Mandy's 2008 journey

[PalmTreeGal]

161.4

Lovin' that number but NOT going to get too worked up about it yet! I was sooo disappointed the last time I saw a drop and then a gain.

Thanks Kim! I think we should get him one of the steroid nasal sprays, I find they work much better, but he likes his plain ol' Claritin.

Jennifer, I ate a packaged preservative-filled brownie, I think it was Sara Lee brand. Unfortunately for me there is lots of free food in the doctor's lounge and most of it is carby crap! I am not anti-Atkins bars, I ate a lot of them on my cross-country drive and still lost. I do think whole food is better and I know the bars can stall a lot of people. I am trying to keep them as a stopgap or binge-prevention tool only and not a regular part of my diet.

Last night at the steakhouse I had a scallop appetizer with parsley pesto, a filet mignon topped with crabmeat, asparagus and hollandaise, and sauteed spinach. I wanted the creamed spinach but I had the waiter ask and they put flour in it. I don't know why they do that, when you can make great creamed spinach without added starch! It was a great dinner and they even had heavy cream for me to have with my decaf while DH ate some "chocolate sin" dessert.

If any of you are into the egg creams you have GOT to try my chocolate PB version, I posted it on the "day 10 egg cream" thread. I am drinking another right now, soooo good.

[NewYorkGiants32]

I finally tried the egg cream last night.........sooo good! I am addicted.. Going to make another one in a bit.

[PalmTreeGal]

161.4 again! I'm claiming it! Only 1.4 lbs to go until that pedicure, and 1.5 to go until I see the 150s. Woo-hooo!

Obviously calories don't count for much for me right now, because I've been eating 1600-2200 and losing.

Jen, so glad you tried it. I think I am addicted too. It is the first LC chocolate thing I've found that really satisfies me. I have to use Sweet 'n Low in addition to the Splenda though. Plain Splenda plus chocolate doesn't work.

[PalmTreeGal]

160.8

yay!

[janamonkey]

Wow, look at you! You are doing so great!

[NewYorkGiants32]

Wow....160.8? CONGRATULATIONS!!

p.s

I bought the stuff today to make the peanut butter shake , will try it in the morning.

[PalmTreeGal]

Yesterday 162.0.

163.0 today.

[PalmTreeGal]

161.4

My goal for the week was 162 (weigh-in is Saturday) so if I don't eat a pound of lunchmeat today, and the gods are smiling, I should make it tomorrow.

I really do seem to do better with higher calories. I think I will try and experiment with eating at least 1800 cals/day for a week. To some degree that will mean eating when I'm not hungry, which isn't really a good habit. But oh well, it's an experiment.

[PalmTreeGal]

I was feeling crave-y today . . . it was kind of a dull day at work and I was having trouble staying awake in the OR. I kept thinking if I got something sugary it would perk me up. Flawed logic I know. I convinced myself that it would be just as good and in fact taste better to wait until I got home and have some Fage with blackberry syrup and toasted almonds. I never even ate it once I got home, but the thought of it helped!

I have been tempted to cheat more than once at work lately. I think I need to think up some strategies for this, like always having some nuts available, and possibly bringing a small amount of an LC sweet treat in my lunch bag. Maybe some fudge or something? Because after lunch I always want something sweet. When I'm at home I can have coffee or yogurt or an egg cream, but at work obviously the choices are all bad.

I've stayed away from LC sweets in general because I know myself and was afraid that overeating them would bring my loss to a screeching halt. But I feel much more in control of my diet these days. I used to overeat Fage and cream cheese and now I can keep them both in the house. So maybe it's time to try LC treats (in moderation of course!).

[realityjunkee]

Originally Posted by PalmTreeGal

I was feeling crave-y today . . . it was kind of a dull day at work and I was having trouble staying awake in the OR. I kept thinking if I got something sugary it would perk me up. Flawed logic I know. I convinced myself that it would be just as good and in fact taste better to wait until I got home and have some Fage with blackberry syrup and toasted almonds. I never even ate it once I got home, but the thought of it helped!

I have been tempted to cheat more than once at work lately. I think I need to think up some strategies for this, like always having some nuts available, and possibly bringing a small amount of an LC sweet treat in my lunch bag. Maybe some fudge or something? Because after lunch I always want something sweet. When I'm at home I can have coffee or yogurt or an egg cream, but at work obviously the choices are all bad.

I've stayed away from LC sweets in general because I know myself and was afraid that overeating them would bring my loss to a screeching halt. But I feel much more in control of my diet these days. I used to overeat Fage and cream cheese and now I can keep them both in the house. So maybe it's time to try LC treats (in moderation of course!).

I agree that having something in your work bag is smart. I'm loving the Chile Lime Bold Almonds and the Jalapeno smokehouse almonds! I think that the bars have their time and place and if they keep you from eating crap then once in awhile they won't hurt. You've done so great!

[NewYorkGiants32]

Hi Mandy........I agree, have something sweet on hand for those "just in case" moments.

Your peanut-butter egg cream shake is exactly what I needed for my sweet tooth.

[PalmTreeGal]

Originally Posted by realityjunkee

I agree that having something in your work bag is smart. I'm loving the Chile Lime Bold Almonds and the Jalapeno smokehouse almonds! I think that the bars have their time and place and if they keep you from eating crap then once in awhile they won't hurt. You've done so great!

Kim, I hadn't even thought of bringing Atkins bars, since I am trying to back off on them, but they could definitely save me on a weak day! I am going to tuck one into my bag. For nuts I usually do Marcona almonds, pumpkin seeds or macadamias. They don't satisfy my sweet tooth but kind of distract me from the boredom that's triggering cravings, so I am going to make sure I always have some. I know eating to stay awake/focused is not the best thing but right now I'm still losing, so I'm not going to worry about it yet!

