March Madness

So March, what a wacky, crazy month. I always thought March Madness meant NCAA basketball, but this month it meant....let's see how freaking crazy we can make Kellye and see if she can survive. Well, damn you, you did your best to beat me down, but you didn't, I won. So suck it. ;)

OK, back to my 2013 plan.

1. Exercise more. I am getting there. Doing a little more each week.

2. Hiking. I got in 17 miles this month. Would have hit the goal of 20, but had to cancel a bp trip due to cold and rainy weather. With beginners with crappy gear. Right decision to cancel, but I really wanted to get out there.

3. Backpacking. Yay for me. Did a nice 12 mile section on the Pine Mountain Trail as an overnight at the end of the month. This made me very, very happy.

4. Read more. Oops. I meant to read, really, but I didn't read a single book or magazine.

5. Eat healthier. Unofficially down 28 lbs. I told y'all I can lose weight like a champion. Now I gotta figure out how to keep it off. The Atkins diet is really working for me.

6. Be more patient. Well, I think I did better at this, but I did quit Trail Dames when I was mad and impatient. But this is the right decision. And my patience won't be tested anymore by something that is supposed to be fun. Now if I could only extend my patience at work.

7. Financial. I have cancelled 2 trips that I was planning. I need NOT to add anything to the credit cards, so I'll be staying home doing cheap stuff. Like hiking and backpacking. ;) That should help a little. And it's tiny, but I finally have a savings account balance of 4 digits...not counting the decimal. So, progress is being made in baby, tiny, peewee steps, but progress anyways.

I think that is it for now. I definitely feel better at this point of April than I have been. So, change is good.
Right? Change is good.




You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be tough enough to follow through- Rosalyn Carter.

Week 5 Update

Week 5

All the demons decided to descend on me this week. I had a very difficult time staying on the plan. And it was all blown Saturday. I actually ate at Dairy Queen for lunch. And I didn't make good choices. I had onion rings. They were delicious. Then it got worse. For dinner we went to Hawg Wild BBQ, which is a local Habersham County joint that has really, really good food.  I made ridiculously bad choices. Hushpuppies, pulled pork, brunswick stew, squash casserole, garlicky texas toast.
I could have made better choices....chicken, slaw, baked sweet potato. No bread. Sigh, I gave in to temptation. And man was it good. Although I am being a tad bit difficult on myself. I did manage to stop eating after finishing up half of the meal...I took care of the rest of  it Sunday for lunch. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that we had leftover cake..so I ate a piece Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday nights. Now it is gone. No more cake. No more nightly temptations.

The other part of this plan is to exercise. Well, I am not doing it. I am always tired. We get home from work late. I already get up at 4:30 am to get ready for work. How do I fit it in? Especially with time changing soon. It will be dark long before we get home. The plan was to start walking week 4, and start the Couch 2-5K on week 6. Well, I haven't started doing anything. I am lazy. I am tired. I am unmotivated. I don't want to work out. I want to go home, put on my pajamas, cook dinner, eat dinner, then watch TV, or read. I gotta get to work on this. At this same point 2 years ago, I had lost twice the weight I have lost so far this time. I need to start walking. I need to be able to hike again. I need to work on core exercises. I need to be less lazy. Guess I better figure it out.

Recipe for the week is for
Lime-Cilantro chicken...in a crockpot. It is fantastic, it smells great, and there are a myriad of ways to use it in a meal. We added some brown rice pasta to it, and ate it like that. It would be delicious as a salad topper, or in tacos or burritos.

Here is the link:
Lime-Cilantro chicken
We made a few changes. I added much more lime juice, and a cup of water. Even with that, it almost sucked up all the juice in the crockpot.
Also, we do not use packaged taco seasonings. We use chili-powder, onion powder, cumin, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, and a little paprika.  I'll post that recipe one day too.


Weight lost this week    1.2 lbs.
Total weight lost           14.6 lbs.
    
You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be tough enough to follow through- Rosalyn Carter.

Week 4 Update

Week 4

After last week, things could only get better right? Well, pretty much they did. I got back on track and had an excellent Monday - Friday. I stayed in my calorie range (1200-1400) and felt pretty good. The weekend was a little different story, as I was on a camping weekend with the Trail Dames..and that means I kinda ate off diet. I wasn't horrible, but I just couldn't resist a hamburger each night, and a Nathan's hotdog. I did manage to avoid all the sweets, but the smell of those burgers and dogs cooking over a charcoal fire...I just gave in. Especially as I cooked it all! But I decided that I wanted to eat that, and I did. And Monday morning I got right back on the plan.

I would say that one of the biggest obstacles I face every day is the fact that I don't really like a lot of vegetables. Other than salad items, I have a hard time getting enough veggies in every day. So I have been searching Pinterest for recipes and have been having some success with finding new things. So far my favorite has been a recipe I found for roasted cabbage. I never would have thought of that. But oh my, it was so good. I even went back for seconds. Which I have never done with cabbage before. Weird huh? Anyways, here's the recipe let me know if you try it and how it goes.

