Moving, again

Hi all,
I'm admittedly fickle when it comes to where to park my blog! I'm moving again to:
http://minthickandthin.wordpress.com
....please update your bookmark and RSS feed.


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Six Pound Summer Challenge Begins!

It's due time to dust off the ol' blog and put it to use!

So when you listen to this week’s episode of Low-Carb Conversations with Jimmy Moore & Friends, you will hear me announce that I am giving myself a Six Pound Summer Challenge! My goal is to lose 6 pounds by Labor Day.

I have been at the same weight with minor fluctuations for a lonnnggg time. I would like to lose another 20 or maybe even 30 pounds in total, so that’s not going to happen unless I lose the first six!

Why six, why not 10? 8? 15? There is a method to my madness in this regard. I think a pound a week is a nice steady weight to lose. It *should* be doable for a lowish-carb-Paleo eater even if she is getting old and struggles with adrenal, cortisol, and thyroid issues. So I should be shooting for 8 pounds, right? Yeah, but I know this about me…my body will NOT let go of that pound during, you know, THAT week each month. It just won’t! So I won’t fight it. I’ll play along and make six pounds my goal.

How do I plan to do this, when I’ve been at status quo for so long, you might ask? I have a few ideas:

Stop eating so much! I’ll be keeping my macro-nutrient level pretty close to what it is now, but I know I need to eat less of it. The Paleo rule-of-thumb is to eat when you want to eat but to avoid weighing and measuring and counting. I will NOT be logging my food. I’ve gotten away from that and I think I’m more mentally healthy for it. But I know when I’m eating because I want to eat and when I’m eating because I’m hungry and plan to pay much more attention to the latter. I also plan to make my 3 meals smaller. Maybe subtract an egg at breakfast, make my lunch look more like a snack, and make sure dinner includes a big salad with my meat.

Don’t eat after dinner! We eat dinner at around 6 PM at night. I go to bed at about 9 PM. There is no reason to eat in this short window and when I do eat then, it’s the SF ice cream, the excessive dark chocolate or even the occasional corn tortilla chip! None of it is needed, nor nutrient-rich. I’ll still have my square of 85% cacao Ghirardelli or Green & Black but I’ll do it right after dinner and be done with it.

Keep walking! I am a cool-weather exerciser. I HATE to sweat. And it’s July! We do not have central air conditioning. So, with my dear husband’s cooperation, I’ll continue to dog-walk each night but may even need to switch that to later in the evening when the sun’s gone down. I will continue to do some strength training, which is probably even more important.

So that’s the plan! It’s not earth-shattering, by any means. It’s basically to keep doing what I’m doing but tightening up the loose ends. Be sure to listen to our of Low-Carb Conversations with Jimmy Moore & Friends on September 2nd to see how I make out! So what do you say? Will you join me?

What is your summer challenge to yourself? What can you do to change where you are in the next 8 weeks? Are you stuck, too? Do you want to change your fitness plan or set a new goal for your workouts? Maybe you haven’t started eating low-carb or Paleo/Primal yet and want to give that a try to see how you feel….if so, JOIN ME! Go to the Facebook page for the podcast and tell us what your goal is and we’ll all support each other! C’mon! It’ll be fun!

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Pizza, pizza,

I thought I would try my hand at making a recipe video. Dana Carpender and Sarah Fragoso do not have to worry that I will be competing with their cookbook sales anytime soon! I don't create recipes, I read them! I don't know what it is, but searching for recipes is relaxing and fun for me. So by all means, watch my video & have some pizza!







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iTunes, anyone?

This just in!  "Low-Carb Conversations with Jimmy Moore & Friends" is now on iTunes!  We are super excited!  Click HERE for the direct link and PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE leave us a good review.  If you have criticisms or suggestions, we'll take those too, but please post them here or at LowCarbConversations.com

Getting My Blog On

Lately I’ve been having trouble getting my blog on!  It’s not that I’m not interested in writing, it’s just that I’m spending so much time reading, that there is no time for writing.  Reading and listening, that is, as I am an admitted podcast-o-holic!  There are so many bloggers out there with something to say – really smart things to say – that I get wrapped up in their thoughts to the point that by the time I synthesize it into my own beliefs and thought process, that I’m just out of time!

