Decision Time

I made a decision last night and even after sleeping on it, it still makes sense to me this morning. I am going to continue to eat low-carb, just not induction level at this point, until after vacation. The stress and caos of my life right now is controlling me. I will get my R&R in and come back refreshed and 100% ready to go. Then I will restart Atkins.

I probably will not post again until after vacation at this point. Have a great Easter everyone.

Monday Morning

I am so ready for spring. I am so ready for the grass to turn green, the birds to wake me up chirping, the warm breeze on my skin, flowers blooming.....I am so ready for spring.

I think that it is because spring signals renewal and rebirth. I am renewing (is that even a word?) myself in Atkins induction. Yesterday was the first day and I did great. I am going to try to keep that first day enthusiasm throughout. 6.1 grams of carbs and 1569 calories. Wonderful food and no hunger. Today will be a little higher in both carbs and calories, as I will be burning much more back at work. Only 3 more working days until vacation.....

By the time I get back, spring will be fully sprung. The grass is already starting to turn green and I imagine I will need to mow it when I get back. Ahhhh......the smell of freshly cut grass. Time to get out the Zyrtec. My crocus are blooming, and my tulips and daffodils should be blooming when I get back as well. The lilac bushes are budding....I trimmed them way back last year so I may not see any flowers this year. Maybe a few? I sure hope so as they smell devine.

Mother Nature it's time for spring.....bring it on.

Sunday - Restart of Induction

Well, I blew it last night. Carb fest big time. Scale was of course up this morning - not a huge amount, but enough to piss me off at myself. Today is a new day and a clean start. I am going on vacation this week, and induction will be easy to stick with - lots of seafood and veggies. That is all I need.

Relaxation

Today is going to be a wonderful day. I have a hair appt and am getting a mani/pedi. Ahhhhhhhh, relaxation. A little pampering. So needed and well deserved.

Scale was down again this morning. I went back to Atkins Induction (as if the carb count hasn't clued anyone in). Yesterday was 16.7 grams of carbs, 1986 calories with a difference of 505. Today will be a good one as well.

I got my suitcase almost completely packed for vacation. The only things missing are 2 more sports bras and my resistance band and handles. I am so excited to be going.

Help

Do you ever feel like you are going to have one of those days? No matter how hard you plan to do otherwise, karma, fate, or whatever steps in and.........bam. Nothing goes way you plan. I just have that feeling today. Not that anything bad is going to happen, but that things are just not going to go my way and I might as well just crawl back into the bed and pull the covers up. I am not going to do that though......I just have way to much to get done. I am going to enjoy my day off regardless of how it goes. Take that karma.

Good day again yesterday. Scale didn't move this am. Not surprising. My body is playing catch up from the recent losses. 16.8 grams of carbs, 1885 calories for a deficit of 855 calories. Food is planned out today. I am getting ready to get my ass moving so I can be back home in time for lunch.

One More Week

and I will be on a plane to Florida. I am excited and scared at the same time. I have never flown before, so this will be a first. Everyone keeps telling me that once I do it I will love it....don't know about that, we will see.

Sent my sister a down payment on the cost of us staying at her house......Kitchen Cooked Cheese Pops. Now, I follow low-carb, but most of my family does not, my sister included. Since she has moved to Florida, she has really missed these. She calls me and tells me the cost of staying at her house while we are there is a bag of cheese pops from each me and my husband, so I sent her a box of 5. The company will ship to anywhere in the world.

Great morning this am.....scale down another 1.4 pounds. I am just hoping for 4.2 more pounds before I leave for Florida.....don't know if it will happen, but here's keeping my fingers crossed. 17.0 grams of carbs yesterday, 1903 calories for a deficit of 807 on the day. I am kicking some carb butt.

Last day of work for this week. I am going to do some shopping and house cleaning tomorrow. Better get some of this crap done before we leave.

Hump Day!!!!!

It's Wednesday - the middle of the week. All downhill from here. I do have Friday off this week. Doc decided he needed to catch up on his charts before our mutual vacation starts. That will give me a day to get my house in order, laundry all caught up, and a few odds and ends done before we leave next week.

Scale was down another pound today. Yesterday was another good day - 16.0 grams of carbs and 1614 calories, for a deficit of 1176 calories.

On a side note - I PASSED!!!!!!!! I am now certified in Advance Cardiac Life Support. I am so happy I passed. That was a rough class for me. I did very well on my mock code and only missed two questions on the test.

Here's to another good day.

Today is National Puppy Day. I thought I just post a couple of pics of my puppy. This is Rambo. On the left was at 3 months old, on the right is at 2 years. Although he is fully grown, he is still just a big puppy.

