November 28, 2007
Todays's Weight: 270.4 bls
Well I'm still here!! Still living la vida low carb, as they say. Things have been going somewhat well. I'm happy with my diet and my energy level has been amazing. I made it through Thanksgiving with flying colors!! My menu was: turkey, green beans with bacon and onions, creamed cauliflower, and I did allow myself 1/2c of sweet potatoes sweetened with brown sweet n low! Oh, and some sugar free pumpkin cheesecake...YUM~! No potatoes, no stuffing, no pumpkin or pecan pie! I know, huh? But I didn't really feel deprived. I felt empowered, actually. I had the control, not the food. This is amazing because food has been the one to have control over me for most of my life.
So here it is no, almost 2 months since I started Atkins and this blog, and I'm down ALMOST 20 lbs!! Unbelievable! Sadly, the scale hasn't moved nearly as fast as I would like it to, but what can I say? I'm greedy when it comes to weight loss! I want it off NOW! But who doesn't?
One thing that has really helped me the last couple of days, though, is writing down my food choices. For the last 2-3 weeks I hadn't been writing anything down. And I KNOW I was overindulging. On calories, on carbs, you name it. I was eating WAY too much cheese, and nuts for one thing. Just two days ago I was up to about 274. Yesterday and today I stuck to 1200-1300 calories and less than 20 carbs, and as you can see, I am down to 270.4 today! I am hoping to be in the 260s by the time my birthday comes around next week.
My overall plan is to do this the RIGHT way. The way Dr. A advised us to in his book. So for the next couple of days I will stay under 1500 cals and 20 carbs. Then I will increase my carbs by 5 grams a week until I figure out my CCLL (that's the critical carbohydrate level for losing). In English, that basically means....how many carbs can I eat and still lose weight? For everyone, it's different.
I'm in this for the long haul, as I've said before. I truly feel like this is a life-changing event for me this time. I know, I know....I've been here before, you've heard this before, right? Anyone who has struggled with their weight ALL their life like me, has BTDT. I don't know how to put it into words but I just KNOW it's different this time.
I think I'm starting to really realize and internalize how important and precious my body is, and how I need to nourish and take care of it for once in my life.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Goodbye Diet Coke...
I've been drinking diet sodas for as long as I can remember. I would say AT LEAST 20 years, if not longer. I started out drinking Diet Pepsi, then switched to Diet Coke about 10 years ago. I absolutely LOVE this stuff. I use to say that I was addicted to the carbonation, since no other non-carbonated drink would hit the spot like a good Diet Coke. But I know this isn't true. Carbonated water is good, but not nearly as yummy. It isn't even the caffeine that I'm addicted to...because while I enjoy a good cold glass of caffienated iced tea, it isn't the same either.
What I've been addicted to all these years is the aspartame. This man-made substance that is in almost all of our sugar-free treats. It is a chemical. And it never really hit me how dangerous this COULD be until more recently.
Supposedly this stuff is safe, and has been proven so through research. But I dunno. I know it's HIGHLY addictive. I am living proof. And now that I have children, this little voice in the back of my head has been nagging at me to stop drinking it. What if this chemical substance gives me cancer one day? I don't want to die and not be here with my kids simply because I HAD to have my Diet Coke.
That sounds extreme, I know. But WHAT IF. I've already figured out that this chemical is keeping me from losing weight. It's keeping me out of ketosis, keeping me from burning fat, and it's INCREASING my hunger. I also believe it has been irritating my bladder. Who knows what other toxic effects it is having on my body.
So as of today, I am de-toxing my body of aspartame. It's not easy. I really don't want to give up my diet sodas, to be perfectly honest. But I really feel that if I want to be healthy and stay healthy, this is a step I need to take.
So far, so good. I am not feeling really bad, but I know the worst is yet to come. I really don't think that little white chemical is going to give me up so easily.
What I've been addicted to all these years is the aspartame. This man-made substance that is in almost all of our sugar-free treats. It is a chemical. And it never really hit me how dangerous this COULD be until more recently.
