Wednesday - August 3

So we are back from the Outer Banks.  I just love it down there and always wish our vacation was two weeks instead of one!  The water was so warm this time, probably because of all the super hot weather the East coast has had this summer.  I actually didn't find it too hard to stick to the diet while on vacation.  Probably the hardest test was packing stuff to take down to the beach with us each day.  We are usually on the beach 4-5 hours a day and it used to be a lot of snacking in the past.  This time I packed myself a low sugar peanut butter sandwich each day, a jug of stevia sweetened iced tea and nuts, sunflower seeds, and slim jims to snack on while there.  Dinners we had back at the house and those were all normal.  My brother and sister-in-law and their kids stayed a couple houses down from us.  My sister-in-law is seriously overweight.  She cut down our diet quite a few times, saying how disgusting Truvia was and stuff like that.  She is seriously addicted to soda, and has at least four regular cokes a day!  I think she liked to talk bad about our diet just to justify what she was eating.  We just ignored her and watched her drink her sodas and eat her chips in silence.  The one night I had them over for dinner I had put a Pork Roast in the crock pot all day to make pulled pork sandwiches for dinner. It cooked while we enjoyed the beach.  Before we left for vacation I had made two BBQ sauces, one regular and one sugar free and on pulled pork night I just put some of the pork in one sauce and some in the sugar free sauce and let everyone choose which they wanted.  My husband and I just had ours on a plate without bread. My sister-in-law wouldn't even consider the sugar free one (was sweetened with stevia).  I really feel bad for her that she won't try to help herself, but it's all about when you feel you're ready to get healthy I guess. 

On the way home from the beach we spent a night in Williamsburg, VA.  I just love it there!  We had dinner out at a Carrabbas Italian Restaurant.  They cook their meats on a wood fired grill and then add the Italian sauces and stuff!  I've never eaten at one before and thought their food was delicious.  They did bring bread and dipping oil in the beginning, and I broke off a 1/4 piece of bread to try it.  Wow, it was so good, I almost wish I hadn't tried it because I then wanted more.  Luckily my salad came before I lost control and went back for the whole bread basket.
So the weigh in today.....down one pound to 175lbs.  That is really one lb. in two weeks because I didn't weigh myself at the beach.  One pound in two weeks is really not that good but at least its down.  I think at the beach I was much more active, swimming and walking a lot.  I've really got to keep that up at home.   Well,  my oldest son decided not to do this diet with us anymore.  His will power is next to nothing!  Now he has decided to watch his calories instead, but said he would still try to stay away from sugar.  I hope it works for him. I always make a whole grain choice with dinner every night for my other boys, and I've been buying high fiber wraps and breads, so at least my oldest son will have healthy choices.  Next time I blog I'll try to list some of the stuff I use to see what you think and maybe I'll try to figure out putting pictures up.
I've just been catching up on the blogs and it looks like everyone has been doing really well!!

Wednesday Weigh In - July 20th

Today is weigh in day and I stayed exactly the same as last week - 176lbs.  I'm not too surprised because last week I lost two pounds and for me it's usually just a pound a week.  I really do wish the weight would come off faster, but one thing I noticed is that it is coming off all over.  I mean my arms look thinner, legs thinner and so on.  Of course the midsection is where I wish it would all come off because that is my worst area, but it is an all over weight loss.  My husband was up a pound this week, and he thinks its because of a couple stops at McDonalds for breakfast where he was getting some kind of egg and sausage wraps.  I told him that the bread on those wraps were not the same as the bread we use at home and that probably did it for him.  I asked my son if he lost anything this week but he said he didn't weigh himself.  I suspect he isn't staying on the plan all the way and when you don't feel any different in your clothes or anything than you don't want to weigh yourself.  He graduated at the end of May with a degree in Digital Art and Design and has been having a hard time finding a job.  He spends a ton of time in his room supposedly job searching and sending out resumes online, but I suspect it is leading to a little bit of depression and then eating.   I wish he would find a great job, and get himself on a normal schedule where he is up early and out of the house.  I think the weight would start fallling off then, I mean he is young, it should be a lot easier for him. 
I noticed that some of you are going through Perimenopause right now and are having trouble with the weight loss and mood swings.  I turned fifty in March and have already gone through Menopause two years ago.  Apparently the women in my family all go through it early. Yeah for us!  I wonder if that is why I am losing so slowly.  Maybe everything just goes into slow mode after Menopause.  Every once in awhile I find myself getting totally irritated at everyone for really no reason at all.  I can't sleep the night through unless I take one Tylenol PM, so I usually take one of those every night.  So I think the problems with Perimenopause don't go away all together after Menopause they just lessen.  The slow weight loss could also be because I sit too much.  Like Patti, I also work out of the house for my husband's business.  He is a General Contractor and we run our own home improvements business.  I do all the daily paperwork, advertising, bill paying, taxes, etc. for him.  That happens in the mornings on the computer (with me sitting) and then I run around in the afternoons doing family stuff (my four boys all still live at home), house stuff and errands.  Then in the evening I mainly just sit around.  I should really work in exercise somewhere in there, maybe join a class, but you know, yuck!   They say if you find something you enjoy it won't seem like exercise.  I just haven't found it yet! 
Well, we leave for the Outer Banks on Sunday and I love to swim in the ocean, so I'm hoping a week down at the shore might help me lose an extra pound or two.  Have my menus planned out so I think I'll be ok on the food.  I'll let you know next weigh in.

