Monthly Archives: April 2012
Day 89: Working through the disappointment
Total weight loss: 21.5 pounds Next weigh-in: Saturday, April 14th
After yesterday’s weigh-in, I debated having a cheat day, or even just a cheat meal. We were at breakfast, and I ordered eggs with cheese and onions. My meal came with toast and hash browns. I don’t particularly care for hash browns, but this restaurant also offers potato pancakes as a substitution. I ordered them.
When the meal came, I stared down the pancakes. I really really like them, and I was still reeling from the zero loss disappointment. Should I just have a cheat day? Naw. I gave them to Rick. I think I need to NOT cheat when it’s an emotional decision. If I’m having a cheat day, it’s going to be because it was a planned maneuver to restart my metabolism.
We worked on the rental house all day. I finished grouting tile, painted a door, put on new door hardware, tried to unstop a drain, put an electric box cover on, and painted a fence.
In between chores, Rick ran up to Del Taco and got me the mucho grande burrito, or whatever it’s called. I skipped the tortilla.
Back home, we were both pretty tired, but our own house needs work, too. We started cleaning off the deck and getting the yard ship-shape. By then it was late, and I was too tired to cook. I had a handful of almonds and joined Rick outside by the bonfire for a drink. Afterwards, I heated up grilled chicken in a Flat Out tortillas with the usual garnishments. We had some chocolate mousse for dessert.
I made it through the disappointment. I’m going to beat this fat or die trying.
Day 88: A big fat ZERO
Today’s weight loss: ZERO
Total weight loss: 21.5 pounds Next weigh-in: Saturday, April 14th
AARRRGGGHHHH.
I’m tired of agonizing over what I could be doing wrong. My clothes are getting looser. That’s a plus. But, man oh man, I would sure love to see more progress when I get on the scale.
So, I’ll just keep keeping on. No alternative.
Yesterday was my numero uno vacation day. We started out eating at a new diner. I ordered the cheese omelet with onions and a side of bacon. It was great! The cheese/onion combination was very “pieorgi-like,” so I asked for a side of sour cream and it was even better. The bacon was also thin and crispy, just the way I like it. I finished my Friday NYT crossword, and declared it a wonderful beginning to my vacation week.
>We were off on lots of errands after that. When we got home, I wasn’t really hungry for lunch, so I had some almonds.
Rick napped, I relaxed and watched some “The Good Wife” episodes. It was nice just hanging out for a couple of hours.
Later in the evening, I joined Rick out on the deck. I wanted to have a vodka/diet drink, but hadn’t eaten much, so I made some ham, cream cheese, and onion pinwheels. You know, the kind mom made in the 60’s. You roll them up, then cut them and they look like little pinwheels…or eyeballs, if you ask me. Anyway, it was something I thought of the other night when trying to find a conveyance to get the cream cheese into my mouth without just eating it out of the package. Apparently, my family members think it’s an odd thing to do.
For dinner (at 9 pm!), I chopped up a bit of the chicken Rick had grilled. I put it in a large low carb flat bread and topped with cheese, onions, salsa, and sour cream. Those are my go-to toppings for just about everything.
Dessert was 2 pieced of 70% chocolate topped with organic peanut butter. I think I went over about 4 carbs.
Day 87: A big carb mistake
Total weight loss: 21.5 pounds Next weigh-in: Saturday, April 7th
Yesterday was my last day at work for awhile. I have 11 days of long awaited vacation starting today.
I ate my egg and sausage dish for breakfast, but wasn’t really hungry at lunch, so I ate a handful of almonds.
I left work at 4:30 after a day trying to catch up and make sure I left everything either finished or accessible for my coworkers. Brandon told me that Buffalo Wild Wings Caribbean Jerk wings were only 2 points for every 3, so Rick and I set out for some after work drinks and wings to celebrate my last day of work before vacation.
