***Bay Area Babes-Getting Beach Ready***

[hummingbird11]

Congratulations Angela! That is super cool. How long have you been training to be a Certified Tao Te practitioner?

Hey Liz, why not take some "legal" chocolate along with you so you can hold out during the chocolate fondue? How about getting some SF chocolate and see if the chef will melt that for you? Or take a ThinkThin Brownie Crunch Bar! Stay Strong Sister! You can do it! And you will be soooo proud of yourself!

Angel, sorry that you're still feeling tired. You body is still recovering. Be nice to it this w/e. What is DS?

And yes you can get the ThinkThin Bars at Trader Joe's or Whole Foods. They rock! Sugar Free; Gluten Free; and 2 Net Carbs! and YUMMY!

Well ... I did "OK" on Carbs this week ... but next week I'll do even better!! I'm going to reduce my cheese & cream intake AND get more exercise! (didn't do well on that this week at all)

But I blew it last night cause Friday night has always been "pizza night" for me and DH for the past 20 years ... and even tho for the past 3 weeks I've been making Cleo's cauliflower crust pizza (YUM!) ~ Friday is the night I allow myself a beer and a glass of wine! But NO alcohol allowed (for me, during Induction) during the rest of the week ~ just on Friday night! A girl's gotta have her vices!

My Daily Carb Counts for the week (so far): Mon-24 / Tue-22 / Wed-23 / Thu-19 / Fri-?? (had to be over 30 maybe 40 - don't wanna know!)

But I'm gonna be REAL GOOD ALL WEEKEND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

XO,
HB

[pri17cess72]

I am going to La Fondue tonight. I am sure I will be fine with not having the chocolate thanks to all of your positive energy my way.

I got my hair cut and colored this morning. Yay!

HB, sounds like you are doing well. At least you did not have REAL pizza on Friday. I think the carb counts are low for wine. In induction you are very strict because you are trying to purge your body of sugar etc. You should be fine. It could have been worse...trust me

[hummingbird11]

OMG!! I just weighed myself!! (couldn't wait till 4/5) and I have lost 5.5 lbs!! OMG!! I am SOOOO excited!! this is JUST what I needed to stay motivated thru the weekend!! WOO-HOO!!

[Snowangel81598]

Liz - Did you get a new style? I did that recently and it was a lot of fun. All of the sudden people started noticing that I've lost weight (even thought I haven't since Christmas). Have fun tonight! I'm jealous.

HB - Have you checked the carb count on your beer? During induction, beer is a big no-no. It will keep you out of ketosis which will hamper your weight loss and probably trigger cravings, making staying on plan much harder. I think that light beer is better, but it should probably be saved for a later stage in your plan. It sounds like you are doing great, though. 5.5 lbs!

As for the abreviations:
DS = Dear Son
DD = Dear Daughter
DH = Dear Husband
DBF = Dear Boyfriend
DW = Dear Wife
MIL = Mother in Law
FIL = Father in Law
FWIW = For what it's worth
YMMV = your methods may vary
KWIM = know what I mean

There's a lot more, but that's all that comes to mind right now.

Angela ~ I'm looking forward to hearing how Graduation went.

BBL (Be back later) with my menu.

[Snowangel81598]

As promised . . .

B: coffee
L: tri-tip, grilled eggplant
D: viva la chicken on LC tortillas
S: diet coke "float"

I'm getting hungry again, so I'm either going to have to eat something or go to bed. I haven't decided yet.

Liz - How was dinner? I hope you had fun!

[pri17cess72]

Yes La Fondue was good. I had a bit higher expectations though. The server seemed to be a bit sub par but all the other servers were awesome. It took us about 2.5 hours to get through our 4 courses. We did the traditional style fondue where you cook your meat in a simmering broth. Next time I will do the grill instead.

B: wasa crackers w/pb
L/D: salad, cheese fondue w/veggies and apples, assorted meats and sauces and fruit.
S: wasa crackers w/spinach dip.

Angel what is Viva la chicken? That sounds good.

Congrats HB on the loss!

[skinhealth]

Wow - A lot has happened here since I last posted a real post - y'all are doing awesome!

