What I ate today - tried chicken for the first time

Today I wanted to try being a bit more spontaneous, although the idea of not taking any food with me to work made me nervous so I packed my breakfast at least :)

I went to M&S to grab myself lunch and while there bought 2 'buy 1 get 1 half price' ready meals (count on us low cal range) for me and the husband's dinner. I do love M&S food! Before my band, on an average lunch, I would have a tub of king prawns with cocktail sauce followed by a salad (pasta or couscous salad with chicken etc) and fruit or nuts on top. Today I barely finished the king prawns. It felt weird... Good thing I only bought the prawns!

Breakfast:
20g All Bran (yuck!) with Irish diet strawberry yogurt

Mid-morning:
Atkins protein bar with peanut

Lunch:
M&S king prawns with cocktail dipping sauce (left most of the sauce)

Mid-afternoon:
New York Soup Co. Skinny chicken minestrone (1/2 tub with the chicken bits spat out as too chewy) and 1 light cheese triangle

Dinner:
Half pack of M&S chicken dinner (chicken breast strips in onion gravy + carrots + peas + potato mash) ready meal. This tasted amazing! I wasn't sure if I could eat the chicken just yet but with the encouragement from last week's chat with my dietitian I thought I'd try. I needed to chew a lot of course but no problems, had half a portion. Probably worked because the meat was really tender in the gravy. The whole pack is 320 calories by the way so it was a good ready meal :)

Dessert:
Shape Delights

Drinks:
2 cups of tea, pint of NAS squash, 1 cup of coffee, 1 cup of blueberry green tea

Exercise:
1 hour walk

TOTAL 1000 calories eaten + 315 calories burned  xxx

What I ate today - restriction kicks in

What a nice surprise when I felt stuffed halfway through my lunch! Helloooo restriction, nice to meet you :) I wasn't expecting it just yet and it's such a pleasant surprise!

I have a sore throat and a cold on its way and I do wonder if it's because of the throat or the restriction but I feel it in my chest and my throat isn't there haha.

So this is it then. Your head is hungry and wants to carry on eating but you feel stuffed in your chest as if you ate something the size of your arm and it feels like if you opened your mouth wide enough you could see the last bite sitting there, lol. Obviously if you carry on eating, you'll be sick. I didn't want to be sick so I stopped eating. Good girl :P

I did overeat at dinner though. Because the phone rang so I stopped eating for a while so everything went down, then continued and *almost* finished my plate (tea plate that is) but felt really bloated and uncomfortable afterwards. I couldn't sleep for a good few hours tossing and turning. The two cats curled up on my legs didn't help either :)

Breakfast:
Ready Break (30g) with ~200ml milk

Mid-morning:
Atkins bar, peanut & caramel (I cannot recommend Atkins bars enough - they taste AMAZING and low in carbs, acceptable in calories plus they keep you full for a good few hours and this is the small size I'm talking about)

Lunch:
2 slices of Ryvita crackerbread + 1 laughing cow cheese triangle, low fat (but not the extra low fat one, that one doesn't taste of anything for not a big save on calories) + 4 slices of wafer thin turkey ham
Salad made with crunchy stuff (cucumber, small radishes, iceberg lettuce and a bit of chives) + a couple of sprays of 1-cal a spray ceasar dressing + splash of balsamic vinegar

Late afternoon:
Grilled lamb liver (this was from a couple of days ago sitting in the fridge so something easy when I got home hungry from work - I had about 4-5 mouthfuls)

Dinner:
2 fish fingers (grilled) with a teaspoon of reduced fat seafood sauce + 1 artichoke cooked with lemon juice and filled with petit pois and diced onions + 1 tbsp M&S chargrilled veg pealla (nicked from husband's plate out of pure greed and definitely not hunger)

Dessert:
Home made ice cream with my Vitamix. 2 small frozen bananas + 1/2 pack (200g) of fresh melon and grape (frozen) + 1/2 container Alpro Soya single cream (125ml) + 1 tbsp runny honey makes 4 servings and 1 serving is 105 calories. Better than Ben and Jerry's when the craving comes :)

Exercise:
25-min walk

TOTAL 919 calories eaten, 131 burned with exercise

xxx

What I ate today - naughty food at a birthday party

So... Messed up a bit today...

