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Yes, I missed this by two years, but so relevant:

R1P3D19-Steak Day again...

LIW 159.4
Daily Gain .7
Above LIW 2.5
Current Weight 161.8

Hi bloggy peeps, sorry for not writing since Friday.  The weather was beatuiful this weekend and I spent most of it outdoors, and when I did come in, my internet wasn't working, so no posts...My food this weekend was atrocious in terms of sticking to no sugar no starch, but delicious in my belly.  Sat night we went to our friend Kristen's birthday party, and as a treat for herself, she made mint chocolate chip ice cream cake (my favorite).  I decided to treat myself as well, knowing full well that I would most likely gain and need a steak day on Sunday (especially since I was only .2 away that morning).  And so I had a piece.  And it was so good I decided to have another piece.  And then I had three glasses of wine.  And then a chocolate brownie with strawberries and whipped cream on top.  Before those treats, I had tons of guacamole and buffalo chicken cheese dip.  If I was going to have a steak day anyway, might as well make it good.  OMG, it was wonderful.  And then yesterday, not one ounce gained.  YIPPEE!  Im sure it was because I was dehydrated from the wine, and the fact that I did a yoga class, and walked about 4 miles that day.  Either way, it was great.

Yesterday was the local Y's 5K that my hubby decided to run in (his first-great job, baby!), and afterwards they had our favorite water ice vendor and cookies, both of which I decided to partake in (maybe a little test to see how far I could go with this no gain thing).  We also went to lunch with hubby's parents, and I had onion strings and sweet potato fries in addition to my burger. Again, so good.  But that filled me up for most of the day, as did the 6L's of water I drank trying to counteract the food I was eating (another test).  But even after all the walking, water, espon salt bath, and number 2 bathroom fun this morning, I was still up .7.  Thats ok.  So on with the steak tonight.  And on with work, 9 more pages of my listing due today (so I really dont have time for food anyway is what im telling myself :)

Have a wonderful week, my friends.  You deserve it!

 

WTF?

LIW 159.4
Daily Gain 1.8
Total above LIW 3.1-ugh!
Current Weight 162.5
Food Tracker

How the HELL can I be so much over LIW when I did EVERYTHING right yesterday?  I ate well, I did not drink anything but water last night since they didnt have the wine I wanted, I drank lots of water (5 glasses at the bar alone), I came home early (10:45pm) while all the girls stayed out, got 8 hrs of sleep, and didn't do anything crazy during my workout yesterday (walked 50 min at 15/min ml pace, as per usual).  And TOM's not due for over a week. So WTF?

Made a roast chicken last night for lunch and dinner today, before I found out about this undeserved steak day, and I was so looking forward to eating it.  I had a few bites as part of dinner last night, and it was delicious.  Originally I was going to rotisserie it, but it was too big for the toaster oven.  As a result, I threw it in a roasting pan covered in olive oil, tomatoes, red peppers, and onions and let it cook at 325 degrees for 1.5 hrs.  So yummy.  That is definitely going to be my food for tomorrow, no matter if I'm up or not...If Im up again, then Ill just have a chicken day, instead of a steak day...

Oh well, its supposed to be 68 today, so Ill be headed out for a walk during lunch.  Take my mind off not being able to eat. 

Whats your action plan for today?  Hope you enjoy it!

ps-Ive been doing the 'whats the best part of my day' and 'whats one thing I love about you' with my hubby every night...and Im going to do it for myself too right now. The best part of my day yesterday was spending time with my kids after work while hubby was at Budokon (my sons were so cute chasing each other around. my biggest said the sweetest things to his brother...I love you little brother...you are so adorable..., he is so lucky to have a brother that loves him so much), and the thing I love about myself is my ability to go with the flow despite disappointment. I am committed to this weight 'release' journey and nothing is going to stop me!

Happy St Patricks Day!

