For the last three weeks, at my official Saturday morning weigh-in, I’ve recorded a gain.
They haven’t been big gains — up 0.1 one week, 0.6 the next and then another 0.3. When you add that up, it’s 1 full pound in the wrong direction.
Even so, that’s NOT the way I want to go.
Following my Saturday morning WI, I buckled down, started tracking religiously (instead of half-assedly), stayed within my Healthy Eating Zone and began daily check-ins with the scale.
Surprise, surprise (not) — as of this morning, I’ve managed to not just hit the weight from my last good WI on July 25, but drop below it.
Heck, if I can keep up the focused work, I might make it into the 240s this week.
Considering I’ve been bouncing around the 250s since March 13 (pretty much through quarantine), I’m looking forward to falling into a new weight decade.
In other news …
Is anyone else looking forward to fall? I can’t wait for the start of Pumpkin Spice season.
In fact, I have a couple of bottles of sugar-free Pumpkin Torani Syrup left over from last fall. I could start PSL season early! Apparently, Dunkin’ already has — or will tomorrow.
This is not a PS iced coffee — it’s coconut, 2 Splendas & cream for 4 Points. Excuse the blurry Boomerang screen grab from Instagram Stories.
In my little corner of the world, today’s been a pretty good day. The sun was shining and temps were in the high 50s — I was able to walk outside this afternoon in my shirt sleeves.
Even better? I posted another loss this week … down another 1.8 pounds, for a total of 17.8 since recommitting to low-carb life on Jan. 1.
Sure, a 1.8-pound loss is the smallest loss I’ve seen since the re-start. I also freely admit to drinking more beverages laced with heavy cream than I probably should have this past week. I also picked up a bag of sugar-free peppermint patties.
Eating sugar-free junk food is something I haven’t done yet.Perhaps I should keep it that way — and I most likely will once the bag (and its companion Sugar-Free Reese’s PB cups) are gone. What can I say? They were 2 bags for $5 at Walgreen’s, and I was looking for something to buy to get cash back.
And I’m still struggling to get enough water, even with the snazzy new stainless-steel water bottle I snagged myself with a gift card from my former roommate.
I know low-carb eating is a long-term commitment. There will be weeks when I don’t see quite as much progress, and I need to accept that reality.
The good thing about eating this way is how easy it is. I’m not constantly thinking about my next meal; I’m full for HOURS; and I can whip up smoked sausage and eggs anytime for a quick low-carb meal or snack. Grocery shopping is easy, too: hit up the produce aisle for zucchini, mushrooms, cabbage, turnips and radishes and then head straight to the meat, eggs and cheese.
Bam — in and out in less than 30 minutes!
After my last quickie shopping trip, I resurrected one of my old favorite low-carb recipes: Broccoli Crunch Salad.
Broccoli Crunch Salad is delicious and relatively easy to put together.
The link takes you to my blog post with the recipe, but it’s so simple you really don’t need a recipe. Just chop a head of broccoli, cook up several slices of bacon (today I went with six) and mix 1 cup of mayo with 2 Tablespoons each of cider vinegar and Splenda for the dressing. Crumble the bacon, throw in a cup of shredded cheddar (sharp for me, please) and toss until coated. Then enjoy.
Yum!
Of course, if I were really ambitious, I’d make my own paleo mayo, using Mel Joulwan’s recipe. I’ve done it before, and it always turns out fantastic (and free of those crappy seed oils some experts say we need to avoid). It might be even easier now that I have an immersion blender. (Note the Sept. 15, 2015 update at the top of Mel’s post.) But I haven’t tried that yet, so I can’t say for sure.
This batch of Broccoli Crunch (like all the others I made while losing 110 pounds on Atkins the first time) was made with plain old Hellman’s mayonnaise. If my food’s going to kill me, the damage is most likely already done.
I can’t believe it’s Friday already. Where on earth has this week gone?
For that matter, where have all the rest of the weeks of 2013 gone? This year is flying by!
Geesh. I sound like a broken record. I feel like I lament the speed of time’s passing at least twice a week.
So … when I woke up Thursday morning, my first order of business was completing my official DietBet weigh-in. I’ve been avoiding the dreaded scale for the past few weeks (two, to be exact. I’ve skipped my last two Monday WIs.), and the mean metal monster provided my comeuppance.
See that? I’m back up to 217.8. Not exactly how I wanted to start my latest DietBet. Yo, meet yo.
Grr.
It is what it is, though. I’m sure I deserve the gain. Two weekends of eating with complete abandon can’t go unremarked by the evil metal box.
Note the Blend Retreat swag tank top. Hopefully by the end of the game, it won’t be quite so tight. I’d like to be able to wear it out in public.
To win my share of the $3,000+ pot, I have to lose 8.7 pounds in 28 days. Totally do-able, right? Right!
I should also note that although I definitely want and even need to lose weight, I don’t totally hate the image I see in that photo. I’ve looked worse. Maybe 200 is a more realistic weight goal than 170.
Then again, maybe not.
After weighing in, I started my day with a walk … indoors.
I was going to walk outside. Really I was. But I took one step out the door and knew it was way too hot out there — even at 10 a.m.
Flagstaff is in the grip of near-record highs, in the 90s. (We normally don’t see temps higher than the high 80s — and have never been hotter than 97.) And since the monsoon hasn’t started yet, it’s more humid than usual.
Yes, I realize I’m now spoiled. Back in the day, I survived 90+-degree days with 90+ % humidity. (Gotta love Indiana summers!) But now, even 30% humidity feels too humid.
Spoiled or not, I did NOT want to walk outside in that. So I herded the dogs back into the house and hit the treadmill instead. Twenty-five minutes later, I was hot and sweaty and had covered 1.41 miles — most of it uphill. The incline ranged from 0 to 4.5 percent.
Probably just as strenuous a workout as I’d have gotten outside — and much cooler. I turned on the TV and watched part of “The Truman Show” while I walked. I hadn’t seen that movie in years … probably since it hit theaters in 1998. It has an interesting context now, given the ever-growing popularity of reality TV.
I kind of figured reality TV would have run its course by now.
Don’t get me wrong: I’m exceedingly glad it hasn’t, especially since reality TV shows figure in two of my manuscripts.
My running joke has been that I need to get those suckers published before the reality TV craze dies. But the joke’s on me, since it’s still going strong more than a decade later. (Yes, I started writing Blind Date Bride in 2000 — it was the manuscript that got waylaid by the Sept. 11 attacks. Took me months to start writing again, as I didn’t feel much like writing romantic comedy when no one was laughing.)
I managed to get some writing time at Starbucks between working out and going to work. Sadly, I spent most of it catching up on emails. Not much actual writing got done.
Yes, it’s from Chick-fil-A. Pricey but good.
On my way in to work, I stopped at Chick-fil-A for a Cobb salad with ranch dressing. I didn’t even think about the fact the chicken would come with breading — but it makes sense, considering the 24 grams of carbs the website said were in the salad.
Oh well. I’ll know better for next time.
Food wise, I ended my day 81 calories over the day’s allotment (courtesy of the chocolate chip cookie I decided I had to have from the break room). At least I said no to the leftover Mexican feast in the fridge. There were enchiladas, beans and chips/salsa for the taking. And I swapped out the yogurt I’d been planning to have after dinner for the cookie.
Willpower (kind of) for the win.
I consumed 124 grams fat (56 percent); 136 grams carbs (27 percent); and 83 g protein (17 percent). A little higher in carbs than I’d have liked. I stopped at the store after work and picked up some more lower-carb eats. I’m going to get my carb count below 100 grams today if it kills me.
Adventures in weight loss, cooking & life 