How I ate at Ruby Tuesday’s and Chili’s… and how it lasted all weekend

I’m back to eating again – at least for the weekend. Actually, today I’ve already had 21 grams of protein and 200 calories. That’s RIGHT on track to make both goals, so I’m pretty happy. 

I’m also in a cooking mood. I’ve been repurposing meals and making a grocery list with some yummy things on it. I figure if I can cook today and pack things away, I should be able to eat this week. 

So, here’s what made the turn around. Friday, I couldn’t eat anything we had here. I just couldn’t make myself do it. I needed different, so I sent Mr. Byrd to Ruby Tuesday’s to pick up a Chicken Fresco with zucchini and spaghetti squash. 

SO yummy, and only about 120 calories for the amount I can eat (a couple bites of veggies and 1/4 of the chicken). So that was a success. I ate that twice and will eat it one more time. 

Then I took the extra spaghetti squash (a new thing I’ve never had before!) and put it in a container with 2 “chicken” nuggets (Morning Star) and some spaghetti sauce and shredded cheese. Voila! Chicken parm WITH “pasta.”

For dinner yesterday, we were out shopping (yours truly is now in a 16!) and my sugar and protein got LOW. It was bad. I’d had protein for breakfast and veggies for lunch, which was a dumb idea. Anyway, we decided to get some fajitas at Chili’s. We went ahead and ordered the trio, since we were only ordering one meal. Ordering my own meal doesn’t make much sense, especially since I had at least 2 more meals from Ruby’s at home. I also ordered the side of black beans and rice. 

Mr. Byrd had the tortillas and rice, since those aren’t options for me (I wasn’t even sad!). I thought I’d have some black beans, chicken and maybe taste a shrimp. Turns out I now LOVE shrimp. More than anything, I love shrimp. So I had 2 shrimp, 2 slices of green pepper, a slice of onion, some black beans, a small piece of chicken and then a little sour cream and guac on everything. Sounds like a TON of food when I write it all out, actually. I was pretty full at the end, but not uncomfortable. And it was SO, SO, SO stinking good. I nearly cried. Not even kidding. 

Anyway, I packed up another portion of that for lunch this week. Mr. Byrd took the rest home. He was going to leave the onions, so I asked him to pack them up as well. This morning, the onions, some shredded cheese, and a little taco seasoning became fajita scrambles! 

So, let’s recap. 

Chicken Fresco x 3 (about 120 calories each)

Chicken Parm (about 150 calories, but I don’t think I’ll be able to eat the whole thing)

Shrimp Fajitas x 2 (about 125 calories each)

Fajita Scramble (about 140 calories)

Fajitas x 2 for Mr. Byrd (who eats full meals) PLUS some Chicken Fresco for Teacup the other day. 

I’m feeling pretty good!

On the menu this week: peanut butter protein balls (the PB2 kind, not the good one), pumpkin soup, left overs, reuben ramekins, “spaghetti,” egg salad, and greek gyro scramble. 

I’m pretty excited about food again!

 

One month

In 3 weeks!

I could not find the first half of this photo because I was looking in the September file. But no, this was THIS month! Only 3 weeks of time, but what a difference!

No weight loss…

Today was a sticky scale day – as in the scale seems stuck again. I’m not all that worried, because I’m down 55 pounds and pretty excited. Plus I’m wearing all new clothes today again. My bra is way too big! Sorry boobs! My pants, 18s, are fitting loosely, and it may soon be time to find some 16s! 16!! This one is going to feel like a huge difference! Actually, I think they all will from now on, as I don’t think I’ve worn those sizes since high school or maybe middle school. Also, my shirt today is an extra large. It’s clingy and stretchy and probably not the MOST flattering, but I’m wearing it because it fits and it shows how much I’ve lost and it’s cute and I can wear a scarf with it (and I’m running out of options!)

It’s cold again this morning, which means I have to wear a coat. It makes me laugh, because mine are all OBVIOUSLY too big. But I don’t think I’ll buy another coat until I’m closer to a 12 or so. I don’t even know if that will happen in the winter. 

I need to do more measurements and pictures. It’s been awhile. 

But for now, I have to go to work. At least I’m excited about my lesson plans today! And I have more energy than I’ve ever had before. Well, not at THIS moment, but I’ll wake up shortly.

Ooh! Look at me!

(you have to click on the long ones to see the last couple pictures. )

 

This is the one I’m most excited about.

Well, that AND I put on some size 18 pants! And they FIT! In fact, they were plenty loose!

I also bought a shirt labeled size 12 (M). And it fits! I know it’s big for its size, but I’m going to count it anyway!

Clothing Issues

I don’t feel like I’ve lost enough wight to justify a whole new wardrobe yet. Afterall, I’m only down a size and a bit. But, I’m having clothing issues. For example, this morning, I put on this:

And it looks awful. I wish it looked like this:

Only maybe not as blurry!

Instead, my solution was this:

I’m okay with this for today. But it’s getting silly. I’m wearing a belt on my pants and a belt on my shirt. That just seems strange since I’ve never worn a belt either place until recently.

I guess I need to find some clothing hacks and ideas. I’m not much of a seamstress or I’d take everything in. And I don’t have the money to buy everything new. So I need ideas.

Any good ones?