Week 18 Results! Post Holiday Results.

18 Weeks in Summary:

- Weightloss

- Conquered Christmas

- Rosacea


- Sorry the video/information is so short.  I am not feeling well today.

A miraculous ending to the night Week 18 Day 126

Yesterday was Saturday.   And as you all know,  yesterday was our big family party.   I allowed myself one wheat thin,  one club cracker and many NORCAL margaritas.   Did I mention MANY NORCAL margaritas?

This is how it went....

Around 1 pm,  I made my very first NORCAL margarita as follows: 

- 1.5 Limes, juice and pulp (mine weren't the greatest resulting in minimal juice)

- 2 Jiggers of Tequila (I started with 1.5, and slowly turned it into 2 very full ones)

- cup full of ice

- topped off with 1/2 watermelon flavored water (no carbs, just "flavor") & 1/2 flavored soda water (strawberry kiwi).  

I continuously made them until about 6 pm.  I think I went through 6 or 8 Limes at 1.5 Limes per drink the first few hours,  than one lime per drink the last couple of hours.   You see how that works out in numbers right?  

For dinner,  I stuck with low carb high fat (LCHF) and had prime rib with extra cuts of fat,  and salad with Homemade ceaser dressing.  

We were also celebrating my husband's birthday,  so a Breusters ice cream cake was also cut and served by the only person in the room not eating sugar... Me! 

Within the hour everyone was packing up and saying their goodbyes.  Other than a couple m&ms I stole off the centerpiece (my son's gingerbread house),  I had done pretty good so far.  

After cleaning up a bit,  I decided I had done so good this past week,  and screw it, the drinks alone probably knocked me out of ketosis,  I  might as well have some cake too.   Now,  remembering the number of margaritas I had,  you can only image the size of that piece of cake.   I wish I would have taken a picture for this post alone.   I do deserve the public shaming after all.  

Oh, and my sister made oreo cheesecake balls (dipped in chocolate of course).  I ate two of those, than I took my heaping pile of ice cream cake held in place by a bowl and retired to our upstairs living room to watch a movie and be alone in peace and quiet.   Plus,  I didn't want to watch football with the boys.   Blah!

After consuming my mountain o' Shame,  I continued to watch the movie "Love Actually"  (which I do not recommend by the way).   For the next 2 hours (why are bad movies so long),  I  continued to feel sicker and sicker to my stomach.   Once the pain ended (the movie not my stomach),  I  went downstairs,  grabbed a sip of water and laid down. 

At this point,  I  could only hope that the vomit king,  whom paid quite a few visits during my partying days,  would come by and say hello to an old friend,  in hopes of ending my misery.   Sounds dramatic I know,  but I was in that much pain.

About 30 or so minutes of laying there,  I  made my way to the bathroom in hope.   Where there is hope,  there is a way.   Or something like that.  

In as few words and details as possible...  I went to bed with a very empty stomach and digestion tract and and slept like a baby.   Phew.  

Now this morning,  I felt a little off,  but nothing to complain about.   So I  won't.   Although not hungry,  my husband made breakfast,  so therefore I ate some bacon,  eggs and sausage.   After a couple of hours of drinking water,  I decided to see if the damage had been done.

With Ketostix in hand, I  headed to the royal room.   Low and behold,  I was still in ketosis.   Although it was very dark purple indicating possible dehydration,  I was in ketosis!

And there you have it folks,  I had my Christmas miracle 4 days late.  

But don't think I  didn't get that at a cost.   I felt horrible all day today and my stomach just wasn't right.   But that is what I get after so any margaritas.

And it was all worth it!

Merry 2014 Christmas!

After exchanging Christmas gifts, my husband and I moved to the kitchen to make Christmas Breakfast.  My job - To make the Cinnamon Swirl pancakes with vanilla glaze.  My husband cooked the sausage, bacon, and eggs.  

I DID NOT touch the pancakes.  I didn't even want any.  MY son, on the other hand, ate for the both of us.  

For a snack, I ate pork rinds dipped in spinach & artichoke cream cheese.  That is yummy if you haven't tried it yet.  

And now...

I am sitting here pondering my first Christmas without sugar, treats, chocolate (although I do see some dark chocolate in my future), cookies, candy canes, etc.   

It is very hard for me to fathom the change that has happened to me by taking part in this Low Carb High Fat adventure.  My life has literally been flipped right side up and landed where it should have been all along.  

Part of me feels sad.  Not because I wished that I could have those things, as I have NO cravings, even while I spent 45 minutes making the pancakes.  I am sad because I wish I knew about this way of eating BEFORE 2013.  I know everything happens for a reason, and I do feel that if I had learned it at a younger age, I would have blown it off.  

And a thought just occurred... I tried Atkins, and it failed me.  It only failed me because I dealt with daily diarrhea and was told that I would have a heart attack by the media and my peers. Then later, when the rumors that Dr. Atkins died from his own diet, that set in stone that I had made the right decision. 

So the natural answer was that low fat, low calorie was the right diet after all.   

