Birthday Food Diary 2-5-12

February 6, 2012 by · 1 Comment

Yesterday was my 32nd birthday. Happy birthday to me! It was pretty chill, especially in comparison to my birthday last year. I hosted the #FridaTweetup at Frida Bistro in Salt Lake City, where 40 of my nearest and dearest friends, family, and tweeps came up. It was a fun birthday party…but it was totally centered on delicious and unique food. Because I’m now so close to surgery, I wanted to have a more people centered-day. But of course, I still ate. 🙂

The day started out with Rosie bringing me breakfast in bed. She made scrambled eggs with chicken sausage. Then we got ready for church, attended church, had a friend come over to visit, and spent time together for the afternoon. Rosie made me a birthday smoothie and birthday cake, then we headed down to Lehi to my parents’ house for a family birthday party.

One of my dad’s specialties is teriyaki chicken, so I requested that for dinner. I brought a big container of baby portabella mushrooms to saute, and they were soooo good. I kept my portions really small, and had a small piece of chicken, lots of mushrooms, ONE TB of rice, a little corn, and some green beans. It’ll be my last time for corn and rice for a year, so I savored it.

We have a family tradition called “the birthday circle,” where we sit in the living room, and go around the circle telling stories about the person whose birthday it is. We enjoyed telling stories, laughing, and spending time together as a family. I was sad that my husband couldn’t be there.

After the birthday circle, we had some birthday cake. I kept my piece really small. Rosie made a cherry cake mix with cherry frosting and fudge drizzle. So yummy. Once we were done with dessert, my dad wanted to give me a priesthood blessing to help with my upcoming surgery. His former bishop came over to assist with the blessing, and I was given a blessing of a safe surgery and healthy recovery.  When the birthday festivities were finished, Rosie and I left to pick Taylor up from the airport. It will be nice to have him home for the next few weeks to help with my recovery. All in all, a nice birthday indeed.

  • Scrambled eggs and chicken sausage – 360 cal
  • Peach, blueberry, almond milk protein smoothie – 160 cal
  • Teriyaki chicken and veggies – 340 cal
  • Birthday cake – 160 cal
  • TOTAL – 1020 cal
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Food Diary 2-1-12

February 1, 2012 by · 1 Comment

Today was MUCH easier than yesterday foodwise, and I attribute it to the grocery trip I made before work today. I went to Harmon’s, which I think has the best produce of any chain grocery store in the Salt Lake area. I got fresh produce and canned fruits and veggies. Even though it costs a lot more, I know that when I buy the pre-cut produce because it’s convenient.

Funny story – I was in the mood for Laughing Cow cheese this morning, and saw that I had a wheel of it in my fridge. I grabbed it to take to work, and thought I’d have a wedge in the car. It was COMPLETELY rubbery. I checked the expiration date, and it was JUNE 2010. How on earth did I last in my fridge that long? So I picked up another Laughing Cow at the store, and I’ve decided that I like to have the light Laughing Cow much better than regular string cheese, mostly because I can have 2-3 wedges for the same amount of calories as a string cheese. Then, once I got to work, I got an email pitch from Laughing Cow to promote it on my other blog. Seems like working with Laughing Cow is in the cards for me!

The big news of the day is that my surgery date has been moved up to February 7th, which is next Tuesday. Apparently, Dr. Smith is going out of town next Friday, and he wanted to see if I’d move things up so he could be there for my whole hospital stay. Now my pre-surgery class will be on Friday morning, and my abdominal ultrasound and upper GI endoscopy will be Monday morning.

To “celebrate,” Taylor, Rosie and I went out to dinner. I checked all of the nutritional facts online before we went, and I was able to keep right at where I needed to for my daily calories. I’m glad I filled up on veggies during the day so we could have this “last splurge” dinner as a family (because my husband was out of town for my Last Supper(s)). Afterward, we took a trip to Costco for a giant bottle of chewable vitamins, lots of fresh produce and other “crash diet” friendly items.

