LM Day 4

So...yesterday was definitely a "FREE DAY"!!! Wowsers!!! I had a few beers (again...I know!) :) and then my parents went to Dairy Queen at like 10:30 at night...and I got a cookie dough blizzard...holy moly!!! It didn't even phase me until today and I feel awful about it...but oh well, I will get over it! lol I didn't even eat half of it though, it was way too sweet...I gave the rest to my daughter! Back on track today and hopefully my yucky stomach feeling will go away! Yesterday was 95 degrees here...with humidity...it was HOT!!! Now today it is cloudy, rainy and cool...darn it! High for today is 75...that's a 20 degree difference...oh the great midwest! Wishing everyone a glorious day!

Lifetime Maintenance Day 3

Down 1 lb from last week, 156...at least it's going in the right direction again! I was hoping for more since TOM is over, but I will take it considering my eating yesterday AND drinking a few beers the past two nights. I don't know what it is about summer that makes me enjoy a few beers on Friday nights...or Saturday or Sunday nights...lol I am confident that if I stick to my low carb diet throughout the week, I can get back down to my ldw of 152. Today is my free day, but I am going to try and not go too overboard. It seems a pattern these last few weeks that I am eating more and having more of a "free day" on Friday's so maybe I should change it and also weigh in on Friday's instead of Saturday's...hum I will see about that one! :) Gonna head out for a run before the heat comes!! Have a wonderful Saturday! :)

Lifetime Maintenance Day 2

I made Jen P's pancakes the other day and they were delicious but I couldn't finish them all...and I hate wasting food! lol Then I remembered a recipe I had for low carb pancakes and so I have made them the last two days and they are yummy too! :) They make 2 nice size pancakes. So here's the recipe and nutrition info if anyone is interested.

Low Carb Pancakes

1/2 cup almond flour
1 egg
1/8 cup water
1 tablespoon oil (I used EVOO)
1/2 tablespoon sweetener

Mix all ingredients together and cook as you would any other pancakes. The only difference is that they won't bubble on top like regular pancakes do.

Calories: 192, Fat: 17.9 g, Carbs: 2.3 g, Protein: 5.5 g

Tonight will be tricky...I have a wedding to go to and then a party at a friends house afterwards...and I weigh in tomorrow morning... :)

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!! :) Love to you all!

Lifetime Maintenance

Wow, I wasn't really sure what to call today...lol I guess from here on out it's just going to be lifetime maintenance! My day off yesterday was anything but!! I did a lot of running around and cleaning, I was very busy. I went for a nice run/walk in the morning for an hour, went about 3 1/2 miles. My legs are feeling it today, I don't run on the cement that often. lol

Today is a happy, but also somber day for me...my only daughter (child for that matter) graduates from 8th grade!! I am so proud of her, but it makes me sad that she is growing up so fast and will be in high school next year!! :( She is a wonderful young lady, I couldn't ask for a more well behaved, caring child! Wishing you all a happy day! :)

End of Phase 4

So today is day 21 of phase 4...which of course has had me thinking about my eating. I have been reading A LOT about artificial sweeteners and the dangers of them. It is so crazy the things they do to your body...so I have decided to challenge myself starting June 1. My challenge will start off with giving up gum! I chew A LOT of gum...usually have at least 8 different packs in my purse! But if my goal is to only put healthy things in my body, then this has got to go!!! I read the following on Cosmopolitan Primal Girl's blog and it was a real eye opener!!!! She wrote:

After reading Primal Body, Primal Mind – BTW, this is an amazing book and I highly recommend it. Especially if you’ve ever suffered from depression or other mental illnesses as 1/3 of the book is about modern day foods influence on these disorders. In the book, she writes, “Eliminate use of aspartame, sucralose (Splenda), acesulfame-K, saccharin and all other artificial sweeteners. Period. Avoid them like the plague. Studies show these are more likely to make you fat than thin, as well as increasing your risk for cancer and numerous other health problems.”

WOW is all I can say!!!!! My next challenge will be to give up ALL artificial sweeteners...I gave up diet coke already, which I thought would be tremendously hard, but wasn't hard at all, so if I can do that, I can do anything!!! lol I have been soda free since November 1, 2009!!!! :)

I made the pancake recipe that Jen P. posted on her blog a few days ago...YUMMO!!! They were heavenly and I couldn't even finish them all...very filling!! :) Well better get on with my first day of my mini-vacation...gonna go for a run!!! :) Hope you have a wonderful day!