If I had not taken the journey of trying low fat, low calorie and later vegetarianism, I would not have been where I am today.  If I hadn't tried those ways of eating, I would still be questioning my way of eating now.  It is my experience in those other "ways" that I am 100% confident in the correct way - LCHF.  

So yeah, part of me is sad that this is my first Christmas doing the right thing, and that I may have wasted so many years of eating terribly.  

But the rest of me is extremely happy.  Extremely happy because I am SOOOO Strong now that I CAN eat healthy on Christmas Day with NO regrets, NO cravings, and NO doubts.  

I look forward to a lifetime of holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, vacations, etc. of knowing that I can not only "handle" eating healthy, but I will be "HAPPY" eating healthy.

I hope that you can find this same moment in your life and feel the same happiness.  

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good LCHF night! 

P.S.  Dinner is grilled buffalo cornish hens with green beans.  

Week 17 Results... and it was GOOD!

This has been another amazing week on my adventure.  

I discuss some of the following:

- Feeling like crap after eating

- Walked 3 miles, and half was extremely hilly.

- Still staying positive with every thought.  Having trouble with the father-in-law cramping my style, but trying as hard as I can.

- Holidays, sweets, and artificial sweeteners

- This week's Facebook Group challenge is A Pledge to not lose weight over the Christmas Holiday.  

Join us at www.facebook.com/groups/LCHFapprentice 

Week 16 Results!

I talked a LOT in this video.  Hopefully you can get something from my ramblings.  

Addicted to the Scale & Adobo Marinated Pork with Chipotle Sour Cream Dip - Week 16 Day 108

I purposely chose not to weigh in this morning.  I admit, this is mostly because I knew I would have gained weight after accidentally overeating yesterday.  But on the flip side, this is amazing considering that I have been religious about weighing in every single morning, even if I knew I would gain.  I know its not healthy to weigh yourself every day, but I can't stop. 

And then today, I made a conscious effort, albeit based on a fear of seeing bad news, it was still a decision I would not have made in the past.  Even when I wasn't attempting to lose weight, I weighed in every morning.  

Why is it that women are so addicted to their weight in numbers?  Why is it that I hide my weight from my husband, family, and even friends?  If I could wave a magic wand, it would be that the scale was never created.  Can you imagine a world where nobody knew how much they weighed?  We are controlled by one stinking number on a scale which means absolutely nothing in the scheme of everything in life.  

My son (7 years old) started to ask about our weight yesterday.  I don't ever talk about weight, I only talk about "getting healthy and not eating carbs/sugar".  My husband answered with his weight, and I dreaded being the next one asked.  When asked, I simply told my son that it is very rude to ask a female her weight.  When he asked why, I told him it was a secret for a girl to hold that information, and that the number means absolutely nothing.  He said "okay", and that was it.  THANK GOD.  Hopefully that is the end of that subject.

But then I got thinking later on, wow, I was scared to tell my son my weight.  Holy Cow!  This number is controlling me.  Ugh.  Unfortunately, I don't think it is anything I will be able to share with anyone, even when I lose all the weight.  

If I had one word to explain why our society cares about weight in numbers, it would be "Media".  

So thank you media for ruining millions of women's lives and making them care about a number, that without a scale, they would never know.  


On the brighter side of things....

When I took off for the grocery store yesterday, my husband told me to grab some meats for this week's dinners.  Well, I am the WORST at picking out meats.  I know nothing about anything, except which animal it comes from and whether its steak or bacon.  That is it.  

So I came across a package of pork called "Pork Steaks" and they were huge.  I like huge, so I grabbed them up.  

I came home to find my husband making a unique dinner that he put together himself.  He was so proud that he looked at the carbs on everything and ensured that I could eat everything.  

He decided to chop them up and make kabobs, instead of the steaks I envisioned.  He then decided to marinate using adobo sauce from chipotles.  He used the remaining chipotles and adobo sauce to mix with sour cream and made an excellet (and spicy!) sour cream dip for the meat.  

It was so good, I couldn't wait to share with everyone else.  

Sides = Pan roasted green beans and steamed broccoli (yes that's butter on top, and I had already ate half of it before I remembered to take a photo)

Let me know if you try it, and how it turned out!

PORK MARINADE:

1/2 cup mustard
1/2 cup Soy sauce
1/3 cup olive oil
3 garlic cloves, mashed or minced
2 tablespoons adobo sauce (look for chipotles in adobo sauce)
Orange zest
1 tablespoon orange juice

CHIPOTLE PORK DIP:

1 cup sour cream
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon chili powder
3/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon oregano
orange zest
1 teaspoon orange juice
Remaining chipotle and adobo sauce from 1 can

Cook pork as you prefer.  Serve dip on the side.

Enjoy.  

Week 15 Results are IN!

I still can't believe I have been doing this 15 weeks already.  As my husband said, "you've been doing this as long as the football season".  I'm glad he remembered I started when the NFL season began.  ha ha

I had a good week with a great weightloss!  Today is the first day I really felt more energetic since being back on the wagon.  I was extremely motivated and got a lot done at work today.  

