Weekly Weigh-In: Same As It Ever Was

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feb 27 weight

I ended February weighing as much as I did when the month began. Thanks to lots of eating out, I put the brakes on my weight loss, loss sleep, experienced digestive problems and had no energy.

I started February weighing 182.9 pounds. I end the month weighing 182.5 pounds. While I hoped to leave the 180s behind, I see this as a small victory. Even when I’m “bad” I can maintain or course correct pretty quickly with my eating habits.

Now when I say “bad” I’m talking about eating out and enjoying wine way too much. The middle of the month the hubby and I ate out about 10 times.  Of course, I had wine with my meals.  Ugh!!!  Thankfully the last 10 days I’ve worked diligently about cooking my own meals and forgoing the vino. And the results showed not only on the scale, but in how I physically felt.

Lack of Sleep & Feeling Crappy
What did all that eating out and wine get me? Between February 8-21, I gained 5 pounds. I know some of that was water retention, but when the pants started fitting a little tighter than normal, it was time to make a change.

Besides the pounds, I noticed a couple of things about my physical health: 1) poor sleep ensued, and 2) The morning after, my body let me know it did not approve of such behavior. Read More

Getting Serious About Weight Training

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pink bag

My weights and resistance bands stayed in my pink gym bag far too much this winter and I paid the price.

My exercise routine is pretty non-existent this winter. Between the bitter cold, high winds, snowstorms, and the rain (lots of frickin’ rain!!), I’ve chosen the comforts of a warm home over working up a winter sweat.

Snowzilla Uncovers My Weakness
During Winter Storm Jonas earlier this month, I discovered something that made me very unhappy. I’ve lost some strength and felt out of breath at times during the many rounds of snow shoveling. I can’t even begin to tell you how sore my legs, back, and arms were…but hey, shoveling more than 3 feet of snow does that to you.

Thankfully, we were smart enough to not wait for all of the snow to hit the ground before we broke out our shovel. Moving 3 feet of snow at one time just wasn’t appealing to either of us. Read More

Reason #3 Why Workplaces Are Bad For Your Weight

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With all of the bitchin’ and moanin’ coming from corporate HR departments about the cost of health care (and the bitchin’ & moanin’ is quite justified) you have to wonder what companies are thinking when they bring in a spread like this for their employees to see first thing in the morning.

workplace food 2

This was the scene yesterday morning at my husband’s job. A healthy dose of fast digesting carbs — muffins, bagels and croissants. Oh sure there was a small bowl of fruit, but for those employees who are already overweight or obese, the seemingly healthy option just worsens their insulin & insulin resistance. Dear Corporate America, if you’re concerned about the health of your employees, then don’t do this!

Really!

My husband is doing his best to eat healthy, real foods. He’s also joining me in my daily 24-hour fast I’m doing for Lent.  Yet this is what he saw when he walked to his cube (oh and he sits near this stuff too). My hubby, whose favorite food group is “pie,” was pretty miserable that morning. Fortunately he resisted the temptations. Read More

Giving Organ Meats A Shot

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liver

I’ve never had organ meat but this year I’m giving it a shot. Nutrient rich calf liver is first up. Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhoto.net and mister GC.

In my quest to become fearless in the kitchen, I’ve decided I’m going to give organ meats a try, starting with liver. I have no idea how to cook organ meats or how they taste, but I’m spending part of the day flipping through Julia Child’s Mastering The Art Of French Cooking. Her recipes are simple and easily turned low carb by substituting almond flour with wheat flour.

But mainly I’m reading Julia to build up my courage.

Why Organ Meats?
I’ve read in different books that mentioned how our ancestors ate all parts of an animal, but specific parts were more desirable than others. Eyes and organs were preferred over muscle meat (what we eat today).

Organ meats are nutrient powerhouses and liver is one of the best. Nutrients include high amounts of A, multiple B vitamins, folic acid (awesome for someone like me in the early stages of IVF treatments), iron, cooper, iron, and C0Q10, important for cardiovascular function. Take that multivitamins! Read More

Weekly Weigh In: Down 2

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weekly weigh in Jan 9

Just 2.6 pounds before I finally break into the 170s. Super excited!

What happens when you eat right and take a 30-Day No Alcohol Challenge?  Weight loss!  I’m finally closer to breaking into the 170s after losing 2.1 pounds this week.

But what happens when my no alcohol challenge is over January 31?

Right now I’m eager to continue the challenge  into February.

Since I started my challenge on Jan. 1, I’ve lost 4.1 pounds. Clearly I made a big error by not cutting back on wine sooner. I significantly slowed (heck, stopped) my weight loss progress and was stuck in a plateau for about 7 months.

No use crying over drunk wine. I’m on track now and that’s what counts.

Today’s weigh in puts my total weight loss at 142.5 pounds…nearly 45% of my total weight gone.  Sweet!

