Merry Christmas (a couple days early)

 Merry Christmas Everyone!!

I thought I'd better wish everyone a Merry Christmas now while I have a chance.  I really like being part of this blogging community and though I've never met any of you, I feel I know you a little because of these blogs. I think about all of you as you go about your day to day joys and struggles with this diet and life in general.

For this blog I thought I'd just share a little of what I'm making to eat to help me through the holidays!  Only my husband and I were home last night (weird) and we had the best soup and sandwich meal ever.  I wish I had taken a picture of everything, but anyway, here is what we had.   The soup was a spicy butternut squash soup with black beans, red peppers and cilantro, that I found over here on kalynskitchen.com.  Then, because I LOVE to watch the show Top Chef, I got inspiration from a sandwich challenge they had and made a really good sandwich on some homemade Flax Meal Focaccia Bread.  I cut the bread into sandwich squares and then mashed up some avocado mixed with lemon juice, garlic and a little olive oil, and spread that on the bread.  Next some carmelized onion and cooked cherry tomatos, cheddar cheese, smoked turkey and bacon!  Yum!   It was a little messy to eat but SO good.

For Christmas I have alreay made regular gingerbread cutout cookies decorated with icing, ginger spiced chocolate chip cookies, meltaway bars, and snowtopped mint chocolate cookies for the boys and any guests we might have.   For me, my husband, oldest son, and his girlfriend I'm making Maria's Healthified Italian Pillow Cookies, New Chocolate Chip Cookies ( I use Jay Robb vanilla whey and sugar free chips instead of the chocoperfection bar), and lastly Orange Pound Cake from Jeri's old blog (I miss Jeri).  I might even make some more lemon coconut bread for Christmas breakfast....remember how much we used to all make that?!  I love having goodies sitting out in old fashioned tins for the holidays and this way we can have things to grab all the way until New Years.

 I tried to take a picture of our two trees this morning with my cell phone, but my phone doesn't have the greatest camera.

   So I'm almost finished with everything, just have to to a little more baking today, wrap the last few presents and then I'm ready.  My oldest son and his girlfriend are coming to stay with us on Christmas Eve and into the holidays.  I tried to get my dad to come for the day, but he doesn't want to go anywhere this year, which I can understand.  It will be a little sad for him.  The Thursday after Christmas my family and I are going to go down and see him and take him out to an old Inn for dinner and then stay the night at his house.  I might try and get my brother and his family to come too.  On Christmas day my husbands's parents are coming over to see us.  They take care of two mentally handicapped people through the county that they live in, so those "ladies"(they seem like kids to me even though they are in their forties) will be coming too.  I bought them coloring books, crayons and slinkies so they'll have something to open over here. 

For Christmas day I started a tradition of NOT having a big dinner and instead I set up a buffet in the mid-afternoon for everyone to get food as they want.  This year I think I'm putting out fried mozzarella and sugar-free marinara sauce, spinach artichoke dip and tortilla chips, a spiral ham, rolls (for those that want to turn the ham into a sandwich), a crock-pot of spicy meatballs, deviled eggs, and a huge veggie tray.  Also all the goodies listed above.  Most of this stuff I make ahead and that gives me a chance to enjoy the day with everyone too and not be stuck in the kitchen.  Plus I realized from years past, that when everyone is home on Christmas, spending a lot of the day in their PJ's, and snacking on goodies,  no one seems to want a huge dinner that night anyway.  

                                  Merry Christmas Everyone and Happy New Year to all of you!

The gift of love. The gift of peace. The gift of happiness. May all these be yours at Christmas

Christmas is Coming

Hello Everyone

Where have I been!?  I know, it's been quite awhile since I posted.  Thanksgiving has come and gone and now it almost time for Christmas!   I'm not sure what my problem is with blogging lately, I just haven't been motivated to put anything down these days.  My Thanksgiving was a little hard at my Dad's house with my Mom being gone and everything.  It was a little sad for me to use her pots and pans knowing the last time she used them she had no idea what was about to happen to her.  On the plus side, it was nice spending time with my older brother and his family since they stayed at Dad's house too.  Also, I think having us all there made everything a little easier for my Dad .  We were sad, but we did a lot of laughing too.

-So now it is time to get ready for Christmas.  I have the house decorated, but have just only begun my shopping, sigh.  We put up one little tree for the front living room and we are going out this weekend to cut down the big one for the family room.  This is going to sound awful, but this stuff used to be so much fun and lately it's all seemed a little bit like a chore.  The boys are much more into it then I am I think.  Even my oldest, that has his own apartment,  is coming home for the day on Sunday to help pick out and decorate the tree.  I'm sure I'll be more into things as they start happening.  I hope anyway.

Remember how my weight was up six pounds and then I lost three of those six pounds?   Well, I'm back up those six pounds again!  Ugh!!   What did I do wrong this time?   I'm pretty sure that it's because I had a lot of beer with my dad and my brother over Thanksgiving.  I bought Michelob Ultra, which is supposed to be the best beer as far as carbs go, but over the four days I was at my Dad's house I had nine beers.  Oh well.  I really felt like having them so that is that. Food wise I did pretty well, and think I stuck to the BFC.   One thing that was different for me this past month was I stopped taking my probiotics because I ran out of them.  I recently bought two more bottles and starting using them again.  I think they really do make a difference.  I also decided the "no snacking at all" rule did not do me too much good except for the first week.  I've decided to make some more BFC friendly treats to get me through the holidays.  As long as I don't overdo them I think they'll be OK at least for this month.  Today I bought a little donut pan that I've been wanting to try out.  In fact, as I'm typing this, I've just put my last batch of almond flour donuts sweetened with stevia into the oven.   The pan looks like this

 I used Maria Emmerich's recipe for Peanut Flour Donuts.  Since I didn't have any peanut flour I used almond meal flour and used Z-Sweet for my sweetener.  Here is how they look all done.

They came out pretty good. My husband and I are going to try and get an early start Christmas shopping tomorrow morning so I thought it would be nice to have something to grab and go. 

I'm going to go catch up on the blogs now and see how everyone else is doing. 

 Why do my dogs not want to wear their Santa hats?!!!

Hogwarts Express coming around the village under the tree.

Thanksgiving Week

It's Thanksgiving week already!  Usually I am the one hosting Thanksgiving for my brother and his family,that lives near me, and for my parents that travel over from West Virginia.  This year, of course, my mother will not be with us.  At my mom's funeral my dad requested that we ALL come down to his house for Thanksgiving.  He said he would provide the turkeys and his famous bread stuffing and asked me to come up with a menu for what everyone else could bring.  That's going to be a LOT of people at his house for the day.  My family will include my husband and I, our four boys and my oldest's son's girlfriend.  My brother that lives near me has two kids, and my brother that lives near my dad has five kids and three boyfriend/girlfriends that will be there for the day.  I think that is a total of 22 adult-sized people for dinner. and 12 actually sleeping at the house!    We will be having the traditional foods plus roasted brussel sprouts, mashed garlicy cauliflower and a sugarfree pumpkin cheesecake for desert, so those of doing low-carb will have something to eat.  I'm also bringing down some sugarfree coconut flour pumpkin muffins to have on hand for temptation times or a quick breakfast.  Not too worried about falling off the diet while I'm there.

