Thursday's food was on totally on plan. I am always grateful for that!
My fat total fat calories were 14% today. I seem to be hovering in that range.
Here's my plan for tomorrow: B: oat mix S: raspberries and lite cran juice L: leftovers from dinner tonight D: taco salad- veggies, beans, baked tortilla
Jill- I posted an update on the mushroom "stroganoff" but accidentally edited my "recipe" post--- look below if you are curious as to how dinner came out.
Brie, Would you be willing to share some of the phrases you use or have used? I think that was part of what caught me off guard and has a few times lately. I want to say no thank you without offending/making them feel like I'm judging them and I just struggled with this more distant relationship. One of them specifically said 'live a little' as she encouraged me to indulge and I just got stuck. I can't remember what I used to say. LOL
Oh, Peg- I intended no offense at all. Sorry if I offended you.
It's helpful for me to post about restaurant meal/calories as it helps me stay clear about my own goals and needs. For me, restaurant food was a major problem in my weight loss journey. Posting about what I think are the calorie counts has become part of how I stay on my track. Sorry if posting about your food was inappropriate or too intrusive.
You make a great point Peg. You went prepared and that makes a huge difference. Even if their calorie estimates are off, it's still way better knowing the estimate than going in "blind" where it can be super easy to end up eating way too many calories. Good for you for checking before hand!
Out of our beliefs are born deeds; out of our deeds we form habits; out of our habits grows our character; and on our character we build our destiny.
I did look up the menu before I went. I chose an entree that indicated it was 400 calories if I ate the entire thing. I realize we could debate the accuracy of that but I don't know how that serves me as I don't have any other resource to use. The breadstick shows somewhere in the 150 range. I remain confident that I didn't eat 3000 calories and even if I did, I feel like I took a lot of the right steps. Short of not going, I feel like I did the best I could.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: p7eggyc,
Sandy-I love mushrooms, and stoganoff-can you post the recipe here?
Jill
The stroganoff turned out really, really well. However, I am not sure that anyone who truly knows stroganoff would recognize it as stroganoff. No meat. No oil in which to brown the meat. Just 2 T of lf sour cream. It's super morphed mushroom stroganoff.
My "recipe" made 4 generous servings. We all loved it here. I added a bit of worchestershire sauce as well a few drops of hot sauce. The fresh thyme was well worth it as were the dried mushrooms. I reduced the wine and beef stock (good beef stock) by half. I thickened with 1 T cornstarch then added 2 T lf sour cream so that the whole dish had only very, very little fat and was light on calories.
There's still a serving left for my lunch tomorrow!
This message has been edited. Last edited by: Sandy,
Thanks ladies. All good thoughts that I will consider/remember. I did lots of those same things for years and with some of my social network, those sorts of strategies have become ingrained. My bff and I don't ever go on a major restaurant bender. My work friends have been understanding about backing off the pizza palooza we had been having on Tuesdays.
I need to get out of all-or-none land today. I don't always feel uncomfortable, it doesn't always chafe. These particular friends, while I've known them for decades, our new lives with lost loved ones have brought us closer (this is my mom's best friend and her daughter and we lost their husband/dad a year almost to the day after we lost my mom) and we are just now socializing more. They both talk about wanting to lose weight and both said last night was a special treat. I think I got pulled into their vortex. I did not eat 3000 calories and I'm glad I didn't do that.
Originally posted by Sandy: Here's my plan for Thursday: B: hi fiber cereal and skim milk S: watermelon and cran juice L: veggie burger with fixings D: trying a mushroom strog. recipe. 2/3 C white rice (I prefer white rice with strog.) and broc.
Sandy-I love mushrooms, and stoganoff-can you post the recipe here?
Jill
I have no specific goal(s) right now. I am trying to find the spiritual side of myself that I lost somewhere along the way.
In the beginning it was hard because people who knew me for a long while had seen me on/off diets my whole life but once I stuck with my mantra, the pressure of having dessert or sharing an appetizer disappeared (at least external pressure from friends/family ; ).
I have found this shift in my situation too. As I was more "out" with my own goals and new behaviors, people started to respect my new way of eating and I felt far less pressure to eat at Pizza Hut or Appleby's.
I need to socialize and to hang with friends. I know that going to dinner and eating what many of them eat would leave my far heavier than I am. Turns out that ordering a tea when they are all having cake is no biggie. I end up feeling very good about myself and they don't seem to think much of it. (The first time I did it, they were uncomfortable. I had to keep in mind that it was THEIR discomfort, not mine. They worked through it and the friendship is well in tact.)
I think that 5-6 years ago as I was starting to make this shift, I used the social time as an excuse to eat "my old way"--- it still gave me lots of comfort and allowed me to eat spontaneously. Looking back, I see that it was a learning experience and that I was in process, but it sure did slow my weight loss and even lead to gains some months. I was in total denial about the fact that a dinner at Appleby's often cost me 3,000 or more calories.
And...I still eat under pressure at times. And I use social situations as excuses to eat. But, I am much improved and others see my eating as "thin" far more often than not. All good signs of progress...
Here's my plan for Thursday: B: hi fiber cereal and skim milk S: watermelon and cran juice L: veggie burger with fixings D: trying a mushroom strog. recipe. 2/3 C white rice (I prefer white rice with strog.) and broc.
