Weigh-In Feb 27

I'm down to 211.5 today, so down 3.5 lbs from last week. I think I would have been down more except that I fell off the wagon this week. We went out to dinner Friday night with David's company and I was prepared to follow my diet until I got there and we didn't get to order, it was a pre-ordered meal. So I thought I would just go with the flow, pop off the diet for one night and then get back on track. So I did (and by the way the creme brulee was amazing!) But then on Saturday I had crazy carb cravings and ended up eating pizza for dinner. Then on Sunday I ate a whole bag of my favorite Easter jelly beans.

:Hangs head in shame:

It's amazing now to see and feel my reaction to sugar. Not only physically, the blood sugar spikes and headaches. But also the cravings they trigger, for foods I haven't craved in weeks. I'm eager to get back on the plan this week. Though I desperately need to go shopping first. My fridge contains mostly condiments right now. One thing I've learned doing this is that I always need to keep food available that I can eat. One of the best parts of low-carb is that you can eat whenever you're hungry.

So onward we go. I'm hoping to lose the rest of my anniversary weight this week, and then hoping to hit my 20 lbs weight loss goal the next week. Now go drink some water and check back Wednesday.

Denial and Comfort

All right I'm back. I'm still in total denial that my anniversary vacation is over. You know how it feels when you look forward to something for so long, and enjoy it so much? It's so anti-climatic to come back down to earth. So in response I did pretty much nothing this week except work through 2 seasons of the X-Files on Hulu.

However I DID restart my low-carb diet and it's going great. It feels comfortable to me now, easy and second nature. It's so nice to be on a diet where I don't feel deprived and frustrated all the time. So while my productivity is at a low this week, my weight loss is full steam ahead.

So this week I want to share with you one of my new favorite low-carb snacks. This is what I make in the evenings if I feel hungry at all.

Deli Roll Ups

Thin slices of your favorite lunch meet
Dill pickles
Cream Cheese

Yup that's it! I like to layer a slice of turkey, ham, and salami then spread a little bit of cream cheese down the center. Take a pickle and quarter it lengthwise and lay one on top of the cheese. Then roll it all together. Use whatever meat you want to. You don't need much of the cream cheese (remember if you're counting carbs that while cream cheese is low in carbs it still has some). My kids think these are so much fun to eat. Last night I was feeling lazy so I made myself a salad and 3 of these to go on the side. Super yummy.

Tonight my husband's company is taking us out to eat. Luckily we're going to a steak house, one of the easiest restaurants to go low-carb at. Looking forward to a nice low-carb evening with my hubby.

Check back in Monday for weigh-in! I'm really hoping to have lost the weight I gained on my trip.

Weigh-In Feb 20

I picked my new quote hoping it would sink in but it's not really helping at all. I'm terribly sad that my anniversary week is over because it was soooo much fun! I've been a mom for almost 9 years now, and I love it. There's no job I'd rather be doing. But it was wonderful to take 5 days and to just be Amy. To sleep when I was tired, and eat when I was hungry, and only do what I wanted to do. It was precious time and was such a wonderful break for me and David.

But now it's Monday again, sadly, and life must press on! Like I said last week I didn't follow my low-carb diet during my vacation. So my weigh-in today was 215, up 6 pounds from last week. And for once I don't regret a single pound, every single one was worth it. But now I'm back on the wagon and hoping to see that weight fall back off again. I'm excited this week because my husband is coming on board the low carb train with me which makes cooking much simpler.

Check back in Wednesday for some photos of my lovely trip. Now go drink some water!

Weigh-In Feb. 13th

Progress continues! I lost a little more than 3 lbs this week and I also lost 3 inches. I'm still very excited about my low-carb diet and it's been surprisingly easy to stay on it. The only time I've been tempted to jump off the wagon was today when I became too stressed. Yesterday on the way home from Granna's house our car (our only car) died on the drive home. Today we found out it's going to cost $1600 and a whole week to repair it. Then today my 6 year old had some dental work he had to be sedated for, and tomorrow I'm scheduled for a out-patient procedure myself. This all is happening 2 days before my husband and I are scheduled to leave for 5 days. So stress levels were up today and the apple crisp in my fridge started to seem more and more appealing. Funny how we have those triggers built into us, isn't it?

Valentine's Day is this week but there's a more important date for me this week. Wednesday is my 10th anniversary. My goal was to be under 200 lbs by my anniversary and I'm a little disappointed that I didn't make it but so excited that I found something that's working for me. I'm even more excited that when we get back my husband wants to go on this diet with me and train for a 5K in April. These kind of things are so much easier when someone is doing it with you.

So we're leaving on Wednesday and I can guarantee you that I will not be following my low-carb regimen this week. After all you only have a 10th anniversary once, right? So I'll be back to post and weigh in next Monday. Hopefully I won't gain too much but I plan to relax and have fun this week. Hope you all have a lovely Valentine's Day.

Spinach Quiche

This has been my favorite low-carb recipe so far. It is rich and hearty and has so much flavor in it. Even my kids devour this. If you're not low-carbing you can switch the cream out for milk. Use any cheese you'd like, mozzarella would reduce the fat content if that's a concern for you. Pepper Jack would spice it up if you like a little heat.

