4 x 4 Plan

[LightlyStarched]

Well, I've been off the wagon for awhile. Honestly, since about March of last year. I hit an all-time low of 174 right around Feb 22 (and I only remember this because in the pictures from my dd's birthday I look great). I was 191 on Jan 1, 2007 and probably more now. I'll weigh in this morning after dh gets up. I won't drink anything till then, *grin*.

So I dreamed up a new plan. Obviously, the sugar and wheat have to be completely eliminated. the sugar 'cause its poison and the wheat because I'm obviously intolerant of it (gives me a stuffy nose, bloat, gas and pimples!)

Corn seems to be okay and doesn't lead to problems. Potaotes okay too.

So, the 4 x 4 plan: in a nutshell, staggering calorie amounts in 4 day blocks for 16 days. First 4 days, 1200 calories (no coffee with cream!); then 4 x 1400; 4 x 1600; and 4 x 1800. Repeat as many times as necessary. Weigh in at the end of each 16 day cycle.

The thing that trips me up is planning ahead. I'm hoping to make each 4 day block virtually identical (except for dinner), so I only have to create a menu every 4 days. I need to see how many calories are in my beloved breakfst tamale.....

Back after the weigh in.

[LightlyStarched]

Okay, I'm at 196 this morning. TOM is due any day now. And the cookies last night are probably a big part of that. Sigh, nowhere to go but down.
Worked out menus for the next 4 days: (1200 calories doesn't go as far as it used to!).

Breakfast: Protein shake made with 8 oz CC chocolate milk, 1 scoop chocolate designer whey and 1 scoop Big Train l/c Mocha mix: 280 calories, 32 grams protein.

Lunch: Chef's salad - lettuce, 3 oz turkey breast, 1 oz shredded cheese, 1/2 oz bacon bits, ranch dressing made with 2 Tbs mayo, little onion: 512 calories, 34 grams protein.

That leaves 400+/- calories for dinner. I need to eat more veggies. I'll try to work them in at dinner.

[LightlyStarched]

Stuck to 400 cals at dinner. I baked small red potatoes, scooped out the insides and filled them with taco-seasoned ground turkey, cheese & green onion. Served with a little dab of sour cream and hot sauce. Yummy! I ate 4 halves.

Went to the Y today and had a good workout.

Day 1 completely successful!

[LightlyStarched]

So far so good today. Had my shake & chef's salad and worked out at the Y. Dinner tonight is BBQ chicken thighs and homemade cole slaw. Have to hit fitday and see how much of each I get for 400 cals. I'm thinking I'll make my thigh without skin.

I'll have to do some planning ahead for Friday & Saturday. We're driving up north to take the kids to see snow. Do a little sledding and skating. I might go buy a pure protein bar or something for breakfast, lunch will probably be a salad somewhere- McD's is fine if that's what the kids want.

I'll work out at the Y tomorrow morning, but nothing else (formal) until Monday.

So far so good.

[LightlyStarched]

The chicken wasn't so good last night. I should have grilled it, but I was lazy and baked it in the oven. It tasted "mushy". I was disappointed, and really wanted to eat something else to compensate, but I didn't. Good.

Still on plan today, had my shake & chef's salad. I'm not sure what's for dinner. DD is sick and was up several times last night. I didn't sleep well and don't feel like working out today. Needless to say, we didn't go up north for sledding. Tomorrow is "rock wall climbing day" for the kids at the Y, so I'll definitely work out tomorrow. Just switching my "off" days, I guess.

I got my container water garden done today. The fish are in it and seem happy. Apparently they've thrived on the neglect in the pond: the four fish have become six. Dh went to go buy two more orange colored ones since the ones we have are dark colored. He's getting some water hyacinth and water lettuce too, assuming its being sold this time of year. I love the papyrus and hope it can make it through the summer.

Dinner might be hot wings. I don't want to cook. I wonder how few I get for 400 calories, *snort*. One more day and I go up to 1400. I'm really trying to figure out how to get the most bang for those extra 200 calories.

[LightlyStarched]

The hot wings were great. I sprinkled Splenda on them, so they were sweet/hot and didn't need any ranch dressing. I ate six at, say, 75 cals each, so around 450. Not bad.

I did end up going to the Y this afternoon. Had a nice workout.

Menu for tomorrow:

Breakfast - Chocolate Whey shake
280 cals, 10g carbs, 32g protein

Lunch - Trader Joe's Tuna in Red Panang Curry over Shirataki noodles with chopped peanuts & green onion on top
450 cals, 25g carb, 34g protein

Dinner - ???? Something with 470 calories....

[LightlyStarched]

Had my shake & red panang tuna. That stuff is soooo good. I'll be despondent if Trader Joe's ever stops carrying it.