<<lots of spontaneous stuff and lots of socializing over food>>
This used to be me too Peg and still is to a large extent.
I've done a couple of things that really did work for me. I don't know if this would work in your circle but I figured I'd put it out there.
1. I've been very clear with my friends about my weight loss/maintenance goals.
In the beginning it was hard because people who knew me for a long while had seen me on/off diets my whole life but once I stuck with my mantra, the pressure of having dessert or sharing an appetizer disappeared (at least external pressure from friends/family ; ).
2. I do lots of non-food socialization.
I walk or hike with friends, meet for tea at someone's house (and we just drink tea and nothing else), we get together after dinner.
3. I'm selective about where I will go out to eat with friends. I thought it would bug some people but in reality my friends are really supportive of me in my efforts to stay healthy and don't really care if we go to lunch at the local place who will make my salad and veggie wrap just "right" vs TGI Fridays.
4. I have really embodied Cathy's (Cobismom) mantra from years ago - that get together are about getting together and not about the food.
Hope you don't mind me sharing what works for me.
Out of our beliefs are born deeds; out of our deeds we form habits; out of our habits grows our character; and on our character we build our destiny.
Wednesday actuals: B: Autumn harvest, blueberries, milk, chai S: None L: Veggie chili, whole grain crackers, grape tomatoes S: Popcorn (a couple of handfuls that didn't pop up well, threw the rest away), had some tomatoes and cucumbers w/a splash of balsamic when I got home because dinner wasn't going to be for at least an hour D: Basically stuck with my plan except they ordered an appetizer and desserts. I only had 3 pieces of the appetizer and two small bits of dessert (lots of pressure to join them). I also had salad instead of soup because he just assumed we all wanted salad. Only 1 breadstick since I had the appetizer and I brought 1/2 the meal home. Exercise: No, just got back home, service was reaaaaaly slow tonight Water: Good Good/Better/Best: See dinner...one giant exercise in good/better/best. Me time: Really nice to connect with the friends
4/5 day 17/20 week
Thursday plan: B: Autumn harvest, blueberries, milk, tea S: Fruit if I want it L: Veggie chili, big spinach salad w/tomato, carrots, cucumbers, whole grain crackers S: Veggies and hummus D: Going out again. This one has been on the calendar for a few weeks.They have small plates there so I'll try to keep it to a dull roar but nothing looks very light on the menu. It's a nicer place though so portions will probably be more reasonable. Exercise: Really must get out for 30 min at lunch I guess. Going straight to dinner after work.
Now I'm remembering how I got so off course. This is the way my life is and the way I really do want it to be...lots of spontaneous stuff and lots of socializing over food. I don't really enjoy feeling so constrained like I did tonight although I didn't dislike the things I chose to eat. It's just the feeling of being so conscious of everything and really being deliberate. It's socially uncomfortable to be the only one that doesn't order a dessert or something like that and it's just something that doesn't sit easily for me. More to think about and keep trying new strategies.
Have a change for dinner and I'm posting here for accountability. A friend called and wants to go to Olive Garden. I want to see her and her mom, not so crazy about the restaurant choice but she didn't ask, they had their plan. went online and decided I could do either the chicken or pork dish off their healthy menu w/minestrone soup or salad w/dressing on the side and no more than 2 breadsticks although one would be better.
B: Autumn harvest, blueberries, chai S: none L: Friends were willing to do something besides pizza so we went to the soup/salad place. I had a shrimp salad flatbread sandwich and a cup of veggie broth based soup. S: Light popcorn D: Sweet potato veggie chili w/a bit of light sour cream, small blueberry muffin Exercise: None Water: Ok Me time: Going to read a magazine for a bit Good/Better/Best: Got something besides pizza for lunch, had snack in afternoon so I wasn't beyond starving on the way home 4/5 points 13/15 week
Wednesday plan: B: oatmeal with flax and yogurt S: raspberries and cran juice L: last of the leftovers! S: skim milk tea D: 1 c peanut noodles and 1 cup veggies. (I am trying to make the spicy peanut noodles with far less fat and lots of flavor... we'll see.)
My calories are looking better today- they were too low Tuesday.
Monday actuals: B: Autumn harvest, blueberries, tea S: None, was running around L: Spinach, yellow pepper and tomato frittata w/frozen hashbrowns, tea S: Ate a bite of the Lara bar I was carrying around D: Of course, we went out. We went to a great Cuban restaurant. I had a cuban sandwich (beef, ham, cheese) that I ate 1/2 of and had fried plantains. It was yummy...it was indulgent. Exercise: Walked around the botanical gardens for 3 hours. Water: I need to get at least one more glass down before bed I think...no sweat Me time: An afternoon of leisure with a friend Good/Better/Best: No alcohol with dinner even though I LOVE mojitos, made sure there were 3 servings of veggies w/lunch by measuring, really wanted a chai this morning but didn't stop for one when I was out and about
5/5 day 9/10 week
Tuesday plan: B: Autumn harvest, blueberries, chai S: Probably none L: Going to bail out on pizza and take lunch. Veggie chili I made today, whole grain crackers S: Cucumbers/Baby Carrots w/sesame dip D: Veggie sandwich: Hummus, carrots, avocado, cucumber, roasted pepper in whole wheat pita, fruit, sunchips Exercise: Commute day...usually not but might try some yoga tomorrow night
