Week Eight - Day One: Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Yes, it's THAT holiday, and I love it! Corned Beef & Cabbage, Irish Coffee, Guinness Beer, Jameson or Tullamore Dew Whisky, Irish Soda Bread, Shepherd's Pie... I want to partake of it all! And of course I have a bazillion things on my Pinterest St. Patrick's Day board! Feel free to peruse and enjoy!

What will you be eating?

I probably will not be partaking of any of it. I am struggling to get back and stay on track. My day always starts off just fine. As the day wears on and I have more options and temptations, it's just not as easy.

This morning my day is starting off with 2 peanut butter cookies and 2 slices of bacon. I'm off to a good start.

I guess I should try the Atkins Fat Fast to jump start everything again. It consists of five (5) 200 calorie meals a day, 75% of the calories being in fat. But you only stay on it for 4-5 days. You can choose five of the following suggested foods:

    One ounce of macadamia nuts or macadamia nut butter.
    One ounce of tuna or chicken salad w/2 teaspoons of mayonnaise served in 1/4 of an avocado.
    Two deviled eggs made with two teaspoons of mayonnaise.
    Two ounces of pâté (check label for fat content).
    Two egg yolks (hard-boiled) with one tablespoon of mayonnaise.
    Two ounces of sour cream and two tablespoons black or red caviar.
    Two and a half ounces whipped heavy cream topped with sucralose zero-calorie syrup.
    Two ounces of cream cheese or Brie.

Pâté? It's nothing but spiced and flavored liver. I'm sorry, its still liver and I hate liver in any way, shape or form. Ugh... 

What can I swap out for that? Maybe 2 thick cut slices of lean bacon? That would be 160 calories (40 calories per ounce) so I still need to find something for that extra 40 calories! But there are 7 other options to choose from, so I'm sure I will be fine.

I have a particular struggle coming up in the next few weeks. I am flying to Palm Springs on Wednesday to help my parents move, returning on Monday or Tuesday. They are coming up here to be close to me. Both are 89 years old and not in the best of health. In fact, my dad is currently in the hospital trying to get his blood pressure under control. The stress of it all has been too much for him; I could tell by the tone of his voice when I talked to him 2 days ago. 

So thru all of this I need to stay on track. It will not be easy because they have completely different lifestyles than I do when it comes to food. I cannot cook pork products or shellfish while they are staying with me. Neither one of them eat it. 

The only thing that would make this better
would be to add shrimp instead of ground beef!

They do, however, love their fudge, ice cream and popcorn! Poppa's specialty is Fantasy Fudge. It is just pure evil. So it is a quandry.

Now, on a brighter note, let me share some Irish sayings with you on this St. Patrick's Day.

Beautiful young people are acts of nature,

But beautiful old people are works of art.

There’s nothing so bad that it couldn’t be worse.

And of course we need to solve
the mystery of the Flattened Leprechaun!

OK, enough with St. Patrick's Day silliness. 

How about the rest of my day?

Today I'm overwhelmed, stressed, and frustrated. I feel like I'm living in limbo until the parents are here and can move into their own place and get settled. In between stripping beds, laundry and housekeeping in general, I had the last of my quiche for lunch, followed my more cleaning.

And then I got a phone call...

Jon: "Hi, Mom! Are you home?"

Me: "Yes, I am. What's up?"

Jon: "Oh, good! Cheryl fixed you a plate for dinner. I'll be right over!"

See what I mean about temptations?

It was amazing! Although I focused on the things I can eat, I did eat some of everything. It was so good, well seasoned, and just plain yummy. 

Now I'm going to sign off. I hope you all had a very green St. Paddy's Day! I have! Until tomorrow...

…Lin…