I am sick. I think I know why I wasn't all that hungry yesterday. Don't know if it is the flu or not, going to get looked at this morning.
Forget NutriSystem for breakfast - eating a couple of blueberry pancakes and a few of pieces of sausage along with some orange juice. Feel a little better having eaten. Off to bed.
Mid morning - Saw the doctor, she says conventional flu - not the H1N1 style. Loads me up with prescriptions and sends me home.
Lunch - Considering that I am back to not being hungry at all, the NutriSystem lunch seems to be a pretty good option. I examine the lunch bag for the smallest lunch they have put in and I find a health bar. On a normal day that wouldn't last me 10 minutes, but today I take advantage and eat that.
Snack - Soy chips. Nothing special here, the chips are OK, but I am really not tasting anything right now. I am mostly eating because I know I need to.
Dinner - Actually feeling a bit better. Time for another Pizza Cracker. Tasted pretty good. I also had a little bit of Ginger Ale to settle my stomach. I am surprised how things have turned from the morning. I am still not feeling good, but a long way from the misery of this morning.
Made it through the first week. Have had some derailing things happen (getting Sick, Halloween), but I am continuing to persevere. I have lost 7 pounds this week going from 215 to 208. We will see how week two goes.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Day 6 - November 4
Breakfast - Cereal again. I recall starting out with this and thinking that this isn't much food, but after the last four days of breakfast bars and such, I am actually glad to see it again. Ate it slowly, and along with an apple it actually made for a pretty good breakfast.
Midmorning - Time for coffee - not too hungry, but wanting to eat as if out of habit. Hopefully if the time on this diet does nothing else, I will be able to break out of some of these habitual eating patterns.
Lunch - A little bowl of beef stew type stuff. It also is pretty good. Looking at these meals, I see that there is more sodium than what I usually eat, but that is probably to be expected with the amount of packaged food.
Snack - About 3:30 hunger pains set in - I have a cookie and that doesn't do it. Have I yet mentioned that EVERYONE in the office has brought in their left over Halloween candy and has it sitting on their desk for anyone to take. Doh..
4:30 - Mini-Snickers bar goes down the hatch....
6:00 - Home and ready for dinner - not feeling too great right now. Grab a meal of Split Pea Soup. It is a little chilly and the hot soup tastes great. It smells so good that my wife grabs a can of real Split Pea Soup and we compare ingredients. We'll just say that the regular stuff has a lot more recognizable names on the ingredient label than the NutriSystem one. That being said the NutriSystem one has more protein as most of what I am eating seems to be fortified with Soy Protein.
Either I wasn't that hungry today or this is getting easier. With the exception of my 4:30 Slip-up, I feel like things have gone pretty well.
Midmorning - Time for coffee - not too hungry, but wanting to eat as if out of habit. Hopefully if the time on this diet does nothing else, I will be able to break out of some of these habitual eating patterns.
Lunch - A little bowl of beef stew type stuff. It also is pretty good. Looking at these meals, I see that there is more sodium than what I usually eat, but that is probably to be expected with the amount of packaged food.
Snack - About 3:30 hunger pains set in - I have a cookie and that doesn't do it. Have I yet mentioned that EVERYONE in the office has brought in their left over Halloween candy and has it sitting on their desk for anyone to take. Doh..
4:30 - Mini-Snickers bar goes down the hatch....
6:00 - Home and ready for dinner - not feeling too great right now. Grab a meal of Split Pea Soup. It is a little chilly and the hot soup tastes great. It smells so good that my wife grabs a can of real Split Pea Soup and we compare ingredients. We'll just say that the regular stuff has a lot more recognizable names on the ingredient label than the NutriSystem one. That being said the NutriSystem one has more protein as most of what I am eating seems to be fortified with Soy Protein.
Either I wasn't that hungry today or this is getting easier. With the exception of my 4:30 Slip-up, I feel like things have gone pretty well.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Day 5 - November 3
Tuesday morning - have a doctor's appointment for one of my kids and taking some time off of work to go. Breakfast was hurried and really light - a blueberry muffin.
10:00 - I realize that I have made a tactical error in not bringing lunch with me and I am already starting to think about food.
12:00 - Things are stretching out only like it can happen when dealing with multiple doctors. No telling when we might be done. Brought food for the child, but not for me.
2:30 - Finally out of the doc's office and am really hungry. Stop off at Wendy's for a chicken wrap and boneless wings as it is a long drive home. I am paying for not planning ahead and bringing my lunch with me. Although most lunches require some preparation and likely would not have been something that could be done. By the way after 5 days of NutriSystem, Wendy's was tasting pretty darn good.
