Christin's Journey to the Beach

[ladybugmom]

What a crazy week! Haven't posted in a while because DH and I have been hard at work on our house. We pulled all of the old flooring up, laid down new sub-flooring, and we are almost ready to paint. Our upstairs is really coming along. I just never want to try to level a 140 year old floor ever again!! Three days of holding a level in place and making adjustments, not fun, but the end result is rewarding.

Food was a little off. We were just so busy, I did not take the time to cook properly. Weight has held pretty steady though. I fluctuate up and down the same 2 pounds, so I am guessing it is from water around sore, abused muscles

Splurged a little for breakfast this morning, I made mock rye bread, it is made with molasses, b. sugar, lemon peel, and cardamom. Awesome stuff! Had a small slice with a little butter, but it is all I will have out of the loaf.

B: Bread w/ butter, coffee
L: Chicken w/ steamed veg
D: Salad
S: glass of milk


For some reason I just read through my journal before posting my update, I have not done well at all sticking to being truly beachy. I have little cheats all the time. I wonder why I can't seem to stick hard and fast to it? I know that with my Celiac, there are so many things that I will never have ever again. It is almost if that makes it easier to cheat. I can never have a snack cake, a fast food burger, a glazed doughnut straight from the regular bakery; so if I don't eat quite enough veg, or I really splurge and have tortilla chips or make GF cookies, it's okay because while I may have that on occasion I will never have all of those other things. I do not have the slightest idea how to get past that mind set.

I also know it doesn't help that DH has modified the diet to suit him. He has mostly beachy stuff all day and then eats as he pleases one meal a day. So he will come home and have had a burger and fries for lunch or pizza and a soda, and he still loses. So part of it is irritated emotional eating too. Right now my BMI 25.8. I only have to lose 5.5 pounds more to be at 24.9, the beginning of the healthy range. That is my goal before we go on vacation. Just 5.5 pounds. But if I can't fix my mental place, it won't happen! Argh, grrr, and growl!

[ladybugmom]

I write this quite a bit of guilt and embarrassment. I fell off the wagon big time. I was doing well a year ago. Working through a few issues with my eating, but not too bad. Than we had a family emergency, then a road trip, then I became rather ill and required surgery, just as I finally recovered, the whole house got sick and I have needed about six rounds of antibiotics since Thanksgiving! So, the first time I started out, I weighed 174 lbs. Made it down to 155 and maintained that until my surgery which was at the end of September. Now I am all the way up to 182. It is shameful. So I pulled my book out, read it through again, went shopping, and this time my hubby is all the way on board with me. I'm not the only one who gained. As I have not been up and running, hubby has not been as active. He is back up to 255.
So, I have spent my day cooking. My kitchen is in shambles but I am ready. I have veggie quiches in the freezer along with flax muffins and enough grilled and shredded chicken to easily toss a salad together. Plus my fridge is bursting at the seams with veggies, all washed and prepared. I have to admit, I wanted to start a new user name and journal, not admit to how horribly I have done in the last year, but I need to be accountable, so shameful weight gain or not, here I go again.

[ladybugmom]

Okay, day one went well. Hubby and I were both munchy after dinner, cilantro lime pork chops with veggies, and instead of having something horrible, I made us some vanilla ricotta and had a tablespoon of peanut butter. After that neither one of us felt the need to raid the pantry.
We are hoping to take a trip this summer. Not a massive road trip like last year, but to a local lake. We plan to camp out for a week or so, go for a hike, rent a pedal boat, just enjoy the outdoors. So my goal for this time around, instead of concentrating on every pound, is to be physically ready for our trip. I have been very inactive for the past 6 months. So the thought of going for a hike, while it is appealing, realistically, I am out of shape. I have lost a good deal of muscle tone with everything that has gone on. So game plan: I love B rate films. Zombie flicks, horrible sci-fi movies that just make you groan, just love 'em. And yes, my hubby has already informed me that that is just not normal. So, I have tuned my bike up, pulled out the stand, and recorded several movies. I am only allowed to watch one if I am riding my bike. Also I am not allowed to fast forward through the commercials. I will do handle bar push-ups, core work, or sprints during the break and maintain a moderate pace during the movie. It went well yesterday. I wasn't watching the clock just wanting to be done, I was enjoying my movie. So, I am going to go pick out my next movie and get my bike ride in while my youngest is napping.

