Last night we had one of the special dinners. Seafood shells. Cheese stuffed shells (one of my favorites) but instead of marinara sauce, they are covered in an orange sauce with chunks of salmon, scallops and shrimp. I'm not sure what the sauce is but it's yummy. I would get a bite of shells and one of the seafood pieces together for a delicious combination. John said it was just alright. Weird.
Speaking of John, he wanted me to make sure to say that he's lost about 5.5 pounds in three weeks. It's three weeks for him because he went to India during the second week which eliminated whatever he lost the first week.
Oh, so the oh-so-subtle product placements on Biggest Loser are amusing, to say the least. I don't do gum (cow cud, anyone?) but I must admit to agreeing with most of the others. The frozen steamed vegetable bags are brilliant. I love the single serve bags for Nicky's meals. They have broccoli with cheese sauce that I throw some rice into for a complete meal for him in five minutes. But it's still funny watching the monotone line reading by the contestants.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Friday, February 27, 2009
Scientific Proof!
You may recall a few years ago when studies were published linking sleep deprivation to weight loss. Here's one article on that: http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2004-12-06-sleep-weight-gain_x.htm. It basically states that lack of sleep messes with the levels of two hormones produced by the hypothalamus: one which makes you feel hungry and one which tells you you're full. Why the interest, you ask? Well, Catie woke up at 1 last night and after I got her fed and put back to sleep, Nicky woke up. And couldn't settle down until 3. Even after he fell back asleep, he kept crying out in his sleep. So I got to revisit Nosleepland. And it was noticeable this morning in my desire to graze. I kept wandering into the kitchen. I appeased the raging hormones (not just a woman's excuse anymore!) with skim milk pudding, a bite of Nicky's banana, a bit of Nicky's pear and so on. Not an excuse. Just an observation.
Lunch today was the pasta salad primavera with tuna. Another observation. I wonder if DTG ever considered substituting salmon for some of their meals with tuna. When pregnant, I made that substitution and found that salmon salad sandwiches are quite yummy. I bet the salmon would taste wonderful in the pasta salad. I added some of Nicky's spinach into my salad as a little more greenery. Yes, Nicky's spinach. My son. Sigh. Won't eat sandwiches. Only meat consumed is chicken nuggets and sausage (the long link kind). But he will eat almost any fruit or vegetable you give him. Yesterday his lunch was rice (made with a bit of chicken boullion for flavor) with spinach and a bit of parmesan cheese. I would recommend DTG use more spinach in their meals. It is also quite yummy.
Now, to bed. Perchance to sleep. I gave up on dreaming when we had our first child!
Lunch today was the pasta salad primavera with tuna. Another observation. I wonder if DTG ever considered substituting salmon for some of their meals with tuna. When pregnant, I made that substitution and found that salmon salad sandwiches are quite yummy. I bet the salmon would taste wonderful in the pasta salad. I added some of Nicky's spinach into my salad as a little more greenery. Yes, Nicky's spinach. My son. Sigh. Won't eat sandwiches. Only meat consumed is chicken nuggets and sausage (the long link kind). But he will eat almost any fruit or vegetable you give him. Yesterday his lunch was rice (made with a bit of chicken boullion for flavor) with spinach and a bit of parmesan cheese. I would recommend DTG use more spinach in their meals. It is also quite yummy.
Now, to bed. Perchance to sleep. I gave up on dreaming when we had our first child!
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Boooooo
Well, not going to delay.
Week 5 Beginning Weight: 201.4
Week 5 Ending Weight: 200.6
Week 5 Weight Loss: 0.8
Total Weight Loss: 8.8
So hypotheses are either I plateau'd (plateaued? plateaud?) or it was just one of those weeks. I really hope the latter. You know how everyone says they don't have time to exercise? Well, I don't have time to exercise. At least, not formally. Informally, I exercise most of the day!
Dinner last night was a substitution for me, stuffed shells. John had the vegetable ravioli which he liked. Particularly because of the chocolate mousse which comes with it. (Add that to the list of recipes which may "disappear" from the DTG kitchen) I really liked lunch today. I'm a fan of hummus. Today, in order to make sure the ratio of pita to hummus was even (have I mentioned I'm a math major?), I sliced the pitas and spread the hummus on them. Thus, there was an optimal pita/hummus combination.
A story today about what type of diet helps you lose weight. (http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/02/25/best.diet/index.html) After following thousands of people on different diets, they determined if the calorie counts were the same, the weight loss was the same. It didn't matter if they did high-carb, high-fat, high-protein or low-fat. So basically, eat what you like. Just don't eat so much of it!
Week 5 Beginning Weight: 201.4
Week 5 Ending Weight: 200.6
Week 5 Weight Loss: 0.8
Total Weight Loss: 8.8
So hypotheses are either I plateau'd (plateaued? plateaud?) or it was just one of those weeks. I really hope the latter. You know how everyone says they don't have time to exercise? Well, I don't have time to exercise. At least, not formally. Informally, I exercise most of the day!
Dinner last night was a substitution for me, stuffed shells. John had the vegetable ravioli which he liked. Particularly because of the chocolate mousse which comes with it. (Add that to the list of recipes which may "disappear" from the DTG kitchen) I really liked lunch today. I'm a fan of hummus. Today, in order to make sure the ratio of pita to hummus was even (have I mentioned I'm a math major?), I sliced the pitas and spread the hummus on them. Thus, there was an optimal pita/hummus combination.
A story today about what type of diet helps you lose weight. (http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/02/25/best.diet/index.html) After following thousands of people on different diets, they determined if the calorie counts were the same, the weight loss was the same. It didn't matter if they did high-carb, high-fat, high-protein or low-fat. So basically, eat what you like. Just don't eat so much of it!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
I Like To Move It
There's no aerobic instructor as demanding as a 3 year old. If you've never seen Madagascar, I would recommend renting it just for the song. It's a very happy, hoppy, danceable number. Anyway, after dancing around the room four times to the Thomas the Tank Engine theme, he started singing "I like to move it, move it". So I loaded the DVD and we listened to the credits a couple times. My dancing, however, was judged lacking as I was told to "jump higher." Sigh.
