Day 4 - Whoo Hooo! Burgertime!

I bought a scale yesterday.  Weighed myself and was 367.  I know I have lost weight since we started (folks were commenting that my face looked slimmer, apparently you lose it first there) but Mom's scale only went to 300 pounds, and in the interest of not blowing up the only scale she had, I never stood on it.  So I estimated my starting weight at 380, based on how much I typically lose in the first week of a diet (usually 10-15 pounds).

We went to Wal-Mart and bought a Taylor "The Biggest Loser" Scale (kinda fits, doncha think?) for $40.  This afternoon after I woke up after a 17 hour sleep (I am an imsomniac and often don't sleep for days and was awake most of the weekend and put the dinner party on with about 2 hours sleep, so Mom didn't wake me until I woke up on my own today) I was down to 362.  Yay!  Whoo Hoo!  Terribly exciting and all that.

Yesterday I had Orange Cream Ensure (Mmmmmmmmmmm! and only 250 Cal.) for breakfast after swimming laps at the pool, 1 can of regular Canada Dry Ginger Ale (140 Cal.) to settle my stomach as I wasn't feeling well before I lay down, Butter Pecan Ensure (250 Cal.) for lunch, Jell-O (0 Cal.) for a snack and for supper we decided on a Hamburger Patty.  Mom is still craving red meat (for the iron her blood needs to regenerate I suppose) after giving blood at the Red Cross a week ago and so I was going to make fish but we decided on the red meat for the iron and so I whipped up some more meatloaf, but crustless, mildless and eggless this time (175 calories).  It had a tendency to break apart as cooking so I would recommend cooking it with an egg in to hold its shape, however that means adding another 50 calories, so it is entirely up to you.  I fried them up in a non-stick frying pan without any oil, but you could throw them on the BBQ but I would only do this if you add the egg as it would have a tendency to fall through the grating!

Hamburger Patty

Serves 4 (I refroze the other two in the fridge) - 187 Calories (175 without the egg)

1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef

1 egg

1/2 cup bread crumbs or soda crackers

1/2 cup onion

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 Tbsp minced garlic 

1 stalk diced celery

1 Tbsp prepared mustard

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

3 Tbsp minced parsley

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground allspice

1/4 tsp ground cloves

Add all ingredients together in a bowl, mix together with hands until spices and onion, etc. are evenly distributed.  Shape into four large 1/3 pound patties.  Cook in frying pan or BBQ on medium-low heat until cooked through, about 15 minutes.  Serve with salad or veggies.

After supper I had a Orange Cream Ensure Popsicle (83 Cal.).  Kudos to Jill Alana for suggesting this!  It was so good!  You just take the Orange Cream Ensure and pour it into your popsicle mold (mine made 3 from one bottle so 83 calories each) and it was so delicious.  I shared some of mine with mom, but not much because it was so nummy.  I also made up some Grapefruit-Tangerine Crystal Light (5 Cal. for a singles packet) and froze it in popsicle molds.  It was pretty bland so next time I'm going to half the amount of water in it.  I was munchy while fixing the table leg that fell off during the dinner party (made things a bit exciting!) and I munched on some regular corn tortillas chips (about 200 Cal. - we haven't quite got rid of everything non-fattening out of the house yet, still some stuff left over)

All in all my caloric intake yesterday was 1098 calories.  I wish I had left off the stupid chips, LOL!  I would have been a hundred under instead of 98 over.  Still, not bad.  1100 calories and I was quite satisfied.

Just a note, one of my friends mentioned "Keeping it off is not nearly as hard as getting it off!  NEVER reward yourself with food! Yeah the steak sound good, but you're setting yourself up for failure. Stop revolving around food!! Reward yourself with stuff (new sneakers, a massage or tickets to a ball game, anything but food)! Part of winning is changing your perspectives... especially about food"  I agree with what she is saying, you can't reward yourself and survive.  Think how many times we go out to eat to celebrate or reward ourselves with a Blizzard or other treat, or how often we console ourselves with a pint of Chunky Monkey (input your favorite ice cream here!).  I agree that we have to put that aside and do other things.

But I don't want to give up good food.  And I have no desire to exist the rest of my life eating rabbit food or diet food.  What I am attempting to do with this blog and with my life, for that matter, is to outline a course of action in which I can and am losing weight, then maintain the weight, all with great tasting food.  Some things I have to give up, bread being one of my main offenders, and someday in the future I will be able to add some of it back (in moderation), but I am convinced like my mom's friend that just ate two bites of whatever he wanted, if I can control portion size and content, why can't I eat steak when I want to?

Let me know what you think.  I would welcome the criticism, good or bad!