Yesterday was a good day - 20.7 grams of carbs and 1833 calories. A nice little deficit of 793 calories. Tonight is my last ACLS class. I have my lunch and supper planned out, all I have to do is pack it.

Ready to exercise. Have a great day!!!!

Mondays....................

The most dreaded day of the work week. It is always so caotic. Phones ringing nonstop, patients complaining, stupidity reigns. Today will be different - the craziness will still be there, but I will be reacting to it differently. I feel wonderful. Like I could take on the world, chew it up, and spit it out in little pieces. Is is because vacation is only 10 days away? Is it because I am full of energy? Is it because Ihave gotten most of the junk out of my body? I really don't know the answer to that, but it is something I intend to find out.

Yesterday was a good day: 14.6 grams of carbs, 1729 calories, for a deficit of 892 calories for the day. Got lots done, but still so much to try to do before vacation.

Sunday Morning Ramblings........

I was goofing off yesterday - imagine that, me goofing off - and came across a website that lists all the interesting observances for each month. There are lists for monthly, weekly, and daily observances for each month. I was really amazed at some of the stuff that has its own day or week. I added the link to my page. Check it out.



Yesterday was a little high carbs (54 grams) and calorie (2411) wise. I still had a deficit of 192.
Totals for last week: 18,192 calories out - 14,594 calories in = 3,598 calorie deficit
Total carbs for the week = 300.7. Average of 42.95 carbs a day.
Loss for the week of 1.8 pounds.

Week one of My own plan seems to be successful. I would like to see a bigger loss, but am more than content to lose slowly on the scale, as the inches seem to be melting away.

Here's to the start of a new week. Time to get rolling.............

HAPPY 1ST DAY OF SPRING.

OK, I know that the weather here does not indicate it is spring - especially today with the frozen mix that is forcasted along with the couple of inches of snow for this afternoon, but the calendar says it is spring, and my crocus are blooming in front of my house, and they say it is spring. My mood says it needs to be spring, so therefore as far as I am concerned it is spring.

Scale was down again this am - not much but enough to make me happy. 14.5 grams of carbs and 1996 calories yesterday. I do believe I am back in ketosis as my energy has gone through the roof and I cannot sleep for more than 6 hours. It's like the energizer bunny has come to live with me. The up side to all of this is of course weight loss and a big hunk of my to do list gets accomplished.

Time to workout, get more laundry going, and start cleaning house. I also need to run to the health food store today. I could spend hours there. But that is for another post.

Finally......

This has been one long and weird week - both at work and on the home front. Today is nothing but overtime for me. The money will be nice to spend on vacation, but I would have liked to have some time at home to be able to do some stuff. My house is a disaster.

Food wise, it has been a not so good week. The scale was back down 2 pounds this morning. Yesterday's numbers were pretty good - 12.5 grams of carbs, 1757 calories in, 2845 calories out for a difference of 1088 calories. Even with the bad eating I am still 2408 calories in the hole for the week.

Exercise is going well. Today is Gold's Gym Cardio Workout and a walk/run around the neighborhood. I am really looking forward to that.

2 weeks until vacation.

UGH!!!!!

Totally screwed myself last night - 97.4 grams of carbs and 2700 calories. Ice cream, that wonderfully decadant concoction. It is like poison to the rat - irresistable. I must learn to make my own.

The scale was up this morning - not unusual after yesterday. I am back at 199. Two weeks until vacation. Back to Atkins induction level for carbs 20 or below. I have to figure out where my will power went. I have to decide what I want to do - be fat and eat whatever I want, or be healthy and live to see my grandchildren graduate, start a family, etc. It's time to make that choice.

I choose.....life.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

This is what my body is saying to me this morning. I am afraid to step on the scale because I took a butload of ibuprofen and aspirin yesterday to fight off a migraine and a horrible back ache. I am retaining water like a damn, especially in my fingers and ankles.

That was the bad of yesterday, now onto the good. I wore my heart-rate monitor while I exercised and burned over 500 calories in an hour (Gold's Gym Boxing and a 2 mile walk/run). My carb intake was 43.5 grams and my calories were 1577. I am going to go low on the carbs for the next few days to help dump some of this water that is wanting to stick around.

Today is a rest day and tomorrow starts back up on exercise. I am looking forward to the new routine for a couple of weeks, then it's off to sunny Floriday for some R&R and fun.

Don't forget to pinch a few people not wearing green today.

Since St. Patrick's Day is fast approaching and I am in a little bit of a celebrating mood, I thought I'd start out with a wonderful little piece of clip art to celebrate.