I probably needed to after last night's dinner. Italian chicken, green beans, cous cous pilaf and the largest piece of rosemary bread this side of Macaroni Grill. Once again, I express amazement that we get this amount of food to eat. John enjoys chicken and could eat it every night. I realize that red meat isn't as healthy but I admit that I miss it. I did really like the cous cous pilaf. I had cous cous years and years (okay, decades) ago in a foreign language class and thought it was quite nasty. I'm glad to see that it was a result of poor preparation on the part of the teacher. It was a french class and not a home ec class after all.
Now it's been five weeks and we're starting the menu cycle again. It will be interesting to see if the enjoyment of the food is more than just the novelty.
I probably needed to after last night's dinner. Italian chicken, green beans, cous cous pilaf and the largest piece of rosemary bread this side of Macaroni Grill. Once again, I express amazement that we get this amount of food to eat. John enjoys chicken and could eat it every night. I realize that red meat isn't as healthy but I admit that I miss it. I did really like the cous cous pilaf. I had cous cous years and years (okay, decades) ago in a foreign language class and thought it was quite nasty. I'm glad to see that it was a result of poor preparation on the part of the teacher. It was a french class and not a home ec class after all.
Now it's been five weeks and we're starting the menu cycle again. It will be interesting to see if the enjoyment of the food is more than just the novelty.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Hard Habits to Start
Way back when I started this program (a month ago), I talked about it taking 28 days to learn new habits. Well, it's been over 28 days. Already. Time flies. Anyway, have my habits changed? Let's see. On Saturday, I went to the commissary and got a bit hungry while I was there. I ate a banana on the way home. (to the shock of everyone who knows me. Yes, I eat bananas now) I have yogurt for a mid-afternoon snack. So I think that my new habits have kicked in. That and the fact that I really, really hope to crack 200 this week.
Lunch today was a Mirkin Burger. A vegetarian burger with lentils and other things which I'm unsure of. It was pretty solid, unexpectedly so for vegetarian I thought. In keeping with the new habits, going to the food court for Nicky and then Mrs. Fields for him a frosted cookie (we were on our way to the doctor so he got a treat) did not break me. Tempt me, yes, when faced with TCBY. (It IS the country's best yogurt, after all)
So 28 days later, unlike the zombie movie, I am not eating any old brain that I see. I'm sticking with healthy brains.
Lunch today was a Mirkin Burger. A vegetarian burger with lentils and other things which I'm unsure of. It was pretty solid, unexpectedly so for vegetarian I thought. In keeping with the new habits, going to the food court for Nicky and then Mrs. Fields for him a frosted cookie (we were on our way to the doctor so he got a treat) did not break me. Tempt me, yes, when faced with TCBY. (It IS the country's best yogurt, after all)
So 28 days later, unlike the zombie movie, I am not eating any old brain that I see. I'm sticking with healthy brains.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
But Whyyyyyyy
Okay, so a couple of questions/observations/complaints. However you want to take them. So first, the salmon dinner last night came with a pineapple crisp. Pineapple pieces with granola and sunflower seeds on it. Quite yummy. But I always pick out the sad little brown raisins. I guess the pineapple juice pickles or pines them more or something. So q/o/c #1 is why are the raisins a light brown.
Next topic, oranges. I like oranges. They've got a lot going for them. However, they are not the most low-maintenance of fruit. Most of the breakfasts and lunches are very portable. A spoon or fork is needed at time but that is all. An orange, however, requires additional necessary equipment. If you don't have fingernails, you've got to have a knife. Now knives are kind of difficult to put in a sack lunch. We went through a lot of cutlery before we figured that out. Anyway, you also need facilities for washing your hands afterwards. Maybe a little lemon water. A nice hot toddy. Therefore q/o/c #2 is why include oranges instead of another easy fruit like grapes, peaches, or plums. I understand why bananas are not included. Most people don't like black bananas which is what a refrigerated banana ends up.
Well, time to wrap this up for now. Or is it . . .
To Be Continued . . . .
Next topic, oranges. I like oranges. They've got a lot going for them. However, they are not the most low-maintenance of fruit. Most of the breakfasts and lunches are very portable. A spoon or fork is needed at time but that is all. An orange, however, requires additional necessary equipment. If you don't have fingernails, you've got to have a knife. Now knives are kind of difficult to put in a sack lunch. We went through a lot of cutlery before we figured that out. Anyway, you also need facilities for washing your hands afterwards. Maybe a little lemon water. A nice hot toddy. Therefore q/o/c #2 is why include oranges instead of another easy fruit like grapes, peaches, or plums. I understand why bananas are not included. Most people don't like black bananas which is what a refrigerated banana ends up.
Well, time to wrap this up for now. Or is it . . .
To Be Continued . . . .
Friday, February 20, 2009
A Few Minutes with Me
I had the turkey ham salad on pretzel roll today. What I love about this meal is that the salad is mustard based. The roll is nice and solid with a good flavor. Combined with a side of lentil chili this makes a yummy lunch.
Interesting article on CNN today. http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/02/20/journey.giyen.irpt/index.html
It talks about reaching the 10 pound milestone and how that affects the dieter psychologically. It also talks about recommended weight loss goals. I like this article because I get so annoyed with those pop-ups (that for some reason my pop-up blocker won't block. Traitor.) that talk about losing 20 pounds a month by doing this one simple thing. I don't know what the one simple thing is because I'm not about to click on it. I suspect it has something to do with the magical, miraculous Acai berry. There is no magical weight-loss berry. You can't take a pill and lose 10 pounds while you sleep. At least, not that I'm aware of. Oh, other than the Doctor Who episode when you lost 1 pound of fat every night because the offspring of an alien hatched from the pill you took and used the fat to form its body. Anyway, no quick fixes, people! Losing weight is about lifestyles, not tricks.
