Archives
Categories

Low Carb

Trying again

And really, aren’t I always trying again?

Meh.  I weight in this morning at 264.  Let’s just look at that number shall we?  The hightest I have been in the relatively recent past was 272…that is where I started my last weight loss journey.  I then lost about 45 pounds and was feeling really good.
I’m not that far away from my most recent highest and let’s face it, not that far away from my total highest..whatever that was.  I never knew because our scale broke and I wasn’t in a hurry to fix it but I know it was over 300 by a chunk.
Ug.
I’ve been saying for months that I was going to buckle down again and get this fat ass in gear but it never happens.
Rob’s cardiologist put him on a low carb diet and I tried to follow it but it just doesn’t work for me anymore.  I feel like crap on it because my electrolytes bottom out and no amount of salt or supplementation seems to help.  Hell, I have to supplement them on a regular diet to keep my heart palpitations at bay.
I’ve decided I’m going to try something new.  It’s kind of in the vein of the Zone diet…which surprisingly I’ve never tried before, but those are the marcos that I am shooting for.  So basically, I am portion controlling.  I’ve got myself set up for most of the day and then I will make a low carb meal at night for Rob and I will be able to have some as long as it isn’t crazy fatty.
They way we did it on keto was that we made a meal every night and then it served as our lunch the next day at least.  Now what I am doing is making a meal that will last for a lot of Rob’s lunches and some of my dinners, but I will be making my lunches and breakfasts separately.  Incorporating more fruits and non starchy veggies with lean meats and then using up my fat grams on the dinners that I make that will be low carb for him.
I hope that makes sense.
Today was day one.
I had an apple and PB powder for my morning snack and 1 serving of Kashi cereal with almond milk for my breakfast.
Lunch was a chicken breast and a medium yam with a TBS of butter.
Dinner will be a small serving Low Carb Taco Pie and a cup of brown rice.
My evening snack is sugar snap peas with hummus.
The most important thing is that I actively exercised for the first time in forever.  Probably almost a year.
It wasn’t a lot, but I got my butt on the treadmill and did a mile.  It took me almost a half an hour…not exactly like I used to do when I was training for the half marathons but I will take it.  I told myself I would get on there and I would do a mile…I wouldn’t push myself and however long it took me to do it, so be it.
I’m a little proud of myself.
Tomorrow we have our weekly visit with my in-laws where we cook them dinner and spend some time together.  I almost always end up eating something there and then eating again at home before bed.
I think this time I’m going to bring my snack and eat it instead of whatever dinner Rob makes (that is the hardest part, we never know what we are making until we get there so it’s so hard to plan) and then have a light dinner when we get back here.
I know Rob is wary that I’m going to make him fall off the low carb diet, but that is not my intention at all.  I just want to get control back over my eating and this is the easiest way I know how right now.
So that is where I am right now.  It could change on a dime, but today…I was in control.

Week Two Weigh In

251.4

– 1.4 for the week

-3.8 total

Okay, so admittedly this hasn’t been the GIANT weight loss I usually get when I first start low carb.  But it is a LOSS so I am just going to smile and say YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So I am proud to say I stayed on induction all week with the exception of adding nuts on the weekends.  I really did expect a bigger loss since I was getting off my period, but beggars can’t be choosers.
The big addition that we got to help our diet this weekend is we got our foodsaver back from my in laws.  You know, that little gadget that vacuum seals bags so you can freeze them and have them last longer without freezer burn?
I’m pretty excited to make up some bulk recipes this weekend and freeze them for the weeks ahead.  As I always say, the trick to this diet is being prepared.

The other thing that I need to start doing is exercising.  The book states plainly that exercise on this way of eating is NON NEGOTIABLE!  For whatever reason when I was in my 20’s and did the diet for two years I got away with it.  Must have had a high metabolism at that time I guess.  Not so much now.
Having said that, next week I’ll be strapping on my sneakers for the first time since the 1/2 marathon in November.  Yeah, that’s four months that I’ve been a slug.  At first I used the excuse that my toenail had fallen off as a result of my poor planning for the marathon, but it’s already mostly grown back and it hasn’t hurt in about three months so yeah…no more excuses.
I’m not going to be doing any hardcore training by any stretch of the imagination, but I am going to get my butt moving.  A mere 20 minute brisk walk on my lunch break should get me back in the game.  Physically AND mentally.
While I have been feeling pretty good lately, I’m still lacking something to feel like my old self.  I’ve been using essential oils at work and home to perk me up or calm me down and those work pretty well, there is an underlying feeling of restlessness that I can’t quite put my finger on.  It occurred to me the other day that when I felt this in the past, going for a run helped out immensely.  One run would put that feeling at bay for a couple of days at least.  I need to get that mental stability back in my life in a big way.  I’m not feeling all together bad or anything, I just feel a bit… off.
I’m pretty sure working out is the key to getting everything back together again.

