Sunday, August 15, 2010

Another Consult; Another Challenge

Well, I reached the 10 pound mark and then got stuck there. On Thursday, I had my second PT consult. This time I met with Adrienne who weighed me, measured me in seven(!) places, and had me do some "tests." These included resting heart rate. Mine was 78, the lowest I've seen in a long time. I also had to do some strength and flexibility tests. I found out that I am stronger than 84 of 100 people my height, weight, and age! We spent some time setting goals and going over the medically adapted gym program. We set up two weeks' worth of appointments for me to come to the gym. She is going to call my doctor and get upper limits for my heart rate and then design a program for me. I'll start on Monday.

Okay, so I got ready for my two weekend challenges. The first was a dinner out at Bube's Brewery with 17 other people. I checked out their website on Thursday and saw they had three different menus for the various restaurants they house. I called to check if the one I thought it was was right and it was, so I checked it out and tried to decide what I could order. Most of the appetizers were fried or off limits, none of the sandwiches or "light fare" was within the plan, but I noticed I could get a small filet mignon and a salad. So, I settled on doing that.

I got through Thursday fine having Maple and Brown Sugar oatmeal, an Orange Creme Shake (still loving these), Chicken and Rice soup with multigrain crackers (Medifast, of course-- not bad, but they had not salt on them). I went to the PT and forgot to eat my bar on the way, which was a mistake because although my appointment was for 4:30, I didn't get out of there until after 6:00. I ate a Lemon Meringue Bar on the way home (I have water with me all the time now). Luckily, I had my meals ready from my cook-a-thon last Sunday. I had Broccoli Chicken Dijon. This was very good. A couple hours later I had a Dutch Chocolate Shake and went to bed. If I take a sleeping pill, I can now sleep about 5 hours before I have to go to the bathroom. This is much better.
I was set for Friday. I had Peach oatmeal, a Banana Creme Shake, Chicken Noodle Soup, and a peanut butter bar. I left for the restaurant and remembered to take some of my own ( well, really Newman's Own) salad dressing with me.
When I got there everyone had a drink. Since they were all standing around socializing, it would be obvious I didn't have one. I debated whether to have a diet Pepsi (the ONLY diet drink they had) and decided against it. The waitress must have asked me six times if I wanted a drink before we sat down to dinner.
Well, talk about slow dinner service! Our reservation was for 6:45, but the first food didn't come out until after 8. I did order the filet which ended up being delicious and a salad and used my own dressing. I don't think anyone noticed this. It was hard to see people eating cheese and jalepeno poppers, hot wings, and nachos as appetizers (and being offered some!) especially since we were waiting so long for food. I grabbed one celery stick from a friend's wing dish and tried to be satisfied. When I left I was glad I had stayed on the plan. I had forgotten to bring another "meal" which I was going to eat on the way home in the car. So, I had a chocolate shake as soon as I came home. At 969 calories, this was my biggest day of eating so far, but it wasn't as much fat as eating the "real" scrambled eggs on Wednesday.
Saturday, I was hoping to see a lower number on the scale, but I was STILL stuck at a 10 pound loss. I thanked my stars I at least didn't gain weight from eating out and and set out to prepare myself for the day's challenge. I had thought things through and figured I could have some pork, fresh veggies and a salad if there was one. I would have to figure out how to have 4 of my six meals (including the pork) on the road and at the picnic since it was a two hour drive and we would spend 4-5 hours there. I tried the Cranberry Mango "drink" and it was pretty good, had some water so I would be sure to have at last one bathroom break before we set off. I decided I should make the mini muffins and cookies again to take along as they would be portable and wouldn't require me mixing something with water or cooking. I hadn't planned well and I was running late when I went to cook them. The cookies turned out fine, but I couldn't get the muffins to "set." I finally decided to scrape them out of the muffin pan and put them in a baggie. They were actually pretty well done when I left. As soon as I got in the car with Sue and mom, it was time for me to eat. So I ate the muffins and although they didn't hold together very well, they tasted good. This seemed like good timing (11:15) since we would get to the pig roast around one, and we were supposed to eat at 2.
As soon as we got there, I was faced with some challenges. I tucked my "supplies" out of the way and went out to the back yard. I had brought 5 bottles of water along with my food, just in case and decided I should bring a salad and dressing with me, also just in case. Both of these turned out to be smart moves.
Out back, there was a table full of potato chips and corn chips along with some salsa. There were lots of good looking mixed drinks (and beer, too). They had Yuengling Light, Nate, and some people were saying they never heard of Yuengling. I went inside to use the bathroom (of course) and the smell of macaroni and cheese filled the room.
I avoided most of this, but someone came beside me and left a plate of potato chips on the seat next to me and walked away for 10-15 minutes. These are one of my addictions. I lived through it (laugh).
And-- No roasting pig! I was going to have to re-adjust my plan. I hoped they were having some kind of plain meat I could eat.
Lunch was put off for an hour and it was getting tricky for me since it was time for me to eat. I decided to see if there were any veggies so I went to look at the food tables, which were inside. There were, so I took a few and then walked over to the chip table and got some salsa (this IS allowed on the plan). It was still tempting to see the chips, though.
When the dishes were uncovered, oh my goodness-- there were LOTS of things I couldn't eat. But they did have some chicken breasts and sliced pork, so I went for those, trying to avoid looking at the potatoes, corn on the cob, baked beans, and other delicious smelling sides. I was able to take one deviled egg. Since they didn't have any salad, I got my own out and had that with the meat. Well, this day turned out to be a real challenge because the chicken seemed over cooked to me so it was not satisfying. The pork was tasteless so I stopped eating that after one bite. The egg was the best part! Because I wasn't feeling satisfied, I got one small link of sausage and peppers-- sausage is definitely NOT a lean meat. This tasted good and made me feel a little better and less deprived. It was tough to watch everyone eat food that looked good. Plus Aunt Flo brought a tray of homemade fudge around FOUR times, specifically offering it to me each time.
After a couple hours, I realized I had to eat one of my medifast meals. I chose a bag of "cheese puffs" which is a meal product I hadn't tried yet. Well, if I thought I was getting something anywhere near a real cheese puff, I was mistaken. These were the size of small croutons and tasted like cardboard with a little parmesan and not really even THAT good. So, it was a tough day as far as getting good food. During our two hour drive back, it was time for me to eat again, so I had a lemon meringue bar. When I got home I still needed one more meal, a dutch chocolate shake.
So, I got up Sunday wondering if I would still be at a 10 pound loss (or if even a small indiscretion like the sausage would send me backwards.) YEA! Another 2 pounds gone. I was relieved.
Sunday went well. I had the Medifast Chocolate Chip pancakes with a little sugar free, low carb syrup. I enjoyed these again. At 11, I decided to have my lean and green meal and I chose the flounder stuffed with crab meat. I made some zucchini and some cauliflower "mashed potatoes." This was a delicious meal. I went out to do some shopping and got home just in time to eat again! This time I had a fruit and nut bar. I followed this with a swiss mocha shake with caramel flavoring and chicken noddle soup (both Medifast). I topped this off with a Mint Chocolate Bar. On going to bed, I was planning how I would handle tomorrow's challenge: the district secretaries' luncheon! I might have to take some time to plan what to do if what they are having isn't on my plan.

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