Sunday, September 7, 2014

I MUST SUCCEED!! PLEASE?


Here it is, 6 days since I had logged that I was going to change.  I have been letting life get in the way of me starting like I want.  Eating out WAY TOO MUCH!!  I spent more money at the grocery than I had wanted to.  I had the money to spend so that was not the issue, but if I spent that much we need to make an effort to plan and eat at home.   I have to take the time to fix my food as planned and eat at home.  I will not lose weight doing what I am doing so it stops TODAY.  I plan to start the limited gluten free (as best as I can) and sugar free.  So I will weigh in tomorrow, will log it here no matter what.  I am also going to take a daily picture to visually log my weight loss or gain if unfortunately.  This will be my accountability whether I follow the eating plan or not.

Monday, September 1, 2014

Making a New Start!!!

Here I am again.  I can’t believe a month has already passed.  But life happened – new job (making $10,000 more a year YEA!!!!!) and my son has moved back home to help me with my husband (and to get his life straight).  With this new job, I am back in the classroom with children on the THIRD FLOOR.  I cannot keep going up the stairs with all this extra weight.  NEW INCENTIVE!! 

So, here I start September 1 at the weight that I have been hovering over for the last 4 months (238 lbs.).  My goal for this month will be and for every month this time forward – 5 lbs. I want to lose it slow and this way it will stay off.

My goals:
  1. Eat on plan everyday with no cheats.
  2. Make a plan to stay on plan – plan my menu the day before and follow it.  (No matter how tired I may be – prepare my breakfast and lunch the night before for work.)
  3. Follow the plan as outlined – Mediterranean and Paleo flair to Atkins
  4. Jumpstart the eating plan by following more an Atkins ’72 type eating style for at least a week.
  5. In following the first four steps above, I should expect to lose weight, not just maintain as I have in the last 4 months.


I am going to wait at least 4-6 weeks or until I have lost 18 pounds before I start an exercise plan.  I do climb 2 flights of stairs several times a day due to my job so I will get some exercise to start, just nothing more organized.

I will have a new insurance plan so I will postpone my blood work until the Christmas holidays so that I do not have to take off of work.  In addition, it will give the eating plan a chance to improve my lipid numbers.  Starting cholesterol was 229 in May.

Food choices today:

Breakfast: 2 eggs cooked in 1 T. butter
Lunch: small salad with olive oil and vinegar dressing, pulled pork
Dinner: hamburger with cheese and bacon (no buns); small salad with olive oil and vinegar dressing

GOAL for September: 5 lbs.  (233.8 lbs.)

9/1 – 238.8

Monday, August 4, 2014

HERE I GO AGAIN!!!

Here I am once again stating that I am trying to get started and staying on track with my way of eating that will lead to a healthy lifestyle that I need.  I have the food that is necessary. I stayed on track for 4 days and then Sunday, yesterday, hit.  I do not know what happen but it lead to a complete binge fest.  I have been very bored with eating and I should not since I have many things a home to eat and stay on track.  I first started with eating a whole bag of pork rinds after a very late breakfast.  Due to some things I could not control, I ate a premium wrap from McDonald’s.  I could have eaten a salad; I thought that wrap which I was going to eat off the wrap would be better.  Then I convinced myself that the wrap would not be too bad if that is all I ate. WRONG!!!  I ate chips after that, a few pieces of candy, followed by 2 small hamburgers on the buns from Burger King.  

So here I am today.  Once again, I ate a McDonald's breakfast burrito instead of cooking; my back hurt so bad that I could not stand up. So, this day as well I have not been on program.  Tomorrow will be the start once again.  I was feeling so much better and today I feel really bad due to the food choices.  I have got to get this done. I have to go and get the blood tests done before Christmas or I will have to pay more (deductible).  The off plan is all my fault and I have got to get focused.  Our goal for me and my husband is to get healthy this year.  (From now until May 31)

Part of the plan to get on track is to come here everyday and put in writing my accountability.

Saturday, July 12, 2014

Giving it One More Try!


