Who knew? I went to three grocery stores yesterday before I was told that because of a poor crop of pumpkins last season, people started hoarding the canned pumpkin several weeks ago (?) for this Thanksgiving?
The canned pumpkin shelves were bare. So, I had to leave it out--I put the cheesecake into my really nice stoneware, fluted edge pie plate instead of my springform pan, which was going to be too big, and it turned out great. The pecan crust was almost as good as graham cracker--just different really. And the filling was not overly sweet -- just right in fact.
I stayed at the first picnic till the burgers and hot dogs were served. I was surprised that there wasn't any kind of green salad or veggies really, so my meal was a bald burger and a really overcooked hotdog-- but I did take a couple of slices of mozzarella from between the tomatoes to make the burger slide down easier. It was also really well done. (Tip to self, bring your lo-carb ketchup with you barbecues!)
We went on to the next party- it was dark by the time we got there and little outdoor lighting so I really couldn't see what was available to eat except lots of brownies. I did finally find the roast pork and had a little bit, but then just went for my own Atkin's safe cheesecake and a diet coke.
It was nice, actually, not to be too concerned with the food fare and just focus on talking with the many people I hadn't seen since leaving Rodale. Made some great Jim Thorpe connections for future tours, in fact.
We were way out in the country and the skies were chock full of stars. Kids were playing with sparklers and someone put a dayglo ring on my dog's collar so we wouldn't lose each other. I didn't even look at the brownies twice-- a former very favorite food of mine. Pretty soon Ill have to make up the Atkin's version and see what that's like....but today I tried to stay away from sweeteners and just eat sensible snacks like peanut butter on celery.
I think I have been reasurring myself that I CAN have access to lots of sweet, chocolately and dessert like things.. now that I know I can, it's good tor realize that I need to focus on the savory as well as the sweet and keep my eye on getting the requisite salads and veggies in every day.
We're going to a ball game tonight, so in honor of that, I'm having a hot dog and cheese in a low carb wrap-- "sauteed" in a little olive oil spray....with some sauerkraut on the side. --
As far as I can tell, I'm staying within a 25 gram-30 gram limit- which is well within Ongoing Weight-Loss standards. And my appetite was really low today. I chucked the last few bites of my cheesecake breakfast!
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Friday, July 2, 2010
The Cook's Nook and Eating Out
Soooooo. I was so busy I didn't blog for a couple of days! Well, here's the lastest scoop
1. I found my watch buried deep in my new little purse. Sorry for all the bad thoughts I thought about the people at the pool. I can hear my sister laughing all the way across the ocean, in Greece-- I did also find that dress, Paula, in a plastic bin in the basement. What was I thinking when I put it in there??
2. My pounds are up by 3, but given that I'm eating a much greater quantity of food that's also sticking to my insides some, not surprising. I learned that I need to take in more salt to be more "regular" - the Newest Atkin's book says drink 2 cups of broth a day to make sure you get enough. I'm measuring now bust, waist, abdomen and hips now and the inches are lookin good! At least two inches off or more everwhere I Place the tape measurer. And Clothes continue to loosen up. Awesome.3. I WENT OUT TO DINNER LAST NIGHT!! Now, I didn't share his with my husband but that almost brought me to tears. After all, I've been workin really hard in the kitchen for the past couple of weeks, and I was counting on staying away from restaurants till the end of July-- so an evening at the Marblehead, which always makes me feel like I"m "down the shore" as we Jersey Girls like to say, was a real treat - not to mention the FOOD! Here's what I had- strict Atkins style: Crab and fliet mignon tips, zuchinni and broccoli in butter, and a nice big wedge of iceberg with blue cheese and bacon crumbles. And a diet coke with lemon. I couldn't eat but half of the crab and steak, (Eat till your satisfied but not stuffed, is the mantra and it's not like pushing aside piece of chocolate cake, at all - its much easier to say no to heavy duty protein.) SO I'm having the leftovers for lunch today. I also snagged the butter and the sour cream my husband didn't use. -- after all - those are valuable ingredients now. (Isn't this a crazy, upside down world?!!)
