Yummy Pizza and 3 Pounds

I had a good Saturday and Sunday and I'm down three pounds (the two I gained plus one more). It feels good to welcome the last three days of the week with good momentum. Plus, the food routine at work makes dieting easier.

I made pizza with cauliflower as the crust--and it was very, very good. Not like real pizza crust, but since I can't eat that anyway (Celiac disease), I'm always on the hunt for a substitute. I found a great GF crust at Whole Foods, but the calories are astronomical - people don't realize that non-wheat flour can be three times the calories as the wheat kind. So when Medifast Mary sent me a recipe for pizza made with cauliflower, I was skeptical. Then I saw similar recipes on Pinterest, so I decided to go for it.

I was floored. Here's a link to the blog where I got my recipe:
http://stickafork.net/2012/04/16/cauliflower-crust-pizza/

I topped mine with pizza sauce, turkey pepperoni, and low fat mozzarella cheese. Best part? The entire pizza counted as my Lean and Green! Yup, I ate the whole thing. It makes a nine inch pizza. Tasty!

Oh, I couldn't find a 'no sugar added' pizza sauce, so here's the simple sauce I made:
1/2 cup diced canned tomatoes (no juice)
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
salt
Blend all ingredients until smooth (I use a Bullet type blender). It's kind of runny, so you could cook it to reduce some moisture, but I used it as is and loved it!

Bump in the Medifast Road

I weigh every day. Thursday I had lost six more pounds (for a total of 16)--yay for Week 2 on Medifast! It was certainly easier than Week 1. It seems like I'm getting into a rhythm that I can sustain. I really wondered those first few days how I could keep myself motivated.

Losing weight is motivating. 


Today I gained two pounds. I weigh myself every day, so I'm very aware that weight can fluctuate for various and sundry reasons. I know my patterns and this gain fits my patterns. Still, my first reaction is to say, "Really? If I'm gonna gain 2 pounds, I wanna enjoy the journey to that gain. Where's the chocolate? Where are the sweet potato fries? I gained two pounds eating Medifast and Lean & Green?"


Gaining weight is enervating.

Weekend Report and Medifast Week 2

After a great week 1 on Medifast, I was feelin' all sorts of cocky.

I had a rough patch at work on Thursday--just didn't lead a meeting very successfully and was feeling emotional about it, but I had plans to join some friends who were scrapbooking Thursday night and Friday all day which gave me something to look forward to.  

Thursday night at my friend's house I accidentally made my shake with the water I had warmed for my soup (I like my soup much better if it sits for a few hours and I reheat it), so I was in a quandary. I couldn't eat the soup because it hadn't had time to 'stew' and I didn't want my shake hot...so I stuck it in the fridge at my friend's house and ended up waiting an extra hour to eat.

Friday morning I didn't get my first meal until about 9:30, which threw me off for the day. I usually eat breakfast at 7:30, so my meal schedule is 10, 12, 3, 6, then 8. With a late start, I just never found my groove--so I ended up with a meal at 10 p.m. which just felt wrong on many levels. Who knew an on-the-go meal plan could be so complex? Sheesh! The other issue with Friday was my water. I struggled to get 64 oz in. On a normal work day, I have 24 oz before I even get to work, then another 64 oz while I'm in the office. Not so on Friday. And I was kind of grumpy. I wanted to scrapbook, but didn't have my mojo going. I finally left at 4:00 and stopped at Carl's Jr. for my lean and green meal--figuring a lettuce wrapped burger would be fine. Then I changed my mind and got chicken, thinking that would be a healthier choice. It would have been, except the chicken was that pressed stuff, not a real chicken breast. Ick! Still, I was hungry, so I ate it. Oh, and they messed up, so I got it on a bun (threw it away). Okay, here's the real issue. I got a combo. With fries. You might ask, "Bonnie, what were you thinking?" I was thinking I wanted a Diet Coke with my meal and it would be just as cheap to just get a combo and I might just lick one french fry. I ate three fries. They were very, very good. It was a pain to figure out how many calories I'd eaten because I couldn't find anything online about three fries, so I weighed three remaining fries and figured out the ounces and estimated about 70 calories to account for the oil. Who knows?

Saturday I woke up early then fell asleep reading, so breakfast was at 10...which made for a repeat of the Friday 'off' schedule except I skipped my last meal instead of eating at 10 p.m. again. I ended up grocery shopping around 5 p.m. and bought some pine nuts because the Quick Start Guide says I can have 40 of them as a snack. I also bought fat free cheese and turkey pepperoni which are low in carbs but not in the Quick Start Guide. And I bought the wrong kind of pickles--Famous Dave's spicy which I thought meant dill, but are more bread and butter-ish. Yum! Yikes!