[ladybugmom]

My buns hurt! It has been way too long since I have been on that bike. I am only making it for thirty minutes, then my tail end is so painful I have to do something else instead. Yesterday, I really wanted to finish my movie, so bike ride, weights, swept and mopped the floor-that should count as exercise right?-and got back on the bike for an additional 20 to finish up the movie.

Had the hungry horrors yesterday, so ate a little more than usual
B: veggie quiche w/2 mini flax muffins
S: tomato juice
L: loaded chicken salad-grilled chicken mushroom, assorted veg
S: FF cottage cheese--one whole cup
D: chicken and lentils, Indian style, veggie, veggie, and more veggie
S: meringue kisses

Last time I did this I was a little OCD about the scale. So this time I will try to leave it be for at least a few days, even if I don't go an entire week. Hubby has lost 3 pounds so far, so yay him.

[ladybugmom]

Don't you just hate those mornings when 2:30 comes around and that is it? Oh well, I guess that just means I will get more done today. Did okay with food yesterday, but realized that I OD'd on cheese. I had it 4Xs, not any big amount, but I need to watch that. At least I did not have a headache yesterday, first 2 days were pretty bad.

Yesterday's food
B: veggie quiche w/2 mini flax muffins, tomato juice
S: 2 lettuce leaves w/red pepper strips, avocado and a hint of grilled chicken
L: loaded chicken salad-grilled chicken, mushroom, assorted veg, used a little cilantro and ff sour cream as dressing, sprinkle of cheese
S: almonds
D: Spicy thyme pork chops, spinach custard minus the butter, fresh spinach salad
S: vanilla ricotta

Saw the recipe for the spinach custard and really wanted to give it a try, each portion only has 1/2 of an egg, 1/8C of cheese, and 1/8C of milk, and the rest is spinach, no added salt, just a dash of nutmeg. It really made dinner filling, and the girls while ambivalent at first, did enjoy it after they got past how very green it was.

Today my plan is:
B: veggie quiche w/2 mini flax muffins, tomato juice
S: FF cottage cheese
L: Grilled chicken with a hot veg
S: Probably a small spinach salad or some lettuce wraps like yesterday
D: chickpea and mushroom curry, crisp salad
S: SF fudge pop- if I remember to pick them up

Did not get my bike ride in yesterday, went to the park with my girls for a few hours instead- it was beautiful, warm and sunny and no snow!! Today, 30 min on the bike, and some time with my weights. Plus between hubby and I,we have used quite a bit of what I had prepped so, need to grill and chop some more chicken for salads, bake muffins and quiche, and prepare some more veg.

[ladybugmom]

Eating was a little off yesterday. When you have breakfast at 3 instead of 7, it tends to do that. Did stay beachy though, I just flipped my lunch and my dinner because I was really hungry at midday and had a leftover slice of spinach custard for my afternoon snack.

I went ahead and weighed myself today, some of the excess fluid and such is coming off-yay! I also picked my reward system up from the store. Coral reef nail polish, I do believe was the color. Whenever I lose something over the course of the week, even 0.1 of a pound, I get to do my toes and my girls get theirs done. So whenever mama does good, all the girls are happy. If I gain or maintain, then I don't get pretty toes for the week, but the girls will anyway. They are so little and this is my goal, not theirs that I feel they should get the yay at the end of week regardless. But this week, I lost. Now if it were only sandal season.

Yesterday I tried a new recipe for chickpea and mushroom curry, really spicy but it was good, I think I will have to make a big pot of that and freeze portions. I am the only one who likes spicy in the house, so no one else wanted any, but I would enjoy it for the occasional lunch. Today I am making Caribbean coconut chicken. I will make my portion for lunch and the rest, I will prep in a separate pan, and keep it in the fridge until this evening to bake for every body else. And since I realized that the curry, even with only half o its seasoning was so spicy, I didn't make hubby eat it too. Plus even though he has lost 8 pounds-go him!- he is feeling very deprived. So I made him a bacon cheeseburger with a massive salad for dinner. With turkey bacon, 2 strips, and lf cheese on top. 1 ounce total topped his burger and his salad.