Today’s food diary:

  • three wedges of light Laughing Cow – 105 cal
  • 4 oz of celery – 20 cal
  • 4 oz of carrots – 45 cal
  • Sugar free Jell-o (3 times in the day) – 35 cal
  • lean deli-sliced turkey (2oz) – 50 cal
  • Honeycrisp apple – 80 cal
  • 2 T Hummus – 70 cal
  • Muscle Milk light – 100 cal
  • 6 oz sirloin steak – 320 cal
  • grilled veggies – 90 cal
  • 1/2 dinner roll – 100 cal
  • TOTAL – 1015 cal
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Food Diary 1-30-12

January 30, 2012 by · 1 Comment

Today was my first day of the pre-surgery “crash diet.” The goal is to keep around 1000 calories per day. Here’s my food diary:

  • Bottled mango smoothie – 220 cal
  • Muscle Milk light shake – 100 cal
  • 2 light String Cheese – 160 cal
  • Carrots and 2 TB hummus – 100 cal
  • Quaker multigrain fiber crisps – 80 cal
  • Green beans – 60 cal
  • Del Taco chicken soft taco and regular soft taco – 340 cal
  • TOTAL – 1060

This morning I had an appointment with Dr. Smith. I hadn’t seen him in the office since last April, so he wanted to go over a few things with me. He gave me a quick physical exam, discussed my most pressing symptoms, showed me where the incisions would be for surgery, and answered a few questions. Next, I met with Cathy, who is the surgery scheduler. We went over more paperwork, confirmed radiology appointments, and reviewed the pre-surgery diet. I also got my FMLA paperwork submitted so my husband and I both have time off work.

I was FLOORED to see how much weight I’ve gained this month. I started the month at 357 (when I weighed in at Dr. Poor’s office when I had bronchitis.) Today I was 373.3, which is officially the most I’ve ever weighed. I’ve gone up 16 pounds in three and a half weeks. It’s a lot, and I expected to gain some, but not that much. I’ve been replacing diet soda with juice, flavored milk, and other drinks so I keep myself away from the bubbly. I was on steroids for over 2 weeks for bronchitis, which ALWAYS makes me gain. And then with the 5-day bingefest I had over the weekend, I guess it isn’t too surprising. I’m retaining fluid like crazy, probably because of all the high-sodium foods I had. Good thing I’m eating right, starting today!

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The Last Supper(s)

January 29, 2012 by · 6 Comments

When my surgery was scheduled this week, it was only two days after I found out that my insurance approved my surgery. In addition to the actual surgery, I had to schedule an ultrasound of my gall bladder and an upper GI endoscopy. Once the scheduling was done, I was told it’s time to enjoy the food that I love, because my pre-surgery “crash diet” was about to begin.

This mean I only had 4 days to fit in meals of my most favorite foods. That’s not a lot of time for a foodie like me.

beyond glaze doughnuts

Now, I’ve already been tapering down the volume of food I consume since after the holidays, and since I stopped drinking soda, I’m able to eat MUCH less than I used to. This is a good and a bad thing – it’s easier to transition into my pre-surgery diet, but it makes “deathbed bingeing” very difficult. Here’s a rundown of everything I ate in the last 5 days:

 

  • Beyond Glaze doughnuts (I cut them up and shared them with coworkers)
  • Great Harvest oatmeal chocolate chip cookie
  • California burrito from Beto’s
  • Pork barbacoa salad from Cafe Rio
  • Steak, mashed potatoes and gravy, and 3 rolls from Texas Roadhouse
  • Blue Coconut cream slush from Sonic
  • Dulce de Leche shake from Del Taco
  • Green curry pot pie and mango sticky rice from Chabaar
  • Ben and Jerry’s Red Velvet Cake ice cream
  • Monte Cristo sandwich
  • A platter of BBQ rib tips and chopped pork with all the trimmings

I also attended two fun get-togethers with friends, which centered around food. Friday night, I got together with Jen, Rosie, and Davey at Gourmandise so I could have my last gourmet pastry – the Peach. I also had bites of English bread pudding, chocolate muffin, and sips of Rosie’s Belgian hot chocolate.

Saturday I went to the #BeehiveBuzz tweetup at the Beehive Cheese Factory in Uintah. We toured the factory, sampled their unique artisan cheeses, mingled with my local Twitter friends, and had a potluck. The hardest thing for me was to not drink the soda! There was a cooler full of gourmet sodas, and the vanilla cream and orange cream sodas were screaming my name. Luckily, I did not cave to temptation, and have made it 9 days soda-free.

And how do I feel now? SICK! I haven’t eaten this much rich food in a short amount of time before. I feel sluggish, my belly aches, and I actually look forward to beginning my pre-surgery diet in the morning. This will consist of 1000 calories a day, with 2 protein shakes a day and one a “sensible” lean protein meal. I’m also meeting with Dr. Smith in the morning for a follow up appointment, since it’s been almost a year since my initial surgical consultation.

If you were about to undertake a completely new way of eating, what would be your last supper? Or suppers?

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