Roasted Cabbage with Lemon


Makes 3-4 servings as a side dish
1 medium-sized head of green cabbage
2 T olive oil
2-3 T fresh squeezed lemon juice
generous amount of sea salt and fresh ground black pepper
lemon slices, for serving cabbage (optional)

Preheat oven to 450F/232C. Spray a roasting pan with non-stick spray or olive oil.

Cut the head of cabbage into 8 same-size wedges, cutting through the core and stem end. Then carefully trim the core strip and stem from each wedge and arrange wedges in a single layer on the roasting pan (leave some space around them as much as you can.)

Whisk together the olive oil and lemon juice. Then use a pastry brush to brush the top sides of each cabbage wedge with the mixture and season generously with salt and fresh ground black pepper. Turn cabbage wedges carefully, then brush the second side with the olive oil/lemon juice mixture and season with salt and pepper.  (I actually just used spray olive oil.....sprayed it, then drizzled lemon juice on it. It was much easier in my opinion.)

Roast cabbage for about 15 minutes, or until the side touching the pan is nicely browned. Then turn each wedge carefully and roast 10-15 minutes more, until the cabbage is nicely browned and cooked through with a bit of chewiness remaining. Serve hot, with additional lemon slices to squeeze lemon juice on at the table if desired.

Yummy.

Weight lost this week 1.4 lbs
Total weight lost  13.4 lbs

You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be tough enough to follow through- Rosalyn Carter.

Week 3 Update

Traditionally, I have a really bad week early on in the diet plan. Well, this was it. The bad week. The week that made me mad, sad, angry, frustrated and hungry all week. It all started with a sinus infection coupled with 2 ear infections. Treatment consisted of a shot of steroids, followed by a 5 day course of oral steroids, and a 10 day Z-pak. The steroids made me so hungry, and so angry. I have never felt this way before.  I have never been so filled with so much rage. One day, while we were stuck in a traffic jam, I almost jumped out of the car because I wanted to hit something. I was so mad because we were just sitting there. I wanted to hit the car next to us, I wanted to punch out the fire truck that passed us. I wanted to bang my fists against the wall. It was a weird sensation...I wanted to do all these things, badly. But the more logical sane side of my brain struggled, then finally won control. I was able to calm down. Thank goodness.

I don't know how athletes abuse those things. I understand that they are wanting to be bigger and stronger, but if they affect them like they did me, and fill them with uncontrollable rage, I don't know how they function. It was a very scary couple of days.

The other bad side effect of the steroids is the uncontrollable hunger. I was hungry 24 hours a day. All week. At work, I do ok, because I take my food with me, but in the car, and at home last weekend, I gave in to temptation. I was alone in the car, I was alone at home. So I could cheat and no one would know, right. I would know, but that was ok. So Saturday, Sunday and Monday I splurged a bit. Pizza, popcorn, Diet Dr. Peppers, chips, homemade Calzones. They were all so yummy. But I cannot fall back into this trap. I will not fall back into this trap. Back to work on Tuesday, and back on the plan. I feel better already.

Weight lost this week. +0.6 lbs
Total weight lost: 12.0 lbs.


You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be tough enough to follow through- Rosalyn Carter.

Week 2 update

Hey everyone,
Week 2 is in the books. It is historically my worst week ever. The cravings start kicking in, I get angry and emotional, and I have a 3 day detox smack dab in the middle of the week. But this time, it went ok. I was still hungry and cranky, and mean, but I made it through it all without committing a felony.

.... until Friday. I started feeling bad at work, and by Saturday morning I was really sick. So I went to the clinic where my doctor's office is, and found out that not only did I have a severe sinus infection...I also had infections in both ears. Bad ones. He was surprised that I wasn't in severe pain from them, but honestly, they weren't bothering me. So, I got a shot of steroids, and a 10 day supply of antibiotics. Well, if you know anything about the candida diet, either of those therapies is a no-no, so to make a long story short, I am NOT starting this diet over, I am NOT adding 2 more weeks of vegetables/detox, so I have decided to jump forward to week 4 on the plan. I am not giving up on the weight loss plan, but I am giving up on killing the candida.

So for now I will eat veggies,fruit, fish, turkey and chicken. And to make the salad process easier, I am using salad dressing. This week I chose the Ingles brand of Balsamic Viniagrette. Only 3g of sugar, and 60 calories per serving, so I think that is a decent choice. Still on the plan, just not starting over. So there.

Next week I add exercise, so the metabolism should perk back up and I can stay on track, and start feeling better.

Recipe for the week:
 Homemade fajita seasoning mix. I use the following recipe..just omit the sugar.

http://fabulouslyfunfood.blogspot.com/2012/03/secret-recipe-club-homemade-fajita.html

Weight lost this week:    3.8 lbs
Total weight loss:           12.6lbs.