Once there, we relaxed: he had a beer, and I had some vodka and Diet Coke. We both ordered the boneless wings. I was innocently enjoying them when it hit me: I was eating BONELESS BREADED WINGS, not the regular wings, which were low carb. I looked up 7 boneless wings of the Caribbean Jerk variety. Looks like 8 wings were 21 carbs and the sauce was 16 more, or did that count the sauce? Who knows? I was slightly depressed about the whole thing. I’m trying my best to do this low carb diet consistently, and I screwed up. That’s the problem with eating out. I’m never sure what I’m tallying up on my carb count. Unfortunately, I love going to restaurants, especially after a long day at work.
I immediately asked for a box and decided to give the rest of them to my niece, Marsha. We were meeting in a couple of hours for trivia, and she likes wings – and hot stuff. Rick isn’t so fond of the spicy wings.
Two hours laters, I was hungry and in a restaurant that catered to pastas and other Italian offerings. They had a shrimp scampi appetizer: 6 jumbo shrimp sauted in casino butter. I ordered the shrimp and it was very tasty and a light meal.
All in all, I just have to put the wing mistake behind me and hope the extra carbs don’t mess with my weight loss. We’ll find out tomorrow.
Day 86: Deli fare
Total weight loss: 21.5 pounds Next weigh-in: Saturday, April 7th
I skipped breakfast since I was busy and not very hungry. My appetite is definitely waning this week.
For lunch, I ate 2 beddar cheddars.
After work, I had an impromptu hair appointment. I was pretty hungry and we had time to explore Plymouth, so we stopped a little deli. I ordered the chicken caesar chiabbata sandwich with parmesan cheese. Of course, I didn’t eat the bread. It was filling and had nice flavor. I like that I am far more adept at wading through the high carb menu items than I was at the beginning. I can usually find something that is adaptable to the keto plan.
In the evening, I worked on my dad’s paperwork again. This time for about 3 hours. When I was done, I wanted a drink. I had a vodka and Diet Coke out on the deck with Rick. I wasn’t hungry for dinner, so I ate some almonds instead.
After watching some TV, Rick wanted dessert, so I whipped up some mousse.
Day 85: Love those steak bites
Total weight loss: 21.5 pounds Next weigh-in: Saturday, April 7th
Work wasn’t quite as crazy as usual. The book is at the printer, and now we just need to update little details for our upcoming class. I had time to heat my eggs for breakfast, but didn’t really prepare for lunch, so I just ate a yogurt I found in the fridge.
After work, we decided to go to a local bar that has outdoor seating. It was a beautiful day, and we sat outside watching the traffic go by. I ordered the teriayaki steak bites, gave Rick my pita bread, and enjoyed 2 vodka and Diet Cokes. It was a relaxing and fun date.
The steak bites were delicious, but I hadn’t eaten much all day, so I had a handful of almonds before bed and and topped so 70% chocolate squares with natural peanut butter. I was still well under 20 grams of carbs for the day.
Day 84: How many carbs in a stuffed mushroom?
Total weight loss: 21.5 pounds Next weigh-in: Saturday, April 7th
What a way to start the week. I had a 3-hour long dentist appointment: one crown and one new filling. By the time I left, I had a numb mouth and a ravenous appetite.
On the way to work, I stopped at Checkers for a Baconzilla to go. I knew it would be a while before my mouth was functioning, but I wanted to be prepared for lunch. When I arrived at work, I ate a low carb yogurt to hold me over until the numbness was gone.
Around 2, I ate the burger with no bun, and I ate some almonds, as well.
After work, we had some Palmerworks business to attend to. We hadn’t gotten around to opening our company bank account, so we stopped at 5/3 Bank to do that. We stopped off at home afterwards and I ate another handful of almonds to tide me over until I had dinner at Albert’s trivia.
