*Getting Healthy for Baby* April

[AsmallerME]

Amm - Try not to focus too much on it. It could be anything really. I never spotted until my BFP cycle and I didn't start spotting until around day 9, which was likely implantation spotting. You can implant around day 5 but it's more normal to implant between day 7-10. I hope it's a good sign for you. At least with very regular cycles you won't have too much longer to wait and see.

Christina - wow girlie!! You're doing so great! Do you think you changed anything drastically to get those results? Why do you think the weight is dropping so quickly all of a sudden. KUTGW!! In fact, you may lose the whole group weight loss for us - we can all slack off now!

Belle - do you feel better now? That's scary about getting so dizzy like that. You had berries for breakfast so you probably weren't too low in carbs so maybe it was just a random dizzy spell? I hope you're better now.

Dessa - I'll say a prayer that your little boy stays inside until everything is ready. It sounds like you're fine now though so it's good to hear. rayer:

Mel - how's the new house? Does it feel like home yet? Is the new job keeping you busy? Are you happy with the transfer?

Kat - where the heck are you girlie? Did you move and not get internet or something? Did you forget about us??!!

Well girls, I'll be MIA tomorrow for a wedding. I'll be back on Sunday. I hope everyone is off having a wonderful Friday night!

[ArmyWife88]

Amber - I was beginning to really eat off plan. It seems like having a 'cheat meal' or day just works for me. The only major thing I've done is up my water. ALOT

[Nik]

I got my whoosh I was hoping for. Mel, I know it doesn't count, but I was down another .4 pounds from last week's weigh-in. From the smell of things, I'm in deep ketosis. Based on what I've experienced recently, I'm going to work really hard to stay in ketosis until I get my BFP, or May 20, whichever comes first. The 20th is hubby's birthday, and our planned cheat day.

Stinky: I use Almond Breeze unsweetened vanilla flavored almond milk. I buy it at our nature store, called Nature's Pharm. I haven't seen it in grocery stores; sorry!

Menu:
B: coffee w/cream, bacon omelet
S: peanuts
L: salad w/ranch
D: Amber's muffin
S: nuts (various) and diet rite

The computer is up and running again, so happy days!

[Potaty]

Just popping in to say I posted a Tucker photo montage on the playground if anyone's interested in seeing it! Have a great weekend everyone!

[amlundie]

Hey girls!

Hope evryone is haveing a good weekend.

Nik- wtg on the loss, I know that number will go up on wed so I'll update then.

Anm- could be anything really... But I hope it's implantation spotting!

Belle- how are you feeling?

Christina- I'm glad you found something that works for you, keep it up!

Kat- where are you? We miss you!

Katy- can't wait to get to a real computer and check out his pics.

Amber- the house and the job are both great! God has really transformed my life and I am in awe of His mighty power and love!

Dessa- I come into total agreement with you and your family that your little blessing will stay right where he is, for as long as he needs to be there, and he will be born a healthy, blessed, child of the Most High God at the perfect time that God has chosen!!!!!!!!

Hugs, ladies have a great wekend!

[obraxton]

Just wanted to say, Happy Saturday!
Went to yard sales this morning, and had been running around since then. Didn't find much stuff actually so I was bummed. I'm sure DH is happy about it though...
Love,
Dessa.

[Nik]

WOW! I had a great day of friendship and fellowship with my good friend from Louisville, who lost her baby in February. WE went marching for dimes this morning in honor of her little angel baby. I was a bit weepy, but the walking took care of it. Now, I feel like poop. My legs are SOOO SORE! How out of shape am I, that I can't walk three miles? This is definitely a wake up call. I need to step up my game. Tomorrow, though, I can guarantee that I'm working on UPPER BODY!

Menu:
B: egg cream
S: nuts
L: buffalo chicken salad
S: Kahlua and cream
D: steak and fried jicama strips (SO YUMMY!)
S: Kahlua and cream...mudslide

Besides the Kahlua, it was a pretty good eating day. With all the cream, I know I also went over my limit on that today. Alas, it wasn't that bad.

