Whatcha Eating Today VSGers? Tuesday, February 20, 2018

Apparently most of us are getting crazy warm weather today. It is supposed to be in the low 90's here today (it may be time for the AC tonight).

QOTD: Is there a particular time of the year when you used to start diets and/or started on your WLS journey? I was noticing that the January influx of posters has died down - the same thing used to happen in WW (high January census followed by low February). I thought back and realized that most of my successful diets (and my WLS journey) started in the fall. I think I just used to get disgusted with myself after summertime gain.

1 year, 10.5 months post-op

B: eggs, cottage cheese and Canadian bacon

L: Tuna salad, pickles and cottage cheese

D: Leftover pork kabobs with peppers (swapped out for chicken with mango sauce yesterday)

S: Cottage cheese and/or yogurt and/or prosciutto mozzarella stick

Good morning! Today is a family shopping day when we go out and hit a bunch of places. I enjoy these days.

QOTD: I was never a New Year resolution maker. Just like I would rather someone treat me nice all year that make a big deal of my birthday. So, the time of year when I would start a diet or change my eating lifestyle was more situational based. Usually when I would have a major life event and would get sick of being so unhealthy. Unfortunately, it didn't happen very often.

M1: Coffee, PP vanilla, miralax

M2: Miso soup (maybe an egg)

M3: Beef and barley soup

M4: LO sous vide pork with a pickled okra pod

M5: Adobo pork and a veg

S: None today.

E: Nothing specific.

Water/Vits: On track

You know one of mine started right after a significant birthday when DH took me to a show and I sweated through the whole show. I forgot that one!

What type of sous vide machine do you use?

I am thinking of purchasing one because it sounds like a great way to cook some nice, tender meats. I worry, however, about purchasing an expensive appliance and not utilizing it.

I notice that you have sous vide often!

I have a Mellow and I don't recommend it. I mean, I love it and stuff, but it's not as flexible as other options. Most of the people in the sous vide communities I read seem to really love the Anova. It's a stick-type and that means you can use it in any vessel you already own. Although lots of people use coolers for the insulation!

I got a Joule, but haven't used it yet. I wanted to try to duplicate the sous vide egg butes from Starbucks. Yummy.

I had first bought a cheap Magic Mill 9 Qt Sous Vide Machine. DO NOT BUY IT. I used it twice and the non-stick coating on the bottom chipped and the unit rusted. I returned it.

BUT, I fell in love with the sous vide process. So I then bought Anova Culinary Sous Vide Precision Cooker Bluetooth, Immersion Circulator, 800 Watts, Black and have not been happier. I now own two. I use one for longer cooks (24-36 hours) and one for shorter cooks or ones at a higher or lower temp.

And I bought a FoodSaver 2-in-1 Vacuum Sealing System with Starter Kit, 4800 Series, v4840 as I got a really good Black Friday deal and am now a hard core sous vide fan.

It makes the best steaks I have ever had (and people used to rave about the ones I made on the grill!) It takes the toughest cuts of pork and beef and turns them into butter. Chicken is also a winner. Chicken breast is awesome and soft boiled eggs are fantastic. And I go straight from the freezer (I pre-vacuum portions now) into the sous vide and by dinner time the food is awesome. There are also thousands of sous vide recipes on the internet as well as how to instructions so learning is free and easy.

I even sous vide stuff for my inlaws and send it over with finishing instructions. My FIL loves me to death for that since my MIL has a fear of meat with juice in it (she was born in the mountains of Georgia and grew up without refrigeration).

I love to cook and was so afraid that after the surgery that my creativity would be stifled. But the opposite is true. Granted, the methods have changed a bit (my deep fryer no longer gets the love it used to) but everyone in my household would testify that it is possible to cook wholesome, low cal, low carb, healthy food that tastes wonderful.

QOTD: Every Monday! LOL - and I still vow every Monday to eat better than the week before. I know I eat too much sugar - and I'm trying hard to cut it down and then out. No good can come from eating sugar and I know that.

B: scrambled egg with sausage patty, iced coffee

L: unprepared for lunch - will have to see what's at the caf

D: steak tip salad with roasted peppers, red onion, bacon bits and balsamic dressing - homemade knockoff of a restaurant favorite

E: it's gorgeous here - going to be 60s - so walk for sure (although I'm so mad, I forgot my fitbit at home)

L/V: working on it

That steak salad sounds protein packed and AMAZING. Why do I come read these right before lunch? No idea!

QOTD: I tended to always start diets in the summer. I think it was always the time of year I would notice my weight more because I didn't feel comfortable in summer clothes, and I was always uncomfortable from the heat and humidity.

Breakfast: Eggs and coffee

Lunch: Pork dumplings and asparagus

Snack: Greek yogurt

Dinner: Salmon (or maybe shrimp) and veggies

Exercise: 25-30 minutes on the elliptical after work