Monthly Archives: March 2012
Day 81: Weigh day – bleck
Lost to date: 21.5 pounds. Today’s weight loss: ZERO
Oh well, I was kind of prepared for this zero loss since this journey has been so erratic. I have decided to have a cheat day. Whether today or tomorrow remains to be seen.
I started out yesterday with another looming deadline at work, but I took a few minutes to heat/eat my eggs and sausage breakfast.
The progress at work was slow, and I didn’t get to lunch until 3:30. To assuage my hunger, I had a quick almond snack around 1.
When I finally went to lunch, Rick and I popped in for a quick bite at Wendy’s. I had the grilled chicken sandwich and ditched the bun. It was just okay. The chicken was plump, but it didn’t have a lot of flavor.
For dinner, I was perplexed. I worked lots of over time and was already nearing a 50-hour week by the time I left work. I was tired and hungry, and still needed to do a little paperwork for Palmerworks before the end of the day. I quickly took care of that, then made 2 cheese quesadillas with Mama Lupe tortillas. I only ate one and a half.
Dessert was chocolate mousse.
Day 80: Anyone else like cream cheese?
Total weight loss: 21.5 pounds Next weigh-in: tomorrow!
I started work at 8 a.m. Another crazy day at work, another missed breakfast.
At noon, Rick took me to get coney dogs at the local diner. I asked for them without buns, and all was well.
Around 4, I ate the usual handful of almonds.
At 7:30 p.m., I left work tired and hungry. Thankfully, I had a serving of Indian butter chicken and cauliflower rice left over.
Around 9 p.m, I wanted a little snack. I still had about 8 carbs left. I ate 3 oz of cream cheese. Odd, I know, but delicious.
As a side note, I found this about the benefits of eating cream cheese. Okay, it was a site for pregnant women, but the bennies still hold true for the rest of us.
Benefits of cream cheeses:
Cream cheeses, unlike other unsafe cheeses are made from pasteurized milk which makes it safe to eat.- They are a good source of protein.
- Calcium and phosphorous content of cream cheeses can be trusted highly in preventing bone decalcification.
- The carbohydrate content of cream cheeses is in a minimum extent so would not add on weight to your body.
- They have considerable amount of vitamin A.
I was still well under carb count (and calorie count) for the day. I just hope I don’t UNDER do it and trigger starvation mode (if it even exists!).
Day 79: Surviving the celebration lunch at work
Total weight loss: 21.5 pounds Next weigh-in: Sat., March 31st
Yesterday was our celebration day at work. Our first shipment of the new engineering textbook we’ve been working on for more than a year was due. As it happens, the shipment didn’t come in on time; however, lunch went on as planned.
I ate a yogurt for breakfast, since lunch was at noon and I wanted to be hungry enough to enjoy it.
We went to Hayden’s, which is one of my favorite area restaurants. I hadn’t been there since my birthday last November, which was before keto.
The menu offered a few keto-friendly sandwich and entree choices. The appetizers were not anything that I could eat. The boss ordered some fried mozarella balls. I tried one and it didn’t have a lot of breading, so I ate 2 more. I’ll have fun trying to figure out the carb count on those.
I opted for the blue cheese, bacon, balsamic burger. It came open-faced and I moved the bun to my bread plate, but ate the burger using the bottom bun as a sort of bed. The bacon was nice and crisp and the burger was well cooked. It was a great low-carb choice.
Dessert. Hmm. Since it was a celebration, the boss told us to select whatever we wanted. There DEFINITELY wasn’t a good choice on the menu. Cheesecake, ice cream, waffles, carbs, carbs, carbs. I was a little tempted to call it a cheat day and order the deep fried Oreos, but nah. If I’m going to have a cheat day, it’s going to be on my own terms with at least 2 of my favorite forbidden meals.
My coworker Jim and I are also on the Monday night trivia team. We often share what we order. He piles his jalapenos on my plate, and I give him extras of things I don’t like. He very graciously gave me a small bite of his cheesecake. It was okay. No big temptation and crisis averted. Here’s a lovely picture of what I DIDN’T eat.
I wonder if I would eat a deep-fried Oreo on a cheat day? Maybe, maybe not.
I worked until 6:30, and I became a little hungry by 5. I ate a handful of almonds.
Back home after work, I did a few chores, then thawed and cooked some chicken tenders in Indian butter chicken sauce. I put it over the usual cauliflower “rice” and topped the dish with sour cream. YUMMMMMY. I followed it with a bowl of keto-friendly chocolate mousse.
Day 78: Yummy chicken tacos
Total weight loss: 21.5 pounds Next weigh-in: Sat., March 31st
I finally started the day with breakfast. I made time to heat yesterday’s uneaten eggs and sausage.