By the end of the day on Sunday I had eaten all the pine nuts, three slices of cheese and two pickle spears. I'm not beating myself up about it, but aiming for a clear look at my behavior. I really feel I was upset about the Thursday meeting and trying to find a way to cope with it--food has always been my best friend in situations like that.

The good news is yesterday I 'fixed' my Thursday mistake. And I pledge to 'eat clean' for the rest of week 2 on Medifast.

Medifast Day Seven

I'm nearly done with my first week on Medifast. It's been easier than I thought and as difficult as I thought. The breakthrough on Monday really has been encouraging. I've also found some ways to make the meals a bit more interesting and add variety to them without adding calories. Nifty! As of this morning I've lost 10 pounds. We'll see what the scale says tomorrow. Can't wait! How often does a person say that?

So in my quest online for recipes and such, I found a site called GetSkinnyBeHappy. The blogger of this site shared all sorts of tips, tricks and recipes...but I can't find a post later than 2010. I'm worried about him. In one post he said he'd lost his job but was still committed to the diet. What's he doing now?  Is it strange that I am concerned about this random person I've never met but whose blog was helpful to me? Probably.

Or maybe not. I'm invested in him because he's a fellow survivor of the first few days of Medifasting. And I want to know if this highly motivated person has kept of the weight he lost. Will I? Can I?

Okay, back to the here and now. First I need to finish this day and this week. Then I can worry about day 8 and week 2!

My Medifast meals for a day.

My way of organizing all the meals for the month.

A cute dog to make you smile!

Euphoria Delayed

Medifast Mary told me many clients experience a great feeling of euphoria the third day. I waited all day Sunday--no euphoria. Headache, fog, and food cravings, yes; euphoria, no. (Any grammarians out there? Please fix that sentence!)

Today around 11:00 I felt...different. Not as panicky about sustaining this. More confident I can keep it up. Not hungry. Actually, every time I turned around it was time to eat. Not a bad thing, eh? Finally, around 2:00 I decided to call the feeling euphoria and embrace it.

Nice feeling. I want to keep it.

My Medifast Journey Begins

I'm on a DIET. After deciding I couldn't afford $15,000 for lap band surgery, I knew I needed to do something. I sought for higher power as I looked at my options, and the phrase 'aggressive dieting' kept coming to me, so I began to do some research into gluten free meal programs. I knew Jenny Craig still didn't offer gluten free meals, but I wanted to double check. I looked into Nutri-System also, then researched Medifast. Well knock me over with a feather! Medifast has a gluten free track of meals including brownies! After a quick prayer for guidance, I took the plunge and ordered 4 weeks of meals.

Here's the plan:
Every day I eat five 100-125 calorie 'meals' (one every 2-3 hours) and one "Lean and Green" meal of my own consisting of 5-7 oz of protein, 2 cups of non-starchy vegetables and a small amount of healthy oil. That's a total of between 800 - 900 calories per day.

Here's how it's going so far:
Thursday was a busy day at work, so I think that made my first day easy. I had eggs for breakfast-- powdered scrambled eggs with southwest spices. I was very surprised that they tasted good. I had a Cranberry Mango drink for my next meal at 10:30. It was okay--I thought it was a shake, so I wasn't blown away by the flavor and consistency. I ate Chicken and Wild Rice soup at 1:00. By then I had already drunk 60 oz of water, so I was pretty busy dashing to the ladies room every hour. My next meal was a chocolate shake which tasted exactly how I expected--satisfying. After work is where I ran into an trouble. I stopped at the store to stock my fridge with Lean and Green meal components and was feeling quite shaky and hungry by the time I finished. I ate my 6 oz of turkey on the way home, then made my green salad. At 7:30 I ate my brownie. Heaven! It's one of those 'make in the microwave and eat while it's hot' brownies--fudgey, warm, and very satisfying.

Friday was a bit less intense at work. I had a pancake for breakfast (tasted fine), then a shake. For lunch I ate a 6 oz chicken breast and 1/2 cup broccoli at Chili's. Tasty! I could have had a larger portion of vegetables, but I had dinner with book club that night so I wanted to save some 'green' for that. Before dinner I had my tomato soup meal, then I ate 2 cups of arugula at Settabello. Okay... that was torture. Sitting for 2 hours with friends who are eating authentic Italian style pizza and gelato and trying to make myself content with straight lettuce as my meal? I should get an Oscar for pulling that off!