I'm graduating to OWL (ongoing weight loss) because I did induction a while back and I think I've got the carb cravings pretty well under control and am probably burning fat - since I haven't had any bread, pasta, potatoes etc in a month -- but the BEAD diet was actually mostly carbs and milk sugar -with the fruits and the whole milk and veggies like butternut squash -- which you can't have till Pre-maintenance in Atkins. Imagine that, no WISE FRIES?
So that basically means I can have tiny portions of berries and some nuts..
It's a little nutty counting carbs, which I've never really done in a detailed way because I've never done much more than the induction phase...I bought the newest Atkins book -- 2010--which is co-written by 3 top docs and is VERY detailed. It's interesting reading and also a litle overwhelming. I have Veronica Atkin's nice, colorful, lots of pictures, cookbook which seems great- and you can tell at a glance whether a recipe is good for your phase. I'm making a pumkin pecan cheesecake for a 4th of July Picnic -- and some vanilla custard icecream for another one....but staying aware of portion control-- you really can't sit down and eat a big bowl of icecream--you have to have enough fat and protein and yet not go overboard. -- and that seems to be pretty easy. You need to eat salad greens twice a day and some veggies too --so it's healthy and makes sense. Its not, as some people think, eggs, steak and bacon all day, every day.
I have found that it's best not to wait TOO long to eat --but for me that means don't wait till 12 when you ate at 5:30 AM-- that's almost 7 hours and when I got home at 11:30 the second day-- I was so ravenous I did eat my max in cheese -- 3 slices of provolone which was 3 ounces --- before I could get my shrimp salad on the table.
I've not tackled any fancy dressing yet - to add fat to the salads. But red wine vinegar, olive oil and salt and pepper taste terrific to me right now.And since it's permissable to have 2 Atkins bars a day (though its' advised not to rely on them too heavily) that little indulgence is truly a wonderful thing....
I've been ruminating how to get my husband's diet turned around, little by little, but he has so many ingrained habits and distinct food preference (don't we all) it will really have to come from him -- today I made his yoghurt from whole milk and blueberries instead of giving him the diet stuff. It wasn't much, but he might not like it! I had to put xanthum gum it it to thicken it up after I ran it and the blueberries through the mini blender. If I change one little item in his favorite recipes--he'll always say-- What did you do???!
Well, as I keep this up, he'll automatically get some of the beneft and as I keep losing --he will probably get jealous...Time to go shop for the Makin Bakin doodad. We had one but I must have dumped a couple of the t-bars in the trash. They now sell it at K-mart. Their homepage still has a picture of the little girl who came up with the idea when she was 8, but guess what-- she's now 34!!!
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Day 1 on Transition-- 183.2!
A pleasant surprise this morning! I knew when I went to bed last night (I weigh myself then, too) that my weight would be down...But given the stubbornness of the scale in the past four days, and the fact that I ate more than 2 times the calories yesterday, I wasn't expecting to be down 1. 6 pounds! I even had an Atkins bar right before bed, which pushed my total calories for the day up by 170 calories. (still well below my usual count though) Go figure. Dave always says it takes 2 days to see on the scale what you eat, but I've never found that to be true. Is this the hypothalamus kicking in with a new set point?
Rereading Atkins, the important thing here is to keep your carbs low enough to keep the body burning fat rather than available sugar. This is the famed ketosis (not to be confused with ketoacidosis, which is a dangerous condition requiring medical attention) Ketosis simply means using a natural body process to access stored fat for energy, something our primitive ancestors did naturally --before hot dog rolls and Twinkies arrived to give us so much instant accessible fuel.I woke up feeling steady and refreshed from my 7 hours of sleep. Just knowing that I can eat fulfilling food eases my anxiety level.