Sometimes people ask me if they would lose more weight on the low-carb plan. At which point, I ask them if they eat a low-carb menu now. In my not-so-humble opinion, switching to low-carb for fast weight loss is yet another trick. If you don't eat pasta, rice, potatoes, etc, do the low-carb plan. You'll be very happy with your half roasted chicken, ribs and catfish. But if you normally eat carbs, going on the low-carb plan will not teach you anything. Do the menu plan that you would cook for yourself (if, of course, you had the time to shop, cook, and clean).
At this point you may be saying, what makes her such an expert? If she knows so much, why does she need Diet to Go to help her lose weight. Remember, I've done this before. Diet to Go helped me lose over 50 pounds and I kept it off for almost two years. No roller coaster, no rebound. Just babies : ) I came back to Diet to Go to give myself a kick in the pants. I've got pregnancy eating habits that need to be broken. And I knew that they would be able to get me back on the track of proper eating.
Whoops, that's the bell. For your homework tonight, read CNN article mentioned above and write a 15 page paper about your favorite flavor of jell-o. Class dismissed.
Interesting article on CNN today. http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/02/20/journey.giyen.irpt/index.html
It talks about reaching the 10 pound milestone and how that affects the dieter psychologically. It also talks about recommended weight loss goals. I like this article because I get so annoyed with those pop-ups (that for some reason my pop-up blocker won't block. Traitor.) that talk about losing 20 pounds a month by doing this one simple thing. I don't know what the one simple thing is because I'm not about to click on it. I suspect it has something to do with the magical, miraculous Acai berry. There is no magical weight-loss berry. You can't take a pill and lose 10 pounds while you sleep. At least, not that I'm aware of. Oh, other than the Doctor Who episode when you lost 1 pound of fat every night because the offspring of an alien hatched from the pill you took and used the fat to form its body. Anyway, no quick fixes, people! Losing weight is about lifestyles, not tricks.
Sometimes people ask me if they would lose more weight on the low-carb plan. At which point, I ask them if they eat a low-carb menu now. In my not-so-humble opinion, switching to low-carb for fast weight loss is yet another trick. If you don't eat pasta, rice, potatoes, etc, do the low-carb plan. You'll be very happy with your half roasted chicken, ribs and catfish. But if you normally eat carbs, going on the low-carb plan will not teach you anything. Do the menu plan that you would cook for yourself (if, of course, you had the time to shop, cook, and clean).
At this point you may be saying, what makes her such an expert? If she knows so much, why does she need Diet to Go to help her lose weight. Remember, I've done this before. Diet to Go helped me lose over 50 pounds and I kept it off for almost two years. No roller coaster, no rebound. Just babies : ) I came back to Diet to Go to give myself a kick in the pants. I've got pregnancy eating habits that need to be broken. And I knew that they would be able to get me back on the track of proper eating.
Whoops, that's the bell. For your homework tonight, read CNN article mentioned above and write a 15 page paper about your favorite flavor of jell-o. Class dismissed.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Love Actually
"wuv, tru wuv" (From one of the most quotable movies ever) True love is . . . giving your wife the chicken alfredo melt you didn't have time to eat for lunch. And yes, it's as good as I thought it was the first time. So that's what I had for dinner last night. I made a substitution for lunch today. Actually, I don't think it was today's. I got this week all switched around. Anyway, I got the chicken burger. I like the fact that you get barbecue sauce to go with it. But, and this is going to sound strange coming from me, it needs more spices. Really. How picky am I? I sprinkle a little Adolph's seasoning on it and it works for me. It's just a little bland. Perhaps using all the barbecue sauce would make a difference. I only use half so it doesn't get too messy. I actually ate this in the car on the way to the Air & Space Museum again. Lots of incoming flights to Dulles coming in from the south. A good day to be up in the observation tower.
Now I've got to run. Catie is being really restless this evening. Hasn't eaten hardly anything since 1 and can't settle down. This is when I say once again how much I "wuv" having my dinners cooked for me.
Oh, and if you were needing another hint for the above quote reference. As you wish. Now have fun storming the castle.
Now I've got to run. Catie is being really restless this evening. Hasn't eaten hardly anything since 1 and can't settle down. This is when I say once again how much I "wuv" having my dinners cooked for me.
Oh, and if you were needing another hint for the above quote reference. As you wish. Now have fun storming the castle.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Week 4 Results
Let's talk recipes. What's it going to take, Diet-to-Go? Really. Come on. You can share. I won't tell anyone. . . . Fine. Be that way. Have you seen Leverage? A group of questionable characters helping out the little guy when the big companies won't come through for them. Just idle talk. Nothing that can hold me accountable when "someone" obtains the recipe for the Turkey Ham Salad, Red Pepper Hummus, Chicken Alfredo Melt, Lentil Chili, . . .
I've been desperately managing the babies the last few days. They're still sleeping 8 to 9 hour stretches! At 4 months! So when Jason crashed at 5 last night, I was frantically trying to wake him up at 7 for a little awake time. It was a sad sight, I'm sure. Tickling his feet and his chin. He woke up when John held him. Sigh. John's the fun parent. I put my children to sleep. Jason slept until 6am, by the way.
So the numbers are:
Week 4 Beginning Weight: 203.2
Week 4 Ending Weight: 201.4
Week 4 Weight Loss: 1.8
Total Weight Loss: 8
Averaging 2 pounds per week. I'm pretty happy with that. Keeping my fingers crossed and my mouth shut for next week.
I've been desperately managing the babies the last few days. They're still sleeping 8 to 9 hour stretches! At 4 months! So when Jason crashed at 5 last night, I was frantically trying to wake him up at 7 for a little awake time. It was a sad sight, I'm sure. Tickling his feet and his chin. He woke up when John held him. Sigh. John's the fun parent. I put my children to sleep. Jason slept until 6am, by the way.