It's my nephew's 14th birthday so I baked him a chocolate & banana cake this morning and iced it with chocolate ganache. I licked a tiny bit of the icing to test it (which is fair enough I guess). Then I baked the Christmas cakes in time so I have a month to feed them brandy until Christmas. I licked the batter to test if it's spicy enough (again, fair enough).

Then in the afternoon, we went to the birthday party and stayed there until late evening so it meant we had lunch and dinner there, picking finger food. I have chosen the best I could have from what was available (which was a lot!) as I needed to be on soft foods today as it's the day after my fill.

I then had a teeeeeeny tiny slice of the birthday cake because I'm weak and have zero willpower and I love cake :(

But I didn't drink alcohol and I didn't touch anything that isn't breakable by a fork.

Let's see the damage:

Breakfast:
Big mug of coffee made with 150ml skimmed milk + topped with water

Mid-morning:
Home-made lentil soup + Chicken cup-a-soup (lentil soup was too small a portion, wasn't enough)

Lunch & Dinner - food picked at the party:
Hummus (1tsp or so) + 1 Chicken goujon + small slice (1/8th) of cheese & onion quiche + roast chicken breast slice + small pieces of Wensleydale with cranberry, double Gloucestershire with chives and Brie

Naughty stuff:
Very thin slice of birthday cake
2 mini eclairs

Drinks:
Pint of NAS squash + 3 cups of tea with a drop of skimmed milk + sachet of Lemsip (thank you dear husband for our marital bliss where you share everything with me, including your man flu!)

Exercise: 
None...

TOTAL 1044 calories (not as bad as I thought but fat and carbs very high - ie red in MFP lol)

Oh well... What's done is done. I'll be good tomorrow onwards :) xxx

What I ate today - day I had my first fill

Today was the day of my first fill so after a normal breakfast, I wasn't allowed to eat for 4 hours before the fill and afterwards I was on liquids for 24h.

Breakfast:
Toasted WW wholemeal pitta + 4 slices wafer thin turkey ham + 15g BGTY grated mature cheese + 10g Flora extra light

Snack/Drink:
Cadbury hot choc from vending machine - Test drink after fill - they only had tea or hot choc and I didn't fancy tea ;)

Lunch:
Cafe Nero large soya latte (had my fill mid day so on liquids for 24h)

Snack/Drink:
Feed Good kids' orange, pineapple & banana drink

Dinner:
New York Soup Co Skinny chunky chicken minestrone (1/2 container) and it wasn't enough but didn't really like it so I liquidised 2 small lamb meatballs from husband's dinner in a bit of gravy but felt bloated after a couple of sips so paused for a bit... only to come back and find the cat licking it, lol. So obviously I didn't finish it :P

Had another pint of NAS squash.

3 hours of walking around - was absolutely knackered at the end of the day.

Total 795 calories eaten, 639 calories burned according to MFP although it does sound a bit too much! xxx

First fill

Here's another first in my banded adventure - the first fill!

I've been dreading it, being scared of needles, having a low pain treshold etc doesn't help, whatever more experienced banders say (that it doesn't hurt!) I still thought it would be painful. And that I'd bruise. And that I'd be sore all day. And being on liquids again will be a nightmare.

I was wrong. It was absolutely fine!

Let's get into details before I forget :)

* * * Long Post Alert * * *

Woke up early this miserable Saturday morning and had breakfast at 7:45am - this is very early for me. I usually just have a drink in the morning and don't have breakfast before 10ish. But I was told not to eat 4 hours before the fill and nil by mouth for the last hour. So I had a nice breakfast, tried pitta bread for the first time and it was lovely. Not the ordinary high calorie pitta of course, i had Weightwatcher's wholemeal pitta, which is half the thickness of the normal ones but it gets nice and crispy when toasted. Then I had a pint of squash and we left the house, hopped on a train and went to London, Hammersmith clinic. I'll go to the central London Weymouth Street clinic from the second appointment onwards, that one's busier though so they could only squeeze me in this one for the first fill.

