Weigh In
Ta effing Da!
Yup, here I am again.
If you are reading this entry, I would like to explain the archives of this blog have been pieced together via the Wayback Machine that can show you old archived web pages. Because I have been a bit of a impatient dumbass in the past, I had lost most of my entries when I switched over to a new domain host. Yeah.
It’s nothing that I can change at this point, but I spent a lot of time last week copying the old entries over from the wayback machine and so some of the links and images probably no longer work. I just wanted to explain why.
I have shifted back and forth on different blogs over the years, but I think it’s time to come back to this one. This is a very diet neutral name and it’s one of the original ones if not THE original one that I started all those years ago. I just loved the name and so here I am.
I have resurrected my old YouTube channel by the same name as well, because…might as well keep it all in the same vein right? Back when I started that channel it was primarily for low carb recipes. It was a little show I called Low Carb Cafe and I really enjoyed and miss making those videos. So they will be back, but I’m also expanding the channel to vlogs and weigh ins and such so that it’s all my content in one channel. Much like this blog.
So things have been going meh for me as far as the weight loss. I’ve gone in ebbs and flows like always. I lost about 40 lbs with low calorie and portion control only to gain most of it back when I fell of the wagon.
In December of 2017 my husband had a heart attack and his dr recommended keto so we have been trying that ever since. And when I say that we have been trying that, I mean that we were really good for a few months, he dropped 30 lbs and I 15, but then I just couldn’t stick with it. I kept cheating at work and not telling my husband and pretending I was eating fine at home. We both fell out of the exercise routine and in turn fell stagnant on the weight loss front.
My anxiety and depression have played a really big part in me not wanting to do anything – also I discovered that now when I lower my carbs I get heart palpitations when I don’t supplement with sea salt because I get super low on electrolytes. It makes me not want to do the diet because I just don’t want to deal with that.
The latest set back is that my husbands mother has been in a health crisis. Her kidneys are failing and she has lots f blockages in her heart, but she only has a 10% chance of surviving surgery. So basically she was sent home a month ago to die.
In pulling her off of 15 of her medications however, they didn’t anticipate that she would bounce back. She went from being bed bound to going to Target the other day.
What this has meant for us, is that we have been heading over there most nights after work and cooking food for her…whatever she wants since they took her off dietary restriction. Since we then get home with only an hour or so to relax before bed, that leaves us at the mercy of eating whatever she wanted and also bringing those leftovers to work for lunches the next day.
Let’s just say it hasn’t been Keto, or even moderately healthy.
We made a decision this weekend that we were just going to have to suck it up and either make her meals more towards our diet, or we would have to cook a bunch on our “nights off” to supplement the meals that we won’t be eating at her house.
I’ve just been to the grocery store to stock up, and we’ll see what I can cook up tonight to get us ready for the next few days.
So that is what is going on with me. I weighed in yesterday at 257 lbs. That is up about 20 pounds from my recent lowest. I’m hoping to reign all this in and start exercising again too. Thus dusting off the YouTube channel and this blog.
Wish me luck!!!!
Mini Goal Achieved! Down 20 pounds!!
Okay, this is just amazing to me. I haven’t been able to lose more than a total of seven pounds in about four years. I get gung ho the first week and then start to lose all motivation because I get caught back up in the fact that I love to eat.
When I was losing weight before, I don’t even think it was because I was dieting, but because I was running and burning calories.
I have lost this current weight without even working out!!! Other than choreography for the play, which is nothing compared to my two mile runs every day that I used to do. I can’t even believe it.
Literally. There is a part of me that wonders if the scale needs new batteries or that I need new glasses, but the proof is in the pudding. My jeans are literally falling off me. I had to wear a belt for the first time in forever this week. I look in the mirror and see my double chin going away and my cheekbones emerging. I’m having to tighten my bra rather than wear an extender.
