A Sensible Dinner - Pearlieq's Journal

[contempgal]

I know what you mean about Mickey D's, Pearlie . . . . . I would swing by there sometimes and pick up a Big Mac and a Chicken Sandwhich along with a pie. It makes you feel good to have restraint. As I was reading through your journal previously, you said something that made so much sense in regards to this situation. You said you told yourself that you can have this stuff anytime, just not all at one time. That is so true. I think that's the best thing I've learned so far . . . . how to control.

Anyway, you continue to be an inspiration! Congratulations again on your progress!!

 

[rcyannacci]

Thanks!

I've been tinkering with the trail mix a lot. The latest iteration is just Multi-grain Cheerios, peanuts, and raisins. It has that "salty-sweet" taste I love so much, plus good crunch from the Cheerios!

I never thought about adding Cheerios! What a great idea! I'm ALWAYS craving crunchy stuff, and this might keep me off the tortilla chips.

Great job on the McD's run- that's the kind of attitude that will keep you on track and make you feel great about your new lifestyle choices! It's really a pleasure to see your body responding in healthy ways, isn't it?

Have a great week!

 

[goldcupmom]

Pearliq you are doing SO awesome! The trail mix idea is good. wonder what I could sub for the raisins.....now you've got me thinking.....

Have a great day!

 

[pearlieq]

5/23/05

9:00am

--1/2 low carb bagel
--1 small Light 'n Fit yogurt cup
--1 small peach

The thing about eating less is that the food lasts a lot longer. These bagels have been here since Saturday and only one is gone. It's hard sometimes to get through all the food we acquire without getting or bored or having it go stale. I should really be mindful next week about buying less.

11:00am

--1 mini whole wheat pita
--1 T light cream cheese
--8 oz. strawberries
--1 LC Chicken Teriyaki meal
--1/2 cup peas

Must not have had enough breakfast because I got very hungry around 11. The LC meal was a little odd--the sauce was teriyaki but the chicken had a distinct curry flavor. Strange. Hopefully I won't be hungry for a while now. In happy news, my Curves buddy is back this week. Looking forward to working out together!

1:30pm

--1 veggie burger patty
--1/4 cup 2% mozzarella
--1/4 cup pizza sauce
--1/3 large cucumber

Man, I can't seem to stop eating today! This time I was nearly bowled over by this huge craving for a meatball sub. Cooler heads prevailed and I improvised this substitute. Pretty good, but hopefully I'm done with the snacking for now!

2:30pm

-- low carb bagel
--2 T lowfat cream cheese
--1 small cup Light & Fit with fiber
--1 serving trail mix.

I'm going to have to leave the house soon--I can't stop snacking. I don't know if it's because I'm bored or because TOM is coming, but it needs to stop!

5:00pm

--1 1/2 cup life cereal
--1/2 cup 1% milk
--1/4 cup honey roasted peanuts

6:30pm

--2 McD's cheeseburgers
--1 vanilla ice cream cone
--1 small can pringles
--1 snickers bar

7:30pm

--2 beef & cheddar sandwiches
--3/4 large order of curly fries

9:30pm

--1/3 cucumber
--1 sf popsicle
--1 nsa pudding

Heaven help me I hope that's it! Not a great day, obviously. I also blew off Curves, just to add icing to that cake. Back at it tomorrow.

 

[DoeWDW]

Pearlieq, I'm so sorry I haven't been around in such a long time. I went back to my last entry here (at the beginning of April !!) and read forward.

You've gotten several new clippies since then and I must say that the current one is looking LOVELY!! You should be so proud of it!!

You've gone to WDW and had a wonderful trip and struggled with getting back on track afterwards. This is such a common pattern. Sure wish I had an easy answer for you but we all seem to go through it. It appears that you're back in the groove now - way to go!!

You keep learning more about yourself and your relationship with various kinds of food.

You are doing a great job!!

 

[pearlieq]

5/24/05

8:30am

--1 light 'n fit w/fiber yogurt cup

I'm feeling much better today--hopefully yesterday was the snack monster's only attack!

11:30am

--1 nectarine
--1 light string cheese

I haven't been very interested in food yet today, hopefully this is my body's way of balancing itself out. I have firm plans to go to Curves with my friends tonight, so no more slacking off the exercise--that's honestly what I feel was the biggest "sin" yesterday. The extra food is not great, but the missing exercise really bugs me. Hopefully I can make up for it. Maybe I'll try to catch an extra walk or something. I'm going to stay busy for the rest of the day with work and household chores, then I'm going to leave the house between 4 - 4:30 pm so I can't sit around and stare at the pantry. After Curves I'll come home and we'll fix some kind of nice dinner.

The one thing I must say that is really working is not keeping junk food in the house. It's true that sometimes I still run out for it, but at least that gives me a 15 minute cool down period. And, most of the time it just doesn't seem worth it to go out. I can (and do!) still overeat at home, but I have to work harder to do it, and even if I am overeating the food usually has at least some nutritional value. I'm glad I stick to the rule of not bringing treats in the house.