Below is the video capturing this week's results and thoughts.

p.s.  I couldn't drink the kombucha drink anymore after the video.  It really grossed me out the more I tried.  

p.s.s.  I tried a new technique of applying my makeup, so my skin has not cleared up as it may appear.  

Italian Wedding Soup for Dinner...... Week 15 Day 105

Today's dinner is brought to you by Grass Fed Girl's recipe (FOUND HERE).  

I was able to purchase some grass fed ground beef for a whopping $10/pound! So, as you can probably guess, I only bought 2 packages.  

Other than a few changes, I think it turned out really well.  Sorry I didn't figure out the nutrition data, but I'm sure its Low Carb and I don't feel guilty eating it at all ;)

The changes I made:   

- Fried veggies in duck fat

- used almond flour instead of coconut flour

- added more sausage like spices (since its missing the sausage) i.e.  sage to the meatballs

- added Parmesan cheese to the meatballs

- Used half homemade turkey stock and half homemade duck stock

Unfortunately the meat that I purchased was 91% lean.  Not my preferred amount of fat levels.  It wasn't until after I dropped all the meatballs into the pot that my husband said "You know, you could have mixed duck fat into the meatball mixture".  Too late.  Oh well.  

I highly recommend adding this recipe to your Low Carb recipe book.

Enjoy!

 Now I can't wait for leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

Back in Ketosis! Week 15, Day 101

I have been back on the LCHF wagon for 3 full days now.  Today, I had a hint of "ketosis" breath cross my nostrils.  

I couldn't wait to get home and test my urine.  

POSITIVE!  My levels showed moderate.  I'm hoping by Friday I will be in full "heavy" ketosis.  I can't believe it took less than 72 hours!  

Who would have thought you could look forward to having such bad breath!

If you end up falling off the wagon, just know it won't take long for you to get back on and into the swing of things.

YOU CAN DO IT! 

Week 14 Results!

I'm going to cut to the chase and let you watch the video.  Between the most recent post and this video, you get the picture ;)

My name is Jenny, and I'm a sugar addict. Week 14 Day 98

Some of you may have already heard with my posts on Facebook, but tomorrow I am jumping back on the LCHF wagon. I took about a 3 week hiatus and have been cranking the carbs down my throat as fast as I can.  I have felt nothing but horrible, and guilt.  Lots of guilt.  Not only have I let myself down, but also the people whom found inspiration from my videos.   But there is one thing I learned, which made this emotional rollercoaster worth it.  I learned that Low Carb High fat is the life for me.  There is no longer any doubt (not that I had much to begin with). 

I have felt a grab bag of crappy side effects from eating high carb these past few weeks.  I have felt lethargic, emotional, very tired, unmotivated, sad, lost, aggravated, constipated, ashamed, and most of all.... alone.  

How can one feel alone while surrounded by family, friends and co-workers you ask?  Well actually, its very easy. I do not feel that I have one thing in common with the people around me.  I don't feel like I can share a thought with any of them.  They don't understand me, nor can I make them understand.  They don't wish they could eat the whole pie; they aren't sneaking around with bits of chocolate candies in their pockets to eat when no one is looking; and they aren't willing to drive 10 minutes from home just to get a sugary iced coffee drink.  Who does those things?  Well, unfortunately, I do.  Some of these things I won't even admit to my husband.  He does not have the address to my blog.  When I make the videos, I make him leave the room and go upstairs with the door closed.  He also doesn't know my Facebook group page name.  

And best of all.... he doesn't know my weight.  I remember when I was about to give birth to my son, and the lady needed to ask me a bunch of questions.  I made him leave the room just to reply with my weight.  He thought it funny, I thought it sad.  Very Sad. He of course, being a gentleman, has never once discussed anything about my weight, with me.  Thank God!  

After returning from Thailand and continuing to not do LCHF, my hubby told me I need to get back on.  Being in the high carb grouchy mood as I was in, I asked him if it was the fact he was looking forward to having a skinny wife. Ouch.  I know it wasn't right to ask him that.  But hey, I am high on sugar.  Give me a break.   His reply to me was that he was so proud of me and what I was doing.  He went on to tell me he has even been bragging about how motivated and driven I had been, and that would suck to just give it all up.  What he didn't know, is that I never planned on giving it all up.  By then, I had already learned that I had planned on getting back to being Low Carb and that I would continue it the rest of my life.  I was just in a slump, that's all.

From the moment I decided to go low carb, to now, I have never once thought of giving up.  I have never once thought to throw it all down the drain because I'd rather have my sweets.  As much of a sugar addict as I am, I'm definitely not an idiot, and I refuse to give up.  Being on this sugar high for 3 weeks taught me everything I Need to know, to keep on going with LCHF.  

So as I sit here and write this the night before my week 14 weigh in, and also the restart to my LCHF adventure, I can't help but ponder what I have accomplished over this time.  The old me would only be seeing my failures, but the new me, I only see accomplishments.  Isn't that a wonderful thought?  I have done horrible the past 3 weeks, and I still have nothing but positive things to say about it?  That in itself is a huge deal for me.  I have never had this feeling before, and I gotta admit, its pretty damn awesome.  I think its another step towards self esteem.  