Crustless Spinach Quiche

4 strips bacon
1/2 Cup green onion, chopped
6 1/2 Ounce-weights frozen chopped spinach
4 large eggs
1 Cup heavy cream
1 Cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1/4 Teaspoon salt
1/8 Teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 Teaspoon ground pepper
sprinkle of parmesan

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Lightly grease a 9 inch pie pan.
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add bacon and cook until desired crispiness. Remove from pan and set aside. Add onions to hot pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft. Stir in spinach and continue cooking until excess moisture has evaporated. Coarsely chop bacon.
In a large bowl, combine eggs, cream, cheese, bacon, salt, nutmeg and pepper. Add spinach mixture and stir to blend. Pour into prepared pie pan. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese if desired.
Bake in preheated oven until eggs have set, about 30 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving. The serving size in the recipe is 1/4 of the quiche, but my kids usually share that serving between all three of them. This is really good the next day too.

Let me know if you try it, and what you think.

Sugar Tolerance

Today I had to do a glucose tolerance test. I'm sure a lot of the women here will understand what I'm talking about. You fast for 8 hours, then drink something that tastes similar to orange crush, then fast 2 more hours and have your blood drawn. I've had this test done 7 or 8 times in the last 10 years. It's never really bothered me, I drank my weird orange soda thing and moved on. No big deal.

But this time I have been off sugar for almost 2 weeks, and I'm used to eating every 3 hours or so. So I went to chug my orange glucose drink and almost gagged. It was so disgustingly sweet! Cloyingly so, like drinking straight syrup. That was the first moment I realized that this diet has changed my tastes. I got the whole drink down finally and within 10 minutes I had a raging headache, in a few more I felt dizzy and weak. I felt horrible! That is how I used to feel after I ate all the time, man I do not miss that feeling at all.

I read recently that people who try to quit smoking aren't afraid of never smoking again, they're really afraid of always wanting to smoke. Of never getting rid of the cravings. I totally understand that, it's how I felt when I used to diet. I could deny myself those foods I craved but I always craved them. That's what I am loving about this diet. I am never hungry anymore and I have literally no sugar cravings.

Anyway, hopefully my weight loss isn't de-railed this week by the sudden influx of carbs. I have just one week left until my anniversary and I would love to be under 210 for it! Check back on Friday for a delicious low-carb recipe.

Weigh-In Feb 6

It's Monday again which means I have an appointment with my scale. But not just any scale, my brand new, shiny scale I got for my birthday. That's right I used my birthday money to buy myself a new scale that tracks weight loss and calculates body fat percentage. I know that makes me a little strange, but what are you going to do?

This morning, after one week on my low-carb regimen, I stepped onto my new shiny scale for the verdict. Last week I was 217.5 and this week I was 212.5! Five whole pounds this week. So happy! Not only did I lose 5 lbs this week but I re-measured myself this morning and I also lost almost 6 inches!

I'm loving this new diet. I almost never feel hungry anymore and I don't crave sugar at all. For the first time in years my blood sugar is stable, I don't have sugar crashes or the dizzy spells I had gotten used to. I'm eating more vegetables than I ever have before and food tastes so much better to me. Overall I'm just so happy that something is finally working for me.

I'm starting to think that I might actually get under 200 lbs again. Hopes been hard to come by the last couple of years where it came to my health. This week I'm also going in for testing to find the cause of our recurrent miscarriages. Wish me luck. And tune in later this week for some of the yummy recipes I've been making this week.

Cheesy Cauliflower Mash

Let me start out by apologizing for the lack of post on Wednesday. Me and dental work to no mix well, especially without very strong pain meds. I'm starting to feel better now though so onward.

The low-carb diet is going great! I can't believe how easy it's been to stay on the plan. I've been eating very yummy food, I haven't been hungry in between meals, and my energy levels have been very high. I'm losing weight too, can't wait for weigh-in on Monday to see how much.

Until then let me share a super yummy recipe I made last night. (I really need to photograph my food, I'll try better this week). This is a recipe adapted from one on the Atkins website.

Cheesy Cauliflower Mash with Onions

2 c cauliflower florets
2 tbs EVOO
3/4 c chopped onion
2 tbs cream or milk
1 cup cheddar cheese
1 ts salt
1/2 t pepper

Steam or boil cauliflower florets until soft and then mash.
Saute onions in oil until opaque.
Combine cauliflower, onions, and cream or milk. Mix until well combined. I used a handblender to get is smoother like mashed potatoes. Salt and Pepper to taste, then add the cheese and stir til melted. Tip: If you use a sharper cheese you can use less and get the same flavor.

This makes 4 servings at 4 net carbs a serving. If you're not doing low-carb you can make it lower fat by using milk instead of cream and using less or low-fat cheese. This only took like 10 minutes to make.

Dental Day

Sorry, I had a whole post planned about the wisdom (or lack thereof) to weighing yourself every day. But today I had a root canal and I'm feeling woozy and sore. So it will have to wait for Friday. So, do you weigh yourself every day, why or why not? I'll tell you my opinion on Friday.