A Sensible Dinner - Pearlieq's Journal

[toystoryduo]

Pearlieq,

I hope you have a great weekend ahead. We're supposed to have warmer weather next week. I hope it gets warm, sunny, and spring like out your way!

 

[pearlieq]

3/28/08

9:15am

--1 chunk co-jack cheese
--1 bowl wheat Chex
--1 banana

I love Wheat Chex and bananas. It's such a good combo.

Well, I'll be working this morning, then I'm going to log off early and go over to the hospital to meet up with my mom. She's going to be there all day having a bone scan and a cat scan. They wanted to do new tests since her tumor markers were up, but the &^%$# insurance company wouldn't approve her for a PET scan until she did a bone scan and cat scan. Does that make any sense to anyone??? I feel bad for her and thought I'd go keep her company for at least some of it.

Tomorrow is going to be a loooong day. I'll be up in the AM at mom's as usual, then we have a friend's son's 2nd birthday party in the afternoon. That one's going to be an experience--she makes the world's biggest spread of really good food. You sit and you eat, and eat, and eat all of these wonderful things and then she trots out and says "Ok, lunch is ready!" It could be a long afternoon.

After that, we're supposed to go to my friend's fondue party. I don't know how this one is going to turn out--I don't think we know most of the people there, and I don't recall really "clicking" with the ones we did meet surrounding their wedding. On the upside, I'm not really worried about overeating there, since I was with her when she picked the menu and it's almost all things I don't care for. Fine by me! I'm probably still going to be rolling everywhere after the birthday party.

2:00pm

--1 yeast roll w/1 tub whipped butter & 1 pkt strawberry jam
--1/2 bowl chicken orzo soup
--1 chicken, mozzarella, & pesto panini
--most of a fruit cup
--1/2 belgian waffle w/whipped cream & strawberry syrup.

Oh, I'm so full! My magical shrinking stomach is still with me. Mom wanted the dessert waffle and I wasn't going to turn her down, but oof!

As it turned out, by the time I made it to the hospital, Mom was in the middle of the last of her tests, so I waited about 20 minutes, met up with her, and then followed her back toward home so we could get lunch at the local diner. It wound up being a very nice chance to visit together. I'm really enjoying the time with my mom a lot more now that I'm not feeling so overwhelmed. I hope it lasts for a while, because this is nice.

7:30pm

--2 slices bacon spinach alfredo pizza
--2 garlic breadsticks
--1 20oz Coke

Well, it was Geekfest 2008 at our house last night. DH had a bunch of his ham radio club friends over to build antennae. They were nice guys, but I mostly hid in the house and watched Emma, from the PBS Jane Austen series. I liked the Gwyneth Paltrow version better.

9:45pm

--2 more slices of pizza
--6 kisses

I got a little peckish before bed.

 

[pearlieq]

3/29/08

9:00am

--1 slice pizza
--1 banana

Running out the door to get to my mom's!

11:00am

--1 cup milk

2:00pm

--2 small baked potatoes w/cheese sauce, sour cream, bacon bits, and green onions
--a couple handfuls potato chips w/dip
--a sm handful M&Ms
--2 cupcakes

We had quite a misadventure geting to the birthday party today! I was already running late since things had gone long at my mom's, and the DH and I got hopelessly lost on the way to our friend's house. We drove around for almost an hour trying to get back on track. We would have called, but we couldn't even tell where we were! They live in kind of a rural area and if you go just a mile or two out it's all just farmland. Very disorienting.

We finally made it to the party just as the birthday boy was unwrapping his last gifts, so we missed the games, his cake, and everything. I was bummed. They were really nice about it, and we wound up sticking around and chatting, but I felt bad.

On the way home we figured out where we had gone wrong. I guess the county had completely regraded part of the road there--it used to just be a curve, and they turned it into a T-intersection with a stoplight. We got confused and turned there instead of where we were supposed to. Oh well. Now we know, I guess.