Saturday was difficult. Without the routine and distraction of work, it was harder to control my cravings and emotional need for food to 'tame the savage beast.' Still, I did fine. I added two celery stalks and a package of Medifast Soy Crisp snacks to the menu and ate my Lean and Green meal at 3:30 instead of for dinner. It was the hardest day so far. I had a headache and lots of sinus pressure--probably has nothing to do with the diet, but that's how I felt physically. Emotionally I struggled, but I made it!

As of this morning I've lost 7 pounds! That's what I call aggressive. I know it won't be like this all the time, but it feels good  to see immediate results.

I prepared for this by doing the following:
1. I purged my fridge and cupboard of any non Medifast compliant food.
2. I deleted the Food Network from my favorites list on cable.
3. I only watched recorded television shows so I could skip food commercials.
4. I still got on Pinterest, but skipped the food pins.
5. I organized all my meals into reusable bags so I can grab and go for the next 5 weeks.
6. I told my family, friends and co-workers.
7. I signed up for a free Medifast coach (her name is Mary, so I call her Medifast Mary) and have spoken with her nearly every day.

So, that's the latest. I am full of hope.

The Scope of a Scope

I had my left knee 'scoped' on Wednesday, May 16. The real name for the procedure is an arthroscopy I call this a manicure for my knee--the surgeon goes in and smooths over the rough edges of bones that have deteriorated due to arthritis. Those rough edges tear things like the meniscus and cartilage much like a torn fingernail snags on everything you touch.
By my rough calculations, this is the 7th knee scope I've had between the two knees. I thought I'd share what my recovery usually looks like by taking you through the past week. It was fairly typical of my past scopes.
My friend Cathi took the day off to be my 'person' (a la Grey's Anatomy). She picked me up at 7:45 and we were in the pre-surgery room by 8:30 with surgery scheduled for 9:30. That hour is always so long--different nurse types asking questions, checking blood pressure, dashing to and fro. Cathi saved some juicy family stories to entertain me with, but I was ready to crawl up the wall by the time the anesthesiologist came to talk to me. After that, everything moved quickly. I was wheeled to the operating room, made about 30 seconds of small talk with the surgeon, moved from the pre-op bed to the operating table, joked about how small the table was, then fell asleep. The recovery room is such a surprise--I just wanna sleep, but people are poking and prodding and talking way too loud to me, so I have to wake up. No knee pain, but a very sore throat. Do I want something to drink? Yes, a Diet Coke please. Thought the fizzy would help the throat. Wrong. Didn't help at all. I don't remember my throat hurting so much before, but it probably did. Back in the pre-surgery room talking to Cathi. Doc says the knee is trashed, probably the last scope before we do a TKR (total knee replacement). Yuck. Don't want to think about that right now. My throat hurts. After about 45 minutes, we leave. I ask Cathi to stop at the Dairy Queen for a milkshake-maybe that will help my throat. Home. Able to walk into the house with crutches. In bed, propped, on ice while Cathi goes to the store for my pain pills and a McDonald's run. Nice friend, huh? I know! Call and text friends that I survived and made it home. Napped. Ate. Rosann and Anita come over to visit and bring ice. My throat hurts. Bad. I have to go to the bathroom again. Really? Unhook the ice machine, grab the crutches, hobble to the bathroom. Reverse the process to get back to bed. Repeat three or four times. Time for bed. Can't sleep. Really? Really! 5 a.m. before I nod off. Crazy.
Thursday at around 11:00 I realized my knee hurt. Really. I hadn't been vigilant in my Lortab taking, so I upped my pills to 2 pills every 4 hours, and I watched the clock, believe you me! This continued through the night and into Friday.
By Friday I was happy to have some company--the boys and Daisy came for a few hours, then Rosann came to watch a movie with me. Smiling and sitting in the recliner with my knee on ice really wore me out!
Saturday morning at 2:00 a.m. I took my last Lortab. I had a hair appointment that I couldn't miss and didn't want to risk being able to drive. My sister came for the day and arrived in time to deliver me to the salon, so I could have taken some pain pills, but by the time we got home, I decided to switch to Tylenol and see how the pain was. No problem! I was kind of grumpy as I came off the pain pill high, but that was the extent of my withdrawal symptoms.
Sunday and Monday were low key--drove myself to the doctor's office for a follow up visit on Monday.
Tuesday I worked all day at Stampin' Up! My knee was tight and tired, but I was able to keep it on ice and elevated. In the afternoon I felt kind of shaky, but I made it through a very important meeting from 1-5, then went home and iced all evening.
Wednesday I took the day off, worked all day Thursday and Friday.
It's Tuesday now and I'm back to work full time and n the swing of things. My left knee gets swollen, but I don't need ice at work any more. I still baby it at home, but other than that, I'm good to go!