LIW 159.4
Amount above LIW 1.2
Daily release .2
Current Weight 160.6
Food Tracker
Exercise: 3.46 miles at 15 min/ml pace: 270 calories burned

Two weeks into P3!  Whew!  The first scale I used this morning (that always has me guessing) said 163.5 and then 162.5, so I assumed my Wii Fit scale would say close to that, aka steak day.  But it has me .2 under yesterday, so I will definitely take that.  My body seems to like 160-161, and Im ok with that.  But I want the stomach bloat to go away...guess I would need to give up my daily whipped cream on strawberries fix for that, huh?

Being a true irish lass (well, only about 40%, but I have the name and green eyes), I am going to go out with the girls tonight and party it up in my green shirt, my kiss me Im Irish beads, and with these huge liter size green beer glasses that I don't drink out of anymore (since they're about 10 yrs old and too hard to clean due to their shape) but are always great props-aka conversation starters.  I'm going to have one glass of wine, and enjoy my much deserved night out after working like a fiend these last few days. 

What are you going to do to go GREEN today?  Whatever it is, have a wonderful time!

R1P3D13

LIW 159.4
Daily Gain .8
Current Weight 160.9
Above LIW 1.5
Food tracker

So up .8 today...could it be the cashews, the small amount of sour cream I used in my soup, or the swimming?  Does chlorine cause bloat?

I ended up swimming 1000m (~.63 of of mile) last night during the 1/2 hour I was there.  My coach threw me out at 9 saying he wanted to make sure I was back on Thursday, knowing if I stayed longer I might not be able to move my arms before Thurs.  It sure did feel good to get back in the pool...and despite the number of people at Masters last night, I stayed cool (its normally like a sauna in there due to construction).   I felt good, and I swam good.  All of Coach Ken's tips and tricks made my swimming more efficient so I wasn't as tired as I normally am, even after not being there for a while.  I wasn't any faster than I was before, but at least there was someone in my lane that was as slow as me.  :)  Im looking forward to going back on Thursday.

Busy week this week...still doing the endless listing, lots of meetings, girls night out for St Pats Wed, in the office (40 min from my house) tomorrow and Thursday, a week of free tanning to use up, grocery shopping and cooking needed...gotta go!

Make sure to do one REALLY nice thing for yourself today...even if you just look in the mirror and say, You're Beautiful (and MEAN it!).

Whenever you need a pick me up

R1P3D12

LIW 159.4
Daily loss 2.0
Above LIW .7
Current Weight 160.1
Spark People Food tracker

So I lost the two pounds I gained from my escapades Saturday night, and am comfortably within my 2 lb range. Clean eating today should get me down a little more, or at least not up. After blogging last night, I did 1/2 hour on the treadmill at a 16/min mile pace, and then relaxed in a hot epson salt bath (since my body was sore from yoga) with my hubby before calling it a night. Had trouble falling asleep for the first time in a while, though...and drifted off to slumberland around midnight.

Today I am busy doing listing review for work...its been taking me over an hour a page for review, since I need to check two databases while reviewing it and then writing queries. The bad news is that I need to review it again after my initial review for other issues, its 30 pages long, and I'm only on page 3! Ill be a busy bee this week. I also have more training at work this Thurs, meetings all week, and a home office to clean so I can find what I need to get everything done. At lunchtime, I am going to relax, however, and go tanning (free week long tanning coupon expires today)-its only for 8 minutes, so I wont be exposed for too long, but hopefully I'll feel brighter and more energized since its such a dreary day outside.

Tonight I plan to go back to Masters Swim at the Y for the first time in 5 months. Its basically like being on the swim team in high school...you do drills, and in the lane I'm in (the slowest), you normally swim 1600m (1 mile) in the hour/1.5 hrs you are there. They hold it M and TH nights from 8-9:30pm, and my plan from this point forward is to be there at least once per week. Tonight, since its my first night back since October, I will only be allowed to swim for 15-20 minutes (so as not to overdue it, and so I can move my arms and neck tomorrow), and I think thats about all I will be able to do. I am going to be so slow...especially since my shoulders are still sore from Saturday. Thats ok, though, it will be good to see my swim peeps again and get back into the water.

