Like riding a bicycle

It's been three days so far on my HealthFirst diabetes reduction plan and I have to say that it's been much easier than I'd anticipated. Other than some mild nausea and weakness on Friday, I really haven't suffered any feelings of deprivation and have stayed within the 1800 calories a day that I had planned. I've swapped the fruit juices that accompany some of my meals for nonfat lattes because my blood sugar doesn't tend to like fruit juice very much, and I swapped cauliflower (not a favorite of mine) for steamed green beans, but otherwise I'm right on track. Why does it seem - dare I say it? - easy?

The wonderful Susan's Healthy Gourmet foods are so good that I would want to eat them even if I weren't trying to lose weight. I know people say that about their diets but I really mean it: this is good food. Their portions are very reasonable, too, so I haven't felt hungry even though I'm eating considerably less than I'm used to. Finally, I have the full support of my fabulous husband even though it's inconvenient for him to try to forage for dinner for one while I'm adhering strictly to Susan's foods. (If he's reading this, I really appreciate it, Sweetheart!)

And now for some highlights of meals I've eaten recently:

Friday breakfast was a mini whole wheat bagel sandwich (egg and cheese) with a fruit cup topped with nonfat plain yogurt and accompanied by a nonfat latte. Notice my trusty iPad front and center - never leave home without it - and my NutritionPossible.com lunch bag kindly provided to Blissdom attendees by the folks at Centrum. (I'm not being paid anything to link to them, I just think their new site is a good way to figure out which vitamins might be right for you, if you're interested in that sort of thing. They also provided free consultations with a real nutritionist which I took advantage of and gained much of the motivation that eventually led me to make my HealthFirst commitment.)

Here's Friday's dinner: grilled salmon with a red pepper pesto, risotto, and greens. (I swapped out the cauliflower for steamed green beans.)

I'm throwing in some snacks, too, like this Pinkberry peach yogurt (small) with chunks of fresh-cut peaches from Friday night. For about 200 calories, it makes me feel indulgent without going off the rails.

Here's lunch from Saturday: chicken tortilla soup complete with sprinkled cheese and tortilla strips, a chocolate-raisin mini cupcake, and wedges of quesadilla: I can't even tell you how happy this lunch made me.

Finally we have dinner from last night/Saturday: turkey sausage lasagna with baked sweet potato pieces, sugar snap peas, and a mini "cheesecake" for dessert (that's the little cup on the right). I ate this while Mick had soup and a salad from Panera, proving that we can make this work into our normal routine.

And now I'm off to do some shopping for the week at Tarjay then hopefully some quality time with my camera and a local park before the rain arrives this afternoon. Hope your day is a good one, too!