~*~ Back To Basics ~*~

[*Wendy*]

Re: ~*~ Back To Basics ~*~

Funny thing about the Jicama is When ever I read it on here I have always pronounced it with a J sound as in Jack ....... when I bough tit yesterday I used the self check out isle and when it rang through it is pronounced Hicama ........ you all probably knew that but I had no clue ...... LOL live and learn I guess.

Oh Heidi that is so funny! I had a similar experience, only I had jotted down the name "Jicama" that I took down from this site onto my shopping list, and in my head I was going "Juh-Comma", and once I got to the produce section of Publix and I butchered the pronunciation a few times I just handed the guy my list and he said "Oh! JICAMA! - right over here" What made it even more comical is that he was Jamaican or something like that - he had a strong island accent. So afterwards I still didn't really know the right way to say it for sure!

I have some of the DV caramel flavored syrup PamelainAustin mentioned - I'm going to try it raw & marinated. Thanks everyone for posting comments on this again!

[SunnySmile501]

Re: ~*~ Back To Basics ~*~

- DAY 13! Yep.

- Today was kinda hard... well, actually, it's never really been easy this time around. I miss the shakes, MUP and the Muffin in a Minute. I'll be adding these back in again sometime soon. If I limit myself to these 3 things as my Splenda items, I should be OK. It was the extra flax cookies, bars, and 4 cups of coffee a day that was putting me into a Splenda stupor.

* I need to make it clear that I didn't add shakes until I hit Pre-Maintenance. They are a "your mileage may vary" item, and whether they can be tolerated varies between individuals. I wasn't eating until 11:00 everyday, and decided to add them when I was almost at goal. As you see, I have fallen into the habit of eating breakfast late in the day since I am not able to have the shakes now.

- Not sure how long I will continue with the Induction foods. My goal was to do it for 2 weeks, and tommorow will be my 14th day. I will make up my mind Sunday after weigh in. I'm predicting a 1 pound loss... that would make 1 more pound to lose to get back to 120. Most likely, I will continue Induction foods for another week... we'll see.

Why can't you have MUP? As I remember, it only has pumpkin, cream cheese, spices and you use liquid Splenda, which has no carbs. Forgive me, but I haven't had time to read all the pages up to when I joined in.

I'm off to the Farmer's Market and grocery shopping.

Sunny!

[SunnySmile501]

Re: ~*~ Back To Basics ~*~

Another way I use Jicama--I love anything pickled, so when I use up all the Splenda-sweetened or dill pickles in a jar, I cut strips of jicama and put it in the juice. In just a couple of days, I have very crunchy low carb 'pickles' using the recycled juice. This works great with the Splenda-sweetened Mt. Olive Gherkins that cost so much.

Sunny!

[mitzimarie]

Re: ~*~ Back To Basics ~*~

Why can't you have MUP? As I remember, it only has pumpkin, cream cheese, spices and you use liquid Splenda, which has no carbs. Forgive me, but I haven't had time to read all the pages up to when I joined in.

Sunny, I totally understand about not having the time to read all of the pages here... I don't get near enough ADBB time, either!

I'm going to copy and paste the confession I made earlier in this thread:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

"OK, folks... I'm thinking that in order to get REAL, I need to let you know how crazy I have become lately... confession time.

I have been REALLY sick of food lately... almost all kinds of food. Can you believe that I, the veggie queen, am sick of veggies? I've been avoiding them. I'm sick of cooking food, and I'm sick of eating it... to the point, that I have been using Atkins Meal Replacement bars so I don't need to cook a meal. Which worked OK... until I started eating 3 of them a day! Also, for a month now, I have been drinking at least 4 cups of coffee a day, loaded with cream and liquid splenda. WTF? I have never been a coffee drinker in my life! While I have been eating a muffin in a minute daily for a few months now, in the past 2 days, I have almost been binging on ground flaxseed meal... in addition to the muffin, I have been making a couple of microwave cookies with the flax, too. I had a 1/2 cup of flax yesterday, and another 1/2 cup today. Luckily, I drank almost 100 ounces of water yesterday, so everything came out all right. However, my stupid @ss has only had 32 ounces of water today! Me thinks I may be plugged up tomorrow.