So a quick update for both of my readers (ha!):  I have been SlowBurning at home.  At first I thought it was not effective.  Keep in mind, it’s been a longggg, cold winter in these parts – and in fact it still is with a good 2-3 feet of snow all over my yard – and my physical activity has been non-existent with the exception of a bit of snowshoeing and dog walks.  So I expected PAIN with the first session of Fred Hahn’s SlowBurn.  It was hard – it’s hard to go slow – and the next morning I woke up feeling nothing.  Later that day, I had been sitting at my desk for a couple hours and decided it was lunch time.  I got up to go to the office kitchen and HOLY COW, it was all I could do to walk!  Every muscle hurt and I felt GREAT!  So I’ve done that a few times and my dear Husband has been helping me – he watches and times me, makes sure my moves match those in the book.  I am hopeful that Fred is going on the Low-Carb Cruise and that I can get some tips on my technique.   I also want to ask Fred if I can substitute an exercise ball for the towels to do crunches.  These feel sketchy to me with my old back injury and subsequent surgery.  I feel like I need more support.

Other than that, the big “event” in my life currently is my infected little toe.  Oh, I am in so much pain from this little appendage that it’s almost comical.  In some regards, I am glad that it’s still cold and slushy and gross outside because if it was 50 or more degrees, I’d be itching to walk.  And as it is, I can barely get around my house!  Getting the groceries was torture this week.  I’m on an antibiotic but it doesn’t seem to be doing much.  And because I was hobbling around to protect my toe, I put my back out of whack!  This interrupted my SlowBurn for a few days.  If there’s not some significant improvement with this ailment, I might ring up my Doctor again tomorrow.

Otherwise, my diet is pretty good.  I had a run-in recently with some Hershey Miniatures at the office.  I ran out of sugar-free chocolate but just put in an order for some more (if I can’t stay out of it, then I need to make sure it won’t effect my blood sugar!)  I’ve been following Dana Carpenter’s recent egg-fast and I’m going to do my own modified version.  I started yesterday.  Eggs for b’fast and lunch, regular low-carb dinner with the family.  I’m hoping a week (or more) of this will move the needle on the scale.   Seriously, I have a CRUISE coming up!  I want to feel as good as I can!

Oh yeah, and there’s this little podcast that I do with Jimmy Moore…we’re gearing up for a big recording day which is so exciting!  Thus, the excessive reading as noted in paragraph #1!  I love getting to know these folks who are new to me and reading about their thoughts and views on low-carbing, and hearing about their journeys.   Very cool.  Very inspiring!

Thanks for stopping by!  Please leave a comment so I know you were here!

Welcome Low-Carb Conversationalists!

If you’ve happened my way as result of the new podcast, Low-Carb Conversations with Jimmy Moore & Friends, WELCOME!  I’m a fledgling low-carb blogger with no science or health background.  Here I share my experiences in my n=1 experimentation as I tweak my way to a healthier, thinner life.  It may take me a longggg while to get there (though I am thankfully quite healthy!).

Thanks for stopping by, leave a comment, add me to your RSS reader, and enjoy the ride!   I’m very interested in meeting you and hearing your story so please share!!

Fast Forward

Sorry, loyal followers, that I’ve skipped a beat or two here on the ol’ food blog!  I had quite a week last week and while I did have time to eat, I didn’t have time to blog about it!  I hope to be getting back into a regular routine again both with chronicling the journey and with the quality of my meals. 

In summary, I was good as gold right up until Saturday where I kinda when awry with too many carbs.  And not the good ones!  Potato chips, cookies & Hershey’s Miniatures were among my fare for Saturday and Sunday and part of today!  I’ll give myself a “pass” for Saturday – it was about survival – but Sunday and today were just overkill.

Stay tuned.  I’m not perfect at this lifestyle.  I’m 100% sure that I will slip and fall again – the victory will be in longer periods of time between these events!