Still have Thanksgiving decorations up over here!

I've been sticking to my NO snacking, and totally eating clean this past week to get off the rest of the six pounds I gained BUT I did not lose any weight this past week.  Weird huh?  I'm not going to try anything different this week since it will be hard enough to stay with what I'm doing over the holiday, but maybe the week after, if there is no weight loss, I'll re-look at what I'm eating.  

I have to hit the grocery store today to get my supplies for Thanksgiving.  I'm sure 10,000 other people will be out doing the same thing, so I better get out there early.  

I hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

It's working

Happy Friday Everyone!

As you know from my last post I was up in weight from not monitoring my foods better the last two months. This week I decided to be much more involved.    Here is what I did:

1)  No snacking  - only eat three times a day and if hungry have hot tea with stevia - no cream!
2)  No healthy backed goods or protein bites this week - This was huge because I've been having so many of them lately.
3.) Track food on My fitness Pal - OK, I'm still not good at doing this everynight, but I tracked a little
4.)  Eggs for breakfast instead of baked goods or pancakes.
5.)  No eating after dinner
6.) No alcohol

I did all those things and have to say I definitely felt hungry in between meals.  I drank a lot of hot tea!  One or two times I did have a cup of decaff in the afternoons with cream just to be a little fuller until dinner.  I kept telling myself that it was good to feel hungry for the next upcoming meal.  I did feel hungry a little in the evenings before bed.  I think I was so used to popping an almond flour muffin, or protein bite everytime I felt a bit hungry that it is going to take my body a little time to get used to not having them in between meals.  I'll save them for the upcoming holidays and they will feel much more like a treat.

The good and suprising news is that I am back down by three pounds as of this morning.  Fridays are my new weigh in day.   I have another three to go before I am back down to my lowest weight so far of 159lbs. I still do want to get down to my original goal of 150 though and think I have to just do more of the above to get there.  There is a chance my body just doesn't want to get that low again now that I'm in my fifties.  We'll see.

My youngest boy has been a high school counselor at the local "Outdoor School" this week.  All sixth graders in our county go for a week to this overnight camp and learn about the environment, and owls and stuff like that.  As a senior in High School you can volunteer to be a counselor if you're in good standing with your school.  Kyle volunteered.   I'm picking him up this afternoon and taking him to Chipotle (I'll get the salad).  He says he is exhausted and starving!   It's been a cold week here to be in outdoor school -down in the thirties at night and only going up in the forties during the day.  We were supposed to get snow on Wednesday but it missed us and went north to Pennsylvania.  I have a feeling Pattie got some.   This week coming up is supposed to be much nicer and going back up to the sixties a few days.   Maybe I'll walk this week.  I will continue doing what I did this week foodwise and let you know how it goes.
Have a great weekend everyone!

Little slips add up

Hello everyone,

Things are slowing down again over here after the horrible past two months I've had.  Last Thursday my dad called to say his new couch was in, and wanted to know if I could bring my van down the next day and help him pick it up from the warehouse.  I drove back to West Virginia last Friday morning and he and I took all the back seats out of my van (they are heavy!) and drove over to the town of Winchester.   Dad wanted to stop for a Chinese lunch buffet before we picked up the van and I said OK even though I know Chinese food is NOT good on the BFC.  I didn't eat any rice but I could tell the sauce in the foods probably had sugar.  We picked up the couch and hauled it back to his house.  Oh and on the way back we stopped at the shellter to check out a dog we had seen on Petfinders.com.   They didn't write this on the description on the website, but it turns out this particular dog was back at the shelter after biting his new adopter's  face due to food aggression.  I felt bad for the dog (and the previous owner), but don't think the dog was right for my Dad.  He needs calm, and companionship right now, and can't take on a dog with problems, especially like biting.   I really think this shelter is going to have a hard time placing dogs, because they didn't have anything good to say about any of the ones we looked at.    Anyway, when we got back to his house we managed to haul the couch in and get in placed in his livingroom.  It looks good!  Dad said, that wasn't bad for an old guy and a midlle aged woman.  Hey!!   I don't like being referred to as middle aged!
After we were done, we went and put some flowers on my mom's grave and had a nice visit.

New Couch

 So over the past two months I haven't been weighing myself at all.  Although I thought I'd been eating right during this whole crisis, I know I've been having some slips, from not being home so much.  A piece of regular bread with my eggs at dad's, the chinese buffet, some  non bfc crackers, too many protein bites and not enough actual lunches,  eating after 7:00, restaurant food many nights while going to hospital, etc., etc.    Although these bunches of "little things" don't sound too bad, the bunches of little things have apparently added up to bad news!!   I got on the scale today and I am up in weight for the first time on the BFC.  I mean I've been up and down two or so pounds before because my weight fluctuates like that, but this time I was really up - SIX pounds!!   Now that is a concern, especially with the holidays coming up.  That's a hard enough time to maintain weight as it is, let alone trying to lose.  Ugh!   So I've got to come up with a little game plan to get my weight back down. I'm still feeling so lazy right now that don't feel like cracking down on myself but I really must!!  If I've learned nothing else this past two months it's that our health is important and we can't put it off until tomorrow.    It turns out that Rosalie's post came at a perfect time this morning because she had some good tips for staying on track.  In case you didn't see them they are:

1.Eat within 1 hour of waking up
2.Make sure to eat a healthy breakfast - get a good start to you day
3.eat every 3-4 hours
4.Never skip a meal
5.Make sure your snacks are healthy ones (healthy fats, nuts, etc.)
6.just protein and veggies for dinner (no Carbs)
7.No food past 7pm
8.get some form of exercise everyday if you can - for me its walking

I need to work on number 1, number 3, number 4, number7, and number 8!   That's a lot of numbers!  I guess I am slipping more than I thought!   I also wish I could be more like Kay and not snack AT ALL and just eat meals!!  My snacks are healthy but I think I get into them too much and sometimes eat the snacks instead of a meal!  Not good!

So starting today I am going to stop being so lax and THINK more about what I am doing and eating.  I will also try to track my food again (even though to me that is such a pain), and hopefully start walking again.

I'll let you know how it goes.  Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Sunday October 21, 2012

What a month I've had.  Things seem to have happened at warp speed and now that everything is said and done we are all left wondering "what the heck just happened!?"