I have a gigantic Splenda monkey on my back... as big as King Kong. I have been flying through those bottles of liquid Splenda. It seems that the kinds of foods that I have been choosing are just vehicles for my Splenda (coffee, flax muffins/cookies, and MUP). And get this... Prior to my picking up the coffee habit, I NEVER used heavy cream. Now, it's not unusual for me to go through a pint (that's 32 tablespoons) of cream in 3 days. So, it's not even really carb creep that's doing me in... I'm still not going over 50 carbs most days. It's just extremely poor choices in how I spend my carbs, and LOTS of calories.

Whew! All of that was hard to admit. So, so embarrassing. I was so strict for so long, and have just gone nuts recently. Ah, don't get me started on nuts... those are a problem, too! I tried to clean up my act earlier this week, and was clean Tuesday and Wednesday... then fizzled out. Which pisses me off, because in just those 2 days of clean eating, I could tell a difference in my body... I felt smaller in that small amount of time.

Tomorrow I go back to Rung 1, with a ceiling of 30 net carbs. Most of my net carbs will be net veggie carbs. NO Splenda for 2 weeks! NO coffee. NO bars. It's Induction, with extra veggies. I'll exercise at least 4 days a week. I'll drink a minimum of 64 ounces of water."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

See? I was abusing Splenda.

Ack! I'm making myself late for work... I'd rather be here!

Have a great Satruday!

[misplaced southerner]

Re: ~*~ Back To Basics ~*~

good morning and happy saturday everyone!!! i have been a slacker in posting here this week but i HAVE been reading and keeping up with the thread. you guys are ALL so awesome in your committment!

i have done pretty good with the food. trouble is, i have NO APPETITE. ernie asked me if i want to go out to dinner this weekend and nothing ever sounds good. what's up with that? anyhow, while i am eating on track, i am sure my percentages etc are not where they should be.

i am struggling with that darn water too for some reason. i used to LOVE it. now it just tastes gross.

for exercise.....this is the hard part...i am struggling with the idea of doing slim in 6 again... but i HATE, HATE, HATE it to DEATH!!!! trouble is, it WORKS. i need to slim the midsection big time. decisions, decisions

it is crunch month at work. i know that my stress level will be thru the roof and my free time will be even more limited....so the cardio is the best relief for that. i must keep the exercise as a priority or i will explode.

i feel like the little engine that could..."i think i can, i think i can".......

just rambling here....trying to pump myself up for another week! you guys here are my biggest motivators. THANKS!!!

[hrgillespie]

Re: ~*~ Back To Basics ~*~

Hey everyone it's Saturday afternoon and I just got home from work ..... one of the hardest places for me cheat wise on my diet and I have to say I made it through the day with out even a thought to cheat ....... I was pretty pleased seeing's how the dessert today at lunch were two favs of mine and I didn't even feel tempted ....... It has to be a result of my beating temptations last night which I almost succumbed to ........ I took the kiddos to Mc donalds so they could wear out some energy in the play space ( it's been rainy and yuk for three days now) anyways while standing in line to order their food I got this overwhelming urge for a Mcflurry ........ I make it tens times worse then it is too because my normal order would be an Oreo Mcflurry with 2x the oreo and hot fudge added in ...... Anyways I was losing ground with myself fast and even ordered it ....... when we got back to the table I stared at it for like 15 minutes while the kids ate fighting myself mentally through it all. Finally I won the mental battel gave then each a few bites and just threw the thing away ........ I was very pleased with myself for winning that battle because it was so not easy .. the thing is I wasn't even hungry I had eaten before we went so I wouldn't order anything but man once I got there every mind game possible was going through my head .......Why oh Why am I so dang addicted to those kinds of foods ........ Lordy it's bad! But the good news is I won that battle and hopefully many many more to come ....... I think if I didn't have this board and specifically this thread to keep me focused I wouldn't have been so good ........So all that to say THANK-YOU to each and everyone of you for posting and sharing and supporting ........ it's amazing what having kindred spirits outt here can do for a gal .......