Jen, so glad you love the shake!

[PalmTreeGal]

161.0

My goal for the week was 162, so yay! Goal met. This coming week I wanted to try two things: adding in berries, or eating at least 1800 calories every day whether I wanted to or not. Eating more cals seems to help with my loss, and of course I LOVE berries and can't wait to add them to my Fage. But it seems like if I want to see what effect these changes have on my weight, I'll have to try them one at a time. So - this week is 1800+ cals week. The bags of TJ's berries in my freezer will have to wait a week.

[NewYorkGiants32]

Hi Mandy,

How many carbs do you think are in the pb shake?

[PalmTreeGal]

Jen, I calculated it out at 10 net.

[PalmTreeGal]

I have DSL!!!!!!!! No more of that lousy wireless broadband with only one bar that cut out every few minutes. I can't tell you how thrilled I am.

Yesterday: 161.0
Today: 161.4

So Saturday I started my week of 1800+ calories. It's very weird to be eating when I'm not hungry. Sometimes I think I am not hungry and then I start eating and realize that I was, or that I feel so much better now that I'm eating something. So maybe I have a problem with perception of hunger. I dunno. Whether I lose or not it will be an interesting experiment.

[Livywilltim-mom]

Oh Mandy, Congrats friend!

You are doing so well Isn't it hard to find something to take to work? I never know if I will crave salty or sweet...so it can be a trick. You will find what works for you.

Just wanted to stop in and give you some encouragement and hugs!

[PalmTreeGal]

162.0

Thanks Jaimie!

I am not feeling like I am doing so well with yesterday's almond cookie incident! I ate nearly the whole batch.

[PalmTreeGal]

I was not feeling the LC lifestyle today. Between eating a whole batch f of LC cookies, and being up a pound this AM, I felt low about the whole thing. (Warning: TMI approaching) Since I have been on LC, the only gas I have passed has been odorless. Today it was NOT, which must be the result of eating all that almond flour and butter. I felt bad for my colleagues in the OR! I guess that was a good sign that my body doesn't like LC treats when not consumed in moderation.

Anyway, I didn't eat off plan today, but I didn't count carbs and I may well have eaten too many. I also ate for comfort (when not hungry), didn't eat enough veggies, and ate more calories than you could shake a stick at. Oh well. I'm trying to increase my cals this week anyway. I don't feel too bad about my eating as long as I don't eat off-plan foods or insane amounts of limited foods like nuts and dairy. I do hate how eating and daily weight fluctuations have such an influence on my mood. I wish I could detach myself from it. I find physicsdiet.com helpful in smoothing out the daily changes, but I still get bummed when I bounce up. Even if I know the cause was a whole batch of cookies.

I was still in ketosis this AM, even after eating at least 45 carbs yesterday. So that is an interesting piece of data to remember.

[NewYorkGiants32]

Tha'ts great you are still in ketosis after all those carbs!

[PalmTreeGal]

162.2

A well-deserved gain I suppose.

I really need to start exercising. Whether it jumpstarts loss or not it would make me feel better and make me lose inches. I made DH promise to drag my heinie out on a walk with the dogs today. It is very hilly here and walking is pretty good cardio! I am torn as to whether to start my WATP videos or start the Built strength training plan that Jana uses first. Maybe I am using my indecision as a reason not to get started!

[PalmTreeGal]

Again not really feeling the LC love. I ate roughly the right numbers of calories and carbs but not the most nutritious choices, and didn't actually count anything. Didn't exercise either. Hope my motivation returns next week.

[PalmTreeGal]

Still not feeling the LC love today! Will do the best I can. I gotta go to the DMV and get a MD license today, wish me luck. Not a fun way to spend an afternoon.

[PalmTreeGal]

I did really, really badly today. The worst I have eaten in 12 weeks. I feel horrible about, I don't even want to talk about it. I need to seriously rethink my strategy.

[realityjunkee]

Stay strong Mandy! I'm sure even if you don't feel stressed about the move and the job change, it is probably contributing to your struggle. Hang in there!

Kim

[NewYorkGiants32]

Do not beat yourself up about it, that only makes it worse. If this is your first really bad mess up in twelve weeks, you're doing something RIGHT!!

[PalmTreeGal]

Okay . . . well, what happened was there was a breakfast potluck at work for a woman who is retiring. Let me tell you, the women in my department can COOK! I was already feeling low about eating the whole batch of almond cookies Monday night, and suddenly I just found myself loading up my plate with pastries and breakfast casseroles. There was so much food that I just kept dropping by and pigging out all day. Never ate the healthy lunch I had packed. I came home feeling awful (husband also is not having luck in the job search and I feel guilty I dragged him to this small town where there is no work) and went to bed. Got up around 10 and ate some Fage with almonds, then went back to bed. (Overreact much?)

So per Dr. A., I should now get my butt back to Induction until I get back into ketosis. Buh-bye, nuts and yogurt. I feel better now that I have a plan. And I HAVE TO START EXERCISING! I don't know why I don't just do it.

There is some kind of a social thing going on tonight, I think it's a happy hour with people from work. I haven't made any friends since getting here and I am kinda shy and afraid of social stuff, but I am going to try my darndest to go and meet people. Hopefully it isn't girls' only and DH can come too. Also hoping there it doesn't involve a lot of food I can't eat. The only thing I drink out these days is water with lemon, which may provoke some questions, and also piss off the waitstaff if we are not ordering food and all I drink is water.

Okay, gotta finish getting ready for work. Today I am doing anesthesia for ECT for the first time. Should be very interesting.