My weight was up a pound this week. Not happy about that and it's back to trying to figure our where I went wrong. I was tracking my food pretty well in my journal and then I let it slide over the weekend and into Monday, so that's one problem. My brother and his son came over on Sunday to watch the game with my guys and me. I talk a lot about what I like and don't like about the uniforms and drive them all crazy. I had a couple beers with them while watching the game so this probably didn't help me at all. Lastly, I made a batch of Maria's almond flour chocolate chip cookies this week for my son and ended up eating six of them in one day! That's not good! By the way here is a tip.... when I made them this time I used my Vitamix to make my own blanched almond flour using a bag of blanched, sliced almonds I found at Costco, like these.
Those cookies came out SO much better with the blanched, almond flour, instead of almond meal. Really soft and nice, which I guess is why I ended up eating six.
For this week I've decided to start tracking my foods in my journal again. I like to write down my foods, carbs, sugars, fibers and net carbs (carbs minus fiber). I'm taking an idea from Dawn and I'm going to try to keep my net carbs very low for a week and see how I do. It's harder than you think even when you think you are eating healthy. Here is how yesterday went.
Two Coffee's with stevia and heavy cream 0C/0S/0F = net 0
Green Breakfast shake (I love these) 20C/0S/16F = net 4
Bob Evans Cobb Salad w/ ranch(went out to lunch with husband) -10C/4S/3F = net 7
1 cup of hot sweet chili tea w/stevia = 0c/0s/0F =net 0
Home made mushroom soup(with mushrooms, onions, garlic, chicken broth and little cream)
= 29C/8S/5F = net 24
Decaff coffee with stevia and cream = 0c/0s/0f=net 0
Days Net Carb total =35 and total sugars 12
See what killed me? The mushroom soup!! Here I thought I was having a very light evening meal because of my late lunch and it turned out to be the highest in carbs and sugars according to "My Fitness Pal". Now that was a surprise! Also notice that the carb count gets high with just regular food. No chips, cookies, crackers or breads.
In addition to paying close attention to my net carbs I'm trying to get in more exercise by walking my dogs. My son is on college break right now and has been pushing me to walk the dogs with him everyday - which is a good thing, I need to be pushed to move more. I haven't done every day, because I'm lazy that way, but I've been walking with him at least three times a week around the farm behind our house. So far, this hasn't helped in my weight loss, but it does make me feel better and hopefully will tone me up a bit if I continue.
One last tip. I am loving the convenience and nutrition and taste of my breakfast shake everyday! I've been eating one entire big package of raw spinach by myself every week! I personally could never eat that much spinach in salads or just by cooking with it. You don't even notice it in the shakes, except for the color.
So that's it for this week. I'll let you know how my journaling goes. Hope everyone else is having a good week. Stay Warm!!
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ReplyDeleteBeth - That's a beautiful picture of the landscape.
ReplyDeleteLove that you adopted the cat (we are cat people). He's so cute peeking out of his igloo.
Your shake sounds like a good way to get fiber in your day.
Dana, thanks. That was the idea of the shake all along - get in Fiber. It tastes good too!
DeleteI have to repost this because I called you Dawn ... oops ... I'm so used to discussing carbs with her :)
ReplyDeleteHi Beth, I think tracking my carbs is a must. They SO easily get too high if you're not really watching. I know for me that 120 gr/day is too high (BFC original). When I keep them much lower (<40) I do better. The lower I can get them the better but it is hard. Choices are more limited. I was shocked the other day at how many carbs are in green beans. Lucky I looked first so instead of 1 cup I had 1/2 cup. In Fat Chance, Dr. Lustig explains whey even small indiscretions on a low carb diet show up as a noticeable gain. On low carb we are glycogen low (glycogen brings with it water). Even a little too much carb will up glycogen stores and bring with it water weight. He calls it the "double edged sword" of low carb. He has a chapter coming on exercise so I'm interested to read it. My parents live in the country and have "somehow" acquired a gaggle of stray cats to care for. Problem is they keep having babies and the numbers are growing. I don't know how they will stop the vicious cycle. I contacted a Naturopath and plan to have a 15 minute free consultation with her re: the hormones.
Trina, You are so funny to repost. I'll answer to any name, lol! Keeping carbs low IS hard, you forget about how easily they add up in almost anything. You're fast getting that appt. made, I'm still procrastinating. I've thought of seeing a Naturopath but think I might see a D.O.(Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine) instead. I'll be interested to see what you think after your consultation.
DeletePersonally I would see a Dr. A Naturopath makes a lot of money selling supplements etc.
ReplyDeleteYour Kitty house is so cute! That is what I call thinking outside the box! I bought almonds at Costco too and put them in the freezer and then promptly forgot about them! I was going to use them on salads and things. I also thought about trying to make almond butter....I always have good intentions.
Myfitnesspal can sure keep us honest!
Good luck Ms. Beth, I have faith in you!
Aww, thank you Kay! I thought I was doing this so long I knew what was good or bad, but tracking is really surprising me!
DeleteGood luck this weekend! I am always amazed at how much more I eat when I track it after I eat versus tracking it before I eat,, or while I'm loading up my plate. And I have really noticed what Trina said about the water weight gain and low carb - it really is more apparent when you cheat. crazy
ReplyDeleteMaybe that's my problem, I always track my food at the end of the day, after I've eaten everything. Today I was messed up by about 1/2 cup of walnuts I had as a snack! According to MFP they came out to be 16 net carbs! They were not worth it! Live and learn.
DeleteLove your pictures and that is so cute with the cat. I am sure it was the 2 beers that made your weight go up. But its OK once in a while. I really love walking every day with my dogs, do it - just bundle up and go - they love it too.
ReplyDeleteHave a great day :-)
I do enjoy walking the dogs (and they do too), not sure why I can't get myself motivated to do it everyday! Baby steps, as Kay always says.
DeleteAs a newbie, I am amazed the carbs in veggies. Tracking everything does account for something. Thanks for blogging; it's great inspiration and a wealth of information.
ReplyDeleteHI Beth!. I know what you mean about those carbs adding up. I have been trying some of the wheat belly recipes lately. I made the banana blueberry muffins and ate 4 ( not all at once, but in one day!!) I thought they were alittle grainy. I had bought a different kind of almond flour on netrition. It got good reviews and was cheaper that the Bobs Red Mill. I also made the herb foccacia. Eating 1/4 of the recipe is well over 440 calories. I just don't see how I'm going to lose weight eating this any calories, even though "calories don't count" according to eveyone. I'm so confused sometimes!!!
ReplyDeleteI know, it's hard and confusing. I've been staying wheat free and low carb for the past week and I'm still stuck! I'm not sure what to think about calories anymore. I haven't been tracking them, but maybe I should be. It's very frustrating and confusing. I don't have the Wheat Belly book but have been catching up on his blog. That foccacia bread got good reviews by everyone. Is your almond flour blanched or meal?
DeleteBeth, Since you are trying to track other things, I would try tracking your calories for a week. Even though it may be good things, it may be too many calories. Unfortunately in a losing stage about 1200 calories a day is required. I know there are a lot of new and different ideas out there, but there are 100's of years of science behind calories counting. I think some things get a bad rap because we don't eat them in moderation and the calories really add up.
ReplyDeleteJust try it for a week and see how it goes. Maybe look at a WW chart, each point used to be about 60 calories, or an average of about 1200 a day.
Just a suggestion from a friend:)
Thanks Kay, Maybe I will track calories along with everything else for a week, and see if I can get it down that low. I'm always open to suggestions.
ReplyDelete