I need to get started on the Cto5K program again (if no pain/injury) so that I'm fully established before going into R2P2 (mid April is my start date). I am going to exercise all throughout P2 next time, so that will be interesting.

For those of you that exercise during P2, is there anything you avoid? Any tips?

R1P3D11-Fully Deserved Steak Day

LIW 159.4
Current Weight 163.1
Daily gain 2.0
Above LIW 2.7

Yesterday, I gained .4 and the day before that I was .3 above LIW, so that brings me to almost 3 lbs above LIW.  And this steak day is fully deserved.  Hubby and I went out to our favorite restaurant Honey for our date night last night (its been 60 days since Ive been there!)...and this is a restaurant that you do not make substitutions at since the menu is so artfully crafted and delicious.  You order small plates (tapas) and share.  I went with the full knowledge that I would ordering off the menu and that I might not be able to stick to the no sugar no starch deal.  Since the power was out due to the storm that we had last night, most of the meat dishes that had no sugar or starch were not available AND we ate by candlelight...meaning I couldn't really see the starches in order to avoid them, and I'm glad I didn't get higher than a 2 lb gain this morning.

My hubby and I shared:
Broccolini with crab and cheese fondue

Tuna with garlic aioli and tomatoes
Spinach and tomato torte-just one bite (and didnt have the torte part)
Coffee short ribs with fried shallots
Pear and goat cheese rissotto with butternut squash sauce- just one bite
Glass of pacific rim chenin blanc
And the topper, chocolate chili creme brulee

Can you say YUM?  Definitely!   I also had a big salad for lunch with roasted chicken, tomatoes, feta cheese, pepperoni and bacon, and for breakfast I had a few oopsie rolls with guacamole, and 6 pieces of uncured turkey bacon.  Hubby and I also did yoga yesterday, so there are all sorts of things I did yesterday that could have contributed to the gain.

Here's hoping that steak day works for me tomorrow.  I have tons of things I've precooked that I need to start eating before they go bad.

Today I went to an Endurance Sports Expo to get me ready for this Triathlon season, and purchased some new bike shoes and running shoes, both sorely needed.  I plan to start full training by mid June (after my second round of HCG) and do my first event in August.  I am going to do at least two sprints this season and one Olympic distance.  I also may do some aqua-velo events (just the swim and bike) since I dont know if I will be able to build up to running more than 6 miles due to pains my body has currently just from walking.  There is actually a 1/2 Iron distance event that is allowing an aqua bike, so I might do that.  It would be a 1.2 mile swim and 56.6 mile bike.  Im pretty sure I could handle that!

What about you?  What are your fitness goals for this season?  This year?

R1P3D9

LIW 159.4
Current Weight 159.7
Daily Loss .2

So I ate pretty well again yesterday, with the exception at dinnertime. I actually came home from my training ready to go work out, and once I went into the kitchen I realized how hungry I was and ate all my dinner at 4:45pm. See here for my food. I had cashews, which most people say dont have til later on in P3 or even P4, but they didnt seem to affect me, and they were SO good. But they also didnt fill me up like I thought they would. I could have eaten the whole can of them. And more whipped cream and strawberries, I LOVE THEM!

Today, I was happy to see that I am only .3 above my LIW. I might just be starting to get the hang of this. We shall see how tomorrow goes, however, as I added in a little cheese and egg today. I decided to make all the recipes I had been holding out on, and see how they taste. Kinda like a dry run for my later P3 weeks. I made cauliflower breadsticks (yum!) with mozzarella cheese-had 1.5 of them, oopsie rolls that have cream cheese(also yum, and I dont even like eggs)-only took a few bites of that, and had a chicken feta spinach sausage link for lunch (not so yum). I also made some zucchini latkes for my hubby and inlaws as well, since hubby complained there was nothing in the frig for him to eat....but I didnt have any of those, since I dont like how eggy they taste.