2:43 pm

Here it is.  One week later, I have not been able to get on track for anything.  I was doing well Sunday and Monday of last week.  However, I felt very ill on Tuesday and ate off plan – it was the only way that I started to feel well.  In fact, it was so bad on Tuesday, I felt l was going to pass out and vomit. I think it was something that was with my blood pressure pill and the increase in the diuretic part.  I have stopped taking that level of pill and feel better, but I have not been on plan since then.  I had a revelation last night and decided that it was time to get this on track with NO MORE EXCUSES and lose weight. 

So here I go again, I really need to start.  It is going to be time for blood work again and I will not have lost any weight or improved my eating.  I might postpone the blood work until Thanksgiving.   I am also going to go and have the necessary work and tests on my back since I have met all deductibles this year due to the operation. 


New start weight: 239.4 lbs.  (I keep losing and gaining the same 7 lbs. of water weight)

Saturday, July 5, 2014

Daily check-in - 5:08 pm

Today is the third day of low carb eating.  Last night was a little rough and I almost once again did not get past of the first two days without caving in.  What saved me was the cat was begging for food and I did not have any food left for her so I opened a can of tuna and shared it with her.  For some reason, I have been very nauseated today. When I was in the Walmart, I felt faint and was sweating.  As soon as I got home, I ate a pickle to get the sodium.  I had a feeling that my sodium level was too low.  I do take a blood pressure pill that has a diuretic in it. I think I just got too dehydrated.  I started to feel better once I had eaten something with higher sodium content. 

We are going to a party tonight which at this stage I am not too happy.  I do not like to drink so much liquid (diet coke and water – real late at night as it will register as water weight tomorrow morning.  I plan on cooking dinner before we go so that I am not tempted to eat anything there. (NOTHING will be low carb)
As for my food journaling, I have not been able to track my food as closely as I like.  I did it on the first day (July 2) but the last two days have been erratic eating.   What I have been eating is all low carb though so I have been losing the water weight you lose when starting low carb.


I am posting a picture to set up what I look like at the start of this journey.  Here in this picture I weigh 232.6 lbs. I don’t have a picture of what I looked like at my heaviest (261.8).  I am currently 10 lbs. lighter than I was when I got operated on May.  My goal date is October 24; this is 6 months since I saw the doctor for my physical and to set up my operation.  I would like my loss to be 25 lbs. and hopefully the diet will improve my blood work numbers.



Friday, July 4, 2014

My Journey Begins.....

First, thank you for visiting my blog.  This blog is my accountability, feeling, hope and prayer guideline to get through this diet.

Once again I am trying to lose this weight that has been plaguing me for years.  This May, I was operated on for a hernia that was caused by the fact that I was lifting boxes that were not overly too heavy, but my back was not strong enough to keep up with the pace.  In turn, I used my stomach muscles too much and tore open a hole in the stomach wall.  Two months later, I am ready to get this going no matter what.   Work has started to subside and I can start to focus on myself once again, hopefully to be very successful.  Of course, the operation brought about a physical and it was determined that I have “high” cholesterol.  The doctor wants me to take Lipitor because I do have borderline high blood pressure.  I believe that losing weight and eating healthier will lower my cholesterol which is only 29 points over the level that is considered normal.   

My highest weight was 261.8 lbs. right Christmas.  I had an asthma attack and was placed in steroids for two weeks.  When I saw that the scale was over 260 lbs. I thought enough was enough.  The next few weeks through February, I followed the diet and lost about 20 lbs. down to 242 lbs.  My weight stayed steady at that point, stress at work was building and I was not watching as closely as I should to what I was and could get to eat.  After Easter, the operation was set up and I was still holding at 242 lbs.  After the operation, I had lost about 5 lbs. and stayed at that level until I began once again on July 1 at 237.0 lbs.  