The clinic was fairly easy to locate (although it did have Surgicare signs, not The Hospital Group) and after a 5 min wait, I've been called in. We had a chat with the nurse, she was very friendly and easy to talk to. She said my weight loss so far is fantastic and way above average and that I've already lost 22% of my excess weight, yay! Almost 1/4 done - what a relief! Obviously the last 1/4 will be a bitch to lose but hey, will get there when I get there :)

And then she told me a few things about how the band works and that what I should and shouldn't eat. I already had my first dietitian appointment and obviously I'm reading about it non-stop, plus sharing experiences on WLSurgery.com forums but I've never heard that I could have unlimited new potatoes with skin (recommended roasting them in flora baking liquid!), porridge (not oats so simple but normal porridge oats but as runny as you like), basmati rice (just boiled) and beans, pulses etc (not baked beans)... She also said whatever I was doing was obviously working so just carry on with that, which I'm going to do but honestly, unlimited new potatoes? Really?

She said something else which kinda make sense. As I've read before, losing 50% of excess weight is considered a success. Plus, she said by the time you lose 50% of your excess weight, you'll know if you'll lose the other 50% or not. I think what she meant was, by the time you've lost that, if you've changed your bad eating habits, you'll continue to lose weight. If not, you'll stay about the same but hopefully with the band's help you won't gain any more.

I would like to lose 100% of my excess weight and I'm not planning to settle for 50% but I understand that they need to cover themselves and also not give false hope to those who expect the band to do all the work. It doesn't work that way. Hunger is in our heads and the band will not stop the hunger. That's why it is so important to recognise the way the band talks to us and not to ignore the signs and stop eating at the first sign. It's hard work. I have continued to eat several times after the signs because I wanted to eat more and my head was still hungry. This is something I need to work on...

She then made me sign the consent form, filled a card for me with my details which I'll need to bring to each fill and we proceeded to the treatment room and I started shaking a bit. I am scared of needles, is it going to hurt, how long will it take, is my port accessible, did it flip, is what I feel the port or just scar tissue...

I lied on the bed, she prepared something, I didn't see anything because I decided that if I saw the needle I may not go ahead with it, lol... So she said here we go and suddenly I felt something but it wasn't pain. She said let's see if they put any during the op and I said yes he put 1ml in, she said yes indeed he did and now you have 4ml and she said it's all done... WHAT?! I didn't even think the needle was in properly and she already sorted it all out. Much appreciated indeed :)

So I got up, followed the nurse and my husband (who was fascinated with the whole process) to the office room from the treatment room and when I walked in, my husband gave a small shriek (lol) and pointed at my tummy, I looked down and saw my light grey tshirt covered in blood, like I was stabbed or something!!! The nurse hurried me back in the treatment room, cleaned the 'hole' in my skin and put a plaster on. She said it's better to keep it open but sometimes it does bleed... well, thanks :P It's because the needle is thick, nothing to worry about, it didn't even hurt, I felt nothing. It stopped immediately anyway. I washed the front of my tshirt and dried it with paper towels and went out to the reception area for a drink - to go back for a defill if you can't swallow hehe.

I desperately tried to make a latte but they didn't have any. Didn't fancy a black coffee or tea so I had to have a hot chocolate :P Good choice, I was really thirsty and hungry so it went down well. Slowly, of course but I really didn't feel much other than a bit of bubbling as it went down. I asked if that was normal and she said it is.

24h liquids (chunky soup is ok), 24h soft food then back to normal crunchy dry stuff :)

Overall, a pleasant experience. No pain whatsoever. It was so easy I didn't even feel anything!

She said I'll probably need another 2 fills before I have proper restriction. I have another one scheduled for 15th of December so we're good :)

xxx

What I ate today - TGIF!!!

I'm grateful it's Friday - such a long and tiresome week. I have a feeling I'll catch my husband's 'man flu' aka ordinary cold... Not looking forward to that and I've been First Defense'ing myself but I don't have my hopes up - once it's in the house, you'll have to catch it, that's the rule...

Breakfast:
Alpen NAS Muesli + splash of skimmed milk
 
Mid-morning:
Atkins protein bar (the chocolate brownie one, so yummy and so filling, had to postpone lunch by 2 hours!)
 