I did my measurements today as promised. I really didn't think there would be that much change. I really should have known better, but they really surprised me. Drum roll please.................................................

First measurements are from 2/15/10 and second measurements are from 3/16/10.

Neck: 15/14/5 Waist: 45/43 Chest: 40/38 Hips: 46/45

Wrist: 6.5/6.5 Arm: 13.5/13 Thigh: 27/25 Calf: 16/15.5

BF: 43/43

Total of: 8.5 inches lost in 30 days.

Now onto yesterday. Carbs were good at 45.7, but calories were sky high at 2175. Not really sure what is going on there. I looked over my food and it seems that I am adding in more high fat and calorie foods and vering away from my beloved veggies. Time to switch that around a little bit. So, back to basics again. No more cheesecake. Back off the whipped cream. :( Ramp up the exercise a little bit.

Last Day

This is my last day of the EA Active 30 Day Challenge. It has been an interesting challenge with all types of exercise. My most favorite has been the boxing segments, my least favorite the lunges, and boy howdy, there have been a lot of those.

Tomorrow I will be taking all my measurements and posting them side by side with the ones I took right before I started the challenge. It will be interesting to see the difference.

I will continue working out with the EA Active until I leave for Florida vacation. Once I am home, I will start a new 30 Day Challenge - the medium one. I also plan on continuing the Gold's Gym boxing game. It is a lot of fun and I am usually dripping wet about halfway through. It really makes me work. I also plan on adding some walking/running back into the mix over the next couple of weeks.

My workout plan will look something like this:

Sunday: Gold's Gym Boxing/2-3 mile walk-run

Monday: EA Active/2-3 mile walk-run

Tuesday: Gold's Gym Boxing/2-3 mile walk-run

Wednesday: Rest Day

Thursday: EA Active/2-3 mile walk-run

Friday: Golds's Gym Boxing/2-3 mile walk-run

Saturday: EA Active/2-3 mile walk-run

3 days strength training (EA Active) and 6 days cardio.

Carb count for yesterday was 33.1 with 1980 calories. Not too bad of a day, but a little heavy on the calories.

Huh???I

OK - I will never understand my body....it does what it wants, when it wants.

I went to a party last night and drank like a fish. It was a really good time (even my DH says so and he didn't drink a thing). So, I figured this morning the scale would definately be up - I mean come on - 10 mic ultras, plus all the food I ate yesterday. Total damage for the day of 3064 calories and 72.3 carbs. Within the range of carbs I set for myself, but a tad on the high side of where I would like them to be.

So, anyhoo, onto the scale I jump, and I am thinking I don't really want to see this number......it takes its own sweet time.....and....bam....down another 0.4 pounds. I'm not sure where it came from, but I am not complaining.

I'm starting to think there is something to this carb cycling that my body really, really likes. I think this experiment will continue.

Another good morning on the scale - down another 0.4 pounds today. I really think my body is responding well to the bump up in carbs. I know my mood is liking it very much so.

Yesterday was 31.4 grams of carbs and 1482 calories. I did 15 minutes on the EA Active and 12minutes of boxing on the Gold's Gym game. Last night I bowled and golfed with the grandson - he always wins by the way and he's only three.

Today will be another good day.

Day 1 of the New Experiment.....

was a resounding success.

1) The scale was down 0.4 pounds this morning.
2) I felt full and satisfied last night when I went to bed.
3) I slept like the dead and woke up full of energy
4) I am in a great mood this morning.

I consumed 48.3 grams of carbs yesterday and just under 1500 calories. I even had a 4pm snack of almonds and they were totally satisfying.

The experiment continues............

The above sign definately was me the past couple of weeks, until today. I was actually pleasant to be around today. I really do believe that the increase in carbs made this so. I had energy to burn and I feel great even now. I ate 49.5 grams of carbs today. Not a whole lot, but just enough to keep the mood good.

We'll see how the weight loss does in the next few days and weeks.

Changes are Coming....

I am making some changes to my way of eating. I am really tired of biting everyone's head off when they talk to me. I do not believe that eating so very low-carb is beneficial to my mental health. So, I am going to continue to eat low-carb, but just not as low. I am aiming for between 40 and 100 grams of carbs on any given day. I would like to stay around 50 - 60 as I believe this is optimal for me. I may need to play with the number on occasion, but this is what I am planning.

Today's plan is right around 50 - lots of healthy food - salad, veggies, bulgur with supper, deer. This is still way lower than the standard 300+ grams most people eat on a daily basis.

Here's to a new day and a new start. Let's hope the attitude is much better as well.

