Lose weight the fun way.

Posted on January 11, 2017

As of yesterday I am in a transition period of my bariatric program. This means I will be adding in solid food after 12 weeks of a liquids only diet. Not that I was completely successful on that. To date I have lost 15 lbs doing this program. Now comes the planning stage of my life.

The first two weeks is one meal with 3 shakes. They have it set up for us to start with dinner but we can adjust as needed to accomdate our daily schedules. The meal is to be one fruit, 2 veggies and one lean protein. The idea being to introduce food back but to still stay within the 900 calories each day. Now my plan was to have salmon with asparagus but I needed to go to the grocery store and do some shopping as I haven't done much in that sense for a while. While I was there I did some quick planning for the week and bought what I needed compared to what I knew was in the cupboards at home. So my cart had some frozen chicken (family can eat that with me), some frozen salmon (indivudually wrapped as it turned out) and some frozen shrimp. I also bought some lean black forest ham, hubby ended up making a sandwich when I got home. I picked up some fruit, oranges, blueberries and raspberries and of course my salad ingredients and some zucchini. I might be a little light on the veggies but I had carrots in the fridge already so I think I am good. The asparagus stayed at the store because I wasnt going to pay $7 for a bunch of it (ok I am careful of my food budget).

Anyway back to last night, my dinner should have been salomon with asparagus but I did the quick change at the store and decided on the zucchini with some rapsberries. Well because of weather and road conditions I was home later than expected and I was hungry ( i had my shakes during the day while driving and shopping) I ended up throwing some salad greens into a bowl with some red peppers and some pea shoots topped with four slices of the lean ham and i added my raspberries. It felt good to have fresh food like that and while not what was planned it was on my meal plan, just a day early.

So today I am in the process of planning the rest of my week knowing that I can have just about anything I want as long as it is lean protein, fruit and veggies. So tonight will be the salmon with zucchini. Now knowing I need a fruit I think I will have two of the cutie oranges with it but I want to cook the salmon with a couple of slices of lemon on top, not sure how to count that so I will add my food into my fitness pal and see where I am for calories with one orange and if it is low I will add the second one. Tomorrow I will have salad with shrimp, salad will include some peppers, pea shoots and some carrot and I think I might have some blueberries with it. I will go from there to see how we are doing with the planning as I will have to go to the city over the weekend again I will have to be very careful and also do a shopping list as I know I don't have enough for the two weeks.

I must remember to add eggs to my shopping list because I am able to have two as my meat serving, so having some hard boiled eggs in the fridge will be a good idea. I think if i put my mind to it and write down the planned meals even if it isn't a monday, tuesday, wednesday... idea if I have a list of go to meals to pick from on the fridge I will do ok with it.

now of course that is just the first two weeks. On week three we add an additional meal. The plan is 2 grains, 1 fruit, 2 veggies, 1 milk (yay yogurt!!), 2 meat, 2 fat. Now we are getting to more of a meal!! this week will be interesting as I will be away from home and will need to navigate restaurant menus. This will be a challenge but if i find it too hard I will just stick with an extra shake and one meal.

Week 4 and 5 we add in another grain serving and another veggie serving everything else stays the same. As we move forward it looks like it gets easier. Of course we do need to remember to weigh and measure the servings so make sure we are within our calorie limit.

Week 6 is the final week. we should now be at 4-6 grains, 2-3 fruit, 3-4 veggies, 2-3 milk (hmmm yogurt and cheese), 2 protein for women (of course the men get 3) and 4 fat. Now this kind of worries me as I seem to be afraid of fat!! that seems like a lot but I will work on that as I get there. I am thinking at some point I will be able to add in avocado and I know I can start adding in my coconut oil again!! yes sounds like a well rounded plan by the time we get there!!

I have to say that when I started the program I was afraid of what I was getting into, worried that I had made a mistake and while I wasn't perfect (but as a friend says "who is? I'm not) I was successful and truely that is all I was looking for. Of course I will be adding in exercise during this time. I have snowshoes and I am loving being out. I will get cross country skis because I know I loved that before and I am starting the shopping process for a treadmill. I need to have some indoor exercise. I will go back to my aerobics, maybe once I am done with my travel stuff. I am also just about ready to get things moving in my "workout" room as well.

The new year is looking up and my furture is freaking bright because I said so!!!

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Biking Syl

01/12/2017 1:39PM

Whoo-hooo!!! Congrats on the big milestone!!! If you got this far, you can do everything else easily! Because you said so!! :-) Thanks for sharing the plan in detail! It really shows that a transition is no joke and should be planned carefully, like they laid out for you. Sounds really good! LOL, after I hadn't eaten for a while due to some medical mishaps, they told me one day that I could have whatever I wanted from the hospital menu. I was so excited! ... and of course all the food came right back because my stomach did not know what to do with it ;-) I'm glad that they have such a wonderful, gradual trasition for you! Kudos for toughing it out and making such a beautiful life change for yourself and your family!

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BCbabe

Thanks Syl, so far its been ok, just days that I am away from home and coming in later in the evening are giving a bit of a problem. I want to fall back on to just doing shakes but I know that isn't what will work at this point.

Marcie

01/11/2017 6:41PM

Wow Valerie - such a journey! I am with Louise - love chia pudding! I hope these transitions are just the steps you need - hang in there! Enjoy the beautiful nutritious food you can add in now!

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Biking Syl

I found that eating nuts and seeds as a replacement for candy is a beautiful way to stay off the sugar roller coaster with all the cravings. I hear you! You could consider a few nuts your portion of fat for the day (healthy fat, which you don't have to be afraid of).

BCbabe

yeah I think there has been discussion about it in the group but as that isn't for a little bit in the plan I will have to wait and see.

Louise

01/11/2017 5:36PM

Thank you for sharing your journey and your plans! I hope you might consider chia seeds. They are awesome and filling! There are bunches of chia 'pudding' recipes on pinterest (one: http://vegetariangastronomy.com/fresh-mango-coconut-chia-seed-parfait/) and maybe one of our staples is oatmeal in a jar (of course not this month because I told a friend that I would be Keto - no grains..... ) https://www.pinterest.com/pin/536702480576956515/ ;-) Thank you again!

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BCbabe

i have been looking for some different ideas for meals and such. I am not sure where a chia seed pudding would come in this week but when I start adding in more they will be in the mix. I am fortunate in the fact that I can have eggs and I can have beef or pork, as long as it is lean which I usually do anyway. it is just the portions I need to work on.