1st week updates

When it comes to any diet the first week is usually the hardest.
Low carb is especially hard in my opinion because the first week is when you detox from sugar. Also known as the “low carb flu”.
Headaches, the sweats, the shakes, and brain-fog from hell. I imagine that it is a lot like detoxing from a drug – that speaks volumes about how addictive sugar can be.
This is usually the hardest part of getting into and staying in this diet. Usually by the time the “flu” hits me I start my tiny cheats just to stave off the side effects of the detox. A tiny bite of something sugary so I can get the headache to stay at bay. Sucking on a mint just to get the bad taste out of my mouth.
Never realizing that I am actually prolonging the whole thing.
Today is day four and I’ve not yet have that many problems. In my experience I am usually deep into the “flu” stage by day three and ready to quit by day five.
Last night I hit a patch of sweats when I was cooking but I also just started my period so it could have been hormones.
It really surprises me because I am being super strict this time around. No processed foods, no artificial sweeteners, all meat/veggies/cream and cheese and I’m watching the portions on all of that.
I’ve already lost two pounds which is great considering it’s that time of the month for me so I know it’s working.
The thing that I may be doing that could make a difference is I am using essential oils for the first time in my life and I really think they are making a major impact on my emotional and mental well being. And I totally don’t care if it is a placebo effect or not, I feel good! Why would I scoff at that??
Either way, I am not complaining that the low carb flu hasn’t hit me like a ton of bricks. I am puzzled, but grateful.
The other great thing that happened pretty much instantly, was all my gas/stomach problems I’ve been having for MONTHS went away.
It’s been pretty consistent recently, and for no apparent reason that my body was producing an abundance of gas. It was resulting in feeling constantly bloated and “full” with uncomfortable stomach pains and burning. I didn’t understand quite why because I wasn’t eating a lot of the typical things that give me gas. I even went a day with only eating plain buttered pasta and still had it. I can only guess that I have developed a sensitivity to gluten.
At any rate, it has been so nice to feel normal again!
And the food! Now that I have time to cook and do this diet properly I am eating like a queen. This morning I had a large slice of Quiche Lorraine with a pork rind crust that was so delicious and decadent. Same goes for the meat and cheese casserole I made a couple of nights ago. Super tasty and it felt like I was being bad!!
Tomorrow is weigh in and there will be no cheat day.  Normally I weigh in and then have my “cheat day” that turns into a cheat weekend.  Tomorrow I will have allow myself a handful of nuts(not allowed on induction) but no cheats per say.
Feeling good!!!

I know, I know…

So I know that the last post I put in this blog was in October of last year. And I know that it spoke about going back on low carb. Truth be told, I was on “low carb” for about two months and lost five pounds. Even more truth be told, I had forgotten all about what low carb dieting was.

I was not doing induction. I was not doing much of anything, other than trying to stay under a certain number of carbs and not paying very much attention to that number.

I hadn’t even thought about induction since I started low carb all those years ago and managed to lose 80 pounds. I “forgot” about how important the rules are to this diet/way of eating. Mostly, because I wanted to forget.

In my distant memory, the weight just seemed to melt off back then. And truth be told, it did! Because I followed the diet to a Tee! I didn’t add any of the processed “low carb” items you can now get readily at any grocery store. I ate meat and veggies and cheese and I was good. No nuts or seeds and no peanut butter. No processed snacks other than pork rinds and I was losing every single week.

In fact towards the “height” of low carb back in the early 2000’s I DID start adding those types of things in to my diet and that is when I started to stall. That was when all of a sudden my cravings came back and the cheating started.

Every single time I have attempted low carb since then I have done it half assed. I have eaten lots of meat and veggies but I have also added tons of peanut butter, nuts and “low carb” treats. I have paid zero attention to the induction menu and just eaten whatever was deemed “low carb”.

Thus we have come to today. I am over 250 pounds again and rising. When I was truly dedicated I got down to 210 or so and I was so happy. I was also younger and the body was more forgiving in how it carried the fat.