I'm still rubbing my BEADS -- can't see why I shouldn't-- they help with appetite suppression, though on Atkins Induction and On Going Weight loss phases, your appetite should be suppressed simply by the lack of carbs spiking your insulin. The rules of this game are: count carbs and stay with in 20 grams for Induction-- 25 for on going weight loss -- you can add a few carbs a week if you continue to lose weight --Atkins suggests you lose very slowly on PreMaintenance-- so that you become fully adjusted to what your carb tolerance is before you put back the foods like corn, beans, potatoes etc that will be part of your complete, healthy diet for life.
But in the meantime, there are yummy Atkins chocolate snacks, Atkins bread recipes, ice cream made with heavy cream and the like. And it's really not a free for all with the protein and fats -- though it may feel like it to a former low fat dieter. The recipes in Atkins books are controlled --For instance, my dinner last night, satisfying as it was after two weeks of fat and protein sparing meals, was just 365 calories.
My plan is to keep the same mindset as the BEAD diet required-- planning, organization, accountability and focus --to keep losing weight. At 183.2, I'm 20 pounds from my goal weight-- though size will be more important that pounds. On this diet, I feel I can work out harder and maybe build some muscle at the gym. I need to look into those actual requirements --
So glad the weight did not go up this morning ---
PS-- someone stole my Solar Wrist Watch at the pool. Yuck. Second time that has happened to me in my life. I also lost my GRUVE -- a little device that I clip to my belt that reminds me to move when my metabolism goes to sleep (If you sit for more than 45 minutes, that's what happens) that's $400 worth of losses in a weeks time.Is that they psychic equivalent of 18 pounds of fat? LOL.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
The Saga Continues-- in a new direction
Dinner yesterday was spaghetti squash again..and I fixed Dave sausage and mashed potatoes. I was mentally getting ready for another milk day-- my weight had pretty much been the same-- and I had started taking psillium husks--- for obvious reasons.
I went shopping-- a not too frequent pastime of mine ---at Boscovs. Tried on a size 14 dress and it was too small. Got a ways to go! Bought towels and rugs for the bathroom and a giant globe fountain spray for Zoe. And some purses that were on sale that would make nicL gifts.
Came home and watched TV and Before I knew it, it was 11 oclock -past the witching hour for my diet. I went to bed, and lay there. My legs were shooting pain from physical therapy. By about 1 PM my stomach was growling fiercly and I was feeling the blood sugar drain from my brain -- my last meal had been 8 hours earlier. I started worrying about what my milk day would be like on zero sleep. I decided to get up and have a cup of tea with honey, the legal rememdy for LBS, hoping that would put me to sleep. I was surprised how woosy I felt. No luck with sleep. By 3 I had worked myself up into a panic--it's not smart to think when your blood sugar is really low- nothing good ever comes of it. I didn't know what to do but lying there didn't seem like an option. Feeling like I was breaking THE LAW, I got up and had a glass of milk and a xanax, a last resort to fall asleep for at least two hours and to put a stop to my pounding heart and racing thoughts. I think I mananged to get one hour before 5 AM, when I get up.
I'd already decided somewhere in that stretch of a long night that this was not the way I wanted to spend my summer. WIth each day, my appetite for the narrow variety of veggies I eat became a little more dulled. I can only eat so much spaghetti squash and butter nut squash fries. The milk days were pretty grueling, still. And making 2 different meals for dinner wasn't much fun either. Dave was expressing interest in Atkins and remembering that I had lost 7 pounds doing that diet before this one, I made up my mind that that was more realistic for me. And with 2 weeks of the accudiet under my belt, literally, I felt ever so prepared to take that on and with due dilligence. It would seem like feasting compared to famine.
I wrote a note to my BEAD counselor right away, asking for help to transition and she sent me the protocol.
Today I ate about 900 calories, as opposed to about 400 for a milk day ---naturally I felt much better. It was all healthy, lo-carb food and even though I had zero sleep, I cleaned the house and went for a swim.