Take That Day 3...

I kicked your butt while the salt intake I am sure is kicking mine. Yes....only 12.4 carbs yesterday, but over 2500 calories - most of it from pepperoni, pork rinds, salami - those wonderful salty snacks that cause water retention - not to mention way too much diet Coke.

Today it is back to reality....under 20 carbs and under 1800 calories.

Watch out Day 4 here I come.....................

Day 3

Here it comes....my dreaded day 3 of induction. The day where I usually get blindsided by carbs and totally blow induction. Well, not this time. I am prepared. Those white flour and white sugar pieces of death will not get me. I have my days menu all planned out. I have snacks put aside that are induction friendly. I will gorge myself if necessary on beef, chicken, pork, and pepperoni. I will keep myself busy at work (like that wouldn't happen anyway) so there is no chance of even the thought of junk food crossing my mind. I will be strong.

It's Monday.....

(Groan). The start of another work week. I am back on the phones this week, so it should be a very interesting day. To top it all off, we are on call for the clinic today - so we get all the phone calls for the docs who have the day off as well.

Yesterday food wise went very well. Day one always does. Why is that I wonder? At this point I guess it really doesn't matter. Day two is going to go just as well.

I am about half-way through the new Atkins book and am liking what I am reading so far. There is a much larger enphasis on vegetables (get 12-15 of your daily carbs from them) than before and not so much about bars, shakes, etc.

Only 3 more weeks until I am in Florida!!!!!!!!

Here We Go Again

I am starting to sound like a broken record and I am getting very tired of it and very tired of myself and my wavering will power. Yes, I caved into carbs again.....not good carbs mind you, but the ones that cause me so much trouble....the white ones.....flour, sugar, etc. Junk carbs.

It all started out innocently enough - crystal light. Now I have never had this particular flavor of Crystal Light before - peach tea. I thought it would be like Peach snapple - which is a wonderful drink in my book. No cravings with it and just tastes fantastic. Not the case. I could almost feel the surge in my bloodstream as I drank this drink. I should have stopped after that first swallow, but did I.....No. I was like a junkie being given my drug of choice and it spiralled from there....cookies, chips, ice cream.

Now there are more conseqences than just knocking myself out of ketosis. There is the obvious water weight gain (I am afraid to look at the scale for the next 3 days until that goes away), and the headache and the allergies starting back up. I just don't understand what happens to me. I know I feel so much better when I don't eat this crap, but it is almost like I cannot control it. Like an alter ego takes over.

I did some research on the low-carb forums that I frequent and I am gonna try adding some l-glutamine and chromium piccolate to my supplements. I don't know if it will help, but at this point I am willing to try anything to get past day 3+ - including putting myself into a sleep induced coma for several days, LOL.

One thing is for certain - No How, No Way am I Giving up....THAT IS NOT AN OPTION.

Is It Really Morning??

Got 8 hours of sleep last night - 3 here - 2 there - 3 more here. DD did fairly well yesterday for her surgery, not so well last night with the pain. She called the ambulance at 11:30 pm, so I had to go pick up the grandson and take her significant other to the hospital because they wouldn't let him ride in the ambulance with her. Got home and got the baby settled back down and asleep and the phone calls comenced from her at the hospital. Seems her and the ER doctor didn't see quite eye-to-eye. Big shocker there. They sent her home (had to get up, pack up the baby, and go get her). Finally got back to bed around 3:30 am.

Today is game day at my mom's. I am up and need to do my EA Active workout, shower, and head to my mothers house. The nice thing about low-carb is it is so easy to eat breakfast on the run. Today is devilled eggs and bacon. Not sure what lunch will be, but I will take a couple of snacks with me (pepperoni/chicken breast/jello) and some extra bottles of water.

Not sure what supper will be either. Have to pick up the other grandson this evening. We are taking him to a hunting/fishing show tomorrow. He will have a blast.

Scale was down a little blip this morning - here's to it continuing.

TGIF

I say that every Friday, but this weeks it seems to be more heart felt than most.

1) Day 1 of induction went well - 14.3 grams of carbs. Day 1 always does. It is day 3 and on that seem to kick my ass and leave me lying on the pavement gasping for breath. The scale was back down the 2 pounds that my carb binge graced me with, so no complaints there.

2) DD Ash is having her gallbladder out this morning. We have to be at the hospital at 7:15 am. I will be putting off my exercise until I get back home later this morning. Not a big deal. I am also planning on going grocery shopping this afternoon.

3) Game day is at my mother's house tomorrow. Most of the family gets together and we play board games all day.....it is a real hoot. Lots of laughter and cursing and drinking. Well no drinking for me, and I will be bringing some snack foods that I can eat.

