Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Hospital food

From Now That's Nifty
I just read (link goes to ABC News) that Gabrielle Giffords has spoken; she asked for toast to be added to her breakfast. Her husband apparently has put this information on his Facebook page, along with the comment, "Gabby's appetite is back and – even though it's hospital food – she's enjoying three meals a day." The link under this picture of hospital food goes to a very interesting blog site displaying funny and nifty things from across the Internet. I found this picture there, and really, I do wonder about hospital food myself. Is it invariably terrible?

I was in Boulder Memorial Hospital for two days in 2005, and I can still remember the difference between the menu offerings and what I was presented. When you are supposed to get well from either illness or surgery, do they figure you won't have an appetite so they serve you this kind of food? The only thing on the plate above that I would be having on my own plate is the minuscule serving of broccoli, and I suspect it's overcooked. Wonder what that orange block is: sweet potato maybe? Surely that's chicken under the gravy. I remember ordering from the menu some "homemade stew with peas, carrots, and potatoes." What showed up was obviously from a can and everything in the little plastic bowl was incredibly unappetizing.

The link under the picture also takes you to scenes of hospital food from 11 different countries, and some of it looks pretty good. I guess it's not always terrible, but usually it is. Fortunately for Gabby, she's got family who must be helping and supplementing the hospital offerings, and, as I understand it, she's in the best facility in the country for brain injuries. Makes me wonder if there is a hospital somewhere known for having the best hospital food.

Oh, and I have to announce that I've lost another half pound as of this morning. In three weeks, it's been almost five pounds of weight loss, and I am now in the single digits of weight to lose. Giving myself plenty of time to get there, the real test will be to figure out, once I get to my goal weight, how to stay there. Having broken my taboo about getting on the scales, I now weigh at the same time every day when I go to the gym, just before showering.

Sometimes I realize how much less I'm actually consuming than I was before. I bought myself a food scale, and weighing out portions has been a real eye-opener. ("What?? THAT is 200 grams of potatoes? Is that all?") Where before I would open the fridge and unthinkingly take out a hard-boiled egg as a between-meal snack, now I count out 6 or 7 dried apricots and 24 almonds, put them into a baggie and carry them around as my snack allotment for the day. It really helps to have something to eat whenever I feel like it, except that when it's gone... well, tomorrow is another day.
:-)

12 comments:

  1. My biggest complaint is the amount of time your food spends under one of those plastic toppers steaming its way to ruin. By the time you get it it's steamed to a wilt and cold.

    Congratulations to you. It is interesting isn't it to find what we thought was okay really isn't and yes, keeping it off is every bit as tedious as taking it off. No way can you ever go back to the way you ate before.

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  2. They say smelling fresh grapefruit helps you to lose weight. How true is that? lol.

    I hope your cholesterold is truly lower as a result of weight loss. Good luck!

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  3. Hey...well done on the weight loss! I wonder...do you now have to make adjustments to your jumping gear?

    You know...for all the money the hospitals charge...they should be serving five star hotel rated foods.
    My daughter is having her second child at home next month for the cost of $4,000 versus the hospital with the lousy foods $22,000. How does this make sense.
    And try getting vegan food in a hospital here. ha! Are you kidding.
    Thanks for your well wishes for Jake today. And wondering how your BIL (Pete?) is doing this week. Please keep us posted...and I'm sending you and yours some love and hugs.
    Take care now.

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  4. congrats on the half pound...the hospital in valrico fl where we had our first son had amazing food...for real...only one i was ever in that was though...

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  5. I 'spect there is method to their madness in the offering of hospital food, less consumed, less disposed of.
    Congratulations on the weight loss, it's all so encouraging, even to just read about it !
    We are indeed having yet another round of snow falling...sheez.
    Good Luck on the remaining pounds you'd like to lose.
    Hugs,
    ~Jo

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  6. Congrats on the continuing weight fight.
    My hosp food story is when I was in for broken wrist surgery. They sent me a boiled egg! How was I supposed to open it with just one hand?

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  7. Glad to hear about those weight loss congratulations. Sometimes when you think about losing some weight, you thought it's really hard but when you're determined to do so, you will make it! Like you, I've lost a few kilos, when I went back to running and I ate more veggies and tofu in substitute for meat, but I sometimes eat meat products but very seldom.
    About the hospital food, maybe that's the reason why my Dad doesn't even want to touch his food when he was hospitalized. He makes me wrap it all and take it home for the arf arf...sounds rude.

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  8. I cannot complain about the food I've had in the hospitals in U.K. I've been in several times and sometimes for a week or more and I've never had anything I didn't like. I particularly liked the soup I had at 6 p.m. each evening. It's so heartwarming when you feel poorly.
    Glad you're losing the weight you wanted to lose.

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  9. So maybe the best way to lose weight is to eat hospital food? :-)
    I'm down six pounds in 2.5 weeks using the same program, but I have WAY farther to go than you do. The program has set a far reaching goal, but my goal for now is twenty pounds. Once I reach that, we'll see. I have to be able to maintain there first.

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  10. Ok, I am going to have to join this push to get the pounds down. I need a bit of accountability. You are my inspiration. Here I go.

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  11. Congratulations on the extra weight loss. I have hit a "plateau" so I must step up my exercise.

    Hospital food? Blaaaaacccckkkk!

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  12. I always thought hospital food was pretty good but lately what I've seen served has not been!

    Congrats on the weight loss!

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