WOW...it has been a while since I posted anything. Life has been very very busy. The EMS confence went really well. I think I had way to many carbs, but at times they were the ONLY options available. I tried to limit them as much as I could and tried to choose options that were extremely low in carbs or carbless (as much as could be) for dinner, like the Ahi tuna and spinach salad....mmmmmmmm. I really wasn't too worried as we averaged walking about 10 miles a day. Yes I said 10 miles...we wear pedometers during the conference. My boss had 17 miles on hers the first day...but she bounces when she stands around too much...so I adjusted her sensativity and she had close to mine the next day, just 10ths of a mile difference. Anyway...since things have slowed down a bit, I'll get back into posting more regulary. This blog really helped keep things going and keep me straight.

If anyone is looking for something to buy me for the holidays...the SB books would be really nice :)(The Bible one and the cookbook) (I have the good fats/good carbs book already)

Day 1 P2 WK 3

WOW...this last week has been EXTREMELY stressful and busy. I haven't been exactly perfect this last week. I've tried to stay on course and for the most part have. I haven't drank as much water as I should. I had a carb friendly tortilla with my chicken wrap when we went to Sonic on Halloween. I had a small dish of ice cream and gave in to a cornie dog from Sonic. And even worse, a hotfudge sundea the next night. That's really the first ice creams I've had in a good while. And I had a piece of "corn" from one of those Harvest Mix/Candy Corn bags. But it was just one. Where I would normally have a handful if not half the bag. I didn't buy any candy for Halloween. Wouldn't matter. We live out in the country and our road was pitch black, full of water from the rain and no lights. Add about 4 black dogs to the mix and NO ONE ventures down our road. Not a bad deal huh? Though I do miss seeing all the kids and their costumes and the excitement of the little ones. Oh well, that's life in the country.

I'm debating staying on phase 1 for a few more days or moving on to phase 2. I'll have to think about it for a while. I've stayed off the scales for a few days as I'm sure by "badness" will show up and I'd rather not see it. I've noticed that if I don't drink the water stays. So I need to improve that. But I can see a difference in the way my clothes are fitting and my skin. It feels like it's not as full. Kind of like a bag that is full of something, then you take a bit out and the bag is more flexable. Kind of like that. A good sign I take it. Thought the thought of all that extra skin is a bit scary. My thighs have been LARGE since I was in the 3-4 grade (25 years) so I don't see it scrinking back much at all. But we'll see.

Breakfast:
mac frenchtoast/pancakes
cinnamon butter spread
coffee
1 sq 85% drk chocolate (you know the stress is high when I hit the chocolate right out of the gate!)

AM Snack:
1 Carb Control vanilla yogurt
1 spoon of natural peanut butter


We've got this weird seasonal algea thing going in our public water supply. It make the water taste like mold, some say grass. It's moldie tasting I don't care what they say. You might get a grassie aftertaste, but its MOLD. YUCK!!! It ain't making water intake easy at all!

Day 7 P1 W=284

Too busy to write at this point today.

Had crepes and cottage cheese for Breakfast

vegde juice, celery & fat-free cream cheese(not that impressed) for snack

more later

Day 6 - P1 W=286

Well, I survived the weekend. Was really busy, and have a very busy week ahead too, both at my real job and my personal business. I had some major cravings and desires last night when I went to the grocery store. Course I hadn't really eaten all day and was a bit hungry...but then that's why I had to go. If I can make it through the next 8 days, I'll be doing good!

Breakfast:
Mock French Toast
1/2 cup ricotta
1 egg
1 packet splenda
dash of cinnamon
1/2 dash salt
4 tsp of cottage cheese
1 tsp cinnomon butter
coffee...coffee...coffee

AM Snack:
Sipped on vegde juice (fresh tomatoe, carrot, and celery)
handful of cashews

Lunch:
Spinach greens
hand full of sugar peas
3 large button mushrooms
Boiled egg
3 oz of tuna (maybe - haven't decided yet)
sprinke of pumpkin seeds - just a few for some added nutty crunch


PM Snack


Dinner:

Eve Snack:


That mock french toast recipe was good. I split it in half (which is what I have listed) and it was just about right for one person for breakfast. I made about 4 little 3" pancakie crepes. I'll need to work with it a bit. I kept breaking them in half when I flipped them. But they were really good, especially with the cottage cheese on them. mmmmmmmmmmmm I really wanted to pour syrup or sopappia honey on them but I didn't...the cheese added a nice touch to it, so I didn't miss the extra sweetness. Maybe in a few weeks I'll drizzle them.

Day 5 - P1 W= 286

I've got another busy day in the soap haus. All I've had so far is two cups of coffee. Need to get something to eat and get busy.