Tomorrow I weigh in for the 14th week in a row.  Tomorrow's weigh in will be very emotional for me, as I know I will have gained a TON of weight.  And by a ton, I'm guessing a good 5 to 7 pounds.  A lot of weight!  But I know that in the whole scheme of things, it will mean nothing.  It is only a minor stepping stone in the path of my life.  

And how cool is it going to be when I read this post after losing 100 pounds, and smile, because I conquered?  

Thank you for reading my posts and watching my videos.  Most importantly, thank you for your comments.  I started out making the videos and posting on this blog so that I could inspire others.  I selfishly never once thought that the viewers would be inspiring me.  Your comments resonate with me, and have at times, helped me get through a day.  THANK YOU

God works in wonderful ways, and for that, I am Thankful.  

Turkey White Chili Soup Recipe Week 14 Day 98

So I decided to get a little crazy today and make my own Turkey White Chili Soup, from scratch (I've always thought that was weird term).  

Yes, I said soup.  I didn't stop at chili, I stopped at Soup.  You can make it more like "chili" by reducing the amount of liquid, or boiling for much, much longer.  Your choice. 

So here is how I did it, and honestly, it turned out good (if I do say so myself)!

Oh, and hubby liked it too, and he has VERY high standards.  

4 T butter
1 med onion, chopped
5 cloves of garlic, diced
2 celery stalks, diced

8 c Homemade Stock (I used 6 cups turkey stock and 2 cups duck stock)
3 c chopped Leftover Turkey meat (or any meat) - We used smoked turkey 
1 rounded Tablespoon Cumin
1/2 rounded teaspoon Paprika
1/2 rounded teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
2 1/2 rounded teaspoon Chili Powder
1 rounded teaspoon garlic powder
1 14oz can artichokes, chopped
1 can Green Chiles, not drained
S&P to taste

Option 1:  Top bowls with chopped cilantro and sourcream
Option 2:  Make it creamy by adding heavy whipping cream before serving

1.     Melt butter in pot.  Add onions and saute ~15 minutes, until they are soft and start to caramelize

2.     Add garlic and celery.  Saute an additional 5 minutes.  

3.     Add remaining ingredients, bring to boil.    Reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour.  


Carb Breakdown:  My calculations are 67 total carbs.  My pot made 80.65 ounces of weight.  Therefore, every ounce of weight = 1.2 grams of carbs.  

Not too bad.  

Week 13 Results! No good news here :(

It took a lot of courage for me to post this video, but I need to not only be honest with all of you, but also myself.  

Also, I KNOW I will be back on the wagon and living this lifestyle for the rest of my life.  Therefore, I had to document my lowest point along with my highest points.  

If you have any tips or words of wisdom, please share them, because I need them!!!!

Week 11/12 Results are In!

Wow, posting this video and admitting my faults has truly been a hard one for me.  

On November 7th I flew to Thailand and didn't return until the night of the 15th.  Although I did fairly well in Thailand, I have not been doing good since returning (including today and this evening).  I have been re-motivated by 3 events that have taken place in the past 24 hours.  

Watch my video and see what happens....

If you are going to look behind you, only focus on the positive, not the negative.  If you are going to focus on the now, only think positive.  If you are going to look at the future, only imagine positive.  

Sorry I can't state that in a cute saying to put on bumper stickers.  The truth isn't always poetic. 

Week 10 Results are In!

This week was fairly easy.  I had a low weight loss, but it was better than last week's REALLY low loss.  

Check out my video:  

Chicken & Kale Alfredo Bake

So today my hubby and I made up a really good recipe, and I just had to share....

Ingredients:

8 Chicken Thighs (I used boneless/skinless)
1 lb. of kale, stripped off the ribs & chopped
1 yellow onion, diced
8 garlic cloves, minced
1 c. sour cream
2 c. heavy cream
2 t. thyme (dried)
2 t. paprika
6 TBS Butter, divided
2 tsp. garlic powder
1 c. Parmesan cheese, divided
Salt to taste
Optional:  1 Poblano Pepper, diced

1.  On medium high heat, melt 2 TBS butter and saute garlic with thyme and a pinch of salt.  

2.  When garlic begins to turn a golden brown, turn heat down to low, and add sour cream, heavy cream, paprika, and 3/4c parmesan cheese.  Continue to heat and mix, but do not boil.  

3.  Cover bottom of a roasting dish with chopped onions, chopped poblano pepper & kale.  (You cannot have enough kale, and it will cook down to barely anything)

4.  Place chicken thighs on top of kale.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper, Garlic Powder and remaining parmesan cheese.  

5.  Pour alfredo sauce over all the chicken.

6.  Cut remaining butter into 8 slices and put one slice on each piece of chicken.

7.  Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees, or until done.  (Cover the first 30 minutes)

Sorry the pictures aren't great, as it was an after thought.  It tasted so good, I had to share with others.  

