First Day...done

Been gone for such a long time.  I am back and feeling better and more focused than I have been in the last few months and hope that this will get me past the 15lbs that I need to lose.  I really would like to get it off by the end of the month and get a date in August. 

My b-day is the 24th and last October I had set a goal to have GB and be down by 60lbs on my b-day.  Big fail.  That's ok.  If I don't have goals then I will have nothing to work for. 

Today I started off with a shake: Body Fortress 1 scoop with 8oz water and ice and 1 Zantrex-3 capsule. 

Next I had a two small bites of some banana nut bread that I made so I will say less than 1/4 of a slice and 16oz water. 

Again, I had Shake (same as above) and 1 Zantrex-3 capsule. 

For dinner I had a slice of home made pasta-less veggie lasagna made of: spinach, egg plant, mushroom, green and orange bells, fire roasted peppers, purple onion, green and yellow zucchini, low sodium pasta sauce, reduced fate 4 blend Italian cheese, skim ricotta and Italian herbs.  It was super delicious and I didn't miss the pasta nor the meat or fatty cheese.  Oh yeah, I didn't add any sauce either and I am working on another bottle of water.

I will be getting in a little activity with my daughter but my knee doesn't allow for much but I will do what I can.

I have also realized without  a doubt that  eat out of boredom and I am hungriest at some where between 4-6 p.m.. So, I have decided that the should be the time that I take my second dose of Zantrex-3 to help combat the hunger.  I have also decided that I will limit my carbs rather than omitting and am no longer consuming them at night. If I do have them at all it will be in the morning.  

I have started drinking 1% milk even though I am not a big fan of milk.

TOM is still going strong and my gyno says that she will scrape my uterus to find out what the issue is but as long as I am not anemic I can continue to bleed. "That is a *****"! Excuse the language but damn! Its been about 2 months now.  I'm surprised I haven't knocked over yet.

The good thing is that I have made it through my first day and so that means the second wont be so hard.  Oh, yet another scale has broken and so I will not worry of buying another until end of  this week and will purchase a different brand this time.

Thank all of you *****ad this even if you don't respond.  Just thank you for taking the time to read.   I don't have any actual support and I am one that needs a cheer leader in my corner.  I appreciate the ears! 

Your lasagna sounds to die for!  I may try to make that here!

What about when you get hungry at the 4-6 pm, take a protein shake then?  Or an apple (if you like them) with peanut butter?  Apple's are so satisfying (Sweet) and the peanut butter a little salty might help you over that hump and then take your walk right after you eat it!  :o)

Good Luck at the Gyno!

Thanks for the reply Jenny.  When I get hungry at that time I will just have another pill and another shake and then that will help me during dinner.  My dinners will just be veggies; no cabs, no protein.  Last time I did a full week of liquid diet and lost 10 lbs but I felt so deprived and found myself eating turkey slices to just have some texture and salt.  I had decided to no longer drink broth for the saltiness because it was just too much salt and even the low sodium V8 had too much.  I want to keep my sodium between 600-800 no need for high blood pressure!  I will take your advice and have a snack around that time and maybe I will have less veggies at dinner.  That we will just have to wait and see.

As far as the lasagna, I would advise maybe saute them a bit to reduce the water in them.  I just used them raw and so the lasagna was a bit wet but delicious still.  My 5yr old loved it and even helped make it.  It was super simple.  You just:

-Preheat oven to 400 degrees

In a 9x9 pan, layer (lined with foil for easy clean up): Starting with a layer of sauce.
 
-1/2 med egg plant,
- 1/4 each (green & orange) bells
- 8 baby Bella mushroom
- 2cups raw spinach
- 1/4 med purple onion
- 1/2 each (yellow & green) zucchini
- 1 jar pasta sauce (low sodium)
- 4oz roasted red pepper

- 1 1/2 c ricotta (skim milk) mixed with Italian herbs and garlic powder to taste adding 1/4 c  parmesan cheese and drip little spoons over the veggies and spread out

-then repeat the process.

-Top with 1 c Reduced fat mozzarella.  (I used Sargentino Italian 4 blend)

Bake for an hour with foil covering cheese to prevent burning.  Once done remove the foil and let bake until cheese is bubbling

In total I probably used half of each item, 8 mushrooms maybe a quarter of the egg plant and an entire jar of sauce.  This should serve 6 nice portions or 4 large portions.

