Mandy's 2008 journey

[cdn_gal]

Originally Posted by Leenie

Mandy, you're doing great! CONGRATULATIONS on passing your big test!

Yeah, what she said!!
Good luck on the house hunting!! You'll know when you find the "perfect" one! How exciting though, I loved moving into a new house, it was like a great new adventure...

[PalmTreeGal]

Binge-y today. I think I am anxious about finding a new home and the upcoming move. I ate four strips of bacon, then four oopsies with butter, cinnamon and Davinci's, then I ate the spinach "lasagna" that was supposed to be for dinner. After that I didn't feel so hungry. It worked out okay really, I just ate asparagus and cukes for dinner and I'm not really hungry now. I hate eating out of anxiety but I guess eating bacon and oopsies in reasonable amounts is a whole lot better than I used to do. There's this cafe/takeout place with the best gourmet mac and cheese, and yummy paninis, and it's right across the street from the bakery with the best eclairs in town. That would be my usual response to a desire to stress eat!

Also I am feeling the nagging doubt that LC will "work" for me. I don't really understand how it works - I guess I am so steeped in the old calorie story that I can't get my head around how I can lose eating 1800 or more a day. I mean, I understand about insulin and glucose and all that, but it still feels counterintuitive. And of course the one time I managed to stick with it for 6 weeks I lost almost nothing after Induction. I see so many people here with really impressive losses from solely LC or mainly LC with a small amount of calorie or portion restriction . . . I really hope that works for me! Because the last time I was this big, I lost the first 30 pounds or so on a diet-drug-induced starvation diet. Worked great, but I was crazy obsessed and my eating was really messed up at the time. I'm older now, more mature, and I don't have what it takes to starve or abuse my body any more. That's why I really hope LC works, because I like the food and counting carbs makes me less crazy than counting calories. I recognize that either way it may take me a year to lose 50 pounds, but on LC I might be able to do it without losing my mind.

[Debralynn]

Congrats on not reverting to your old ways and visiting the restaurant or the bakery. That is huge. I totally understand.

You are doing so well! Don't sabotage yourself. Take it one day at a time, and keep on doing what you are doing. You hit it right on the head - you don't need to put your body through any more "diet" abuse. A year is a very reasonable amount of time to lose 50, and to keep it off!

[Livywilltim-mom]

Mandy,

Stopping by to give you support and encouragement. Great job putting your eating into such good perspective. You totally stayed on plan, and recognized the feelings, I'd say that was very successful

Happy Fat Burnin' Friday Friend!

[PalmTreeGal]

172.6

Last day of Induction, woo-hoo!

Yesterday's menu - kind of weird as far as timing but okay overall:

B: Coffee with cream
L: Tuna salad on Boston lettuce, dressing
D: Bacon-wrapped asparagus, cucumbers dipped in ranch
S: Spinach "lasagna," 4 strips bacon, 4 Oopsies with butter, cinnamon and Davinci's, coffee with cream X 2

No exercise

Thanks Deb and Jaimie! I hate feeling "binge-y" and know it generally stems from anxiety. Also I'm not working right now, so I'm just hanging out at home with food available to me. When I get back to work I will only be able to eat on break and at lunch (sterile environment, no food allowed) and I think that will curb my intake somewhat. Of course, I will have all the stress of a new job plus my first job as a nurse anesthetist, so that may make me want to eat! I'm petrified, but I guess I have to trust that my training prepared me and just do it.

[Lizbeth927]

You're doing great!! And thank you so much for the pulled pork recipe...I kind of just threw together a few things for my sauce since I thought that the one I bought tasted funky, and it wasn't the best. I'll definitely be trying the recipe you gave me next time. Also, I think you're right that once you start working again your appetite will change. I find that when I'm home all day all I want to do is graze/binge, mostly just because the food is readily available. When I'm working there is still food always available but I am much less tempted to eat constantly. When are you guys moving? You have so many exciting changes coming your way!! At least you've been able to have winter on the west coast...winter here in the midwest has been horrible and it sounds like you'll be relocating east right around cherry blossom time! I really can't wait for Spring Keep up the great work during Induction!!

[PalmTreeGal]

171.8

So Induction loss is 7 pounds, woo-hoo! My goal was 5 pounds, so I'm ahead of the game. Now I want to lose 1 pound per week. Goal for next Saturday is 171. (I always round up, helps me not to get freaked out over 0.2 lb differences.

Now that I'm in OWL I'm going to eat less salad and more cooked veggies, which I prefer. Also I am drinking my first cup of caffeinated coffee! I don't think I really have a caffeine problem, I don't get withdrawal if I don't have it, but I like my first cup of the day to be caffeinated.