Got Eggs? Week 10 Day 68

I am posting this early since I will have family over this evening for dinner.  

Once again, for breakfast, I had 5 slices of bacon and 3 eggs.  I was hungry by 10:30.  There is something about eating eggs that causes me to be hungry so much earlier than normal. Yesterday when I ate 1/2 a steak and 2 eggs, I was full until Lunchtime, no problem.  

I need to eat mostly protein for breakfast, to not include the eggs.  I see eggs as a compliment to the protein I should be eating.  I will no longer consider eggs as protein or anything that will fill me up.  

With that being said, I did stop by the Amish and pick up 2 dozen eggs.  

My 2 girls produce 2 VERY small eggs a day (they are new at this, in time they will be larger eggs).  As of yesterday, one of them is broody and no longer laying.  Grrrr.   Maybe I should really be saying  CLUCK!  CLUCK!  

For lunch I just ate a salad.  Nothing special.  

But for dinner, well that is a different story.  See these before pics:

Interested in cooking it yourself?  Easy as Pie (well maybe easier if your a bad baker like me).  

Chop up veggies of your choice and put as bottom layer of roasting pan.

Cover whole chicken with seasoning of your choice.  Cover veggies and chicken with pads of butter.  Stuff a quartered onion inside of the chicken and bake until done.  

You can also use heavy cream and make gravy from the juices on the stove.

I cannot stress enough, YOU SHOULD TRY THIS.  It is off the hook and so EASY to eat.  

Have a great Friday evening!  

Week 9 Results! (Not too happy)

This week's results are not as good as I'd like them to be.  I'm pretty sure I can figure out what I have been doing wrong, to include not eating enough each day.  

Check it out:

My Personal Revelation Week 9 Day 63

This post is going to be very personal, but I hope it can help someone else find their own personal path.  If you don't want to hear about my religious/personal experience, you can skip down to the meals I ate for today.  

I started going to a Christian Church every Saturday evening, and last night was our 4th weekend in a row.  I did not grow up going to church, and actually grew up not believing in God.  But that is another story, for another day.  

This was the 4th week of a 7 week program where we learn how to allow God to give us a breakthrough in our lives.  The first week, we each wrote on a piece of paper what we need God's help with, and they were hung on the walls for all to see (they are anonymous).  Every week the prayer group meets in that room and prays on all those pieces of paper.  And each week, the sermon teaches us another step to allow God into our lives and trust that he can help us, when the time is right.  

So I know you are asking, what did I write on my paper.  Well, my own husband doesn't even know what I wrote.  But I think I will feel good telling somebody, even if you are a stranger.   

I NEED A BREAKTHRU TO KNOW THAT I AM GOOD ENOUGH.

There, I said typed it.  

You see, my entire life, I always thought I wasn't god enough.  I wasn't good enough to have a nice caring mom.  I wasn't good enough to be the pretty one.  I wasn't good enough to have a lot of friends.  I wasn't good enough to get a good husband.  I wasn't good enough for God to love me (which led me to not believe in him).  I have gone my entire life thinking I wasn't good enough.

Then last night happened.  Last night's sermon was about taking responsibility. The pastor told the story of Joseph, and how his family failed him, his co-workers failed him, and last of all, his friends failed him.  And yet he kept on believing, and being true to his beliefs.  We were taught 2 major things last night:

1.  We should not be controlled by what others say and do
2.  We cannot control what others do and say

Wow!  At that moment, I had tears streaming down my face.  The pastor looked at me a few times and I could tell he noticed.  I felt embarrassed  and at the same time wished I could sit with him and explain.  Get it off my chest. I finally figured out what I have been doing my whole life.  

I have been allowing what others think of me, control me. 

- If somebody doesn't like me, I am a bad person.  

- My own mother said mean things to me, and called me mean names, so I must not be a nice or good person.

- My so called "friends" would be mean to me, and yet all I wanted to do was be their friend.  At the same time I feared them not being my friend, because of all the meaner things they would say and do to me if I wasn't.  How said is that?  No wonder I have a hard time having friends.

- My parents almost splitting up when I was 12, and again for good when I was 21 made me think I could never trust a man.  He will just leave.  I used to pray to God that my mom be taken away from me, and I can just live with my dad.  She was not a good person and I knew my dad was unhappy as we all were.  And growing up thinking you are a horrible person, I just knew that any man I want to be with will also want to leave me.  Why would any decent man want to be with me?  

- My sister never wants to hang out with me, and it just angers me.  When we are together, we have the time of our life.  But its like pulling teeth to get her to that point where we are hanging out together.  She also lives 10 minutes down the road from me.  


Does anybody else see the revelation I have seen?  I have let everyone else not only control me as a child, but also as an adult.  To this day, those patterns continue.  Now that I can recognize what I am doing, I can take action to stop. I am going to try and recognize that control as soon as it is happening, and stop it in its tracks.   

 ______________________________________________________

B:  Leftover Country Ribs and a couple florets of cheddar Cauliflower (the orange/yellow kind)

L:  A serving of mixed nuts with Dark Chocolate (4 pieces)

D:  Homemade meatballs with alfredo sauce and a few florets of green and cheddar (orange) cauliflower with butter.  