I got a huge beautiful wreath for Christmas at Michael's. It was originally $189, marked down to $56, and then today at 90% off I only paid $19. Its at least 30" across and has pale green and white decorations with silver accents, magnolia blossoms and a green bow. It will look great on the front door next year.

Still need to hit the Y today and go to the library. Not sure what's for dinner - maybe I'll go to Sprouts and see what's on sale. DD seems to be feeling better, but she still has a slight fever and is laying on the couch now. She hasn't eaten much in the last 3 days.

Its cold today. Supposed to only be a high of 53 and low tomorrow of 35. I think I'll cover the jasmine and fish pond tonight. The chickens should be fine - they seem to handle anything.

I should go work on any one of the hundred of projects I've planned, but all I want to do is play on the internet. I should do some work, sigh.

[LightlyStarched]

Had 1/2 of a Detour bar (75 cals) and a tamale (400 cals) for dinner.

First 4 days down, easy-peasy. I really think I can live with this plan. I might weigh in tomorrow morning, just to see how things are going.

Didn't make it to the Y today. I'm feeling kind of stuffed up and sniffly, I hope I'm not getting a cold.

1400 calories for the next 4 days. I know I'm going to have tamales for breakfast, so thats 400 cals, then roughly 500 each for lunch and dinner. Lunch will probably be chef's or cobb salad since I have the stuff for it. Dinner tomorrow is pork roast, red potatoes and some veggie.

[LightlyStarched]

I'm having a little battle with diet-head right now. My impulsive wants-things-right-now child inside is asking *why* do I have to go up to 1400/1600/1800 calories. Things are going so well at 1200, why not just stick to that and lose faster?????

So I'm going to lay out the reasons.

1. I know from the past that sustained low calorie eventually backfires for me and I end up feeling deprived and binging.

2. Staggering low/med/high calorie periods should keep my metabolism revved up - I'll never be too low for too long.

3. The mean of this calorie range is 1500, plenty low enough to lose weight.

4. If I tried to eat 1500 day for a long time, I'd end up feeling too restricted.

5. If I'm going to suffer (I haven't yet suffered at 1200, but I might in the future), its easy to suffer for just 4 days.

6. I need the structure of a single number to shoot for each day - if I give myself a "range", I tend to keep floating toward the high end.

See, silly diet-head self???? Go up to 1400 happily tomorrow!!!!!

And go buy some dill pickles for low calorie dinner's-in-an-hour snack attacks.

[LightlyStarched]

Weighed in this morning at 189.

Breakfast: 1 beef tamale (400 cals)

Lunch: Salad with 3 c romaine, 3 oz turkey, 1 oz cheese, 1/2 oz bacon bits, ranch made with 2 T mayo, and 1/2 an avocado. (660 cals) Yipes. Should have looked up that avocado before eating half - a fourth would have been better.

Dinner: 340 cals - I'm going to make homemade turkey rice soup. I'm sick and dd#2 is sick. Dd#1 seems to be much better so we'll hopefully all be better by Tuesday.

No workout until feeling better.

[LightlyStarched]

Been really sick the last 2 days. Starting to feel better today, but still have headache & congestion. At least the fever is gone. Haven't worked out and probably wont for a couple more days.

Food. Um, yesterday ate tamale for breakfast, 1/2 a sweet potato with butter for lunch and the chicken off of a McD's salad for dinner. Tummy kind of funky.

Today, I've had a grapefruit and a chocolate mocha shake. Planning salad for lunch and steak & broccoli for dinner.

Two more days of 1400 cals and I can weigh in again! I know I said I was weighing in each 16 days, but for now I'm doing it every 4 days.

I'm really looking forward to 1600 calorie days - I can start having coffee with cream for snack. Mmmmmm.

[pennylovesdarren]

Glad you are feeling better! Keep up the good work! Your concept is interesting! ;0)

[LightlyStarched]

Hi Penny! Thanks for the encouragement.

I shouldn't even write down what I plan to eat, since it seems to keep changing.

Today:

B: grapefruit (106 cals), chocolate shake (280)
L: chicken salad with mayo & celery, RyKrisp crackers (470)
D: 2 taco supremes from Taco Bell (500)

Total: 1356

Apparently I am too sick to cook, but not too sick to eat Taco Bell.

[LightlyStarched]

What I ate today:
B - Tamale. Still having tummy funk and couldn't finish it, left 3-4 bites. (400)
L - Chef's salad w/ avocado. (500)
D - 3 oz steak, broccoli, sweet potato fries (500)


My mom bought the "South Beach Heart Book" or whatever its called. She gave it to me to read but said she wanted it back, that it was a fabulous book. So I asked if she'd read it......"No. But the reviews are excellent" I really hope she and my dad read it, he's starting to have heart issues and keeps eating white bread & loads of pasta & low fat frozen fruit bars. Must be good for you, its low fat, dontcha know. Argh.
And his doctor is the "best in the state" even if he's 80 years old. Seriously. The man obviously has not kept up with current ideas.

