Seemed like a good idea at the time

Soups are one thing I really enjoy in this post-banded life. Some of the canned soups, especially Progresso’s, have lots of protein.

I picked up a lentil soup and had it sitting in my office the past few weeks. (Side note: I keep a few cans of soup around so I’ll always have a handy lunch.) The lentil has 9g of protein per 1-cup serving, 2 servings per can. I thought I’d boost the protein with addition of texturized vegetable protein. I bought it in bulk at Winco. TVP is defatted soy flour and  looks like a lighter-colored Grape Nuts and has no fat, low carbs and 15g of protein per quarter cup. 

I poured about a half-cup into a container and added water to soften it up. While it softened, the TVP smelled like oatmeal. So far, so good.  I added the TVP to the soup and heated it in the office microwave. The soup came out a gray-brown with white flecks and I really hoped it tasted better than it looked. Sadly, no. I’d anticipated that the TVP would pick up the soup flavor, as tofu will do. Nope. I had lentil soup with rubbery particles in it. Chewy particles harder to masticate than calamari. I managed about a half-cup before I gave up. No more TVP for me.

Today I planned to eat a little more. I think I’m not eating enough, because even though I’m eating hardly anything, my weight was up 0.6 this morning. I know it’s not the time of the month because I’m too old for that now. I am an odd loser. When I was in Weight Watchers and was weighed weekly, I’d lose a lot, lose a little, gain a tiny bit or plateau, then lose a lot. Today I brought string cheese and Greek yogurt to work. I think I’ll work on the yogurt on the drive home and maybe the cheese for after that. I had a QuestBar in the early afternoon and it finally chased away the taste of the lentil/TVP mess.

This weekend we have a trip to IKEA planned, so I’ll get plenty of exercise doing all the aisles of that big bastard of a store. We need new throw pillows. I’m looking forward to a couple of Swedish meatballs and a few more meals from the leftovers.

See you next time.