Real Food!

I guess that title is a bit of a misnomer because I have been eating real food all along but when you are on the soft diet phase there are lots of things you really can't add.  So last Thursday I met with the nutritionist, Erica.  We went over lots of stuff, like am I still staying away from straws, yes, am I still not drinking caffeine or carbonated drinks, yes, do I still wait 30 minutes before a meal, during a meal and 30 minutes after to drink anything, yes, am I chewing my food very, very well before swallowing, yes, am I making sure I am focused on the eating and not distracted, mostly yes, am I still making sure I take 20-30 minutes to eat my meals, resounding yes!  Why would people stop doing these things, they work! ! I lost over 20 pounds before my surgery by following these rules, my hubby has now lost about 17 following some of these rules (and he is not eating diet food!).  Apparently a lot of people stop doing these things after surgery.  People, that is not a good idea.  You are trying to make permanent changes to how you eat!  This surgery is a wonderful tool but you can still gain back all your weight.  Some of these little changes may seem silly but think about it.  The reason for no drinking before, during and after meals is because all that liquid washes the food out of your stomach quicker and you can eat more and you feel hungry sooner.  My brother has been trying to do just that one thing and he is amazed that he is eating less and not getting hungry so soon.  I tend to be a little OCD and when I am given a list of things to do I do them faithfully. We must change or we will eventually find ourselves right back where we were.  I quoted this before but here it is again, "Just because you got the monkey off your back does not mean the circus has left town forever."  That monkey is just waiting to jump right back on!

I'm melting!

Okay, enough preaching! I finally reached that milestone of 50 pounds lost!  Yesterday morning I weighed in at 194.4!  I have been blessed to stay in the 100's since I reached them, so many people blog that they got under 200 and then bounced back up over, sometimes more than once.

Now to my original thought about real food.  I wanted to let you know some of the things I've been eating since last Thursday.  I made an awesome Turkey Chili that even my family liked.  I measured out 1/2 a cup and shredded a low-fat string cheese on top, then a teaspoon or so of plain Greek yogurt on top.  It was sooooo good!  Today for lunch I grilled a salmon filet from Costco, they are about 7 oz. so I cut it in half and will have the other half tomorrow.  I mixed some of that plain Greek yogurt and a teaspoon of spicy brown mustard together and spread it on top of the salmon, yummy!  I also have had a few of those little grape tomatoes with a couple of meals.  On the way home from the doc's office last Thurs. I stopped and shopped a little and bought some veggie burgers.  I have had a couple completely vegetarian meals and enjoyed them completely.  This is strange coming from someone who has always been a major carnivore, lol!  The biggest thing I am trying to be aware of besides the things mentioned above is portion sizes.  With just a little pouch for a stomach I don't need a ton of food to be happy and satisfied.