Atkins, Day Nine

Once again, I had lots of work to do and all kinds of things planned, but I opted to sleep late (like noon) and take my time going about the day. I'm going to have a very hard time come Sunday night, given that everything is due Monday, but I guess I'm not really thinking about that right now.

• 3:40 pm - turkey and pepper jack roll-ups, 16 oz sugar-free iced green tea
  
  


• 3:57 pm - fresh herb salad with creamy Caesar dressing, 16 oz sugar-free iced green tea
  
  


• 6:30 pm - 32 oz sugar-free iced green tea


• 7:25 pm - turkey, avocado & pepper jack cheese with low-fat mayonnaise on low-carb salsa-flavored wrap, 16 oz sugar-free iced green tea
  
  


• 8:20 pm - thin deli slice of beef bologna


• 9:23 pm - plantation mint tea with half & half and Splenda
  
  


• 10:00 pm - Ropa Vieja with pepper jack cheese, 16 oz diet cranberry ginger ale
  
  


• 12:45 am - 16 oz diet cranberry ginger ale


• 1:30 am - strawberry Jello made with cranberry ginger ale, extra creamy Cool Whip
  
  

I had been wandering around kind of spacey until I first ate today, and my boyfriend kept asking what was wrong with me. True, I was distracted, but it was surprising to finally realize "Oh, I guess I'm hungry?" The funny thing about Atkins is that it really diminishes appetite and physical hunger, so I can go all day without eating - and that's probably not good.

The wrap I had was fantastic, and I loved the avocado. We were guzzling pitchers full of the sugar-free (and no carb) iced green tea, so I went to the grocery to get more mix. I found myself at the deli counter getting all kinds of things and noticed my basket was nearly full. I suppose this is fine because I wasn't even tempted to get anything bad, which is a major advantage for me.

On traditional diets, I found all kinds of ways of rationalizing a little snack here or a bite or two of something decadent, saying I wasn't completely blowing the diet, just having a treat. Now I know that if I scarf down something illicit, it really will sabotage my entire day. To that extent, I'm being a lot more disciplined as far as only eating carb-free foods and carefully counting those that do have them. Thusfar, I'm really satisfied, too.

The Ropa Vieja was a smashing success. We improvised a chicken version and melted pepper jack cheese on top. I hope it's not immodest to say it rivaled the best dishes I've ever had at my very favorite Mexican restaurant. I will absolutely have to make this again. (When I do, I'll be sure to write up the recipe to share).

It also occurred to me as I was boiling water for Jello, that I could make more than one package at a time. Since it takes 4-5 hours to properly set, and I rarely think to make it before 8:30, my boyfriend and I spend a lot of time dancing around the fridge, impatiently poking at it and waiting to have some. This time I made the double-size (4 cups) box of raspberry, as well as a box of strawberry where I substituted diet cranberry ginger ale for cold water. We were both especially curious about this one, and it was really quite fabulous, though not as bubbly as I thought it would be. I got all kinds of ideas for other ways of preparing it, however, like clear gelatin with just the cranberry ginger ale flavor or a light-colored (peach maybe?) Jello with the pink added to get sparkly light pink cubes. I'll play more.