Rick and I went out for lunch again. I’ve really enjoyed taking an hour and leaving work to hang out with Rick. All of these young friends of mine that have died recently have made an impact on many of my decisions. I used to work 10 hours and eat at my desk while working. Now I say the heck with that and I leave for an enjoyable lunch with my husband.
We went to the local diner and I ordered the jalapeno chicken club. I just told the waitress to keep the bun and I enjoyed a large grilled chicken breast topped with bacon, jalapeno cheese, and tomato.
Eating a full breakfast and healthy lunch left me with no need for a snack during the afternoon. I was pretty hungry by 6 p.m., but before going home, we stopped by to visit my dad. He’s not looking very good, and obviously wanted to sleep, so we didn’t stay long.
My new bicycle seat was delivered today, so Rick helped me mount it to my bike, and I took a quick ride. It felt much better than my old seat, and I look forward to getting some exercise when it warms up a little outside.
By the time we were done, it was nearly 8 p.m. I chopped up some leftover chicken and filled 3 Mama Lupe’s shells with the chicken, onions, cheese, salsa, and sour cream. The tacos were really really good and a quick, nutritious dinner. I skipped dessert and was well under on my carb count.
Day 77: An uneventful day at work
Total weight loss: 21.5 pounds Next weigh-in: Sat., March 31st
Monday morning and Rick cooked up my eggs for breakfast. Once at work, however, I didn’t have time to heat and eat.
I ate some almonds around 11 am, then asked Rick to pick me up for a leisurely lunch at the diner at noon. I ordered 2 coney dogs and ate sans buns. I gave Rick my french fries.
Even without the buns, it was a filling meal. By the time I left work at 6, I was a bit hungry. It was trivia night, and I ordered the huge chicken club salad with blue cheese dressing. For once, I ate the whole thing.
After trivia, I made Rick some chocolate keto mousse and had some myself as well. It was a lean day, but I wasn’t all that hungry.
Day 76: Not much intake; lots of activity
Total weight loss: 21.5 pounds Next weigh-in: Sat., March 31st
Yesterday was Sunday and it was a day of accomplishment.
We stayed home for breakfast, but I awoke with lots on my mind. I still had lots of paperwork to get in order for my dad, I had items to complete a the rental house, I had a messy house, 3 loads of laundry, and George and Beccy coming at 5.
I have been reading alot lately about taking control of one’s life and one thing that stuck out was that I should choose the 3 most important things that need to be done and do them FIRST. I decided that I wasn’t hungry and couldn’t really relax and enjoy my NYT Sunday puzzle over breakfast when all these chores looming over me.
I headed for my desk and knocked off some of the paperwork. I paid some bills. I did some of my own paperwork. I organized a list of what I could accomplish in the day, the week, the month.
Finished with that, I showered and went downstairs to throw in a load of laundry. While there, I found my grout sponge to take with me to the rental. While cooking eggs for breakfast, I put a pot of eggs on to boil and to devil later, and I cleaned the kitchen.
Finally, by one pm, I sat down to enjoy 3 scrambled cheesy eggs with sour cream. I had a leisurely breakfast and finished my puzzle.
I hopped in the truck and went over to finally finish tiling the kitchen and foyer. I had left all the little intricate doorway corners for last. Then I jumped back in the truck and headed home, where I cleaned the living room and bathroom and vacuumed the whole house. More laundry, then time to make chili cheese dip for our guests.
The dip is okay on a low carb diet: Hormel turkey chili with no beans, cream cheese, and onions. The problem is finding a conveyance to get the dip into one’s mouth. Pork rinds crumble, and it just doesn’t taste that great with cheese chips. I used 3 pita chips but made sure to pile lots of dip on each.
I ate a Beddar Cheddar and had some lime “cheesecake” for dessert. I had eaten so little that I only used up a few carbs. Rick and I made the deviled eggs and I ate them for a late night snack.
Day 75: Hostess donettes are not worth the carb intake
Total weight loss: 21.5 pounds Next weigh-in: Sat., March 31st
Yesterday’s weigh-in put me in a happy mood. It’s slow progress, but the months add up and soon 21 pounds will be 42 and so on.
After weighing in, I had to get ready for work, and I didn’t have time to prepare for breakfast. Brandon picked me up and we went into work at 10. I did something extremely out of character. I went into the kitchen at work to get some water and there was a bag of Hostess chocolate donettes on the table for anyone to eat.
And I ate one!
This is the first time I’ve succumbed to a temptation like that in 10 and 1/2 weeks! It was gone in two bites, and I recorded it in my daily food diary: 8 grams of carbs.
Well, that was certainly anticlimactic. Those 2 little bites of processed junk food were equal to a hearty meal in carb count and were definitely not worth eating. I guess I had to get that rebellion out of my system. A lesson learned.
