Wednesday, May 5 -- Week 18, Day 4

Looking back over the original menu today, my actual menu bears little resemblance. I still ate some well-rounded meals and came in at right around 1200 calories for the day, so I'll still consider it a successful day.

BREAKFAST:

Original:

• 1/2 cup grapefruit sections
• 1 ounce Brie cheese
• 3/4 ounce Crispbread
• 1/2 cup skim milk
• coffee or tea

My adaptation:

• 1 small orange
• 1 ounce colby jack
• 1 slice homemade wheat toast
• 1/2 cup skim milk

Not an overly exciting breakfast. I'm always surprised that orange sections are less sweet than I expect them to be. I know colby jack is no substitute for brie, but I chose to use what I had on hand this week, as much as possible, without totally sabotaging the diet. (Ok, so maybe colby vs brie is a bit of a sabotage, but work with me here....) I now know what crispbread is, so I'll see if I can get a pack of that for next time. I feel certain I'll like it, if I can find it.

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LUNCH:

Original:

• 1 cup mixed vegetable juice
• 3 oz poached salmon
• 1/2 cup cooked zucchini slices with diced pimiento
• 1 slice enriched bread
• 1 tsp. margarine
• 1/2 cup vanilla low-calorie pudding

My adaptation:

• 1 cup apple juice
• 3 oz deli ham
• 1/2 cup sautéed zucchini slices
• 1 slice homemade wheat bread
• 1 tsp. margarine
• 1/2 cup vanilla low-calorie pudding

Again with the totally lame substitutes. Drinking vegetable juice seems gross to me. I'm sure I'll try it someday, just to say I did. And I can't explain my fear of seafood. Deli ham works just fine for me. I do like low-calorie chocolate pudding better than vanilla though.

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DINNER:

Original:

• marinated mushroom appetizer
• 3 oz broiled pork chop
• 1/2 cup steamed green beans with 1/4 cup canned water chestnuts
• tossed salad with 1 tsp. vegetable oil plus lemon juice
• 1/2 cup skim milk
• coffee or tea

My adaptation:

• skipped the mushrooms
• 3 oz sautéed pork sirloin steak
• 1/2 cup frozen green beans - no water chestnuts, thank you
• water

Another dinner inhaled in mere moments, so I forgot to get a picture. Mushrooms are very very very far into my future right now. I can be brave about a lot of foods, but mushrooms (and seafood, apparently) aren't on that list right now.

I opted for pork sirloin steak because it looked good to me at the time. It actually was quite good. I'll definitely get it again. Something's wrong with our broiler, but I unfortunately didn't notice until about 10 minutes after I put the steaks in the broiler. They were still raw, and we had to leave in about 10 minutes, so I tossed them in a skillet. They were good and juicy - not dry at all, like our pork chops usually are.

I had made some mashed potatoes for the rest of the family, so I tossed a small amount (maybe 1/2 cup?) on my plate. I think I posted once before about that. I chose to have a little bit so that I wouldn't one day cave and eat a whole pot of them.

Green beans were un-extraordinary. I simmered them in a bit of water with a plop of minced garlic and some chicken bouillon. No water chestnuts. I tried them. I didn't care for them. No need to try them again.

And I totally forgot to have a glass of milk.

Snack was supposed to be 1/2 cup raspberries (too expensive right now) and 1/2 cup cantaloupe. I opted for a small bowl of popcorn instead.

So yes, a lot of changes in the menu today, but not a total wreck of a day. Good calorie count, and decent fruit/vegetable intake, so I'm happy with it.