Breakfast
2 eggs
some ketchup

can't believe that really held me, all day, but it did.
I was really busy and bad about eating

Dinner (very very late 10ish)
Eggplant Parmasan
1/2 cup of skim ricotta w/cinnamon butter

Day 4 - P1 W=288

Well I had said I wasn't going to weigh every morning...but I was glad I did this morning. Was a wonderful surprise. Had to take my littest dog in for his weekly vet check-up. He broke his jaw and has it wired so he has to be checked. This was his 2 week check up and the vet said he wants to take it out after the first of the month. Just after 3 weeks! He's suppose to have it for 6 weeks. That is such great news!!! After the vet visit he and I went to the park and walked about 2 miles.

Pre-Breakfast Snack:
1 package of almonds

Breakfast:
3 farm fresh eggs
1 sausage patty
2 small roma tomatoes (fresh from my garden...and boy were they GOOD!)

Snack:
1 boiled egg

Lunch:
was bad...missed but breakfast was kind of late more of a breakfast

PM Snack:
1 boiled egg

Dinner:
exctremely late...and not so great
3 slices of ham (lunch meat) very good tasting though

I was busy working in the soap house all afternoon. I pushed my fluids, but wasn't so great at getting food. I grabbed an egg each time I came up to the house, but that was about it until I finished and came up. My blood sugar was kind of shaky all day.

Day 3 - Phase 1 W=292

Feel pretty good today. Yep was down a whole pound...whoohooo!

Breakfast (7AM):
2 eggs

Early AM Snack (9:15 AM):
handfull of cashews

Later AM Snack (10:45 AM):
small banana

Lunch:
fresh spinach
12 fresh sugar peas
4 large button mushrooms
1/2 an avacado
3 oz tuna
1 cheese stick
sprinkle of red wine vinegar
...and I was stuffed!

PM Snack:
the other half of the avacado ( I do love alvacado)
pumpkin seeds (pumpkin seeds were way too much salt, switched to cashews)

Dinner:
Chicken Taco Salad (didn't eat the bowl/shell)
the ususal taco salad, lettuce, chicken, cheese, guac,
some fresh salsa
TBSP of sour cream
4 french fries

It's the end of the month...and the house is pretty much bare. Except for eggs...my hens keep cranking them out. I forgot my boiled eggs this morning, so instead of grabbing fast food, I stopped off at the store and grabbed a few things to get through the day.

Since I only have the two eggs I was getting pretty hungry shortly after 9 so I munch a few cashews. Did the trick for an hour or so. But then a bit of hunger set in again. I know fruit is suppose to be avoided in Phase 1, but I had a very small banana. Bananas have great vits and mins, and it's the first one I've had in almost a month, so I'm letting it slide. It's early in the day, and I'll use any carbs I do get from it. Besides...they really are good carbs. Momma Nature made them herself.

For lunch, I'm thinking spinach salad with some tuna, avacado, mushrooms, and maybe a bit of light moz cheese, with just a sprinkle of red wine vinagrete. Not sure if I still have any olive oil here at the office, but if I do, I'll add a touch, prefer the vinegar over anything else. Good salad doesn't really NEED anything.

Last night on the drive home I heard a commercial for the new Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper. I had hoped they would do a diet...AND they did! Found one this AM at the store. It's good. Wish they had used Splenda instead, but it's still not bad. A bit of the aspertame aftertaste at the end, but still very enjoyable.

Man, did I eat to much at lunch? Geez I was stuffed. But it was good! I really like lunches like that. Don't know why, but I do. But then at 3:40...hunger....grrr... so I've grabbed some pumpkin seeds and am working on them. Boy they are salty, I could do without the salt. Wonder if I can find them unsalted. Maybe make my own this year.

Okay, those pumpkin seeds were WAY too salty. I'm not a big salt freak to start with but those were horridly salty. Didn't eat them all. Tossed them in a bowl and grabbed some cashews instead. I will probably be living with the salt/water retention for a while. I tried to drink a good bit of water/tea to try and wash it out but we'll just have to wait and see. My lips are all like salty logged, that kind of dry, parched, half swollen feeling, kind of like being at the beach all day in the salt air.

Dinner was good. I gave in to the fries that were kind of being pushed at me. I took 4...one at a time and ate them very very slowly. Don't think they are a major big deal. I ate them moreso so that Rich wouldn't exactly catch on that I'm up to something. I was full after the salad. I'm sure he's got an idea because I didn't even touch the tortilla chips, and I'm usuall munching on them and the salsa. But we'll see if he says anything.

Well I'm off to bed. Have to take my littest dog Foster in to the vet in the AM for his weekly check up. He has his jaw wired from a freak accident of getting his tooth caught in one the bigger dogs D-ring on his collor. I took him to the park afterwards and we walked around the "track" twice. Think we'll do that again if it's not raining. Even if it is, might do it anyway.