Turns out he is trying to eat the same portions as me. He is a guy! He has different calorie requirements. So I had a nutrition talk with him during dinner about how he almost needs to halve again his calorie intake, I figure he was get about 1200-1500 a day. He needs closer to 1800-2000 a day. So of course yesterday, while coming home from work, all he wanted was a jumbo size candy bar. I did not know he was in the habit of eating one king size butterfinger a day! I kept trying to figure out how he had gained back his weight so fast, even though he was still able to be active, now I know. It was his reward for getting through his day as some policy changes have made work a little aggravating the last couple of months.

I found my motivation, B movies and pretty toes, but hubby wants crap for his motivation. There is a hat at the store he keeps looking at, well not a specific hat, but a style. I think I will have to pick it up, and hang it up somewhere and set a goal on it. Like a post-it with a goal weight. And as soon as he hit that, he can have his hat. And he wants a new baseball T-shirt, maybe that can be his second mini goal. I need something big for his third though. He only wants to get down to 225, but that still has him firmly in the uh-oh section with a BMI of 29.7. Even though 200 is still 10 pounds over the healthy weight range, I think that is as low as he will ever go, and only if there is a big, juicy carrot dangling in front of his nose. I just can't think of anything.

Okay, I just realized how long this entry is. I found last time, talking out my concerns, frustrations, or yay moments helped keep me on track, and if I would have continued, even though I couldn't move without pain, I probably would have not fallen quite so far. But being told we found a mass, you may need a hysterectomy, really shook me. It was benign, and I got to keep all of my parts after the resection, but I wasn't as careful as I should have been. So, even though no one is probably reading this, this time around, I am going to type as long as I want, and try to continue.

Today's plan:
B: veggie quiche w/2 mini flax muffins, tomato juice
S: 2 lettuce leaves w/red pepper strips, avocado and a hint of grilled chicken
L: Caribbean coconut chicken with veggie stir fry and a side salad if still hungry
S: Cottage cheese
D: Loaded veggie salad with chickpeas
S: TBD

[ladybugmom]

It's snowing!!! Today is the first official day of spring break, and snow combined with a nasty rain. I hope my girls won't be too disappointed. All the forecasts last week said sun, some clouds, cool but not cold. We were going to spend today at the park with a picnic. Maybe later.

I reread my own journal, found my pitfalls in my eating habits from last time and am really trying to avoid them this time. Like not being hungry, so not eating. This time I am using WebMD.com, they have a really nice weight loss tracker and calorie counter. I input some of my days from last time around. I was only getting in around 800 calories a day, that is just stupid. Now, I am getting up with my morning coffee, inputting my food, making sure that it is not only something I want to eat, but also has enough calories to properly fuel my body. Now my day stays in the 1200-1500 range. Much healthier. And while yes, I realize that calorie counting isn't required, without it, I think I will be more successful this time around incorporating that in. I also fell into quite a food rut, even after I stopped journaling. So this time I am making one new thing every day. Main dish, side, veg or dessert, doesn't matter as long as it is new. Which was really awesome yesterday, i could have that coconut chicken daily, hubby licked his plate clean, just so good. It felt like a super indulgent, splurgey kinda meal. Will pull that recipe card out when I want to have something horrible without really breaking stride.

Plus, when I started adding grain, I had a hot cereal I could tolerate, and I would make about 1/2 a cup. I have since then found a brand of certified gluten free oat that I can have without feeling ill!! So I will use that for my grain starting in P2. Plus, I have to thank RedRox for a post he made. He told some one to only add 1 oz of grains, not the serving on the package. I measured out that ounce of oatmeal last night, the difference of that to what I was doing, no wonder I couldn't get any craving under control after switching to P2. This time, I am better prepared and thanks to a lot of great info here, better informed.

So, onwards- yesterday was fantastic, rode my bike, lifted weights, enjoyed my movie. Didn't even want a desert at the end of day. Was satisfied. Today's new thing is a warm veg dish with broccoli, onion, tomato, and bacon.

