Day 9: The Martini Diet

Today's Weight: 192.6
Wednesday's Weight: 192
Released/Gain:  + .6 pounds

I've been up and down a pound all week.  After drinking three martini's while watching Grey's and Private Practice with my husband...I lost a pound.  Weird.  I'm thinking there is a Martini diet in my future but I can only have two martini's at a time because I've turned into a light weight. 

I'm 9 days into Phase 3 and I'm beginning to think there really is a reason why you can't lose more during this Phase.  I still don't know now why....but I've been trying and it's not working.  I've almost resigned myself to the fact that I will be doing a second round of hCG in a few weeks.  I'm dreading it....but I will have to do it to get to the weight I want.  I just hope that Bobbi's hCG is still good when I can do it again. *fingers crossed* 

We are going to the movies today.  My first movie going experience since beginning the protocol and I'm a little bummed that I won't be able to eat popcorn and candy....but I'm going to bring some almonds, cheese and water.  Have you seen The Princess and The Frog?  I think the kids will like it.

We grilled steaks last night and they were soooo good.  I almost don't miss eating at restaurants anymore because we made just as good, if not better food at home.  And I'm loving the turkey, avocado, provolone wraps I've been making for lunch.  Who knew I could survive without carbs.  

Have you watched Oprah from this week when Dr. Oz was on?  I watched it yesterday and I'm going to watch it again with my husband.  It was about Diabetes and the effect of sugar on the body.  It was eye opening!  I have some research to do and then I'm going to blog about.

 

Low Carb Super Bowl Food

I'm pretty excited about watching the Super Bowl this weekend.  I like The Colts okay...but I love the commercials.  And eating.  I've been known to make some pretty elaborate appetizers  and cheese trays.  I've also been known to tie one one while eating to my hearts content.

But not this year..... 

This year, I'm in Phase 3 of the hCG protocol and I'll be enjoying 1.5 to 2 glasses of wine and eating these lovely treats!  Both are low carb but not low fat.  You can't have it both ways.....unless you eat a salad but how fun it that?


Jalapeno Poppers

24 Jalapeno Peppers
3 garlic cloves chopped up
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
8 oz Cream Cheese
12 bacon strips, cut in half

Make a lengthwise cut in each jalapeno, about 1/8 in deep; remove seeds.  Combine the garlic, salt and pepper and cheeses; stuff into jalapenos.  Wrap each with a pice of bacon; secure with toothpicks.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes.



Cream Cheese Roll Ups

1 jar Hormel Dried Beef
1 8oz tub whipped cream cheese
1 can diced green chiles

Mix cream cheese and chilies together.  Spread into piece of dried beef and roll up.  These make great finger food for parties and can be stored in the fridge for up to a week and a half.


Blue Cheese Dip

2/3 cup lite sour cream
2/3 cup crumbled blue cheese
1 tablespoon white vinegar

Whisk sour cream, blue cheese and vinegar in a small bowl, chill and serve.

Day 6: Phase 3

Today's Weight: 192
Sunday's Weight: 189.8
Released/Gain:  + 2.2 pounds

Here we are on day 6 of Phase 3 and I thought I'd give you a little update.  I'm up 2.2 pounds.  I'm not sure how that can be because I have been working out a little bit, working my way up from 15 minutes to 22 minutes on the elliptical.  But.... I have had some sugar.....

Those of you that follow my Mom Blog know that we were dealt some bad news this week.  My husband is an aerospace engineer and has been working on The Constellation Project for 3.5 years.  Obama cancelled that project on Monday.  Our future is uncertain right now and it's stressing me out more than I can tell you.

The good news is that I was able to resist pizza....just not M&M's.  I didn't even want the pizza which is really saying something because I used to love pizza.  Right now, I love avocados!

I've decided that I will report my weight on Wednesday's and Saturday's.  And I will post my plans for exercise during the week to keep myself on track.

Wednesday: Elliptical 25 minutes, Sit-ups, Arms
Thursday: Elliptical 26 minutes, Lunges & Squats
Friday: Elliptical 27 minutes, Sit-ups, Arms
Saturday: Elliptical 28 minutes, Lunges & Squats
Sunday: OFF
Monday: Elliptical 29 minutes, Sit-ups, Arms
Tuesday: Elliptical 30 minutes, Lunges & Squats

I'm getting excited for Sunday!  I have some low-carb appetizers planned to eat during the game and I'll be posting them soon.  What are you going to be eating during the Super Bowl?

It's Not Stealing if it's a Sample

Today's Weight:      189.8
Yesterday's:            190.4
Released:               .6 pounds

The scale went up a little bit over the last few days....but now it's going back down again. Thank Goodness! I think my body is adjusting to me adding some foods it hasn't had in a while and these items have more sodium in them than we're used to. I expected that.

What I didn't expect is that I would feel this good. That I would be so less likely to cave in to my old ways of thinking and eating. Let me tell you a story.

Every other weekend, I do my grocery shopping and I've started bringing Bobbi with me so that I'm accountable and don't accidentally buy a donut or something.  During the protocol, I'd walk past the bakery or the cereal isle and I'd look longingly at those things and feel bad that I couldn't have them.  Yesterday...I didn't want them.