[Stinkerbelle]

Hey Nik- great job on the walk! It sounds like you had a wonderful day overall Did you like the buffalo chicken salad? I loooove Kahlua and I am afraid to look up the carb count for it. Maybe I will splurge on of these days.. Glad your computer is fixed so we expect to see lots of you! Good job on your whoosh also. Where do you plan on going for DH Bday? Good to see I am not the only one who has planned cheat days

Dessa- nice to hear from you- we are always thinking of you and your babe. Bummer about the yard sales but it is fun just looking around!

Mel- I am feeling okay- the dizzy spell kinda freaked me out though. I am also having some leg pains/cramps. Can't say that is fun at all either.

Amm- how are you doing? Anything else to report? Your not obsessed- I am sure we all do the due date calculator at some point in our cycle- I know I do!! My EDD for this cycle would be January 9th....see told ya!

Kat- hello? Bueller? we miss you!!

Po- look forward to checking out the pics later today

Amber- how was the wedding? Am I the only one the can't stand weddings? I dont know why...maybe because I never really had one of my own- we did the whole weekend away and got married (very young and dopey)

Christina- how are you doing? Do anything exciting this weekend? Any more travel news for you?

Well, I have had a crazy busy weekend. Been driving all over the place. DD has a soccer game (not that she can play!) at 1:00 but hopefully after that I can come home and rest! Yeah right...rest...laundry, vacuum, all that good stuff I have a wicked sunburn on my face from yesterday. You would think I would learn after years of soccer! dumdum

My menu yesterday
B- 2 eggs, pork sausage (yucky tasting for some reason)
S- coffee w/cream
L- chef's salad, 5 strawberries
S- iced coffee w/cream, 2 macadamia nuts
D- steak, fish, asparagus, salad
S- 2 bites of birthday cake (DH) then 2 sf chocolates in hopes I would stop tasting the cake! It worked so that was good. bad me...

Today will be better- no cake- I promise! Have a wonderful Sunday! BBL to check in!

[Nik]

The salad last night was awesome, stinky. I tried it because I've been craving your buffalo chicken salad, but can't seem to find the right chicken. I'm going to break down today and just cook some chicken. I know they have this stuff, but I just can't find it! (Maybe I'll go to the store instead. That would be more fun.)

Recipe time!
Last night, I used my madolin to cut up some jicama. It was thin, maybe about 1/8 inch, and about 1/4 inch wide. I used the Fry Daddy to fry the strips in peanut oil. While they were still hot an oily, I coated some with salt and pepper. I coated the rest with splenda and cinnamon. The salt and pepper ones were very yummy, kinda like an onion ring. The sweet ones were like elephant ears. I'm going to play around with the shapes and preparations of these guys, but OOOO WEEEEE! What a very yummy little snack! Here's my onion ring idea: cut the jicama into thin slices, then use cookie cutters or cups to punch out concentric rings. Dredge the rings in an egg wash seasoned with salt, pepper, and onion powder (maybe some almond meal to thicken it a bit). Fry till delicious! It will be labor intensive, but maybe worth it?

This morning, I had a modified egg cream/chocolate milk. I'm debating about whether I can afford another one, it was so good! Into my magic bullet I placed: 1 egg, 3 TBL cream, 2 TBL cocoa powder, 8 squirts SF vanilla sweetener, then filled almost to the top with almond milk. It's DELICIOUS! It's also rather indulgent, at probably close to 10 grams of carbs, but I don't know... I really want another one. I'll wait to see if I'm still hungry in a half hour, then I'll make another one. WE'll see how it goes. Next time I make this (and there WILL be a next time), I'll add two eggs to make it more filling and satisfying.

[amm]

Stinkerbelle, I'm doing fine. No more spotting and no more cramps... so who knows? At least it wasn't my period starting... no period means there's still hope.

[Nik]

Amm...Here's hoping for your BFP!
I have been really nondedicated to TTC this time, with the computer down, it's been hard to track my fertile periods. WE'll see how it goes in a few weeks. I hope it happens, because hubby has his hernia surgery next month, so we'll probably miss the opportunity to TTC in the next cycle.

I'm off to make Stinky's chicken salad! Wish me luck!

[AsmallerME]

Hey girls.

Nik - good luck with the salad. Report back how you like it. I have ingredients to try it too this week.

So the wedding was beautiful. It was a friend from undergrad who I haven't seen in a few years. She looked amazing and everything seemed to go flawlessly. It made for a long day but it was worth it.

