g Protein
25g Carbs

It looks yummy!

Lunch was tasty and my afternoon peanut butter bar was ridiculously delicious because....my stomach and pancreas had a meeting without my knowledge.  And they are pissed.  It's like they suddenly realized this is not just one day of healthy.  So between my eating one of them down there will make a weird noise.  I did walk around the building once today.  But this rebellion surprises me since I thought my body was going to accept this new way of doing things right away.

Ravioli with meat sauce!  Four large raviolis - it's yummy.
230 Calories
6g Fat
3g Fiber
14g Protein
28g Carbs

I've been snacking on baby carrots throughout the day.  So tonight's veggies might be broccoli in tomato sauce. 

NS - Day 4 - almost slipped and still fighting

It's cold out.  Coffee would be lovely.  But I haven't gotten over needing it to be the pretty caramel color.  So I immediately looked online at calorie content of International Delight.  My thought was, "30 extra calories is not going to be a big deal."  Well, the vanilla is 45.  So I might try black coffee with my caramel Sweet Drops that my BFF gave me a little later.

Breakfast is a blueberry muffin.
150 Calories
3g Fat
6g Fiber
7g Protein
23g Carbs

I should have warmed it up a bit, but it is good.

The last time I wore the dress I'm wearing today, it felt too tight all over.  I even said to myself I probably wouldn't wear it again.  Today I put it on because I like, I'm cold enough that I'd have something on over it, and I didn't give a flip if it was tight.  Well, it isn't as snug as last time!  So between no soda, no caffeine, and this new way of eating - I just might be on the right track.

Turbo Shake at 1015.
130 Calories
2.5g Fat
5g Fiber
15g Protein
15g Carbs

I'm so happy (that's been a very, very long time) and hyper that I walked around the building once and will probably go again around 1:30.

Lunch
Chicken Noodle Soup - very yummy.
110 Calories
2g Fat
0g Fiber
10g Protein
13g Carbs

I'm sure you Atkins people are freaking out about the carbs.  Get over it.  This isn't Atkins.  And, again, what works for me might not necessarily work for you and vice versa.

Afternoon peanut butter chocolate bar!
150 Calories
3.5g Fat
5g Fiber
13g Protein
21g Carbs

Above photo is dinner.  Chili with beans.  I added a veggie serving (celery).
240 Calories
8g Fat
6g Fiber
14g Protein
27g Carbs

I had a serving of veggies already - 4 baby carrots and a broccoli flowerette.  :-)

NS - Day 3

At no point yet have I felt hungry.  I've wanted food, but my stomach wasn't growling and I wasn't tired.  No low protein episodes either.

Breakfast today was a Harvest Nut Bar.  It was a tastier version of a granola bar.  There were cranberries in it which sweetened it up.  I'm saving the good stuff for weekdays.  :-)

Lunch today was a Trail Mix Bar.  Yummy because it had chocolate on it.  And celery and tomato sauce.  I cut up the celery put it in the tomato sauce and warmed it.  Even though the tomato sauce is no salt added - it still tastes salty to me.

Snack was the peanut butter bar.

Dinner is rotini and meatballs.  It smells yummy!
Tasting - DELICIOUS!!

NS - Day 2

I ended up eating my breakfast bar for yesterday last night.  So I was only 2 veggie servings short of what I was supposed eat.

Today's breakfast is a cinnamon streusel muffin.  I made coffee cubes (decaf) for my Turbo Shake so I can bring it with me when Cesar and I go volunteer and visit the pet store festival.  That way I won't be rushing to get home to drink it.

Turbo Shake - put 8 bean shaped coffee cubes in my tumbler then headed to volunteer.  2 hours later was still frozen.  So I'm shaking it the whole drive from FWB to Niceville and get it all melted, but it's not enough liquid.  Rebecca at Laura's was kind enough to add water to it so it wasn't the consistency of chocolate frosting.  

Lunch is 2 celery sticks dipped in low salt tomato sauce (1/2 cup) and a fudge graham bar.  The bar is delicious!!!

Dinner tonight is chicken pasta parmesan.  It''s very yummy!  Wish I was allowed a slice of whole grain to sop of the rest of the sauce.  :-)

I'm going to wait an hour or so to eat my 2 servings of veggies.  I don't want to wake up in the middle of the night just because my stomach is empty.

It will be lovely if I do lose weight, because this is a lot easier than planning meals, counting stuff, going to the grocery store, cooking.  I just reach into a box and TADA! that's what I get to eat.

NutriSystem - Day 1

I'll add to this after dinner.

I packed my food for work last night thinking I was all smart and organized.