So here I am today.  One good thing this time, my husband has decided to try and lose weight with me.  He is finally convinced to eating this way with a little more carbohydrates than me.  I am following a plan of low carb eating that is based on Dr. Steven Parker’s idea of adding a Mediterranean flair to the choices.  It emphasizes more chicken and fish in place of red meats, using olive oil and healthier fats, lots of fresh vegetables (low carb in nature), limited amounts of hard cheese and dairy. 

Below is the guidelines designed by Dr. Parker:

GUIDELINES for KETOGENIC MEDITERRANEAN DIET
(20 – 40 net carbohydrates daily)

1.                  Unlimited meat, fish, poultry, eggs, and shellfish. (I, however, will limit consumption to no more than 12 oz. of protein daily.)

2.                  Fish/Seafood should be consumed daily – at least 4 oz. (I will only be able to eat it - Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays for lunch)

3.                  Olive oil – at least 2-3 tablespoons daily in salad dressings or in cooking.

4.                 Nuts and seeds – 1 oz. daily (I hope to be able to control my consumption after a two week induction as in the Atkins Diet. Mainly walnuts due to the properties to lower cholesterol)

5.                  Vegetables – up to 14 oz (400g) daily. (In the two week beginning, vegetable consumption will be 2 – 85g servings daily. After two weeks, it will be raised to 3 – 85g servings.)

6.                 Cheese – up to 3 oz daily. (Real, regular cheese – not low fat) This is optional as he recognizes that cheese and other dairy can stall some people. (I will try to limit it to 1-2 oz only for the day)

7.                  Wine – 4 ounces daily - I do not drink alcoholic beverages so I need to try and follow some of the guidelines it states if you do not drink. The one that I would try to follow is the 20g piece of dark chocolate (65-85%).

8.       At least 64 oz. of water (I need to make the effort to drink more pure water and less tea or at least in addition to what I drink as tea. I really don’t like to drink water unless it is almost frozen.)

Other condiments, oils, and spices

  •         Butter – only after the requirement of olive oil has been used. No more than 2 T. daily.
  •         Plant oils, vinegar (cider, red wine, and distilled)
  •         mayonnaise (preferably, homemade),
  •         yellow mustard (1 tbsp daily),
  •         salad dressing with less than 3g carbohydrates per 2 tbsp daily (use olive oil based preferably unlimited)
  •         Worcestershire sauce (1 tbsp)
  •         A1 steak sauce (1 tbsp daily)
  •         lemon juice and lime juice (2 tbsp daily)

 Other guidelines: 

Tea and coffee in moderation only (I drink tea all day, very weak and with lemon for flavor, however.  It takes the place of drinking soft drinks, which I may drink only once a day at the most.)

Use cream in moderation.

Suggested supplements as stated by Dr. Parker (I do have problems taking supplements with major indigestion so I do not take them on a regular basis but I will try to get into a regimen to see if they will help.)

  • (3) Fish Oils – 1000 mg
  • (5) Potassium – 99 mg
  • (5) Chromium – 200 mcg
  • (3) L- carnitine – 500 mg
  • (2) Vitamin D3 – 1000 mg
  • (3) Magnesium – 50 mg


Following is the guideline that I will follow to set up the basis of my meal planning (of course, there will be a few additions, such as vegetables her and there, no salad or vegetables as I feel, add an ounce of cheese or butter within limits)

        Week # 1-4:  (July 1- August 1)

Breakfast: 
3 medium eggs whites/ cooked in 1 T. olive oil
1 oz. cubed ham or 3 slices pork bacon or 4 slices turkey bacn 
1 slice American or Swiss cheese 

Lunch:
3 - 4 oz. protein/ cooked in 1 T. olive oil
Daily Salad:  50 g. salad lettuce/20 g. cucumber/ ½ oz. cheese/ 2 T. salad dressing

Dinner:
3 - 4 oz. protein/ cooked in 1 T. olive oil
Vegetable: 85 g. with 1 T. butter/ ½ oz. cheese or another daily salad as above

(Cauliflower, broccoli, green beans, and spinach are the main vegetable choices as these are the only green type vegetable I like aside from salad greens.)