We went to Starbucks and I did my homework before we left the house and I purchased a Skinny Vanilla Latte and I liked it.  I used to drink a full fat White Chocolate Latte and the last time I had one I couldn't finish it because it was too sweet.  I was looking longingly at a Rice Crispy Dream Bar...and Bobbi bought it and ate it in front of me.

We went to a couple more stores and I was starting to get hungry.  We were trying to get all the shopping done because of the snow storm coming today (we got about 3 inches overnight) and Calvin had some errands to run too.  So I needed something quick...but fast food and low carb don't really go together do they?

One of our stops was at a grocery store that had jars of peanuts on sale and I thought I would grab something from the deli....but all they had was fried chicken and other fried breaded stuff.  I was ready to just walk away and be hungry when I saw one of those plastic domed sample trays....and it had meat and cheese in it.  I got a super dirty look from the gal working in the deli for helping myself to a couple toothpicks full of sample but I was desperate!!

And it was perfect!  Just a little bit of food...protein, and then I was able to continue my shopping without blowing my diet!  I was so proud of myself!

This insistent got me thinking and I realized that the next time I find myself needing to eat and fast food is all that is available, I can always run into a grocery store and purchase a couple slices of meat and cheese from the deli.  And it's probably a whole lot cheaper than a burger or salad.

Now...I did end up doing something that I'm not very proud of.  My Dad called Calvin last night to complain about why I don't have a relationship with him anymore and he admitted that he's drinking a pint of vodka a day....and it doesn't look he's ready to quit anytime soon but he loves and misses me and the kids.  Of course, this upset me.  He loves drinking more than he loves us and I've accepted that and it's easier for me to just not think about him.

So...I had two glasses of wine last night.  Pretty stupid right?  I'm upset about my Dad's drinking so I have a drink.  Apple doesn't fall far....

I'd only planned to have one glass but that was before....the phone call.  Two glasses effects me a lot more after protocol than it used to......

Day 1: 1st Day of the Rest of My Life

Today's Weight:      190.2
Yesterday's:            189.6
Gained:                   .6 pounds


I've been thinking.....


Most times when I say that out loud my husband backs away and tries to hide his wallet.  The problem, in his opinion is that I'm always thinking and planning and this upsets his apple cart that requires that everything stay exactly the same all the times.


If you have children and they watch The Imagination Movers...you would recognize him as the character of NitNots.  If you aren't a children's show fan, I'll explain that NitNots is boring, wears beige everyday and doesn't like things that are too exciting. 


Calvin and I are proof that opposites attract.  I'm always analyzing, critiquing and planning (he'd say scheming) and I don't often like to follow the rules...I like to blaze my own trail.


And that is why I've decided not to follow the Phase 3 protocol and to do my own thing.  This may backfire.  I've looked at this a couple different ways and discussed it with Calvin, Bobbi and Jess.  I don't want to stabilize at this weight....and I really don't want to do the hCG again...if I can help it.


To maintain my weight...the calculator says that I need to eat 1947 calories a day.  I find this to be impossible since the smaller amounts of food that I became accustom to were filling me up.  Yesterday it was difficult for me just to eat 900 calories and I was full.  You'll notice that I gained .6 pounds, well...I'm having some issues of the bathroom variety...if you know what I mean.  Coming off from the hCG is messing with my system a little bit.


I really don't want to stretch my stomach back out with huge quantities of food.  I want to eat healthy and low carb (avoiding sugar and starch) and I'm going to start my exercise program finally. 


If this backfires and the hCG has truly made it impossible to lose on my own...I will do the hCG again.  But I feel like I have to try.  I don't want to become dependent on hCG for the rest of my  life every time I gain a little weight.  


I've re-read Pounds and Inches by Dr Simeons and I can't find that he explains WHY you must do exactly what he says.  He does mention a condition called hunger-edema, where your body retains fluids because of being on the verge of protein deficiency during the diet, once normal food is re-introduced.  He talks about adequate amounts of protein to combat this condition but doesn't say what amount is adequate. 


I frequent an hCG message board and when people ask about losing weight on your own after phase 2, they are firmly told to follow the protocol as instructed in Pounds and Inches and do not deviate. When I read these posts I feel like I'm in an episode of Seinfeld and in line for the Soup Nazi.  No one can explain WHY you must follow the plan.


I have to tell you that what I did eat yesterday...agreed with me so much.  I had so much energy and I felt so good!  We even went out to dinner and I used my iPhone App Lose it to make good choices and even thought the soup I ordered at RICE in it, I avoided it and just ate the liquid.  I loved my salad which I dipped in blue cheese dressing and enjoyed a single glass of wine. I slept really well and awoke refreshed.  


It's funny really, because about 3 days ago, I completely lost my craving for sugar. I've thought about baked goods and they don't sound good.  A salad with tomatoes and blue cheese sounds good.  A slice of avocado sounds lovely.  Eggs with some cheese on top...yum!  


Is it possible I've turned a corner?  One can only hope!