5:00 - Not hungry at all, my stomach has definitely shrunk and my eating habits are starting to change. My meal at 2:30 must have been big enough to tide me over longer than expected. Although in my old habits what I ordered was really just round one.
7:00 - Still not hungry, but don't want to eat any later. Chose a simple lunch that looks like a health bar. Actually pretty tasty - had some graham cracker in it. Loading up on water as well. Need to find some fruit.
All in all not a bad day considering the craziness at the doctor's office as far as scheduling. I definitely feel a little change - I have also lost a notch on my belt which is pretty encouraging. Got to just keep it rolling.
10:00 - I realize that I have made a tactical error in not bringing lunch with me and I am already starting to think about food.
12:00 - Things are stretching out only like it can happen when dealing with multiple doctors. No telling when we might be done. Brought food for the child, but not for me.
2:30 - Finally out of the doc's office and am really hungry. Stop off at Wendy's for a chicken wrap and boneless wings as it is a long drive home. I am paying for not planning ahead and bringing my lunch with me. Although most lunches require some preparation and likely would not have been something that could be done. By the way after 5 days of NutriSystem, Wendy's was tasting pretty darn good.
5:00 - Not hungry at all, my stomach has definitely shrunk and my eating habits are starting to change. My meal at 2:30 must have been big enough to tide me over longer than expected. Although in my old habits what I ordered was really just round one.
7:00 - Still not hungry, but don't want to eat any later. Chose a simple lunch that looks like a health bar. Actually pretty tasty - had some graham cracker in it. Loading up on water as well. Need to find some fruit.
All in all not a bad day considering the craziness at the doctor's office as far as scheduling. I definitely feel a little change - I have also lost a notch on my belt which is pretty encouraging. Got to just keep it rolling.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Day 4 - November 2
First day of the work week. Time to get this going. Started off this morning with another scone for breakfast and noticed that my wife had packed me a brown bag full of fruit, Minestrone soup and pretzels for a snack.
Midmorning, uneventful, I find myself looking forward to little things though. Like morning coffee or fruit. I have definitely adjusted my eating habits over the last four days. Didn't even look at the snack tray this morning or all of the left over halloween candy.
In meetings until 1 o'clock so lunch was late again. Need to be more consistent on that. The Minestrone soup was pretty good although it went awfully quickly. Easy to make, just add hot water. Am going to try and hold off on my snack of pretzels until late afternoon.
3:00 - A minor issue at home came up surrounding our air conditioner. It needs replaced and is going to be very expensive. Can feel the stress building. I want a cheesesteak and a pizza. Interesting how behavior is inducing my eating desires much more than hunger here. It is like I can deal with the one, but the stress eating is much tougher to deal with. Ate the pretzels, they didn't help much.
5:00 - Made it through to dinner - left work early a little bit to get dinner and a cup of decaf coffee. The coffee was what I promised myself when I left work without hitting any of my usual snacks. Had Stroganoff for dinner. I actually found it pretty good, but I was still hungry when I went to bible study.
8:45 - Back home, really hungry and not feeling great. I didn't do a good job today of augmenting my meals with fruit or vegetables and I can feel it. Eating some cheese and crackers and feel a little better.
All in all another day down and I feel like it went pretty well. I just have to stay consistent.
Midmorning, uneventful, I find myself looking forward to little things though. Like morning coffee or fruit. I have definitely adjusted my eating habits over the last four days. Didn't even look at the snack tray this morning or all of the left over halloween candy.
In meetings until 1 o'clock so lunch was late again. Need to be more consistent on that. The Minestrone soup was pretty good although it went awfully quickly. Easy to make, just add hot water. Am going to try and hold off on my snack of pretzels until late afternoon.
3:00 - A minor issue at home came up surrounding our air conditioner. It needs replaced and is going to be very expensive. Can feel the stress building. I want a cheesesteak and a pizza. Interesting how behavior is inducing my eating desires much more than hunger here. It is like I can deal with the one, but the stress eating is much tougher to deal with. Ate the pretzels, they didn't help much.
5:00 - Made it through to dinner - left work early a little bit to get dinner and a cup of decaf coffee. The coffee was what I promised myself when I left work without hitting any of my usual snacks. Had Stroganoff for dinner. I actually found it pretty good, but I was still hungry when I went to bible study.
