October Challenge--Atkins '72

[juversmom]

I'd like to join the october challenge. What is a realistic goal for the month? I started Atkins on 9/23. I've been on Atkins before and stayed on it for years. It is easy for me to stick to and I'm more determined than ever to get the weight off.I'd like to lose about 60 lbs total. I joined Curves (a gym for women) on 9/23 and I am going everyday to workout. (M-F). I quit smoking and I gave up Diet Pepsi a month ago. No cheats on either of those. I don't really like water but I do drink lots of diet green tea and I don't add any sweetners. I limit myself to 2 cups of coffee a day and I use SF french vanilla creamer. 1TB=20 cals, 1 Carb. No sugar or sweetner in the coffee either. Just looking for a little support and hope to join an active thread! I'm a SAHM with 4 boys, anything else? Just ask!

[dbglasgow]

Hello everyone and Welcome to all our new friends!!

We have been without Internet since Sunday night so this is my first chance to get online. We have really been exhausted since the weekend... mostly mentally and emotionally but I think we are recovering. Many things are still unknown but we are trusting God.

My blood sugar stayed unstable about 24 hours after my high carb lunch on Sunday. I finally have it stable again and I am back on plan. The scales have not changed much.. I am still up about 1.6 lbs from last Thursday which is my official weekly weigh in day.

I have a lot of catching up to do with emails so I will check in later.

Todays menu:

1 egg; 3 sl bacon; coffee with VCO
4 oz pork chop; 1 oz cheese
3 oz pork chop

[verbqueen]

I'm back! I had kind of a rough time with eating, and I'm none too excited about weighing tomorrow. I didn't go off plan intentionally, but some of the things I ordered in restaurants were not what I thought they were, when they came.

I am looking forward to eating at home again, where I know what I'm getting!

Darlene, Lee, hang in there. Pat, I do the same thing in my choir--I'm a soprano, but I will be an alto or a tenor if there's dire need!

Welcome, new folks. Post often--it really does help.

[calee]

Jessica, I'm sorry to hear that it was tough eating out.

I've had a good day. Several people in my office brought me gifts and cards. Tonight 4 of my best girlfriends took me out to celebrate my birthday. I was so happy to not eat the bread or the dessert the restaurant brought me. I was delighted with my ribeye and glass of red wine.

I put my scale away this morning. That was gift one. My second gift is yet to come but I've ordered a Kindle. I miss my parents and their sweet checks on my birthday!

See you all tomorrow.

[verbqueen]

I am so glad you had a good birthday, Lee! Many happy returns of the day to you!

[dbglasgow]

Good morning everyone.

Lee... sorry, I forgot to wish you HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! I am so sorry that you are struggling with the swelling and such... I'm still praying that your body adjust soon to the changes with meds.

Jessica... it hard when we are caught in those situations that mess up our eating plans.

The scales are the same for me this morning... I'm still holding on to that 1.6 gain.

Well, I need to get b'fast started. My hubby got up very early so he's ready to eat.

[verbqueen]

I weighed in this morning at exactly, to the ounce, the same as Sunday morning--which was up exactly 2 pounds from my stats. I don't even know what THAT means. I guess I'll just be happy it wasn't more.

I'm planning to drink LOTS of water today and go to the gym later this afternoon.

Hope you'll have some time to just relax a little today, Darlene, and try to move past the stress.

Lee, thinking of you.

[The Bionic broad]

Happy birthday, Lee! Or, as my crazy family sings, "Hippo, birdies, two ewes!"

Jessica, it sounds like you did better than you think you did. Two pounds has got to be water.

Juversmom, welcome. This is a great group.

B and L: Protein drinks
Snack: Julian bakery bread, toasted with butter (2 carbs)
Dinner: Chicken salad again.

[dbglasgow]

Hello everyone!!

It's been a hot, humid day today. I've made sure that I'm drinking lots of water to hopefully get rid of this extra water weight.

Today's menu:

3 sl bacon; 1 egg, coffee with VCO
2 oz pork chop; 1 oz cheese
7 oz hamburger patty, 1 oz cheese

[verbqueen]

Didn't make it to the gym today, yet anyway. Mr. V has a meeting tonight, so I might go while he's gone.

Eating was better though. Isn't it funny how relieved you feel when you're back home after traveling or having to eat out a lot?

Today's menu:

B: bacon (5 very thin slices), 1 oz cheddar, 2 cups decaf, 2 T. coconut oil
L: 4 oz skirt steak, 1 oz guacamole, iced tea
D: Paula Deen's hot chicken salad

(I doubled the recipe this time, and pointedly told Mr. V I was forced to do so so that I might actually get SOME of the leftovers! )

That came to 1600 calories, 8 grams carb. Now that's more like it.

Pat, I bought a loaf of the Julian bread and froze it, but I'm terrified of it! Does it stall you? I'm longing to try a piece, yet scared to death. Certainly, I've got to get this 2 pound business under control before I explore the possibility.