As I told you in earlier posts,  my mother was diagnosed with lung cancer in the middle of August, after she exhibited stroke like symptoms in her right leg and arm.  The cancer had already metastasized into her brain and liver.  She immediately underwent 10 days of whole brain radiation, and then after a weeks break started her first round of chemo.  Three days after her first chemo she became jaundiced and was admitted to the hospital.  They were unable to perform a bile duct bypass, and they sent her home to see if the chemo would work well enough to reduce the tumor in her liver. Unfortunately that was not the case.   One and a half weeks later we brought mom back to the oncologist on the day of her supposed second chemo treatment (although we all knew by then she wasn't strong enough for a second treatment).  The doctor said there was nothing else he could do but did admit her into the hospital for some IV fluids to perk her up a little, and to give us a few days to prepare for hospice care.  That was on Monday, October 1.  We started making arrangements for hospice.  My older brother and I stayed with my dad that week to help him with everything.  My brother had to leave Wednesday night for a meeting at his work the next morning but was coming back by lunch time to help us with the move to hospice.  Thursday morning the hospital called to say they were not going to move mom after all  because she had taken a turn for the worse the night before.  I told my dad, and called both my brothers and then jumped in the car and zoomed to the hospital.  I made in time to hold her hand and tell her we all loved her...and then she took her last breath.   We buried her on October 8th - which just happened to be me and my husband's 24th wedding anniversary.  It was a beautiful Fall morning and the cemetery we found is almost directly across from my dad's property, in a quaint little church cemetery on a hill that overlooks the West Virginia mountains.   I think she would have liked it.

Now that things have settled down I can't help but think of how fast this all took place.  While it was going on we were all so busy running around, talking to doctors, making future plans, looking after my father, visiting in the hospital....etc.  Now we are all left wondering what the heck just happened, you know what I mean?   I've been down to see my dad a couple times and he seems to be doing fine.  With my mother being out of the house for the entire illness (she stayed with my brother, then me, then rehab, then the hospital), I think that gave dad some time to adjust to her being gone.  I recently went down to see him for an overnight visit and brought him some homemade meals, helped him pick out a new couch that he has always wanted (my mom only wanted love seats and chairs), and talked with about him getting a dog.  I think he'll be OK.  We are all planning on meeting back at dad's house for Thanksgiving this year and having a big family meal together, my dad, my two brothers and their families and me and my guys.   I think that gives him something to look forward to.

As for me I am surprisingly doing fine as well.  My husband thinks it hasn't hit me yet, but I think I've been adjusting to the inevitable ever since I took her to the ER when she was first diagnosed.  I have been thinking about how all my female role models are gone now, my mom, my aunts, and both my grandmothers.  I'm left with the men.

My husband and I are going up to Lancaster tomorrow for a little late anniversary overnight trip.  I'm looking forward to just doing some craft shopping, enjoying the Amish countryside, and spending some alone time with my husband, and taking my mind somewhere else for awhile.

My next blog I will begin thinking about the BFC again.  One thing we have all talked about during this trying time, is how we should all take care of ourselves, get ourselves healthy, get physicals, don't overlook symptoms and don't hold off until too late things you want to do and see.   I believe this lifestyle I have been on for about a year and a half now is one that will get me healthy!

Thanks for letting me share all of this with you guys.

Quick Check in

Hi everyone,   just a quick check in since I was reading the blogs this morning.  I have been back and forth to my Dad's house  in West Virginia at what seems like a million times in the last weeks.  My mother had a complication last week because of the cancer in her liver - she got jaundice and has been in the hospital ther for the past week.  Back and forth I go.  Today they are letting her out but she is going to go into a rehab facility for a week or two to get a little therapy help in getting herself up out of bed and moving again.  I'm leaving this morning to help her check out from the hospital and move over to rehab.  I have to stay a few extra days to take my Dad for his cataract operation tomorrow and then my brothers and I are supposed to meet on Saturday with my Dad to figure out our plans for Mom.  It's hard being away from husband and boys so much - but they've been so great and supportive for me.  My dad is SO stressed out and all of us are getting stressed too.  The doctors say my mom has six months IF things go well.   
-I can't believe how hard it is to eat at my Dad's house during all this.  He eats the old unhealthy way, especially if you have to grab something and go!  I brought protein bites with me and almonds for a quick bite.  My weight seems to fluctuate from 159 to 161 but I'm happy with that during all this craziness. Trying to stay as healthy as I can during all this so I don't get myself sick.   I think the healthy foods I eat are helping.  I have been popping some Tylenol PM's at night off and on because I'm having trouble stopping my thoughts enough at night to be able to sleep well.  Hope that doesn't do me too much harm.
-I'm glad everyone seems to be getting back on track on the blogs.  It's been a weird couple of months for everyone it seems.  My thoughts and prayers are still going out to Rosalie for all she's had to endure lately.
I hope everyone has a good week!

Good Morning!

I am happy to report this morning that I am back down to 159lbs.  I had been up about two pounds off and on over the last week and was worried that the weight might start creeping back up again, so it feels good to see the 159 back on the scale.  Eventually I would like to see 150!   With all that's going on that is so uncontrollable right now with my mom, I think I like keeping up with the BFC and having some control over my weight - does that make sense?
I went down to see my mother on Tuesday.  She is finishing her brain radiation this week.  It seems to have helped with her mobility and balance but has caused her to have some forgetfulness (like beginning dementia).  Apparently she isn't sleeping well and my poor sister-in-law doesn't get her to bed until midnight, has to get up with her in the middle of the night for a bathroom trip, and then my mom is waking up around 4:30 or 5:00 in the morning.  Since mom doesn't have any treatments this week and doesn't need to be back in to see her doctor until Thursday,  I'm going to bring her here this Saturday and keep her at my house until next Thursday when we all have to meet in Virginia for the big oncologist meeting.  I'm glad I could give my sister-in-law this break and I'm looking forward to having my mom here, but also a little anxious about what the week will bring. Have a feeling this will be the week her hair starts to go. She seems oblivious to it all right now, she told someone this week that she doesn't have cancer, only a brain tumor that is getting better. Maybe it's better for her right now to think that.  I don't know.  One thing I'm finding out is that having only brothers to deal with is a little hard in a case like this.  Guys do not talk like girls talk, I guess they do not get into emotional talking that much like us girls do.  Normally I would call my mom when I really needed an emotional talk, which makes this all a little harder.  But the guys are trying their hardest that's for sure.
So today I have to get my house a little more handicapped ready, plus I want to get a load of groceries to keep me on the staight and narrow plus get the kind of fruit and stuff that my mom likes to eat.  I won't be able to leave her at all for the next five days, because I'm the only one that can help her in the bathroom.
Since I'll be home so much next week, I will probably be making a bunch of BFC goodies for everyone to grab and eat.  I loaded up on some more Jay Robb protein powder from the Vitamin shop yesterday.  I've been using it in my pancakes, protein bites, and cookies I make my son.  It is expensive though, and I wish I could find a similar brand, that is made with stevia and has no growth hormones and all that stuff, that was a little less pricey.  Why is it that all the food that is good for us is so darn expensive and all the crap we shouldn't eat is so cheap!  This is what is making our country have an obesity and health problems in my opinion.  But this is probably a rant best left for a different blog post.
So that's about it for now, thanks for reading, and I hope you all have a wonderful Labor Day weekend!