Supposedly this stuff is safe, and has been proven so through research. But I dunno. I know it's HIGHLY addictive. I am living proof. And now that I have children, this little voice in the back of my head has been nagging at me to stop drinking it. What if this chemical substance gives me cancer one day? I don't want to die and not be here with my kids simply because I HAD to have my Diet Coke.
That sounds extreme, I know. But WHAT IF. I've already figured out that this chemical is keeping me from losing weight. It's keeping me out of ketosis, keeping me from burning fat, and it's INCREASING my hunger. I also believe it has been irritating my bladder. Who knows what other toxic effects it is having on my body.
So as of today, I am de-toxing my body of aspartame. It's not easy. I really don't want to give up my diet sodas, to be perfectly honest. But I really feel that if I want to be healthy and stay healthy, this is a step I need to take.
So far, so good. I am not feeling really bad, but I know the worst is yet to come. I really don't think that little white chemical is going to give me up so easily.
Friday, November 2, 2007
Operation Coconut Oil
I have learned in my reading and research that extra virgin, organic coconut oil is really fantabulous stuff! It is high in saturated fat and lauric acid, which speed up your metabolism, give you energy, raise your HDL, or "good" cholesterol, and better yet...help you lose weight!!
One of the forums that I am a member of actually has a recipe for a "coconut bark," or simple candy using the coconut oil. People eating this bark report that they have lots of energy, feel full for hours, and drop weight much faster. So hell, sign me up!!
Well the first task is to find coconut oil. Since coconut oil still has a bad stigma (and wrongly so!), it is difficult to find in regular stores. After scouring the city I live in, I finally found a great grocery store called Nugget that has it in stock! (to the tune of $13.99 for 15 ounces...eeks!)
So after rounding up my necessary supplies, I set for home to blend this wonderful concoction.
Let me me honest here...the first attempt was a dismal failure. Imagine that you added some cocoa powder and sweetener to some Crisco and decided to eat that. Um....yeah.
I think the main issue though, was that I tried to use sugar free caramel DaVinci's syrup as the sweetener for this recipe and that did NOT work. The result was very bitter. Both in taste and disappointment, i might add.
The second batch was much, much better. Instead of the syrup, I used two Splenda envelopes as my sweetener. I also added a couple of drops of pure vanilla extract. The result was actually a decent flavor! However the texture still leaves something to be desired.
Tomorrow I am going to buy some natural peanut butter and add some to the mix. I'm hoping to cut the oilyness a little as well as add more bulk and flavor.
This should be interesting! Now we'll see if this actually works. Since I gave custody of my scale to my dh, I will have to wait until the end of the month before actually seeing any results on the scale.
One of the forums that I am a member of actually has a recipe for a "coconut bark," or simple candy using the coconut oil. People eating this bark report that they have lots of energy, feel full for hours, and drop weight much faster. So hell, sign me up!!
Well the first task is to find coconut oil. Since coconut oil still has a bad stigma (and wrongly so!), it is difficult to find in regular stores. After scouring the city I live in, I finally found a great grocery store called Nugget that has it in stock! (to the tune of $13.99 for 15 ounces...eeks!)
So after rounding up my necessary supplies, I set for home to blend this wonderful concoction.
Let me me honest here...the first attempt was a dismal failure. Imagine that you added some cocoa powder and sweetener to some Crisco and decided to eat that. Um....yeah.
I think the main issue though, was that I tried to use sugar free caramel DaVinci's syrup as the sweetener for this recipe and that did NOT work. The result was very bitter. Both in taste and disappointment, i might add.
The second batch was much, much better. Instead of the syrup, I used two Splenda envelopes as my sweetener. I also added a couple of drops of pure vanilla extract. The result was actually a decent flavor! However the texture still leaves something to be desired.
Tomorrow I am going to buy some natural peanut butter and add some to the mix. I'm hoping to cut the oilyness a little as well as add more bulk and flavor.
This should be interesting! Now we'll see if this actually works. Since I gave custody of my scale to my dh, I will have to wait until the end of the month before actually seeing any results on the scale.
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