6:00pm

--2 pieces cold pizza
--1 banana

Surprisingly, I'm actually hungry again. I didn't eat nearly as much as I thought I would at the birthday party. She put out a much more modest spread this year, which I think was better for everyone. The food was wonderful, but I'm not as overstuffed as I was in the past.

I'm not anticipating that I'm going to like the food at the fondue party (she had mentioned a lot of cheeses I don't care for, and they're using a lot of wine/beer, which I don't enjoy). It's no big deal, of course. I'll try a few things and mostly just hang out.

8:00pm

--soooooo much food!

The fondue party actually came out pretty nice. DH stayed home, so it was just me, but sometimes that's easier--I don't have to worry about how he's doing while hanging out with, essentially, my friends.

I ate about a bazillion mini quiches, plenty of chocolate fondue with dippers, some cheese fondue with chips, some bagel chips with dip, and at least a couple of sodas. The crowd was actually pretty nice, though some were getting pretty toasted by the evening's end--not fun toasted, but kind of obnoxious toasted. I don't have any beef with people drinking at parties and even getting a bit buzzed, but when you're so drunk you're sloppy and rude, no one likes you! Just a PSA...

 

[pearlieq]

3/30/08

1:30pm

--1 footlong sweet onion chicken teriyaki sub
--1 cinnamon sugar bagel w/strawberry cream cheese
--1 light mango smoothie

I'm having the most wonderful, decadent day today. DH is away at an event, and I wound up sleeping in until almost 11am! That's pretty unusual for me--usually I wake up pretty early, either naturally or because my back is sore (darn crappy mattress and extra weight!).

I woke up, had the house to myself, so I'm enjoying a quiet day of reading and Travel Channel specials and a yummy lunch.

It's a good day.

5:30pm

--2 T jelly beans

7:00pm

--3 chicken strips
--coleslaw
--macaroni & cheese
--1 biscuit
--4 pkts hone
--1 double cheeseburger

I've been wanting a cheeseburger all day, but DH wanted KFC. I thought I could compromise by having him stop by the KFC that is attached to an A&W so I could get a cheeseburger. Bad idea. I didn't need all that food, and the cheeseburger was NOT good--just bland and greasy. I should have stopped eating it, but I didn't.

11:45am

--1 cup milk
--1 banana

 

[pearlieq]

3/31/08 - Goodbye March!

10:00am

--1 bacon, egg, & cheese biscuit
--1 chicken biscuit w/1 pkt honey
--1 coffee cake muffin

Oof! DH took me out this morning to drop my car off at the shop (hopefully nothing too expensive this time!) and we stopped for breakfast on the way home. I think this was big enough to be lunch too!

I don't remember a whole lot of detail about this day, but I know we went for an early dinner and then I made the mistake of getting a box of toaster pastries during a shopping trip. Half of them were gone last night. Oops!

DH was irritating me--he kept wanting to eat. We had that giant breakfast, and he came up a couple hours later wanting lunch! I told him no way, so we went off and fixed himself Hot Pockets and then kept suggesting "lunch" all afternoon. We finally went and ate around 5pm and he was still calling it lunch! Our schedules are never in sync and it's frustrating. Normally I only have to deal with it on the weekends, but he's been working from home a lot now with the cast, so it's becoming an every day issue. This is going to be a long month...

 

[toystoryduo]

Hi pearlieq~

It sounds like you had a wonderful Sunday! I hope your week ahead is a good one!

 

[Amy&Dan]

Hi Pearlieq: Your situation with your mom sounds so familar! I am glad you are in a good spot with her right now and enjoying that. I am not a bit surprised about the "can't have the pet scan until the bone and cat scan" thing. Insurance companies make me a bit sick. I think back on things with my mom and just wonder why things are the way they are. I am praying for good results on those scans.

I am glad you had fun at the fondue party, totally agree on the obnoxious drunk thing, there's nothing worse! That food sounded really good. And I am sorry you guys got lost on the way to the birthday party, totally aggravating.

