Got my first shipment! And eating with family

I’ve been gone for several days, sorry! Weekends are busy at our house, and I don’t have a computer to easily post from, so I usually type at home and post from work (shhh, don’t tell my boss…OK, I don’t care, tell her…I’m on my break!).

So, Friday I received my first shipment.

Holy cow, it is huge! Fifty four pounds! The first thing I did, once I was able to sit down with it without my 2 year old trying to grab things and run away with them, was sort out meals by time of day. That’s mostly my OCD, though. I used the packing list to make sure I received everything I was supposed to. Unfortunately there were some substitutions…I ended up with EIGHT chilis. EIGHT! Because they were out of the sloppy joes, they substituted vegetarian chili. There are so many beans in so many of the lunches that I called them up. The rest of the substitutions I was OK with (getting an extra oatmeal raisin cookie because they were out of oatmeal chocolate chip? Fine…getting an extra rotini and meatballs because they were low on the tortellini dish? Fine), but I can’t eat that many beans. Their customer service person agreed to replace the 3 sloppy joes I had ordered with 3 burger patties instead, and also sent me 3 extra meals “for the inconvenience.” She kept asking “well, have you tried any of the other dinners you know you like?...Would you like one of those?” I felt guilty! But she was very nice about it, and said it was no problem. So I’m getting 6 free dinners in the mail. If anyone wants to try a vegetarian chili, let me know!

I also was convinced by some friends on Facebook to ask about an insurance discount. Now, according to all the research I had done, my insurance does NOT cover or participate with any kind of weight loss diet program. Sure, they would cover doctor’s appointments (with copays) and weight loss surgery, but in terms of gym or diet plan discounts, all signs pointed to “no.” But I asked anyway. They asked what insurance I had—“XXX plan through Blue Cross Blue Shield.” OK, BCBS is a participating insurance…12% off your next order. They didn’t ask for my number or anything! So, definitely call and ask, even if you think they will say no. I could have gotten another $40 off my first order, had I known!

Since there is SO MUCH FOOD to deal with, I took an empty plastic 3-drawer cart like this one (without the casters) from my daughter’s room. I have a fairly unused counter in my kitchen that always ends up being a catch-all/clutter collector, so I cleaned it off and put the cart up there. The food fit PERFECTLY! Breakfasts and desserts up top, lunches in the middle, dinners on the bottom. It was a tight fit at first, and some dinners ended up in the lunch drawer, but now that I’ve had about 5 days of the food, things are much easier. I put my “extras” up on top—my cracker crisps, my hummus chips, my organic oatmeal and healthy cereals. Well stored and out of toddler reach! (She tried to run off with my popcorn while I was putting everything away…I just barely saved it lol)

I’ll try to remember all of the foods I’ve eaten and how I thought about them in a new post…I think I will do that from now on.

I’ve had 2 “eating out” experiences so far. One was spending the day with my fiancee’s mom. She was kind enough to make a wonderful looking casserole for all of us. I had thought ahead enough to bring breakfast and lunch, but didn’t think about dinner. The casserole was egg noodles (full eggs), cream of chicken soup, breaded chicken chunks, and peas. So much starch…so many simple carbs…so much fat and calories! But it looked yummy and I had no NS entrée. I went to the website and messaged a counselor (so easy, and they were so nice), and she recommended having a 1 cup serving. It would most likely be higher in calories than a NS entrée, but as long as I was practicing portion control, it wouldn’t affect my diet much. I also asked my fiancée to bring back a bag of salad mix (I still had dressing and tomatoes from lunch), and dinner was good! I declined the big puffy dinner roll, which got a little eye rolling (“Oh, it won’t kill your diet, just have one!”) but that’s OK. I know it wouldn’t have killed my diet, but I’m just starting out and am making the choice to stick to it as much as possible!

My other eating out experience was meeting my mom for lunch when I was on the road for work. This time I was prepared. She wanted to meet at a subway inside Walmart. So I brought a lunch bar, chicken, salad dressing, and a bowl. We were out of salad at home, so I got to Walmart a little early, purchased a bag of mix at the store, grabbed a fork from the deli, and met her inside Subway. At first I was a bit embarrassed…I could have just bought a salad from them, but would have paid $6 or more, and I’m cheap! So, my mom got her sub, I had my salad with dressing and chicken breast, and we had a great lunch together. I ate my bar as a “dessert” while she had her chips. After the first 5 minutes (while I was assembling the salad), I didn’t feel weird at all.

The lesson I learned, especially from family visit #1, is that the point of NS is to teach you about healthy eating and feeling good about what you’re eating, not to only restrict calories. I’m learning this slowly, especially when I’m flexing meals. How to really pay attention to what is going into my body and how it will affect me physically. I knew all of this stuff before, but didn’t really care. I feigned having “no willpower” and I don’t eat “that bad,” but both were lies. I have willpower, I am strong, and I was eating badly. I felt sick all the time, and that should have been an indication.

My only complaint so far…the sugar alcohol they use to sweeten the baked goods and bars. Whether you’re diabetic or not, sugar adds calories, so they use sorbitol and malitol mostly to sweeten their foods. My body is NOT a fan. I’ve known I have an issue with xylitol for several years, through experience (unfortunately). I can have some, but repeat use causes some serious gastrointestinal issues. This is fairly common, so be forewarned. Some people experience gas due to a sudden increase in fiber from the vegetables and whole grains you’re now eating. This gas will go away as your body gets used to the new diet, sometimes in a few days, sometimes it takes a few weeks. However, if you are sensitive to things like the sugar alcohol (malitol, etc) in the foods, the gas may let up some, but it won’t go away. I was really bloated last night, sorry if that’s TMI, and decided that today I would stick to flexing my meals. I will stick to the NS plan, but use my own foods as the entrees. I planned on oatmeal and an egg for breakfast (my own organic oatmeal instead of NS oatmeal), salad and some “zero noodles” with chicken, broccoli, and pesto for lunch (leftovers from a flexed dinner), snack, and then a lean cuisine with salad for dinner. I had a smoothie for breakfast and never got to the oatmeal, but that’s OK with me, and I’m getting ready to grab my lunch and feel SO much better. If you are having gas issues, pick up some gas-x or beano, and try giving yourself a break from the high “sugar” foods for a day or two to see how you feel. Also, read this thread, it is HILARIOUS: http://boards.members.nutrisystem.com/showthread.php?168095-These-farts-are-no-longer-funny&highlight=funny .

Edit: I had the fudge brownie for dessert last night, just to see how it went. Yup, gassy again. *sigh*