Get to work and no breakfast.  Spent so much time messing with the food at home I forgot to put breakfast in my bag!

So I had my TurboShake for breakfast.  I use decaf coffee instead of water.  The shake was good.  Filled me up and did give me energy.  It's not OMG delicious, but chocolaty good.

Lunch was the loaded mashed potato.  WOW!  So yum!  I was full before I finished, but ate it all.  I don't feel stuffed, but satisfied.

At around 2:30 is a peanut butter chocolate bar.

And now I'm wondering how they expect me to stuff 4 servings of vegetables in my body!

Dinner was BBQ chicken with whole grain bread (cheap store didn't have buns) and 2 servings of veggies.

This is where I get confused.  The suggestions for non-starchy veggies include carrots.  Way back in high school I thought I learned that carrots are starchy and they turn to sugar when you digest them.  My dinner is yummy.

If my body starts screaming for food later, I still have my breakfast bar and 2 more veggie servings I can eat!

NutríSystem - Food has arrived!

It took quite awhile to unpack my food.  I have a Week 1 starter box.  I've already packed my meals for tomorrow at work.  Breakfast, a chocolate turbo shake that I'm allowed to add ice coffee in!, lunch, and an afternoon snack bar.

I'm supposed to have 4 veggie servings a day.  Plus, some of the breakfasts are cereal and at least one of the dinners said to add a whole grain roll.  So I'll be stopping at the grocery store tomorrow after work.  :-)

64 oz. of water or a 0 calorie drink.  I'm up to 67.6 already!

Main reason it took so long is that I don't have a pantry or anywhere to store the food.  I'm going to have to think about that one a little bit to try and store, but also organize things.  I did consider my oven, but it won't hold it all in an organized fashion.

Enjoy the video and photos!

Pre NutriSystem

On 10/17/17 I weighed 251 pounds.  Weighed in at Niceville Family Practice.

10/22/17 was my last soda.

I've started looking at calorie count for things I eat and drink.  Coffee is 1 calorie per 8 oz cup.  Creamer is 30 calories for each of those little cup things.  I did have Taco Bell for lunch - a grilled chicken quesadilla.

The decision I've made isn't for everyone.  It will work for me because I hate meal planning and I hate grocery shopping.  I opted against Jenny Craig because their website said something about a monthly call from a counselor.  I don't want to have someone call me.  If I want to talk, I'll call you.

My doctor is on board with this.

I'm excited about this!  I'm looking forward to getting my food tomorrow.  I haven't told many people because there's always a negative nelly.  One chick at work said, "The portions are so small!"  Of course they are!  I'll be eating 5 or 6 meals a day.  And the whole point of it is to lose weight in a healthy way.

Even though they advertise that you'll lose 2 pounds a week - my expectation is to lose 1 or a tad more.  And to be at my target weight by November 2018.

We'll see!

Happy Day

I'm happy today!  It started last night, but I woke up still happy.

It feels so good.  And it feels like it's been months since I've felt this way.

I like it.  :-)

Too Long Between Journal Entries

Far too long and I don't have any excuse.

I love birthdays.  But lately I haven't been wishing anyone on social media a happy birthday.  And the past 2 weeks have been cloudy for me.  Not a full on dark time, but not as happy as I should be.

Ma's birthday was Friday and mine's tomorrow.  I spent Friday with Dad and David.  I always enjoy hearing Dad play his pan.  But when I got home I felt that empty spot in my heart.  Ma's laugh - I miss it so much.  She'd laugh at all my silly unfunny jokes.

Part of me says I'm being selfish for not wishing anyone else happy birthday, but another part of me is saying there are times when I need to be selfish.

I keep saying I need to start seeing a therapist and then I put off making the call.

I have very little energy when I'm at home.  At work I can put on the mask, smile, teach (I do enjoy teaching), but once I'm home, I'm not motivated to do anything.  It's a huge accomplishment to me when I wash the dishes, do laundry, or mow.

I used to not be like that.  My house used to be tidy.  Dishes never piled up in the sink.  Laundry got done each week.  And that hasn't been because of Ma's death.  I was like this before that.  It's been going on for at least spring and summer.  And there's a chance the Citalopram might be part of the cause now that I think about it.

I have an appointment with an ENT in 2 weeks.  Hoping that I'll get help with my sinuses and my snoring.  Maybe that'll help my motivation too.

David jokes about his cancer.  But I'm hoping so very much that the treatment won't be too taxing on his system and that it is curable.

I want to wake up feeling rested.  I want to WANT to mow my lawn and clean/dust my house.

Enough rambling for now - I've got a training document to work on.