~Min

February 28, 2011

Wake up:  5:00 AM

6:45 AM – Iced Coffee

8:30 AM – Root Beer “Float”

11:15 AM – Omelet – 2 eggs, Swiss cheese, Boar’s Head Sweet Slice ham, cooked in coconut oil, 2 squares Chocoperfection Bar

2:00 PM – Leftover office “Munster Chicken” (4 pcs – like chicken nuggets with cheese melted on top), Miniature Mr. Goodbar

5:30 PM – 4 tortilla chips, 1/3 pound Angus burger with Swiss cheese, sugar snap peas, NSA pickles, Divine Dark Chocolate, Breyers Ice Cream Bar

43 g carbs/ 1595 calories/121 g fat/ 74 g protein

Today was incredibly stressful, as indicated above with this food log – I didn’t plan for a lunch which normally wouldn’t have been a bad thing, but I work in an office that frequently has conferences and when the attendees finish off their catered lunches, the leftovers get brought to the kitchen for we vultures to clean up!  So, I had a few pieces of the chicken which is wonderful – breaded so not carb free.  Then we had candy in the office for our big event this weekend, and I had one.  Of course, I always have SF or very dark chocolate which is a problem.  So I have been carb-picking today and not sure if I should freak out about it or chalk it up to doing the best I can under the circumstances!

My “diet” started a year ago this weekend.  The upcoming weekend is our BIG tournament.  And last year at this time I was out of control with my eating leading up to the tournament, and my weight was knocking on 200 again.  I decided that after the Tourney, things were going to change.  That was the beginning of this journey.  I was hoping to hit –25 pounds by this Saturday.  That won’t happen, but I should be happy with the –22 pounds and make this year different by not blowing the week and giving into the stress!  It’s amazing that I can go through an entire day and not even breathe!  Not even take a breath or be aware of eating and drinking.  I have to increase awareness and be more mindful.  Note to self.

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Oops – forgot to blog yesterday!  Moving on!

Wake up – 8:00 AM

10:00 AM – Price Chopper Sunday Omelet – Eggs, Boar’s Head Sweet Slice ham & Swiss), diet Coke.

12:00 PM – Iced Coffee, square of Chocoperfection Bar

2:00 PM – Snowshoeing, about 1 1/4 hours

5:30 PM – Meat House Steak Tips, Cauliflower Mash, Sugar Snap Peas with butter, Strawberries with real whipped cream!!

Dinner was amazing!  It really felt indulgent.  Even my husband was raving.  The afternoon was so nice that we went snowshoeing with the dogs.  I don’t have my carbs & calorie counts today – oh well.

Defining Progress

I am a bit discouraged with my weight loss.  Actually, I’m a lot discouraged.  I have actually gained some weight this week.  Not a ton, for sure, a few 10ths of a pound, which keeps me bouncing around the same couple of numbers for weeks!  I have been trying some new things with my diet, and am blogging all of my meals and food consumption, and I don’t see the reason!  Frustrating.

Do I feel good?  Yeah, I feel great!  Lots of energy!  Do I have the horrible cravings of days gone by?  No, though I’d dive headfirst into a brownie, given the chance, I really don’t think about it all that much.  And as for NSV (Non Scale Victories), I bought 3 new pairs of pants this week in a misses size 16 (as opposed to a woman’s size 16 – big difference), I “feel” smaller.  I think I even walk differently – less like a fat lady and more like a regular person.

So that’s where I am.  Frustrated at the scale and yet thinking that something’s changed – like maybe the scale isn’t mirroring exactly the changes that are going on inside.

On the home front, since I last checked in my young daughter has been diagnosed with Coeliac Disease which has required a gluten-free diet.  My old daughter has been diagnosed with insulin resistance, prescribed Metformin, and has extremely high triglycerides – not good for the ripe old age of 20!  So, these two diagnoses in the course of 2 weeks, along with my own low-carb lifestyle prompted a full-fledged kitchen cleaning this week.  So now there is only one box of GF cereal in the house, no crackers, no pasta, no bread crumbs, no bread (but GF wraps and Flat-Out wraps) and I’ve even dumped the hot chocolates and mocha’s (so sad!).  The only “cheat” food that’s left are the tortilla chips which both my young daughter (who does not have a weight problem) and my husband enjoy and since they’re GF, they can stay.  My husband has not balked at any of these changes, which I have really appreciated.  He is my cheerleader in this journey.

Thanks for stopping by, and any input appreciated in the comments below!