[The Bionic broad]

Jessica,

Julian bread doesn't stall me. I don't eat much of it because it can play havoc with my Lap-band. I toast up a half piece, slather it with butter, and nibble, chewing well after each dainty morsel. (lol) That's one net carb for half a piece. Mama Lupe's Low-carb Tortillas do stall me, unfortunately.

Pat

[verbqueen]

Thanks! I'm going to screw up my nerve and try it one fine day...

[dbglasgow]

No change in the scales again this morning so that gives me a weight loss of 0 for this past week. I was down 1.6 lbs but bounced back up and I seem to be stuck there for now.

We will be taking the weekend off... probably heading to the beach for two nights to celebrate our anniversary. We are waiting to hear back about the availability of a beach house.. or at least one level of the beach house. This is the low season here so prices are affordable. The place has a kitchen so I will be able to prepare my own food.

Well, time to get this day started. Hope everyone has a great day.

Jessica... when you find the secret of getting rid of that 2 lbs... please share. I wish there was some secret to kick starting weight loss after a bounce up.

Lee, how are you feeling?

Divine, we miss you. How are you recovering from your surgery?

Hello to everyone.... Erica, Pat... and all others (hard for me to keep up with all the names at this point)

[verbqueen]

This morning, I was down 1.2 pounds, so now only .8 above stats. Still no clue about WHY this happened. Obviously, the road to goal is going to be a long and winding one, with some sections of one step forward, two steps back. Darlene, all I can suggest for both of us is time and patience.

Today is my long choir day at church. I'm baking cupcakes for my kids this morning. We usually have a little celebration after they sing in church.

Hoping to keep it VLC again today.

Later!

[dbglasgow]

Congrats on the loss Jessica... I guess you are right... it certainly has been step forward, step back... but we are both still ahead. I feel and look better than I did back in July and I know you must feel great about your 32 lbs since June.. because that is amazing!!

I am actually at the size and weight that I am used to being... I've not weighed less than this in many years and my husband has never seen me any slimmer than this but I really want to get down to 140 and I will... it is just going to take a little longer than I thought.

Well, my baby girl picked out her wedding dress today... I hate that I was not there with her as I was with my older daughter. She said she went alone... but at least she is having the wedding here so I will be there for her. I can't wait to see the dress. We are hoping to stay at the beach this weekend but I'm having a hard time getting in touch with any of the places that we can afford... its the low season here so I guess no one is around to answer email or the phone for some of the private beach houses.

We have yet another meeting tonight... then we can take the weekend off before the next mission team arrives on Monday. I will check in tomorrow... hope everyone has a great evening.

[verbqueen]

Hey, Darlene. Hope you've gotten good word on the beach house by now.

(I actually am only at 30 pounds lost right now--still up .8, alas. Maybe tomorrow!)

Today's menu:

B: leftover chicken casserole
L: small tri-tip steak
D: carnitas, couple of pieces of sauteed squash
S: more chicken casserole (after a long day at choir)

I don't know how many calories or carbs, but I'll calculate it and edit it in later.

1700 calories, 7 grams carbs.

[verbqueen]

Lee????

Paging Lee? Where are you, girl?

Erica????

Divine????

Let us hear from you!

[dbglasgow]

I too was going to ask about Lee this morning. Where has everyone gone? I finally get back here and try to catch up and they run off.

I am down 1.8 lbs this morning... that means that I'm back on the "loss" side by 2/10 of a lb. Now if it will just hold and not bounce back again.

So far we have not been able to get response about places to stay on the beach. There are lots of places available but not that we can afford. Most places on the beach do not have AC (and we don't have to have it) and most don't have TV and usually we don't worry with that but my hubby wants to watch the Alabama football game on Saturday and he rarely gets to watch it so that's his "anniversary" gift. So we are trying to find a place with cable TV on the beach... that also allows pets.. we have our little Maltese and there is no one to take care of him so we can't leave him alone all weekend. We are just going to drive over this morning and try to find a place.. if we don't then we will just leave out tomorrow and go up to Belize City and stay in a nice hotel until Monday when we go to the airport to pick up the mission team. We just need to get away from the drama and stress here for a couple of days.

Hope everyone has a wonderful day.

[sunnierunner]

Thanks for the welcome Just popping in to catch up!

[verbqueen]

Good morning. I am down another 4/10 of a pound, so I'm only 4/10 above my previous low now. It's frustrating, because it's cost me a full week of forward progress to have this two pound gain and then lose (most of) it again. Why did it come? I just don't know.

My daughter has taken the day off today and we're going to a charity home tour. It's always a lot of fun, but makes you come home and look at your own home and think, "I live in a run-down shack." Haha.

I plan to have a really strict, VLC day again, hoping by tomorrow to be completely back to stats.

Good luck on the beach house/hotel situation, Darlene.

Welcome, sunnie! Still paging all our missing friends!