It’s all pretty exciting to say the least. When I first started this blog I stated that I wanted to lose 20 pounds before we take our trip to Vegas in May. Well, I did it! I can’t even believe it. 20.8 to be exact as of yesterdays weigh in. So I have achieved my first mini goal!!! It’s so boggling my mind that I am where I am already. I mean, I know it’s been almost three months, but it really doesn’t seem that long to me. And I really don’t feel like I’m depriving myself much of anything. I mean, I guess it did in the beginning, and I do remember being much more hungry at first, so I guess it is really true that you just need to give yourself enough time to make or break a habit. I don’t even really think about it anymore, I just eat what I know is going to be good to my body and that’s it. Keep my portions small on the bad stuff and fill up on the good stuff. It sounds so stupidly simple when you put it like that, but it’s true.
My broken big toe is finally starting to heal much better now that I’m not dancing on it three days a week, so I’m hoping to actually start getting some exercise in soon. Nothing more than walking and some Walking Off The Pounds DVD’s but it will at least get me moving and getting my heart rate up.
Not much else to report on the weight loss front, I think that is a lot actually. I guess I should set a new mini goal. I have the whole wedding ring thing but I think that’s going to take another month or so.
I guess I’ll go with getting back into a comfortable size 20…though I think I gave them all away when I gave up on ever losing weight, but I can be convinced to go shopping I suppose. 😉
Lot's of good progress so far.
So Friday marked my 9th weekly weight in since I started trying to eat better. I was shocked and amazed to see a 2.2 pound loss when I stepped on the scale. Also, very happy. 🙂
So this brings my weight down to 257 and my total loss to 15.2 pounds.
I haven’t seen the 250’s in about a year so this makes me very very excited.
The weight I was most comfortable at while still being “morbidly obese” was around 220. I was fitting into a size 18 jeans and generally felt really good about my appearance. Of course I was also running on a near daily basis at the time while training for a half marathon, but still…that was my weight.
At this stage in the game though, any loss is a welcome loss. Or even, just not a gain. You see, I’m still not really being super strict or counting calories yet. I’m just cutting my portions down and making better decisions. I’ve got a basic concept of what works for me during the week and I’m just trying to stick to it. Chicken, brown rice and a veggie for dinner. Overnight oats for breakfast and something well balanced for lunch. Veggies and fruits for snacks and I’ve cut out most diet sodas.
I’m beginning to see the loss in my face. My double (triple) chin is getting a bit smaller and my cheekbones are becoming a little bit more pronounced. I really wish I had taken some body shots when I started so I have a real documentation, alas that didn’t happen. I did take some the other day so I will at least have something going forward.
What I am starting to notice are other little things that are changing for me cosmetically. Things I had basically just stopped trying at.
I had pretty much given up on trying to look pretty. My clothes were straight up tee shirts and jeans. Why bother to try and dress nice when everything you wear looks like a sack of potatoes anyway right?
Well, lately I have been buying some new items online. Nothing major, but before I was rotating the same three shirts and the same pair of jeans every day. Now I have a little more variety and some of the things look a lot cuter on me than they would have fifteen pounds ago.
Also, my skin has been a wreck for most of my adult life. I have rosacea, but I’ve never really even attempted to take care of my skin. Turns out that I also have a skin condition I never knew existed. Milia is the name of those white bumps I have scattered all over my cheeks, just under my eyes. I had always assumed they were very stubborn white heads that could only be cured by lancing them and pushing out the small white ball inside it. While you can do this method, they are not whiteheads, but are actually small cysts that are filled with keratin. I had no idea! And I just assumed that I was stuck with these suckers for life. I have had them over a decade and other than lancing them, I have never gotten them to go away with any sort of acne cream – which makes total sense now.
Anyhoo, I gave up on my skin because it was in such a bad way. I would slather on the foundation to cover the rosacea, but the texture of my skin was always off due to the milia. I just learned to live with it. About a month ago, I started using a pretty standard moisturizer. It was just a hydrating gel that I got when we went to Korea to keep my skin from drying out on the plane. I have been using it every single morning after my shower and nothing else. I have found that the texture of my skin is getting better and it doesn’t look so dry and my pores aren’t as prominent.