B: veggie quiche w/2 mini flax muffins, tomato juice
S: 1 Tbs peanut butter
L: Herbed grilled pork with the broccoli dish
S: Cottage cheese with sweetener and cinnamon
D: Loaded veggie salad with chickpeas
S: TBD

[ladybugmom]

Okay, made a conscience decision to go off plan yesterday. All I wanted yesterday evening was some yogurt. I don't like FF or LF plain yogurt. So I keep the lite flavored around. I had one last night and it completely fixed the gnawing craving I had had all day long. I choose to look at it as giving my body what it needed, conveniently ignoring the flavored part, and move on without guilt. And by the way, Holy Cow, I have lost just shy of 6 pounds!!!!!! I don't care what I lost in P1 last time, that was before, this is now and I like now. I did not expect to losing anything in P1 this time so I am ecstatic and plan to stay that way even if a stall out for a while. Last time I was very scale focus. This time I am just trying to get physically back on top. I want the weight loss, but trying to look at it more like a side benefit. Oh, and 6 pounds is one lulu of a side benefit!

Made the broccoli dish yesterday, a little blah. All of those things have such strong flavors, but they didn't come through. Today it will be chicken stuffed with cottage cheese, a smidgen of parmesan, and spinach--yum!!

B: veggie quiche w/2 mini flax muffins, tomato juice
S: 1 Tbs peanut butter
L: Spinach and cheese stuffed chicken with veg
S: Cottage cheese with sweetener and cinnamon
D: Loaded veggie salad with chickpeas
S: TBD

Do not plan on riding my bike today. We are all home today, the snow is already melted, and a high of 55. We are going for a walk, then to the park. Way better than a movie!

[arugula_salad]

Hi Christin - Thanks for stopping by my journal and giving some (much needed) support! I had looked at your journal and was wondering how old your girls are. And I can relate to your "loaded salads!" I'm really enjoying my huge salads for lunch at work. I think going off plan to eat some lf flavored yogurt is OK! I ate some carrots the other day with my other raw veggies and was like, ha! They tasted really good. Carrots are so good for you! I like what you said about trying not to make weight the main focus. I have to remember that too. When I'm eating sweets and too many carbs (especially at night), I get stomach aches and don't feel well. Eating "clean" makes me feel better, healthy, in control, etc., which is really what it's about. (Although I'd like to have less of a belly for when I put on a swimsuit this summer!)

Which cookbook are you using?

-arugula

[ladybugmom]

Thanks for swinging by Arugula! It is really uplifting to have a visitor. My girls are 7 and 4, the oldest is in first grade this year and the youngest stays home with me. I really don't use a cook book. I have the South Beach Diet book, I use the recipe forum here, and I found a website- southbeachcenturyclub.com which is where I found the meringue kisses, coconut chicken, the broccoli from yesterday, and today's chicken. Just be careful to compare current guidelines with some of the recipes.

[amalfi_girl]

I just read through your journal--you have been through so much! I wish you wouldn't feel ashamed/embarassed about falling off the wagon and coming back. I am pretty sure almost every single person on this site has had slip ups, for however short or long in duration. Even the SB book talks about it, so that even slips are really part of the plan (you just go back to phase 1 for a while and you're back in the game). Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I don't see anything to be embarassed about. Good luck, and congrats on getting your kitchen together so quickly after you decided to go back to the beach! Wow, that was an inspiration in and of itself! May I ask what these mini-flax muffins are? Are they Phase 1 friendly?

[ladybugmom]

Hi Amalfi, thanks, I know I shouldn't be embarrassed by falling off the wagon to the extent that I am. I am trying to be positive and work past it. But hey, at least I did come back right! The flax muffins are P1 friendly. But they do count toward your nut/seed allotment, so I make them as minis so I can have my peanut butter later. The recipe is:

Flax Muffins
Preheat oven to 350 deg

3 eggs
1/4C olive oil
1/4 to 1/3C Splenda--depends on your tastes
2Tbs water
1Tbs vanilla
1C flax meal
1 tsp baking powder
1 to 2 Tbs cinnamon--again on your taste preference

Preheat oven to 350 deg. Mix all the ingredients together very well then let stand for 5 minutes. This is very important--the flax will absorb a lot of the liquid in this time. While it sits, spray a muffin tin with non stick spray. Pour into prepared dish. Bake 12-15 minutes--do not over bake, they will be dry. Makes 12 full size muffins or 24 minis.

I bake veggie quiches ahead of time and these muffins. Then put 2 quiches and 2 mini flax muffins into a baggie and store it in the freezer. In the morning I just dump the contents of a bag onto a plate, nuke for 90 seconds and presto, breakfast.

