Amber's Journal - Journey to Onderland (and good health)

[Gracie514]

Originally Posted by AsmallerME

Emily Bites - Weight Watchers Friendly Recipes: Slow Cooker Beef & Broccoli

I have to say, this was amazing and I only ate one piece of beef and one of brocolli. DH said it was our best "at-home-attempt-at-chinese" ever. Next time I plan to incorporate more veggies - maybe water chestnuts, snap peas, etc. Very good.

Thanks!!!

[AsmallerME]

You're welcome, Gracie. I ate my portion of it last night and it was fantastic. Seriously. With a serving of rice, it was approximately 500 calories and very filling.

So today I woke up and felt great. It's a DD and I have very little appetite. I wasn't sure if I'd feel this way while eating carbs, but apparently my body is responding good to the rotations and the SiRT is kicking in and killing my desire to eat.

Last night I had calories alloted for a WW icecream and while I ate it, I savored every bite. I was momentarily tempted to grab a second one, but then I talked myself down and reminded myself that I need to reduce calories to lose weight. No way around that. So I guzzled a big cup of ice water and resisted.

Today's plan is:
Coffee w/ creamer
Rice cakes (OMG yum)
Sm. Chili
----
500 calories, plus or minus 50

I was almost tempted to weigh today, as I do feel good, but then I figured I need to give my body a few extra days to get used to the carbs before I freak myself out by looking at the scale.

[Potaty]

That recipe looks really good! I pinned it on Pinterest so I can find it when I am allowed to have it.

Good job on resisting the second serving of ice cream! It's forming habits like those that will give you long term success!

[Gracie514]

Way to go! I think my Sirt1's have kicked in as well. I wasn't even remotely hungry yesterday on my DD. Maybe weigh yourself tomorrow after a good DD? My scale has been consisitenly going down, but in a zig-zag pattern. I don't want to weigh after an UD but I always do. It's neat to see the pattern evolving.

[AsmallerME]

Thanks ladies.

Katy - I'm glad you've saved it for later.

Gracie - I almost weighed today but chickened out. I feel good right now so want to give my body a few more days to respond before I look and get frustrated or upset. You know?

So I made a popover enchilada casserole from the emily bites site last night. It was seriously 5 ingredients and took me all of 35 min from start to finish (most of that it was in the oven). I tasted a bite last night fresh from the oven and it was amazing tasting. Only 300 calories for a huge portion. So that will be my lunch today.

Oh, I wanted to note that I made DS's lunch last night and part of his bread broke off his sandwich. I contemplated eating it and mentally reminded myself that I'm not prohibited from bread anymore and I can eat it freely tomorrow. It made it a billion times easier to resist knowing that nothing is off limits for me. It was a very freeing, wonderful feeling. Granted, if this diet doesn't work for me, I'll be back to LC...

Today:
B: pumpkin/oatmeal/banana bake; coffee w/ creamer (400ish)
S: rice cakes (150)
L: enchilada popover (300)
S: pretzels or fiber one bar (100); more coffee (100)
---
hmmm...this only hits about 1000. I will have another 300 at dinner and 200 for dessert, so I have about 500 calories to spare. I guess I'll add another snack and a spoon of p'nut butter tonight.

[Potaty]

I am considering not weighing for a while too. On one hand, it motivates me when I am doing good but the lady I watch on youtube about the hcg diet really emphasizes that you don't weigh because your self worth is not defined by what the scale says. She's right, but it's a scary thought to just trust.

I am glad you don't feel restricted anymore and I'm glad you are feeling good! How is the new job?

[AsmallerME]

Katy - Will you send me links to some of the youtube sometime for inspiration? I've never watched a video on there for WL help/inspiration before, but I think it would be helpful. As for not weighing, I think you should maybe stop or do it once per week. You know hcg works for you. So why look and see 3 days of constant weights when you could look after 7 days and see that you've dropped 4 or 5? At some point, I do need to weigh since I don't know if this will work for me. I pray it does, since I feel so good at this point, but I don't know if it will.