Nowadays at over 250 pounds and 40 years old, I feel a lot like I don’t want to go out into public. I look at my body in the mirror and even though I have been way bigger than this in weight, I feel like I look just as big as I did back when I weight 350. As you get older, your body distributes your weight differently and that sucks.

I have found that while I weigh less than I did at my heaviest, my body is starting to look worse than it did back then. I have much more back fat that likes to roll over my bra line and make an ever attractive roll in whatever shirt I choose to wear. My core is much more of a barrel shape than it ever was. Back in the day I may have been big, but I had a nice hour glass figure. As I age, not so much.

My mom always told me that if I lost weight when I was younger it would be so much easier. She said once you reached a certain age, it just got hard to lose.

I rolled my eyes and continued being a teenager.

She wasn’t wrong.

However, what I’m hoping that I can do is get back into induction for reals this time and get back to losing. I have a bunch of recipes set up and a shopping list at my fingertips.

I NEED to do this, this time around. I’m far too heavy to where I am comfortable and I need to reverse this.

Low Carb Weekend Away

So my weekend to myself is winding down already.  It’s been a lot of fun and I have stuck to my diet!

Friday night after work, I drove about an hour to get to my hotel, but before getting to the hotel I had one stop to make:

IMG_0212

In N Out Burger is a rare treat for me since the I don’t live near one.  There is one in Salinas but that is kind of a haul to get a burger.  Since this IMG_0220was just a block from my hotel I knew what I was getting for dinner.   A Double Double Protein Style -plain with just cheese is only 3 carbs so I got two and a diet coke.

I ate one before I even left the parking lot because I was STARVING and then checked into my hotel.

 

The room was pretty cool.  IMG_0215Has a flat screen TV, fridge and microwave.  It fit all of my needs.  I unpacked and settled in.  The television had Direct TV so I was overwhelmed with the amount of movie channels that were offered and spend a great deal of time vegging out to the tube.  I facebooked, wrote a little and did a bit of crochet before eating the second burger and dozing off to the tv.

 

 

This morning I woke up and got into my bathing suit.  I hit the hot tub and relaxed for a while before taking a shockingly cold dip in the pool and then back to the room for a quick shower.  Once I was dressed I headed over to Black Bear Diner across the street and got some take out.  I got a Hobo’s Omelet with a side of bacon.

breakfast

I ate about half.  I was going to have lunch with a friend that was traveling up to see me so I didn’t want to fill up but I was starving.  Oh and I ate all the bacon because, well…BACON!

My friend arrived a little bit later and we headed over to Chevy’s for lunch.  The service was really slow but good.  Our server explained that someone had failed to show up for work today and he was the only one there.  I really appreciated his honesty and felt really bad for him.  The speediness of the service didn’t matter to me today.  I’m not sweating the small stuff this weekend.  It turned out to be a good thing since I hadn’t seen my friend Koly in FOREVER so it gave us a lot of time to sit and talk at length.

We both got the mixed Fajitas.  I didn’t substitute anything I just pulled off the rice and beans when it came and the rest was “legal”.  Tons of meat and veggies and sour cream and guacamole.  It was a little slice of heaven.

lunch

After lunch we discovered that Koly’s car wouldn’t start.  It was actually her dad’s truck and the key was kind of warped.  She came to the conclusion that it was just not recognizing the key because she could put it over to the start side and pull the key right out.  She called her boyfriend to go get her dad’s spare key while we walked back to my hotel, less than a block away.  We then took my car to the outlet malls since we had planned on shopping anyway and now had about an hour to kill until her boyfriend got there.

I had never been to the outlet mall and having been now, I can say I think they are a bit overrated.  Not enough parking and they are outside.  In the Gilroy heat.  I didn’t like having to go round and round and round to find a parking space.  However, I DID find a really cute outfit at the Dress Barn out there complete with matching earrings and bracelets.

We tried the other half of the outlet malls but we couldn’t find parking.  I had allotted myself enough carbs to grab a sugar free Starbucks (two pumps sugar free cinnamon dolce and heavy cream) but with out parking I couldn’t get it.  Oh well.  Maybe in the morning before I leave.

By the time we got frustrated with the parking her boyfriend was almost there so we headed over there instead.  Koly was spot on with her diagnosis of the car and it fired right up with a different key.  With her car back in shape we took a second shopping detour and headed to Ross where I got a serious bargain on some Sketchers.  :-)

shoes

Back at the hotel I Skyped with my husband and my dogs and now I’m relaxing.  skype

I was going to take a nap but I think I’d rather get to bed early and wake up for a hot tub in the morning before I leave.  Over all I think it was a successful weekend away that was just as good as if I had cheated on my diet.  Maybe even better because I never had that overly full “i’m going to puke” feeling.  :-)

Research, research research

Okay , so I know that being spontaneous has it’s good points, but maybe not so much when it comes to a low carb diet.