Wednesday Weigh In - July 13

I weighed in this morning at 176lbs.  So I'm down two pounds from last week.  Usually I only drop one pound so I'm a little leary as to whether this two pounds will stay, or if it was just a fluke weigh in this morning.  Feel a little guilty also because yesterday was my husband's 50th birthday and I had a few beers with him before we headed out to dinner.  They were Michelob Ultras which are only 2.6 carbs per beer, so hopefully they won't make a big difference since I kept my dinner to Chicken Chesapeake and Caesar salad. Chicken Chesapeake is a Maryland dish, I think, which is basically chicken with crab meat on top and a white cream sauce on top of everything - really good!  When we got home I made those tortilla wedges with butter and cinnamon that Amber talks about in her blog (she layers them with whipped cream). I made a simple ice cream in my Kitchen Aide ice cream maker and then layered the home made ice cream with the tortilla wedges and that was his cake!  I have to say it was really good!!  The ice cream was made with eggs, heavy cream, coconut milk, vanilla extract and stevia.  My husband and oldest son are doing this diet with me, so it was nice to have a really special treat for his birthday.
 
My husband is doing really well with this diet as well.  So far he has lost 21 lbs.  His family all have diabetes and heart disease so he really jumped on board when I started this thing as a way to lose weight and prevent those diseases.  He was a huge sweets guy and now he only has the two squares of chocolate at night plus the coffee with cream and Truvia.  My oldest son just graduated from college and came home about forty pounds overweight.  Yikes! College did him in with the staying up all night studying and eating pizzas.   He was resistant at first to joining us on this diet but after he saw us lose weight he finally decided to join in.  He has been at it about three weeks now and is down about five pounds.   I don't think he is quite as strict as we are, but I'm hoping things will turn around for him.   My youngest son is fifteen but is a little over six feet tall and is built like a football player.  He isn't overweight but I guess he could go that route and even though is isn't on the diet,  he is modifying what he eats to really lower his sugar and carb intake.  My middle two sons are super thin!!  That's the way my grandfather was and I think genetically take after him.  They can pretty much eat ANYTHING and stay SUPER thin!   They also seem to naturally eat the right proportion sizes.  We all eat dinner together every night as a family and  it is a bit of a challenge sometimes to come up with dinner ideas that make everyone happy.  I grew up with the meat, vegetable and starch dinner plan and sort of keep with that now except those of us on the diet skip the starch.  Have also been trying to make the starch whole grain like brown rice instead of white, etc.  I figure even though two of my boys are super thin getting them to eat healthier will still be the best route for them. 

This week I'm going to try to drink more water, walk my dogs a little more, try to come up with more variety in our family dinners and of course try to eat more fiber!!

Wednesday Weigh In - July 6th

Well I had high hopes for a dramatic weight loss this week and it was......only a pound.  I'm now at 178lbs.   That is still 19 pounds down from when I started on April 9th, but geez this weight loss thing is so slow!  The reasons I thought I would have a more dramatic weight loss this month?  I started walking my dogs in the evening after dinner with my youngest son.   My son really keeps me diligent about walking, although I think he is into it for the dogs sake, lol!   Also I have cut out almost all snacking in between meals.  I used to grab handful of almonds or slices of cheese between meals if I got hungry, now I just wait.  Also I started making myself some sort of eggs each morning.  They keep me full longer and I figured a bigger meal in the morning would also be better than a bigger meal in the evening.  Plus I have been having no grains with dinner.  The only carbs I get with dinner are in the vegetables I serve.   I really don't know what else I can do except incorporate some kind of exercise or stop drinking cream in my coffee.  To be honest the coffee with cream in the morning and after dinner is the highlight of my day, so I really don't want to give that up.   You have to have something to look forward to!!  The good news is that I don't mind the way I'm eating.  I don't really feel the urge to have something I'm not allowed to have.  Even the cupcakes and brownies that were served over the 4th of July were fairly easy to pass up.   I guess I'll just keep plowing ahead and hope for a bigger weight loss next week!