R3 P4 Day 20

TODAY IS MY FRIDAY!!!! YAY!!!! :)

I have to get my butt in gear here!!! Tomorrow is my last day of phase 4, I can't believe it. Not that it matters too much, I will continue to follow my low carb eating style, but I really need to get back to the exercise. I still feel extremely miserable and fat from this past weekend...I hope that goes away by the end of the week...oh and I hope TOM gets out of here soon also, I am really sick of him!!! lol Gotta get my work done so I can enjoy my mini-vaca! :) Have a great day!

Here's a self portrait I took a few days ago...sorry for the chopped off head again! lol

R3 P4 Day 19

WOW!!!! It has been 4 days since I last posted, I have been so crazy busy...I missed my blog friends!!! :) So Friday night some friends came over for a cookout. They decided to grill thin steak meat for tacos...well needless to say I ate a taco...tortilla and all...then some rice and some bean dip with tortilla chips...wowsa!!!! Talk about carbs!!!! It was good, and I moved on, the only bad part being that I weigh in on Saturday mornings and despite all the carbs, TOM is hanging around!! lol So Saturday's weight was 157. :( I thought I would forgo my Saturday free day, but oh no, I had to go to Omaha for 2 of my cousins graduation parties...and I ate! I really didn't eat a lot, but I ate way too many sweets!! At the first party I had some BBQ chicken, plain potato chips and a piece of fruit pizza...not all bad, but the crust was definitely full of sugar, lol!!! Then there was some to die for looking chocolate cake, so I had one bite of it, most definitely too sweet so that was good! Then at the next party I had to try the potato salad everyone was raving about, so had about a tbsp of that, which was just okay (not sure what the rave was about lol) and some blueberry rhubarb crisp and another bite of cake (this didn't taste good either). Although I didn't eat much of anything, it affected me, my body was in sugar overload...headache and all!!!! I thought about weighing on Sunday morning, but was a little too nervous to do so!

Sorry for the long post, but like I said, it's been awhile, gotta catch everyone up! lol Moral of my story is that the things I used to eat on a daily basis don't even taste good anymore and only make me feel miserably sick!! What a nice feeling to never want to do that again! :)

This weekend at the races turned out much better than last so I know it will be a good week...oh and I only have to work 2 days!!! YAY!!! I took Weds-Fri off so I will have 6 days off in a row!! SO EXCITED!!! Hope everyone has a fantastic Monday!

R3 P4 Day 15

Back to work today...boo who!!! :( I still have this head issue...cold or allergies...whatever it is, it is driving me crazy!!!! The past 2 days my left side has been very bothersome...eye watering constantly and nose running!! UGH!!! I took some Claritin last night for the first time ever and not only did it not help, it had me up all night. I did not sleep well at all! Okay, enough complaining for now...hope everyone has a good day! :)

R3 P4 Day 14

Oh sweet day...I have the day off and the sun is shining...my windows are wide open and I am sipping on my coffee. Birds are chirping and the smell of nuts roasting in the oven. I am making a recipe I found at Mark's Daily Apple, called Sweet & Salty Primal Trail Mix and it smells delish!!! :) Here is the link if you would like to check it out: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/sweet-and-salty-primal-trail-mix/ I will let you all know how it turns out! :) I have a lot planned today, so I better get going...hope everyone has a fabulous day!!

R3 P4 Day 13

Wow what a day...busy, busy, busy and I am sick!! UGH!!! I don't know if I have a head cold or if it's allergies but I am miserable! Sore throat, can't breathe, all stuffed up, headache...I hate being sick!!! I did make the Bacon, Egg, Avocado, Tomato Salad that Jen P. posted on her blog...it was yummy. Made the family BLT's and I had my BEAT! lol I am super excited to have tomorrow off even though it won't start out too great. I have to go to my neighbor's funeral...he passed away on Saturday. :( He was 83 and lived a nice happy life! So I just decided to take the whole day off and enjoy the nice weather...today was fantastic, but I didn't get to enjoy it, so hopefully I feel better tomorrow!! The forecast for tomorrow is sun, sun, sun and 80 degrees!! YAY!!! =)

R3 P4 Day 12

Yesterday was NOT a good day! It started off with my work calling (I was on call this weekend) at 5:00 a.m. and just got worse from there! Ended with my husband's race car getting destroyed. He got crashed, which sent his car rolling over and catching on fire!!!!! He is okay though thank god!!! The car on the other hand....it's not in such good shape. It was a late night and of course neither one of us could get to sleep, and now here it is Monday morning. My hubby woke up very sore to say the least...poor guy, I feel so bad for him! This morning has started off pretty crazy as well at work...I sure hope it turns around soon! On a positive note, the weather was nice yesterday and is suppose to be nice and sunny all week!