Liz - 1st of all Congrats on the 2 pound weight loss, the 2 months being diet soda free, and most amazing of all - behaving yourself at La Fondue!!
I work at the spa across the street from there and I've NEVER been able to behave there. That's one of the place I ate last month during that week I was a being a piggie. I hope you know how amazing it is that you were able to do so well there.
Your menus sound great.
How did your cut and color turn out? Is it something new - that's always so much fun and such a great way to celebrate a loss.
Since you asked about Roger - I will tell you a tiny bit here - you're so kind for asking. I've just been having SO many revelations about myself and my ideas of men and relationships. Some are ones I'd rather not share on this board - they're pretty involved but actually very prevalent beliefs. The cool thing is is that Tao Te is all about awareness, acknowledgment, acceptance which naturally leads to letting go.
So when you become aware of something in your body - whether they are deep seated beliefs, buried feelings, physical pain,... - you can acknowledge and accept it which gives it the space to transform. Very simple yet powerful. Anyway - I'm so grateful that we've had this time apart because my actions stemming from these beliefs would have not had a good effect on our relationship. We're meeting in a week at the beginning of his spring break to talk about our relationship and go from there. I miss him a great deal and am just excited to share some things with him that I should have shared in the beginning - but because of my intimacy issues - I did not. Anyway - I don't want to turn this into a long post - if you'd like to know more - please feel free to call, PM, or MySpace me.
Oh - hope you adjust to your new work schedule soon - sounds brutal right now. Hang in there.

HB - since you're new and have a lot of questions - I'm going to answer you in a separate post. Awesome on the 5.5 pound loss BTW!!

Angel - Hope you're getting your much needed rest this weekend. Manager, huh? Have you had a chance to think more about that vs. a new job? Thank you about your comment regarding the FatSecret. I mainly want to reduce fat and calories 3 days a week because I know I'm going to have to do that the closer I get to goal. I'm finding that lately though I'm just naturally craving fresher and less heavy foods cuz of spring - I'm finding once the fear of not knowing what to do is gone - I'm able to just relax and listen to my body - who knew?
Your menus sound great as usual.

Skoolmarm!

Thank you everyone for the graduation congratulations. It was a wonderful ceremony - there were 6 of us graduating - the 1st class ever. It was very sweet and mushy. There was so much love and appreciation there. I'm still in shock that I'm officially a practitioner now - I feel like this is my reason for existing - as extreme as that may sound - but the last 11 years of my life have been leading up to this - maybe longer. I've never felt so happy and I just feel so incredibly honored to be involved with this work - it's just the most amazing thing I've ever experienced. I'll stop talking about it now - it IS my favorite subject.

So menus the last few days have been mostly taco salads, egg creams, some of the perfect food bars, celery and almond butter, a few glasses of wine, some fruit and cheese, kombucha, and a few other 'allowed' varied things. I did have bread one day at a dinner party and last night I had a piece of the most delicious carrot cake - but it was sugar-free.

I've done a few sessions of Callanetics and am trying to do Callanetics and Tae Bo everyday through Wednesday. We'll see what happens.

Hope y'all are having a great weekend!

Night night.

[skinhealth]

Skoolmarm - AWESOME with the 25 pound weight loss this month!!

Hummingbird - I will answer your questions tonight - I expected to do it sooner but just a lot going on...


Just wanted to post real quick about an observation i had...

...I tried on all of my pants yesterday and most were too big and just made me look bad so I'm taking them to Goodwill today...

...the weird thing is that the pants that do fit haven't fit me since this time 6 years ago - after I'd gained around 40 pounds...and I felt SO fat...

...now I'm the same size - although I'm much more toned (I wasn't exercising when I was gaining the weight of course) and I feel all like I'm looking so good and all...

same size - totally different perspective - weird huh?

[pri17cess72]

Yay Angela on the BIG pants! Doesnt it feel good?!!!

I saw the spa across from La Fondue called the something Wynne?? I think? I thought it looked nice and said to myself how I would love to go there someday. Interesting that is one of the places you work.

Thanks for sharing the Rogers details. Please fill us in after your chat with him next week.

I like my cut and color. It is nothing really new as far as the cut goes. I usually change up the color slightly each time I go. I go every 6 weeks for my hair so it is subtly changing although you wouldnt notice it as if I did something drastic. KWIM?

BBL with menu and exercise.

[Snowangel81598]

Liz ~ Viva la chicken is a chicken enchilada kind of recipe that I got from my aunt and kind of low carbized. Here's the recipe I go from:

3 C. cooked chicken
1 can cream chicken soup
1 can cream mushroom soup
1/2 c cream
1/2 c water
1 small can diced green chilies
1 onion chopped
2 C. cheddar cheese grated

I know that the soups aren't really LC, but they aren't too bad, and I can afford it now and then now that I am so close to goal.