I feel like blah today from being in the car almost all of yesterday. I ate off plan but did a lot of dancing so I'm hoping it counterbalances the off plan eating. I'm back on plan though and went grocery shopping so have no excuses for this week.

It sounds like everyone is doing good. I'll BBL.

[Stinkerbelle]

Hiya gals

Busy weekend- it is so backwards that I look forward to Monday to rest!

Menu today
B- 3 chicken wings- it was more like a brunch- 10:30
S- coffee w/cream
L- handful of nuts/just the cheese snacks, buffalo chicken salad
S- iced coffee w/cream
D- yummy chicken cordon blue, creamed spinach. 1 sf chocolate
S- maybe a MB mousse dessert- not sure if I have the carbs left but by looking at my menu, I would say yes! I didnt eat anymore BD cake so that is good...

Amber- glad you had a good tme at the wedding! Good job getting back on plan- we will be watching you

Nik- I hope the salad come out as good for you as it does for me! The carb count is so low with it that it makes a good snack as well...I am always munching on it- Thank you for the intersting recipes for jicama- never tried it before! I really need that almond milk- I have strawberries just waiting to get whipped up!

Amm- so glad it wasnt AF starting early for you!

[Nik]

Stinky:
I liked the chicken salad; I had a bit for dinner. However, I'm sure my bottle of Frank's has a different sized shake than yours. I had to put in about five TIMES the hot sauce you suggested, and I'm not a big hot and spicy fan. I think I have a dash-sized shake, and you must have a splash-sized shake.

I ate a bit off plan today; a bit of very sweet blackberry wine and some Hershey's special dark chocolate. I'm like Amber, hoping the three mile walk yesterday will compensate.

[Stinkerbelle]

Glad you liked it Nik- I have a huge bottle of Franks so when you tip it over, lots splashes out! I bet that wine was delish- I have a bottle of blueberry wine sitting on my counter just calling my name...

[obraxton]

3 miles! WOW! Great job, Nik. I'm sure it compensated some!
I couldn't imagine the emotions you guys ran through. Being out in nature is very reflective, and was such a touching way to pay tribute to the baby.

[shanidy]

Hi all! I hope you don't mind me joining you! I've been lurking for a few days now. I'm a Texas mom with a two-year-old (her birthday was today!). We are TTC a second, but having some issues. I have hypothyroidism with Hashimoto's, insulin resistance, and PCOS.
The first time I conceived, I was about 60 lbs lighter than I am now (I lost 70 lbs with Atkins about 3 years ago) and we got pregnant the first month.
So, I'm trying to get healthy, eat the way that I know is best for me, and lose some weight. Hopefully, if I do some of the work then God will bless me by meeting me halfway!

Can I ask a question, though? Are most of you actively trying to conceive while losing? Or planning to lose/get healthy and then start trying to conceive? I haven't decided exactly what my game plan is...

thanks for your help/advice!
Shanidy

[Stinkerbelle]

Welcome Shanidy! Most of us are TTC while losing weight. But overall our goal is to lose weight to get healthy for baby!

Please join us and post away..feel free to post your daily menu as well. We like to keep each other on track and it gives us good ideas for our own menus.

Hope to get to know you better!!

[amlundie]

Top o' the mornin' Girls!

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Nik- WTG on the walk... when I was a kid we always did the march of dimes with my dad, it was fun!

Amber- Glad you had a good time.. I LOVE weddings all the love in the air, it's always fun!

Stinker- Glad you feel a bit better, when is soccer season over for your daughter? I know my hubby's season ends in 2 weeks then he has a break, then summer season starts! He plays soccer basically all year!

Shanidy- Welcome! Hope you like it here, there is a bunch if GREAT supportive girls here who understand what eachother are going through! I them!

Kat- come out come out whereever you are!

Katy, Dessa, Amm, Christina, Cinderella.....

[AsmallerME]

Nik - congrats on the 3 miler. That's great! I think we have the same bottle of hot sauce. Mine is tiny little dots of sauce. Guess I'll just have to use a whole lot more than Belle! Thanks for the jicama recipe too. I've never tried it before but you're making it sound so appealing.

