Daily Menu Thread for the Wk 11.05.17-11.11.17

[FluffyChix 17,409]

@Berry78 I eggs and Beans. In my glory days, I used to adore an egg and bean Breakfast taco from this little guy who had a taco truck down the street from work! So. Dayum. Good!

[Subaru 66]

6 minutes ago, FluffyChix said:

If you're gonna use them, you should start now cuz they can cause gas as first. It's the only thing that really keeps me regular. So post surgery my RD told me to switch to Benefiber for the early days (like the first 3 months). Then once I'm completely healed, I can try/test if I handle the psyllium husks ok. I would need to start with a tiny amount and test it. It no longer makes me bloat, so I think I should be ok?

I actually use benefiber now (when I remember, which is my ongoing problem with all things healthy!).

I think if it no longer makes you bloat you'd be fine. But def I would try to go slowly! How is it going with insurance?

[Berry78 4,259]

I edited to add more info in my last post.

eggs and Beans are my secret to success, I swear. They are so satisfying and chalk full of nutrition.

[FluffyChix 17,409]

Just now, Subaru said:

I actually use benefiber now (when I remember, which is my ongoing problem with all things healthy!).

I think if it no longer makes you bloat you'd be fine. But def I would try to go slowly! How is it going with insurance?

We're in a holding pattern this week. Both my PCP and oncologist are supposed to have sent letters to the surgeon. They switched my hospital to a COE designated hospital, and are going to resubmit with the additional 3months of doctor supervised weight program and we will see. I have another RD appointment Dec. 6th and am scheduled for the next 3 months just in case. We think, that the insurance is gonna be a stickler and want full 180days of RD coverage. She said in Texas they have a 6mo minimum.

I'm also going to see my pulmonologist and go through the sleep study thing...ugh. I'm torn between wanting to have a recurrence of the sleep apnea, and dreading if they find it...cuz I hate the CPAP so much! I'm very claustrophobic, so the mask is hard to get used to, but I'm a mouth breather... Wah Wah Wannnnnnnhhhhhh!

@Berry78 Now that I'm out of ketosis, I might try bean and eggs for Breakfast this morning! Advantages of having a craptastic diet screw up weekend. I'm up 5.8lbs this morning.

[Subaru 66]

14 minutes ago, FluffyChix said:

We're in a holding pattern this week. Both my PCP and oncologist are supposed to have sent letters to the surgeon. They switched my hospital to a COE designated hospital, and are going to resubmit with the additional 3months of doctor supervised weight program and we will see. I have another RD appointment Dec. 6th and am scheduled for the next 3 months just in case. We think, that the insurance is gonna be a stickler and want full 180days of RD coverage. She said in Texas they have a 6mo minimum.

I'm also going to see my pulmonologist and go through the sleep study thing...ugh. I'm torn between wanting to have a recurrence of the sleep apnea, and dreading if they find it...cuz I hate the CPAP so much! I'm very claustrophobic, so the mask is hard to get used to, but I'm a mouth breather... Wah Wah Wannnnnnnhhhhhh!

@Berry78 Now that I'm out of ketosis, I might try bean and eggs for Breakfast this morning! Advantages of having a craptastic diet screw up weekend. I'm up 5.8lbs this morning.

I hope the revised approach gets it settled with insurance so you're not stressing over it!

I'm fairly luck with my sleep apnea that I am able to use just the nasal pillows. Even though I'm a mouth breather as well, somehow I manage to mostly keep it shut when I have that on. That said, I was really good about using my CPAP for the first 6 or 8 months, but the last 5 months or so I've just sucked about it. I need to get back on track with it.

[GwennyPenny 108]

I enjoy reading this thread. I haven't added to it yet but I will when I have some time. I need to work out the stats of the food. I had the RNY gastric bypass on August 10th this year. So far in the 12 weeks I have lost around 100lbs I will be seeing the dietitian tomorrow to review the plan then I will post the menu. I got a bit slack at writing it all down because in the three months I have had five surgical procedures and each time with anaesthetics and pain meds the weight stalls. I went back to work yesterday so I need to start writing it down again.

Sent from my CPH1607 using BariatricPal mobile app

[FluffyChix 17,409]

12 minutes ago, GwennyPenny said:

I enjoy reading this thread. I haven't added to it yet but I will when I have some time. I need to work out the stats of the food. I had the RNY gastric bypass on August 10th this year. So far in the 12 weeks I have lost around 100lbs I will be seeing the dietitian tomorrow to review the plan then I will post the menu. I got a bit slack at writing it all down because in the three months I have had five surgical procedures and each time with anaesthetics and pain meds the weight stalls. I went back to work yesterday so I need to start writing it down again.

