Monday - Oct. 17th

Hello everyone!  It's Monday evening and I just thought I'd pop on and check in.  My 14 day Fast Track officially ended yesterday although I still have not had any grain carbs.  I think I stayed on it pretty well.  I definitely did not have any grain carbs for the full 14 days, except I did not give up my Benefiber.  I tried to give it up and get my fiber from vegetables  but I could not eat enough.  I also did not realize that green beans were not allowed on FT and I did have those the first week too!   This past week I broke down and added the coconut bread back in.  I really missed the lemon coconut bread in the morning and also the coconut chocolate cookies that I make my son.   I know coconut flour is allowed on FT but the eating of baked goods just seemed wrong.   So,all in all for me,  the FT did not seem to make much difference in my weight loss.  I lost 2lbs in the beginning and then gained them back somehow.  I haven't weighed myself again on my "official" scale since last Wednesday and will do an official weigh in this Wednesday.   I do feel like eating without grains was not that difficult to do.  I don't think I'll stick to it 100% though.  I don't think I eat that many grain carbs as it is, but I might want a piece of toast with my eggs now and then, or a pizza for lunch made with St. Joseph's Pitas.   The weird thing about this eating plan is that even though I've been stuck on a certain weight for awhile I'm still going down in clothes sizes.  How can that be?  It's weird and I don't really get it.  I think I will just keep going the way I've been going and even it it takes me a whole year or longer I will finally get to my goal weight of 150lbs.    By the way I have been loving the different recipes people have been putting on their blogs.  Yesterday I made those Pumpkin muffins that Amber had posted and I have to tell you they were VERY good.  I got 11 medium sized muffins out of her recipe and they came out very moist and delicious.  I also made the chocolate/mascarpone candies that Dawn had linked on one of her blogs.  I had to use the Simply Lite candy bar melted down for the chocolate coating on the candies though since the cocoa powder coating didn't work for me.   I also just saw a post about Republic of Tea selling Apple Cider Tea!  Doesn't that sound perfect for Fall?!  I think I might have to try it.

Wednesday - Fast Track day 11 / BFC week 27

Weigh in day today and it was disappointing.  Got on the right scale this morning and weighed in before coffee and breakfast and I'm back up two pounds - 172lbs again.   I have to say it's disappointing.   I thought this FT was going to help me move past this stupid 172 plateau, but here I am still at the same weight.  I can't even point at a particular mishap like eating something off plan, or eating too much of something.  I just don't really get it.  My food yesterday was:

Breakfast - two scrambled eggs with Canadian bacon, spinach, & parm. cheese mixed in.
Lunch - 4 slices Genoa salami, 2 slices Swiss cheese 1/2 cup pecans
Snack - 1 cup of decaff with stevia and heavy cream
Dinner - chicken fajita salad with sour cream, spinach, onions and colored peppers
After dinner - 1 cup decaff with stevia and heavy cream 2 squares of Lindt 85%

In trying to figure out the reason for the gain I looked over my food tracker for the past week.  The only thing I could come up with was the day before yesterday I had smoked sausage (no sugar in ingredients) and Amish sauerkraut and roasted Kale chips for dinner.   When I recorded that on My Fitness Pal food tracker I saw the sodium content was HUGE on that meal.  Maybe I need to start watching the sodium content more because I'm retaining water or something.  I still drink 5 or 6 glasses of water a day at least but it might not have been enough for that huge sodium hit I took.
I've also been staying away from coconut flour for the past 11 days even though it is technically not a grain.  It doesn't seem to be making any difference in my weight loss so I'm going to add that back in .., probably starting with today.
I'm not giving up but it is so hard to follow something so exactly and just maintain.  I know I have at least twenty more pounds to go.  Hope everyone else has better luck this week!

Monday -October 10

So still following the Fast Track and today will be day nine already!  As far as I know I haven't dropped anymore weight since my last check in, but I haven't weighed in on my primary scale since last Thursday - I can never get to it before my coffee and stuff.  I would move the scale somewhere else but my husband and son use it too so I leave it in the shared bathroom.  On Wednesday weigh in day I'll get up even earlier than 6:15am to see what my weight really is.  Sticking to the no grains hasn't really been that hard for me but I think that's because like I told you I've done a diet like this before and I'm a bit used to it.  I noticed that everyone has still been making coconut flour products even on the FT.  I've been avoiding them for some reason.  Even though I know coconut flour is not a grain, it just seems like it once you're eating pancakes and bread.  I think after my 14 days are up I will start incorporating the coconut bread and other products back in to my diet but try leaving out wheat grains for a while longer and see how that does.  Dawn always has such delicious looking treats and things that she comes up with using coconut bread or almond flour - I'm dying to try some of them!