8:45 - Back home, really hungry and not feeling great. I didn't do a good job today of augmenting my meals with fruit or vegetables and I can feel it. Eating some cheese and crackers and feel a little better.
All in all another day down and I feel like it went pretty well. I just have to stay consistent.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Day 3 - Sunday - November 1
Ok - day 3. I still weigh 210 which is a good thing considering yesterday's Halloween weakness. Sundays are always my worst day of the week for eating too much so this should be interesting.
Breakfast - Starting out with an Apple Strudel Scone before church. Not bad - starting to get used to the small portion size. Boy I could really use a cup of coffee. Filled that need after church and am doing OK for the morning.
12:30 - Lunch time and had the boy pick it out - Chicken a la King. This is pretty good stuff actually, but this portion size thing is getting to me a little. I ate it slowly, then scrounged some leftover cold broccoli and am still pretty hungry. I am already contemplating my snack. Taking the girl to her dance class this afternoon will hopefully keep my mind off of things.
1:00 - At dance class waiting for the girl, mind is still on food - contemplating Starbucks, McDonalds and Kentucky Fried chicken... mmm.. chicken. Ok tuning into some football on the radio until I get home. Go Bears!!
3:30 - Snack - Boy have I been looking forward to this. Almond Biscotti - that and a little tea really hits the spot. I am still a little hungry, but generally better off than I have been all day. Looks like the Bears are going to win so things are looking up.
5:30 - I am hungry - like no fooling. The boy pulls out a cajun chicken and rice dish. I militantly add a couple of my tortillas to eat it on and it disappears in under five minutes despite my best efforts to make it last. Drinking a little tea as well. Why is it that kids who can eat anything don't want to eat? Where is the justice?
Ah well - it looks like I will make it through the day - probably my toughest of the week. I think I can do this - only 25 more days to go.
Breakfast - Starting out with an Apple Strudel Scone before church. Not bad - starting to get used to the small portion size. Boy I could really use a cup of coffee. Filled that need after church and am doing OK for the morning.
12:30 - Lunch time and had the boy pick it out - Chicken a la King. This is pretty good stuff actually, but this portion size thing is getting to me a little. I ate it slowly, then scrounged some leftover cold broccoli and am still pretty hungry. I am already contemplating my snack. Taking the girl to her dance class this afternoon will hopefully keep my mind off of things.
1:00 - At dance class waiting for the girl, mind is still on food - contemplating Starbucks, McDonalds and Kentucky Fried chicken... mmm.. chicken. Ok tuning into some football on the radio until I get home. Go Bears!!
3:30 - Snack - Boy have I been looking forward to this. Almond Biscotti - that and a little tea really hits the spot. I am still a little hungry, but generally better off than I have been all day. Looks like the Bears are going to win so things are looking up.
5:30 - I am hungry - like no fooling. The boy pulls out a cajun chicken and rice dish. I militantly add a couple of my tortillas to eat it on and it disappears in under five minutes despite my best efforts to make it last. Drinking a little tea as well. Why is it that kids who can eat anything don't want to eat? Where is the justice?
Ah well - it looks like I will make it through the day - probably my toughest of the week. I think I can do this - only 25 more days to go.
Day 2 - Halloween - October 31
Happy Halloween!! I am not sure how today is going to work out with all of the candy that will be going around, but I feel pretty strong. Of course I have felt strong before and accounted for an entire pizza by myself.
Starting the morning with a trip to the gym. If things go poorly later, I can at least rationalize that I worked out a little bit. Holding off on breakfast until afterwards.
Breakfast - 9:00 - A bunch of water, some grapes and a NutriSystem scone. Interestingly the scone looks to be the same size and shape of last nights pizza cracker. Tasty though, and combined with the grapes a pretty enjoyable breakfast.
Lunch - 12:30 - Working on sewing up my daughter's vest for Y Princesses. It is a father/daughter group for girls that are turning 6 years old. We are going to be going to her first event tomorrow and one of the things that the father and daughter get is a leather vest. Of course those vests are provided in pieces with accompanying thread so I can definitely see what my afternoon is going to consist of.
A nice distraction from food though. I must say that lunch was great - a fajita mix of some kind that I can add tortillas to. This day looks like I will do pretty well.
3:30 - OK, the vests are taking forever, the girl has deserted me, but at least the Huskers are winning. Man they got some guys on that defense who can really play! Waiting on snack until I am hungrier - time to carve some pumpkins.