[ladybugmom]

Holy Thunder Thighs Batman!! I bought a new pair of sleep shorts, do you know how long it has been since I have seen myself in shorts?!?!? Last summer at 155, that's how long. At least I have a pair of PJ pants on while I run around the house as to not frighten the children . But, yay me moment. I hopped back on the SB wagon a week before I saw that! So vanity wasn't my final enough is enough moment. But, on the other hand, I do not think I will be wearing shorts in public for a while!

Okay, no park and no walk yesterday, bummer. But, I went to the grocery store mid morning and stocked up on a few essentials. Just to have a personal moral booster, I grabbed a fave vintage blouse and pumps. So I pushed a heavy cart around the grocery store for an hour in 2 1/2" heels, then carried bags up the steps, from the street to the yard, across the side walk, then up the six steps to the porch. That has to be worth something. Then, the spinach and cheese and spinach stuffed chicken was awesome, but it took twice as long to bake as what the recipe said. Then, by the time my youngest finished eating, it was nap time. Then, she slept for 3 hours, so by the time she woke up, we had 30 minutes to get ready for an evening appointment.

But, while she napped, the rest of us were outside doing some much needed yard work. It felt so good to be outside doing, instead of curled up on the couch either in pain or sick as all get out. I wielded the rake for over 2 hours without feeling overly tired. I was worried that it would take me forever to not only be physically active again, but not feel like a limp noodle by the time I finished. Especially since last summer, before the trouble started, I was completely in charge of our yard, with an old-fashioned push mower, but I also cut my Grandma's 2-3 acre yard-riding mower with hers- plus cleared over a dozen truck loads of brush and brambles from her yard, and I dug up, leveled and installed a new brick side walk in our yard!

That was from May to the beginning of July. I was so busy, I did not take the time to post at the beginning, then I forgot. Then the cramping started, and the bleeding that wouldn't stop, and the testing. I fell behind in my yard work and my Grandma's. It is very hard to push an old mower when you can hardly stand up right, but my DH really doesn't have time to help with that, nor do I expect him to. I am a SAHM. The yard, house, shopping, finances, anything and everything that the girls or he needs, is all my responsibility. And he did try to help, but we were also still trying to finish the upstairs of our house at the time too. Had my surgery at the end of September, started walking and resumed working upstairs to the point of in November, I installed our new floors. That was an experience, hand nailing over 1000 square feet of tongue and groove bamboo.

Then came the super strain of antibiotic resistant strep combined with something else. Six rounds of antibiotics to kick its tail end from about Thanksgiving, to taking my last pill just as I started back on SB. Plus all the extra doctor stuff cut into my grocery budget. So reduced veg, canned fruit or apples and bananas on sale, and lots of rice. I really do not recommend not being active with eating rice, bad combo. Now we are finally to where we are now, when I can go out and have zero distress over spending 2 hours raking except for blisters

Okay, I just rambled a really long time! Any way, yesterday was god on food. I found I do best only having beans once a day and I found that thread with the bean muffins--thank you every one that contributed, awesome and delish! So had snickerdoodle muffins with lunch and no chickpeas with dinner. But I did not feel deprived, in fact, I did not even want a dessert after dinner. Today, I am trying a spin off in crockpot meatballs some one posted in the recipe forum--Turkey(instead of hamburger) and spinach meatballs over hot broccoli, just because I like broccoli and hope the flavors will go together nicely. And I made up a fresh batch of quiche yesterday using cottage cheese instead of shredded and fresh mushrooms instead of green pepper, that way I do not get bored with my breakfast. So today:

B: veggie quiche w/2 mini flax muffins, tomato juice
S: 1 Tbs peanut butter
L: Turkey meatballs over broccoli with a snickerdoodle muffin
S: Cottage cheese with sweetener and cinnamon
D: Loaded veggie salad--have started adding broccoli slaw mix on top, yum!
S: SF Popsicle

Okay, time to get lunch into the crockpot!

