Review of Day 1 and Day 2 in progress

Ok folks, I have never been a breakfast person. Never mind breakfast, I’ve never been a MORNING person. Anytime I’ve eaten breakfast in the past, it’s been more out of obligation than anything. I normally have a really bad habit of downing 2-3 cups of coffee in the morning and waiting as long as I possibly can to have lunch. I’d occasionally have a fruit or a yogurt around 10 AM, and end up starving by the time noon rolled around. I’d feel like I “woke up” my digestive system just enough to get really, insanely hungry at a really inconvenient time. I love it when I’m sitting in a morning meeting and my stomach starts eating itself so loudly that everyone else in the room can hear it. Of course they politely pretend not to, but you know they’re wondering. It’s kinda like throwing one shoe in the clothes dryer and listening to it bang around until the cycle winds down.

Yesterday, I geared up for my first blueberry / banana breakfast smoothie courtesy of Perfect Produce’s handy morning recipes. “Recipe” is a little misleading because it took all of about five seconds to make. “Stuff to throw in a blender” is perhaps more accurate. My schedule was a little out of whack due to the holiday, but I basically just shifted all my meals forward an hour and a half or so, which seemed to work out ok.

This smoothie was so good I was actually looking forward to getting up and making another one on Tuesday. I’m the kind of person who hits the snooze button 10 times before dragging herself out of bed in the morning. I didn’t do that today. It was that good. Word to the wise – go easy on the Stevia powder. The tartness of the Kefir and blueberries is super good and I for one prefer not to mute it too much. A pinch really does go a long way. The fiber mix makes it really, really thick and filling, and the recipe gives you a little more than one big glass full. Another tip – rinse your glass and your blender ASAP after making this. The mixture comes right off when you rinse immediately, but when you’re lazy and let it sit in the sink all morning (not that I’m that kind of person ::cough::), it will be a little more work to get off later. At least soak your stuff in water while you’re out doing whatever it is you do all day.

I have previously sneered at smoothies, thinking they wouldn’t keep me full for more than 2 seconds, and that’s no doubt true for ordinary, sugary, unsophisticated smoothies that are no better than chunky Kool Aid. Not so for this puppy. I can actually go a whole morning without obsessing over lunch.

For lunch, I had an apple mango tuna salad with apricots and almonds. Sound funky? It’s awesome. I don’t know if the picture really does justice to the gigantic MOUND of salad allotted for lunchtime, but I actually kind of had trouble finishing it, which was also awesome. I had to double check both this and the smoothie recipe to make sure that I had divided the portions correctly.

Yup, this is one serving. Granted, the recipe called for “small” apples and I used pretty “large” apples, but I doubt that is going to make too big a difference. I hope not anyway, because I like being able to actually feel full. I was a little apprehensive about that when I started the plan, only because I am accustomed to overeating – a LOT. I figured I was probably in for a period of adjustment while my supersized stomach shrank back down to normal. So far, I’m not feeling deprived.

The one area where I was a little dismayed at portion size was my trail mix snack. It looked kinda skimpy to me. However once I munched my way through the dried soy beans, it actually put a pretty good dent in my hunger. I think the texture forced me to eat it more slowly, but that might just be me. I have really bad, sensitive teeth for my age. I might see if I can find some toasted soy beans or something a little less hard to chomp on for next time. Until then it’s fine, a nice salty-ish sweet-ish treat.

Dinner: I was so proud of my chili. I had company over and I was actually happy to feed them something I made in my own kitchen. That’s pretty much a first for me. I have occasionally made a successful plate of Duncan Hines brownies (that I’m allergic to) or a decent salad, but this was actual, real food that tasted like something homey and good that someone’s momma would make.

I supplemented my berries n’ cream snack with a couple gluten free chocolate chip cookies (c’mon, it’s a holiday, and they were really, really little I promise). Other than that, the only deviations from the plan were coffee and a couple hard candies. Oh wait, I lied, I had a really small glass of white wine with dinner. Today has been much the same (minus the wine, it’s only noon for crying out loud), and I’m happy to say that the morning hungry grumpies were conquered even though I was sitting behind a desk all day with a clock staring at me.

Tomorrow’s breakfast is some kind of sandwich-y thing that I haven’t studied too closely yet, but I’m looking forward to it. It occurred to me that the Perfectly Produce meal plans might do more for me than just nutrition and weight management – it might actually help me instill some order and routine in my life that is greatly lacking right now. I have a tendency to allow an unhealthy cycle take over my week: later and later nights mean more and more stressful and rushed mornings, and by Friday I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck. It’s a really bad habit that makes me miserable. Maybe this will help – I hope so.

This evening I meet with my personal trainer, who’s going to tell me how fat I am. No, really. I’d say I’m pretty average-sized, but I'm definitely not in the best shape of my life right now. It’s all in how you feel. What I mean, though, is that she's going to take body composition measurements. I promise to share this with you guys no matter how unflattering it is. I’ll also post my starting weight so that you can see any changes over time.