So the numbers are:
Week 4 Beginning Weight: 203.2
Week 4 Ending Weight: 201.4
Week 4 Weight Loss: 1.8
Total Weight Loss: 8
Averaging 2 pounds per week. I'm pretty happy with that. Keeping my fingers crossed and my mouth shut for next week.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Melt in My Mouth
I just finished lunch and had to jump on and rave about it. Oh, wow. Just wow. Chicken Alfredo Melts. A large thick bread round, alfredo sauce, big chunks of chicken, and cheese. It was absolutely delicious. I had to look online at the nutrition because I couldn't believe this was on a diet plan. (http://www.diettogo.com/0108web/nutritionals/Lcal_LowFatNutritionals0808_all.htm) When I saw the calorie count, my jaw dropped. The entire meal, which was one and a half melts, a roasted veggie side salad and an apple: 390 calories and 12 grams of fat. Are you serious!?! Oh, please, oh, please, put this meal on the substitution menu. As it is, I'm going to make a substitution so I get it twice in the pickup. I just can't describe the total yumminess of the creamy alfredo and cheese. I've mentioned before my cheese fixation. Let me tell you, I would eat this dish over any type of chocolate decadent dessert any day. I will beg some more. Please, please, please make this available as a substitution. I would eat this twice a week, easily.
Whew. Now that I've gotten my love on. Last night was Lobster Ravioli Provencale. I'm not exactly sure what Provencale means. Another suggestion I would have is to actually describe the meals better online. John didn't like the meal. He wasn't sure what was in the ravioli but he didn't think he liked it. I liked it fine. There were four jumbo ravioli filled with different things. This is why a description would be nice. One was filled with pink which I assume was straight lobster. One was filled with green. Cheese, maybe? One was filled with a blackish filling. Not sure. And the other one I ate before realizing the fillings were different so I don't know. It was served over a bed of vegetables which I believe to be squash varieties. Again, I'm not sure. Like I said, I liked it. But I'm not sure what I ate. It would be nice to know. I've experienced foods on this plan I've never had before and now I know I like them. So this may be something I've never had and could now say I like. If I knew what it was.
Whew. Now that I've gotten my love on. Last night was Lobster Ravioli Provencale. I'm not exactly sure what Provencale means. Another suggestion I would have is to actually describe the meals better online. John didn't like the meal. He wasn't sure what was in the ravioli but he didn't think he liked it. I liked it fine. There were four jumbo ravioli filled with different things. This is why a description would be nice. One was filled with pink which I assume was straight lobster. One was filled with green. Cheese, maybe? One was filled with a blackish filling. Not sure. And the other one I ate before realizing the fillings were different so I don't know. It was served over a bed of vegetables which I believe to be squash varieties. Again, I'm not sure. Like I said, I liked it. But I'm not sure what I ate. It would be nice to know. I've experienced foods on this plan I've never had before and now I know I like them. So this may be something I've never had and could now say I like. If I knew what it was.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Gravy and Soda
I love gravy. Really love it. Sausage gravy and biscuits on Sunday morning. White gravy with mashed potatoes and fried chicken. Brown gravy with pot roast and potatoes. Hmm, wonder why I have trouble losing weight? My mother can cook like you wouldn't believe. This is going somewhere, really. Take a look at the chicken stroganoff over bow tie pasta. Okay, technically, it's sauce because it's mixed with the pasta but it had the consistency of gravy. The carrots were a perfect texture. Not mushy but firm and the almonds were a nice flavor variety. So this was a very satisfying meal. Lunch today was Hungarian turkey over rice pilaf. I actually thought it looked more like a dinner than a lunch but I was pretty happy with it. Tomatoes, celery (I think) and big chunks of turkey. It came with mixed beans and baby carrots but Nicky snagged those. He also snagged John's mandarin oranges that came with his curry chicken salad. Hey, if he'll eat, he can anything out of our meals. I have a confession. I was faced with temptation yesterday and succumbed. It wasn't my fault! Borders gave me a coupon for a free 12 ounce beverage at their little coffee shop. What could I do? Throw away free money? I wouldn't be my father's daughter if I did (Hi, dad!). So vote me off the island, kick me off the ranch, whatever. But I actually don't think I went too crazy. A flavored soda. So soda water, a splash of vanilla flavor and a splash of half-and-half for a vanilla cream soda. I couldn't find any nutritional info online but I would think it would be less than a 12 ounce soda, definitely. Hopefully. Surely. Maybe. Probably. Crazily. Disturbingly. Okay, might have gone off on a tangent there.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
My Lobster Runneth Over
The babies actually slept for 8 hours last night! It was amazing. Unfortunately, Nicky woke up at 2:30 crying. Then I kept waking up ever hour when the babies made the slightest sound because I expected them to get up. Sigh. But we now have hope for a good night's sleep in our future.
Last night, we had the special dinner which was langostino and cheese grits. Really. Langostino. The cheese sauce was a little runny but quite tasty. Looking ahead at the menu, however, I see lobster ravioli later on. I'm a little surprised at two lobster/crab dishes in one pickup. Especially since one is a special dinner. I would suggest swapping this special dinner with one in another week to spread out the shellfish. Anyway, you may be a little leery of shellfish and grits but they mesh well together. I did put a little bit of salt on it to bring out the flavors just a little more.
Today's lunch was not one of my favorites. Roasted tomato and basil soup. Once again, my spice aversion kicks in. It was too spicy for me. So I'll be making a substitution for that next cycle. Maybe doubling up on the chicken alfredo melts which I'm looking forward to.
Last night, we had the special dinner which was langostino and cheese grits. Really. Langostino. The cheese sauce was a little runny but quite tasty. Looking ahead at the menu, however, I see lobster ravioli later on. I'm a little surprised at two lobster/crab dishes in one pickup. Especially since one is a special dinner. I would suggest swapping this special dinner with one in another week to spread out the shellfish. Anyway, you may be a little leery of shellfish and grits but they mesh well together. I did put a little bit of salt on it to bring out the flavors just a little more.
Today's lunch was not one of my favorites. Roasted tomato and basil soup. Once again, my spice aversion kicks in. It was too spicy for me. So I'll be making a substitution for that next cycle. Maybe doubling up on the chicken alfredo melts which I'm looking forward to.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Chew-chew-chewy
So the Tuscan Boats should be more accurately described as stuffed potato skins. They were pretty good. Loaded with meat and sauce and then covered in cheese. The wheatberry salad side dish was very satisfying. It was very chewy and each bite lasted a while. It was like good beef jerky that you can just chew on for a while.