[dbglasgow]

We finally made it to the beach... we rented a cute upstairs apt in a Beach house. No air conditioning but there is a wonderful breeze from the caribbean.. right outside our door. It's octagon shaped so there are windows all the way around. We have cable tv so my hubby can watch football tomorrow and free internet... a full kitchen so we bought groceries. We did walk down the beach today and eat out for lunch.. I had a veggie salad with grilled chicken.

This place is so cute.. there is loft bedroom with a king size bed and a door that leads out to the deck on the roof over looking the ocean.... there is a balcony with hammocks also so we plan to just relax for a couple of days before getting back to work with our teams on Monday. It's raining right now but it was very hot earlier... the heat index was 105 today.. so the rain is welcome. Maybe I can lay out in the sun tomorrow.

Jessica, it seems that you and I seem to stay on the same track... we gain about the same and then lose about the same... it's nice to at least have company.

I hope everyone has a great weekend... I plan to enjoy my anniversary weekend with my wonderful hubby.

[verbqueen]

Darlene, that sure makes me wish I was in Belize right along about now!

Hallie and I had a nice time at the home tour, although our home did indeed look like a shack by comparison.

Here's my day's food intake:

B: bacon, slice of cheddar, decaf with CO
L: taco salad with shredded beef, lettuce and cheese
D: nacho toppings--cheddar, chicken hunks and fajita beef hunks, plus a bit of sour cream and guac

1200 calories, 10 grams carbs.

Goodnight!

[Erica L. Butler]

[quote=verbqueen;12588965]Lee????

Erica????

Hey there-- just checking in --I've been flat on my back with the flu...
I'll catch up with y'all later. Hope everybody is doing well....

[verbqueen]

[quote=Erica L. Butler;12594990]

Originally Posted by verbqueen

Lee????



Hey there-- just checking in --I've been flat on my back with the flu...
I'll catch up with y'all later. Hope everybody is doing well....

Oh honey, I'm so sorry! You rest up and I promise I will not nag you!

[verbqueen]

I had a nice fall day. Watched some football on TV, lunch with my daughter, went to see the Broadway road show of Spamalot, then more football on TV.

For dinner, I made Linda Sue's Hamburger Cabbage Stir-fry (alternatively known as crack slaw) and it was DELISH! Definitely going on the make-again list!

Today's food:

B: leftover chicken casserole (think poor hubby is afraid to eat it now, after my threats), decaf with CO
L: salad with roasted chicken, arugula and vinaigrette, iced tea
D: "crack slaw," iced green tea
S: 1 oz cheddar stick

1500ish calories, 12 grams carb.

[verbqueen]

Back up .4 today. I am in a stall, and I hate it. But I'll keep going, of course.

Have a great Sunday, everybody.

[dbglasgow]

Hello all... Jessica it seems you have been left all alone here.

Erica, hope you feel better very soon.

What has happen to Lee and Divine and where are all the new comers?

We are still at the beach but will be heading home soon. I just enjoyed an hour or so in the sun and now we are sweeping and cleaning up. We are going to walk down to the beach to take a few more photos for my daughter so she can see the area where we will have the wedding.

I've stayed on plan this weekend... the only thing that I ate that I don't eat everyday was a few nuts. I've drank lots of water. I've ate Bacon, eggs, chicken and hamburger and just a small amount of veggies since I've been here so we will see what the scales say when I get home.

We have a mission team here for the next 7 days so that will keep me busy. Hope all is well with everyone. Have a great day.

[verbqueen]

I know, Darlene! I was hearing echoes in here this weekend. I'm a little worried about Lee. I know she was having swelling and reactions to her diet. I hope she's not having a crisis!

I was very disappointed with my weigh-in this morning. I really expected that the last 2 or 3 ounces of my mystery gain would fall off and I'd finally be back to where I was, and instead a half-pound gain. Ah, the mysteries of the body...

Glad you've had a nice anniversary. Talk to you later!

[verbqueen]

"Alone again.... naturally..."

Today's menu"

B: leftover chicken casserole
L: leftover crack slaw
D: bunless cheeseburger from In and Out, no sauce
S: 1 oz. cheese stick

1700 calories, 10 grams carb

[dbglasgow]

Good morning Jessica.... others?

Well, I'm right there with you girl. I was back up 1.4 lbs this morning. My body is so resistant to going below 155. I've not weighed less than that in many years. I will have to probably shake things up a lot to break through this stall. I bought two new pair of size 10 shorts while I was home and they are now too big... so I guess I should be happy about that. I need to focus more on that instead of what the scale says. I will measure this week also. We will be traveling all day today.. we have to drive the 3 hours to the airport to pick up a mission team... it will be around 6pm here when we get back here for dinner. I plan to get a good b'fast an take a couple of snacks (cheese or boiled eggs). I think I have a left over hamburger patty in the refridge. Not sure if I'll check back in today or not.... hope someone comes along to keep you company here Jessica. Have a great day.

Yesterday's menu:

5 sl bacon, 1 egg
2 oz cheese
4 oz pork chops