So I’m roughly 26 pounds away from goal. Whoa…

 

Weekly Weigh In: Down 1.6 Pounds

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weigh in jan 4

In January 2012 I weighed 325 lbs. As of today I’ve lost over 140 lbs. To continue my quest to optimize my health, I’m giving up alcohol.

I start the new year weighing 184.6 pounds. That puts my total weight loss at 140.4 lbs. since I started this little journey in 2012. I attribute the loss mostly to my January challenge — no alcohol for 30 days.

Alcohol Causing My Weight Loss Stall
As I tracked my food I got suspicious that the cause of my weight fluctuation was my wine. Oh how I do love the Nectar of the Gods, but my intake was much higher than normal over the holidays.

Also I started experiencing heartburn right before bed, something that hasn’t happened since I switched to a LCHF diet. Hmmmm….something was amiss.

While wine is low in carbs it slows or stops your weight loss. And if you’re not careful it packs on the pounds too.

I wasn’t careful. Read More

Top 5 Reasons I’m Saying Goodbye To My Microwave

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microwave

Four years ago we downsized the size of our microwave. Now I’m wondering if we really need it.

I’m taking a hard look at my kitchen today to see how I can have more prep space to make my deliciously healthy low carb, high fat foods. After removing most jars, canisters, and machines from my counters, I’m now considering giving my microwave the boot.

From cooking Lean Cuisines, instant oatmeal, “baked” potatoes, to warming up leftover pizza or chicken breast, there was a time when the microwave was my kitchen’s workhorse. But now it seems more like a monument to convenience food. Stuff I don’t eat anymore. And that means it’s taking up valuable counter space!

I don’t mean to imply that since eating real foods I’ve stopped using the microwave. I use it to warm up grilled meat, chili, soup or to quickly melt butter or coconut oil. But I can do that using my range. Read More

Cutting Dairy, Fasting Lead to 5+ Lbs. Drop

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after thanksgiving

After my post-Thanksgiving weight gain, I got back to the basics that helped me lose 140 lbs. Plus cutting back on dairy and some needed fasting improved not just the number on the scale, but my energy level and mental clarity.

By the time my 2 Thanksgivings (with lots of wine)  ended, I gained 4 pounds. Ugh! When I stepped on the scale November 28, I temporarily left the 180s, weighing in at 193.2 lbs.

Oh hell no!

Since then I’ve redoubled efforts on my healthy eating habits – menu planning, eating only when hungry, chopping and prepping the meals in advance, minimizing eating out, and tracking everything I eat. Oh and drinking water…lots of water.

Yep, I got back to basics. Read More

December Challenge – 24 Hour Fasting

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fasting drinks

Water and bone broth are at the ready during today’s 24-hour fast.

After Thanksgiving I took a hard look at my intermittent fasting (IF) schedule. I’ve gotten into the habit of doing a 14-hour fast about 3 times a week. Maybe fasting 5 days a week might help break this plateau? So I started re-reading Dr. Jason Fung’s blog posts on fasting. Sure enough I stumbled upon an important data point that could help me break my stall.

Resetting My Body’s Set Weight
We all have a Body Set Weight (BSW) – a weight your body is comfortable with. During my last physical, my doctor cautioned me that if I wanted to lose more weight I could, but my BSW might be at 185 lbs.

If I was at my BSW and dipped below it, my body compensates by increasing it’s output of ghrelin, the hunger hormone. Basically you dip below your BSW your body increases hunger and desire to eat. Your body wants to get back to its set weight.

I have to admit at the time of my physical I thought there was no way 185 was my BSW. I could still see the fat around my belly, thighs and arms. Look, I don’t expect to be super model thin. But I set my sights on 150 lbs. and that’s what I wanted to get to.

Well 8 months later and weighing 185 lbs., I’m starting to believe. Read More

The Hunt For Low Carb Stuffing

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Keto Primal Stuffing

I can’t wait to try this Keto Primal Thanksgiving Stuffing from the Keto Diet Blog — an awesome site you should visit! Fingers are crossed that this is the year of awesome low carb stuffing for our Turkey Day celebration. Image from Keto Diet Blog.

Typically my husband and I celebrate Thanksgiving with friends and have our own low carb Turkey Day over the weekend. This year is no different. This Thursday I will be eating more carbs than normal. But it is the holiday, so I’m not stressing over it. What I am stressing over is finding a low carb stuffing recipe to make on Saturday.

For the last few years I’ve tried different recipes, and they turned into disasters. The “bread” – made from almond OR hazelnut flours – always turned out too heavy, lumpy, or grainy. Also, it tasted like a mock stuffing. Not really what I was going for.

I’m beginning to think low carb stuffing is just a myth – an urban legend we low carbers spread from forum to forum. It’s as elusive as the sasquatch, or my husband’s clothes actually making it into the hamper… Read More