There was a report on the news saying that increased weight can cause increased headaches. I thought the headaches I've been having have been from not drinking enough water and too much tea. Maybe not. So researching found many studies that link obesity with headaches. As if I needed another reason to lose weight.
This is a short one because the babies are fussy tonight. We're trying to get their bed time later so their longest stretch isn't from 6 to midnight.
There was a report on the news saying that increased weight can cause increased headaches. I thought the headaches I've been having have been from not drinking enough water and too much tea. Maybe not. So researching found many studies that link obesity with headaches. As if I needed another reason to lose weight.
This is a short one because the babies are fussy tonight. We're trying to get their bed time later so their longest stretch isn't from 6 to midnight.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Yummy Hummy
The side dish with the wonderful turkey and swiss sandwich that I mentioned yesterday deserves raving about. Red pepper hummus and vegetable chips. Wow, that was good. The red pepper was mild and gave the hummus a nice flavor. In fact, while the turkey salad for lunch today was okay, I'm making a substitution to double up on the turkey and swiss so I can have the hummus twice. Seriously, it's that good. See, you can substitute with more than just the substitution menu. You can choose to substitute with another meal in the same delivery. So five weeks from now, my Tuesday delivery will have Tuscan Boats (which I get to have tomorrow) and two meals of turkey and swiss sandwich.
Last night's dinner was Chicken Brunswick Stew. Quite tasty. John commented that there was quite a bit of chicken in it. I loved the corn and lentil loaf that came with it. I am constantly amazed by the "real meals" that we get to eat. With real portions.
Last night's dinner was Chicken Brunswick Stew. Quite tasty. John commented that there was quite a bit of chicken in it. I loved the corn and lentil loaf that came with it. I am constantly amazed by the "real meals" that we get to eat. With real portions.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Week 3 Results
Whew. What a day. Since it was over 70 degrees today, I packed up the kids (usually takes about an hour and a half!) and heading to the zoo for four hours. There are a few things I dislike about the zoo, not the least is their restriction on strollers in most of the houses and eating places. I definitely got a work-out today. But I digress. I took Friday's lunch today since it seemed the most portable. A turkey and swiss sandwich and a V-8. I left the red pepper hummus and vegetable chips at home for a snack when we got home. I expected just a simple sandwich. Oi, was that yummy. I regret not being able to eat it warm. It was good cold, though. Two slices of cheese, a stack of turkey, and in the middle, a little bit of tomatoes and onions. Quite satisfying after the long trek up to the panda house.
One good thing about doing substitutions is the ability to swap with John. He doesn't know it but I fixed his dinner last night. I made a substitution because the thought of curry set off my spice-alarms. I took a bite of John's Curry Shrimp though. I'd never had curry but had heard of it. It was interesting. Started off sweet, then hit the spice buds. John liked it. I swapped the peas, carrots and finely diced onions that came with the curried shrimp and gave him my green beans. (Recall that he avoids peas like I avoid spices) So we're both happy!
Well, here it is. Wednesday. Which is actually getting to be my favorite day of the week. Because I REALLY like what I see on Wednesday.
Week 3 Beginning Weight: 205.6
Week 3 Ending Weight: 203.2
Week 3 Weight Loss: 2.4
Total Weight Loss: 6.2
So I'm averaging over 2 pounds a week for the first three weeks. With basically no effort on my part. This is my kind of weight loss!
One good thing about doing substitutions is the ability to swap with John. He doesn't know it but I fixed his dinner last night. I made a substitution because the thought of curry set off my spice-alarms. I took a bite of John's Curry Shrimp though. I'd never had curry but had heard of it. It was interesting. Started off sweet, then hit the spice buds. John liked it. I swapped the peas, carrots and finely diced onions that came with the curried shrimp and gave him my green beans. (Recall that he avoids peas like I avoid spices) So we're both happy!
Well, here it is. Wednesday. Which is actually getting to be my favorite day of the week. Because I REALLY like what I see on Wednesday.
Week 3 Beginning Weight: 205.6
Week 3 Ending Weight: 203.2
Week 3 Weight Loss: 2.4
Total Weight Loss: 6.2
So I'm averaging over 2 pounds a week for the first three weeks. With basically no effort on my part. This is my kind of weight loss!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Emotional Food
I think the Chicken Parmesan may be one of the most satisfying meals. See, for me, food needs to be more than physically satisfying. If you want to eat just to feed your body, go ahead. Not me. I enjoy food. I enjoy eating food. This is why I never did well with Lean Cuisines. After eating one, I just ended up back in the kitchen looking for something to feed my food emotions. But the Chicken Parmesan has it all. Pasta, red sauce, chicken, cheese, broccoli, bread, and a palette-cleansing lemon yogurt.
It's been a tough day. Nicky was short-tempered and kept getting upset. There was a lot of lap-sitting today. I was glad for the very large turkey cutlet sandwich which was portable. There are some lunches which are more portable than others. Mediterranean pasta salad, not so much. 9 inch sub, yeah.
Some may be wondering after reading my Red Lobster post why I got take-out instead of eating a DTG dinner. Well, we get 6 days a week. That way, when (not if) something comes up on the weekend, we don't waste our food. Anyway, why go through all that trouble? Well, DTG is giving me fish (yummy fish, too) but I need to learn how to fish. Realistically, I will not be eating DTG the rest of my life. In fact, we will be moving this summer so I've only got a few months to get done what needs doing. So it's just as important to me to make sure I can make it after cutting the DTG apron strings.
It's been a tough day. Nicky was short-tempered and kept getting upset. There was a lot of lap-sitting today. I was glad for the very large turkey cutlet sandwich which was portable. There are some lunches which are more portable than others. Mediterranean pasta salad, not so much. 9 inch sub, yeah.