So glad you got some time for you on Sunday. Your body probably really needd that extra sleep. Hope today was a good one for you and that the car wasn't a big repair bill!

 

[pearlieq]

4/1/08 - I'm going to WDW this month!

9:00am

--1 pkt toaster pastries
--1 cup milk

Breakfast of champions...

11am - 3:00pm

--munching

I remember a leftover baked potato with cheese & toppings, more toaster pastries, and chips. Not great.

5:00pm

--2 Lean Pockets

6:15pm

--2 mini meatloaves
--1/2 cup mashed potatoes
--1/2 cup peas

Whoops. I thought we were going to eat late this afternoon since I was supposed to go over to my mom's for a bit tonight to help her dig out her closet. DH came home earlier than I expected, so I wound up eating dinner right after the Lean Pockets. I didn't eat a whole lot, but I didn't really need a meal at that point. At least that was it for the day.

 

[Amy&Dan]

4/1/08 - I'm going to WDW this month!

Me too Pearlieq! Is that not always the best thing when your month comes up!

I think your food looked pretty good today. You are really doing well and so disciplined about journaling what you eat. That is awesome and something I need to do better on! I am proud that you are evaluating your choices. That is how good habits begin, by be conscious of what you are eating. Another Monday bites the dust!

 

[pearlieq]

4/2/08

9:30am

--1 cup light yogurt
--1 apple

It started out as a pretty good day. I slept in way too late this morning. I knew we had plans to go to the Mexican buffet for lunch, so I didn't want to eat too much this morning, but I knew I had to eat since the Glucophage makes me really sick to my stomach if I skip meals.

12:30pm

--3 1/2 chicken enchiladas w/sour cream
--1 flauta
--a few bites rice
--4 small corn fritters

This place is so tasty! I overdid it a bit here. I really probably didn't need all of it--I'll skip the rice next time. It wasn't that great. (Amy, I swear to heavens we're writing the same journal, sometimes...)

I am, however, in love with those flippin' little corn fritters. They look just like donut holes and they're made out of some kind of cornmeal batter. They're not sweet, though they do dust them with powdered sugar. They're just little nuggets of deep fried carby goodness.

3:00pm

--munching

I don't know what possessed me to keep eating all afternoon. I know I had about 1/4 cup jelly beans, chips, and about 10 Hershey's kisses and I think some milk. Though, if you want to call this improvement in some funny way, I'm still working on the same bag of Kisses I've had for about a week. That's a new one for me--usually I'll blow through about any snack food in a day or two.

6:00pm

--1 ham steak
--1 orange
--1 box macaroni & cheese

DH cooked, which was nice, but I didn't put up a fight when he suggested cooking each of us our own box of mac & cheese. At least he knows to only use half the butter, but still.

After dinner I just couldn't sit around in front of the TV again. So we went to the library. It was nice to get a change, but there was this young man sitting next to us who way playing some kind of computer game with music, so there was a soundtrack to my reading all night, even after we asked him to mute it.

9:00pm

--2 bacon, egg, & cheese biscuits
--2 cupcakes with about 75% of the icing scraped off.

I don't know if I can adequately express how difficult and painful it is to journal honestly. It costs me to have to write things like this down.

DH and I decided we wanted snacks after our library run, so we wandered through the Wal-Mart by our house, up to no good. I picked out cupcakes and a pack of Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwiches. Why? I have no idea. It's not something I usually eat or had ever bought before. But they looked good. So that's what I wound up eating last night.

I've started to divide my eating/weight problems into 2 parts--bad habits and "something wrong". I don't mind the bad habits so much--if that was all I had to live with, I'd probably still be big, but not nearly as big as I am.

It's the "something wrong" that gets to me. The bingeing, the eating while I know I'm looking for something else, the eating that completely runs afoul of healthy limits. I wish I could figure that part out.

 

[pearlieq]

4/3/08

10:00am

--1 bacon, egg, & cheese biscuit

Luckily this is the end of the box. Having one for breakfast is not the end of the world. Putting 2 away at bedtime, not so hot.