My sister in law is in town for FIL's birthday tomorrow, and we are headed out to Houlihan's for dinner. I would much rather not go to a chain since I know they have all sorts of sugar and starches in their food...but since we are bringing the kiddies and Grandpa doesnt want to be embaressed at a nice restaurant, thems the breaks. We will also be going out to lunch tomorrow before hubby's sister leaves...fingers crossed no more steak days this week with all this eating out.

Got my size 28 waist skinny jeans in the mail today. I ordered a pair of Seven jeans on craigslists in a size I knew I will fit into after round two (motivation and reward), and I decided to try them on. Yes, I was able to get them on...though they did get stuck on my butt. From the front, they looked like they fit, and then on the back you could see a big part of my butt crack...that made me laugh so much! It is going to be so great to fit in them come June!

And as promised from yesterday, here are my measurements for today (just from the last week-can you believe Im down another 3 inches off the HCG-I think I measured wrong!)-click to make larger:

And for those of you in P3 that are missing crackers, I just came upon this cracker recipe that sounds pretty yummy.

Recipe: Cheese crackers
1 block shredded or coarsely grated parmesan reggiano, rind removed (or any type of hard cheese)
Seasonings of choice IE Italian herbs, cajun spice, dry hidden valley ranch seasoning, etc etc
1 nonstick skillet
1 large round cookie cutter (optional)
1 small bowl or cup (optional)

1. Heat skillet on medium heat.
2. In small bowl, combine spices/seasonings and parmesan cheese untill optimum flavor is obtained.
3. Place cookie cutter in skillet if you are OCD and require perfectly round parmesan crisps. Sprinkle thin layer of cheese with seasonings into the cookie cutter, or if you're not using it, into a thin pile on the pan's surface.
4. Wait untill cheese melts into a crisp cracker.
5. Remove from pan.
6. Repeat 17 times.

PROTIP: If you want to make some stylish bowls for party hor dourves, immediately after cooking one cracker, take it out and drape it over the top of the small glass or the back of a small bowl to create a crisp little parmesan cup. You can serve all sorts of little goodies in here, like bruschetta, prosciutto and basil for one potential combination.

Do this only if you want to make your own. Otherwise, you can get the Kitchen Table Bakery's All Parmesan Gourmet Cheese Crips, which I have heard are delicious.

Off to a meeting, have a great rest of the day. See you tomorrow after my 1st yoga class since before P2!

R1P3D8

LIW 159.4
Current Weight 159.9
Daily Gain .7

Off to a training today, so not much time to write. Suffice it to say, I had 1900 calories yesterday and not too bad a gain, despite not working out. Hopefully today will be a good eating day despite being at the office.

Here is a link to my food from yesterday....and Ill be sure to post my measurements tomorrow, so stop by.

Everyone had a wonderful Thursday...see you tomorrow.

Things I have learned from Dietgirl

God, do I love this post from DietGirl called Things I have learned, aka Sermon on the Blog:

Laugh at yourself. Especially when you screw things up!

Don't compare your progress to other bloggers, instead be inspired by them (ie. steal their ideas!)

Try to reduce the self-loathing. I'm not saying you have to look in the mirror and chant, "YOU ARE A WINNER!", but it really doesn't help to stand around yelling at your thighs.

Remember that the weight loss industry exists to make money, whether it's Weight Watchers or Slimming Magazine or the CSIRO or Dr Gillian McKeith. Even though they all help in their own ways, they don't have all the answers and they really want you to buy the Choco Crisp Bars or send away for the Pilates DVD. Take bits and pieces from what they tell you and clobber it together to make your own way of doing things. Don't let anything be a substitute for thinking for yourself.

Don't put things off until you Get Skinny. Try something crazy and new. If you fail, just don't blog about it!

Deal with The Past.

Look at the Big Picture or look at the Little Picture. Whichever is easiest to stomach at the time!

Don't disappear up your own arse. Losing weight seems to bring a lot of introspection and lightbulb moments, but don't let this journey take over your life.

Accept that you are moody, inconsistent and full of contradictions. What worked for you yesterday may shit you to tears tomorrow, and for no reasonable reason!