Some may be wondering after reading my Red Lobster post why I got take-out instead of eating a DTG dinner. Well, we get 6 days a week. That way, when (not if) something comes up on the weekend, we don't waste our food. Anyway, why go through all that trouble? Well, DTG is giving me fish (yummy fish, too) but I need to learn how to fish. Realistically, I will not be eating DTG the rest of my life. In fact, we will be moving this summer so I've only got a few months to get done what needs doing. So it's just as important to me to make sure I can make it after cutting the DTG apron strings.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Dinner and a Shot
Once again, DTG has provided me with a meal from my past. We had reubens for dinner often when I was growing up. I loved stacking them together. Looking back now, each sandwich was probably at least 500 calories. It was nice to have a guilt-free reuben. I warmed the sandwich and then put the sauerkraut and dressing on it. So it had the perfect combination of warm sandwich and chilled 'kraut. I wasn't a big fan of the mushroom and artichoke side. I actually didn't try it. Neither item is appealing to me. I had the special dinner last night. The sauce was a little spicy but it went well with the cod. I really liked the rice. It was a whole brown grain so it was very hearty.
I have become addicted to my little jell-o shot after dinner. (please keep in mind, I use the phrase purely in the abstract. I've actually never had a drink.) Especially with a spurt of low-fat redi-whip. A quite satisfying 15 calorie fruit and cream yummy.
I have become addicted to my little jell-o shot after dinner. (please keep in mind, I use the phrase purely in the abstract. I've actually never had a drink.) Especially with a spurt of low-fat redi-whip. A quite satisfying 15 calorie fruit and cream yummy.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Red Flopster
John's birthday was last week while he was gone. We have always had the birthday person choose a special meal for their birthday dinner. And John always chooses Red Lobster. So my challenge: build myself a meal that was about the equivalent of a DTG dinner. Investigating the nutrition amounts for the meals (http://www.diettogo.com/0108web/nutritionals/Lcal_LowFatNutritionals0808_all.htm) I saw that the average dinner was about 600 calories. While realizing I wouldn't be able to get a nutritiously complete meal, I was striving to keep the calories within range. So I went online to the website. Actually, I had to open up two different windows. It was annoying that the nutrition info only had the entree name and not the description. So I had to keep going back and forth, looking at the nutrition after finding an entree I liked. And back and forth. And back and forth. I finally settled on a built meal of grilled shrimp, crab legs, and grilled salmon. I indulged in rice on the side and petite shrimp on the salad but no dressing. And absolutely no biscuits. Those are 150 calories each!! So my built meal was 680. Not too bad but whew, the research.
I called in the carryout order while we were leaving the best playground in the world. (Clemyjontri. 2 acres of childhood fun. Nicky ran for almost two hours.) I was on hold for over 10 minutes and was then told it would be 45 minutes until it was ready. Seriously. Granted, it's been a while since we've eaten out but I don't remember it being so aggravating getting take-out. I think I'm spoiled.
I joined the Biggest Loser pound for pound challenge. I figure I'm losing the weight anyway so I may as well help out a bit. I would ask my fellow weight-loss bloggers to check it out. What I'm intrigued about was the weight loss of the players who went home for 30 days. In two weeks, I lost over 3 1/2 pounds. One person lost 2, two others lost 7 and 8, I think. Somewhere around there. So these people, who are competing for big bucks, and had the advantage of spending a week with trainers learning the ropes, are losing the same or less weight than me. Hmmmmm.
I called in the carryout order while we were leaving the best playground in the world. (Clemyjontri. 2 acres of childhood fun. Nicky ran for almost two hours.) I was on hold for over 10 minutes and was then told it would be 45 minutes until it was ready. Seriously. Granted, it's been a while since we've eaten out but I don't remember it being so aggravating getting take-out. I think I'm spoiled.
I joined the Biggest Loser pound for pound challenge. I figure I'm losing the weight anyway so I may as well help out a bit. I would ask my fellow weight-loss bloggers to check it out. What I'm intrigued about was the weight loss of the players who went home for 30 days. In two weeks, I lost over 3 1/2 pounds. One person lost 2, two others lost 7 and 8, I think. Somewhere around there. So these people, who are competing for big bucks, and had the advantage of spending a week with trainers learning the ropes, are losing the same or less weight than me. Hmmmmm.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Food, Glorious Food
Well, I need to catch up a bit. Yesterday got a bit busy. John came home from India 
and I don't think Nicky stopped moving or talking until he fell asleep on my lap. You think eating healthy is difficult on vacation, try traveling 22 hours each way. I, on the other hand, was extremely grateful once again not to have to worry about cooking while he was gone. In the past, I did a LOT of delivery. Chinese. Pizza. I had it down to what to order to last for two days. You might think from my comments that I don't like to cook. Quite the contrary. I just don't have time to cook. I especially love to bake.
Okay, so yesterday was finally pretzel and cheesy-broccoli soup. Now, I didn't want to have to share my pretzel with Nicky. (bad mommy confession #316) So I cut it up into bite size pieces and put it in the soup. Oh. My. Goodness. The pretzel got saturated with cheesy yumminess until I basically had cheese fondue for lunch. So I was rewarded for my selfish behavior with extreme tastiness. Talk about your positive reinforcement!
So dinner last night was the salmon. One of my fellow DTG bloggers has mentioned this dish was not his thing. You gotta love the way you can customize your menu to make sure you're getting meals you like. After all, you're paying for it, you should get things you'll eat. Now me, I love fish. So well cooked salmon, not dry, is a treat for me. But what I really, really like is the shear amount of food in this meal. See for yourself. Now, this is not a doctored photo. I didn't use one of Nicky's plates to put this on. This is a full-sized dinner plate which is filled with food. Note the lemon wedge. When they say you only need to buy milk, they mean it. And I had never had jicama until I ate this meal. It's great being able to try out new foods without having to figure out how to cook them.Oh, I had to call customer service yesterday. I had changed our plans to get 6 days of meals. We ended up getting 7 with doubles of what I had added in. I just went through the menus with the rep and got everything straightened out. So we got a credit for those meals we hadn't ordered and we got meals to share with our friends! I looked at the website FAQ's http://www.diettogo.com/0108web/faqs.htm and it says that they'll credit you for a meal if you get something you didn't like. Or order, I guess. You know, the Nutrisystem opinions that I read about before starting DTG all said the customer service was cold and unhelpful. Huh. Too bad for them.