4:00 - Pumpkins looking good - Huskers going to win - Still not done with the first vest. Time for that snack - Macadamia nut cookie. Not too bad, I think I am going to make it through Halloween OK.
5:30 - Finally finished the first vest, have a good dinner of chicken with a little terriyaki sauce. The best part is my wife put allowable vegetables on a real plate to actually make it seem like a real dinner. Feeling generally pretty good. All that is left is to meet everyone at 7 and go trick our treating with all of the kids' friends in the neighborhood.
10:00 - Good news and bad news. The good news is I finally finished both vests, and the bad is that only two days in and I fell off the wagon. One of the dad's brought a twelve pack of beer to drink while we were all walking and the kids were trick or treating. I had 3. And a Reese's peanut butter cup. And another one.... Not so good - interestingly enough it wasn't hunger that drove me in this case (maybe thirst a little bit) but it was the social part of it. I wasn't quite ready for it, but I am not going to quit and let this derail me. Lets see how Sunday goes.
Starting the morning with a trip to the gym. If things go poorly later, I can at least rationalize that I worked out a little bit. Holding off on breakfast until afterwards.
Breakfast - 9:00 - A bunch of water, some grapes and a NutriSystem scone. Interestingly the scone looks to be the same size and shape of last nights pizza cracker. Tasty though, and combined with the grapes a pretty enjoyable breakfast.
Lunch - 12:30 - Working on sewing up my daughter's vest for Y Princesses. It is a father/daughter group for girls that are turning 6 years old. We are going to be going to her first event tomorrow and one of the things that the father and daughter get is a leather vest. Of course those vests are provided in pieces with accompanying thread so I can definitely see what my afternoon is going to consist of.
A nice distraction from food though. I must say that lunch was great - a fajita mix of some kind that I can add tortillas to. This day looks like I will do pretty well.
3:30 - OK, the vests are taking forever, the girl has deserted me, but at least the Huskers are winning. Man they got some guys on that defense who can really play! Waiting on snack until I am hungrier - time to carve some pumpkins.
4:00 - Pumpkins looking good - Huskers going to win - Still not done with the first vest. Time for that snack - Macadamia nut cookie. Not too bad, I think I am going to make it through Halloween OK.
5:30 - Finally finished the first vest, have a good dinner of chicken with a little terriyaki sauce. The best part is my wife put allowable vegetables on a real plate to actually make it seem like a real dinner. Feeling generally pretty good. All that is left is to meet everyone at 7 and go trick our treating with all of the kids' friends in the neighborhood.
10:00 - Good news and bad news. The good news is I finally finished both vests, and the bad is that only two days in and I fell off the wagon. One of the dad's brought a twelve pack of beer to drink while we were all walking and the kids were trick or treating. I had 3. And a Reese's peanut butter cup. And another one.... Not so good - interestingly enough it wasn't hunger that drove me in this case (maybe thirst a little bit) but it was the social part of it. I wasn't quite ready for it, but I am not going to quit and let this derail me. Lets see how Sunday goes.
Day 1 - In the beginning - October 30
A large box arrived at our house yesterday and when I came home from work my wife and my five year old had divided all of the packages into 4 bags of food. They were the color coded using the NutriSystem packaging -- Blue for breakfast, Green for lunch, Pink for snacks and Red for dinner. My suspicions are raised slightly about portion size as 28 days worth of food fits into three paper grocery bags. I am slightly re-assured by my ability to add fruits and vegetables, but even so...
The next day it is time for the first meal - breakfast. My son reaches into the breakfast bag and out comes a very small package of cereal in a plastic bowl. Sugar corn puffs it is not. That being said, I add a little bit of milk and attempt to ignore the chuckling of my significant other as she watches me savor all four ounces of milk and 1 cup of bran cereal. Whew - I am so full!!
About 10 o'clock I am starting to get pretty hungry. Go to get a cup of coffee in the breakroom and I encounter my first test. Someone made soft chocolate chip cookies and put them out on the table for the office. They look good, real good. I get my coffee and beat a retreat from the room of temptation. An apple down the hatch and then thankfully I get really busy at work until about 1:30.
So I missed my regular lunch time and am now very hungry. Out comes the black bean soup meal. Hmmm...This bowl looks pretty small but you never know. I walk past the now half full plate of cookies to the microwave. Instructions: Shake the contents, add water, and put in the microwave at 50% for two and a half minutes. We have the weakest microwave in the office in history, so guess what happens? After two minutes at 50 percent power the soup has boiled over and coated the microwave. Now this is bad on two fronts - one I have to clean up the microwave and two I have lost at least a tablespoon of soup. The cookies are still staring so I get a little bit of coffee - it is the dregs of the pot, but how bad can at it be? Turns out - pretty bad, but at least my soup is boiled so with a supreme effort I leave the plate of cookies once again and head for my desk with soup in hand.