R3 P4 Day 11

Well it's Sunday and my Saturday went way too fast!!! Hopefully today will be lazy and drag on because Monday always comes way too soon! :) I ate like crazy yesterday lol had a sub from Jimmy Johns for lunch and 2 pieces of pizza for dinner...wow!!! It was all very tasty, but I am super glad I didn't have to weigh myself this morning. LOL!!! Well, I better get to cooking Sunday morning breakfast...isn't that great...I love having Sunday morning breakfast with my family! Have a great day! :)

R3 P4 Day 10 Sunshine????

The sun is such a tease!!! It was out all day yesterday, started out bright & shiny this morning and now it's hiding again!!! I just want sunshine for more than one day, is that too much to ask? lol okay I am done with my want sun and warm weather rant for now! :) Just got home from the 5k walk I did this morning for child advocacy, it was a very nice walk, not a lot of people, but it was the first year for it so hopefully it will grow each year! I did really well with my eating yesterday...and then last night came and there were races (it was a special) and let's just say that my stressful week caught up with me and I drank 3 beers!! :) Still had a loss from yesterday thank goodness! :) I at still stuck fluctuating between 152-154, it's pretty crazy, I really hope to have good eating all week and get back closer to 150, I would really love to see 149!!! :) I need to get back to my exercising also...we have been slacking the past 2 weeks! The bad part of it all is that TOM is scheduled to arrive tomorrow...ugh!!

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend! :)

It's Friday!!!! R3 P4 Day 9

FINALLY FRIDAY!!! It has been a cold, stressful week...come on now...50 degree highs in May!!! That is just wrong!!! :) But today will be sunny and 70, things are looking up! :) I will eat low carb today, I will eat low carb today, I will eat low carb today....I weigh in tomorrow so I better get my butt in gear and get back on track!!!! I am going to participate in another 5k with my aunt tomorrow...this one is for child advocacy...another great cause! Hope everyone has a fantastic Friday!

R3 P4 Day 8

So yesterday was a very busy day of being out of town again...today will be super busy as well, but at least I will be in my office! :) Not much to say except that the last 2 days eating have been crazy...pms'ing and eating some bad things...gotta get this under control today! :) Wish you all a glorious day...will chat more tomorrow!

Here's today. Wish it would have been better...but what do ya do. It has been cold, rainy and gloomy ALL WEEK plus the fact that I have PMS...hopefully the sun will come out tomorrow ((*hopefully*)) and things will start looking up again! :) This log is a little different, I found a new site to enter it on which allows you to export to excel...pretty cool!

R3 P4 Day 6

What a busy, busy day!!! I was out of town all day for work...left at 8 am and got back at 5:30 pm, I am exhausted! I ate a personal pizza today, only 2 pieces with the crust...hope that goes okay. Gonna try to get a walk in, tan and then hopefully relax...have a great night! :)

R3 P4 Day 5

Yesterday's calories were a little more than I should be eating in order to lose, but the last 3 days of eating have been really weird...no real meals. That is so unusual for me, I normally always cook meals and my family eats together, but it gets busy on the weekends especially in spring and summer. Now that it's Monday we should have some normalcy! lol This week is suppose to be cool and rainy so I hope it goes fast...the weekend looks fantastic! :)

R3 P4 Day 4

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO ALL YOU MAMAS OUT THERE!!!

Yesterday was my first "free day". I didn't eat much, nothing sounded good. I did however graze throughout the day, eating my dark chocolate as I pleased and I had some macaroni and cheese with my dinner...that was strange, but looked good! lol I was thinking about pizza all day, then hubby decided we would go out for dinner, then other things came up and we ended up eating odds and ends at home! Got up early this morning and did the Susan G. Koman Race for the Cure 5k. It was awesome...3,000 people signed up and participated. I did it with my aunt and my daughter decided to join us! :) Here we are just getting started! My daughter and husband gave me a $100.00 gift card for mothers day so I can go shopping for new clothes!!!! Aren't they sweet...I love them so much!!! :)














Here's today's food & activity log:

R3 P4 Day 3

Happy Saturday!!! :) I am feeling much better today, not so bloated. I was thinking that I must be pms-ing because I felt so bloated and wanted chocolate the last few days, but the more I thought about it, I am a week off. I shouldn't be getting TOM until next Sunday...weird, but at least it's gone today! My weight and measurements were off a bit because of the wedding last weekend, I didn't weigh or measure last Saturday. I lost -0.6 lbs since last Sunday. My measurements stayed the same as they were 2 weeks ago, except my calf - lost 0.5 inch. I don't know how accurate last weeks weigh in was either because of the food I ate at the reception, plus I drank beer Friday and Saturday...geez! lol Have a great weekend...and happy mother's day to all the mothers! :) I may be late posting tomorrow because I am doing the Race for a Cure 5k in the morning with my auntie who has lost 50 lbs since the beginning of the year! :)

R3 P4 D2

Well as you can see from my food log yesterday, I did not do as well as planned! =)~ I had a slice of Ezekiel toast for breakfast which was fine, but then at dinner time I wasn't really hungry...I made my daughter grilled cheese and decided that's what I would have also, so I had two more slices...oh well, it could be worse! Oh yeah, it is worse! lol I also have PMS so there's the chocolate craving...I had 3 dark chocolate dove hearts AND a Whitman's sugar free assortment which had 3 small pieces of chocolate in it!!! But I will look at the bright side, I didn't have any real sugar, and the Ezekiel bread is good for you...but did you see my carbs for the day...I went over. Oh well, you can't be perfect all of the time! lol Today will be better and I am not going to feel guilty about yesterday! :) Looking back at yesterday again, if I track net carbs, I was at 100.8, so that's not so bad!

First Day of Maintenance

Hopefully today is the first day of my LAST PHASE 4!!!! :) I hope to be able to keep myself in check and not have to do hcg and the vlcd again! Hcg has done great, great things for me (a better word would be AMAZING) and I am so thankful I found it. Now I need to take responsibility and maintain my healthy lifestyle forever!!

I am not going to have any sugar or artificial sweeteners today! Wish me luck!

It's been a very busy week at work, and today is no different, lots to do so I better get back to it! Have a wonderful day everyone! :)

What I ate today:

R3 P3 Day 21

Well, today is the last day of phase 3! Going into phase 4, I am going to continue to follow the primal blueprint lifestyle that I have been doing this past week. As one of my inspirations told me, you have to start out small and take it slow. So I am trying to keep my carbs under 100 g daily and I am following the 80/20 rule. I have been successful with the carbs this week and hope to continue. I will use Saturdays as my "20% day" - where I can have sugar and carbs if I want. I do not feel deprived of sugar at all...I actually prefer the substitutes, if anything. As far as carbs, I would like an occasional potato, but my first carb will be Ezekiel English muffins!!! I love to have those in the mornings with some almond butter...yum! :) The life style I am currently living is amazing, I absolutely love it and will not change much at all! Hope everyone has a wonderful hump day!!

Oh, I keep forgetting, but I wanted to mention a crazy thing. I was addicted to sf french vanilla creamer in my coffee, as anyone who has read my blog knows. lol Anyway, I used it throughout phase 2 of my 3rd round, just because...well a few days into phase 3, it didn't even taste good and gave me a stomach ache...so I quit using it and....I have not had any since!!!! I am so happy!!! :) I have been just fine with heavy cream, so happy to not have all of that junk in my body. YAY!! Here's my food log:

R3 P3 Day 20

My weight has been stable...the exact same for the last 3 days!!! I have been staying under 100 carbs hoping I could lose the 2 lbs that I am over ldw, but nothing! lol I guess it's good to be stabilized, and I'll just keep hoping that once I get into phase 4 and get it all figured out, those lbs will come off. And if they don't...oh well, my clothes (the few that I have) still fit fine...my new size 8's that is!!!!! :):):) I will try to start posing my food log again, I just keep forgetting! lol

Here's my food for today:

Sorry that you couldn't read my file from calorie counter...here's my spread sheet that I keep, it's a little easier to read.

R3 P3 Day 19

The only thing I have to say is...IT'S MONDAY!!!!

Here is a picture from my beautiful, amazing cousins wedding...it's of us dancing! lol I think I look pretty skinny though...nice to see it in pictures! :)

R3 P3 Day 18 I think!

I have not been able to post in a few days...I think it's day 18 lol wow how time flies!!! I had a terrific time at my cousins wedding yesterday...it was so beautiful! :) This past week I have been pretty stable at about 2 lbs over my ldw and I have been eating pretty much whatever I want, except starches and sugars of course. Once I get to phase 4 I am really going to concentrate on my intake, especially my carb intake and hope to get back to ldw! I have not worked out in a week!!!! I have been so busy, I hope to get back to it this week because I feel so much better when I do! Today is a beautiful Sunday...wonderful temps and the sun is shining bright...better get out and enjoy it! Have a great day everyone! :)