Little update

Hi everyone!  First I wanted to thank everyone for all their warm comments, thoughts, prayers and encouragement on my previous post.  Even though I've never met any of you in person we are such friends in this blogging community and it feels good to know I can "talk" to you all here.

Well a little over a week has gone by since my mom's diagnosis and I feel much calmer now.  That first weekend after coming home was hard because my thoughts were wild, and I really couldn't concentrate on anything else.  Even found myself getting irritated when my husband or kids were asking me about day to day things.  Now I'm more my old self.  My youngest son and I went back down to West Virginia on Monday to be with my mother for her first radiation treatment.  I haven't heard a word from my brother after are little incident but my sister-in-law was all "here's your mom,do what ever you want while your here" so maybe it was good I let them know my feelings in the beginning.  For mom's second radiation I went over the mountain and got her for the day which gave me time with her and gave my sister-in-law a day off.  After the treatment my dad, son and I took her back to her own house for the day.  During that time I also took her to her hairdresser to get her hair cut super short since she will lose it.  After I cooked dinner for them all (some of her favorites fresh from her garden) we loaded her back up and took her back up the mountain to my brother's house.  All in all I put 150 miles on the car just in that one day - that's how far in the middle of no where my brother lives.   So this week school will start on Monday for my high school senior and my college guys that are commuting.  Tuesday I'm going back to see mom and will only stay one night this time.  I've talked to my dad on the phone everyday and he says she is looking good and starting to get her balance back (I noticed that on Tues. as well).  The radiation or tumor is starting to give her a bit of forgetfulness though.  The big oncologist meeting is still set for Sept. 6 and we will see how well she is responding to treatment, and what the future holds for her.

-So I've been trying not to let my eating habits slip during all this.  I think the worst that I've done is started snacking too much (protein bites, almonds, pieces of cheese) between meals.  I also had a meatball sandwich on flat bread at a Subway at the hospital after mom's treatment.  My dad, and son were starved and I was just kind of grateful mom could sit at the hopital's Subway with us.  I should have just gotten the meatballs in a cup, but I was hungry and got the flatbread.
At home I'm doing pretty well except for the darn snacking.  Got a little tired of eggs so found a good recipe for grain free pancakes over at Maria Emmerich's blog.  Her recipe calls for cottage cheese but I didn't have any so I used cream cheese instead.  They came out really good and I have left over batter for today.  Her recipe is located here:  http://mariahealth.blogspot.com/2011/06/pancakes-and-why-aluminum-free-baking.html

Here are my pancakes with some blueberries thrown in

So that's all I've got this post.  I haven't weighed myself this week, but a lot of my size 12's are getting a little loose and my size 10 pants and shorts are fitting good.  I do think different brands of clothes make a difference in the sizes so sometimes a 12 is good on me and sometimes a 10 is good depending on the brand.  I'm seriously just happy I'm out of the size 16's that I started at.  Before when I tried on clothes I just took whatever fit the best and covered me up the best.  Now everything fits that I bring in  the dressing room and I can actually decide on things that just look the best!  Way more choices, which is nice.

This weekend before school starts always feels like the last weekend of summer! Boo!  Hope it's a good one for all of you!

Bad News

Hi everyone!  This one's not so much about the BFC and is a bit of a downer so proceed with caution.

I got back from West Virginia on Friday afternoon.  I had been to see my mother in West Virginia to see what was going on with her, health-wise.  When I got to the house she was on her couch with her right arm sort of curled up on her lap.  It turns out that her right arm and hand will not respond to much of her brain signals and her right leg was getting ready to follow suit and that is why she is falling so much.  Well, I loaded her up in the car and drove her to a top notch medical facility over the border into Virginia, about thirty minutes away.   I took her into the emergency room and told them I suspected she may have had some kind of a stroke.  They took us back right away.  After many exams, IV's, blood pressure readings, a chest scan and two CAT scans (one with dye and one without) the emergency room doctor came in looking very grim.  My mother, he said, appeared to have a spot on her lung, liver and a few spots in her brain.   He said a biopsy would have to be done but they were 80% sure it was cancer.   This is the first cancer ever in our family as far as I know. 
I was able to take her home that night and bring her in for her biopsy the very next day, so she didn't have to spend the night in the hospital.  The next day they did a very easy biopsy of her liver because it was the easiest to get to.  The day after that we met with the oncologist, who my mother really seemed to take to, and got the news that she has a stage four lung cancer that has moved to the liver and brain.  Not good.  They want to start radiation treatments on her brain starting Monday and see if they can shrink the tumors enough to get her leg and arm to work again.  Apparently the swelling in the brain is causing the problems with her motor skills as well as the irritability she was experiencing at the beach.  After two weeks of daily radiation we will all meet again to see if there is any point in going further.  It's not curable but we want to get as good of a quality of life as we can for her for as long as we can.
  
As you can imagine it's been pretty emotional for me.  I took care of her until Friday and it was very difficult because they live in a two story house and her room and shower are upstairs.  I had to come home on the weekend for my boys and my dad said he did not feel comfortable trying to maneuver her up the stairs by himself and rightly so.(he is 77 and is going through cataract surgery right now, one eye done, one not done)   The brother I hardly ever talk to (a tale for another time) said he and his wife would let her stay at his house for the two weeks of radiation treatments.They live about twenty minutes away from my parents if you take a rather treacherous mountain road and then travel into the middle of nowhere.   They have a first floor room in their house with a bathroom that she can use.  Having really no choice on such short notice we moved her over Thursday night.  My poor Mom did not want to go but everything was so rushed that we really had no other options that quickly.   On Friday morning I called from Dad's and checked on her, made my Dad breakfast and then drove the two hours home.  When I got home my brother's wife emailed me with her schedule and asked if I could watch my mother at the end of October as they have plans.   I was so mad!  She is only supposed to be there for two weeks until we can come up with the best options for her and my sister in law and brother are already planning her end of life details at their house around their schedule.   I had a mini breakdown and then pulled myself together and called my brother and told him he and his wife can not make decisions without consulting the rest of us (my dad, my other brother and me) and also his wife, though I really appreciate her help right now, needs to let us kids and my dad decide my moms options without her.  I think I got it straightened out without too much resentment on either side.(well mine is pushed down inside me). 
I'm hoping we can convert my mom's dining room into a makeshift bedroom and I can come up and get her from my brother's house and let her stay in her own house for maybe three days a week and then take her back over to my brother's before I have to go home again.  That way she will be where she wants (her own home!) at least some times, and my Dad will be with her and not be alone.   Really though, its too early to make plans since it all depends I guess on how the radiation treatments go.   I'm heading back down to my dad's house after my older son's 21 birthday tomorrow.  I will be picking up my Dad and taking him with me to meet my mother at the hospital for her first radiation treatment.  I want to give her as much support as I can.  My 17 year old is going with me and we'll stay for a few days before we have to come back home and get ready for the first day of school next week.
 