Recommendation: Underground Wellness Week 9 Day 62

Sorry I haven't posted in a few days.  I've actually been really busy, especially since I have added the TOPS meetings to my Tuesday evenings.  

I am going to start a list of recommended things.... like books, pocasts, sites, blogs, etc.  

I am going to start with one of the first PodCcsts I listened to that shook my mind on everything I knew about eating.  

I found UnderGround Wellness by accident (or fate) when I had to switch from driving only 5 minutes to work, to 30 minutes after I moved further away from work.  I randomly chose some weightloss podcasts on the TuneIn Radio app within the Nutrition genre.  

Underground Wellness was one of those podcasts that just made me go "say what"? constantly.  

If I were to ever run into him (not literally), I would definitely have to give him a big THANK YOU for changing my life.  So hop on over:   www.undergroundwellness.com 


On another side note, here are my meals for the day:

B:  few slices of bacon, 2 eggs

L:  Leftover ribs (smoked by hubby) with hot sauce and butter; and a couple bites of stuffed ham

D:  I wasn't hungry.  I am noticing that 2 meals is all I really need.  I will talk about this on my weekly weigh in post.  

S:  As I write this post, I am sipping on a Roobios Tea (Caramel Creme flavor) with butter and heavy cream.  I also had a bite of dark chocolate and about a serving of mixed nuts.  

VERY HAPPY DAY Week 9 Day 58

I feel ecstatic today.  Within 5 seconds of being at work, I was receiving a compliment that I look great from a very sweet co-worker.  What a way to start your day!  

An hour later, another co-worker was telling me the same thing.  Both of these ladies made me feel like I was on top of the world.  

I wish I could force people to feel how good I felt today.  Its days like this that make me wish I knew this way of eating back when I was 18 and first started to put on the pounds.  I can only imagine how much more intelligent I would be today, if I hadn't burned those brain cells consuming the awful "food" I have consumed in the past 12+ years.  

B:  2 Homemade breakfast sausages

L:  Romaine lettuce, wild caught smoked salmon, goat cheese, and parmesan dressing

D:   1 Chicken breast, cabbage and a couple chopped carrots.  (All roastd in butter)


I have a picture of me so far...

(Lighting is bad because its dark outside, and cell phone is about to die, so flash won't work)

8 Weeks Completed on LCHF

Week 8 Results are In! 2 Months going LCHF!

This week was very positive for me, and I have absolutely no intention of ever looking back.  This is the furthest I have ever made it on a "diet", and still felt so happy and positive.  I have lost this much weight before, but it was never this easy.  

Take a look at my video and see how things went:

Sorry I cannot figure out how to attach my excel spreadsheet.  I will keep trying though! 

TOPS it is.... Week 8 Day 53

So I did it... $28 later and I am a TOPS member.  There are about 18-20 people in this group and they are all so nice and happy.  I laughed a lot, and it was refreshing.  They play a lot of games to keep people motivated.  For instance, they have one that is going on for 8 weeks.  They each received a homemade yarn octopus with 8 legs.  If you miss a week or gain, you get a leg cut off.  2 winners will be determined at the end and win a little but of $$.  Doesn't that sound like fun?  

They have a lot of other things going on like weekly raffles.  I'm very excited that once a week, I get to surround myself with other people that have the same problem as me.  They obviously won't have the same mentality as me with the LCHF, but it doesn't matter to me right now.  I need to be with people of my kind, and these ones, also make me laugh and have a good time.  

Below are my meals for the day...

B:  1 homemade pork breakfast sausage; 2 eggs; butter

L:  Salad with buffalo chicken, red onions, blue cheese crumbles, cucumbers and blue cheese dressing.  

I actually overate at lunchtime.  Overeating definitely causes insulin to be released.  Within an hour after eating lunch, I felt no differently then when I would overeat high carb/sugar meals.  I felt like falling asleep at my desk too.  Not good!  

I ended up with heartburn too.  :(

So I actually skipped dinner, although my stomach is just now growing for the first time since Lunch.  Too late to eat dinner though.  

For now on, I will not eat dinner until after my TOPS meetings.  My initial weigh in today was on a no-dinner stomach, so I shall keep the pattern for accuracy.  

Thinking of trying a support group.... Week 8 Day 52

I did a quick search online for Low Carb meetups in my area.  Unfortunately, I love so close to nothing really, so they don't have anything like that unless I am willing to travel 1.5 hours every week.  No thank you.

I remember going with my mom to TOPS (Taking off Pounds Sensibly) meetings about 11/12 yeas ago.  What I liked about TOPS is that everybody did their own thing, but you supported each other in your endeavors, no matter how you got there.  

So I decided to look it up and low and behold, there is one at my new church (started attending 2 weeks ago) on Thursday evenings.  Perfect!  I then looked up the leader's email to see if I could find some info on her (like Facebook, etc.) and I actually found her blog.  She has lost 200 pounds!  Say What?  Sounds like I am destined to become part of this blog.  I am really excited (and nervous too!).  

