So today marks day 2 of my return to work. I’m blessed that I work a desk job that mostly entails me, my desk, a computer, a phone and some meetings here and there. This is the ideal situation for me to constantly graze. For day one, I prepared by bringing a whole bunch of my snack food.

I’ve got my protein shot, oatmeal, peanut butter crackers, cashews and whatever lunch I bring. There’s a chicken spaghetti recipe that’s been going pretty well lately, so I’ve brought that for lunch both days. I just have to really really chew chicken.

So day 1 went really well. I headed out a little early and by the time dinner was over and had put the kids to bed, I was absolutely exhausted. But I will say my calorie input went really well. I was only ~95 short of my 2000 calorie goal. That’s actually closer than what I’ve been doing everyday anyhow. The one challenge I have is if some food goes bad and needs to come back up, the bathroom is quite far. My coworkers sit about 5 feet from in every direction….no walls, no privacy. This makes me nervous. But, so far, so good. I just very slowly, very patiently chew, chew, chew and eat, eat, eat.

I’ve been a bit of trial and error with food lately. Here’s my recent assessment (aka overanalyzing)

• My frozen sausage biscuit hasn’t been going so well lately, so axe that one from my list.
• Thomas bagel with peanut butter continues to go well. I specifically like the Thomas brand because the bagel is smooth and really easy to chew up.
• If I drink a lot of water on top of my 6-pack of peanut butter crackers, I feel nauseous/crummy/yuckie. I don’t think I can chug water too close to these. Drinks are ok, but not my dehydration “chug”.
• I had a white chocolate, macademia nut cookie yesterday. If I eat half, then wait a while and eat the other half, the sugars don’t hit hard & I figure it’s a little over 100 calories. This was a defensive move against a sugar crummy feeling since I no longer had a bed to lay down in and sleep it off.
• Real food. Since you’re supposed to graze all day, it’s easy to turn to lots of protein supplements and snack foods. You’re always thinking high calorie so you can eat enough. But I’ve found if I slowly eat away at real food, I generally feel better. No gut wrench after a protein shake, no nausea from high protein snacks. Cashews seem to go ok (they’re softer than peanuts), but I try not to go too hog wild with them. Maybe my old theory of everything in moderation is holding true.

My strep is getting better. Throat still hurts which is upsetting that I’m already fighting to eat enough food due to my gastrectomy and now swallowing is hurting. Not unmanageable, just obnoxious.

Still going well. Just wondering when I’ll feel like I can start running again. Getting that urge, that need to get out there again. But I will try to stabilize my weight after this strep thing calms down. I need to gain my strength, then be sure I’m able to hold my weight before I add running and the extra calories that will require. My muscles are probably crying while I type that.

Have a great day!