Day 3 and feeling great. One of the things I love about this program is the prescribed meal plan. No more worrying about portion size - the recipes are designed for 1 serving, which is often hard to find. I also love feeling satiated, but not full, after each meal. You know that feeling, after you've housed 3-6 pieces of pepperoni pizza? I don't miss that. For me, it's all about being disciplined, and this plan makes it easy.
I had a great night sleep and was again able to get up earlier than usual (1 hour) to get to work on prep. I've been weighing myself each day first thing. Having successfully done Weight Watchers in the past, I know you can't live and die by the scale, especially weighing everyday. Your body weight fluctuates constantly, so it's really week-to-week that matters. That said, I'm down 4 lbs, which is about reasonable. While I'm not necessarily doing this specific program for weight loss, I'd like to be down 10 lbs at the end. I figure that gives me a good base to then start an exercise program to lose the remaining 20 lbs.
My morning was HECTIC! The amount of chopping was, well, ridiculous. I spent approximately 45-60 minutes cutting, chopping, shredding, and mixing. Even though I was up early, time still got away. In fact, I got to work about 30 minutes later than normal. Life happens!
Breakfast was a repeat of Day 1 - scrambled eggs, toast, and steamed spinach. I'm going to miss eggs. I typically have them about 4 times a week, so going 2.5 weeks without (and probably longer) makes me sad.
Lunch was a great salad pairing. I had lentil and lime salad and another micro-green salad. I can't believe the portion on the micro-green. It's about 1.5-2 cups of fresh cup veggies AND greens. The lentil and lime salad had a great flavor - lentils with shredded carrots, lime juice, some seasoning, and chopped cilantro. I am NOT a fan of the devil weed (cilantro), but I chopped it really fine and to be honest, it actually was a great compliment to the other flavors. I ate at me desk - I'm jealous of the stay-at-homes doing this program, I'd love to sit with a proper plate every day. By the way, that's only half of the salad serving in the picture below.
I had my snack of edamame mid-afternoon, along with my pre-hydration and Alkalanize. The stuff is going down fine - I know it's a strong flavor for most, and I can see why some would have trouble with it. I truly believe it's mindset - if you think it's going to be nasty, it will be nasty. Look to enjoy it, and it will be good. Thinking about the health benefits helps me.
Since Thursdays I have a standing evening activity, I needed to be very conscious of my schedule to ensure I had enough time to hydrate, make, and eat dinner and still not be late. Using my calendar was clutch.
I hydrated before I left work, and when I got home I got right to work on dinner. I had prepared the cucumber/seaweed salad in the morning (all the chopping, oye!), the brown rice was already cooked for the sushi, and the miso was really easy to prepare. Tonight was my first attempt at rolling sushi. YouTube videos definitely helped, and thanks to my friend B for lending me the sushi matt. While the role wasn't "perfect", it came out okay, and I learned a lesson about rolling it tighter for the next one.
I loved the sushi. The smokey tempeh was delicious, I'm all for a "fake bacon" if it tastes good. I've read that some don't like it, but I loved it. I had a little trouble chopping fine matchstick carrots and cukes, but it ultimately came out ok. After I rolled and cut it, I put some Bragg's on each piece, and thought it was great. Now for the not so great news - I could have definitely done without the cuke/seaweed salad, and frankly, the miso. I couldn't find the paste, so I bought an organic dry mix - the low sodium variety. It just didn't have any flavor, but it was at least nice to have something warm. I will probably head out to find the paste to see if it makes a difference. I suspect anything low sodium is just going to taste bland. As far as the salad, I think it was just cuke overload, and the marinade didn't add as much flavor as I would have hoped. All in all I powered through it, got to my standing activity, and got home in time to see C and A before bed.
I finished off the night watching a favorite show, finishing my hydration, and getting my second night sleep with my CPAP. Yes, I have mild sleep apnea, which is one of the reasons for this reset. I want to get to a point of healthy eating so I can transition into a workout and lose the 30 LBs. I know that this program, along with the CPAP, will give me a restful sleep and the energy I haven't experienced in years. So far, so good!
Reflections
Today I put everything on my calendar. I mostly live and die by it, so it's helpful to schedule hydration, meals, etc. I found it really helpful, and will probably continue this through the reset. I see the biggest advantage being not letting too much time get in between meals. I could see having dinner way later if I'm not scheduled or at least conscious about it.
The portions are huge. Again, I'm an eater, and I've found some of these meals are almost too much food. Yeah, me. As part of this conscious eating philosophy, I'm working on quitting the clean-plate-club. I am re-learning to listen to my body and hear when I'm full. The nice thing is Wife loves this type of food, and since she's not doing the program, she can have my extra portions. Win-win.
Tonight was my Thursday activity night. The activity is always followed by dinner and drinks with my friends. Telling them I was heading home was hard - I knew that they would be somewhat disappointed/sad, but I know in the end they support my goals and hopefully are privately rooting for me. I know to some this program may seem hokey, but I'm hopeful as they see the results, they'll be champions for me :)
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