Sent from my CPH1607 using BariatricPal mobile app

Oh my gosh sweetie! You've been through the wringer!!! So glad you're on the other side of it now (hopefully)!!! And wow on the 100lbs of loss in 12 weeks. Sounds like it was a "hard" 100 though!

I use MFP and make a lot of "remembered meals." Since I eat the same meals for a jag of time, then move on to other meals, it only takes seconds to repopulate a new day of food, and then only a minute or two to make any alterations that I might have to that meal. It makes tracking pretty simple after a while!

[Berry78 4,259]

Due to family circumstances we had Thanksgiving a day early.

Today I had:

A banana

4oz cottage cheese

1 pint coconut Water

2 cups 2% milk

A couple spoonfuls each of stuffing, mashed potatoes, turkey, and green Beans (was as stuffed as... after thanksgiving dinner! Badump ching)

A spoonful of ice cream pie

I totally wanted pumpkin pie but THERE IS NO WAY!

Totals: approx 1050cal 39g Protein (one of the first days I haven't made protein goal since 3 weeks postop)

[FluffyChix 17,409]

9 hours ago, Berry78 said:

Due to family circumstances we had Thanksgiving a day early.

Today I had:

A banana

4oz cottage cheese

1 pint coconut Water

2 cups 2% milk

A couple spoonfuls each of stuffing, mashed potatoes, turkey, and green Beans (was as stuffed as... after thanksgiving dinner! Badump ching)

A spoonful of ice cream pie

I totally wanted pumpkin pie but THERE IS NO WAY!

Totals: approx 1050cal 39g Protein (one of the first days I haven't made Protein goal since 3 weeks postop)

Wow!!! Beautiful job there girlie!!!!

I punkin pie. I'm gonna make my own concoction tonight:

Greek yogurt, pumpkin canned, liquid vanilla stevia, pumpkin pie spice, extra cinnamon, toasted crumbled walnuts. I'm hopin it will appease the stomach gods.

Happy Thanksgiving hon!!!! ((hugs))

[FluffyChix 17,409]

I'm very pleased with my Thanksgiving performance. LOL. I was well-behaved at the table, on my plate, and at the card table. I planned for the desserts...which is odd, because I'm not normally a dessert girl. I made Mr. F's favorite low carb tiramisu (and I did it with only liquid stevia) cuz he's literally allergic to every other type of sweetener. The result of that was...well a trade-off. In return for not having his tongue swell, we traded off and accepted a little bitterness. And it had a little bitter aftertaste and wasn't as sweet, but that's a win. It was a wholly satisfying meal and decent lc dessert. I even saved enough calories/carbs to enjoy a sliver (1/8" slice) of this frosted costco pumpkin roll, and 2 small (4oz) glasses of wine). It tasted divine! Had an unexpected hint of orange! No snacking yesterday and only 3 meals plus dessert. This morning, despite having cankles from doing too much yesterday, the scale is back down to 232.4lbs. It's ridiculous how much power over my happiness/mood/dietary satisfaction the scale possesses. What a little arbitrary b***h. Right? Am I right?

Is your mood controlled by the scale reading?

Yesterday, Thursday 24, 2017 (Thanksgiving Menu)

B: turkey sausage, spinach scramble (150g egg whites, 28g JD Turkey Saus Crumbles, 3oz super greens trio, 1/2 tbsp evoo, 1tsp hot sauce)

MS: none

L: red white and blue salad (2oz lo grilled ribeye, 1oz baby spinach, 1oz romaine, 3/4oz rbp, 1/2oz red onion, 1oz gr toms, 1oz avo, 1/2oz blue cheese crumbles, 2tbsp WF Italian Dressing, 1tsp evoo, 1tbsp sunflower seeds, shelled)

AS: none

D: 3oz roasted turkey, 1/4c homemade gravy, 1/2c green bean casserole, 2oz roasted acorn squash, 1/4c WaWa's dressing, 1/2c roasted brussels sprouts, 4oz la crema chardonnay, 4oz 1924 cabernet sauvignon

BS: 1/8 sliver Costco iced pumpkin roll, 1 piece (1/16 cake) LC Tiramisu

Daily Totals: 1471 cals; 75g fat; 70g protein; 81g carbs; 14g fiber; 67g net carbs (fiber was low yesterday)

[Subaru 66]

5 minutes ago, FluffyChix said:

I'm very pleased with my Thanksgiving performance. LOL. I was well-behaved at the table, on my plate, and at the card table. I planned for the desserts...which is odd, because I'm not normally a dessert girl. I made Mr. F's favorite low carb tiramisu (and I did it with only liquid stevia) cuz he's literally allergic to every other type of sweetener. The result of that was...well a trade-off. In return for not having his tongue swell, we traded off and accepted a little bitterness. And it had a little bitter aftertaste and wasn't as sweet, but that's a win. It was a wholly satisfying meal and decent lc dessert. I even saved enough calories/carbs to enjoy a sliver (1/8" slice) of this frosted costco pumpkin roll, and 2 small (4oz) glasses of wine). It tasted divine! Had an unexpected hint of orange! No snacking yesterday and only 3 meals plus dessert. This morning, despite having cankles from doing too much yesterday, the scale is back down to 232.4lbs. It's ridiculous how much power over my happiness/mood/dietary satisfaction the scale possesses. What a little arbitrary b***h. Right? Am I right?

Is your mood controlled by the scale reading?

Excellent job!!

As far as the scale, my mood is less controlled by that than it used to be. I did weight watchers (and similar) type programs on and off for years and only weighed once a week. A few years ago I did a different weight loss study that involved daily weighing. The daily weight supported what I learned from the weekly weighing, which is that, overall, if I follow a plan my weight will trend down. Soooo....when I do weigh daily, I'm not particularly bothered by a jump. I start to recognize patterns, etc. What I struggle with, when I'm being diligent about what goes into my mouth, is the "bad" food day itself. One day is not awful, but if I have a few in a row, or over the course of a week or so (other than a vacation) it's more challenging for me to get back on track.

[FluffyChix 17,409]

2 minutes ago, Subaru said:

Excellent job!!

As far as the scale, my mood is less controlled by that than it used to be. I did weight watchers (and similar) type programs on and off for years and only weighed once a week. A few years ago I did a different weight loss study that involved daily weighing. The daily weight supported what I learned from the weekly weighing, which is that, overall, if I follow a plan my weight will trend down. Soooo....when I do weigh daily, I'm not particularly bothered by a jump. I start to recognize patterns, etc. What I struggle with, when I'm being diligent about what goes into my mouth, is the "bad" food day itself. One day is not awful, but if I have a few in a row, or over the course of a week or so (other than a vacation) it's more challenging for me to get back on track.

Oh I soooo get you girl! I'm really not very disturbed by the daily fluctuations. My pattern is that I will hit a new low, and the next morning the scale will immediately bounce back about 2-3lbs. So my graph is a series of spikey steps in a downward trend. I'm happy as long as the trend is a downward line. But last weekend involved only 1 extra snack, and 1 meal and cost me 5whole pounds. Dayum! Then the next day I ate an additional 1/4c of mac n' cheese. That was enough to seal the deal. :-/ Ughhh! 5lbs. Ef me!!! LOL.

I've lived with the scale not budging at 235.8lbs almost all week. Yesterday it relented and went down to 235.2lbs--finally! Then this morning it's 232.4lbs. So I know it's gonna behave and my mood is very stable about it.) But this week was the devil's own b***h to keep myself from eating off plan! I powered through it and relied heavily on deep breathing through the cravings along with CBT and mindfulness. But the temptation to "have just a bite of xy or z" was strong. Truly the saving grace is probably that we don't keep dangerous crap in the house. To have a bite of xy or z, I would have to order delivery (which we don't have a budget for, and it would devastate Mr. F's tongue and Type 2), or I'd have to go to the store and buy it--which I'm too unmotivated to do.

Do you keep a "clean" kitchen? Or do you have to keep snacky crap around for the fam? How many days does it take you to get your mind and willpower back in the game?

[Subaru 66]

1 minute ago, FluffyChix said:

Oh I soooo get you girl! I'm really not very disturbed by the daily fluctuations. My pattern is that I will hit a new low, and the next morning the scale will immediately bounce back about 2-3lbs. So my graph is a series of spikey steps in a downward trend. I'm happy as long as the trend is a downward line. But last weekend involved only 1 extra snack, and 1 meal and cost me 5whole pounds. Dayum! Then the next day I ate an additional 1/4c of mac n' cheese. That was enough to seal the deal. :-/ Ughhh! 5lbs. Ef me!!! LOL.

I've lived with the scale not budging at 235.8lbs almost all week. Yesterday it relented and went down to 235.2lbs--finally! Then this morning it's 232.4lbs. So I know it's gonna behave and my mood is very stable about it.) But this week was the devil's own b***h to keep myself from eating off plan! I powered through it and relied heavily on deep breathing through the cravings along with CBT and mindfulness. But the temptation to "have just a bite of xy or z" was strong. Truly the saving grace is probably that we don't keep dangerous crap in the house. To have a bite of xy or z, I would have to order delivery (which we don't have a budget for, and it would devastate Mr. F's tongue and Type 2), or I'd have to go to the store and buy it--which I'm too unmotivated to do.