and I don't think Nicky stopped moving or talking until he fell asleep on my lap. You think eating healthy is difficult on vacation, try traveling 22 hours each way. I, on the other hand, was extremely grateful once again not to have to worry about cooking while he was gone. In the past, I did a LOT of delivery. Chinese. Pizza. I had it down to what to order to last for two days. You might think from my comments that I don't like to cook. Quite the contrary. I just don't have time to cook. I especially love to bake. Okay, so yesterday was finally pretzel and cheesy-broccoli soup. Now, I didn't want to have to share my pretzel with Nicky. (bad mommy confession #316) So I cut it up into bite size pieces and put it in the soup. Oh. My. Goodness. The pretzel got saturated with cheesy yumminess until I basically had cheese fondue for lunch. So I was rewarded for my selfish behavior with extreme tastiness. Talk about your positive reinforcement!
So dinner last night was the salmon. One of my fellow DTG bloggers has mentioned this dish was not his thing. You gotta love the way you can customize your menu to make sure you're getting meals you like. After all, you're paying for it, you should get things you'll eat. Now me, I love fish. So well cooked salmon, not dry, is a treat for me. But what I really, really like is the shear amount of food in this meal. See for yourself. Now, this is not a doctored photo. I didn't use one of Nicky's plates to put this on. This is a full-sized dinner plate which is filled with food. Note the lemon wedge. When they say you only need to buy milk, they mean it. And I had never had jicama until I ate this meal. It's great being able to try out new foods without having to figure out how to cook them.Oh, I had to call customer service yesterday. I had changed our plans to get 6 days of meals. We ended up getting 7 with doubles of what I had added in. I just went through the menus with the rep and got everything straightened out. So we got a credit for those meals we hadn't ordered and we got meals to share with our friends! I looked at the website FAQ's http://www.diettogo.com/0108web/faqs.htm and it says that they'll credit you for a meal if you get something you didn't like. Or order, I guess. You know, the Nutrisystem opinions that I read about before starting DTG all said the customer service was cold and unhelpful. Huh. Too bad for them. Thursday, February 5, 2009
Featuring Music by Carly Simon
As I mentioned, I'm not a spice girl (never liked the music, ha!). So I make substitutions for meals which, while I'm sure are tasteful, overwhelm my taste buds. Anyway, there are some substitution meals which I drool over. Last night I had stuffed shells. Three jumbo pasta shells stuffed with cheese, covered in marinara sauce and then more cheese. I love cheese. Love it. This satisfies my cheese-need nicely.
I'm still waiting to indulge in the pretzels and cheese I've been staring at since Tuesday. Anticipation. It even let me resist the urge to take a bite from Nicky's mall pretzel today. It's hard to pass up the little treats, especially when it's all about the chocolate this time of year. I just keep reminding myself that treats are a reward and not an expectation. And lo-cal jello with a bit of whipped cream is a treat also. I only get a bit because someone (Nicky) loves whipped cream.
Food tomorrow. I like pulling the meals out of the bag and organizing them. Like I said, anticipation.
I'm still waiting to indulge in the pretzels and cheese I've been staring at since Tuesday. Anticipation. It even let me resist the urge to take a bite from Nicky's mall pretzel today. It's hard to pass up the little treats, especially when it's all about the chocolate this time of year. I just keep reminding myself that treats are a reward and not an expectation. And lo-cal jello with a bit of whipped cream is a treat also. I only get a bit because someone (Nicky) loves whipped cream.
Food tomorrow. I like pulling the meals out of the bag and organizing them. Like I said, anticipation.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Week 2 Results
You know, some calories just shouldn't count. Like when I have to bite away the edges of my son's ice cream cone so he can get to the ice cream. Or taking a bite of his pasta to make sure it's not too hot for him. That should go on the calorie rules list (you know, the one with the infamous anything-eaten-with-a-diet-soda-cancels-out rule)
The Wahoo Fish Burger for lunch today (out of order, whoops) was a little spicier than I expected. (I did google Wahoo Fish, not knowing if it was a brand name or a breed. Interesting) Not saying it wasn't good. I'm just a big wuss when it comes to spices. I don't even use black pepper in my cooking. That could be why I don't have a large variety of meals I cook! Unlike my brother, who got all the creativity. Seriously, if you're ever in St. Louis, have lunch at Garvey's Grill and order the Chicken Modega pizza. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.
Okay, the official weigh-in:
Week 2 starting weight: 206.8
Week 2 ending weight: 205.6
Week 2 weight loss: 1.2
Total weight loss: 3.8
Less than last week but a nice healthy number. I look forward to being under 200 by the end of the month, never to return! I'm hoping to avoid hitting the plateau until it gets a bit warmer out so we can start going for walks. I'm not really cheating but since I know I'm going to have to up my activity level to get over the plateau, I'm not doing any formal exercising. Informal, on the other hand. I live in a three story townhouse so I do quite a bit of stair-master throughout the day!
The problem/benefit with having three days of meals in the fridge is that you get to see all the menus at once. So, seeing the broccoli cheese soup with pretzels that's on tap for tomorrow has me anticipating lunch. I bet those pretzels would taste yummy dipped in the cheesy-soup. We shall see.
The Wahoo Fish Burger for lunch today (out of order, whoops) was a little spicier than I expected. (I did google Wahoo Fish, not knowing if it was a brand name or a breed. Interesting) Not saying it wasn't good. I'm just a big wuss when it comes to spices. I don't even use black pepper in my cooking. That could be why I don't have a large variety of meals I cook! Unlike my brother, who got all the creativity. Seriously, if you're ever in St. Louis, have lunch at Garvey's Grill and order the Chicken Modega pizza. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.