Yesterday's menu:

B: 1/2 flax muffin
L: Tuna salad on Boston lettuce, 1/2 avocado, dressing
D: Linda Sue's Chicken Spinach Parmesan casserole, fried radishes, roasted cauliflower

Water: 3L (I seem to lose more when I drink more than my usual 2L, so I'm going to start recording this)

Exercise: 45 min dog walking

Lizbeth, I have been thinking about how lucky I am to have missed the East Coast winter! I know Maryland will not be as bad as Vermont, where I am from, but I have been spoiled living out here. We will be moving in early/mid March, as soon as we get our housing straightened out.

[PalmTreeGal]

171.2

Food yesterday:

B/L: Coffee with cream, 1/2 flax muffin with butter
D: Salad with ranch, bacon wrapped filet mignon, broccoli
S: Jicama dipped in Caesar, coffee with cream X 2

Water: 2L

Exercise: 45 min dog walking

[PalmTreeGal]

171.0

Food yesterday:

B: 1/2 flax muffin, butter, coffee with cream
L/D: Boneless beef short ribs, creamed swiss chard, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, about 6 cloves of roasted garlic
S: Coffee with cream

Water: 2+ L

Exercise: None

We went to the De Young Museum and then met a friend for a late lunch at the Stinking Rose, which is a restaurant known for serving everything with huge amounts of garlic. The pasta dishes looked good and normally that's what I would have gotten. However, the braised beef rib was AMAZING and the creamed swiss chard was fabulous too. It was not at all something I would have ordered before LC and I would have been missing out! Or maybe my tastes are changing and I like meat and veggies more than I used to.

[janamonkey]

Wow, you are really doing well! and that braised beef sounds sooo good! I left my lunch at home today so I am trying to subsist off string cheese until I get home.

Do you have a plan for OWL? Are you going to go up the ladder at 20 gms of carbs or up the carbs while you add foods? and does that question even make sense?

I love love the variety of foods in OWL.

[PalmTreeGal]

Jana, I am so surprised at how the loss continues every day! Last time I tried Atkins I did not lose well at all. I was under a crazy amount of stress though, and my sleeping was all messed up. Also I'm taking all the supps Dr. A. recommends for metabolic resistance, so maybe that helps.

As far as OWL - I know what you meant by your question! OWL is confusing because of the adding foods AND carbs. Right now I am at 25 g and on the veggie rung, but I haven't been hitting 25 g. The veggies I've got in the house are lower carb and I haven't been hungry enough to force down more. I'm not really sure how I'm going to approach OWL. I'm really excited to add ricotta, FAGE and nuts but also afraid that they will slow me down and/or cause portion control problems. My tentative plan is to stay on the veggie rung for a few weeks, then add dairy but stay at 25 g.

Also, I will be driving cross-country in a few weeks, and then enjoying all the pleasures of unpacking in a new house, so for at least a week I will have less control over my diet. I have plans to pack all sorts of edibles for the car, but I will have to eat some meals out and will thus have less control over my carbs. So that will add an additional challenge to OWL.

[PalmTreeGal]

169.6

And just like that, I leapfrogged over 170 and hit the 160s! This is so weird. I've tried LC a bunch of times in the last year and the one time I stuck with it I barely lost after Induction. I figured if there was a "golden shot" I'd pretty well blown mine. But here I am losing like crazy. I hope I don't get spoiled and flip out when I stall, which is pretty much guaranteed to happen at some point.

Yesterday's menu - wasn't very hungry so it's skimpy. Maybe ketosis is actually doing something for me, or maybe it's the Cymbalta.

B: 1/2 flax muffin with butter
L/D: Leftover filet and broccoli
S: Jicama dipped in Caesar, coffee with cream

Water: 2L

Exercise: None

[Debralynn]

WOW! You are doing so well! Congrats!

You made such good decisions with your lunch out! That is where I always mess up! Old faves so easily accessible in a restaurant are my downfall!

Keep up the good work, girl!

[PalmTreeGal]

Deb, restaurants are a weak point for me as well! It is so much easier on LC than it was counting calories though. It is so hard to guesstimate the calories in a restaurant dish, but if you stick to meat/veggies you can guess the carbs pretty well. As well I don't ever have to debate whether I can afford dessert or not - it's just off the menu and I can have a nice cup of coffee with cream and Splenda to take care of the sweet tooth.

[NewYorkGiants32]

169......Wow!! Good for you...very insperational for me to actually stick with induction.

[PalmTreeGal]

169.6

I posted in the ML about totally losing my appetite. I have done Induction a bunch of times before and this has never happened. It was so weird. I was enjoying my lunch and then had a wave of nausea and knew I couldn't eat another bite. I have not eaten so far today. I'm waiting for some sign of hunger to return.