Lunch:
6 slices Melba toast + 2 low fat cheese triangles + 30g mackerel pate + iceberg lettuce, cucumber, radishes with splash of balsamic vinegar
 
Late afternoon:
Carrot sticks

Dinner:
Grilled lamb's liver with onions caramelised in butter cooking spray lol + fat free natural yogurt

Drinks:
2 cups of coffee, pint of NAS squash, cup of tea

Exercise:
1-hour walk - see, I can actually move my butt if it's not pissing down! Lunch hour well spent :)

Total 1023 calories eaten, 319 calories burned xxx

What I ate today - hating the weather

I don't like this week, it's miserable outside and I can't go out for walks plus work is too busy :(

Breakfast:
NAS muesli with a splash of milk

Mid-morning:
Slim Fast chocolate bar

Lunch:
Packet (4 slices) of WW oat & wheat crackers with 2 low fat cheese triangles, 8 slices of wafer thin turkey ham, cucumber

Mid-afternoon:
Small carrot (raw, cut in sticks)
3 peanut butter M&Ms (it was offered, I accepted without thinking......)

Dinner:
4 small home-made meatballs made with extra lean turkey mince and bacon medallions + 100g steamed broccoli, cauliflower and carrots + 2 vegetable nuggets with tsp of mustard, tsp of BBQ sauce and tsp extra light mayo - although no bigger than a tea plate, this is so far the biggest dinner I had and I'm glad I have a fill coming up soon!

Drinks:
2 cups of coffee, cup of tea, pint of NAS squash, WW hot choc

Exercise:
None whatsoever, it's too depressing outside :(

TOTAL 955 calories

xxx

What I ate today - scared of crisps

Breakfast:
Small banana (this had to happen when I forgot to take muesli with me! I grabbed a banana on the way to work from a local shop)

Mid-morning:
Atkins protein bar

Lunch:
5 slices of melba toast with low fat cream cheese and mackerel pate + green salad with balsamic vinegar

Mid-afternoon:
Sweet chilli sun bites, 2-3 crisps then gave the bag away to a colleague cos I got paranoid it'll get stuck... lol I'm scared of crisps!

Dinner:
3 small new potatoes boiled with skin on + home made extra lean turkey breast mince curry

Dessert:
Apricot & nectarine diet yogurt

Drinks:
Soya latte, blueberry green tea, WW hot choc, pint of NAS squash

Exercise:
20 min walk (rain really doesn't help!)

TOTAL 979 calories

First dietitian appointment

Hello blog :)

I had my first dietitian appointment on Monday, a lovely lady from The Hospital Group rang me and it took about half an hour or so. In fact I wanted to have the first session face to face when I go for my first fill this Saturday but central London clinic was fully booked for the day so I'll have to go to Hammersmith clinic for the fill.

She asked me how I'm doing, what I usually eat, what I struggle with etc. I told her and she reckons I'm doing quite well. She said the weight loss so far is fantastic :)

One of my problems was fish, I really can't swallow fish, it gets stuck. She recommended trying different, oily fish like salmon maybe with a bit of sauce (although dry foods are recommended with the band) - I will try a bit of salmon this weekend I think. if I'll have to PB (productive burping = throwing up in polite words lol) then I'll want my first one to be while I'm home!

Other thing I find hard is not drinking while eating but she said actually it's ok as long as you don't use drinks to push the food down. As long as I give 1 minute after the last swallow and let the food go down, I can drink and go back to eating - yay! Also she said never ever gulp, only sip as if you're sipping a glass of wine whatever you drink because gulping in the long run may damage the band, eek. This is one thing I'll have to learn...

She booked my next appointment for 15th of December and I'll see her first and have my second fill afterwards. This was quite handy because booking my first fill and first dietitian appointment was a bit of a struggle as they are really busy on the weekends.

She emailed me more up-to-date documents and advise on menus 5th week onwards. To sum the whole thing up, eat dry and crunchy foods so the band works best. And actually I'll just carry on what I'm doing so far and maybe vary foods a bit more like have a side salad with lunch etc.

I now know that I definitely need a fill even though I do have restriction because if you're at the sweet spot, the optimum restriction, the green zone, whatever you call it, then you don't get hungry for 4-5 hours between meals. I get hungry an hour after I eat!!! I need more restriction :)

Looking forward to my first fill and dreading it at the same time. What I think my port is might be scar tissue and it could be somewhere completely different! It's weird, I feel something hard an inch or so above one of my bigger incisions when standing up and when I lie down, it's exactly under the incision. So maybe it's not my port? Where is my port? I guess we'll find out on Saturday... :) xxx

What I ate today - no more porridge for brekkie

Breakfast:
Alpen NAS muesli with a splash of skimmed milk (as recommended by the dietitian, aiming for drier and crunchier options for breakfast. Readybreak or any porridge is considered 'slider' food)

Mid-morning:
Slim Fast nougat snack bar (not really that nice but lower calories than Atkins yumminess...)