Yesterday while researching something else, I stumbled upon an article about Milia and found that you can treat it by using raw honey on them. I started that yesterday and we shall see how it goes.
I finally gave myself a much needed haircut yesterday as well. My hair was almost down to my butt and just a mess of straggly split ends.
My point is, that at some point in my weight gain, I gave up on everything else. My clothes. My face. My hair. Even my bra. My stomach was so big that wearing an underwire hurt, so I started buying granny bras and wearing them. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but it didn’t do wonders for my self esteem.
I’m now feeling like it’s worth trying to make myself feel that much better by liking other things when I look in the mirror, not just my waistline.
I view this as a huge win. While it is not a win on the scale, I think it is even better than that.
1st Weigh In
So I’m effectively starting over as of Tuesday so I’m calling this my first weigh in. Deal with it.
Beginning weight: 261 lbs
Today’s Weight: 256.4 lbs
Result: -4.6 lbs
Needless to say that I am really happy with this. I know that every time I “start” a diet I lose quite a bit the first week, and I know that it is water weight, but I actually *feel* thinner this time. I feel like I’m heading in the right direction, instead of just going through the motions.
I think the turning point right now is exercise. I have worked out every day since the restart. Nothing hardcore at all, just light aerobic activity. On Tuesday and Thursday I did the “Burn” portion of the Learn and Burn Turbo Jam DVD, (more on TJ later) and on Wednesday and Friday (today) I did a simple brisk 20 minute walk on my lunch break. It’s not like I’m burning a thousand calories, but Dr Atkins did state in his book that Exercise is Non-Negotiable! I think every little step I take helps, and that is also something that has been missing from my diet every time I have restarted.
So now more about Turbo Jam. This was a work out craze that came out quite a few years back led by Chalene Johnson. It’s a lot like kickboxing I guess. I bought the DVD’s years ago and I remember really enjoying them whenever I would use them. They are intense but they FUN! Plus they have this awesome timer thing that slides across the screen that really helps me to keep going when I see there are only a few minutes left of each “session”.
I have no idea what became of the old DVD’s but I recently sought them out online and was able to obtain another set. I’m happy to report they are just as fun as ever, and this time I plan on getting past the “Learn and Burn” and “20 Minute” workout to actually utilizing the more intense and longer workouts.
I did learn how completely out of shape I am after just one session of the Learn and Burn. I felt muscles I didn’t know existed!
Anyhoo, that is my progress for now. I’ll update more later.
*hugs*
Week Four Weigh In
251.4
-0
But wait!
Okay so there is a reason there was no week three weigh in. Lemmie explain…
Once or twice a year I like to recharge my batteries. The way that I do this is to get a hotel room in a nearby city that has a pool and a hot tub, as well as nearby shopping and I go there. By myself. I bring books, the laptop, my crochet and anything else that I have wanted to do but can’t seem to find the time in my busy day to day life.
I was really run down and burned out the last couple of weeks. I was depressed and angry a lot, and I knew it was time to take that trip to aloneland.
I told myself I was going to stay on my diet. With the bunless burgers and steak and eggs of the world, I would be fine eating out for my meals. I even brought some lunch meat and cheese to snack on since the hotel had a fridge.
The decision to stay on low carb that weekend didn’t even last until I got to the hotel.
Friday night I had Pizza Hut deliver medium pan Ultimate Cheese Lovers Pizza and boneless wings. (You know the kind with the breading!) Also, I snacked on the Ritz crackers I had bought when I got gas earlier that day.
