Operation Fridge Update: Phase One Complete

"Life is crazy" seems like a pretty accurate statement.  In the last six months I've had the following list of items on my "to-do" list:

• Transition to a new company and job
• Plan a wedding
• Adopt a dog 
• Find time to train and spend quality time the little pooch
• Plan and recover from a surgery
• Stick to a weight loss plan to win my fridge bet
• Attempt to blog...

You can clearly see where my blogging priorities have ended up!

This is Wallace's reaction when I tried to sit on MY chair - the puppy stiff arm...really nice of him.

So, I haven't been very diligent about blogging...and that's okay!  If I were sticking to the goals that I had on what and when I want to post on my blog, I would probably drive myself crazy.

Picture taken last week at what hopefully was my last post-operative appointment and hospital gown experience - did a barium x-ray to double check the wrap and was all good to go!

But the good news is, everything else is going pretty smoothly, including operation fridge.  While operation fridge took a"ride down to gravy town" after my surgery and the eating restrictions, the part of the bet that I might not have mentioned is keeping it off for two months.  That was always part of the bet but I feel like I forgot to put that in my original post.

Here is one of the soft foods diet experimental "delicacies" that I whipped up while in recovery mode: spinach puree with a potato puree and chicken gravy reduction

And I'm kind of freaking out about the bet.  And not because I'm not close...it's because Thursday I hit the goal!  Yesterday I wore my my favorite Guess jeans that I haven't had fit in over two years and I tried on some summer dresses that I never would have dreamed of hanging onto for one more year.

Not them and definitely not my butt...but these do look like my favorites!

While I hit the goal, I have to admit that scared beyond belief that I'm going to screw it up, gain back weight, and then on June 17th...I won't get my beautiful double french door fridge and worse...I'll let myself down.

So it's time to plan!

Food
The last couple of months has really put my relationship with food in check.  Needless to say I was eating way too much...and I never want to get back to that point.  While I'm going to continue to logging my food through "My FitnessPal", I'm also going to try to stick to the following things that have seemed to help over the last few weeks:

• Cut everything in half- When I get a sandwich, cut it in half and put half back in the fridge.  When I get pasta, cut it in half and put half back in the fridge.  If I still feel hungry after 15 minutes of eating than I can revisit...if not...then it needs to stay there or be replaced with something healthier.  It will help to ensure that I don't get too full while I'm recovering and that I'm letting my stomach catch up to my brain.
• Shake for breakfast - While I'm happy to be eating solid foods again, being on a liquid diet was actually not too bad.  It was nutritional, filled me up, was quick and tasted good and I want to keep it around in the mornings and when it makes sense for dinners on the fly.
• Completely cut out coffee - it just seems like I put so much cream in it that what it crushes my whole morning from a caloric standpoint.  Also, I think that long term this is better for me health wise since while everything will stay down...I still can get stomach aches or heartburn.
• Use smaller plates - You've probably heard it before, but, it really does help.
• Brush my teeth immediately after dinner - Sounds silly, but, when I can get that food taste out of my mouth I'm less tempted to snack on something sugary.

Working Out
Last week was my first week back in the saddle with working out.  I'm not going to sugar coat it, it was rough.  Last week I went to Zumba twice and ran (2) two mile runs with Wallace around the neighborhood.  While I'm not sure how I made it through those Zumba classes, it could have helped that a woman that I absolutely can't stand was next to me and the H*LL if I'm going to let a 50 year old wearing tight yoga pants with hips the size of Texas make me look like a fool.

SIDERANT: Also, she wears the same exact pink zip up EVERY time she comes to class and takes up way too much room dancing.  In the last class I went to before surgery I was directly behind her and she was crowding me so closely (and had so much room left in front of her) that I actually made a "so annoyed" high pitch noise, went in front of her and continued the rest of the 30 minute class on a combination of anger and adrenaline.  Luckily I've cancelled my gym membership here or else there could have been a battle royale where pink zippie went down.

So back to working out... the plan is to get back to working out five times a week with the minimum amount of work being 20 minutes of jogging.  Plus, when I'm jogging, to track my runs via Nike Run tracking to keep myself accountable.


The Blog and Food Planning
As far as the blog and planning meals, I will be sticking to the plan laid out in my original post.

When I beat this bet, I expect Adam to release live doves out of this fridge when it arrives...along with having a trumpet quartet playing in the background.

In closing, here's to the next two months of sticking to my plan and completing the last and hardest phase of Operation Fridge!  Keeping it off!