At least South Beach would get him off sugar and maybe start looking at labels for trans fat.

1600 calorie days start tomorrow. And I'll weigh in in the a.m.

[pennylovesdarren]

Your calories are right on target so that is good! I would probably keel over if I calculated my calories each day. Gosh, it must be in the 1000's. UGH! Guess that is why I'm not losing any weight. I do great all day and then at night it's like a free for all. Massively gross!

I hear ya' about "the best doctor in the state" who's 80. My grampa's doctor is older than that. I'm like, how could he possibly still practice medicine? Granted my gpa is 101 so 85 is considered young I guess! LOL

Hooray for 1600 calories tomorrow! Enjoy!

[LightlyStarched]

Heya Penny. Your grandpa is 101?! That's great! I bet he has some tips for living well.

I'm sure looking forward to that extra 200 calories. I think I'm going to spend it all in one place - 4 tablespoons of heavy cream! I'm going to have a thermos of coffee with cream for afternoon snack. I've pretty much eliminated snacks so I don't want to actually eat anything, but a warm creamy drink on a cold cloudy day is perfect.

Almost forgot, I weighed in this morning at 186. That's down 10 pounds from January 10th! And yes I was very "carbed up" and pre-TOM on the 10th, but still!

Menu today:
B - tamale (400)
L - 5 oz grilled chicken (150) tossed with 1 package Asian veggie mix (240)
S - coffee with cream (200)
D - Hmmmm. I need to use up the turkey breast. ???

[LightlyStarched]

Dinner was garbanzo bean salad. Garbanzos, grape tomatoes, olives, small balls of fresh mozzarella tossed in a pesto/olive oil/wine vinegar dressing. Marinate for 2 hours. Very tasty. I ate about 1 cup so I'm just going to estimate that at 500 calories. I don't honestly know. That gives me just 1500 for today. Or so. Jeez, I can't even get to 1600. What am I going to do at 1800?

I think I'm in ketosis. I'm surprised, because I'm still eating a significant amount of carbs (the masa in the tamale) but the appetite and cravings are just not there.

Being off the wheat for 8 days has really cleared my complexion. I wish I had known about that side affect when I was in high school.

[LightlyStarched]

Nice & cloudy & drizzly today. I love it.

Food today:
B - tamale (400)
L - 1 c garbanzo bean salad (500), 1 serving apple crisp (made with apples, ground oatmeal, splenda & butter, 200 cals)
D - something for 500 calories.......


I'm going to regret not getting more protein for lunch. I'll have to have a busy afternoon to keep my mind off of eating. I must be getting well, because my appetite is coming back.

I think I'll plan on going to the Y after I pick dd up from school. I think I'll make a ham & potato casserole for dinner. Green beans on the side. Good comfort food for a cloudy Friday night.

[LightlyStarched]

I had a nice small dinner last night. Then about 2 hours later I was ravenous. I ate 2-3 more servings of ham & potato casserole and 3/4 of a Detour bar. Detour bars suck - I won't eat one again. so calories yesterday are ??????

Today:

B - sausage patty & fried egg covered with cheese
L - small plate of nachos with chips, ground beef, cheese, tomatoes, salsa, green onions, guacamole
D - Boston Market. 1 wing, skin from a thigh. 2 large bowls chopped salad, green beans, mixed veggies.

I have completely abandoned counting calories. I need to get back in the groove.

Weekends are very hard.

[LightlyStarched]

I feel like such a schlub. I've been off plan for 8? days. Since I last posted. I weighed in at 194 this morning. I have to stop this horrible ride I'm on. Over and over and over. I thing I've got to go back to straight Atkins. Starting NOW!!!!!!!!!

So far today I've eaten: 1 cup cottage cheese with coconut & pineapple. 3cold pork tacos with hot sauce. About 1 cup leftover potato salad.

I hate feeling hungry. The only way to get over that is to get into ketosis. Alright - since dinner is already in the crock pot (roast beef with veggies) I'll have that tonight (sans potatoes).

I can wish for something and hope it comes true, or work for something and have it come true. It is time to work.


Tomorrow's menu:

B - pork sausage patty with 1 poached egg & slice cheese.
L - chef's salad
S - coffee with cream
D - pork cutlets, sauteed cabbage

[LightlyStarched]

So far so good. Where have I heard that before? lol. Things will be good for a few days to a couple weeks, and then there will be a night..... I need to come here instead of grabbing something bad.

Last night I had beef pot roast.
Breakfast was sausage, egg & cheese
Lunch was a chef's salad with 1/4 avocado, a slice red onion, 2 cherry tomatoes & ranch.