[Potaty]

I will send you some links! I am going to be away from the computer for a while but will def. send them today!

[Happy2be]

look at you. WE are figuring this out together. I am having a hard time with being able to eat carbs.... Its like really... and I'm supposed to lose weight???

[Happy2be]

I love that you have went to some ww sites to look for recipes. I was just thinking today about going to my ww books to get some ideas for filling foods and look at calories. Great minds think alike.

[DesertGurl]

Originally Posted by AsmallerME

Oh, I wanted to note that I made DS's lunch last night and part of his bread broke off his sandwich. I contemplated eating it and mentally reminded myself that I'm not prohibited from bread anymore and I can eat it freely tomorrow. It made it a billion times easier to resist knowing that nothing is off limits for me. It was a very freeing, wonderful feeling. Granted, if this diet doesn't work for me, I'll be back to LC...

^^^^This is me ^^^^

Cannot tell you how many times I've been able to skate through DD's just on the sheer knowledge of knowing I can have it *tomorrow*.. Freeing indeed! I am praying like heck that I dont ever have to find another plan to go to if this doesn't work, but I think I'd prolly fall back to lc'ing again too, much as I struggled it's what I know.... I just know that lowfat/lowcal will NOT be my lifestyle. Ever! Every other day less than 500cal and IF'ing makes sense to me but to punish myself every single day, ummmm, not so much.

[AsmallerME]

Thanks, Katy. I'm excited to watch some of them.

Melanie - Since I was contemplating WW for a split second, I went to the WW forums and someone there was raving about those websites I posted earlier (emilybites and skinnytaste) so I went and browsed the food. Then it clicked that all of those websites would be great for calorie counting with JUDDD. I'm glad you had the same thought. And yes, it is very hard to believe that I can maybe lose weight eating bread and icecream. We'll see.

Danielle - I'm with you on that. With JUDDD LC, I always used the mantra of "I can have it tomorrow" anyway, but with regular food allowed now, it really holds more weight in my mind. I can really have anything tomorrow.

So yesterday I finished right at 2000 calories. I ended up having 1.5 portions of the enchilada casserole for dinner and then some icecream. Delish. I really enjoyed this recipe: Emily Bites - Weight Watchers Friendly Recipes: Recipe Makeover: Bubble Up Enchilada Casserole Only 5 ingrediets, and only 300 calories for a pretty big portion. DH was iffy on it, but I will make it again.

[Happy2be]

Love it. We will see together. I don't think the weight loss will be as fast as I was losing with Low carb but I am willing to give up the fastness for the flexibility and being able to maintain in the long run.

[AsmallerME]

And the long run is the most important part.

So I had a great 3-day weekend. We went out twice, both on an UD and DD. On the UD, I tried to watch my calories but they went crazy high I think. I checked my scale today and I'm done at least 3 since starting JUDDD. I say "at least" since I didn't weigh the day I started and had a few bingy days leading up to this. So I'm really happy with it so far. As much as I want a 10 pound loss, I'm trying to constantly remind myself that 1-2 pounds per week is perfection.

Today is an UD and I have lots of yummy things on the menu:
B: coffee w/ creamer; pancake bites (homemade w/ pancake mix and bacon)
L: chicken taco chili
S: rice cakes
D: chicken taco chili
S: WW icecream bar

[Gracie514]

Your menu looks yummy! I'm glad JUDDD is working for you

[AsmallerME]

Thanks, Gracie. I'm glad regular JUDDD is working for me too. I knew that LC JUDDD was amazing, I just couldn't stand to LC right at this moment. My willpower is apparently too weak.

So today is an UD - yay!!

Menu:
B: coffee w/ creamer; pancake bites w/ bacon - 600 calories
S: fiber one bar - 90 cals
L: chicken taco chili - 400 cals
S: popcorn - 100 cals
---
1200 cals

Dinner will likely be:
Lean Cuisine Pepperoni Pizza - 400
WW icecream - 150

[Potaty]

I am loving your menu. I can't wait until I am ready to JUDDD during my maintenance!