Wednesday - June 29, 2011

So it is Wednesday which means weigh-in day for me.  I'm kind of glad I started this BFC on a middle of the week day instead of the usual Monday that I've used in the past.  Wednesday just seems like a more ordinary day to weigh in, and for me, doesn't have the stress of the big Monday weigh in I always used to do.  Anyway, this morning I weighed in at 179lbs.  I'm very happy with that because I feel like I've been stuck arournd 181lbs for a few weeks.   Now I'm thinking about what finally caused the loss, so I can keep it up!  Could have been all the walking I did last week while we were in Busch Gardens.  I really should make walking part of my daily routine!.  Also I decided to try cutting the high fat food that I'd been eating too much of like salami, bacon, and my "go to" snack, Slim Jims.   Another thing I discovered is that if I eat eggs for breakfast I stay full much longer.  Yesterday I made an omelet out of two eggs, diced canadian bacon, a half slice diced onion and cheese.   I wasn't hungry for lunch until 1:30pm and then I had some fresh mozzerella on eight crackers (8 crackers = 18carbs), with some chopped up basil and a drizzle of olive oil, salt, pepper, & garlic powder.  That held me until dinner.   I really think eggs in the morning was the key though.  When I go with the Uncle Sam's cereal in the morning, I'm hungry soon after.  I also think you have to have a "go to" snack if you ever get too hungry between meals.   This week my "go to" snack became a decaff coffee with stevia and cream.  That seems to hold me until the next meal.  Before this week I was randomly popping almonds and walnuts when I got hungry (or those Slim Jims) and I think those can add up to too many carbs  without you really realizing it.   My recent college graduate son is doing this diet also and he finally found a snack that he can go to when he is craving something sweet. (everyone needs their own I think)  He dumps a kool aide package into about a cup of water and then adds stevia for sweetness.  It makes a syrup.  Then he shaves ice and pours a bit of his concoction on top.  Instant no sugar sno-cone!  These seem to satisfy him between meals.

Supposed to be hot in Maryland today so I may take my two teenagers to see the movie "Super Eight"  Heard it was good.  That's it until next Wednesday!

Wednesday - May 22

Well, today was weigh in and I'm back down to 181 lbs.  At one point in the week I was at 179 and I was so excited to break into the seventies, but today was official weigh day and it's 181, so that is what I'm going with.

I'm leaving today to take my family to Williamsburg/ Busch Gardens for three days.  The weather people are saying that the next three days here are supposed to be in the high 90's and very humid.  I'm hoping that all the walking around in the humid weather will sweat another couple pounds off of me before I come back!!  One of my son's girlfriends is coming with us and my other son's girlfriend is coming to our house to watch our two dogs while we are gone.  My one older dog is starting to get arthritis so I'm hoping that he'll be ok while we are gone.  Well that's it for this week and my goal is to definitely get into the seventies in my weight loss by my weigh in day next Wednesday. 

Wednesday June 15

Well, Wednesdays are weigh in days for me and this morning I weighed in.  I was so excited last week because I was down three pounds to 181 but this week I am up two pounds to 183.  I really don't know how I did this.  As far as I can tell I ate the same way as last week.  So...trying to figure out what I did wrong.  I did have a couple of beers this week at a BBQ, but they were Michelob Ultra and they are very low carb.  I sometimes think maybe I'm am either not eating enough carbs or maybe it's too many calories or maybe lack of exercise.  I'm not sure.  Are Slim Jim's allowed on this diet?  I think they are 0/0 but maybe they have some hidden sugar that I'm not aware of.  I eat at least three of those a day as snacks when I feel hungry.  I put real cream in my coffee.  Two cups in the morning and one cup after dinner.  Could the heavy cream be too much?  I drink iced tea with Stevia all day.  Maybe I should switch to water.  I guess I should start tracking my food every day to see where I am going wrong.  I hope this was just a fluke and next week on Wednesday I am down again.