Moving Right Along

So, here's what's been going on with me since the first day of teachers. On Thursday, August 26, I decided to have some Medifast Pancakes for breakfast. I have never been a pancake fan, but I am enjoying these more and more. Maybe because they are the thing that is most like bread of what I am allowed to have. I'm going to try to use some of the Medifast products to make bread or rolls this weekend or next and I'll let you know how that goes. I spent the morning in meetings learning about new technologies I have access to. I had brought water and a new meal item with me, so 2 hours into the morning I had Medifast Honey Mustard Pretzels. These were pretty good and that is saying something because I generally like the salt on pretzels, not really the pretzels themselves. So, that is one "grab and go" food I can use when I am faced with a challenge.

Went back to my office and had another new item for lunch: Beef Vegetable "stew." This was tasty. Not as thick as stew usually is, but it had a creamy tomato-beef background flavor and I could taste the various vegetables in it too. I had Crystal Light lemonade and some celery and salsa. Before I went to the gym, I had a banana creme shake-- still tasty.

My workout went a little better today. I am more on my own so I can move through the routine about 10 minutes faster. Every once in a while, Adrienne calls across the room, "Slower, Nancy" or "Bend your legs, Nancy," so I know she is keeping her eye on me even when she is working with other people. I am setting my own goals and have been doing some of the exercises at home on my "off" days.

I re-heated my Broccoli Chicken Dijon ( now pictured on my blog) and had Mustard Greens and Cucumber as an extra vegetable. Again, glad I have some of these meals made ahead of time so all I have to do is microwave them and make my vegetables.
I had some Clear Choice Black Cherry Sparkling Water with this. I had a Chocolate Mint Crunch Bar-- still very good! But I needed just a little bit more today, so I had an ounce of Land O Lakes Naturally Slender Cheese. This is probably my biggest craving-- cheese. I am trying to balance out small indulgences in it with my plan.

On Friday, I made the Medifast Chocolate Chip Pancakes and had a glass of Crystal Light Orange Sunrise. Later I had an Orange Creme shake. I was faced with some last minute issues teachers wanted done and one thing that could turn into a real disaster if it is not taken care of by other people.

I was looking forward to another new food: Creamy Tomato Soup. This was a big disappointment. It was too thin, but the real problem was the flavor. I had even added some fresh basil and chives from my herb garden, and some pepper. This didn't do it much good. I will have to use this in recipes rather than eat it as soup, I guess. This was a shame, because I was really looking forward to some good tomato soup. Maybe because this wasn't too satisfying, I had some ranch soy crisps. I like these because they are very thin, not like the usual rice cakes. They have good flavor too. These are considered a snack, not a meal.
I had a vanilla shake before I went off to do some geocaching after work. I was only 4 away from 1100, so I wanted to get those and did.

I made it home in time to eat again! This time I had a "surf and turf" of Shrimp Cocktail and London Broil. I added wax beans and a mixed salad (also now pictured on my blog). I had a Clear Choice Tropical Fruits Sparkling Water with this. Even though I already had a snack today, I decided to have some Sugar Free Black Cherry Jello.

Today I made Medifast Scrambled eggs with 1 ounce of round steak (ALSO now picture on my blog) with the Crystal Light Sunrise and decided to set out to do more caching. I am feeling more confident in being prepared for 2-3 meals at a time away from home. I went on a trail that Laurie had recommended to me where there were five caches in about a mile. I took my bike with me and had the first real ride outside my neighborhood since before my ICD implant.

Since I have been using the exercise bike in my routine, I felt I was able to do this. I put my GPS and my heart monitor on my handlebars and set off. Luckily it was fairly easy terrain, although I had to walk the bike a couple of times because I had stopped for caches just before I approached hills. In the end, I got all 5 caches, then rode the nearly mile path back, so it was almost 2 miles all together.

I was feeling pretty good after this and it was only about 10:30, so I set out for a few more caches. I love my Geocache app on my iPhone. Even when I'm not "prepared" it tells me where close by caches are. I told myself three times it was time to eat a bar, but kept forgetting. Finally about 11:30, I took it with me as I set out after a cache in the park. I had taken 2 bars, a shake, and three bottled of water with me.

I felt pretty good after the bar, so I pressed on getting a few more caches. I decided I was close to the outlets so I would stop in to Reading China and Glass. This was a pretty dumb move on a Saturday around noon. Traffic on Route 30 was bumper to bumper. Nevertheless, I grabbed a cache at the WaWa, but decided against going after one at Dutch Wonderland or any more as a matter of fact. I stopped to do some shopping and looked all around the store. I was able to find some Sugar Free Torani syrups there- so I got Caramel and Chocolate. By this time I was noticing my legs were really aching. Still, I stopped at Target and again walked all over the store. It was now approaching 3 pm so I mixed the shake with some bottled water and had that. I headed home pretty tired, but feeling I had accomplished a good day.

By 4:30 I was really hungry so I re-heated some pork tenderloin, mashed cauliflower and made a three lettuce salad with mushrooms, tomatoes, cucumbers, celery and radish. ( ALSO now pictured on my blog). I couldn't resist another ounce of cheese as a treat. I also had a swiss mocha shake that I doctored with some of the chocolate syrup I had just bought. I have one more "meal" to get in tonight.

Tomorrow I plan to get things straightened up around the house-- not doing much cooking, I don't think, but maybe an item or two. I also want to get my outfits picked out for the first two weeks of school. This saves me a lot of time, especially as I have to get up so much earlier! The students will be here Monday and my time won't be my own for most of the week. Monday will also be my seventh visit to the gym, so I will get weighed and measured and have my routine evaluate and revised.

I'll let you know later in the week what my one month progress is officially.