Also, I've been happy that for the last several snack runs I've made myself stick to single servings. One Snickers bar, not the multi pack. The short can of Pringles, not the full size, etc. I like that because it shows that even deep down when I want to overeat I understand that it's a single occurance--just because I plan to overeat then doesn't mean I plan to give up and keep overeating. I think that's pretty cool...

Thank you all for your unflagging support. It really means the world to me!

12:30pm

--2 whole wheat tortillas
--1 serving turkey taco mix
--1/4 cup 2% cheddar cheese
--1 light 'n fit yogurt cup
--8oz strawberries
--1/3 cup grape tomatoes
--1/3 large cucumber

I know this sounds like a lot, and it is a lot, but I'm still at only 750 calories for the day! I'll have to come up with a yummy snack for before Curves. I think we're going to have barbecued turkey sausage and broccoli tonight. I'm going to make the barbecue/jelly glaze for the sausage. I found a low sugar jam at the store that will cut the calories waaaay down. I hope it's good!

4:30pm

--1 ww english muffin
--1 T. light cream cheese
--1 smallish banana

I'm about to leave for Curves, and I have the stuff for dinner all set up and ready to go--no temptation to get takeout. I'm determined to have a good night!

8:00pm

--1 serving turkey sausage with barbecue glaze
--1 large stalk broccoli
--8oz strawberries

9:30pm

--1 sf pudding cup with 1T whipped cream
--1/3 cup honey roasted peanuts
--1 cup raspberry sorbet on a cake cone

I could have done without one of those desserts, but I still wound up under 2000 calories for the day, so I'll take it! I don't think we'll be buying any more big jars of peanuts--too easy to get a big handful and munch right there. It's just too easy to eat 300 calories worth of peanuts before you even realize what you're doing!

 

[calena]

First of all, down 6 lbs. That is great. Celebrate that victory (without food LOL)! Keep up the good work. Hopefully the snack attack monster is gone now! I think we all go through days like that, but we just can't let it become a habit. I've been starting an exercise/jogging/hopefully one day running program and was surprized when I spoke with a "real" runner and she said some days she feels like she is pulling lead ballons. That was encouraging for me because it shows not all days are on top. I thought it would be all high experiences... so, the moral of the story is we all have the tough days, but we have to keep going!!!!!
Have a great day!

 

[goldcupmom]

Hey, Pearliq! Here's to a better day today. I sure can relate that when the Munchie Monster attacks he's very hard to defend.

You will make it, tho! Look how far you've come!

Hang in there and take it one day at a time. One slip up won't destroy all the progress you've made and a bit of a slip might help you stay on track better. You never know!

 

[joelyfaithsmommy]

I agree with Julie, sometimes we can take those slips and learn from them, and they make us stronger in the end, right?

hang in there, you're doing AWESOME!

Jen

 

[TPCShauna]

The Snack Monster attacked us both yesterday! It was awful but you are hopefully better now.

Look forward and remember that you can do this! There might be detours along the way but it will happen!

 

[contempgal]

See, you are bouncing right back after your snacky day! I think we're all entitled to those days. Helps with the resistance.

I also totally understand what you mean about buying smaller "snacks." I truly think that helps. If you always deny that craving, you will just want it more. Giving in "a little" will help more than anything.

 

[Strings]

Hi there,

You have done a great job getting right back OP after a snacky day. That is awesome, and it shows how determined you are this time.

Keep up the great work,
Beth

 

[pearlieq]

5/25/05

8:30am

--1 Light 'n Fit with Fiber yogurt cup
--1 apple

Still feeling pretty good today. I think I'm retaining some water from TOM and the junk I ate, but hopefully that will be gone soon. We're making good progress with the sod stripping--should be done tonight or tomorrow, which is good, because 5 tons of rocks are coming tomorrow! Can't wait to see that!!!

DH is coming home for lunch today, so I'm really looking forward to that, though heaven knows what he'll bring home.

12:00

--1 1/2 croissants
--1/2 onion breadstick
--1 tub whipped butter
--1/2 packed jelly
--1/2 grilled cheese
--1/2 cheeseburger
--3 strips bacon
--3/4 order fries

Ugh--so I made a couple of mistakes. I didn't eat my apple from breakfast so I got super hungry--then they set a bread basket down in front of me. Bad! I should have asked the waitress to take it away. Then I decided on the fries instead of fruit to go with my sandwich--wrong! The fries weren't even that good. Oh well--nothing to do now but move on. It should be a light dinner--I'm making low carb pancakes and canadian bacon.

7:30pm

--1 sf ice pop
--1 oz honey roasted peanuts

Well, so much for might light dinner. We cheesed out and ordered takeout.

8:30pm

--1/2 chicken parmesan sandwich
--1/2 order lasagna
--1 meatball
--1/2 piece garlic bread
--4 toasted ravioli

Ugh.

10:00pm

--1/2 cup sorbet
--2 cups life cereal with milk
--1 South Beach bar

As if I somehow needed more food. I really feel bad about tonight. I know guilt is a useless emotion, but I really feel that way about today. All I can do is move on, I guess.

 

[goldcupmom]

Wow! Stripping sod is NOT easy! Been there, done that! And rocking is worse in my book.

