First half week in the books (and a technology tip)

So the first half of my first week of officially being on IP is over.  I was going to post after my first official day but it kind of sucked.  I went in for the required blood work in the morning.  This of course was a fasting blood test so they can get baseline numbers for cholesterol and glucose etc.

Normally after one of those I pig out on carbs.  Couldn't do that on Tuesday.  and was I HUNGRY.  most of the day!  I had a headache and it felt like I'd just cut carbs out of my diet not nearly 3 weeks ago.  I ended up have a 4th IP protein food because Lindsay (my coach) said the first week that was OK.  I had a snack before bed thinking that would help keep me good over night.

I was right.

I slept great and the second day was just fabby.  I tried the IP cream of chicken soup (thinking to myself it wouldn't really  be creamy).  I was surprised.  It was rich and creamy and delish!  I added my broccoli to it and had a wonderful lunch. Dinner was just a ham steak and roasted asparagus.  Filling and tasty.

Today I started with a mocha smoothie (pre-made chocolate IP drink, WF caramel sauce, WF chocolate sauce, powdered espresso and ice).  Rich creamy and satisfying.

Tonight is pork chops marinaded in Sesame Ginger WF dressing and veg stir fry.  I think I can do this.  I really do :)

Oh and for those of you who have trouble recording everything in the little book or want to be a little more tech-savvy, I found the Doc's Diet Diary app for my android phone.  Its a text based entry and has categories for meals, snacks drinks and "symptoms" like the smiley face on the booklet.  It was a free download and so far I am loving it.  Its easier to record all the details there and scribe in my book at night so Lindsay can see it.

So long for now!

Now it's official

I had my first IP consultation today complete with weight and measurements.  I wasn't surprised by what the numbers were.  Not happy with it but not surprised.

I think they were surprised.  At how prepared I was.  At what I'd already done in the last week (down to about 10% of my former carb intake).  Already pinning Phase 1 recipes on a board in Pinterest. Already trying to eat like the protocol except for the IP food.

What can I say, I'm an engineer.  Its how we roll.

The receptionist was saying oh you should try such and such.  I said well I made this (the chicken medallions and spaghetti squash) on Saturday.  Her eyes got big.  She said that if I had any good recipes I should send them in.  I said I'm blogging them all.  She said you should post links on our FB page.  Ummm OK, I'd love to.

That's when I told her that I had a dream that they hired me to teach cooking classes.  She just smiled.  OK so it will stay a dream for a while but wouldn't that be awesome!  Even as a part time thing.

No recipes tonight although I did make a great veggie stir fry yesterday for dinner.  After the burger and rutabaga fries John and I just weren't that hungry so all veg hit the spot.  I'll post some pix of that another time.

Tonight, to get ready for the full fledged "program" starting tomorrow, I made these little chocolate donuts cakes:

I haven't tried them yet so I'll have to let you know if they are any good.  If they rock (which I'm kind of hoping they do), I'll post instructions later in the week.

So long for now!

Me 1, Rutabaga 0

So I attempted to make rutabaga fries for lunch today.  Its legal (I triple checked after the spaghetti squash scandal) and I found several Pinterest recipes for them.  Some of the comments said -Ewww blech, and some said - Couldn't tell the difference.  SO I went with a recipe that said "Couldn't tell the diff" and prayed all through church that this was the truth.

The recipe I used was from Novice Housewife.

Rutabagas are a little tough to peel.  We learned a technique in cooking class and I got that part done without too much trouble.  But when it came to cutting said (now peeled) rutabaga, we had a few issues

I won that round :)

The only difference between what I did and what the recipe said was the spices.  I didn't have what was listed and so used Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt and some Essence of Emeril in about the same proportion as listed in the recipe.  Mixed it up and baked until crispy

These were in a word - phenomenal!!  The WF Ketchup on the other hand was not something I would recommend.  Too vinegary and too runny even though I keep it in the frig. But with the little bit of spice these fries really didn't need ketchup anyway (and this is coming from the girl who believes the ONLY purpose of a french fry is as a ketchup carrier).  My hubby almost lost the rest of his because I was going to steal them.  Lucky for him that he ate them all before I could nab any :)

So long for now!

Breakfast of Champions

What do you get when you mix an Ideal Protein Vanilla drink, a Walden's Farms individual serving chocolate syrup packet and 2 teaspoons of powdered espresso with a cup of ice and a Ninja super blender?

well lets just say it's like breakfast heaven

Mmmmmmmm ... pardon me while I indulge

Its whats for dinner

...Chicken medallions with tomato basil and garlic alfredo sauces (all 0 carb, 0 fat, 0 calorie but not 0 taste) paired with spaghetti squash .