I have to do something, because honestly, I can only talk to my husband about this so much (he cannot relate to my adventure).  He is very supportive, which I am soooo lucky to have.  BUT, a girl needs a girl, with the same issues.  You hear me?  

So I will report back tomorrow night and let everyone know what I think of this group and if I will make it a permanent part of my life.

On an unrelated topic, when I got home this evening after my son's football game, my lights shined right up on an owl in my tree.  Right next to my chicken coop!   EEEk!  He was cool though and my chickens are protected at night.  Can I keep both?  ha ha

B:   2 homemade pork sausages

L:  Buffalo sauce (homemade from cayenne peppers), chicken, romaine lettuce, blue cheese dressing, blue cheese crumbles, red onion & cucumber slices.

D:  Bag of mixed nuts with 85% chocolate.  (I had to go straight from work to my son's football game).  I did not want to go to bed with a full stomach and usually the nuts/chocolate combination fills me right up!

Week 7 Results!

I have to start this post out with a little negative.  I barely lost over a pound this week.  I am not being negative because I am complaining about the amount, but instead, because I know exactly what I did wrong.  
I ate badly 2 meals in a row, and I gained a total of 3 pounds those 2 days thereafter.  I ate at a Thai restaurant and overrate.  I'm not mad that I may have had sugar, since I did not leave ketosis.  Or if I did leave ketosis, I bounced right back into it, without a major effect.  

I am mad that I overrate.  I didn't feel that great the rest of the day because of it, but knew I would prevail.  And then instead of only eating protein, I ended up having a steak dinner with a TON of heavy cream sauce (with onions & blue cheese).  I ate way too much of that also.  For this one day, I lost all control, which is the first time in a long time.  I don't overeat anymore, at least I thought.  I haven't done it since either, thank goodness!  

This next week I plan to go for at least 2 walks for a minimum of 30 minutes.  Me and my basset hound Roxy, both need it badly.  

Now to end my week on a Positive note.  Yesterday (Sunday), we spent the day and night at my dad's for a football feast. My dad takes the dog for a walk routinely to do his business and I decided to go with him having just ate dinner.  While on our walk, we were stopped waiting for the dog to do his biz, when my dad was looking at me funny.  After asking him "what", he said to me, "You look really good.  You have this glow about you and you look a lot happier".  I don't even think I need to explain the feelings this brought about.  I couldn't stop thinking about it, even after we seen the largest black widow in the world (seriously should have called Guinness World Records) and a fox running across our path.  Nothing is better than having the people who love you and you love the most, notice and say something that special.  I hope everyone has their moments just like that! 

In the meantime, feel free to watch my video below where I talk about this week's adventure:

Below is Video 1 of 12 from BBC's The Men Who Made Us Fat:

New Facebook Page

If your anything like me, its easier to keep track of your favorite blogs by subscribing to their facebook page.  Therefore, I have made it easier for you...


https://www.facebook.com/LCHFApprentice 

Week 7 Day 48

A quick run down of my meals today:

B:  Leftover Southwestern Taco Soup (Lowcarbfriends.com)

S/L:  Pecan Pie Roobios Tea with butter and heavy cream (made like bulletproof coffee)  

-- Made me extremely full

D:  Beef Meatballs (link below);  alfredo sauce; sauteed green beans and roasted eggplant.  YUM!  

Meatballs with Hidden Vegetables (LC)

Week 7 Day 46

This one will be short and sweet.  

B:  Leftover chicken breast sauteed in butter with seasoning.  I also put an extra pad of butter on top to melt while I got ready for work.

L:  Chicken thigh with wing attached (cajun spiced/baked); salad with blue cheese dressing

D:  Purple Cauliflower;  asparagus;  chicken thigh


2nd or 3rd day in a row waking up to a weight gain.  I need to really be careful to what I'm eating.  I know the Thai food really messed me up yesterday, but its all good.  IT was worth it.  Yes, I said it, It was WORTH It.  

Every now and then, you have to partake in a pleasure.  I am far enough along that I can do that with a meal every now and then, and know that it will not effect my long-term future.  

On the contrary, I am not far along enough to get something like ice cream from Bruesters (today's flavor was pumpkin cheesecake!!!!!).  That will require a lot more experience than 6 weeks!

Thanks for checking in! 

Week 7 Day 45

Its Hump Day!  

I started out my day good, but didn't pack a lunch (not a good sign).  I ended up eating out at my favorite Thai restaurant with hubby and a friend which probably isn't going to show good results on the scale.  Oops!

I ordered Tom Yum Soup with chicken.  For those of you who don't know this soup, it is made with a base of Coconut milk.  I also ordered an appetizer which is ground up chicken with cashews, a little red onion, cilantro, with a clear sour dressing, served with lettuce leaves to make your own rollup.  I cut up the lettuce and mixed it altogether to eat as a salad.  It was all very yummy, but after only a few bites of each, I KNEW, just KNEW there was added sugar.  Uh oh!  Instead of panicking and saying "screw it" and ordering some dessert too, I just thought in my mind that I will have to eat mostly protein for dinner and drink LOTS of water.  