Saturday I woke up and ate leftover pizza for breakfast. I got dressed and went shopping at the local mall where I got a medium Peanut Butter Cup Perfection bowl at Coldstone and ate every last drop. I then proceeded to pick up some Panda Express for dinner when I got back to the hotel. In addition, I stopped on the way back to the hotel and picked up a bag of Cheese Puffcorn to snack on later that night. Sunday morning I hit up their continental breakfast and filled up on half an English muffin, eggs, country potatoes and a blueberry muffin that was more muffin than blueberry.
Yeah, I went a little crazy. I do NOT regret doing it though. It was part of my “let me do whatever I want and feel no judgement from anyone” weekend, and it was exactly what I needed to get my head on straight again. I also hit the hot tub and swam a lot which also helped. 
I didn’t get on the scale again until that following Tuesday and what I found shocked even me, and I KNEW how much I ate that weekend: 258.6
I was very much taken aback and wanted to quit the diet, but I didn’t. Instead, I dusted off my old Myfitnesspal account and started logging everything I ate to make sure I kept my carbs in the 18-22g a day area.
Five days later and I am down 7.2 pounds!
So while there is no “Official” weight loss to report this week, I did in fact lose 7.2 pounds.
What does that tell me? I was way overeating my carbs without knowing it. When I log everything, I am held accountable. Previously I was writing everything down by hand and “guessing” at some of the carb counts. I shan’t be doing that again.
In other news, I found out that I am allergic to pumpkin seeds.
A while back I had an allergic reaction while eating a seasoned, raw sprouted seed mixture. I assumed that it was an allergy to one of the spices because I had eaten all of those kinds of seeds before with no problems.
I bought a bag of pumpkin seeds a couple of weeks ago, and I snacked on them one day last week, I had a handful in the morning and had a couple more early that afternoon.
As I was on my walk that lunch break when I felt my throat start to feel sore, and after lunch I could feel the back of my tongue getting itchy and swollen. Everything towards the back of the roof of my mouth was sore in the same way it was after I ate that other mixture.
That night I had a noticeably fat lip, and everything on the left side of my mouth (the side I predominantly chew on) was swollen and painful. I hopped on the Facebook to get opinions and was quite alarmed by my informative friends responses. I took a Benadryl, and it eventually went away. Took about two days to get back to normal, and it kinda scared the crap out of me. I’ve never been allergic to seeds before. As recent as six months or so I had some pumpkin kernels on the Autumn Soup and Panera Bread and never had a reaction. That leads me to believe that it’s the actual outside seed that I might have an allergy to.
I guess that food allergies develop as we get older, and things that never affected us before can be life-threatening as time goes on. Scary stuff!
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.
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. 
Progress Update…sort of
So we had a fabulous time in LA and I walked a ton! I didn’t watch my diet however…and while I didn’t go HOG wild, I did eat a lot of stuff I shouldn’t have. I could give you the old: “Hey I was on vacation!” excuse but I don’t even fool myself with that one. I did the crime and the scale showed me I would do the time.
This morning however, it was back down to 244 so that was cool.
I skipped walking for three days after I got back because my blisters had blisters and boy did I ever feel that break on Tuesday when I started walking again. I could only force myself to do 20 minutes and I didn’t do anything else when I got home either. My calves and shins were BURNING!
20 more minutes on Wednesday and then yesterday I walked half the loop for a 30 minute walk. I plan to repeat that again today.
Last night when I got home I also dusted off the gazelle and did 25 minutes on that bad boy. As Rob pointed out, it was MUCH easier to do than it used to be since I’ve been walking so much.
Tomorrow I am heading out to Fleet Feet to get my running shoes. Mel at work has recommended them and Jewels just went and got hers a week or so ago. She says they are fabulous and soooo comfy. I guess they measure your feet and watch you walk barefoot and analyze your feet or some such stuff to make sure we have the absolute best shoes for our feet. They are quite expensive but when it comes to this, you get what you pay for I’m sure. And I’m sick of the stupid blisters I keep getting on my two little toes of my left foot.
I have yet to start running. I figure I have lots of time and I have to master the whole walking thing first. 
Time will tell but I am still planning on giving the 10 K my best shot!