Night

Day 2 - Phase 1 W=293

Feel pretty good today. Got a busy day a head. It's conference time, so everything is a buzz. We put on a very large EMS conference the week of Thanksgiving, so we are less than a month away and all of the final detail MUST be done NOW. So there is no time to waste...and not much time for anything else either. But, this blog is for me, so I WILL take the time to do it. Period.

So...on with the show!

For breakfast I had
3 farm fresh eggs (one was kind of small)
w/ a about 2 TBSP of chili left over from last nights dinner.
(I love chili and eggs)
And my usual coffee.

Snack
1 boiled egg

Lunch:
1/4 # of brisket, much drier than yesterday, was a much leaner cut, no fat at all.
potion of cole slaw

Afternoon Snack:
1/2 bag (1/2) serving of cashews

Later Afternoon Snack:
1 boiled egg

Dinner:
1 cup chili
2 hotdogs
Only ate about half of it. Wasn't hungry


I boiled two eggs to bring with me for snacks and also brought in the left over half bag of cashews from last night.

Been having some cravings and touch of hungriness. Got real hungry at lunch, and again about 2:30 or so. I figure this will settle down once my body adjust to the new way of life. I really do like eating smaller meals and eating more times during the day. It's really odd that this really goes against what we have had drilled into our heads all our lives. 3 meals a day, no snacking. Obviously...it's not worked for me.

My boss is a vegitarian. And I've got no issues with the vegitarian lifestyle. She eats almost constantly. Every few hours. I'm just going to have to find my own schedule. But, feel okay this afternoon. Since I had the nuts the "cravings" have subsided. And I ate my egg about two hours later, so that should help with the drive home. I've got about an hours drive. I've still got the other half of the bag of pistacios in the Jeep so if I need them, they are there too.

Not sure what to do for dinner. I'll have to think on that one for a while.

Things were busy round the house so I fix the left over chili from the night before. But I could only eat about half of my bowl (1 cup). I wasn't hungry and wasn't going to force it. Rich kept telling me I hadn't eaten anything and needed to eat. But I refused. It was good, and it wasn't that I didn't want to eat, I was just full. He doesn't know that I've started this. And I'm not planning on say anything to him either. I want a "WOW...you are looking great" response from him, not the eagle eye watching what I do. Not that he would eagle eye me...but still. I'm not telling anyone. I don't need or want any pressure. Even when people have good intentions, if they know you are "dieting" then they treat you differently when you make a choice that they may not think you should be making while you are on a "diet." I want this to be a permentant change. Not a temperaty one.

Hello...from Day 1 of Phase 1 W=293

Hello...from Day 1 of Phase 1

Well, I've decided to give the South Beach thing a try. This is probably not the greatest time to be starting this. As we have our conference in less than a month and we are rushing around trying to get that all done. I have a major business order to get out in a week for my new account. It's quite large so I've got to do it good. Trying to follow anything strictly can prove to be difficult and taxing. So I'm going to try it loosely and see how it goes.

I didn't weight this morning, but did a couple of days ago. It was 293.

For breakfast I had 2 eggs (fresh from my hens)
1 slice of sliced ham
1 cheese stick
and coffee

For snack
bag of peanuts

Lunch
1/4 # of brisket (I know I shouldn't have gotten brisket, but the chicken just didn't feel right)
order of coleslaw (the use more of a vinegar dressing instead of mayoie)

Afternoon snack
large chuck of dark chocolate (mmmmmmmm)

Late afternoon snack
1/2 bag (serving) cashews
1/2 bag (serving) pistachios

Dinner
bowl of chili
w/beef, kidney beans, tomatoes, sauce, spices
and just a smidge of pasta that was left over from the night before. It wasn't even a 1/4 of a cup that then got mixed into a whole pot of chili. So in a bowl of chili you got about 4 strands per bowl. I don't think it's really enough to worry about.


I felt a bit hungry by the time I got to lunch, but figuring it was 7ish when I had breakfast and close to 11:15 by the time I had a change to grab the peanuts and almost 1:30 by the time I got a change to get some lunch. I had run 4 flights of stairs at least 3 times by lunch so it probably explains well why I was hungry. But the good thing was, I wasn't like, "bloodsugar is crashing I've got to eat right this very second" kind of hungry, just "my tummy is empty" kind of hungry. Which I kind of like over the my normal I'm "crashing" hungry.

Since I knew we had to run errands before getting home, I grabbed a bad of cashews and a bag of pistachios and a diet vanilla pepsi when I stopped to get gas. I ate less than half the bag of each. And each bag was 1 serving so it equaled 1 serving I figure.

Didn't have any dessert or late evening snack. It was after 8 when we finally got to eat supper so I didn't really want anything.

All in all, the day was a pretty good day. Kind of looking forward to day 2.