So that's it.  I hope you guys don't mind that I put this all on here and it is so not diet related.  However, speaking of diets,  I'm not looking forward to what my weight will do with all this stress, but it's obviously not a priority right now.  Writing this down has been oddly therapeutic.  I will probably be on the blogs sporadically, and will write when I can.  It actually feels good right now to go through the blogs and start to take my mind off everything else.  My mother smoked for about 45 years before she quit 5 years ago.  The doctor says it's a myth the the lungs clear up after so many years of not smoking.  So I will leave you with a warning:  Please don't smoke and if you do, please try to quit so no further damage is done. 

Stressed

Hi everyone,  I have no new weight loss news unfortunately, in fact I believe the last time I weighed in I was up a pound - 160.  Boo!  This upcoming weeks looks to be a little stressful.  Two of my sons have birthdays this week.  My youngest will be 17 on Friday and my second oldest will be 21 on Sunday (legal at last!).  I'm not sure what we are doing for the birthdays yet because their schedules are crazier than mine.  Tomorrow my husband and three of my sons are traveling up to Lehigh University to where the Philadelphia Eagles have their training camp - it's fan appreciation day and they are hoping for great pictures and autographs!  I have dog duty while they are gone.  Unfortunately, today I got a call from my brother (the one I never hear from) who told me he talked to our mother this morning and she sounds like she is doing worse.  So now I am packing the dogs in my son's Subaru (they are taking my van) and heading to West Virginia tomorrow morning to see what is going on with my mother.  I emailed my father and finally got him to admit that something is seriously wrong and she has fallen down twice in the house.  He said he was glad I was coming to help him decided what to do.  What?!  This is my take charge Dad, who has always been in control and never felt the need to ask anyone what to do.  I believe I will be taking my mother to the hospital tomorrow.    Hopefully the dogs will be OK at her house.  So much to think about.  I packed up a few BFC friendly things to get me through a few days and think I'm ready to go.  Wish me luck, and hopefully this will all turn out to be something simple. 

Back to Normal and Pictures!

Hello everyone!  I'm back from the beach and have spent the last week trying to get back to normal.  Don't you hate coming back from vacation?  One of these years I'm just going to spend the whole summer at the beach, wouldn't that be nice?   So anyway, we had a great time but this years vacation was a little different because we decided to take my parents with us.  This meant taking three cars.  My husband drove my dad down in our pickup truck with most of our beach gear, coolers and bikes tied on the back - Beverly Hillbillys style(remember that show?) I drove my mother and three boys and the puppy in the van, and my oldest son drove his girlfriend down in his car and also had our older dog.  He and his girlfriend had to leave three days early so they needed their own car.
What I discovered this trip is that something is definitely wrong with my mother.  She has always had a bit of an irritable streak in her but this trip she seemed irritated at EVERYTHING, especially my father.  He couldn't even say good morning without her going off on him.  It made it a bit uncomfortable for the rest of us.  My dad seems to think it's the blood pressure pills the doctor put her on and thinks if she went off those and exercised she would be back to her old self.  I think there is something else going on.  Maybe her thyroid or may some kind of kidney problem or something.  Her other symptoms are:  always freezing, loss of most of her muscle mass, balance problems if she walked too far, and an over all sort of unhappiness.   The doctor she went to see back home only did blood work which pointed to high potassium and nothing else.  I think she needs to get a more thorough checkup but both her and my father have a distaste for doctors ("they don't know what they are doing" "they just run tests to run the bill up"" they want to put you on all sorts of pills that cause even more problems" etc.)   My dad is having a cataract procedure in the next couple of weeks, so after he is done with that I may try to go to thier house and talk my mom into seeing a different doctor.  Not looking forward to that.

 So anyway..... even though my mother put a bit of a damper on the trip we still had a wonderful time on the beach.  I'm putting up a few pictures of our time there even though I'm one of those people that doesn't really like my own photos!

So here is our setup up everyday. That's me waving, my husband is next to me, my brother and my sister-in-law that likes to make fun of our "no sugar" lifestyle

My dad and I down by the water

The boys and I took the dogs on an evening walk on the beach, trying to see if Mabel would like the water

 

Mabel was all "there is no way I'm getting in that water!"

I love my boys!

My parents and I walking thru the seaside town of Manteo on Roanoke Island.  My mom only made it a couple streets and then we sat. She is only 73 years old for goodness sake and my dad is 77.

This is Jockey's Ridge State Park.  The tallest natural sand dune system in the Eastern United States. The big thing everyone does here is to climb on the higher dunes and then run down.

Here is my youngest, Kyle, showing you how it's done! (at the top of the pic you can see everyone's legs that are waiting for their turn to run down!)

To give you an idea of how vast the dunes are at Jockey's Ridge.

From the dunes you can see the ocean.  The Outer Banks start as just a thin Peninsula and then turns into a series of Islands.

Sunset at Jockey's Ridge

When we got home I found this on the outer banks Facebook page.  This is not a tornado it's a water spout that formed right down the beach from where we were staying.  My middle son Nick who is studying Environmental Science was so disappointed to not be there to see it.  It happened the day after we left.  Cool!

So that was our vacation in a nutshell.

On the diet news.  I think I stayed pretty true to our way of eating. I did have a couple beers or a couple glasses of wine EVERYDAY when we got back from the beach and before dinner  (My mother remember?) .  I think I helped out with a bowl of chips and salsa one night, but other than those two things I stuck with my diet. I was up a pound when I got back, but two days later I was back to 159lbs.  I'm so used to eating this way now that there isn't much I crave, except those darn salsa and chips every now and then.  I'm going to push to get the last ten pounds off now that we're back.  I still have  some belly weight to get off.  Don't think I'll ever get it ALL off like the old days but hopefully I can still get down a little further.  I'll get back into the blogs this week and see how all of you are doing.  Hopefully everyone is doing great and having a wonderful summer!! 

Beach in three days!