For dinner- I had an Atkins recipe -- low carb toriilla filled with spinach, mushroom, egg and 2 ounces of ham strips. Little bit of oil and red wine vinegar for dressing. My God, did it taste good! Didn't mind the sugarfree orange jello much after a meal like that. Ordered 2 new Atkins books online and am hoping and I can keep the pounds at bay that I just lost, and keep subtracting-- though albeit at a slower pace.
I honor all those who try the BEAD diet and win. It's a heck of a challenge. My 2 week- 10 pound weight loss was certainly a success as far as it went, and I learned plenty about myself and about food, shopping and being organized and committed. I still feel committed, just to a slower pace with more leeway, variety and control over options. The important thing will be not to get discouraged if a few pounds creep back on but hopefully, the BEADS have done some resetting of my set point and my labors in the kitchen and my detox from sugar and white flour willl stand me in good stead in the coming weeks.
I went shopping-- a not too frequent pastime of mine ---at Boscovs. Tried on a size 14 dress and it was too small. Got a ways to go! Bought towels and rugs for the bathroom and a giant globe fountain spray for Zoe. And some purses that were on sale that would make nicL gifts.
Came home and watched TV and Before I knew it, it was 11 oclock -past the witching hour for my diet. I went to bed, and lay there. My legs were shooting pain from physical therapy. By about 1 PM my stomach was growling fiercly and I was feeling the blood sugar drain from my brain -- my last meal had been 8 hours earlier. I started worrying about what my milk day would be like on zero sleep. I decided to get up and have a cup of tea with honey, the legal rememdy for LBS, hoping that would put me to sleep. I was surprised how woosy I felt. No luck with sleep. By 3 I had worked myself up into a panic--it's not smart to think when your blood sugar is really low- nothing good ever comes of it. I didn't know what to do but lying there didn't seem like an option. Feeling like I was breaking THE LAW, I got up and had a glass of milk and a xanax, a last resort to fall asleep for at least two hours and to put a stop to my pounding heart and racing thoughts. I think I mananged to get one hour before 5 AM, when I get up.
I'd already decided somewhere in that stretch of a long night that this was not the way I wanted to spend my summer. WIth each day, my appetite for the narrow variety of veggies I eat became a little more dulled. I can only eat so much spaghetti squash and butter nut squash fries. The milk days were pretty grueling, still. And making 2 different meals for dinner wasn't much fun either. Dave was expressing interest in Atkins and remembering that I had lost 7 pounds doing that diet before this one, I made up my mind that that was more realistic for me. And with 2 weeks of the accudiet under my belt, literally, I felt ever so prepared to take that on and with due dilligence. It would seem like feasting compared to famine.
I wrote a note to my BEAD counselor right away, asking for help to transition and she sent me the protocol.
Today I ate about 900 calories, as opposed to about 400 for a milk day ---naturally I felt much better. It was all healthy, lo-carb food and even though I had zero sleep, I cleaned the house and went for a swim.
For dinner- I had an Atkins recipe -- low carb toriilla filled with spinach, mushroom, egg and 2 ounces of ham strips. Little bit of oil and red wine vinegar for dressing. My God, did it taste good! Didn't mind the sugarfree orange jello much after a meal like that. Ordered 2 new Atkins books online and am hoping and I can keep the pounds at bay that I just lost, and keep subtracting-- though albeit at a slower pace.
I honor all those who try the BEAD diet and win. It's a heck of a challenge. My 2 week- 10 pound weight loss was certainly a success as far as it went, and I learned plenty about myself and about food, shopping and being organized and committed. I still feel committed, just to a slower pace with more leeway, variety and control over options. The important thing will be not to get discouraged if a few pounds creep back on but hopefully, the BEADS have done some resetting of my set point and my labors in the kitchen and my detox from sugar and white flour willl stand me in good stead in the coming weeks.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Sunday -- down a pound- 184.8
After a milk day's hunger pangs, you really feel like the scale OWES you one.
Well, it came through. Down exactly a pound this morning. Phew!
