Say cheese!

It's almost a struggle to figure out what I can have for my "real meal" that fits my suggested protein/carb/fat ratios. Thank goodness for cheese. When I'm stuck needing some extra protein and fat, cheese to the rescue!

I calculated my entire intake using the application that comes with my diet program. I had 8 lean chicken meatballs with mozzarella (2 servings), green beans, brown rice -- and even had butter on the beans & rice! But I darned well needed more fat and protein, so I was able to have 4 1" cubes of cheese last night. That's a lot of cheese. This is a mixture of local farmer's cheddar and horseradish cheddar. Mmmm.

If I'm struggling to lose weight, I'll adjust my carb intake down, but I'm trying out about 1500 carbs a day.

Am I in denial?

Is this denial of pleasure?

I have Ghirardelli chocolate chips in the cabinet. Pita chips. Sun chips. Blue corn chips. Surrounded by what might be temptation.

My partner, who purchased a different brand of fake-sugar protein products to help control his own weight also just baked 2 apple pies.

Me, I bought a food scale.

I don't think of this as "denial" -- I think of this as discipline. I'm drinking the 3rd shake, having gotten through yesterday A-OK. This thing is really good. No "getting used to" needed. Ok, maybe I have to get used to drinking my breakfast until my meal replacement bars come (they're backordered). But I don't feel like I'm missing out on something sweet, because this shake really is sweet. Maybe too sweet, because I don't usually run around having very sweet things.

Still, I'm glad he baked apple pies and didn't make another cheesecake. Once the inches start coming off and I'm seeing real results, I can probably resist cheesecake. That's a tough one.

I'm actually an all-around cheese freak, so I'll have to make sure I can get in doses of cheese, too. I'll check the meal tracker to make sure they're allowable, and figure out how to add cheese to this diet plan -- even if it's lowfat, I'm just cheese-dependent :)

[By the way, said pie was baked the night before, and wasn't touched until the morning. Half a pie was eaten by my roommate and my partner. This photo is before my son tried a small slice in the evening. I can resist apple pie, it's not my favorite. I'm glad my pie-website client didn't offer barter as a form of compensation, though. :) ]