4) Got my new Wii game last night - Gold's Gym - and boy do my arms hurt today. That game seriously kicks some butt. I really enjoyed it.

5) I really need to get serious about studying for my upcoming class. Starting this Tuesday evening, I have an ACLS (Advanced Cardiac Life Support) class for the next three weeks. Each Tuesday it is 5 hours. Although I do enjoy learning new things, this class is really fast paced. I just hope I can retain some of what I am learning.

6) Just want to also give a shout out. I have been searching for low-carb blogs and have found several that I am truly enjoying reading. If anyone knows of any others I might enjoy - please let me know.

Repeat After Me....

Atkins induction is less than 20 grams of carbs a day!!!!!
Atkins induction is less than 20 grams of carbs a day!!!!!
Atkins induction is less than 20 grams of carbs a day!!!!!

Last night was not good. This morings scale reading was not good. Allergic reaction to all the carbs I shoved into my poor body this morning is really not good. The guilt I am feeling for treating myself so poorly is not good.

Today is a new day. I am beginning induction all over again. Two weeks. It's not so much to ask of myself. It has been over a year since I have smoked so why can't I go TWO WEEKS without crappy carbs. There is no real reason, so I WILL do it. Not for anybody else, but for myself.

I input my food into a program on the Active Low-Carber Forum called MY P.L.A.N. I like it better than Fitday. It counts net carbs for me and makes it much easier. I just input what I am eating/drinking and it spits everything out for me. This is going to become my life line.

Under 20 grams of carbs a day/Two weeks. These are my new goals. Today is day one.

Finally Getting it....Maybe

Scale was up a little today again. 0.4 - normal fluctuation, but up instead of down. I input my food into a program on the low-carb forum (it is wonderful by the way) and the only thing I can really see that I may be doing wrong is heavy cream. Atkins says 2 tbsp a day is ok.....I have been doing way more than that the past couple of days....like 5-6. Time to cut that way back.

I have pretty much completely cut out cheese (with the exceptional cream cheese in recipes from time to time) so now I need to cut back on the cream. I guess this means I will be cutting back on the coffee as well. I just cannot stomach it black. Not my thing. I think I will try to cut down to a half tablespoon per cup and see how that goes, then I could still have my two cups in the morning and my whipped cream on my jello at night.

Why does my body have to be so damn difficult?

Daily Inspiration

I get this e-mail everyday with inspirational quotes. Most days I just skim them and delete, as they don't grab me. Yesterday was slightly different however. A couple of the quotes spoke to me, so I want to share them.

No one is in control of your happiness but you; therefore, you have the power to change anything about yourself or your life that you want to change.- Barbara De Angelis

Self-disciplined begins with the mastery of your thoughts. If you don't control what you think, you can't control what you do. Simply, self-discipline enables you to think first and act afterward.- Napoleon Hill

If we want to direct our lives, we must take control of our consistent actions. It's not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives, but what we do consistently.- Anthony Robbins

I believe that these speak to all aspects of life....not just dieting....but being on induction, these spoke to me and hit deep down.

The scale was up 0.4 pounds this morning....I know what it is and why.....darn pork rinds that called my name last night. Darn diet coke that ramps up the appetite so that I want to eat everything in sight.

Things so far today that make me say...WTF????

Typical monday morning at the office. Crazy, crazy, crazy. Our nurse practitioner is still on vacation until Thursday, so can you say "all hell is breaking loose".

Had some interesting calls this morning into the reception desk wanting appointments to see Doc. These made me scratch my head big time:

1) Gentleman calls for an appointment because his eye is swollen shut. Could we please make that late afternoon, because he is going to go to work. WTF???? How can you work with your eye swollen shut?

2) Little old lady calls to speak with me....thinks she did something to aggravate her chronic neck/shoulder/back pain that we have been treating for 2+ years. I ask what she thinks she might have done....her reply.......I moved my stove and fridge to clean behind and under them. WTF???? Moving appliances sure does help that chronic pain.

3) Mother calls to get an appointment for her child whom she thinks has impetigo. Sure bring her right up, we will see her now. Can't do that, I sent her to school....do you have something available in the afternoon? WTF???? You sent your child to school with a contagious rash.

4) Mom calls to get child in who has ear pain....needs seen right away. OK, when did this start? Mom replies: Over a week ago. WTF????? Its gotta be seen today - really - on a Monday when we are slammed and it has been going on for over a week.

It's no wonder I am counting down the days until my vacation....only 30 1/2 more to go.