Dinner is pork cutlets. I had planned to press some crushed rice krispies on them with seasonings and fry.... I guess I could still do that for Dh & the kids and have mine plain. Sauteed cabbage with that.

I will probably have a snack this afternoon - coffee with 1 oz heavy cream. I had an early lunch.

I have gone to the Y 2 mornings in a row, yeah me!

[LightlyStarched]

191 this morning.

I'm having a good lunch - Sprout's sells these little containers of chicken salad that are really yummy and no freaky ingredients. I got some "Just the Leaves" Romaine from TJ's and I'm spreading it on, rolling and eating. Need to keep this in mind.

Breakfast today was a sausage patty, egg & slice cheese. I was hungry mid-morning and had some turkey bologna & mayo in lettuce.

Snack is coffee with cream unless I get hungry.

Dinner tonight is braised lamb shanks in a red wine/rosemary/garlic sauce. Roasted asparagus. I'm also making peas, and rice pilaf. I'm cooking for my mom's birthday dinner. Oh, also serving Tiramisu gelato for dessert. I won't be eating the peas, rice or gelato. I did buy a s/f chocolate bar to keep me from feeling too deprived.

I did not eat any of the cheeto-type things dd was snacking on. Small victories.

So much of life centers around food, doesn't it? When to eat, what to eat, how much to eat.

[LightlyStarched]

I'm 187 this morning. I finally got through enough days of strict Atkins to imagine that this time I'll stick with it.

I re-inducted on Valentines day at 191. Been super clean for 6 days. Hallelujah!

I've had girl scout cookies in the house, valentines candy, ice cream, and homemade cookies that Grandma sent the girls. I even went to a family bbq yesterday and stayed on plan amid all sorts of goodies (and pie).

Feeling pretty good.

Its 6 weeks to Easter - I'd like to see if I can lose 10 pounds by then.

[LightlyStarched]

186 today and I'm so proud of myself.

Yesterday I had 2 dozen chocolate chocolate chip muffins in the house for dd to take to school, I made a homemade apple pie for her birthday, and made a decadant pineapple upside down rum cake for dh to take to work. I didn't sample even one bite! And I didn't even care. Right now I feel like I could eat this way forever. Please please higher power or whomever is listening, help me make it stick this time.

I feel so great right now. I never want to be out of control again.

[LightlyStarched]

Having a tough day today. I'm home with both kids for the first time in a week (I've been going to jury duty since last Wed.). They are driving me bonkers. I really really really want some of the girl scout cookies or the oreo ice cream or ANYTHING. Every time they scream and squeal and yell and bump into the walls I want to yell at them and eat something. This sucks.

Even when they're just close to me and talking I can't handle it. Not today. Today the house is too small for three people. I'm begging them to just be quiet. Arrrrrrrgh.

[LightlyStarched]

Here I am again. I weighed in at 197 this morning. Same ol' same ol'. Need to really dedicate myself to better eating. I've been eating 90% low carb, but way way too much of it.

Today I had:
Breakfast - strawberry/yogurt/tofu shake. Okay. I don't really like the taste of yogurt so I need to find a better combination. And I really need to get about 30 gms protein in the morning to prevent late afternoon munchies. Oh, I also ate about 1/2 cup of leftover last night's dinner (Italian casserole).

Lunch - 1 scoop chicken salad. Very good, ate slowly, very filling. This is the chicken salad that Costco makes from their rotisserie chicken. It's good.

Dinner - I think ham & swiss omelets with a dijon mustard sauce. Green salad.

I think I'll try to make the shake with tofu, diet V-8 splash & strawberries. I'll add a scoop of whey powder to up the protein. It would probably be good to reduce how much dairy I eat anyway.

I was so good about going to the Y for about 3 weeks straight, until this week. Haven't gone a day yet. Need to get that in gear as well.

I have been so tired. And so moody lately. I need to make a doctor's appt. I feel like I'm always nagging or disciplining the kids and not just enjoying them. I'm tired of housework. I need a change.

Tomorrow

[LightlyStarched]

195.8 this morning. That's down from last week where I think I saw a 201. It was too painful, so I didn't record it.

I've been doing CAD this week. Wow!!! How come I haven't explored this before????? It fits my personality more than anything else I've tried. I never thought I was a "skipping meals" kind of gal, but it really does become easy. I've always heard that breakfast was soooooo important and Atkins advocates the 6-hour thing. And Kathleen DesMaisons has her 1 hour breakfast rule, so I always complied.

So I'm doing "Plan D" which involves eating basically 2 meals a day. I am having a brunch (really just an early lunch) at 11:00 and then an early dinner (usually around 5-ish). I feel so good and craving free. I understand now that frequent eating plays havoc with my insulin levels and why I could never stick to the 5/6 mini meal plans. So, we shall se how far we ride this train.... Way down the scale, I hope!!!!