On to lunch time. The boss bought pizza for all of us Saturday OT workers. I ate 2 pieces with chicken toppings and one with pepperoni and Italian sausage. Of course I threw away the crust.
Later that evening at home, I made spaghetti squash and creamy alfredo and shrimp topping. The squash was tough to cut so I put it in the microwave for a few seconds, and…BLAST… the door flew open when the squash exploded. I salvaged what I could and cooked the rest properly in a pyrex dish AFTER cutting into pieces.
Dessert was sugar-free lime/cream cheese “cheese cake.”
I stayed up til nearly 3 a.m., I am really a nocturnal creature and I enjoy doing that every couple of weeks. I got hungry around midnight and ate 3 pita chips (now THAT’s control) with about 4 tbsp of crab dip. That filled up the rest of my carb allotment for the day.
Day 74: Breaking the weight barrier – 21 pounds lost; many more to go
Lost: 3.5 pounds Total weight loss: 21 pounds
EUREKA!
I broke the 20 pound weight loss threshold. Since I’m just over ten weeks into it, that averages 2 pounds a week. I can live with ~10 pound loss every month or so. In fact, as Rick always says, no matter how fast or slow I lose, I’m going in the right direction.
I’m debating another cheat day tomorrow. We’ll see.
I had the day off work, but it was a busy day.
We had to be at Rick’s dentist appointment by 8:15, then rushed from there to the memorial service for a dear friend. On the way, we stopped at 7-11, where I picked up a small cheese packet and a sausage biscuit. I gave Rick the biscuit.
After the service, we were invited to a lunch buffet. I put together a salad, then chose some cooked cauliflower and broccoli, a chicken breast, and some roast beef au jus.
I had to talk myself past the pasta salads. They have always appealed to me, and I was thinking, hey, it was an emotionally tough morning, just eat what you want. Then, I thought, no, I WANT to make this plan work, and once I ate the food on my plate, I wouldn’t crave the salads anymore. Amazingly, the chocolate mousse and other desserts didn’t affect me as much.
At 5, the family met in the activity room at the nursing home for my dad’s birthday party. Brandon made a delicious spinach and artichoke dip so we’d have a low carb option. I ignored the pizza and ate the dip, at first with a bit of pita bread, then just with a fork. I ignored the chocolate bumpy cake.
After the party, we went for an unplanned movie outing. I bought a water ($3.50!). I was pretty hungry when I got home, because I hadn’t eaten much all day. I ate some crab dip on 3 pita chips (6 carbs). It took restraint, but the dip was really good and I only needed 3 chips to scoop up a couple of tablespoonsful.
Day 73: The flu puts me way under my daily carb count
Weight loss to date: 17.5
I woke up feeling a little under the weather and wasn’t up to eating eggs. I ate a low carb yogurt instead.
By lunchtime I was quite hungry and went to Checkers for a baconzilla. I’m getting very adept at eating burgers in the bun by sliding the burger forward bite by and leaving the bun behind.
After work I dropped by to see my dad. I was really tired and just wanted to get home and nap. One home, I realized I had a fever and headed right to bed. I woke up for a little while at 9 pm and the only food that appealed to me was cream cheese! I ate about 3 ounces and went back to bed with a raging fever.
Fortunately, I woke up feeling fine. That was the fastest flu on record.
Day 72: An evening outside at the bar
Weight loss: 17.5 pounds; next weigh day: Sat., Mar 24th
Yesterday started as usual with eggs/sausage for breakfast.
Rick and I were planning to go out to lunch. The weather has been unseasonably beautiful and I have enjoyed leaving my cubicle for at least a half hour in the sunshine. However, at the last minute, he decided to go over to the rental house and take down the fence. We had only put it up on one side of the yard and the paint job we started didn’t look very good. To be fair, since it’s a corner house, it wasn’t noticeable that there was only a half fenced-in yard, but Rick wanted it gone.
I was on my own, so I ate some almonds and a low-carb yogurt.
When quitting time came around, I was hungry and he was tired. We both wanted to have a drink somewhere with outdoor seating, so we went to a local bar not far from work: U.S.12.
I had 2 no-carb vodka and Diet Cokes. There was a new Mexican Restaurant installed in the bar, so we could choose from that or the usual bar menu. I was tempted, but the fajitas were pretty expensive, and everything else had chips, beans, or tortillas as part of the meal.
The regular menu had steak bites as an appetizer choice. They were cooked with mushrooms, and one of the choices for sauce was teriyaki. I checked out the carb count on myfitnesspal Iphone app….2 grams of carbs per tablespoon, so I ordered that.
YUM. The mushrooms, the tender steak, and the teriyaki were a great combination. I ate one corner of the pita bread that accompanied the meal, but it did nothing for me. It was a perfect evening: great food, alcohol, and my man.