I usually order the grilled chicken salad, but my friend Jim pointed out that the crab-stuffed mushrooms appetizer looked like all low-carb ingredients: mushrooms, crabs, and cheese. I ordered them and they were really delicious. I donated the garlic bread to Jim. Keeping it honest, I also had one of his steak fries. I ate it in 4 very slow bites. LOL
When I returned home last night, I discovered a problem. As I attempted to enter my dinner into myfitnesspal.com, I found a HUGE variety of numbers for the amount of carbs: everything from 3 grams of net carbs for 3 mushrooms to 10 grams for ONE. I started wondering…did they contain bread crumbs or some other high-carb ingredient I hadn’t thought of? What about the carb count of crab vs. KRAB?
How do I truly know if there are any carb-laden ingredients in anything I order at a restaurant?
I suppose those are the chances one takes when eating out. Keeping track of carbs is so much easier when I cook a dish at home, but neither Rick nor I have had time to cook this very busy weekend/week. I start my “vacation” Friday, so I’ll have some time to get a few dishes together for next week. I’d like to try a low-carb crock pot chili recipe I found online.
I ended the day with low carb chocolate mousse.
Day 83: Sunday at work; Del Taco beef burrito
Total weight loss: 21.5 pounds Next weigh-in: Saturday, April 7th
I spent Sunday morning and evening at work, and the afternoon sorting molding for the Drexel house. FUN.
I skipped breakfast (I know, I know, that’s not good). I wanted to get this book deadline sewed up so I could relax. After working a couple of hours, Rick and I headed to Del Taco, where I ordered the Mucho Beef Burrito, or some such name. Of course, it came in its handy disposable giant tortilla. LOL
Hours later, after working at the rental house and going into my day job to check out the book’s final stages, I finally had some dinner. I heated up 2 Beddar Cheddars with a side of cream cheese.
Later, while watching TV, I had 2 pieces of 70% cocoa chocolate bar topped with organic peanut butter., my unique version of a peanut butter cup.
Before hitting the hay, I looked around for some unique recipes. I came across this interesting blog: theroadfromfattofit.blogspot.com. I look forward to trying out some of these delicious-looking appetizers and meals.
Day 82: Cheat day. Boring.
Total weight loss: 21.5 pounds Next weigh-in: Saturday, April 7th
After a disappointing experience on the scale with a zero weight loss for the week, I decided to try to shake things up a bit.
I had to work overtime on the book deadline for work, again. A final pdf is supposed to be at the the printer by Monday a.m. and it still needs work. I worked from my home office and skipped breakfast.
For lunch, I took a few minutes to heat my leftover half a quesadilla and topped it with salsa and sour cream.
Rick and I were planning to have date night. I put away work for awhile, and we decided to go to the AUCE Chinese buffet for my cheat day dinner. I was very very disappointed. I tasted “old grease” on my crab rangoons, and the chicken that made up the General Tso’s chicken was all dark meat (which I hate). It felt strange eating rice for the first time in a couple of months, but it was no great shakes.
All in all, I realized that the “fattening” no-carb foods I’ve been eating have mostly been fresh ingredients and very tasty dishes. This meal contained the “forbidden carbs” and they were not as great as I remembered.
THEN, the carb affect set in. I felt like I was drugged! (Not that there’s anything wrong with that. LOL)
I was really lethargic and barely felt like getting up from the table. It was interesting to experience that feeling and gave me some perspective on how great I have been feeling without eating carbs.
We went to see “21 Jump Street,” which was lame, but mildly funny. It was good escapism, and it took my mind off work, our business, home repair deadlines, and my dad’s issues. I decided NOT to get the snow-caps that I was planning to eat during the flick. If I felt this badly after rice and Chinese food sweeteners, how bad would I feel after a box of sugary chocolates? I was guessing pretty bad.
The last cheat day I had, I didn’t really eat too badly. The carbs came from tortillas and cole slaw, not from these really starchy food items. I think that’s why I didn’t feel the effects as much last cheat day.
I took a chance on 4 plain White Castle hamburgers after the movie, split some onion chips with Rick, and we each had their very tiny cheese cake dessert. That’s it! I’m back to low carb living. My walk on the wild side wasn’t all it was expected to be.