They weren't kidding about needing to stir the soup and shake the contents. So my soup is completely black and I have a tar like substance sticking to my spoon. I stir and stir and finally peel the tar off of the spoon and then let the soup cool. Eventually it is cool enough to eat and I am greeted by my first real pleasant surprise of my NutriSystm experience. It may look like tar and be black as ink, but it actually does taste like a passable black bean soup. May be there is some hope. I await my snack of Sour Cream and Onion Chips eagerly later.
4:30 p.m.- Time for my snack - I tear open my chips. At first taste I realize they are missing something - salt - and also that they are a little chewy more like a rice cake than a chip. So after looking I see that there is salt, but not much and that they are made of soy. Initial disappointment is rapidly overcome by hunger and as I am licking the inside of the bag for the last of whatever salt is in there, I decide that lightly salted soy cakes are not that bad. Two hours to dinner.
6:30 p.m. - Dinner time - I am ready for a real meal now. My son reaches into the bag and out comes pizza. Now you're talking. Wait a minute - portion size has struck. I think that it would be most accurate to describe this as a pizza cracker. Sauce, cheese and a piece of flat bread. I would suggest that no one has ever taken smaller bites while eating pizza in the history of eating pizza than I did.
Drank a lot of water the rest of the night and also had some fruit. After some adventures, I made it through day 1 OK. I think I can do it - 27 days left.
The next day it is time for the first meal - breakfast. My son reaches into the breakfast bag and out comes a very small package of cereal in a plastic bowl. Sugar corn puffs it is not. That being said, I add a little bit of milk and attempt to ignore the chuckling of my significant other as she watches me savor all four ounces of milk and 1 cup of bran cereal. Whew - I am so full!!
About 10 o'clock I am starting to get pretty hungry. Go to get a cup of coffee in the breakroom and I encounter my first test. Someone made soft chocolate chip cookies and put them out on the table for the office. They look good, real good. I get my coffee and beat a retreat from the room of temptation. An apple down the hatch and then thankfully I get really busy at work until about 1:30.
So I missed my regular lunch time and am now very hungry. Out comes the black bean soup meal. Hmmm...This bowl looks pretty small but you never know. I walk past the now half full plate of cookies to the microwave. Instructions: Shake the contents, add water, and put in the microwave at 50% for two and a half minutes. We have the weakest microwave in the office in history, so guess what happens? After two minutes at 50 percent power the soup has boiled over and coated the microwave. Now this is bad on two fronts - one I have to clean up the microwave and two I have lost at least a tablespoon of soup. The cookies are still staring so I get a little bit of coffee - it is the dregs of the pot, but how bad can at it be? Turns out - pretty bad, but at least my soup is boiled so with a supreme effort I leave the plate of cookies once again and head for my desk with soup in hand.
They weren't kidding about needing to stir the soup and shake the contents. So my soup is completely black and I have a tar like substance sticking to my spoon. I stir and stir and finally peel the tar off of the spoon and then let the soup cool. Eventually it is cool enough to eat and I am greeted by my first real pleasant surprise of my NutriSystm experience. It may look like tar and be black as ink, but it actually does taste like a passable black bean soup. May be there is some hope. I await my snack of Sour Cream and Onion Chips eagerly later.
4:30 p.m.- Time for my snack - I tear open my chips. At first taste I realize they are missing something - salt - and also that they are a little chewy more like a rice cake than a chip. So after looking I see that there is salt, but not much and that they are made of soy. Initial disappointment is rapidly overcome by hunger and as I am licking the inside of the bag for the last of whatever salt is in there, I decide that lightly salted soy cakes are not that bad. Two hours to dinner.
6:30 p.m. - Dinner time - I am ready for a real meal now. My son reaches into the bag and out comes pizza. Now you're talking. Wait a minute - portion size has struck. I think that it would be most accurate to describe this as a pizza cracker. Sauce, cheese and a piece of flat bread. I would suggest that no one has ever taken smaller bites while eating pizza in the history of eating pizza than I did.
Drank a lot of water the rest of the night and also had some fruit. After some adventures, I made it through day 1 OK. I think I can do it - 27 days left.
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