Technically I should be having another milk day but due to some tickets to a garden party/tour booked before I even knew this diet existed, I decided to skip to a veggie day with the possiblity that the two meals being served might offer me something to eat and I could feel like a participant. A friend purchased the tickets ($30 each) and I felt like it would be kind of rude to pass up everything being offered and just sip on my milkshake in a thermos.
I spent the morning making up two salads, spaghetti squash, my fruit stash and some crystal light lemonade just in case I found out there was nothing edible for me -- which was a good thing, because there wasn't.
My one new item was cabbage/carrots slaw with fresh pineapple. I also scraped the seeds out of the spaghetti squash and roasted them -- a new dispensation says we can eat them as long as we have them on the same day as the squash --and weigh them. That seemed too exotic a treat to pass up.
The day turned very hot and cool water was offered at every stop, but no bathrooms. We bailed before the last property and didn't go back for the post tour reception and prize drawing, being fairly disappointed to find out that, rather than homey backyard gardens, we were touring McMansions with massive garden stone-scaping...and outdoor kitchens, etc. Not the kind of tour you can get excited about on a limited budget.
I didn't actually eat my lunch salad until 3 PM...having staved off hunger with some cherries. Maybe all the walking down those long, exclusive driveways in 89 degree weather will have helped burn off another pound for tomorrow. Somehow, I'm not expecting it.....so I'd be happily surprised, even with a few ounces.
I'm still hanging in there ...and feeling pretty good-- but I may need to set my cell phone to ring every odd hour, when I'm out because I kept forgetting to rub the beads...
Well, it came through. Down exactly a pound this morning. Phew!
Technically I should be having another milk day but due to some tickets to a garden party/tour booked before I even knew this diet existed, I decided to skip to a veggie day with the possiblity that the two meals being served might offer me something to eat and I could feel like a participant. A friend purchased the tickets ($30 each) and I felt like it would be kind of rude to pass up everything being offered and just sip on my milkshake in a thermos.
I spent the morning making up two salads, spaghetti squash, my fruit stash and some crystal light lemonade just in case I found out there was nothing edible for me -- which was a good thing, because there wasn't.
My one new item was cabbage/carrots slaw with fresh pineapple. I also scraped the seeds out of the spaghetti squash and roasted them -- a new dispensation says we can eat them as long as we have them on the same day as the squash --and weigh them. That seemed too exotic a treat to pass up.
The day turned very hot and cool water was offered at every stop, but no bathrooms. We bailed before the last property and didn't go back for the post tour reception and prize drawing, being fairly disappointed to find out that, rather than homey backyard gardens, we were touring McMansions with massive garden stone-scaping...and outdoor kitchens, etc. Not the kind of tour you can get excited about on a limited budget.
I didn't actually eat my lunch salad until 3 PM...having staved off hunger with some cherries. Maybe all the walking down those long, exclusive driveways in 89 degree weather will have helped burn off another pound for tomorrow. Somehow, I'm not expecting it.....so I'd be happily surprised, even with a few ounces.
I'm still hanging in there ...and feeling pretty good-- but I may need to set my cell phone to ring every odd hour, when I'm out because I kept forgetting to rub the beads...
Saturday, June 26, 2010
SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER
I almost lost it around 5 PM today....meaning I almost broke the code of NO CHEATING.
Having my grandaugther all day, though delightful, meant less time and space to care for myself. I didn't take the time to make a thick shake with xanthum powder. My "dinner' was a 1/2 cup of hot chocolate (zero calorie syrup) and 1/2 cup of yoghurt mixed with orange jello. Neither was particularly satisfying, so when I put a platter of crispy fis sticks and a chopped up hot dog out for my grandaughter, I could almost taste every bite she took.
WHen she was done there were about 5 pieces of hot dog left on the plate and they smelled great and I REALLY wanted to pop them in my mouth-- so I quickly dumped them into the dog's dish. She likes hotdogs even more than I do. I could feel myself give a slight inner gasp as she gulped them down.