February 25, 2011

Wake Up:  7:00 AM
9:30 AM – Iced Coffee, Protein Ball (made with natural PB, Jay Robb chocolate whey protein powder, cocoa powder & erythritol, rolled in chopped nuts)
10:45 AM – 2 eggs fried in butter
1:30 PM – 1 hour of snow blowing, shoveling, freezing my butt off, & other outdoor activities
2:30 PM – Cheese Stick, Divine 70% Chocolate block
5:00 PM – Cheese Stick and Protein Ball
6:30 PM – 2 servings of leftover Chicken Lasagna, 4 little squares Divine Dark Fruit & Nut Chocolate

 26 g net carbs/1430 calories/102 g fat/95 g protein

Today has been a whirlwind.  Nice that I got to sleep in a bit.  Planned to go in late after dropping dogs at groomers, but the weather did not cooperate and we were blessed with a foot of snow.  Commuting to work was out of the question today.  But it was chaotic nonetheless.
I had to do work from home, get my oldest off to a job interview, the youngest went to a friend’s house (thank God for 4-wheel drive or that would NOT have happened), did the driveway, and was in constant communiqué with my dear husband who was attempting to fly home today.
The dogs are beautiful and clean for the time being, I am tired from the physical work and running around.  Just hope my back does not pay me “back” tomorrow!!  Tomorrow!  Weigh-in day.  I’m hoping for the best but am not sure how it will turn out.

February 24, 2011

Wake up:  5:20 AM

7:30 AM – Cheddar & Mozzarella Twisted Cheese Stick

10:00 AM – 2 egg omelet with slice provolone & Boar’s Head ham cooked in butter

12:00 PM – Maria’s Chocolate Chip Cookie

3:00 PM – From Ruby Tuesday’s:  Top sirloin, cauliflower mash, sugar snap peas; Divine 70% Dark Chocolate

7:00 PM – diet root beer with cream

18 g net carbs/1400 calories/96 g fat/54 g protein

Early hungry day for me, and a lot of running around.  I took my daughter to the doctor today and since I was in the city, I went by the food co-op, which I’d never been to before.  The intent was to get gluten-free products for my daughter, but she was totally not in the mood to shop and was impatient, but I did find the most delicious and relatively low-carb chocolate!  It’s Divine 70% Dark and a whole bar is 7 net carbs!  I didn’t eat the whole thing but I could!  It’s wonderful, apparently from Germany. 

I felt like I had a bit of an indulgence today with the visit to Ruby Tuesday’s – but even with that, my net carbs were quite low and hopefully progress will continue.. 

February 23, 2011

Woke up at 5:00 AM

6:30 AM – Iced FV Coffee with cream & Truvia

10:00 AM – Maria’s Chocolate Chip Cookie

12:45 PM– Dunkin’ Donuts FV Iced Coffee, 3 eggs scrambled, cooked in butter, 1/2 square Ghirardelli 86% Dark 

4:00 PM– 35 minute dog walk

6:30 PM – 1/2 pound Angus steak burger; no sugar added bread & butter pickles, no sugar added ketchup, 3 squares Chocoperfection bar

20 g Net Carbs/1380 Calories/105 g fat/70g protein

Today was much more tolerable as I made the decision to have a cookie (which is really more like a small muffin) for a mid-AM breakfast.  I felt like I was more sane and better able to focus at work.  I wasn’t dying at lunch time. 

What a difference 10 degrees makes!  I had a nice dog walk at 32 degrees versus 23 yesterday.  At the end of it, I still couldn’t feel my fingers and my eyeballs were frozen, but by then I was home.  I noticed last night that my shins were sore – which tells me that it’s time to end this hibernation and get out and walk more!  It’s sad when a dog walk makes you sore. 

After the dog walk I went to the beauty shop for a long-overdue haircut.  I was starving by the time I left there.  Dinner’s now over and I’m full.  I have been sneaking on the scale every day, though I only “officially” weigh in on Saturday…and nothing is happening.  I’m concerned, but pressing onward!

Follow the Food

I have tweaked my eating plan as an experiment to see if I can get the needle to move down on the scale.  I’m growing impatient!!  You can find my food & exercise logs here, which is also linked on the right side bar below.  Please follow with an RSS feed and feel free to comment here or on the log.