Lunch:
100g grilled lamb's liver + green salad + onion & chive cottage cheese

Mid-afternoon:
Cream cracker topped with peanut butter and a drop of honey (oops this totaled much higher in calories than I thought but was well tasty!)

Dinner:
Jumbo king prawns cooked with garlic and chopped tomatoes with a few wholemeal penne pasta... I couldn't eat the pasta, it felt like stuck so I stopped eating it... Had a ryvita topped with mushroom pate instead.

Drinks:
Pint of NAS squash, WW hot choc, 3 coffees with skimmed milk

Exercise:
20 min walk (boo, really need to do more)

TOTAL 902 calories

What I ate today - not too keen on Mondays

Bah... Monday again... Weekends are way too short... Work is way too busy... I'm getting hungrier every day, can't wait til my fill this Saturday 24th...

Only highlight of the day was mt first dietitian appointment on the phone. Really nice lady, found it very useful. I'll write about that later in length.

Early morning:
Medium soya latte from Cafe Nero

Late breakfast:
Readybrek with skimmed milk, sprinkled with cinnamon

Lunch:
Green salad with balsamic vinegar and slice of wafer thin smoked ham + 2 ryvita slices with low fat cream cheese and mackerel pate

Dinner:
Home-made extra lean turkey mince curry with carrots, sweet potato and courgette (100g curry + 100g veg) with a tbsp of fat free yogurt topping

Snacks:
WW hot choc, mango & pear yogurt

Exercise:
20 min walk, didn't even bother to log it on MFP...

TOTAL 909 calories

What I ate today - bit of naughty food

Today we took the builder to our new house to get t he measurements for the floors. It's almost complete, can't wait to move in! It'll now have to be the first thing in the new year. Afterwards, we visited our friends who had a baby last week. Lovely day :)

 
Breakfast:
Home made extra lean turkey and bacon medallions patty with chopped tomatoes, mushrooms and an egg yolk

Lunch:
1/2 WW crustless broccoli and cheese quiche, 100ml oasis summer fruits (... and nicked a couple of crisps from my husband...)

Mid-afternoon:
5 mini Cadbury chocolate fingers (we were visiting friends, couldn't resist the urge when offered some and to be polite I accepted not just one but 5!!! )

Dinner:
2x lamb merguez sausages + sweet potato + artichoke

Snacks:
Grilled 100g lamb's liver
WW oat crackers x2

Exercise:
I definitely did something but can't remember... walk perhaps? Nothing on MFP, hmmmmm?

TOTAL 996 calories  

xx

What I ate today - end of 1st week of normalcy

Saturdays are my weigh in days. Immediately after my first pee of the day, hehe.

At the end of the first week of 'normal' food, I lost 4 pounds :) YAY! Dry and crunchy food does fill you up thanks to the way the band works and I'm glad I'm done with the 'slider' 'mushy' foods and back to normal.

I ate a lot today and not particularly healthy stuff either, oops... 1100 calories still not too high but I'll behave tomorrow :)

Breakfast:
Patty made with extra lean turkey breast mince + bacon medallions with onion and spices etc.
Fat free natural yogurt.

Mid-afternoon:
1/2 Atkins protein bar

Lunch:
1 oven baked glamorgan sausage + 1/2 small tin of reduced sugar and salt baked beans with 20g grated low fat cheese

Mid-afternoon:
1/2 Atkins protein bar

Dinner:
1 lamb merguez and 1 wild boar and apple sausages (grilled and most fat drained out hopefully) with broccoli and cauliflower cheese (Bisto cheese sauce granules)

Dessert:
Weightwatchers banoffee dessert

Exercise:
60 min cleaning and 30 min walk

TOTAL 1103 calories

xxx

What I ate today - happy friday

Breakfast:
20g Ready Brek made with skimmed milk

Mid-morning:
1/2 ready made bottle raspberry slim fast

Lunch:
4 ryvitas with 2 laughing cow light cheese triangles and 4 slices of wafer thin turkey ham

Mid-afternoon:
Atkins chocolate protein bar

Dinner:
2 ryvitas with 25g mackerel pate each, topped with cucumber, radish and spring onion slices
1 artichoke cooked with 25g diced onions and 20g petit pois (salad and crunchy stuff really fills me up, lovely to see the band does work!)

