Yeah Well I'm Still Learning

OK so the last two days, try as I might, I couldn't hit the extra 300 calorie target....but I'm getting closer. Like I said it is a learning process and I am learning. Anyone out there in post op maintenance phase who has any tips for me to increase the calories without increasing the volume of food while STILL staying within my fat and carb maximums (30g fat and 40g carbs) please shoot me comment letting me know of any suggestions you have for me. Thanks in advance to any of you who offer your assistance.

Here is a run down of my Monday and Tuesday:

Monday December 12, 2011

Breakfast:
Double Scoop Protein Shake, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Flavor
(see my protein shake page for recipe)

Mid Morning:
Single Fauxa (pronounced like Mocha with a "fa")
(Recipe: Espresso, 1oz Torani Sugar Free Chocolate Syrup, 3 oz Hot H2O, 4oz Steamed Skim Milk)

Lunch:
Tyson Frozen Chicken Breast Fillet
2Tbsp Golden Miso Sauce

Dinner:
3oz Carnitas (precooked from Costco)
2Tbsp BBQ sauce
1/4c Finely Shredded Lettuce

Dessert:
Yasso Strawberry Frozen Yogurt Bar (a.k.a. The Best New Thing In The World Today)

This area will be switched for nutrition count later -- I don't have my food journal with me at the moment

I'll tell you about Tuesday in a minute....right now I  want to talk about sugar. First, I have to tell you about these yogurt bars I found at Costco! OMG they are GOOD!! I don't even know how I found them? I usually avoid that section of freezer so as to avoid having to look at cheesecakes and such, but I thought I'll just walk by fast and not look....but I looked. (Kinda like a train wreck happening near you, I suppose? I just couldn't help myself.) What was it that caught my eye? It wasn't cheesecake, it wasn't cream puffs, it wasn't ice cream....it was a box that said "70 calories 6g Protein." Now like I've said, in the past year this way of eating has become very natural for me, so when I saw 70 calories, 6g protein, I thought to myself, "hey I know those values....that's an egg!" LOL! So I opened the freezer door and grabbed a box to look more closely at what it was. They are fat free frozen Greek yogurt on a stick -- they come in a box with 2 flavors, strawberry and blueberry....and both are DELISH! I bought them and took them home with me, but then I worried that they may be too good to be true, so I discussed them with my doc and he gave me the green light!

They are now in my arsenal of "instead ofs"....I, like many of you, am a sugar addict. I'm in recovery, but I'm still an addict. Unfortunately, there are no help products out there for those of us with sugar issues. There have been several studies done on sugar addiction, and it has been determined that trying to break a sugar habit is equally as difficult as as trying to break yourself from heroine. I'd say it's probably harder, though I've never been addicted to heroine to have to ride out the cravings for that, but at lease heroine addicts have methadone to help them....sugar addicts have nothing but will power. IF you want to make BILLIONS.....create a product similar to a nicotine patch that takes sugar cravings away!

I have an easier time of it now that I've been "sugar free" for a little over a year, but I still have a rough time. I have set my life up to not be faced with my demon of sugar on a daily basis. Fortunately, I have a supportive family who agreed from the beginning of this process that my being healthy was more important to them than having access to sweets in the house, so we just don't have that stuff around. I only have a limited supply of will power, and if I needed to use it everyday to "just say NO" to sweets, then eventually it would get all used up and I'd give in.  My doctor likes to say, "Even a fox who is a sworn vegetarian will eat a chicken if you put it in the hen house enough times."  So why would a person who has sugar issues keep that stuff around? Honestly, I just don't know??

Even though I don't keep the stuff in my house, it is the holiday season and so I've been faced with it for extended periods of time occasionally this past month, and there are nights I wake up at 2 a.m. wanting to eat sugar....but because I don't have it available, I am able to talk myself down. I chose not to get up and drive to a 24hr supermarket and buy candy -- but if it were in the house....or if that happened every night....well let's just say I'm glad I don't have to have my will power tested that extensively!

I have a friend Lynn who is struggling with sugar right now and having a hard time, so for her (and anyone else who needs a few suggestions here is how I stay successful in my battle with sweets:

• GET THE STUFF OUT OF THE HOUSE! (Don't use your family as an excuse to keep it around. They love you more than sweets, and they will support you if you ask them too. If one of your family members had a nut allergy or gluten allergy, or shell fish allergy, etc...would you balk at not having the risky items around? No you'd find an alternative -- they will too.)
• FIND "INSTEAD OF's" (For me that is a cupboard full of Torani Sugar Free Syrups [for LOTS of uses...shakes, coffee, flavoring yogurt, "desserts", etc...], an occasional sugar free candy [but don't over do it or....well, let's just say you'll have to stay close to the bathroom for the day], Yasso Bars, Wylers or MIO to flavor my water, & Sugar Free Jello [which I use to make "fluff" from Eggy's website just go there & search fluff].)
• FIND A "SPONSOR" (Have a friend that you can call who won't "sugar coat" your sugar jones and will actually call you on your stuff. Someone who loves you with tough love...but who LOVES YOU -- for me that's my Kayla! Thank you Kayla...couldn't have come this far without you. If all else fails and you can't find anyone else...send me an email and I'd be glad to help.)
• HAVE A PLAN Know what you're gonna do ahead of time when you know when you know you're gonna be faced with sugar. For instance, at Christmas I know there will be sweets -- so I plan on bringing some of Eggy's Strawberry Cannoli. I have used these for every family event this past year and they have been so well received that they often go before the sugared desserts. (I also alter them by using fat free ricotta so they are really healthy alternatives). Another plan I used this year at Halloween was that I offered to "buy" my kids candy from them. I offered them a video game of their choice in exchange for their candy. Then I donated the candy to my son's teacher for her prize box. That way my kids got to do their thing at Halloween and I didn't have to suffer through the temptation of having all that in the house for more than an overnight.

You'll be surprised at how much will power you actually have when you find a way to stop using it up on all the unnecessary stuff. When you stop spreading it thin by using it on EVERYTHING, you really will amaze yourself at just how strong you really are.

Well, maybe Tuesday will have to wait....I've really said a lot already and don't want to bog you down with too much today. After all, it's a BLOG not a BOG! LOL sorry, couldn't help myself!