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!