Quote to Live By

“Live life with a forward lean”

-Coach Volek to my husband, as a football team member at the time….who relayed it to me.

Good reminder.

Phase 3 – Day 8

Weight: 176

Well, even though I ate some carbs and sugar that I knew I wasn’t supposed to, I didn’t think my weight would go up THIS much!  Eeek!

OK, so what to do?  I can’t go all day without eating, to do a steak day, I’ve tried that and that’s just setting myself up for failure.  So, do I exercise?  Someone in the Yahoo forums indicated that if I exercised in this lock-in phase, I’m setting my metabolism to expect that level of activity.  And while that may make sense on some level, I think it’s really the only alternative.  And, for Pete’s sake, it’s not like I’m going to start off with an hour’s worth of cardio!

So, off to the elliptical I go….after my morning coffee, that is!

Phase 3 – Day 7

Weight: 175

One thing I realized yesterday is that I had not written down what I hate you all day.  Even though I wasn't really hungry, I found myself picking at food and eating out of boredom, anxiety, restlessness or some combination thereof.

I had intended to do better today in tracking my food, and even opened SparkPeople.com's website to do so, but never completed the task.  I'm finding that it's very difficult to remember what I ate and track it after the fact and I think it's probably going to be important information for later analysis.

My eating schedule was a bit off today too, and I found myself wanting a snack in the middle of the afternoon.  It was at that point I realized that I had not had the coconut milk and could really tell the difference between how satisfied I felt today versus yesterday.

Since I have really been wanting chocolate lately,I plan to make a low carb chocolate cheese cake this weekend.  I've also found a low-carb chocolate mousse recipe and I may have to try that too, although as one of my SparkPeople.com buddies reminded me the other day it's not like I can't have it, I just might want to choose to have it later.

Phase 3 – Day 6

Weight: 175

I have to say that I'm feeling a little more confident that I'm going to actually stabilize at this weight.  Considering this is only 2 1/2 pounds over my LIW, I think that's pretty good.

I have been talking to some people on SparkPeople.com about my sudden urges to stuff my face and they have been very helpful and supportive.  Also, in reading the support forums I have been seeing people talk about coconut oil and I saw some coconut milk in the food section of Fred Meyer yesterday.  It was on sale and there was a coupon so I decided to try it.  Boy am I glad I did!

What I found very attractive about using coconut milk instead of soy milk, is that it's gluten-free, low-carb, low-fat, low-calorie, and soy free.  It's fairly expensive at $4.99 per half gallon however, so I need to find a cheaper source.

Part of the reason I was so excited about the find is that I adapted a low-carb cocoa recipe that called for heavy cream and used to coconut milk instead.  I still have some tweaking to do to make it taste better but the result filled my very large Starbucks coffee cup.  I was full the rest of the day and really did not want to eat very much more at all.  Even my craving for sugar went away…now that's some kind of powerful food!

Phase 3 – Day 5

Weight: 175

Since the scale fluctuated a few times, I was very glad to see that, even on the high side, I didn’t gain anything, and on the low side, I got rid of that pesky .5 pound!

I woke up really full still from all the protein yesterday.  So, I’m planning on what to take with me to work so I can eat a good protein breakfast when I’m ready, rather than when the “schedule” is ready for me to eat.

The sunburn is still pretty bad and my ankles and feet look and feel really swollen.  So, overall, I’m up 2.5 pounds, which is really pretty darn good, I just have to keep myself motivated on a positive note, rather than a negative one, and worrying about “what if’s” and “later”.

I find it interesting that when I look at my tummy I still see the same “fat” tummy that I had when I started this journey.  My husband assures me it is much smaller, but it still feels large.  Couple that with the knowledge of my own failures, and it is so easy to disparage my efforts and results.  Again, another mental hurdle, one I am finding rather pervasive in my life, one I wish to eradicate.  Life is much too short for that sort of thing!

Phase 3 – Day 4

Weight: 175.5

I did not eat well yesterday…obviously.  I did pretty well all day, but then ate a bunch of carbs in the afternoon, which is strictly prohibited on Phase 3; I am trying to reset my metabolism, and then I go and do this.

Seems that I'm sabotaging myself, and I can't figure out why.  I suppose that in some ways it makes sense...when a person buries their issues, whether in fat or otherwise, when whatever was used to cover up those issues goes away, well, the issues are still there if they haven't been dealt with.  All things are inter-related, aren't they? ;-)

I tried to do a steak day today, but I can’t seem to skip eating all day.  I did, however, avoid carbs for the most part, so that is a start, anyway.  I still need to concentrate on drinking more water, though.  Hopefully, this effort will be enough to at least start stabilizing here.

Phase 3 - Day 3

Weight: 175
Well, yesterday was supposed to be a “steak day” in order to lose the extra weight that I picked up over the weekend.  My understanding that is where you only drink fluids all day until dinnertime which is about 6 PM, at which time you have a “huge” steak and either an apple or a tomato.  Psychologically, I'm a hard time with not eating something all day plus I tend to be hypoglycemic and yesterday my blood sugar started to drop so I tried to focus on a high-protein approach during the day.
So, on the one hand at least I didn't gain any weight, but I didn't lose the extra weight either.  Technically, I'm supposed to do another steak day but I'm not going to try that approach.  What I am going to do is continue to focus on a high-protein menu today, items that I think I will really enjoy and am looking forward to eating.  I will also be quilting all day which not only keeps me busy so I won't be focused on eating, but it's an activity I thoroughly enjoy and in which I become totally immersed.  I think that's also part of the learning process: how not to focus on food as entertainment.

Phase 3 - Day 2

Weight: 175
So, it's pretty apparent that I have not been following directions!
We had out-of-town company this weekend just as I was starting Phase 3.  Of course, my husband made a sweet potato pie and all sorts of other wonderful things, including grilled asparagus and zucchini (yum!!).  Some of our guests also have dietary restrictions so it was quite easy to adapt for them.  I specifically planned to have some of his sweet potato pie, though... it's so good!
My problem is, that I seem not to know when to stop.  One thing I did learned though is that when eating pie one should not be distracted, even if that distraction is your own company.  One should sit in a quiet place, contemplating and savory each and every bite.  I have to say, I ate three pieces of pie.  Yes, three!  And, you know what?  The last piece was the best piece because I savored it.  I also realized that every bite of pie contains love which may be one reason that I want so much of it.  Mini lesson learned, or re-learned, about food.
We also floated the river  and I have a deep sunburn up-and-down front of my legs from thigh to ankle, which will cause weight gain.  I will probably have to do a steak day today which is eating nothing all day except drinking lots of fluids and eating a large steak and an apple for dinner.  Quite frankly, I am still full, so not eating all day won't be much of a problem.