Drinks:
1 pint of water, 2 cups of coffee (didn't drink enough today but I just wasn't thirsty)

Exercise:
30 min walk

TOTAL 929 calories

Happy Friday! :) x

What I ate today - first stuck food

I wasn't thinking and I put a little piece of bread in my mouth... Oh the pain! Really horrible feeling for a good few minutes until it went down so don't think i'll try bread again :) never been sick so far though, hopefully it will stay that way!

So today was a good day despite the lack of exercise, i didn't feel hungry at all.

Breakfast:
2 boiled medium eggs mashed with a tbsp of extra light mayo and seasoning

Mid-morning:
1/2 can of veg soup

Lunch:
4 slices of crispbread + 2 low fat cheese triangles + 4 slices of wafer thin turkey ham

Mid-afternoon:
Atkins crispy choc bar (was craving choc due to totm )

Dinner:
Home made extra lean beef mince cooked with tomato sauce and veg (carrot, mushroom, courgette, onion) with 100g boiled potato and 0% fat natural yogurt

Drinks:
2 pints of squash, 2 cups of coffee and 1/2 bottle of raspberry slim fast for dessert lol

Exercise:
None today, mad busy at work, couldn't leave my computer to take a lunch time walking break like i do most days...


TOTAL 978 calories

What I ate today - oh how I missed salad

I was at a seminar until late afternoon so had to snack and eat out for lunch. I wasn't too bad I suppose :)

Breakfast:
Ready Brek (30g) + 150ml skimmed milk

Mid-morning:
Small packet of Quavers

Lunch from salad bar:
Green salad with cucumbers, 4 mini cruton size cubes of potato, 4 penne pasta bits, 6 crutons, 1tbsp balsamic vinegar, 1/2 tbsp low fat mayo (oh how I missed salad!)

Late afternoon:
Orange+choc protein bar

Dinner:
Omelet made with 1 egg, 1 chicken frankfurter, 150g veg (frozen pepper, mushroom and onion), 100g chopped tomatoes, 25g skimmed milk, 25g extra light cream cheese with onion and chive

Drinks:
2 pints of squash, 2 small soya lattes, 1 cup of black coffee

Exercise:
30 min walk

TOTAL 922 calories

xxx

Glue finally gone!

Today the last bits left on my glue fell off and I've seen what was under the ugly scab. Let me tell you what, a thin pink line and smooth skin :) VERY pleased with that. Not that I was at all bothered with possible scarring but still made my day!

Also I felt something poking out of my skin after the glue fell off while drying after my shower this morning. It was like a thick transparent hair sticking out of my incision so i felt it and thought it was a grey hair first (lol). Gently pulled the 'hair' and it came out! It was probably a part of the dissolvable stitches the skin pushed out while healing. Weird!

Normal food going ok. I had salad for lunch today, oh how I missed salad!

Eggs, chicken and fish very hard work but everything else I seem to manage fine.

If I have any readers, you can look me up on http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/Tobi13 to see what I eat everyday :) xxx

What I ate today - lunch was a bit too much

Breakfast:
Ready brek made with skimmed milk

Mid-morning:
Atkins coconut bar (YUM!)

Lunch:
6x Crispbread + 2 low fat cheese triangles + 50g low fat pate + 1 slice of wafer thin ham
(crispbread was a bit too much I think I could have had just 3-4 but it was in front of me and I ate it...)

Mid-afternoon:
Small banana

Dinner:
2 chicken frankfurters + 50g carrot and swede mash + a few chunks of steamed celeriac + mustard + 1/4 can chopped tomatoes

Drinks:
2 coffees with skimmed milk and 1.2 litres of NAS squash

Exercise:
30 min walk

TOTAL 993 calories 

xx

What I ate today - fish is hard work

Started normal food today and the crunch of melba toast is sooo nice :)

Breakfast:
Small banana

Mid-morning:
Atkins protein peanut bar

Lunch:
6 slices of melba toast & 2 ww cheese triangles & 6 slices of wafer thin turkey ham

Mid-afternoon:
Cup-a-soup chicken

Dinner:
Birdseye hake in cheese and leek sauce & 2 vegetable nuggets & a few chunks of steamed celeriac (took me ages to have that 1/4 of the fish, even though it had a sauce. Fish is hard work even when I chew for ages!)