I mix the soups, cream, water, chilies, onion and cheese in a sauce pan over med - med/high heat until smooth and then stir in the cubed or shredded chicken. When the whole thing is hot and bubbly, I filled an LC tortilla with the chicken and rolled it up. I spooned some sauce over the burrito, spinkled a little more cheese, and then topped with shredded lettuce and a dollop sour cream.

Very yummy. If you like a spicier meal, you can use a combo of cheddar and pepper jack.

Angela ~ I don't know what I'm going to do about my job. I go back and forth on the whole thing. I think that for now I'm going to stay where I am, but still put feelers out for something new and see if anything comes up.

I've been a little bit scattered lately, so if anyone has asked me a question that I didn't answer, please let me know. I keep getting the feeling that I'm forgetting to do something here and I can't fingure out what it is.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

[pri17cess72]

Thanks for the recipe Angel. I will try it this week.

I, too, keep thinking I am missing peoples questions and posts. Maybe it is because Angela does such a good job responding to all of them.
I am going to have to keep a note pad by my side as I read them to make sure I dont miss anything.

Menu

B: eggs and bacon
L: flatout turkey sandwich and apple slices w/yogurt.
D: flatout pizza

[Snowangel81598]

B: Coffee
L: quiche, salad, fruit
D: left-over viva la chicken

Today was a good day. There's a new class for young married couples that was a lot of fun. I think we will be attending that class on a regular basis now.

Have a good week, everyone!

[skinhealth]

Okay Hummingbird - the answers I promised...

1 - Coconut Oil - I take it because it helps me with cravings for sweets, it suppresses my appetite, it increases my metabolism, & it kills Candida. Also because it helps the body better assimilate Omega 3's - you'll notice softer skin because of this as well.

2 - Lymphoedema - Are you receiving regular lymphatic drainage massage for this? I know of someone who's excellent. She's a nurse and specializes in lymphoedema. She's in the San Jose area, somewhere around there. I lymphatic drainage & would like to train in it someday soon.

3 - Carb cycling - No, it is not part of Atkins. The only reason I thought to do it is because eventually at some point I'm going to need to lower my calories and fat and increase my carbs somewhat. I thought this would be the best way to ease into it plus many people have reported losing weight faster this way. Have you received your book yet?

4 - Induction - I've been on induction since January but I wouldn't call it strict. I do have a glass of wine here and there and do occasionally have something somewhat carby. I read about people being on Induction for a few months - a friend of mind did that but then she plateaued and then started increasing her carbs and started to lose again. I usually have less than 20 carbs/day and have been doing this since the middle of November - but I just haven't been strict induction everyday - but the for the most part I have been. It's what works best for me. I'm trying to look at this more as a way of life rather than just weight loss. I'm afraid I won't stick to it as well after the weight is lost if I just focus on the weight loss.

5 - Fawn shakes - no balls yet but will tell you when I do...

6 - Tao Te Practitioner - I've been an intern for the past year but it's necessary to receive the treatments for awhile beforehand too. I've been receiving them once a week for 2 years. I will be a 2nd year student as well as assistant teacher starting this summer. We were the 1st graduating class and there were 6 of us. It's the most important thing in my life because it's so transformative and supportive. Thank you for asking BTW.
If you're interested to know more about it, you can read about it here:
The Tao of the Body Institute book


I hope I've answered all of your questions that I'm capable of answering.
Please let us know if you have any more.
I love your enthusiasm.

[skinhealth]

will reply to everyone tomorrow - I feel like a broken record
but I've caught up on as much email correspondence as possible and I'm exhausted - just wanted to post my menu and exercise for today...

Menu:
b: 1/2 of an egg cream - I think it was too close to the one I had the night before - too much coconut oil at once - my body was screaming ' No more'!!
l: taco salad
d: 2 artichokes with dill sauce
s: peanuts, multi-green kombucha

Exercise:
40 minutes of Tae Bo, day 1 of 4 in a row
Callanetics - day 2 of 5 in a row

Ok - night night

[pri17cess72]

Didnt get a chance to post weight today since I left early this morning for work. No significant change it weight for me to report. So I will leave it as no change this week.

BBL with menu and I am going to try to get my exercise in.

[Snowangel81598]

I forgot to weigh this morning since I was running late, but I'll post it tomorrow.