We are leaving for our weeks vacation in the Outer Banks, NC this Sunday.  Why is it that when I'm going on vacation I make so much work for myself the week before.  I wish I could just pick up and go and not do anything to get ready, but I guess than I'd be a man,or a kid, or rich,  lol!   The beginning of the week I snuck in a day at the lake with the boys and their girlfriends.  I'm starting to feel like a third wheel around them these days but oh well, I just did a little swimming and read my book - very relaxing.  The next day I went in to high gear shopping for groceries for vacation week.  Then yesterday I spent the day cooking most of the food I bought for make ahead beach meals.  I like to have a bunch of stuff ready and frozen so that during beach week I don't have to put too much effort into the meals - you know, anything I can do to be able to just relax while I'm there.  This vacation I'm feeding my four grown boys, one girlfriend, my husband and my parents. I made a big batch of homemade (sugar-free) spaghetti sauce and a big batch of meatballs.  I froze it and will just throw it in a pot one night and make a batch of WW pasta for those eating it.  (I'll just have the meatballs, sauce, cheese and a salad).  For another night I cut up a ton of chicken and made a marinade that I poured over top and then froze that as well.  This will be for kabobs on the grill with fresh veggies.  Our other meals are going to be steaks on the grill with veggies, and hamburgers on the grill with veggies. One night we'll cook shrimp on the grill, and one night take home pizza (one piece for me with a salad), and one night out to dinner. We bought one of those Coleman portable grills to take down with us and also to use when we go camping or go to the lake for the day.  It's pretty nice and runs on a propane canister.  I'm planning three meals around it!

I also made a big batch of regular cookies for the sugar eaters and a batch of protein bites for us sugar free people.  I froze both batches and hope they will stay solid in the cooler on the five hour trip down.
Today I spent the day washing clothes and cleaning up my house.  I'm weird in that I like to get the house all clean before I go on vacation so that when I come back with all my stuff to unpack at least the house looks welcoming.  I think I got that from my mother.  We are renting a house and I have to bring all the linens and towels and toiletries with us.  Tomorrow I'm gathering up all the sheets, towels, boogie boards, beach chairs, umbrellas and stuff to get ready to load in the car.  Plus I still have to pack all my clothes and bathroom stuff, and Saturday I will pack all the food.  Whew!  Vacations are a lot of work!! For all that work I should really be staying a month, not a week!   Hopefully it will all be worth it once we are down there.  The Outer Banks really are beautiful.  I heard a rumor that Guy Fiera from Food Network is supposed to be there this week.  If I run into him I'll let you know.  I don't know how that guy is still alive with what he eats!
Last year at this same time when I went down to the beach I weighed 172 lbs.  This year I weigh 159 lbs.  I am truly happy to be down in weight, but now that I'm thinking about it, it really is only 13 lbs down in one year.  I lost my first 25 lbs in the first 4 months on the diet. I've been eating this way for one year and almost 4 months!  That's truly the longest I've ever lasted on any diet.  I say it's slow going but at least it's going. I still have 9 more pounds to go to be at my goal of 150 lbs.  It's just hard to get the last pounds off.

So, I'm going to be good with my eating while I'm gone, but when I get back I'm really going to crack down and get these last 9 lbs off!!  I want to get to my goal, it's just taking forever, but like Scarlett, I will think about that tomorrow.  Today I'm thinking about this:

 Hope everyone has a great week while I'm gone, and I'll catch up when I get back!

Birthday Cake

Hi everyone!  Yesterday was my husband's 51st birthday.  He is three months younger than me so I always kid him about me being the "older" women in his life!  The boys and I took him out to The Outback Restaurant for his birthday dinner.  It was a nice time.  No girlfriends this time just us and our boys. That's nice every once in awhile, isn't it?  We met at the restaurant close to my oldest son's apartment so he would be able to join us after he got off work.  The only temptation at the Outback for me is that darn Blooming Onion!  I took a few sections of it and it really made me want the whole thing!  Luckily I was able to resist...but just barely! One good thing about having boys is they scarf everything down so quickly it gets rid of temptations!   Dinner was easy with the Ceasar salad and grilled shrimp on top.  Yum!
During the day I made my husband a sugar-free chocolate cake with chocolate icing!  It came out really nice and tasted great!   This is one of those "the secret is black beans" cakes, but you would NEVER know while eating it. Even though it's "healthy" I still only had one piece.

I found the recipe over on Healthy Indulgences blog.  If anyone is interested you can find it here: http://www.healthyindulgences.net/2009/05/healthy-chocolate-cake-with-secret.html

We leave for the Outerbanks in a week.  This year we taking all the boys (of course), my oldest son's girlfriend, my older dog Marley, and the new puppy (Mabel) and as an added twist this year...my parents.  I love my parents but they are getting grumpy in their older age and bicker constantly with each other.  My brother and his family are also going down for the week like usual but they get a separate beach house.  My brother's wife and my mother have a hard time getting along, so I hope this whole trip will still be nice and relaxing for me and I won't have to the peacekeeper for everyone while we are there! That might be wishful thinking, fingers crossed!

Taking Mabel will also be a little bit of a trial.  I almost had her completely house trained and then she got a UTI (urinary tract infection).  She was peeing everywhere again and couldn't make it thru the night.  I had to get up at 3:00 in the morning to let her out of her crate.  Good grief!!  I took her to the vet and got antibiotics for her which seem to be doing the trick.  I also read that Braggs Organic Apple Cider Vinegar mixed with a little plain yogurt also gets rid of the bacteria - so I've been giving her a dose of that once a day also.   Seems to be working.  Apparently this Apple Cider Vinegar (the one with "the mother" in it) is supposed to be great for ALL of us.  It's claimed to help with diabetes, high blood pressure, skin blemishes, digestion, bladder infections and tons more.  All you need is a tsp or two a day, which you can mix with water and a little stevia to get it down.  So many of you are so much more knowledgeable in nutrition than I am.  What do you think about ACV?  Do any of you take it?  Just wondering since it seems to be so good for you, I'm thinking about trying it myself to see if does anything wonderful for me. 

Well that's about it for this week.  All my boys are going tubing today in Harpers Ferry, and tonight we are all going to the fireworks that are displayed at our local Fireman's carnival.  Hope you all have a great weekend!

July!

We had such a wonderful time on our little two day excursion to
Lancaster/Hershey!  It was hot as blazes (about 100 degrees each day) but it didn't stop us from shopping at the little craft stores and farmers markets in the area.  On Wednesday night we went to Carrabbas for dinner and I had the chicken stuffed with smoked cheese and substituted the sauteed zucchini for the pasta.  So good!  We decided to go see a movie that night in downtown Lancaster and opted for "Snow White and the Huntsman".  It wasn't too bad, and was fun for a night out.   The next day we traveled up to Hershey and met my parents that had driven up from West Virginia.  We had dinner at a local Italian restaurant and I got the chicken marsala with veggies.  Afterwards we went to the the theater and saw Mamma Mia.  If you guys get a chance to see it while it is touring  DO IT!   I thought it was fantastic!!  I've been singing all the ABBA songs ever since!

