Our guest blogger, Tricia, provides a word-for-word account of the Very Low Calorie Diet (VLCD) program at Dean Clinic, part of the Comprehensive Weight Management program. If you’ve been reading along, you know that’s a fake name. But she’s absolutely a real person.
Tricia started her journal in late December of last year, having no idea we’d ask her to share her experiences with the world. Since we didn’t launch Refresh You until March 1, we’ve got some catching up to do. Pretty soon, though, we’ll be posting Tricia’s entries in real time.
When we last left Tricia, she managed to fight her way through a nearly month-long plateau. She didn’t cheat or give up, despite the scale not budging for weeks on end. Then, finally, a breakthrough. So with new progress and a renewed spirit, all’s right with Tricia and her VLCD world. Sure, some temptations lurk ahead, but that’s nothing new. Is Tricia back in cruise control, loving life and seeing nothing but success?
March 26. Can it be? Another food day at work? We are celebrating another March birthday at the office today. For a twist, the group is doing a breakfast theme. I love to bake, so last night I dug out a wonderful recipe I got at a bed and breakfast a few years ago: Door County Cherries and Cream Muffins. I knew this would be a test of will, since baking always involves, for me anyway, taste testing at every stage.I wanted the muffins to be fresh baked in the morning, so I measured out all the ingredients the night before. No temptation there since a bag of flour, sugar, baking powder and salt are not too exciting. But in the morning, when the dry ingredients met the eggs, milk and oil, I knew it had the potential to be like the Sirens’ songs guiding me to a gustatory shipwreck.
I laid down the rule. No taste testing of any degree. And I survived! It is amazing that the recipe really does yield 24 when you don’t rob its potential! The biggest challenge was trying to determine if the insides were done, since the cream cheese (and almond extract and cherry juice and sugar filling – num!) made it hard to test for doneness. I removed one muffin and split it to see if it was baked through. The aroma was heavenly as the steam wafted upward. I soooo want to eat this. No one will know.
Summoning some form of inner strength, I instead sneaked a small chunk to Teddy the Love Sponge. (Editor’s note: He’s Tricia’s dog, and apparently that is his real name because we couldn’t possibly make that up.) His timing was perfect – he was right there when I needed him. So at least Teddy got to taste that wonderful goodness as I packaged up the mangled remains for my husband’s coffee break.
I realized at that very moment I had made even more progress on the plan. In the past, Teddy and I would have enjoyed that treat together. Once again, I had the opportunity to cheat, but I didn’t. I’m proud of myself. And things worked out just fine for Teddy, too.
At work, buoyed by my success in the face of morbid temptation, I found it relatively easy to avoid all the breakfast goodies my co-workers contributed. The table is right outside my office door – a cruel placement, to be sure.
I must say, though, that as the day is marching on, those breakfast sausages aren’t looking quite so tempting. The bagels are drying around the edges. The cream cheese spreads are looking like they’re rife for study by the CDC and the fruit is getting a bit soggy. At least those are the little mental tricks I am using to convince myself that I really don’t want what’s out there. Each food day I survive makes me stronger – and gets me closer to my goal of feeling great this summer.
March 29. I went to Chicago over the weekend to visit a friend. As I learned earlier in the year, taking this diet on the road is pretty easy. It just takes a bit of planning. I packed a shaker bottle and enough shakes to cover meals and bars to eat on the run or during the drive down.
Saturday night we were downtown and needed to find a quick dinner fix before seeing the Alvin Ailly dance troupe at the Auditorium Theater. We checked out a few restaurants near my friend’s place and landed on one that had vegetables and could have us out in 45 minutes. I ordered boiled (not sautéed) spinach. I was able to feel good about staying on a healthy plan and survived with no guilt. By the way, things like spinach can taste like Ambrosia chocolate to the palate that has been surviving on shakes and bars for nearly three months! I savored my little side dish and we made it to the theater two minutes before curtain.
Sunday I successfully returned to shakes and bars. We walked all around the Gold Coast taking in the architecture. My son met up with us and we walked some more – a good workout that did not feel like one at all because of the great company. I headed home later than anticipated and got increasingly hungry as I drove.
My emergency plan, since I had no more bars or shakes, was to stop at the travel oasis and get a tiny container of chicken and veggies at Panda Express (no rice). It was just enough to take the edge off my hunger and, again, no guilt. This is really working! In the past I would have loaded up at McDonalds or eyed some carb-laden delight at Starbucks.
It is quite educational to realize all the mindless eating opportunities I availed myself of in the past! Yikes. Now, I’m happy to say, it is Monday morning after a weekend away and I am down another pound! If you’re keeping track (I sure am!), I am now down 29 pounds. This is so much more fun when the numbers cooperate!
To see all of Tricia’s blog posts, just use the keyword “Tricia” in the search box above.
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