You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be tough enough to follow through- Rosalyn Carter.

Week 1 results

Just a quick update on week one. I am not going to say it was easy. In fact, it pretty much sucked. Monday was ok. Tuesday was horrific. Kicking the caffeine habit hurts the head in a big way. But, thankfully I made it past that and managed to finish the week without killing anyone...now, I did cry once and made a 6th grader cry, all within an hour of each other. But all in all, I would have to say it was a good week.

What did I eat? Well, tons and tons of salad and fresh veggies. Lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, onions, jicama, cucumber, summer squash, more onions and tomatoes. Veggies in salads, veggies in stir-fry, veggies raw with a little ranch.  We had plenty of chicken, tilapia one night and I made a diet friendly chili that was ok...not my usual 2 day crockpot chili, but it was edible. I need to figure out a way to add more flavor, but I have a spice cabinet that is full so I'll figure something out.

I am having a slight bit of trouble with breakfast. See, we are only allowed 2 organic-cage free eggs a week. We can have all the eggbeaters we want, but I don't really like them. And I DO NOT like veggies in my eggs. I've been making protein shakes, but that is already getting old. I gotta figure something out. Maybe chicken for breakfast? hmmmm. Now on October 9, I can add fruit, so breakfast will be a breeze then.

What's in store this week? Hell. Pure and simple. Yesterday and today we were only allowed veggies and brown rice. For the next 3-5 days we are detoxing. Good ole lemon juice and maple syrup. I'm going to try cranberry juice instead of lemon one day to see if that is better. I sure hope so. So please say a little prayer for me, one that helps me keep my sanity would be nice. ;)  I'll check in later to let you know how it is going.


Lost this week      8.8lbs.
Total lost              8.8lbs

You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be tough enough to follow through- Rosalyn Carter.

Starting Over

Today is the day. Today is the day I start over. Today is the day that I retake control of my life.

The biggest part of this is getting control of my eating. I have been on so many diets/eating plans over the years. I have been successful on each and every one of them. Actually, losing weight is pretty easy for me. The problem is, I LOVE food, and more specifically, I love food that isn't good for me. So after I lose weight, I start eating bad stuff, and the next thing you know, I am right back where I started.

So, I am stepping back 2 years and starting the Candida Diet again. Technically this diet isn't a weight loss diet, it is more of a toxin removal diet. But the greatest side effect is the dramatic weight loss.

In a nutshell, here are the things I have to avoid:

• Dairy products - except for eggbeaters and organic butter
• Alcohol - this will be a breeze for me
• Grains - except for brown rice. This is tough, but there are actually some brown rice products that are quite good. I have found tortillas and pasta which totally makes this diet possible.
• Beef/pork/veal
• Sugar in all forms
• Vinegar - weird right? but something to do with the way it metabolizes in your system. This is the single hardest part of this diet. It eliminates all condiments, and I mean all. And I am a condiment girl. The thought of going 3 months without salad dressing and Texas Pete makes me cry. But I know I can do it, I've done it before.
• Starchy vegetables - specifically corn, potatoes and sweet potatoes. And I love all 3.
• Nuts
• Soy products
• Caffeine - so no more Diet Dr. Pepper, or Crystal Light, or tea.

So what can I eat? Almost all vegetables, chicken, fish (wild caught), turkey, and sugar free protein shakes. See this is where the weight loss comes in. Have any of you ever tried to eat 1200 calories a day from this list? It isn't easy.  I have to eat ALOT, and often. And after 22 days, I can add fresh fruit. I'll explain that reasoning later. Oh yeah, I also have to take a boat load of supplements.

So my friends, I will definitely need your support, and prayers, and encouragement. And probably a good kick in the ass every now and then.

I am going to try to share a recipe every now and then..maybe someone else can use the information.

One of my favorite go to meals for the veggie only days is Lentil Stew. Here's the recipe.

Lentil Stew

2 onions, chopped

1/2 cup olive oil

4 carrots, peeled and sliced

4 stalks of Celery, chopped

2-5 garlic cloves, minced

2 tsp dried Oregano

1 bay leaf

2 tsp. dried Basil

1/2 cup Spinach, rinsed and thinly sliced

8 tomatoes, crushed, use the juice

4 cup dried Lentils, picked through and rinsed

6 cups filtered water (or organic vegetable stock)

Directions

1. In a large soup pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions, carrots, celery; cook and stir until onion is tender. Stir in garlic, bay leaf, oregano and basil; cook for 2 minutes.         

2. Stir in lentils, then add tomatoes and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer at least 1 hour. When ready to serve, stir in spinach and cook until it wilts. Season to taste with sea salt and pepper. (do not salt prior to cooking, as salt during cooking makes lentils tough).

(this recipe was adapted from one found online at Allrecipes.com)             

 until next time........

You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be tough enough to follow through- Rosalyn Carter.