My goals today are simple and fairly modest. I'd just like a day I don't have to feel ashamed of. I don't mind some indulgences, but I'd like to recognizable meals and not an afternoon and night filled with a parade of chips and candy.

1:00pm

--2 corndogs
--1 sm handful chips
--1 cupcake

I wound up picking up lunch for DH and I, but he hand to run into the office. I guess I'll save the rest of the corndogs for dinner. I know he'll be excited--it's one of his favorite foods and a rare thing in our house.

3:30pm

--about 1/4 cup jelly beans
--something else?

I don't remember getting too out of hand with the snacks all afternoon.

5:00pm

--2 corn dogs
--a couple of chips

DH came home, found the corndogs and wanted them right away. I didn't say no.

8:00pm

--2 cupcakes

I was so hungry! We had already decided on pizza, but I wound up gobbling these down anyway.

9:00pm

--1/2 medium cheese pizza
--8 toasted raviolis

I actually could have stopped with about half of the pizza I ate. Last week I probably would have. I need to get back to being mindful about stopping when I'm done. It's not going to disappear!

 

[Amy&Dan]

Pearlieq: Don't be so hard on yourself. I have had some late night eating that makes yours look like a starvation diet. This is a journey and the fact you are honest proves you are in this for the right reasons and gearing yourself towards success. We all have our problems with food sweetie or we woudln't be here! I gotta tell you again, your taste is so like mine! Give me a sausage biscuit sandwich and I am happy. Just keep hanging in there, you are making so much headway.

P.S. I also think we are writing the same journal sometimes myself! Great minds think and eat alike!

 

[Amy&Dan]

. Though, if you want to call this improvement in some funny way, I'm still working on the same bag of Kisses I've had for about a week. That's a new one for me--usually I'll blow through about any snack food in a day or two.

I call this definite improvement. I can tell your right now I would never have the strength to not eat the whole bag in one day or even in one sitting. That is discipline plain and simple.

P.S. I would have put that kid with the computer game at the library in a choke hold. How annoying.

 

[toystoryduo]

Hi pearlieq~

I want to send a gentle your way. Please don't be too hard on yourself. Journaling food or weight (or body composition percentages ) can be so difficult at times. Like Amy said, honesty proves that you are on the right track and that leads to success. Keep on keeping on, pearlieq! I know you CAN do this!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

 

[pearlieq]

4/4/08

11:00am

--2 mini meatloaves
--2/3 cup mashed potatoes
--1/2 cup peas
--1 cupcake, most of the frosting removed.

Another day where my schedule is a bit off. I had to jump right into a flurry of work questions when I logged in this morning, so I didn't wind up eating until later.

Also, DH had a lunch appointment, so my pusher-man is not here! I wound up having a reasonably sensible meal of leftovers. I enjoy it when he works from home, but it's not good for my waistline!

3:00pm

--1 mini bag of popcorn
--7 kisses

And finally the end of the kisses. I seriously think it's been more than a week. Wow!

5:00pm

--2 mini bagels w/cream cheese & jam
--small bowl granola w/milk

Dang this granola is good! I picked up a box at Aldi the other day after not having had it for years. It's just all sweet and crunchy and cinnamony. I've got to be careful with it!

7:20pm

--1 beef & cheddar croissant
--1 hot dog
--1/2 order fries w/cheese
--1 large root beer

Portillo's. The reason I can never leave Chicago. Next time I'll nix the hot dog. I ordered more out of habit than anything. But, on the plus side, I split fries w/DH and didn't order a piece of their chocolate cake. So that's something.

It's a quiet night here tonight. DH has some ham radio club event tomorrow, so he's down in his basement lair programming something. I didn't bother asking. He's such a geek, but I love him awful! Helps that I'm a geek too, I guess, but I have never touched a HAM radio!

So, I'l probably just read and maybe watch some TV. Are you all jealous? I know you are...