B: egg cream
L: atkins bar
S: another atkins bar
D: chicken quesadilla (w/ LC tortilla) w/ sour cream

I'm watching Dancing with the Stars right now. Is anyone else watching? I think it's a fun season.

[pri17cess72]

I am not watching Dancing tonight. I love that show. I will have to catch next week episode. The work days begin early so I usually get to bed by 8 or 9.

I attempted to go to the gym today...I really did. I got dressed and when I showed up they were closed for painting. I had not gone in a week that I would have never known due to a sign they posted on the door.

Menu
B: Atkins bar
L: protein bar and apple slice
D: steak and creamed spinach (from Atkins website-manhattan creamed spinach)


Night ladies!

[skinhealth]

Sorry - no time again to post anything but menu & exercise...

Menu:
b: taco salad, celery & almond butter
l: Egg Cream
d: 2 Perfect Foods bars, 1/2 multi-green kombucha

Exercise:
30-40 minutes Tae-Bo/dancing
no time for Callanetics

Night night

[pri17cess72]

Happy April Everyone!!!


What are we doing on page 2...oh no!

Menu
B: Atkins shake
L: apple and crackers w/pb bite of protein bar
D: flat out pizza and rest of protein bar
S: few pieces of beef jerky


Guess I better take off my 1 hour of Callan in March...it doesnt look too good in my siggy. I just cant get into it.

[skinhealth]

Liz - Thank you for the big pants Congrats - YES - it feels AWESOME!!
The spa you saw across the street - that's the one - it's a lovely place - I just love that little village.
Well we'll all have to get together again soon - discussing your hair seems so silly - we've got to see it
Should have a Roger update by the this time next week - looking forward to it
I do try to keep up on everyone's questions and all - don't feel bad though if you miss something - you've got a lot going on.
Sorry to hear the Callanetics didn't work out for you - if you need motivation, the Callanetics board on here is on fire - and there are 2 teachers - one who made one of the DVD's - on there as well to help everyone out - and everyone's so enthusiastic and inspiring. You can click on the link in my siggy if your curious.

Angel - The Viva la Chicken makes me drool - yum, I'm making some of that soon! Please don't feel bad for missing something on here - I don't know how you do it with your family, busy job, and everything else. Is your MIL back? What do you do for this couple's class - sounds interesting?



So did we scare everyone away?
I hope everyone's doing alright out there...


Has anyone made an oopsie yet or the Zucchini or Cauliflower pizza crust?
I have a tiny, tiny kitchen so I'm going to go to a friend's place sometime in the next few weeks and try this - with all the talk I'm so curious.

Okay...
Menu:
b: taco salad, celery & almond butter
l: Perfect Foods Bar
d: Egg Cream with CS sugar cookie tea
s: tsp of almond butter, 1/2 kombucha

Exercise:
40 minutes Tae Bo/dancing
1 hour Callanetics
30 minute walk on beach
fun day!

well Night night

[Snowangel81598]

Today's menu:
B: eggs, sausage, 1/2 biscuit
S: Atkins bar
L: 2 pcs chicken
D: chili w/ cheddar and sour cream

So now that it's April, we should probably start planning our get-together. Did we set a date? I don't remember. Anyone have any ideas of what we should do or where we should go?

MIL is back. She's arrived on Easter Sunday. We're nearly back to normal now.

The couples class is designed for engaged and newly married couples (up to 10 years). We are at the upper end of that, but we know a lot of people there and we were told that it is beneficial to have some couples who have been married longer to kind of help the younger ones out. It's all about building your relationship, growing together in intimacy and in God. We have the opportunity to share our struggles and get insight from other couples who have been through or are going through the same things.

I haven't tried the oopsie rolls or the zucchini/cauliflower pizza. I want to do that one of these days, I just don't have much time to be playing around with new recipes lately. I did try the Atkins Revolution Rolls, back when I did Atkins the first time, and they just were too labor intensive and not substantial enough to make it worth the work for me. I don't imagine that the Oopsies would be much different. Liz, have you tried either one?

[pri17cess72]

No I dont think we have set a date yet. I have been having unusual schedules. Sometimes I get Sat and Sun off and sometimes Sun and Mon. So Sun are best for me (at least right now) We could meet at our halfway point in San Jose. Not sure what to do. Dinner or coffee or a walk somewhere??

Menu
B: Atkins shake
L: had a breakfast smoothie at work. Made it as low carb as possible.
D: nothing yet. Might have another Atkins shake or an apple wtih pb.