Day 16 Summary

Total Steps For Day: 11,086    (walk)
Total Calories:   1170
Weight Loss: +.1 (-4.4 lbs total for 16 days, body fat down .1%)

My weight went up 1/10th of a pound and my fat % went down 1/10th of a pound.  This implies I have tiny bit more muscle and a tiny bit less fat.  I can feel the one pair of slacks I wear (way too frequently) is fitting a little looser. 

Keeping Diets and Life In Perspective

Two years ago I became exceedingly thin due to a little health battle.  I weighed the least I weighed since high school.  In some respects I was elated to be thin but it was clear that the weight loss was massive muscle loss and overall not a healthy loss.  On the upside I got to wear all those size 4's in my closet for the first time in years!  Unfortunately for me, during that year I could eat anything I wanted but continued to lose weight.  The bad news was I rarely wanted to eat.  So at a time when I should have been eating the healthiest I ate whatever I could eat just to keep food down and in the process I picked up some bad habits.

I spent this last year on-the-mend but just not moving around a lot.  My sedentary behavior (and a few bad eating habits) allowed me to gain all that weight back. Goodbye size 4's. Sadly, instead of just regaining my muscle, the weight came back in fat-stores instead. In some respects gaining weight was a good thing but in reality, excess weight is not healthy and in fact for some of us, downright dangerous.  So my little 1/10th of a pound upward today is not a big deal in the scheme of things. My focus now is to keep heading in the right direction.  I know that eating more healthfully will help me avoid being ill again.  And this new eating and exercise behavior is my path to continued good health.

Diet Day 16 Breakfast

I felt a little lazy this morning so I had the Nutrisystem Cinnamon Roll again.  It's really pretty good, I love the cinnamon.  For my Powerfuel protein I had 1/2 cup of Fage Total 0 yogurt.  The problem with these fat-free products is there is nothing left in the yogurt to keep you feeling satiated for long.  I think in the future if I'm going to eat something sugary, I'll have an egg or something substantial with it.

Diet Day 16 Morning Snack

I know I sound like a broken record; I had my Dr. Keith's Chocolate Cream shake again.  I had the shake right before I took off for my major walk for the day.  It's choc-full of protein, vitamin, minerals and even fiber so it stays with me as I get my exercise.  I walked close to an hour and got close to 8K steps.

Diet Day 16 Lunch

I opted for the Nutrisystem Four Cheese Melt, the same one I had last week.  I had some nice fresh small tomatoes from the neighbor and another cucumber (yes, they are still coming, but slower now).  This made a nice meal I could just whip together in about 5 minutes.  I'm still loving the convenience.

A Short Rant

So Many Sweets!

I mentioned I wanted to rant a little about one aspect, two actually, that I don't like about Nutrisystem.  One I think they could remedy the other perhaps not.  My first beef is I don't think it's really a good idea getting people used to eating so many sweets.  Now I understand that after the first "fixed-week" of the diet you can choose what you like but overall there seems to be this encouragement to eat chocolate and pastries and surgery-flavored bars.  Unless during maintenance you continue to buy these lower-fat-lower-calorie products you'll probably end up packing in a lot of unnecessary calories from the pastries you purchase at your local store.  I don't think these foods would be a normal add to a standard healthy diet.  I realize they don't want you to be deprived but it seems they could add some suggestions like, have pastry type breakfast once a month, or week or some realistic guideline.  For my next order I'm going to try to steer clear of so many sweet options.   I ordered many things because I wanted to prepare, taste and review them.  Now that I understand the program better, I'll make some better choices.

Landfill Nightmare

My last rant is about the mountain of paper and boxes and containers I'm throwing away everyday (much goes in paper recycling). This is an ecological nightmare!  Feeding two adults I fill up a grocery bag per day with containers and wrappers, and paper associated with meal prep.  I know a lot of people use convenience foods daily and I'm getting a better understanding why we have such a paper and plastic waste problem in this country. As for mail-order foods like Nutrisystem I don't know that there is much they can do about it other than to make sure they use recyclable containers.  It will be up to citizens who use the packaged foods to try to conserve in other ways like using your own shopping bags and buying products with minimal recyclable packaging.  Something to ponder.

Diet Day 16 Afternoon Snack

I purchased a good-sized container of organic blueberries yesterday. I intended to eat them with my yogurt but sadly I ran out and haven't shopped yet (still) so I had the berries with 1/4 cup of low fat cottage cheese.  I would have had a least a half of a cup of the cottage cheese but alas, out of that too.  I really need to get to the grocery store.

Diet Day 16 Dinner

I'm having a new entree tonight, Nutrisystem Whole Wheat Ricotta Crepes. I put off trying these because the concept of whole wheat crepes, bland ricotta cheese and another red sauce didn't sound that appealing to me.  Wow, I was pleasantly surprised!  The sauce was not the typical Italian, oregano flavored sauce used in many entrees, but in fact a roasted red pepper sauce with a very nice flavor.

Sadly there was no way for me to plate it to make it look more appealing. The crepes sag under the weight of the sauce and once the little cheese on top melted it was barely visible. 

I harvested two more of those eggplant beauties out of my garden so I made another batch of the baked eggplant.  We're loving that recipe!

You can see there are cheese shreds atop the crepes but they melt into the sauce during preparation.

Clearly my crepes didn't look even close to the version on the box but based on the flavor I would eat these again.

Diet Day 16 Dessert / Snack

Tonight's dessert was another repeat, the Nutrisystem Chocolate Cupcake.  I brewed a fresh pot of coffee and served a cup with my little treat.  It's the perfect amount of sweetness at the end of a meal.

Diet Day 16 Wrap UP

I wasn't as active today as I have been most of the week. After all, it is Sunday, my day of rest (haha). I barely made my 11k step goal for the day but I did make it!  I'm curious what my weight will do tomorrow.  I'm optimistic I'm on a downward trend.

Have a happy Labor Day to all tomorrow!  Let's see what tomorrow brings.