To The Market We Go!

Had a great visit at the clinic yesterday, even though I was absolutely exhausted from a lack of sleep the night before. I got to bed late, and I have an elderly Basset Hound who keeps waking up at 4:00 a.m., needing to go outside, and I found I couldn't go to sleep after letting her out. I actually had to leave the clinic early because my husband called and wanted me to come home -- he was worried about me driving in the dark. But I got some good sleep last night and I'm feeling great today!

At the clinic, we wrapped up all the transition materials and I have a food guide and sample menu ideas for the maintenance plan. I will eventually go up to 1,400 - 1,600 calories a day (probably lower side of that range). I have been having about 1,200 calories a day right now and I'm very comfortable with that, but I need to incorporate more things into my daily diet. I definitely need to be eating more fruit, vegetables and more starch/carbs -- as long as I balance the carbs with protein I do okay. But I do have a slight fear that if I increase my caloric intake, I will gain weight. So it's a touchy issue, but I will be in contact with my dietitian and the clinic if/when I'm struggling, and my experience to date has shown that things get easier with time.

So I'm now entirely on "real" food, and it's getting easier and easier every day. Progress! I thought I'd list the "staples" I've been stockpiling so far for my meals, and relying on for my transition/maintenance stage. Now fully in maintenance, I will build out from here:

BREAKFAST
No-fat Stonyfield organic yogurt
Eggland's Best large eggs
Eggo Nutrigrain whole wheat waffles
Thomas whole wheat English muffins
Steel cut oatmeal/Quaker oats
Organic brown rice (to mix in yogurt on occasion)
Small oranges (Mandarin, clementine)
Blueberries, strawberries, raspberries (for yogurt)
Sliced almonds (to mix in yogurt; oatmeal)
Sugar-free Smucker's jam (to put on one waffle or on 1/2 English muffin)
Light brown sugar (for oatmeal)
Cinnamon and nutmeg (for oatmeal or rice-yogurt-orange-almond "concoction")

LUNCH
Small, whole wheat pitas (I have 1/2 pita sandwich + no fat cottage cheese for lunch)
Very thinly sliced Lite deli turkey
Sliced good quality cheese (I use 1/2 slice in my sandwich)
Dijon mustard
No fat cottage cheese
Grape tomatoes (red and yellow/orange)
Dill (for cottage cheese)
Low sodium V-8

DINNER
(Pick one)
Salmon
Trout
Misc. filets (orange roughy; snapper; tilapia; cod; tuna; swordfish, etc.)
(All fish is eaten the day I buy it.)
Thin-sliced chicken breast
2 oz. Starkist albacore tuna pack + hard boiled egg
90-95% lean ground beef (I typically have one 4 oz. patty a week.)
Filet mignons (on special occasion only)

Bake fish. Pan fry chicken cut into strips or hamburger patty in non-stick pan lightly coated with Canola cooking spray. Grill filet mignon.

Mix protein in a salad made from (choose a few things and switch up meal to meal):
Fresh Express 50/50 salad blend OR Fresh Express baby spinach
Capers
Artichoke hearts
Bush's Canellini beans (white kidney beans)
Chick peas
Par-boiled green beans
Red onions
Scallions
Cucumber
Dressings: Lite Ken's Steakhouse dressings; Bolthouse Farms yogurt dressings; I often make my own.)

SNACKS
No fat Stonyfield organic yogurt
Sliced almonds
Sunflower seeds (unsalted)
Fiber One cereal
Fiber One chocolate cereal
Ghiradelli 60, 72, 80% cacao squares (1 square crumbled into Fiber One/almonds/yogurt "concoction" on special occasions)
Jif peanut butter with Omega 3 (1 1/2 tsp. on 1/2 English muffin)
Low moisture, part-skim mozzarella cheese sticks
Red peppers
Baby carrots
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Homemade hummus (dip vegetables in it -- watch amount used carefully)
Snyder's of Hanover mini pretzel/peanut butter bites
Jolly Time 100-calorie popcorn
Low fat, whole grain Wheat thins

DAILY SPLURGE: Large ("Grande") Starbuck's Latte with no fat milk and cinnamon sprinkled on top (roughly 90 calories). Absolutely refuse to give this up!

I always sit down in the morning and map out my meal plan for the day on MyFitnessPal. This lets me know if I might exceed my calorie limit, and where I will need to make subtractions/substitutions. My protein intake always exceeds their suggested amount, but I ignore that. My body likes a diet emphasizing protein. What I keep a very close eye on is the balance between protein and carbs and the total calories. So far, everything is going quite well. I'm so pleased. I'll continue to update my list as we go along, and will keep you informed every step of the way!