Do you keep a "clean" kitchen? Or do you have to keep snacky crap around for the fam? How many days does it take you to get your mind and willpower back in the game?

CBT? (The only reference I know for that is naughty. )

I'm impressed with you powering through. That is so very hard!! I will remind myself about the deep breathing because that helps.

I have two housemates, so no clean kitchen. When I was divorcing I lived on my own for about 9 months, and also had a very small fridge and limited cabinet space. That meant I shopped several times a week and I was responsible for all the food in my house. It was healthy and I tracked everything. When I did bring in Snacks or treats it was just enough for the moment so I couldn't go back for more later or the next day. My current housemates don't have any weight or food issues and can eat what they want and top when they're full. At present, one housemate does most of the grocery shopping. The upside is that if I make a list he will get what's on it. And they are both supportive of this journey for me. Nevertheless, not living alone makes it more difficult and it's one of the challenges I will need to manage!

[FluffyChix 17,409]

Bahahahaha! What's the naughty CBT? LOL. The "nice" CBT=cognitive behavior therapy=the early evolution of mindfulness (so popular today).

CBT is very helpful in dealing with moods/depression/food and substance addictions. In essence it is defined that no one or nothing can "make" you feel anything. It's our own cognitions that determine our response, mood, behavior. So instead of being at the mercy of all these outward forces, we have the power internally to determine our existence and state of happiness. It's essentially: "I THINK, therefore I feel."

A practical hypothetical example:

Incoming Stimulus: UGggggggh!!! I crave XYorZ. I want it now. I'm so weak! I hate myself that I can't control my craving! I just have no power to resist! I'm gonna go grab a bag out of the kitchen and go to town with it!

The Process of Dealing with the Stimulus and Determining Your Emotion: (I think therefore I feel.)

Step 1: Capture the thought. "I crave." "I'm weak." "I hate myself and am powerless over the craving." "I am going to go eat XYorZ."

Step 2: Mentally picture a light switch on the wall. Switch it to the "OFF" position. Effectively snuffing out the incoming stimulus thoughts you have captured. Just turn them off. Now it's total darkness--cuz the switch is off. I have delayed/deferred "feeling" or action while I'm capturing this thought.

Step 3: Mentally switch the light switch to "on" and replace the "bad" information/stimulus with "positive statements." Decide how you will go forward.

"Am I hungry? If no, I will do something to distract and deep breath, and drink a glass of Water. If I'm actually hungry, I will eat a hard boiled egg, or 1-2oz of Protein so I no longer "crave"."

"I'm strong and purposefully minded. I determine what goes in my mouth. A craving does not mean I'm actually hungry."

"I have power over my head hunger and cravings. I can resist temptations for the greater, long term goal."

"I love and appreciate myself for the strong, loving, caring person I am."

"I'm choosing to feel contentment with my situation, happiness, positivity, and hope."

NOTES: At first, this action takes time to actually feel and resolve and experience it. But after you've been doing it a while, it happens almost automatically, beneath the surface, like a computer program that runs in the background. It really helps when used diligently.

I think your situation makes control much harder, since someone else shops and you share a kitchen! Yikes! Much harder to resist the lure of cravings. If it were me, I'd stay in ketosis and full all the time! LOL. It's hard to be bad when you have a full tummy!

I'm definitely not perfect and backslide. I don't always win the day. But that's ok. It's a helluva lot better than not even trying to win the day. Right? I win maybe 90-95% of my days at present. That's about as good as I want to be, because being totalitarian or perfect sets me up for rebelliousness. In this situation, I'm aware of the consequences and know, that there will be no beatings after a fall. I will simply, acknowledge the fall, take a look at how and why it happened, and even where it happened. Determine if I can do something different the next time the situation happens. Decide that I'm not a "bad" person for falling, process any disappointment, or altered emotions, release forgiveness and move forward with taking the "next best bite."

Sometimes, doing the headwork happens very quickly--instantly. But other times, like this past week, it took me a few days to really process my emotions and to rephrase them and understand them in order to release the forgiveness. While that happens, there is quite a bit of balancing with temptation that occurs.

Edited November 24, 2017 by FluffyChix

[Subaru 66]

Okay, I completely understand your CBT and have used it successfully in the past. I need to refocus on it to use it successfully again!

The other CBT....erm...ah...c*ck & b*ll torture. (I read!!!)