I don't know what's up with this milk thing-- it just doesn't seem like enough. I don't have hunger pangs like this on veggies days. Everytime I open my fridge. all those leftover fruits and veggies are calling out to me..and I open it a lot since I am feeing others and also getting cold water regularly.
My tongue feels swollen from too many artificial sweeteners. And the milk leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
I'm going to bed early--and looking forward to my 1/2 and egg in the morning.
I spent time this morning in a farmer's market, picking up fresh meat and poultry from my husband. You can imagine the surroundings -- all food in your face, all the time. I had my grandaughter with me and fed her samples of cheese cubes and crackers. Got her a ride on a mechanical horse and then we got out of there. I felt good about not really eyeballing anything in particular. But the strawberries did look mighty tempting.
Having my grandaugther all day, though delightful, meant less time and space to care for myself. I didn't take the time to make a thick shake with xanthum powder. My "dinner' was a 1/2 cup of hot chocolate (zero calorie syrup) and 1/2 cup of yoghurt mixed with orange jello. Neither was particularly satisfying, so when I put a platter of crispy fis sticks and a chopped up hot dog out for my grandaughter, I could almost taste every bite she took.
WHen she was done there were about 5 pieces of hot dog left on the plate and they smelled great and I REALLY wanted to pop them in my mouth-- so I quickly dumped them into the dog's dish. She likes hotdogs even more than I do. I could feel myself give a slight inner gasp as she gulped them down.
I don't know what's up with this milk thing-- it just doesn't seem like enough. I don't have hunger pangs like this on veggies days. Everytime I open my fridge. all those leftover fruits and veggies are calling out to me..and I open it a lot since I am feeing others and also getting cold water regularly.
My tongue feels swollen from too many artificial sweeteners. And the milk leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
I'm going to bed early--and looking forward to my 1/2 and egg in the morning.
I spent time this morning in a farmer's market, picking up fresh meat and poultry from my husband. You can imagine the surroundings -- all food in your face, all the time. I had my grandaughter with me and fed her samples of cheese cubes and crackers. Got her a ride on a mechanical horse and then we got out of there. I felt good about not really eyeballing anything in particular. But the strawberries did look mighty tempting.
Saturday Morning...Milk Day --No weight Loss
Okay, two days with no drop in weight. BUT, I tried on a pair of pink shorts that I couldn't get close to buttoning 3 days ago and they cinched up nicely. They are my smallest pair of 16's...I think they might be a regular 16 as opposed to a "misses" 16 and the waist band is very unforgiving. They look great!
I don't think I have any size 14's around, so I may have to buy or borrow a pair to continue motivating myself. The scale is not always reliable in that way.
Went for a walk around my park and stopped at all the life fit machines to do the easy exercises. My ankle is loosening up but it still starts to hurt and swell a bit after 1/3 of a mile.
I was going to skip my 1/3 egg and tea this morning but since I'm picking up my granddaughter at 10 and keeping her till 7 pm...I'll need the stamina. We may go swimming but at the very least, I'll be up and down the basement stairs many times, picking her up, and following her around the jungle gym across the street.
Gotta go get the lactaid tablets before I pick her up.
Am going to try the orange jello in the milkshake suggestions today.
I feel good .....da na da na da na... I knew that I would,,,,.da.na.da na da na---get it? James Brown
I don't think I have any size 14's around, so I may have to buy or borrow a pair to continue motivating myself. The scale is not always reliable in that way.
Went for a walk around my park and stopped at all the life fit machines to do the easy exercises. My ankle is loosening up but it still starts to hurt and swell a bit after 1/3 of a mile.
I was going to skip my 1/3 egg and tea this morning but since I'm picking up my granddaughter at 10 and keeping her till 7 pm...I'll need the stamina. We may go swimming but at the very least, I'll be up and down the basement stairs many times, picking her up, and following her around the jungle gym across the street.
Gotta go get the lactaid tablets before I pick her up.
Am going to try the orange jello in the milkshake suggestions today.
I feel good .....da na da na da na... I knew that I would,,,,.da.na.da na da na---get it? James Brown
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