Shanidy - welcome to the group! I'm like you, hoping that God will bless me with a healthy baby and pregnancy if I do some of the work to getting in better health. We're currently TTC and trying to lose weight at the same time. Technically I'm TTA until June, but then I'll be back to TTC. My doctor said that my weight isn't a reason to hold off but that my weight may make it harder to conceive. So we're going for both at the same time and seeing what happens.

Hey Belle, Mel, and Dessa!!

So today is already a long day since I'm SICK!!! I hate being sick. The only good news about it is that I'm not hungry so it may help throw me back into ketosis. I'm going to go and lay down and watch some tivo'd shows and I'll be back later to post some more.

So far today's menu has been sparse.
B: coffee, chicken breast, celery
L: sliced turkey w/ a smidge of mayo
plus lots of water and a diet coke

I was going to make a fajita salad for dinner but I'm leaning more towards spinach egg drop soup since it's easy, light, and warm. I'll BBL.

[Stinkerbelle]

Hiya Ladies-

Amber- hope you are feeling better kiddo! When you feel up to it, could you share your soup recipe??

Mel- my DD's soccer is just about year round. Stinks the poor girl wont be playing until like November because of her injury That is great your DH plays- fabulous exercise!

I am feeling a bit yuck today..almost AF time so that is no surprise..

My menu today:
B- 2 eggs, ham and ched cheese
S- coffee w/cream
L- leftover chicken cordon blue and creamed spinach
S- iced coffee w/cream
D- spinach quiche and 2 turkey breakfast sausages
S- not sure ..maybe nothing...but maybe some strawberries

I cant decide if I am looking forward to our weigh in day

[shanidy]

Thanks for the warm welcome, girls! I hope to get names/situations down soon! I'm already studying the posts

I did see something about a buffalo chicken salad that sounded great! Is the recipe posted somewhere?

Stinkerbelle and Mel: I love hearing you talk about soccer! I can't wait until my daughter is old enough!

Today's menu:
B: 2 scrambled eggs, small ham steak
S: peanuts (i know, illegal on induction and a staller...but I gave blood and the evil canteen woman would not let me go without them!)
lunch: medium salad with turkey and black olives, 2 tbls spicy ranch dressing (2 carbs)
D: pork ribs on the grill and one cup steamed brocolli (with extra butter )

68 oz water thus far
45 minutes on the elliptical at the gym (exercise is so hard for me...i just get so bored!)

[AsmallerME]

Originally Posted by Stinkerbelle

BBL to answer posts but I wanted to share the recipe-

Buffalo Chicken Salad

1 6oz package of Perdue Shorts Cuts (original)
2 tablespoons mayo
1 tablespoon of blue cheese dressing
4 shakes of Franks hot sauce
2 tablespoons of crumbled blue cheese

Break up the chicken into bite size pieces. In small bowl, mix mayo, dressing and hot sauce. Add blue cheese and mix. Add to chicken pieces. You can also add chopped up celery if desired. Add more or less of hot sauce depending on your taste. Also add more or less of blue cheese crumbles- I love blue cheese so 2 tablespoons may be too much for some..

That's it- so quick, easy and yummy! Enjoy

Here's the recipe curtesy of Belle!

[AsmallerME]

SPINACH EGG DROP SOUP
6 cups chicken broth, homemade preferred
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon granular Splenda
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 green onions, chopped
2 cups fresh spinach, lightly packed, 3 ounces

Bring broth, soy sauce and Splenda to a boil in a large pot; reduce to a simmer. Slowly stir in egg. Remove from heat; let stand 1 minute. Stir in the green onions. Remove tough stems and coarsely chop or shred the spinach and place in the bottom of 4 soup bowls. Ladle hot soup over spinach to serve.

Makes about 6 cups or 4 servings

Per Serving: 105 Calories; 5g Fat; 11g Protein; 2.5g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 1.5g Net Carbs

[AsmallerME]

So, since I'm the queen of quick and easy, I just make this with canned broth, a dash of soy sauce, 1/2 packet of splenda, and onions if available. I beat the eggs in at the last moment and pour over a bowl of spinach (if I have it). It's good even w/o the spinach leaves. I let it sit in my bowl about 2 minutes before eating to let the spinach wilt and get soft. If you prefer crisper spinach then you'd want to eat it right away. It's re