It's Been A While...

 I didn't mean to let things get away with me... either my weight or writing in this blog, but it hasn't been easy. With the 2+ years of dealing with the pandemic and life, my mental health has been suffering and I simply didn't have the energy to deal with weight loss.

I hate writing that, because I know that when you are able to make the effort to be healthier, that the effects snowball, and you start feeling better which makes it all easier. But sometimes, we just can't. Depression is an ugly reality, and sometimes we have to get out of the pit and prioritize survival ahead of self improvement. One day at a time.

So while it's embarrassing that this blog has been going on for 12 years and I haven't achieved my goal, I am proud that I keep coming back and doing my best to become a healthier version of myself. I'm not doing this to look better; I want to lose weight for my health, so that I don't die. I remember once hearing someone say offhand that you don't see many old fat people, and that really stuck with me. I'm coming up on my 40th birthday and I was just diagnosed with several new medical conditions that are almost certainly the result of not taking care of myself. I want to live to see my son grow up and there are many things I still want to do with my life.

I'm here, and I'm ready to get back to work.

With that being said, the scope of this blog is going to broaden a bit. I haven't been able to get Nutrisystem products for a while unfortunately because I haven't crossed the border to my mailbox. I really do miss those pepperoni pizza melts! I'm hoping to get them again sometime soon. So I've been counting calories using the Lose It app and trying to stick with basically a flex version of the NS program, similar calories and macros.

I started in April, counting calories and exercising, and I managed to lose quite a bit of weight that way! I was down 27.2 lbs and although I can't see much of a physical difference, I liked seeing the numbers on the scale go down. Recently I caught covid for the second time, and this time around it was pretty severe, likely because of my comorbidities. I was sick for six weeks and I'm still having symptoms crop up, and my energy levels haven't returned. As a result of being so sick, I've been eating a lot of comfort food, haven't had energy to exercise, and so I've been feeling stuck.

I've got another arrow in my quiver this time fortunately, because all this has shown me that weight loss is hard and I can use all the help that I can get. My doctor prescribed me Ozempic, which is a medication for type 2 diabetics to help get their blood sugar under control, and which also has the lovely side effect of weight loss. The same med is also marketed for weight loss only under the brand name Wegovy, at different dose schedules. My starting A1C is 7.0, so I definitely have some work to do to get healthier.

Last night, I took my first dose of 0.25mg. While I was a little uncomfortable using an injectable medication, I thought it couldn't be much different than the little needle pen I use to prick my finger for blood sugar readings. It is actually a little different and you do have to poke yourself with the needle rather than just push a button and get auto-injected, it's really not that bad except that the pen is loud while it's counting down the medication! The needle is short and very fine, and you just have to stick it into fat tissue anywhere, so you don't really have to worry about location either.

I woke up this morning with a slight headache that may or may not have been a side effect, but it went away pretty quickly with an Advil. Much to my pleasant surprise, the appetite control effects were present immediately. While I can still generally read my body's responses to know when I need to eat food, I never really got hunger pangs all day, and I felt satisfied with much smaller portions. I never really felt "full" per se but I am starting to think that maybe what I think of as full is actually more like stuffed. Perhaps full means satiated? We'll see as time goes on.

I started my day with Nutrisystem High Protein Pancake mix, which I cooked in my waffle iron for some variety. I added fresh blueberries and used 1 tbsp of real maple syrup- the sugar free stuff is an abomination, sorry!

Around 2pm, I noticed I hadn't had lunch yet, much to my surprise. I was pretty caught up in my work but generally my stomach reminds me! I did start to feel a bit lightheaded though, so that was my cue to get something else to eat. I love the TacoTime Chicken Quesadillas that you can buy frozen from Costco- it helps when I can't get my melts! One quesadilla is 190 calories, 8g fat, 20g carbs, and 10g protein so it's pretty comparable to a melt.

For dinner, I had a Goodfood meal box that I was really looking forward to!

Cod & Cauliflower Shaksuka:

2 cod fillets, approximately 5 oz each

200g cauliflower rice

2 eggs

1 shallot (or sweet onion)

213mL tomato sauce

2 roasted red peppers, diced thinly

1 bunch of chives

1 tbsp minced garlic

2 tsp olive oil

spice mix (Hungarian sweet paprika, coriander, turmeric, cumin, kosher salt)

Start by mincing the shallot and thinly slicing the chives. In a large pan, heat the olive oil on medium. Saute the cauliflower rice 1 to 2 minutes until beginning to soften. Season with black pepper to taste. Pat the cod fillets dry, and season with a little of your spice mix. Add the shallot and garlic to the cauliflower rice, and saute for 1 minute. Add the tomato sauce, roasted red peppers, and 8 grams of spice mix to your pan as well as 1/4 cup of water and bring to a boil. When it's bubbling away, you can reduce the heat to medium. Add the cod to the pan, and make two little holes with your spatula and crack the eggs into the holes. Cook, partially covered, for 5-6 minutes until the sauce has thickened and the cod and eggs are both cooked. I like my eggs a little runny in this dish but definitely make sure the fish is cooked! A thick piece of fish may need to be started before you cook the eggs. Garnish with chives and serve!

I doubled the recipe to make four servings. It was delicious and had incredibly low calories! 300 calories, 9g fat, 23g carbs, and 38g of protein, plus it's quick, easy, and tastes fabulous. For my NS friends, count this as 2 Powerfuels, 2 vegetables, and 1 extra. Add a SmartCarb serving to make it into a dinner- maybe a slice of whole wheat toast to mop up the sauce? 

So my first day went really well! Not hungry, not really any side effects, and stayed in my calorie range. One day at a time, right?