What I Ate: 2/25/2010

I decided to bring on the regular food today. The liquid diet worked well in terms of weight loss - I was 183.5 this morning, a new low. I'm thinking I'll do regular food today, Saturday, and Sunday (maybe Monday as well.)

Tomorrow, I'm having dinner at McCrady's in Charleston and want to keep my calories low and food simple in preparation for that. Then I will do the modified liquid diet one more time, next week, in preparation for my surgical follow-up on Thursday morning, March 4. I don't plan to make these a habit, but I wanted to decarb this past week and, after seeing how it helped my weight loss, I want to try it again before the big checkup.

So, real food -

• 1/2 Oh Yeah! vanilla creme as creamer in 2 decaf coffees. I spiked it with SF hazelnut and chocolate and it was especially yummy today. (110 kcals, 16g protein, 1.5g carbs, 4.5g fat).
• 2 oz. chicken sausage pâté (63 kcals, 8g protein, 1.8g net carbs, 1.9g fat) with 1/2 spinach-flavored Flatout Light, toasted and broken into crackers (45 kcals, 4.5g protein, 3.3g net carbs, 1.8g fat). Total - (108 kcals, 12.5g protein, 5.1g net carbs, 3.7g fat).
• The other 1/2 spinach Flatout Light (45 kcals, 4.5g protein, 3.3g net carbs, 1.8g fat) with 3 slices Hormel Natural Choice smoked turkey (50 kcals, 10g protein, 1g carbs, 1g fat), 1 slice Kraft fat-free American cheese (25 kcals, 4g protein, 2g carbs, 0g fat), and a few basil leaves. Total - (120 kcals, 18.5g protein, 5.3g net carbs, 2.8g fat).
• 1 Pure Protein frosty chocolate protein drink (170 kcals, 35g protein, 3g net carbs, 1g fat).
• 5 raw almonds (35 kcals, 1.5g protein, 1g net carbs, 3g fat)
• 3 oz. pork loin, leftover from sister/nephew's birthday dinner (140 kcals, 24g protein, 1g net carbs, 4g fat) and 63 grams asparagus (13 kcals, 1.3g protein, 1.2g net carbs, 0g fat) with 0.5 tbsp. homemade no-sugar-added barbecue sauce and a jus made with soy sauce, yuzu juice, SF DaVinci sweetening syrup, and natural rice vinegar (about 10 kcals, 2g net carbs). Total - (163 kcals, 25.3g protein, 4.2g net carbs, 4g fat). Soooooo delicious!
• 1/2 cup Fiber One cereal (60 kcals, 2g protein, 11g net carbs, 1g fat), 1 oz. fat-free cream cheese creamed with Truvia (30 kcals, 4g protein, 3g carbs, 0g fat), and 5 raw almonds (35 kcals, 1.5g protein, 1g net carbs, 3g fat). Total - (125 kcals, 7.5g protein, 14g net carbs, 4g fat). This was a random combo, but I liked the idea of having something clearly snacky as I sat down to watch Celebrity Rehab.
• 1 sample pack About Time cinnamon swirl protein powder (103 kcals, 25g protein, 0g carbs, 0g fat) in 1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze (20 kcals, 0.5g protein, 0.5g carbs, 1.5g fat). Total - (123 kcals, 25.5g protein, 0.5g carbs, 1.5g fat). I was mega-impressed with the About Time birthday cake flavor a few weeks ago, so I decided to order a full tub of that flavor and to get two more samples. This was SO good. Another winner! I think I'm in love with this protein line: It's low-calorie, low-carb, and it's even sweetened with stevia instead of sucralose!
• 1 Calcet calcium citrate lemon creamy bite (40 kcals, 6g carbs, 1.5g fat)
• 3 Bariatric Advantage cinnamon calcium citrate lozenges (12 kcals, 3g carbs)
• 2 Celebrate orange multivitamins (10 kcals, 2g net carbs)
• 1 Celebrate grape iron + c (5 kcals, 2g net carbs)

Total:
1,021 calories
141.8g protein
55.6% kcals from protein
47.6g net carbs
18.6% kcals from net carbs
26g fat
22.9% kcals from fat.

You may have noticed that I ate something that some WLSers consider bad news during the losing phase - cereal. Fiber One, specifically.

I did this because I'm concerned about my nutritional balance. I am going to play with adding a few more carbs in the form of fiber mostly, but also some fruits and vegetables. I've heard mixed information about whether large amounts of protein cause kidney damage if the kidneys were healthy to begin with, but on some level it makes sense that an excess of any nutrient could lead to undesirable outcomes.

Also, at a good friend and reader's suggestion (thanks friend!), I'm also going to try varying my calories from day to day a bit more. Like, some days 800, maybe some days 1100, most days between 900 and 1000. I won't start this in earnest until I return from Connecticut and New York in a week and half. I think it will be too difficult to manage while traveling.

I started my day with Miles 1 and 3 of Leslie Sansone's 5 Day Slim Down, and I also did the warm-up, cool down, and stretch, which brought me to 42 minutes. That was it for today. I'd planned for Pilates, but I didn't have time to do that and get my cleaning in.