[DesertGurl]

Hey SweetPea!

I'm so glad that you are enjoying your run with JUDDD! Isn't it kinda nice to be able to eat relatively "normal"... I think for me that has been the key to sticking to this..I feel like I can eat like everyone else and I can see myself being able to maintain with this lifestyle forever..the science behind it makes sense to me because I literally can "feel" it in my body on those DD's..etc.. Or, maybe I'm just a total nutjob? There's always that, too!

[kempmuhlbauer]

Amber,
It is Kemp here. I am starting back today and was hoping to find you and the rest of the crew still getting it done. Looks like you are doing the JUDDD. I have read a lot about it but never tried it. Glad to see you are doing well. Have a great day.

[AsmallerME]

Kemp!!! So glad to see you back and posting again!!! You will do great with LC again! I'm sure you'll impress me and make me switch back to it. The fast losses with super LC are hard to beat! If you haven't checked the induction forum yet, Chelsey created a new thread called "New Year, New You." Most of the same people are over there posting and doing induction, plus a few new people. Welcome back!!!

[Happy2be]

How's it going Amber?

[Potaty]

[kempmuhlbauer]

Thanks Amber for the welcome back. I will check the induction forum and check in on Chelsy and the crew.

It is amazing how hard it is to get back into the swing of things. I worked out hard yesterday and was rewarded with a slight pinkie purple this morning on the strip. Going to hit the gym today and keep the carbs low. Trying not to be so totally crazy about the plan this time so maybe I will last a longer if not forever. Staying off plan cost me all my lost weight and then a few extra.

I am very interested in your judge results so keep us posted. "Stay healthy my friends"

[AsmallerME]

Hey everyone. So I'm here. I had a rough weekend eating wise. I had a MD on Friday (supposed to be a DD), UD on Sat, something unexpected popped up on Sunday, so that turned into an UD too. Then I figured I should resume normal rotation, so Monday was an UD. Somehow yesterday was also an UD....

Okay, you get the drift.

Today is a DD. First in almost a week. I'm going to give myself until Valentine's Day to see how well I do. At that point, I'm switching back to LC if I haven't straightened this out. I really like the eating options, love the foods I'm cooking, etc., but maybe the freedom is just too much for me?

The two plans that have worked the best for me were both limited. LC worked well (lost almost 60 last year) and Jenny Craig worked well. I lost almost 30 on that plan. And both are as restrictive as dieting plans can be. I've never done well on WW and maybe regular JUDDD is too much like WW for me. I can convince myself that I can switch the rotation and it doesn't matter and I can convince myself that JUDDD is forgiving so being a little bad isn't so bad. With JC and LC, you are either on or off plan. So there was less wiggle room in my brain.

I hate this stuff.

DD today's menu:
B: atkins shake with coffee and splash of cream - all over ice - 200 cals
L: rice cakes; greek yogurt - 200 cals
S: apple - 80 cals
---
480

[Potaty]

I am the same way with plans with wiggle room! or I make poor choices on them, like on WW I could and would spend my points on pretty much just junk food and then wonder why I wasn't losing.

[Gracie514]

I've been struggling too Amber. I need to find something I can stick to - I cheat too much lately. UGH - it may be time for me to do a short round of hcg to get my head back on straight!!!

[Happy2be]

good luck with your DD today.

[kempmuhlbauer]

Amber: Ouch that sounds like a long weekend. That seemed like a down fall of the JUDDD when looking into it. I know people who just love it. Then people like me who are afraid of the down days falling on a particular day like a party that I want to eat. Best part is you are right back in here getting it done and staying focused, glad to hear it!!!!!


Girls I hear you with the '''''P L A N S'''''' I struggle with that myself. That is why I am so interested in what other people have done on other plans. I have done WW and nutrisystems but nothing works as well a LC for losing the weight. Now if I could just do it long term and find my CC level this time I would be so happy.

[AsmallerME]

Thanks everyone for the continued support.

[DesertGurl]

Hang in there, honey