Back story:  About once a year I take a weekend by myself and get a hotel room.  No husband, no dogs, no friends.  I reach a boiling point where I just am DONE dealing with people.  I don’t care how much I love you, sometimes I just need a break.  Usually I use this weekend as an excuse to indulge in food and shopping and general sloth like behavior.

I am taking such a weekend this coming weekend but this time I’m going to try and stay on my low carb diet and also get some exercise in.

Now, we all know how easy it is when you are low carbing to stop by your local fast food chain and get a bunless burger right?  But I am planning on enjoying my meals this weekend and so that is proving to take a little research.

Most popular restaurants have websites with their nutritional information.  So I googled the eateries around my hotel and found some usable options.  This of course means I’m at the mercy of chain restaurants but at least I’m not eating out of Burger King every meal.  Once you are well versed in the low carb universe, a lot of people eyeball the entree and can ballpark the carbs, but you never really know how many hidden carbs are in spices or other additives.  At this stage in my weight loss, I am not willing to bargain.

My hotel does not have a gym but it does have a pool so I’m planning on logging some water laps.  I love water.  I could have easily been a fish in a former life and I just love the sensation of water around me.  So between swimming and water walking I’m hoping to burn a few decent carbs off the bod.

So I’ve got some killer choices picked out from the menu’s of the local (albeit chain) food-fare and I’m looking forward to a weekend of no distractions, crocheting and relaxation.  I can’t wait!!!

A weekend out and about with low carb

Forgot to post about my weigh in last week.  Week Two weigh in was down 2 lbs.  Total of six down in two weeks.  Not too shabby.

I don’t have high hopes for a loss this week simply because I haven’t been counting my carbs.  I had a stressful week and am in the process of weaning myself off my antidepressants so I decided to take the pressure off myself and just eat things that are low carb.  When I do this I tend to gain or maintain.  I’m kind of okay with that this week.  I’m certainly not giving up.

This weekend was a bit of an out and about weekend.  Those can either be really good or really dicey when you are low carbing.  This was a good one.

farmstyleI slept in on Saturday morning and didn’t feel very ambitious about cooking but I was pretty hungry.  So I bbreakieran up to the upper freezer and grabbed the Atkins frozen breakfast meal I had bought for just such an occasion.  I was about to throw it in the microwave when I realized I was a little more hungry than that so I whipped up a half batch of Almond Flour Pancakes to go with it.  I was sure glad I did because I wasn’t so much a fan of this frozen meal.  I have tried a lot of the other dinners and love them for the most part but on this one, the eggs were rubbery.  I’m a texture person when it comes to food so this bothered me quite a bit.

Saturday night found us having dinner and a show at our favorite local community theater.  We contemplated whether we wanted to go the safe route and eat at home but since grocery shopping had yet to be done for the week the pickings were slim.  We opted to take our chances at the British pup down below the theater and I’m so glad we did.  I got a house salad with ranch to start and then a bunless burger with three kinds of cheese on top.  The only thing that was wrong with it was that I forgot to ask for bacon on top.  :-)   Rob got the spicy wing basket.

photo(3) photo(8)photo(7)

After we were fully satisfied and headed off to the show where we did cheat a bit and get a sweetened coffee beverage.

Sunday was my girls day.  I got up showered and headed out to Outback Steakhouse with my BFF.  We are both low carbing and so it seemed the logical place to go.  I’d never been before, believe it or not but I had studied up the menu online and was prepared for a low carb meal.  :-)

I got the sirloin with grilled shrimp.  As my two sides I got a house salad with ranch and steamed green beans with butter.  My fellow low carber Paula got the prime rib with a salad and some broccoli on the side.

photo(4) photo(6) photo(5)

Look at those plates!  Anyone who says you can’t get full and eat yummy food out at a restaurant on low carb has clearly never put any effort into it.  :-)

After lunch we went to the mall and did a little shopping and then it was off to a movie.

We commented on the fact that you can get pretty much ANYTHING snack food wise you want at the movies now.  It used to be popcorn and candy and that was it but now you can get pizza, nachos, ice cream, Starbucks…whatever your little heart desires.  Still though, not a lot of good low carb options.  There is always the bunless hot dog in a pinch.  However, I’ve always been a sweets kind of girl at the movies.  I like the big giant box of reeses pieces when I sit down to watch a flick…I blame ET really.