Fast forward an hour or two, and I can definitely tell there was sugar in the food.  I have noticed that I get this weird feeling with my eyes (almost like I am about to start seeing slightly blurry) when I eat sugar.  I also get this spacey feeling.  Additionally, I find myself wanting more food (as if I didn't already get too stuffed from lunch), and even looking at the donuts and brownies in my office with desire.  Yes, I said desire.  Again though, I did not think about actually doing it.  

So fast forward to the final meal of the day..... I came home to cooked steak with cauliflower and homemade blue cheese/onion cheese sauce for the steak. I should have taken a picture, because you definitely couldn't see my steak ;)  That stuff is so good.  It is a recipe by the Pioneer Woman if you are interested.  The onion is high in carbs, so I have now messed up (slightly) 2 out of 3 meals today.  Grrr!

But again, I am writing this 8 o'clock at night, and still feel that I had a successful day.    I did not truly want to crave into anything bad, and even mentally made a plan to deal with my little setback.  I am also prepared to see a gain on the scale in the morning, and thats okay.  I still have plenty of days to turn things around!  

I also wanted to add that I had quite a few people comment on my weightloss today.  I should have taken a picture.  Maybe I will start doing that in the future.  My YouTube videos definitely don't look like me.  The lighting makes my face look so much different than pictures do.  

Thank you for reading my blogposts and feel free to leave me advice, comments or questions.  

Week 6 Results are In!

Well, well, well!  It's been 6 weeks of great results.  This week's work resulted in a 2.6 pound loss, for a total of 22 pounds!  I.FEEL.GREAT!

Here is a quick summary of this week:

- Quite a few co-workers noticed my weight loss
- My HUSBAND noticed my weight loss
- My DAD noticed my weight loss
- I went for a 1 hour walk and didn't want to go to bed
- I have had no negative thoughts about this lifestyle at all!

Watch my video and let me know what you think:

Exercise for the first time in a LONG time.... Week 6 Day 39

Government shutdown has continued, which means I still have the entire day to myself.  2 days in a row to do whatever I want!  I decided to take Roxy the basset hound for a walk and it was good.  

We walked a total of 1 hour and almost 3 miles.  It would have been a faster 3 miles, but I literally dragged her and even had to carry her 40 pound butt up a hill at one point.  She (and I) will sleep good tonight!

On my way back from the walk I realized that it must be after 2 and I haven't ate lunch.  That has not happened in a LONG time.  My "old" self would have been looking forward to my next meal while making the current one.  So I didn't eat until dinner, which may be causing my problems I am having this evening.  

I have a horrible headache and heartburn.  I haven't had heartburn since maybe week 1.  

B:  2 Chicken thighs sauteed in butter
S:  1/2 Ghiardelli dark chocolate (86%)
L:  Nothing
D:  Herb and Parmesan cheese crusted pork loin with broccoli/butter and sauteed green beans

peace out

A Great Day.... Week 6 Day 38

Today was a good day, considering my situation.  Yesterday, within 5 minutes of walking into work, I was provided a Government Furlough letter and told to go home until Congress can figure the budget out.  I will avoid providing any of my thoughts, as I'm sure you can guess them.

Since I was home alone and had some laundry to do, I got to it!  I decided to try one some clothes that I threw on the shelf because they didn't fit as good as I had hoped, shrunk after being washed,etc.  I am proud to say that I was able to wear ALL of those items and add them back onto the hanger club.  I even wore one of those shirts today, Proudly!  

I than tried on my 2nd wedding dress (the dress worn after the wedding dress on my wedding day) and that fit SO much better than my wedding day.  

Now... the moment of happiness that I have been wanting since I was pregnant with my son (7 now).  My husband gave me a gift that I truly loved on our first Valentine's Day.  He ordered me (from Japan) a black silk with gorgeous embroidered flowered robe.  It is amazing.  I have not been able to wear it, like I said, since 8+ years ago.  I tried it on today to see how far I have come, and I was able to put the two sides together and it covered my stomach.  HOLY.COW!  Although it doesn't fit properly enough to where I could wear it around my son, I am so happy that it fits that much closer that I started to cry.  Seriously glad I was home alone for that.  I have not told my husband, although I was so happy I wanted to call him at work right away.  Instead, I have decided to wait until it fits me exactly as I want, and I will surprise him then.  

Today was a very happy day for me!

B:  2 eggs, 1.5 breakfast sausage (homemade)
L:  Salad made with smoked salmon, goat cheese & asiago parmesan dressing (Marie's).
D:  Chicken breast, sauteed green beans with garlic and steamed cauliflower with butter 
S:  A bite of almond butter and handful of mixed nuts.

Week 5 Results

Hi There.  

It didn't feel like a great week (thanks to that time of month), but I had great results - Over 3 pound loss!  I have lost a total of 19.4 pounds and 7% body fat loss.  Wow!  

Watch my video summarizing this week and let me know what you think!