My mother and I before the show.  You can see Hershey amusement park in the background

So now we are back and getting ready for the 4th of July.  Turns out only my parents and one brother and his family are coming.   My other brother (that has five kids) had one of his kids call and leave a message that they won't be able to make it - no reason given.  Don't know why my brother or his wife couldn't call me themselves, but this is the way they are and I'm kind of used to it.   Brushing off the irritation and concentrating on having fun of the 4th.  I think we'll be having:

Deviled Eggs
Marinaded chicken kebobs
hamburgers
baked beans (for the non BFC'ers - which is everyone but me and husband)
Greek chopped salad
fresh veggies and dip

Desert:  I'll make the chocolate protein bars and regular brownies with red/white/blue sprinkles for sugar people

We bought some fireworks in Pennsylvania.  If you're from out of state you have to register with a State Trooper, photo copy your ID and sign a paper swearing you will not set off the fireworks in Pennsylvania.  Funny.  We just got some sparklers and a couple boxes of fireworks that go up about thirty feet and explode.  My husband wanted to buy everything in the store, but luckily I got him out before that happened.

What are you guys doing for the 4th?  What about your menus?  Always looking for great food ideas.  What ever it is I hope you all have a good one!

Tuesday June 26

Wow, it's been awhile since I've posted.  I'm not sure why.  I think sometimes I just can't think of anything to say - it's all the same old, same old.
 
Weight loss:
 As I reported last time,  I got down to 159 lbs but I'm once again stuck there.  It really gets frustrating at the end like this.  When I first started in April 2011 the weight came off fairly quickly and it was exciting to get on the scale each week and see how much I lost.  But after a few months things started slowing way down and I always get stuck on plateaus that are hard to break.   I was about 135 - 140lbs when I got married over 23 years ago, so I don't think 150 lbs is an unreasonable goal for my age (51).  The last bit of weight seems to be in my belly area, which is kind of funny since this diet is called the "Belly Fat Cure".  It seems like that is the last place for me to lose.  I've been a bit strict with myself the last few weeks and after an initial 3 lb loss which I was excited about...,I got stuck again.  I've been craving some kind of baked goods so I might go ahead and make a few lemon coconut muffins or something like that and add those back in.  I have added walking into my schedule - finally!  We have a farm right behind our house and I've started walking the dogs back there along the perimeter in the evenings after dinner.  It's only been a week but I haven't noticed it helping in the weight loss department, but it is surely helping to tire out my dogs and that's a good thing especially with the puppy.  Here are a few pics taken with my phone.

Farm behind our house - soybeans growing

Coming back from walk - Hot air balloons always launch from our neighbors yard

Food:
So I tried Patties idea of grilling Romaine lettuce and chicken tenders and then making a dressing of olive oil, balsamic dressing and I added a little truvia to it as well.  It really was delicious!!  The lettuce didn't wilt as much as you'd think and that bit of charred taste was really good.

I also finally tried the chia seed pudding.  I have to admit I'm not a fan of this one.  I think it was mainly the texture of the chia seeds after they plumped up.  I guess it was a little like tapioca, which I've never liked.  Think I might just put the chia seeds in my shake and see how that turns out.

I found a recipe online for Chipotle's salad dressing and gave it a try.  I just subsituted some stevia for the honey it called for.  I ate it right after I made it and it was good, but it's even better if you let the dressing chill for awhile in the fridge (which is what I did with the leftovers).  I also marinated some Chicken tenders in a little frajita marinade and then grilled it, cut it up and made myself a homemade Chipotle salad.  yum!  Here is the dressing recipe I found in case you want to give it a try:

Chipotle Dressing:

1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/3 cup honey ( I substituted a bit of stevia - til it tasted right)
2 tsp. dijon mustard
1 1/4 chipotle powder (I didn't have this but I had chipotle mustard and used that instead of the dijon and left this out)
1 tsp. lime juice
3/4/ tsp. black pepper
3/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/2 cup olive oil
(the recipe didn't call for it but I added a little bit of cayenne pepper to give it that kick Chipotle's has - probably because I didn't have the chipotle powder)

Combine all ingredients on low speed in blender.  Best if chilled for about an hour!

Everything else:
My husband and I are getting out of town tomorrow for a little trip to Lancaster, PA.  We are meeting my parents on Thursday in Hershey, PA.  I got them and us tickets to see the touring "Mamma Mia" at Hershey Theater.   I love to go see plays when I can, and I've always wanted to see this one.  We are going up a day early to do a little shopping.  The boys are on their own for two nights and also have dog duty.   Even though they are older now it still seems weird leaving them home alone while we go off on our own.  We never did that when they were young 'cause we had no one to watch them, and so we didn't do many get-aways unless they were all with us.   Kind of looking forward to the next couple days. Love shopping in Amish country and getting together with my parents will be fun (I think).

Just finished a great book called "Maine" by J. Courtney Sullivan.  It's about three generations of women and a cottage they go to in Maine.  I thought it was a great read.  A part of me has always wanted to live in Maine, and then I remember the winters -lol!

Next week is 4th of July and I always have the family over to my house for a picnic.  Still waiting to hear who is coming this year.  When we get back on Friday I'll have to start planning for that.  Saturday my husband is taking my youngest son to see an "Iron Maiden" concert in Virginia.  Yeah, I passed on that one.
Hope you all have a great week!

Happy & Sad

I was pretty happy this morning - the scale said 159lbs!  Yes!  I have finally gotten out of the 160's!  I hope I can stay out and get down to my goal of 150 before the beach.  I'm not sure what has gotten me moving all of a sudden.  It might be the yogurt/phyllsium husk/fruit shake in the morning, or maybe it's because I have seriously been getting most of my carbs from vegetables for awhile.  I don't know but I'm going to keep going this way for awhile and see if I can get the rest of the weight off.  After I reach 150 I'll go back to the regular BFC because I think I maintain well that way.

   This past week has been a rough one on so many people that I know it almost seems silly of me to be thinking about my weight.  A friend of ours lost his twenty year old son because he was joyriding down a road and lost control of his car and hit a pole.  Such a senseless death and so heartbreaking.  My brother adopted a 4 year old dog last December.  His first dog ever and his two kids (16yrs & 13yrs) just loved her.  This past weekend the dog started acting very lethargic and then wouldn't eat her food.  He took her to the vets to find out she had meningitis.  I didn't even know dogs could get meningitis but it's apparently very serious in dogs.  He got a huge supply of antibiotics and steroids and somehow got her to eat the 10 pills a day that were prescribed.  She got worse.  He ended up having to put her down this past Thursday.  Heartbreaking.  And then there is Pattie and the loss of her beloved Riley.  I really don't know why life is so unfair sometimes.  I know we have to take the bad with the good, but sometimes there is too much bad lumped up at one time.   My heart is with all the people that had such a horrible week.  I surely think everyone is due for some happiness and sunshine in the weeks to come.

