New Plan, Day Four

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I fell asleep downstairs until 6am, so my sleep was not what it should have been. I moved up to my bed and slept until 8am, but I was in a bad mood because I needed to drive a lot and deal with some stressful stuff at work.

Breakfast, 9am

• ham and cheese on a light whole grain English muffin
• cubed cantaloupe
• 48 oz. water
• 12 oz. Diet Coke

I was right that ham and cheese would be even better on the muffin - it crisped up nicely and felt more "breakfasty". I was pleased with myself for chugging so much water, and right after drinking one bottleful, I had a second, so that I was six glasses in before I'd even gotten in the shower.

I then drank another 24 oz. of water in my car while driving, such that I'd had 9 glasses before lunch. My smugness over this fact was dampened by just how desperately I needed to pee by the time I got to campus. There was more than an hour extra of traffic, and in the last 45 min or so, I was certain I was going to wet my pants. That was super uncomfortable, and I cursed myself for drinking so damn much water so fast. I think I need to spread it out a little more carefully throughout the day.

Lunch, 1pm

• steamed vegetable dumplings with soy-ginger dipping sauce (not pictured)
• 12 oz. water

I was an hour late to my lunch meeting, thanks to traffic, and I was anxious about eating at a Thai place because I love Thai food so much, but it's not always the healthiest (at least not what I like). Fortunately, these dumplings were delicious and satisfying, and by ordering the veggie kind, I was pretty sure they were light enough on fat that they wouldn't blow my diet. I explained to my coworkers/friends that I am dieting again, hence the relatively small appetizer for lunch, and they just shrugged. I guess I talk about wanting to lose weight and get healthier pretty frequently, and prior to formally dieting again, I had been trying to make smarter choices all year.

I had to laugh about drinking more water, but I thought that a soda, with caffeine, would make matters even worse, and the water was free.

I spent the rest of the afternoon stressing about work/school stuff and stopping to pee what felt like every 20 minutes. The drive home was also traffic-heavy (argh), so I had another close call between the driveway and our house. I hate that antsy feeling of constantly having to pee, but I hope my body will get over that as it becomes accustomed to so much more water.

Dinner, 9pm

• chicken quesadilla made with chicken breast and reduced fat Cheddar cheese in a whole grain tortilla
• homemade guacamole
• 24 or more oz. Diet Coke (not pictured)

When I planned the menu for this week, I scheduled it so that I would cook the first three meals, and my mom would take over from Thursday forward. I was trying to make it pleasant for everyone, by giving my parents a break on meals and getting us all warmed up to the concept of eating healthier with way more vegetables.

Tonight my mother took over, and I was happy for that, as she makes fantastic quesadillas and arguably the world's best homemade guacamole. This meal felt like a treat, even though she made it within the diet guidelines, and we were all happy to have one of our favorites.

Late-night Snack, 2am

• 2 caramel popcorn cakes with Smart Balance peanut butter
• 12 oz. Coke Cherry Zero

Once again, I fell asleep in a chair after dinner (watching Planet Earth with my dad, who was snoring beside me), but this time I woke up early enough to move up to my bed for something more closely resembling a proper night's sleep. I was really hungry, which was weird (probably not enough vegetables), and desperately craving sweets. I didn't want to go over on my milks with a yogurt, and I rationalized that the dietary fiber in these popcorn cakes probably made them an okay bread, though it did put me well over my breads for the day. The peanut butter was so good I didn't care that I'd probably used my fats with guacamole, and I resolved to have much more vegetables and take it easy tomorrow.

Summary

Today was mostly a success, in that I drank even more than my 8 glasses of water (I think I totaled 10 glasses), but I'm going to have to spread them out better so I don't walk around worrying about peeing myself all day. I could have done better on vegetables and had less bread, but I think the choices I'm making are still pretty sensible and realistic for lifestyle changes.