Yesterday's food:

B: Coffee with cream
L: 1/2 of my omelette made with homemade guac & mozzarella with sour cream on top
S: Cucumbers dipped in ranch

[PalmTreeGal]

169.8

Food yesterday:

L: Chicken & spinach casserole
D: More of same
S: Jicama dipped in Caesar

Water: 2L

Exercise: none

Tomorrow morning we are leaving for a long weekend in Death Valley. DH is doing a 100-mile bike ride on Saturday. I'm making some cream cheese muffins and will prep some other stuff to help me stay on plan. Luckily there is a fridge in our hotel room. We'll be back Monday night.

[janamonkey]

Look at you in the 160s!!!! You are doing sooo well! Have a fun trip

[Debralynn]

Have a wonderful trip! Wow - DH must be quite the athlete!

[PalmTreeGal]

170.2

We're leaving for Death Valley in a couple minutes. Send me good staying-on-plan vibes for the weekend!

[Livywilltim-mom]

Have a wonderful, safe trip! You are doing such a wonderful job, and hopefully, ketosis will help you keep on plan this weekend.

Peace

[PalmTreeGal]

I'm back! Suddenly everything is in fast-forward. We are moving forward on a rental house, the movers are coming on Thursday and we'll be leaving to drive to MD not long after. I don't know exactly when we're leaving yet for various complicated reasons, which is driving me crazy. I will definitely be without a functional kitchen for a few days. That will be challenging.

For my trip I am planning on bringing: Oopsie rolls for fast food burgers, cream cheese muffins, some tuna or crab salad, Atkins bars, LC ketchup and salad dressing. I am not hoping to lose weight during the drive, just maintain and stay on plan. I don't normally eat Atkins bars, and cream cheese muffins are hard for me to portion control, but I'm not going to stress about it. Cream cheese muffins are better than candy, which is what I snacked on last time I drove cross-country.

As far as the Death Valley trip - we had a nice time. The place is huge and there was a huge amount of bumpy driving to see the sights. That wasn't real fun for me. While the husbands were on the bike ride I hung out with the other wife and her baby, which was fun. The boys both finished the race - it was much harder than anticipated due to heavy headwinds both ways. I am so proud of DH!

Foodwise I am proud to say I did well. I didn't get in enough veggies, and I did eat refried beans when they appeared on my taco salad. I was STARVING and couldn't wait to send it back and wait for more food. I figured I was sticking to the spirit of LC, and a few bites of beans cushioned by fat and protein wouldn't kill me. I didn't bring my ketostix with me but I was still purple when I got back today so I don't think I was ever out of ketosis. Besides the bean incident I stuck to protein and salad.

DH's dad has taken a turn for the worst. He has had a lot of these crises over the 1.5 years since he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. I pray that this is not the terminal crisis, because we're already overwhelmed with the impending move. DH is really stressed. I hope we don't have to abandon the moving preparations midstream and fly to Boston. It's selfish, I know, when in reality it may be time for the poor man's torment to end. But I just hope he hangs in a bit longer.

[Livywilltim-mom]

Mandy,

Congratulations! You did a wonderful job staying on plan

I will pray for your Dad and for you and DH during this stressful time.

Peace

[PalmTreeGal]

170.0

No loss or gain over the weekend, which was pretty much what I expected/hoped for. Too much cheese, not enough veggies.

Would like to see 169 for real this week, but with everything going on I'll be pleased to maintain.

Thanks Jaimie!

[PalmTreeGal]

I also want to apologize in advance to my friends here for my absence in the next couple weeks. I will try to check in when I can but probably won't be visiting anyone else's journal until we are settled in the new home. I have a lot to do!

[PalmTreeGal]

170.6

Hate it when the scale bounces around like this! I'm trying to stay calm about it. I'm using physics diet dot com to try to help see the big picture and not just the number of the day.

I'm eating well although not quite enough veggies. I tend to eat one serving each with lunch and dinner, and that makes it hard to get the 3 cups Dr. A. prescribes. It was hard while traveling too. As of Friday I'll be losing my kitchen so that will be REALLY hard. We will probably be leaving Tuesday-ish (still up in the air, I hate that!) so that is several days of takeout and scrounging. I'm prepping all the travel food now while I still have a kitchen.

I won't have time to post a menu daily but I have a free minute this morning so here it is from yesterday.

B: 1/2 flax muffin, butter, coffee with cream
L: Tuna salad on romaine with dressing
D: Cola chicken, Linda Sue's zucchini gratin
S: coffee with cream, 4 strips bacon, lots of tasting of cream cheese muffin batter

Water: 2.5L

Exercise: Packing/housework

I have a busy day ahead of me! Lots of trucking around, more organizing in the house, and squeezing in a haircut before I leave. The movers are going to pack for us,