Hello Everyone,

Thought I'd check in and give you an update.  When I went to my brother's cookout last weekend I brought my plate to the picnic table with a hamburger (no bun) homegrown lettuce and onion on top and a side of radishes & celery with some ranch dressing for dipping.  He said, "Oh, so you're still on that diet thing" and I answered, "Yep, for the rest of my life".   It's really true too.  I'm so used to it now I didn't even think about taking the potato salad or the buns or the chips.   To be honest though, every now and then I do go off  the beaten trail a little bit.  For some reason I cave to the chips and salsa at Chili's Restaurant every time we go there, but it's not that often and doesn't seem to throw me off too much.  Also I have some dry red wine or a Michelob Ultra on the weekends every once in awhile.  Since I'm doing this forever I have to allow myself a few things that keep me sane.  It's never sugar though, and it's always just once every couple weeks.
-The past couple of weeks I have been pretty strict however,  trying to get these last 10 pounds off.  Since Benefiber is no longer on the market I have been having coffee in the morning and then making myself a shake made of 1/4 cup of plain Greek yogurt, 1 TBS of  Psyllium Husk powder, a few mixed frozen berries, and some non-sweetened coconut milk, and a little water if it's too thick.  I think this mix of probiotics, and fiber is good for me.  Lunch is usually a salad with smoked turkey lunch meat and dinner is veggies and some kind of meat.   I haven't been limiting myself to really low sugar veggies either.  I've decided that veggies are good for me no matter what, so I've been having snow peas, green beans, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, multi-colored peppers, onions, garlic, romaine lettuce and broccoli in abundance.   I still don't eat after 7:00 pm and most of my carbs have been coming from my veggies and the fruit in my shake.   This week I have broken my 163lb barrier... finally!  I weighed in at 161 lbs the last couple mornings. I'm happy, but like always wish it was more. Isn't that scale such a tease?  I'm almost in the 150's but not yet!  I'm going to keep pushing for the next week or two and see if I can keep going down
.
The rest of it:   My two boys had their wisdom teeth removed with no problems.  They were quite funny coming out of the anesthesia though.   We traded in our old Town & Country mini-van which was on the verge of collapse for a new used Toyota Sienna mini-van with less miles on it and everything working. It's nice to have A/C in my van again!   My puppy, Mabel, is getting big but is still peeing in the house!!  Driving all of us crazy.  Luckily she usually goes in the kitchen and not the carpet.  She can be outside with me for three hours and then come inside and pee on the kitchen floor within minutes.  Arrgh!    Cleaning with a pet enzyme cleaner doesn't seem to help - she doesn't sniff and pee she just lets loose with no warning.  I'm now trying to give her a really good dog treat every time she goes outside and pees on demand for me.  Hopefully that will get her motivated to go outside!  Any guesses as to what breed she is?  We only know black lab mother, but thinking she may have some kind of bull dog in her.  Might do that Wisdom Panel test to find out.

 

Mabel getting big

It's been really humid here the last week and we had to turn the A/C on in the house.  This morning the humidity has seemed to burn off  and the air is cool.  I'm opening all the windows to get some nice fresh air back in!  I'd much prefer fresh cool air to air conditioning when I can get it.   Will catch up on the blogs today, but hope everyone is doing well! 

Checking in

Hello Everyone!   Just a quick post to keep in touch.  Bad news last week, I got on the scale and it finally moved..., but in the wrong direction!  I was up three pounds to 166!  Yikes!  Well that is certainly frustrating!  I decided to crack down and see what I could do.  First I got the book that Sherri recommended to me called "The 17 day diet".  This diet is VERY similar to the BFC.  In a nutshell, you cycle your eating patterns every 17 days to "throw off" your metabolism.  The first 17 days you pretty much stay away from sugars and grain carbs (sound familiar?) but you are allowed greek yogurt (1/4 cup) and a bit of fruit.  You also should shy away from high calorie fare like red meat, butter & cheese except for Parmesan for the first 17 days, and really vamp up your veggie eating.  The next 17 days more foods are allowed, and so on.   Anyway I decided to do my own thing with it and incorporate it into my BFC diet so here is what I did:

Breakfast:  Either two eggs scrambled with some onion, spinach and a little parmesan OR a smoothy made with 1/4 cup greek yogurt, a couple frozen raspberries and blueberries, coconut milk, and 1 scoop Jay Robb protein powder.

Lunch:  Salad with mixed veggies and turkey and 2 TBS Marie's Caesar Dressing.

Dinner:  Variety of things like Chicken stir fried with a ton of veggies, ground chicken burgers mixed with southwestern spices and a side of veggies, or a big salad with grilled chicken tenderloins, etc.

I stayed away from the dark chocolate this week and started doing my kettle bells again.    Anyway......my weigh-in yesterday was back down to the 163lbs I've been stuck on forever!  Believe it or not I was actually relieved to see that number back on the scale, lol!!   This coming week I'm hoping to move it down even further!   We'll see if I can ever get past that number. 

On the home front, Prom was last weekend (the night before Mother's Day) and my youngest son got all spruced up and went with his girlfriend and my second youngest son (who is in his first year of college) also went, because his girlfriend is a senior in high school this year.   It was a lot of fun running around to the two houses and getting pictures and seeing them enjoy themselves so much.  Prom is a MUCH bigger deal than when I went many years ago! 
Mother's day I spent with with my two extremely tired boys, and my two oldest boys and my husband.  I got everyone's help clearing out my gardens, planting some annuals, laying mulch and putting in my huge vegetable garden!  That was a good present.  Afterwards they made me grilled shrimp & steak and sauteed broccoli.  It was pretty good!  It's funny that anytime the guys cook for me it's always steak on the grill!
This week I took my youngest son to take his driving test.  I get more nervous than them when I have to take them for their tests!  In Maryland they start the test with a safety check of our car and then move on to the skills test which is the dreaded parallel parking and then they must back into a small parking spot.  If they pass that they go out on the real road for a ten minute road test.  After the test person gets in the car with them I have to go walk around so I won't watch them take their skills test.  I peek every once in awhile to see if they are still struggling with the parallel parking.  This time when I peeked, my son was already done and was backing into the parking spot!  What!   He nailed it the first time - phew!  All that practice paid off.   So I knew he had it after that, and sure enough he came back from the road test as a new driver!!  He was VERY happy, and I am also VERY happy you know why?  Because, he was my last one and I NEVER have to teach driving skills, or parallel parking every again in my life!!! Yahoo!!
Next week two of the boys are getting their wisdom teeth out and I my youngest will have his done in June.  After that I think most of my stressful events will be over for awhile.  I just have to get through my oldest son moving out this weekend, sigh.

Oh, I have one question for you guys that maybe you've already talked about.  What happened to Benefiber??!!   My husband and I were using that every morning in our coffee but we can not find it anymore.  It's off the store shelves and not online anywhere.  Did they go out of business?!   I think the Metamucil is too expensive.  We've just been skipping our fiber supplement and so far it doesn't seem to be a problem.  

Hope the rest of you are doing well, and enjoying the nicer warm weather!