Other than BFC  things have been going ok.   I've got my dog on heart medicine now for his enlarged heart/congestive heart failure.  The vet says there might be another pill we could try that may improve his quality of life and maybe even extend his life by many months.  The only thing is the pill would NOT be good for him if his enlarged heart was caused by something other than a bad valve.  The vet is guessing that he has a bad valve, but the only way to know for sure would be a very expensive echocardiogram .  Without it I would be taking a gamble of the pills helping or hurting him.  Why is life always so difficult with these difficult decisions to make.

My oldest son that got his degree last May and has been sending out a million resumes since while living at home, finally found a job last Thursday!  The only twist, is that it is a start up graphic design/web design company and he would have to start out as an independent contractor.  That means getting paid for each job he does, not getting benefits and paying his own taxes.  I told him to take it.  Anything is better than sitting in his room all day sending out resumes.  The main thing everyone is looking for these days is experience on top of the degree.  This way, even if this company folds, he will have gained a bunch of experience.  If the company doesn't fold and ends up taking off, then he would the first designer hired and could really move up in the company.  So either way its a no brainer win/win for my son.

My son that is in Towson University with the two partying roommates, got de-tripled last week!  Yeah!  He was a little stressed because the college made him move to a new room in a new building and the move had to take place after 7pm at night on a Tuesday, so that the RA's would be on duty to sign him in and out.  Nothing like moving everything you own and sleeping in a new room with a new complete stranger in the middle of a school week on top of classes and homework.  My oldest son and I went over to help him move and it all turned out pretty well.  At least he is now in a room with only one other guy.  The new guys seems pretty nice and is definitely mellow.  He has posters all over his side of the room about how pot should be legalized.  But Nick says he is nice and won't bring his habits into the room.  Nick has already pretty much decided that he wants to do his next 1& 1/2 years at the community college near our house.  I just think he is not ready to live on his own just yet and misses home and his brothers.  Doing community college to get his gen ed's out of the way is fine with me.  It will save us money too - that is always a good thing!

Thats about it around here.  My husband and I celebrated our 23rd wedding anniversary on Saturday by going craft shopping and then seeing the movie, "The Ides of March" the political thriller with George Clooney.  We had dinner at Carrabbas which we love because you can get Italian food without the pasta. Mine was cheese stuffed chicken breast with a lemon garlic cream sauce over the chicken and the julienne zucchini that went with it.  Delicious!  Hope everyone has a great day!

Thursday 10/6 -Fast Track Day 5/BFC Week 26

Today is the start of day 5 on the Fast Track.  I actually got into the bathroom before anybody else today and was able to weigh myself before even my first cup of coffee.  The scale read 170lbs!  That is a two pound loss for me -FINALLY!!  I think this FT may have nudged me past my plateau.  I still think that in this stage of the game I'm just losing slower than I was in the beginning, but that's really ok.  The other day I noticed that I was constantly hiking up my size 14 jeans, so when I was in Walmart the other day I grabbed a cheap pair of 12's thinking they would be too tight but at least I'd have them for when the 14's were really too big(I'm just doing cheap jeans now until I get to goal)  When I got home I tried them on and they actually fit.  I am still surprised because I didn't have to suck it in and really pull to get them buttoned or anything - they just fit.  Now this doesn't mean I don't still have some extra fat on top of the jeans,because I most definitely do.  The "old" size 14's do not create any "muffin top" because they are a bit big,, but the size 12's do create a bit of a "muffin top" so that I wouldn't want to wear a tight shirt with them.  Still work to be done and weight to be lost for sure.   I do believe that wherever we have our BIGGEST trouble spot is going to be the LAST place to lose all the weight.  I mean if you are a big thighs person then that might be your last hurdle, for me it's always been the stomach area that is my trouble spot so that will probably be my last hurdle.

I'm following the FT for 14 days but not exactly the menus in the book.  I'm making sure all my meals are fats/proteins and no grains or carbs except for veggies.  I'm still putting my meals into the food tracker to see how I'm doing, even though technically we are not supposed to count anything on the fast track.  My fiber seems to be suffering a little I think its down to about 16 or 17 grams a day.  But hey, that's the best I can do on the FT and it still seems to be working.  Yesterday I ate:

Breakfast - two coffees with cream, left over chicken breast, and celery with a cream cheese artichoke spread
Lunch - I was running around doing errands so I managed about 4 pieces of genoa salami, a few more celery sticks, a handful of macadamia nuts that I keep in the car and one Hint water.  (normally my lunch is a salad with grilled chicken, some raw broccoi and ranch dressing)
Snack - After that  small lunch I needed a handful of pecans, a cup of hot tea and one square of Lindt 85% to keep me going until dinner.
Dinner - I made homemade regular pizza for the boys and the Cauliflower pizza for me and my husband.  I just have to say that it was my first time making the cauliflower pizza and it was delicious!!  Couldn't even taste the cauliflower!
After dinner - one square of Lindt 85% and one decaff with stevia and cream
Also had another cup of hot tea later while watching Mythbusters with my son.