So what I had devised for my plan of action at the movies on this day was this:

photo(9)

This is an Atkins bar that I cut up into little pieces and froze.  I thought that would be the perfect sweet treat for the movies, but of course I forgot it at home.  Thankfully, I was still full from lunch and didn’t crave anything else, but I do recommend doing this in the future.  I think it will really help me to stay out of the candy line.  :-)

Anyhoo, I had a pretty full weekend and still managed to stay on the diet.  Pretty proud of that.

Week One Weigh In

So the total for the first week on low carb as of yesterday was down four pounds.  I was hoping for more but Mother Nature paid me her monthly visit and sidelined me in two different ways.  The first is obviously water weight.  I was down six pounds as of Friday but gained some serious fluid when MN came knocking.  The other was that I had some monster cramps.  This is normal for me and I’m well aware that if I don’t take my Advil on time I will get sick.  Saturday I was on the cusp of being sick and the only thing I knew that would make me better was food.  The cramps were mostly gone but the nausea that I get with them was in full swing, but the last thing wanted to think of was eating meat or eggs or even cheese.  So I made myself an English Muffin.    That made me feel so much better I had another one.  Later, in full Well-I-Already-Cheated-On-My-Diet mode I had a handful of cheeze its but that was it.

Still a four pound loss in a week is nothing to be upset about.

The “Low Carb Flu” was relatively kind to me this first week.  I had some hot flashes, horrible bad breath and the detox headache but it wasn’t as altogether bad as I remember it.  I hope I didn’t just jinx myself.

One thing that I know I have been doing is eating more nuts than I should.  I need to reign that back in because that is the reason I usually stall.  It’s just so hard when you only have so many snacks, and I’m a snacky person.  Tonight I remembered cheese chips and pepperoni chips so hopefully those will keep me on a better track.

Not much else to report.  Still plugging away.  I need to make sure I track my carbs better on the weekends but that has ALWAYS been my problem on this diet.  I’m happy with four pounds down and hope to continue to see the scale move in the correct directions.  :-)

Day Two Recap

Today’s Menu
Breakfast:
2 Hard Boiled Eggs and Two Chicken Patties(recipe to follow soon) 2 net carbs
Lunch:
1 Chicken Breast with two slices of american cheese and 1/2 cup of canned cut green beans    4 net carbs
Snack: Dry Roasted Edamame    2 net carbs
Dinner:    Pizza Chicken  and green beans 9 net carbs
Snack: 1 oz pecans and 1 string cheese   1.7 net carbs

Total 18.7 net carbs

Today started off with the headache but that did lessen towards the end of the day.  The hot flashes started this afternoon though.  No shakes yet but I was actually TWITCHING for a little bit.  Anyone who tells me sugar isn’t a drug is a liar!  It’s like a withdrawal!!  LOL!  Looking forward to tomorrow!

Interesting…

Last night, my sister in law was in town.  That meant a dinner out with my in-laws.  While that particular event is always pleasant and fun, it doesn’t always make for good eating on my diet.

We went to a local place called Baja Cantina where they have a very good selection of food.  I told myself that maybe I might cheat since I have been so good for so long and my weight is still kind of stagnant….

Once I looked at the menu I realized I was craving a bunless burger and a side salad!   How insane is that???  I mean, in a good way of course!  🙂

So this morning, I was doing the weekly shopping and I was getting my low carb marinara sauce when I saw the Dreamfields pasta.  I thought: “Hmmm, I think I will pick one of those up and have a “cheat night” tonight that won’t really be a cheat night if those things really work.  That sounds fun.”

So I put one of the spaghetti ones in my cart.

After I got home I started re-editing all of my episodes since they are now on Ifood.tv and need to be redone.  That is when I realized I don’t NEED to cheat!  I have so many recipes that I haven’t used in forever, that are fabulous and I have all the ingredients for!  I don’t even crave that pasta!!

So I just cooked up some “KFC” Chicken and now the Caulironi and Cheese is in the oven.    It’s going to make a yummers dinner.

I’m sure I will try the Dreamfields eventually but for now I’m perfectly satisfied with what I am eating.

So I guess it is true.  If you eat the Low Carb Lifestyle long enough, you really DO lose your cravings!  I never really believed that part of it, but so far it has been true for me!!  Ha!