10:30pm

--1 sm bowl granola

 

[Amy&Dan]

Hi Pearlieq: I hear you on husbands being the Diet Busters of the Universe! If my dh worked from home, I'd weigh at least 50 pounds higher. He doesn't mean to make this harder for me I know but he does! Your food today sounds good. And once again, we are alike in the food department! I always scrape off most of the icing, I like the cake the best! I hope you have a great and relaxing weekend!

 

[pearlieq]

P.S. I would have put that kid with the computer game at the library in a choke hold.

You crack me up!

 

[toystoryduo]

My DH is the same way and he does work from home! I love my DH dearly, but he does have a tendency to bring home snacks that add a lot of calories to my waistline.

I scrape the icing off of cakes and cupcakes too!

Hope you have a wonderful day today!

 

[Amy&Dan]

Glad I crack you up, but seriously that is the kind of thing that makes me insane! I go to the library to escape annoying noises and interruptions like that! Hope you are having a nice weekend!

 

[pearlieq]

4/5/08

9:00am

--1 LC peanut chicken
--1/2 plum
--1 cup milk

I needed to grab some breakfast, but it had to be sustantial an something I could tote over to my mom's. This wound up working.

11:00am

--2 sf popsicles

1:30pm

--1 snack size Mounds bar

2:30pm

--1 big toasted cheese sandwich
--1 handful goldfish
--1 grape Propel

Oh my God, I'm going to die! I am so out of shape. I volunteered to help my mom clean out her fridge and it was really, really hard work! It hadn't been done in years, so it was really dirty and there was just so much to pull out and clean. At one point I was practically in the fridge myself scraping up flotsam.

Now that it's done I'm glad we did it. It's sparkling clean and it really made her happy, which makes me happy. But I seriously thought I was going to die there toward the end. And then I still had to make the grocery store run. Whew!

8:00pm

--3 big jerk chicken skewers
--1/2 cup jambalaya
--1/4 cup mystery chicken rice dish
--3/4 cup mashed potatoes
--2 marshmallows
--a healthy scoop of vanilla ice cream w/a bit of caramel sauce

Wow--this food really had a kick to it! It was quite tasty though. I got full pretty fast (for me, that is) and the spice also curbed the urge to overeat, so I actually feel really good about this.

The party was so-so. At first we were a bit afraid we were at the wrong party since we didn't recognize anyone. They honestly didn't go our of their way to be too friendly. It seemed like 2 of the couples there knew each other and were a pretty tight circle and the other couple was kind of aloof. No big deal, but it did remind me that I should really make at effort at parties to make sure everyone is included.

Later on, once the birthday girl arrived and a couple of friends of hers we did know showed up, we settled into polite party small talk. I think I'm becoming an old fuddy-duddy in my elder years here. Neither DH nor I drink--we both take a medicine that you can't mix with alcohol. But even before that, I never really enjoyed the taste of alcohol so I only drank rarely, and he never had more than a beer or two.

This was much more of a hard-partying crowd. The birthday girl and her sister were both thoroughly toasted by evening's end, as were a couple of the other ladies. Everyone else was just drinking socially and they were fine, but my friend and her sister tend to get a bit, er, animated, when they drink a lot. This one lady was completely bombed and wound up getting into a fight with her husband, who was trying to take her home. Lucky him.

I just don't get it. I can kind of understand why my friend had a lot--I guess if you can't let your hair down and have a bit too much to drink on your 30th birthday, when can you? But for her sister and some of the other ladies, it seemed like this was a big part of their life. All they talked about for a solid hour was what they had to drink recently, stories from when they got really drunk, and what they were going to drink. Do they really have nothing better to do or say? It was just kind of boring. You'd think most people would outgrow their fascination with getting drunk in their early 20's or so.

Or maybe we're just becoming sticks in the mud. It just seems like at every party, most people have a few drinks and are fine, but there's always one or two who just take it too far and put a damper on things for everyone else.