February 22, 2011

Woke up at 5:00 AM

6:30 AM & 8:00 AM– Iced FV Coffee with cream & Truvia

10:30 AM – Maria’s Chocolate Chip Cookie (s-t-a-r-v-i-n-g!)

12:45 PM– 3 eggs scrambled, cooked in butter, 1/2 square Ghirardelli 85% Dark 

4:00 PM– 20 minute dog walk

5:45 PM – Chicken Lasagna (Boar’s Head chicken sliced thick, ground beef, spaghetti sauce, mozzarella, ricotta); 1 oz Chocoperfection Bar

23 g Net Carbs/1350 Calories/97 g fat/89 g protein

I’m not sure this is working.  When getting up this early, a typical work day for me, I’m hungry by 6:30.  I can stand it, but by mid-morning I’m dying.  You can only drink so much coffee and water to quell the hunger.

I’ll give it another day or two or three, but this intermittent fasting gig might have to be for weekends only. 

February 21, 2011

Woke up at 7:45 AM
9:00 AM– Iced FV Coffee with cream & Truvia,
12:00 PM – 3 eggs cooked in butter, 10 g Chocoperfection (1/5 bar)
3:16 PM– Dog walk, 35 minutes in the FREEZING cold! 
4:00 PM– 1 Maria’s Chocolate Chip Cookie, diet root beer with cream (starving at this point)
5:45 PM – Left-over cauliflower mash, 1/3# Angus burger cooked in coconut oil, 5 sweet pickle chips (no sugar added), Planning on the remainder of the Chocoperfection bar after dishes are done and lunch packed for tomorrow.

12g Net Carbs/1320Calories/107g fat/57g protein

I’m on a  new “plan” courtesy of my friend, Jimmy Moore, who took a look at my typical diet and made some suggestions for improvement.  Hopefully one of the improvements will be WEIGHT LOSS!!!
I didn’t have much trouble skipping breakfast this morning with the iced coffee (I have not been a coffee drinker long and find the effects of the caffeine work on controlling appetite).  The late afternoon I was watching the clock waiting for dinner time.  So I caved to the cookie and was content. 
My concern is that tomorrow, when I’m up at 5:00 AM and at work by 7:00 AM and have to put in 5 hours of work before eating that it’ll be a different story.  All I can do is plan to do the best I can and if I’m starving and cannot think straight, I’ll have to eat.  We’ll see how it goes.  But for today, the 18 hour fast was moderately successful.  I have to figure out how to define success – will I feel guilty if I have 3 meals instead of two if my carb count is good?  It’s all a big experiment at this point, which I’ll have to analyze as we go!

February 20, 2011

10:30 AM

Iced Coffee - (coffee, heavy cream, Davinci vanilla syrup)
2 scrambled eggs w/cheddar
4 links breakfast sausage
1 square Chocolove 70%
2  Maria's Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 PM

1 cheese stick
1 slice of Boar's Head ham
diet Coke

5:30 PM

(Things I ate while I fixed dinner:  4 tortilla chips, handful of popcorn, 1 square Chocperfection bar)
_______________
2 pcs steak tips from The Meat House
Cauliflower Mash
Green Beans with butter
1 square Chocolove
1 square Chocoperfection Bar

33 g Net Carbs/1750Calories/126 g fat/105g protein

Have you heard about Low-Carb Conversations??

If you’ve been around the blogosphere lately, or are one of my Facebook friends, you may have noticed some buzz about a new podcast show with this guy named Jimmy Moore.  Well, the rumors are true and I’m happy to announce that I am co-hosting the new “Low-Carb Conversations with Jimmy Moore & Friends” podcast!

Jimmy Moore is a long-time podcaster and a true champion of low-carb living who brings us the twice-weekly “Livin’ La Vida Low Carb” podcast and has interviewed everybody who’s anybody in the low-carb community and beyond.  Along with the show, Jimmy is the consummate blogger who keeps us updated all the time on all things “low-carb.”  One of his recent blog posts was about The Top 10 Podcasts Every Low-Carber Should be Listening To.  As a self-proclaimed podcast addict, I was listening to all 10!  But for a long while I had been thinking that the low-carb community needed a new podcast that was a little friendlier – one that offered advice and encouragement to people just starting out on their journey.  I wrote Jimmy, who knows everybody, and asked him if he knew of anyone who might be interested in partnering with me on such a venture.