Never eat lentils before you do squats or lunges.

Just because you think everything is about your weight, don't assume everyone else sees it that way. Often other people are much better at seeing past your fat than you are.
Just because you lose weight doesn't mean your old fears and problems will disappear. Example: If you were scared of rollercoasters when you were 350lb you may still shit your pants at the thought of them 160 pounds later!

Fage Total Yogurt is the best thing to come out of Greece since Plato.

Things won't change overnight. It takes time, trial and error to forge a healthy lifestyle and figure out what works for you. The difficulty of this task increases by tenfold increments depending on how many times per week you used to visit McDonalds Drive Thru.

Don't let the fear of loose skin, belly rolls or flabby arms stop you. Do you think Oprah worried about her bingo wings? No. She just flap-flap-flapped and flew away to world domination!

If you're still worried about your flabby arms, move to Scotland. You can get away with long sleeves for about 364 days a year.

Even when you royally screw up – over and over and over again – you can pick yourself up again. As long you never stop believing you will get there in the end.

R1P3D7-Below LIW!

LIW 159.4
Daily Loss .9
Current Weight 159.2
Below LIW .2

Yippee!!!!! Im .2 below LIW. I thought I was going to see 1.5 increases and decreases for the next 15 days, so this is such a good thing! I ate pretty clean yesterday, in addition to adding olive oil (a little amount makes a BIG calorie punch), and trying a few things that aren't really P2, but aren't bad for most on P3: some heavy whipping cream (2 tbsp) on top of strawberries, some pork skin topping for my chicken, and the sucralose from the Walden Farms BBQ sauce (which I LOVE except for the minor aftertaste and little queasiness in my stomach after eating it).

I'm glad to see that having strawberries for my fruit is still ok for my body. I just had an orange, which I know is allowed in P2, but I never tried it, so we'll see how that goes tomorrow. I also took an epson salt bath last night...luxuriating in it for an hour with a good book right before bed (hubby and the kids went to bed early so it was all about me!), so that could have helped release some water.

Yesterday I walked for the second time this week: 45 minutes at about an 15 min mile pace, and my calves were aching and my right foot hurting. I had hoped that my decreased weight might help me avoid the pain that started last year, but nope, its still there. Im going to have to look into getting new shoes and starting up my chiropractic sessions again.

For those of you intested in seeing what I ate yesterday, I downloaded it from SPARKpeople. I'm going to have to see if I can set up a daily link to this so you can check it out every day without me having to post it (click to make larger):

Looks pretty good, huh? Now I just need to keep my enthusiasm over my loss in check so I don't get out of control again. Stick to basic foods, make sure there are plenty of prepared meals and veggies and fruits in the frig, and really sit down, pay attention, and enjoy my food, and this should work ok. And thanks to Beaker, Im going to track my food for reference, but I'm not going to worry about the calories (unless I start really gaining and cant figure out any other culprit).

Happy Wednesday everyone...enjoy Hump Day!

R1P3D6-Kelly Exposed

LIW 159.4
Current Weight 160.1
Weight above LIW .7
Daily Loss 1.5

Looks like my body really likes being at 160.1 or 161.6. No matter how much steak I eat (about 17oz last night), it goes back to the same place. Today I am going to eat P2ish all the way, and add in some fish oil and some olive oil and see what that does to the scale tomorrow. I have had roasted chicken (120gm) and some Walden Farms BBQ sauce with tomatoes, onions, and a little olive oil so far...approx 175 calories, and will eat 4 other mini meals today in addition to drinking my 3L or more of water to get the fat, protein, and water I need. And just in case, I have two other steaks waiting for grilling in the frig.

On another note, throughout the blogosphere, there are so many inspiring tales of woman getting in touch with and learning to love their bodies. I think it is so important to get to a place of self love prior to beginning any weight loss journey so that you love your body at every stage and be so impressed with what your body can do. I know that I struggle with that...some days are wonderful and some days bad, but I know that my body is an amazing vessel that can do so much...such as hauling 13 yards of mulch around my back yard when I was 7 months pregnant, nourishing and birthing two children, and completing my first sprint triathlon after only 6 weeks of training in 2007.