** Edited a Second Time:  I now have the "official" program information.  It turns out Spaghetti Squash IS on the Phase one list but on the Restricted list so only once per week.  I'm OK with that.  This was so good I'd hate to wait until the maintenance phase to have it again

** Edited:  Turns out I read the list wrong.  That's what comes from trying to start before I officially have all the information.  Spaghetti squash is on the forbidden list for Phase 1 not the allowed list, so while this was delish, the veg is not Phase 1 friendly.

So I've never posted a recipe or step by step cooking instructions in my life.  But I've posted card "recipes" over on my paper crafting blog so how much different can it be ... except make sure to wash your wands thoroughly after handling raw meat.  You don't have to do that with raw paper, but here its important.

 First things first ... preheat your oven to 375° and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil (it keeps the mess down).

Now on to the spaghetti squash because it takes longer to cook.

First you cut it in half and clean out the cuts.  Its kind of like a pumpkin with strands and seeds and such.  Too gross for pictures in my opinion.  The nice thing is its smaller than a pumpkin so much easier to clean out.  OK - your squashes are all clean?  Yes?  Then on to the next step

Drizzle the insides of the squash with olive or grape seed oil then season with salt and pepper.  You can use any spices you like but I usually stick with just these two.  Put the squash on your foil lined baking sheet like so ...

I've been told that poking holes in the rind helps it cook more evenly and more quickly.  Since I have never gotten one cooked in less than an hour I thought I'd give that a try tonight (hint: it did work).  Let the hole poking commence.

Then pop it in the oven for about 40 minutes.  While the squash is cooking start working on your chicken.  I like to pan sear my chicken so I usually slice the breasts in half to make them thinner.  You can also pound them flatter to make a cutlet, but I find this to be faster for me.

Add some spice ... tonight I used salt pepper and some Penzy pasta sprinkles.  I was going for an Italian theme and I figured it wasn't just for pasta despite the name :) and Thanks again Aunt Judy for the Penzy Spice pack wedding present.   We are making great use of it here at the ranch

Next add a little oil to your saute pan and heat it over medium heat.  I tend to use the Rachel Ray method of measurement so 2 turns around the pan.  I think that's about 1-2 T, but try and keep it to a minimum.  You just want to keep the chicken from sticking.  You could also use a Misto and spray the oil on for a more even coverage

Chicken frying .... with this size of meat I let it go 4-5 minutes on 1 side them flip it for another 4-5 minutes.  I didn't start the chicken until the squash was almost done.

Once the squash was done you pull it out of the oven, let it cool for a few minutes so you don't burn your fingerprints off and use a fork to scrape the squashy bits out.  

I tried these 2 Waldens Farms sauces together.  My hubs liked the Tomato Basil all by itself,.  The Alfredo is a bit garlicy but when paired with the tomato was really good, I thought.  

Ta Da!  

My husband had never had spaghetti squash before - didn't even know what I was buying at the grocery store when I got it.  He really liked it and was done with his plate when I still was working on mine (I was talking a lot about the  WF products I bought today, but still I'm usually a much faster eater.  That's usually my sign that he really likes something!)

So tonight's dinner was a total success.  Challenge friendly and mighty tasty.

So long for now!

Its like starting over ...

So I'm starting {another} blog.  This will be my fourth (although one of them is super secret and can't be found by normal means).  I'm going to try and make this rambly and stream of consciousness as much as possible.  Its to document my weight loss journey starting now (I may delve into history at times because its not like I just decided I needed to lose weight).  But its my thoughts and my progress and I suspect that will be rather non-linear.

I want to also, as I get going, to share recipes - successes and failures.  I mean if I go to all the trouble of trying something and its a colossal mess, I'd want to give fair warning so no one else has to endure the pain and suffering (like broiling asparagus ... no, just no)

OK, so to start off I joined Ideal Protein and will have my initial consultation on Monday.  I'm super excited.  One thing I know going in is I need to think that I'm going to eat like this forever.  While the food list may expand and change, the prep etc won't and I need to make things interesting now.  I've been searching the internet and already found some interesting ideas (Pinterest again is my friend).  I've, in my head, reworked the best meatloaf recipe on the planet (Rachel Ray's Basic Meatloaf) into something that I think is Phase 1 friendly.  I haven't tried yet, but in my head all the replacements should work and it should still reign supreme as the best meatloaf recipe on the planet (IMO - I'm not taking a vote)

I'm pretty thankful I took cooking classes a few years ago.  When I've tried things like this in the past, I've failed, I think because I didn't know how (nor did I like) to cook so I'd eat the same thing over and over {and over and over ad nauseum}.  Then I'd get bored and then I'd cheat or quit.  Or I relied on prepackaged food ALL the time and never learned how to eat right (healthy).

I feel really good about this program so far - on paper and based on folks I know who have gone through it. Sometimes its easy to lose weight but hard to maintain the loss and it looks like they really work to not only make you successful in losing but successful in maintaining as well.

Ok thats enough ramblings for one night.  I'll add more once I officially start on the program