Well, to my surprise, Jimmy said he’d been thinking the same thing recently and, long-story-short, we teamed up to start this new podcast!   The rest, as they say, is history!  We have started recording and have a website, a Twitter account, and a Facebook page to get questions from our soon-to-be listeners.  We’ve got lots of “friends” lined up to come on the show and talk about some current events in the health & diet world and to share their stories and have fun with us!  It’s really, really awesome!  (You’ll have to take my word for it for now, as it will be a few weeks until our shows are released).

I hope you’ll keep an eye on our pages and join us when we “go live” and join in the fun and the conversation!  We’re always looking for more friends to share in the fun so email us and let us know that you want to take a turn!!

Low-Carb Super Bowl Eats

As the countdown to the big games occurs, I’m taking a moment to psych myself up for the food awesomeness I’m going to be having later.  I will have to forego some “good” food that my family will be eating, as I’m on this Low-Carb journey alone in this household, but I’ve stacked the deck in my favor.  There has to be SOME benefit to doing the grocery shopping, after all!

My family will have pizza, popcorn, nachos, and ice cream.  In addition, they’ll be eating my choices of Meat House steak tips, Boar’s Head little franks, yellow and red peppers with Laughing Cow cheese washed down with Waist Watcher’s Root Beer with heavy cream.  And if that doesn’t fill me up (actually, I’m full just thinking about it!!), I may give myself the green light for a small scoop of Breyer’s Low Carb ice cream.  Or, I almost forgot that I made Dana Carpender’s Cocoa Peanut Porkies yesterday – YUM!

Seriously, with all that “approved” low-carb eating, why bother with the chips & pizza??

Killing the Diet Coke Demon

Well, as promised (to myself) tomorrow, February 1st, starts my month-long induction challenge.  I have some left-over Low-Carb Orange Chicken that we had for dinner tonight (thanks Kent, for that recipe – AMAZING) and I’ve cooked 2 eggs in butter for breakfast.  I also baked some bacon so may throw a slice or two of that in my cooler too.  That much fat and protein will more than satisfy my hunger, but I will still *want* to eat more, and other things.  One problem with working outside the home is that the environment is not yours to control.  I work in an office building where food is abundant!  Many of my co-workers are doing Weight Watchers but that doesn’t really change the status quo, which is bagels and muffins and cookies and whatever someone concocts in their kitchen that they think is worth sharing.  It’s a friendly bunch, no question, but sometimes I just don’t want to be tempted.

I think the biggest challenge tomorrow (and everyday for the next 28 days) will be the lack of diet Coke.  I am not kidding about this.  I have tried to give it up on several occasions only to cave 4-5 days into it.  Everyday I stop at Cumberland Farms for my “Chill Zone” 32 oz diet Coke.  I drink a ton of water all day…yet that AM diet Coke…..I don’t know.

On my commute this AM I was listening to a podcast (as usual), I think it was Hank’s My Low-Carb Journey with the founders of the Whole9Life, who mentioned that diet soda could cause an insulin response even though it is calorically of no value.  That reinforces my resolve to give it up, but I know this will be my biggest challenge, at least initially.

So cross your fingers for me and stay tuned to see how I make out!  I’d love to see a nice drop in the scale and to conquer the diet Coke demon!!

Induction Self-Challenge

A couple of weeks have gone by since my last post, and in that time I’ve been s-l-o-w-l-e-y reading Gary Taubes’ Why We Get Fat And What To Do About It.  Last night I got to the depressing part.  Gary said, in chapter entitled, “Moderation or Renounce Them Entirely?  Part I”:

“…if you’re not actively losing fat and yet want to be leaner still, the only viable option (short of surgery or the prospect that the pharmaceutical industry will come through with a safe and effective anti-obesity pill) is to eat still fewer carbohydrates, identify and avoid other foods that might stimulate significant insulin secretion – diet sodas, dairy products (cream, for instance), coffee and nuts, among others – and have more patience.”  (emphasis mine)

Gary’s point in this chapter and Part II which followed, as I understood it, is that if you’ve done so much damage to your metabolism as a result of years of abusing your body with sugar and flour, AND you have other hormonal influences at work in your body (not that a 44-year old woman would, ahem!) that it may not be possible to get the hot bod that you might be striving for.  However, in my case, I know I have not given it the old college-try!