You're doing so great at getting right back on track after DIS.

Have a great rest of the week!

 

[toystoryduo]

Hey pearlieq!

You are doing a great job getting back on track! Keep up the good work!

 

[pearlieq]

5/26/05

I was wide awake at 5:45 this morning, so I decided to take it as a gift and get up. I'm still feeling pretty bad about yesterday, but trying to make the best of it. I've got bunco tonight and I have to bake today, so I'm not too sure how that's going to go. I think I can stay out of the muffins--I'm making two types of low calorie muffins. I'm also supposed to bring something else, but I'm fresh out of ideas. I want something healthy, and I haven't coordinated with the other girls, so it needs to be something that most people wouldn't bring. I think I might do a plate of hummus, baby carrots, and homemade whole wheat pita chips.

8:00am

--1 light 'n fit w/fiber yogurt cup
--8oz strawberries.

I like these yogurt cups. I have so much yogurt night now it's not funny! I have 2 quarts of my usual Stonyfield Farm plain fat free, another 6 small cups of the regular light 'n fit and I just finished a 4 pack of light 'n fit w/fiber. I decided to be proactive this morning and I made up 10 trail mix baggies. This serves the dual purpose of having a good grab and go snack for DH and I and getting the honey roasted peanuts used up and spread out. I'm trying to get it so I can't just get the jar and tip 1/4 cup of them into my hand. Now I can only get at 1/2 oz at time in the trail mix baggies. I'm still trying...

1:00pm

--1 LC rice & beans
--1/2 cup peas
--1 light 'n fit yogurt

I caught lunch kind of late because I was busy baking for bunco tonight. So far it's going well--no overwhelming temptation or anything. I hoping for a good day today--I usually do better when I'm busy. As long as I can get a decent dinner and not go crazy tonight I think I should be good.

3:30pm

--1 chocolate muffin
--1 angel food muffin

Well, the muffins turned out pretty darn good, and they're only about 100 calories each. Now to try to fix the pita chips!

6:30pm

--1 light string cheese
--1/2 chicken bacon ranch salad from McD's (I ate all of the chicken, about half of what was left)
--1 T. light cucumber ranch dressing

I had 10 minutes to stuff down food, so this was about the best I could do.

8:30pm

--3 small chocolate chip cookies
--2 small lemon squares
--1 angel food muffin
--1 chocolate muffin
--1/3 cup 7 layer salad
--1/2 cup Snickers salad
--12 pita chips
--1 T. hummus

This looks like a lot more than it was. I'm glad I got to enjoy some of the food--the lemon bars were awesome and I haven't had a real, homemade chocolate chip cookie since college! They were awesome and worth the calories. The salads I sampled were good, and then I stopped, which was even better. People seemed to really appreciate having lighter, healthier things to choose from, so I was happy about that.

 

[contempgal]

Hi Pearlieq!

First of all let me say that we are all human and we are all going to make some not so healthy choices every now and then...........I fell in the southern cooking trap last Sunday and coudn't resist the Pizza Hut cheese breadsticks on Tuesday. The thing is, we've been eating what we want, when we want it for so long that now it's not easy to step away from those things. We're all going to do it but the difference is that we will all pick up and move on. So you regret some food choices, just pick yourself up and use that as motivation to do better today and tomorrow and so on. You've come way to far to let that get you down!! I personally think that giving in to cravings is a good thing sometimes because then its out of the way. I was very disappointed with myself on Sunday and Tuesday but kept telling myself that it was done and the only thing I could do about it was move on and do better the next day. I know I'll be telling myself that again ..... and again ..... and again because I know I will do it again. Look on the bright side, you are having far more good food days than bad food days. And keep in mind that you are an inspiration to all of us. It's a long journey but we're all in it together.

With that said, let me add that I think your idea for hummus and pita chips is excellent. It's not exactly something you see brought out often but its always delicious. Doesn't hurt that its healthy. Also, don't know if you'd be interested in this but I took a cruise around the kraftfoods.com website yesterday and they have massive amounts of recipes. There are many that are noted as "low fat, low calorie, nutritious, etc." and some look wonderful. I plan on trying a few out soon.

Keep up the good spirits and great work!!! We're behind you 100%.

 

[DoeWDW]

So you've had a couple slips. You're in good company - happens to all of us, but we just keep trying again the next day and we somehow make it work. I'm in the DZone right now which makes it extra hard to behave. What is the DZone, you ask?? My DZone (short for Danger Zone) lasts 2 weeks a month, starting about 10 days prior to TOM. The hormones create cravings that would drive a sane person crazy! This doesn't mean I give into them all the time, but I'm a bit more understanding with myself when it happens. Plus I know that the other two weeks it will be easier for me to stick to my healthy eating.

Hang in there, Pearlieq, and read the quote in my signature. You can do this!

 

[calena]

I admire you for being so honest with your food journal. It keeps you accountable and this is an important step to healthy living. Have a good day. YOU are worth it!!!!!

 

[TPCShauna]

I'm sorry to hear that you are having some rough snacky days. I am in the same boat and it's not too easy to shake. Great idea on the trail mix baggies! What a great way to ensure that you don't overeat!