Okay, the official weigh-in:
Week 2 starting weight: 206.8
Week 2 ending weight: 205.6
Week 2 weight loss: 1.2
Total weight loss: 3.8
Less than last week but a nice healthy number. I look forward to being under 200 by the end of the month, never to return! I'm hoping to avoid hitting the plateau until it gets a bit warmer out so we can start going for walks. I'm not really cheating but since I know I'm going to have to up my activity level to get over the plateau, I'm not doing any formal exercising. Informal, on the other hand. I live in a three story townhouse so I do quite a bit of stair-master throughout the day!
The problem/benefit with having three days of meals in the fridge is that you get to see all the menus at once. So, seeing the broccoli cheese soup with pretzels that's on tap for tomorrow has me anticipating lunch. I bet those pretzels would taste yummy dipped in the cheesy-soup. We shall see.
Tired But Well Fed!
Well, can I just say again how much I love having the meals prepared for me. I wasn't able to post yesterday due to being in the ER for 6 hours and coming home exhausted. Catie was running a temperature and since she's only 3 1/2 months and was 1 month premature, that was pretty serious. She's okay now. After a complete workup, they found some bacteria in her urine (sorry if that's tmi). No temp at all today. Anyway, when we hit the house at 6:30, Nicky, who was incredibly well-behaved all day, pulled a "I'm exhausted" meltdown. And of course Jason started screaming for his dinner. Needless to say, I was SO grateful to be able to sit down to a hot, nutritious meal of whitefish parmesan and baby carrots when I finally got everybody settled down. I think maybe DTG should market this plan less as a diet and more of a convenient home-cooked meal!
We went to the Udvar-Hazy Air & Space Museum again (as a reward since Nicky was so good yesterday). I'm really glad that my turkey sandwich had all the fixings individually wrapped. It's really easy to throw it into the lunchbag-cooler with Nicky's fruit and have that for lunch when we all sit down. Then Nicky and I split the yogurt I kept from breakfast. Oh, I've been using Nicky's baby spoons to eat the yogurt. They're little plastic doesn't-matter-if-you-lose-them spoons. That way, it takes me a while to eat and makes me slow down and appreciate the taste more.
So I've changed our meal plans. It's so easy to customize the plan for exactly what we need. John will be getting breakfast, lunch and dinner for six days and I'll be getting lunch and dinner for six days. I had to add another day as I wanted the special dinners and didn't want to substitute them for what we already had. What are special dinners you may ask? Every delivery (Tuesday and Friday) has a meal that's what I call a little more "high-brow". Meals like Spanish Trout with basmati rice or Stuffed Chicken Mediterranean with wild rice and chocolate mouse. Or the one I'm really looking forward to: Langostine and cheese grits. There's no charge to substitute this meal in for something.
It was recycling day today. It looks like so far the ratio of recyclable to non-recyclable containers is 5:1. Which isn't too bad. I'm not sure why they use the hard black plastic containers for dinner when there's other black plastic containers they use which are recyclable. So while I could wish for all of it to be recycled, I recognize the fact that fast food places and coffee shops go through a lot of styrofoam.
Well, that's enough rambling for now. Again, I hope my musings are somewhat enlightening to someone. If not, well, I've got the cartharsis value : )
We went to the Udvar-Hazy Air & Space Museum again (as a reward since Nicky was so good yesterday). I'm really glad that my turkey sandwich had all the fixings individually wrapped. It's really easy to throw it into the lunchbag-cooler with Nicky's fruit and have that for lunch when we all sit down. Then Nicky and I split the yogurt I kept from breakfast. Oh, I've been using Nicky's baby spoons to eat the yogurt. They're little plastic doesn't-matter-if-you-lose-them spoons. That way, it takes me a while to eat and makes me slow down and appreciate the taste more.
So I've changed our meal plans. It's so easy to customize the plan for exactly what we need. John will be getting breakfast, lunch and dinner for six days and I'll be getting lunch and dinner for six days. I had to add another day as I wanted the special dinners and didn't want to substitute them for what we already had. What are special dinners you may ask? Every delivery (Tuesday and Friday) has a meal that's what I call a little more "high-brow". Meals like Spanish Trout with basmati rice or Stuffed Chicken Mediterranean with wild rice and chocolate mouse. Or the one I'm really looking forward to: Langostine and cheese grits. There's no charge to substitute this meal in for something.
It was recycling day today. It looks like so far the ratio of recyclable to non-recyclable containers is 5:1. Which isn't too bad. I'm not sure why they use the hard black plastic containers for dinner when there's other black plastic containers they use which are recyclable. So while I could wish for all of it to be recycled, I recognize the fact that fast food places and coffee shops go through a lot of styrofoam.
Well, that's enough rambling for now. Again, I hope my musings are somewhat enlightening to someone. If not, well, I've got the cartharsis value : )
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Variety is the Spice of Life
Can I just say how much I love the shrimp fettucini? What always annoys me when you get a shrimp dish in a restaurant is the dearth of shrimp included. A half dozen or less artfully arranged on top of your meal. Well, DTG's shrimp fettucini actually has shrimp! Real shrimp. As in, shrimp in just about every bite. I'll take a picture in five weeks when it comes around again.
Yeah, the five week rotation. There's no way I have five weeks of meals in my repetoire. My cooking usually involves deciding on one of three meats (chicken, pork, beef), then using one of three or four recipes with it. I've got literally dozens of cookbooks (Taste of Home, Quick Cooking, Light & Tasty, basically the entire Reimann Publications series) and I still make the same meals over and over. So hooray for variety!
Hopefully we won't get the weather they're talking about so we can get out of the house. If you have kids (or even if you don't) I highly recommend the Udvar-Hazy Air & Space Museum. Better than mall-walking and entertaining to boot!
Yeah, the five week rotation. There's no way I have five weeks of meals in my repetoire. My cooking usually involves deciding on one of three meats (chicken, pork, beef), then using one of three or four recipes with it. I've got literally dozens of cookbooks (Taste of Home, Quick Cooking, Light & Tasty, basically the entire Reimann Publications series) and I still make the same meals over and over. So hooray for variety!
Hopefully we won't get the weather they're talking about so we can get out of the house. If you have kids (or even if you don't) I highly recommend the Udvar-Hazy Air & Space Museum. Better than mall-walking and entertaining to boot!
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