Drinks:
3 cups of coffee with skimmed milk, 2 pints of nas squash

Exercise:
25-30 min walk

TOTAL 866 calories

So, eating meat... I'm struggling with chicken and fish. Haven't attempted pork, lamb or beef other than sausage or mince form. Struggled with this hake and got fed up in the end... x

It's been a month!

Exactly 4 weeks ago on the 15th of October at exactly this time, I was sitting in the Dolan Park reception, shaking with nerves, waiting for my blood tests.

I lost 30lb pre-op in 4 weeks and as of today 8lb post-op. It's a little frustrating to lose much more pre-op but hey I wasn't expecting a miraculous cure :)

If it goes as planned, I'll hopefully hit my mini objective of losing 50 lb by the end of the year. And even if I can't, I won't beat myself up because I've never managed to lose this much weight before. I love my band :)

Hello normal food, here I come! xxx

What I ate today - ate out for the first time

Early morning:
Glass of oat milk

Breakfast:
1/2 extra lean sausage (Sainsbury's be good to yourself)
1 glamorgan sausage
1 Egg yolk cooked with 2-3 mushrooms and a handful of mixed peppers

Mid-morning:
2 slices of Melba toast with a low fat cheese triangle

Lunch time:
1/2 Atkins protein brownie bar (we were on the way, shared it with my husband)

Late lunch:
1 1/2 Birdseye premium beef burger (the super thin ones, grilled, all fat drained)
Mixed veg - petit pois, onion, mushroom, carrot
0% fat natural yogurt

Dinner:
Ate out for the first time after my surgery! Husband and I went out on a date night hehe :) watched Skyfall (amazing film!!) and went to Frankie & Benny's for dinner. I had the crab cake starter from the light options menu. It was yummy and only 300 calories!


TOTAL 1061 calories

Not a bad day at all :) xxx

What I ate today - trying meatballs

Breakfast:
3 slices of crispbread, topped with with 0.2% fat cream cheese (15g each) and wafer thin turkey ham (2 slices each)

Lunch:
1x extra lean sausage & 2x glamorgan sausages and 1tbs or less extra light mayo

Dinner:
Lamb meatballs (managed a tiny amount chewing veeery slowly), 5 oven fries (thin ones), gherkins and green salad with lemon juice

Snacks:
WW hot choc, light cheese triangle

Drinks:
Pint of water
2 pints of NAS

Exercise:
1 hour cleaning if that counts :)

TOTAL 874 calories

What I ate today - re starting my food diary

I post what I eat in MFP (http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/Tobi13) and on WLSurgery.com forums (here) but blogging as well as doing those might come handy one day if I ever want to go back and relive the first couple of days of 'normal' food :)

Ok today wasn't so good... I'm hungry a lot and feel the need to eat often. Sick of mushies also, need real foods and a fill asap :P

Early morning before leaving for work:
Weightwatchers hot choc made with hot water with added skimmed milk (~50ml)

Breakfast:
Ready Brek 30g with 150ml skimmed milk

Lunch:
Dalepack corned beef crispbake + 100g M&S leek and bacon mash

Afternoon:
Vanilla protein bar, can't remember name, from Holland & Barrett (half the size and calories of the choc orange Maximuscle diet bar)

Later in the afternoon:
Crispbread with 15g 0.2%fat cream cheese

Dinner(ish):
2x chicken gyoza (we were on the way driving somewhere, stopped at the new M25 Cobham services and grabbed some bits from the Chozen Noodle Bar, I chewed and chewed and chewed these but it wasn't a good choice... but so yummy lol)

Evening:
Obviously I was hungry when we got home so I had 3 more slices of crispbread with low fat farmhouse pate this time.


TOTAL 985 calories

Tried crispbread today, it was a nice change but not really crispy, melted once in my mouth.

Overall not a good day. I'm fed up with having stuff full of carbs as they are 'mushy'... everything has potato in it... Can't wait til normal food, only another day to go :)

No exercise today either... lol xxx