I love how everyone is keeping us posted on the FT news and regular BFC/other diet news!  I think it also helps to see the foods people are eating.  I know I like to see the menus. I'm hoping this FT will get me down into the160's!  (hopefully did not just jinx myself there)

Our sun finally came out yesterday after what seemed like two weeks of gloom & rain!  Hope the sun comes out for everyone today!

Thursday Sept. 15 - 23 weeks

I was just counting up the weeks I've been doing the BFC and realized I've been on this diet for 23 weeks now!  That is just about six months!  I am now at a definite 172lbs.  My scale goes back and forth a pound or two during my daily weigh ins, but this week it has been at 172lbs most days.   I really upped my fiber this past week and have eaten an average of about 35grams of fiber a day.  To go along with this I also drank at least a 1/2 gallon of water each day.  Thought I'd have a big loss this week, but instead I just solidified my 172lbs.  That is still great, but I wonder why I can't get those 2 to 3 lb losses/week everyone else got in the beginning.   Thought fiber was the key, but now I'm thinking it's not.  It could also be a hormonal thing.  I've read that in less us women have our hormones balanced it is harder to lose weight.  I'm one of those women that went through early menopause, when I was 48 actually.  It just runs early with the women in my family.  So maybe that has something to do with it.  I know I use to lose weight fairly easily when I was younger.  I've toyed with the idea of going to see a naturopathic doctor just to see what she/he says about my overall hormones and health, but still not sure I want to get into all that when I do feel fine.  Someone I know suggested it could be Thyroid related, but I think I would have some other issues besides slow weight loss if my thyroid was out of whack.    Oh well, I guess I'm just not going to have those dramatic 1-2 pound losses a week that other people have.  Overall I'm still losing and feeling healthier and that is what is important!

Like Pattie I also got the new Fast Track book and read through it the other night.  Jorge outlines a 14 day eating plan that he stresses you should follow EXACTLY to insure the big weight loss he says you can make in two weeks. But then he says you can swap lunches or dinners for others on the 14 day plan if you don't like the offering for the day.  I'm sure everyone would have to swap something at some point because we don't all like everything that Jorge likes, correct?  Then after we swap and don't lose a ton of weight would we then think, "Oh it's because I didn't follow the 14 day plan exactly".  In my opinion it's almost an out for him.   The 14 day plan is basically eating without grain carbs at all.  Plus you do not count your carbs or sugars at all for two weeks.  Fiber is gotten basically from green vegetables and nuts. He also wants your good gut bacteria to be optimum and even suggests drinking a cup or two of chicken broth in the evening (yuck!).   I might try doing a two week period of  totally proteins and vegetables at the end of September. Or maybe alternate one day Fast Track, one day regular BFC - I'm not sure.   I take probiotics but don't think I can do more than that to get my "gut" perfectly aligned.   The next few weeks I'll be out of town twice for a day or two and I think it would be too hard to stick to all proteins & veggies while your traveling.  Still mulling it over.

 On non-diet news, we had a severe thunderstorm last night here and I'm actually surprised that there are no trees lying in my yard after that lightening show!   I talked to my son that is living at college and he is doing ok. Thanks to everyone that asked about him!  He said his two roommates like to have a couple of shots around 9:00 in the evening and then they usually go out until 1 or 2 in the morning.  My son had to tell them to at least come in quietly and not turn on the overhead light at 2 in the morning so he could stay sleeping.  They seem to be doing better about that.  No news yet on him getting un-tripled.  I think things would be nicer for all if there were only two guys in a room.   This weekend we are picking him up and after a neighborhood party on Saturday we are going to go see my parents that live in West Virgina for the day on Sunday.  They live in a nice little area that has woods and a lake and my son said he was really looking forward to going somewhere peaceful like that for the day.  I'm not sure how peaceful it is since my parents bicker constantly, but I guess for the boys it will be nice since they spend most of their time there hiking and hanging outside.

So those are my thoughts for this Thursday morning!  I hope everyone is having a great week!