[ladybugmom]

It should be illegal to wake up before 3 am! My oldest woke up around 2:30, wasn't comfortable, couldn't sleep and shared. That's okay. I remade her bed with different weight linens, went downstairs, and turned off all the lights she had turned on, and went back to bed. If only I could have fallen back asleep! I am usually okay if I can stay in the dark, but she has this compulsion when she wakes up, even to use the bathroom, to turn on every light, bathroom, kitchen, living room, hallway, if she can get to the switch, it is on. But I remember wondering if that shadow moved or what was that noise and wanting the light on in every room if it was dark and I was alone, only now, I can also see my mom's point of view on the matter! Of course when I was little my older brother would tell me things like if my hand or foot was over the edge of the bed, little monsters that came out at night would chop it off. Aren't brothers amazing?

Did great yesterday! Felt really good about the choices I made. Plus I pulled out some lighter weight jammies and was pleased to note that I do not look stuffed into them. I definitely look and feel less poofy. Hooray for good food! Plus I spent two hours working in the yard, raking, bagging, hauling brick and rock and today, I do not feel like some one has beat me. Then after dinner we all took advantage of the fabulous weather, back to spring in our area, and took about a 45 minute walk. Felt so good to have T-shirt on and just enjoy the breeze instead of freezing. We have had a crazy amount of snow. I went out one day to scoop and my porch steps had a snow drift across them that made it look as though my porch directly met the ground instead of being about 4 feet off of it!

Today is supposed to be 70!!! We are going to the parade, probably will walk down as parking is at a premium. Then I plan to turn the kids loose in the yard as it is now all clean and hopefully have time to give the dog a bath. I have been bathing her at night this winter, after she has gone out the last time so she would be good and dry before she ever needed to go back out. And her new flea/tick/worm meds are in so time to get that on her. After all and ounce of prevention right?

So my new thing to cook today will be parmesan and flax meal crusted chicken, shake and bake style. I suppose I will have to give up my peanut butter and flax muffins to make sure I balance my nut seed allotment, but at least I still have some snickerdoodle muffins! But I am proud of me. I love baked goods, they are a weakness. And even though the muffins are really good, I only pull a serving and do not even try to justify to myself over doing it by having just one more. I had several times last time around when I would bake the PB cookies and eat half the batch. I am not going to make those for a while though, just in case. Plus this time, I am making sure I plan my my day out better. Not just going, oh well, grilled chicken and veg here I come, but finding some thing awesome and tasty and really enjoying the process, and eating my snacks! Also, last time, since I over did it on PB cookies when ever I baked them, I would deprive my self of dessert half the time. Now I am making sure I have something sweet in the afternoon, my cottage cheese with cinnamon and sweetener, but also really broadening my horizons and finding other baked goods that aren't a trigger food. Which means every day feels like a treat day!

Okay, I really have a bad habit of rambling! I think I had better stop for the moment. Here is today's menu:
B: veggie quiche w/snickerdoodle muffin, tomato juice
S: 2 lettuce leaves w/red and yellow pepper strips, avocado
L: Parmesan/flax meal coated chicken with steamed veggie
S: Cottage cheese with sweetener and cinnamon
D: Loaded veggie salad with chick peas or black beans
S: Sf popsicle
Today is day 9 of P1! I know I did not feel this good about P1 last time as I feel right now. It is amazing the difference between trying to have a positive attitude about a food style change, and what celebrating that food style change feels like. I am so thankful that this time I am celebrating it!

[ladybugmom]

It was so pretty yesterday! We had the windows open, fans on low to pull in all of that glorious fresh air, so awesome!!! We did not make it to the parade, I was so tired at midday, I did not feel comfortable keeping track of my girls in such a crowd, but we did make it to the park!

My shake and bake chicken turned out awesome!. But it did taste rather salty. I was careful not to add any extra to it, it was just the parmesan. I think that will definitely have to be a once in a while meal. Today I am making turkey tostadas with a take on re-fried beans using black beans, caramelized onions, and home made guacamole. Yum! DH and I will have ours on crisp lettuce leaves and the girls will have a toasted, never have understood frying these at home, tortillas.

Oh, side note, down 7.2 pounds. Hubby is down 11 pounds and says he feels so much better and less blah.

Today is:
B: veggie quiche w/2 mini flax muffins, tomato juice
S: 1 Tbs peanut butter
L: Turkey tostadas
S: Cottage cheese with sweetener and cinnamon
D: Loaded veggie salad
S: SF Popsicle