Have I been “low-carbing it?”  Yes.  My carb load is about 40-80 net carbs per day which is significantly lower than those that eat a standard American diet (SAD).   And my weight has been steady.  Clearly, this would be a pretty good maintenance level for me.  However, I don’t want to maintain!  I want (need) to lose a good 20 pounds if not 30 to be anywhere close to where I want to be and that’s not going to happen if I don’t apply what I know – apply what I believe.

So, my challenge to self, in an effort to kick-start this process, is to go full-on Induction for the month of February (which is thankfully a short month).   In all honesty, I have not done induction.  I started with about a 30-40 carb level and this was the impetus for my 20 pound loss.  But I have months of evidence that it’s not going to get moving until I take it lower.   Goodbye Flat Out wraps.  Goodbye roasted sweet potatoes.  Goodbye diet Coke.  That one’s going to hurt!

So, I may be doing the ole’ Jimmy Moore plan of eggs and beef for a few weeks but if that’s the way it has to be, so be it.  Let’s see what happens!!

Sweet Tooth

My sweet tooth has been the downfall of every diet I’ve ever been on.  When I was doing the low-fat thing, or Weight Watchers, eating sweet was allowed as long as it was low-fat sweet and there were plenty of options there!  LF chocolate pudding comes to mind (and who couldn’t eat about 4 of those little cups?), 100-calorie packs of cookies, Snackwell’s cookies, and even low-fat brownies.  All of these were “allowed” foods on a low-fat plan but for me, they sent me on a death-spiral into Sugarville each and every time – so that all of my calories were spent on sugar and I would feel like crap.  Crap with no energy, to be more specific. Crap in a sugar-coma!

So now I’m on the low-carb road and am finding that I still crave sweet stuff.  Having been on every side of low-carb in the 7 months that I’ve been on this plan, I now find myself unsure of which way to go.  For a while I did Paleo (October, 2010) where there was no dairy, and the sweetest thing I got to eat was sweet potato & peppers.  And that’s not sweet enough, in my book!  I have eaten Atkin’s bars, artificially sweetened cheese-cake-like desserts, sweetened vanilla ricotta, and Breyer’s Low-Carb ice cream and bars.  I start every morning with a diet Coke and sometimes add some heavy cream into a diet root beer for dessert.  I eat Chocoperfection bars daily, and when I don’t have those, I search out very low-carb, very dark chocolate.

What I struggle with is the question of purity.  Is it better to be low-carb at all costs, artificial sweeteners & all – or is it better to avoid sweets at all costs, stick to “real” food?  And is the diet Coke helping or hurting?  I went off it for 7 days and then went back.  That stuff is like a drug to me.  Sugar is like a drug to me.

I’ll continue to ponder this question for a while, I’m sure.  Stay tuned.

Time for a root beer “float”.

Amy’s Blackberry Style Giveaway

My good friend, and former Paleo co-experimenter, Amy over at superhealthykids.com is giving away 2 Blackberry Style phones from the Sprint network.  She is CONNECTED!  Go on over to check out her site and good luck!

Horrible Start

So much for my commitment to myself to blog twice weekly.  I’m already behind! 

I’ve had the worst start to low-carbing.  I’m embarrassed to admit it.  I have had days that started out great, and made it all the way though dinner only to find myself shoving dark chocolate in my mouth and ruining my best efforts!  I’ve had days that I couldn’t even get past breakfast without carbs, and the day going from bad to worse.  My weight is stagnant, for which I should be grateful.  I’m not gaining at least.

I don’t know what my problem is.  I’ve done this before.  I’m certainly off the sugar-high of the holidays.  But I find myself with one foot in each canoe – and that’s a recipe for disaster!  Add a stress component – this week it was a foot of snow, the full septic, and the blow-out of the pump in my washing machine.  These do not help me focus.

Note to self – this is a lifestyle and not a diet.  Quit beating yourself up and do the best you can (which is better than last week!!) and keep moving forward.