Mish over at Eating Journey, posted the most amazing entry back in October of 2009. She wrote "I decided that I wanted to do something for myself, that shows who I really am. I can/could write all of the things which I hate about my body: wish I was stretch mark free, didn’t muffin-top, had a six pack. However, I have this body..in the stage that it’s in. I have to love it, accept it for what it is…and look forward to its positive changes" and posted a picture of herself EXPOSED.

She has inspired me to do the same. Here I am baring all (somewhat) for body love. I love you ole body of mine, and I am so PROUD of you:

Through the aches and pains, the illnesses, the trips to the zoo, an ectopic pregnancy, the birth of two sons, jumping out of an airplane (twice), the totaling of my car, everything-you have supported me, and I so appreciate it.

What do you appreciate about your body?

Time to make a plan

I had all these grandious ideas for P3, and now that I am in it, I realize that I didn't get specific enough and I feel like I have no anchor to ride me through this sea of instability. So its time to get specific, and come up with a plan that will follow me through these next 16 days and beyond so I can feel great, get rid of the bloat, and most importantly, feel IN CONTROL!

So here goes. Ill break it down into supplementation plan, food plan, exercise plan, and mental wellness plan. Please dont hesistate to contact me if you have any questions about my plan or would like help in creating your own (im really good at doing this for others, just not so great for me):

Supplementation plan

• Add in 1 tbsp of Fish Oil per day (perhaps two), and find out if I can chase it with orange slices without having any weight or candida issues. If not, see how the pineapple affects me.
•  Yazo yeast supplements-1 daily at night
•  Woman's Multivitamin-1 daily
•  Candida Cleanse tablet 1/2 hr before meals
•  Magnesium/Potassium supplement as needed for bowel movement and appetite
•  Look into 2000mg Vitamin D to increase mood and feelings of well-being
•  Other supplements I am considering:
•  Glucosamine/Chrondrioton dependent on how my body feels after working out for a week or more 
•  Collodial Silver for immune support and candida cleansing 
•  e3 Live to get some good greens in me

I don't really like to take supplements, but I need to start taking better care of myself, and this is #1.

Food Plan

•  2 menu with added fats, such as olive oil, coconut oil (and fish oil noted above)
• Test out various veggies-one new one per day to see what affects me
• Test out my fruits-try to continue with two/day but drop if affects weight or candida
• Slowly add in dairy in week three
• Try nuts in week two or three (when not testing veggies or fruits)
• Two extra steaks in the freezer at all times
• Come up with portable snack ideas that fit the protocol (if fruits dont work out)
• Try chicken days and apple/cheese days if bored with steak or to see how they work
• Make sure there are cooked proteins in the frig, in addition to fruits and veggies on hand
• Try to prepare meals for the week on one day

Exercise Plan

• Yoga twice a week (once a week minimum)
• Cardio (treadclimber, walking, jogging, elliptical, swimming, biking) 3xs per week for 30 minutes minimum  
• Begin to add in weights and 30 day shred video after 14 days of P3 and track weight closely (try not to add any new foods then to know the effect of the weight training)
• 10 pushups and 20 situps 4x's per week during commercials, adding 2 and 5 respectively per week
•  Rebounding 5 minutes at least every other day while saying mantra: Every day in every way I am getting thinner, stronger, and happier (that could go under mental wellness plan as well)

Mental Wellness Plan

• Hypnosis script at bedtime on ipod
• Espon salt bath twice a week
• Body brushing before showering
• Deep breathing for two minutes once a day
• Reading for pleasure15 min a day
• Telling my husband my favorite thing about my day every night, and give him one reason I love him (and discussing his day as well)-with no TV on.
• Sauna once per week once it re-opens at the gym
• Weekly date night with hubby...try to pick outings that don't involve food
• Get outside for enjoyment at least once a day for 10 minutes-no rushing, no stress