My first "meal" since April!

It feels like a long time since I started this diet, but it's really a little bit less than 6 months. Now, the end is within sight- maybe a couple more months? The end of liquid only was yesterday. I went to talk to the medical staff and they cleared me to move to a modified meal plan. You see, as I've gotten closer to my goal weight my hunger has been increasing. It used to be that I would drink a shake and wouldn't feel any hunger for a few hours. Now, sometimes the shakes don't take away the hunger at all. This isn't quite hunger like I had before where you wouldn't want to be standing between me and a piece of pizza, but it is unusual for the Optifast diet.

So, I spoke to my medical staff and they suggested adding an actual meal to the shakes. It's not In N Out, but I can now eat 3 oz of lean meat, a half cup of vegetables and 2 1/2 cups of salad in addition to my 5 shakes- this would bring my calorie count up to a whooping 980 calories a day (or the amount of my old taco bell "snacks"! Unfortunately, there will be no more runs to the border for that magical five dollar box. Maybe I can run to Sprouts? Lol.)

I ended up eating what you can kind of see on the saucer above. It's 2.5 ounces of chicken breast, a half cup of mixed frozen veggies and two cups of salad mix (no dressing.) It tasted pretty good, though it's a fraction of what I'd eaten before. Hopefully this won't take the diet too far off track. At 212 pounds, I still have maybe 12 to 22 pounds to lose depending on what my goal weight should be.

It's tough to figure what my end weight should be. My goal weight was 190, but 200 may be a better weight for me. We'll see. A few people, including the wife, are already saying that I'm looking a little bit too thin. Given the alternative, I'd say that's a nice problem to have!

As you can see from the picture below, my wife still thinks that I'm the King! Of course, the Queen is the one that's really in charge...