You can still have with a salad.  If you eat cabs then bread would go nicely.  Perhaps a glass of wine....I miss wine...dang cabs.

Enjoy.  I didn't find any recipe for this I just decided to throw some things together and make changes to how regular meat lasagna is made.  Its just a bunch of layers and I am sure that you can be creative with any types of veggies.  Let me know how you like it.

Thanks again Jenny for the kindness. 

Gigi, that recipe sounds wonderful.  Putting it on my try list.  I have heard of using eggplant for noodles before, even zucchini.  I would lightly salt the eggplant, let it sit for 30 minutes, rinse the salt off and pat dry with papertoweling to remove some of the extra moisture from the eggplant.  Got that tip from another site for a deep fried eggplant dish.  I don't deep fry anything anymore, but the tip sounds helpful for any eggplant dish. 

Are you getting your 60 plus grams of protein you need per day?  Getting in the protein will help with the slumps in energy and keep the carb attacks at bay.  The apple/peanut butter idea is good, I also do the same thing with a rib of celery and peanutbutter.  Crunch for the mouth and peanut butter for the satisfaction.

Another dish that I love to make and keep in the fridge is to chop up any veggies that you like raw.  Cucumber, carrot, celery, peppers, radish, brocolli, cauliflower and such.  Keep a bowl of this handy in the fridge for munching.  Add a touch of salad dressing and a few nuts for a crunch snack. 

I add the same veggies except the cucumber to sugar free jello as it cools for another crunchy way to get in veggies. 

The raw veggies (cucumber included) mixed with a bit of garlic salt, let sit for 24 hours and it makes it's own garlicky dressing.  Keeps well, I add to any green salad as a topper.

It is great that you include your child in the cooking.  This teaches good eating habits from a young age.

It's too bad that we can't just turn off the switch for peroids when we no longer desire to have children.  Hope things turn out well with the gyno.  Keep posting, I love to read notes from everyone.  Hugs

I am going to try the recipe ! Thanks for sharing it! Also, I agree on the protein snack. I usually have a protein bar in between lunch and dinner and some peanut butter. Habits are hard to break but finding a healthy alternative may be ok. It sounds like you are on the right track with good choices (including drinking the milk), I'm not a fan of milk.

Anyways, you can do this, I know you can. I am sending you some hugs...just hang in there it will get better.

Susan

Thanks to all the replies gals! I am going to go and start making lunch for the kid and chop up some celery and apples while I am at it.

Hey GIgi.. It sounds like you have progresed well since we have last heard from you. Great job! I am so happy to hear this. And i agree with the others, the recipe sounds yummy!

One word of caution.. watch having carbs in the morning, as this sets the body up to have cravings and feel more hunger through the day, with many people. The body likes that it is easy to burn the carbs out of our blood stream for its energy needs, and prefers this than turning to its precious energy stores "fat". So once the carbs are used up from our blood stream, the body will actually trigger craving and hunger to get you to give it some more easy energy access. It can have this response any time of day, but by eating carbs in the morning it is setting the tone for a long day of hunger and cravings.. just something to consider. It may not afect you in this way, but it does most flks.

keep u the excellent wor****ep us posted on your progress!

You Go Girl!!!!     Cheering you on!

Thanks Patrece.  The "You go girl" was too cute.  Surprisingly I have not eaten any carbs except the little that I get from fruits and vegetables.  My cravings have been little also. I think I am just motivated and ignoring them. 

One problem that I am having that is consistent with my last try of losing weight is that it seems just much easier not to eat at all at some times rather than drink a shake.

I bought the strawberry flavor this time and t doesn't taste as sweet to me as the chocolate but still not the greatest.

Up side is that I have been getting in more than 30 min of physical activity each day and I am enjoying it because it gives me time to think.  Not quite up to an hour yet but I will get there.

I think today I will change my goals because they have honestly changed and new ones have sprouted along with the way I want to treat myself and my weight loss journey.

Thanks y'all for the support.

Just as a suggestion... pre-mix a Batch of Carnation instant breakfast... or protein. Then when it is time, there no fuss to worry about.
I am sooo proud of you! You are doing awesome lady!