Thanks for the ideas with the Jicama I will not give up on it yet ......

I am going to make guacomole today and try that.

Heidi

[OzLover]

Re: ~*~ Back To Basics ~*~

WAY TO GO HEIDI!! You do have the power to turn down the devil's food aka carbs.

[Porcelain]

Re: ~*~ Back To Basics ~*~

Good job. Keep moving up. I just passed a milestone of my own, going to the movie and not wanting popcorn. (I went back to see Ironman again so I could watch the extra after the credits!) and I didn't even crave the popcorn at all!

BTW, I made guacamole today, it was good.

[SunnySmile501]

Re: ~*~ Back To Basics ~*~

Sunny, I totally understand about not having the time to read all of the pages here... I don't get near enough ADBB time, either!

I'm going to copy and paste the confession I made earlier in this thread:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

"OK, folks... I'm thinking that in order to get REAL, I need to let you know how crazy I have become lately... confession time.

I have been REALLY sick of food lately... almost all kinds of food. Can you believe that I, the veggie queen, am sick of veggies? I've been avoiding them. I'm sick of cooking food, and I'm sick of eating it... to the point, that I have been using Atkins Meal Replacement bars so I don't need to cook a meal. Which worked OK... until I started eating 3 of them a day! Also, for a month now, I have been drinking at least 4 cups of coffee a day, loaded with cream and liquid splenda. WTF? I have never been a coffee drinker in my life! While I have been eating a muffin in a minute daily for a few months now, in the past 2 days, I have almost been binging on ground flaxseed meal... in addition to the muffin, I have been making a couple of microwave cookies with the flax, too. I had a 1/2 cup of flax yesterday, and another 1/2 cup today. Luckily, I drank almost 100 ounces of water yesterday, so everything came out all right. However, my stupid @ss has only had 32 ounces of water today! Me thinks I may be plugged up tomorrow.

I have a gigantic Splenda monkey on my back... as big as King Kong. I have been flying through those bottles of liquid Splenda. It seems that the kinds of foods that I have been choosing are just vehicles for my Splenda (coffee, flax muffins/cookies, and MUP). And get this... Prior to my picking up the coffee habit, I NEVER used heavy cream. Now, it's not unusual for me to go through a pint (that's 32 tablespoons) of cream in 3 days. So, it's not even really carb creep that's doing me in... I'm still not going over 50 carbs most days. It's just extremely poor choices in how I spend my carbs, and LOTS of calories.

Whew! All of that was hard to admit. So, so embarrassing. I was so strict for so long, and have just gone nuts recently. Ah, don't get me started on nuts... those are a problem, too! I tried to clean up my act earlier this week, and was clean Tuesday and Wednesday... then fizzled out. Which pisses me off, because in just those 2 days of clean eating, I could tell a difference in my body... I felt smaller in that small amount of time.

Tomorrow I go back to Rung 1, with a ceiling of 30 net carbs. Most of my net carbs will be net veggie carbs. NO Splenda for 2 weeks! NO coffee. NO bars. It's Induction, with extra veggies. I'll exercise at least 4 days a week. I'll drink a minimum of 64 ounces of water."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

See? I was abusing Splenda.

Ack! I'm making myself late for work... I'd rather be here!

Have a great Satruday!

Now I totally understand! The addictions to legal foods sneak up on you before you know it. I went from not liking pumpkin at all to eating it more than once a day. The new super-high price for canned pumpkin stopped that new addiction in a hurry!

I am slowly weeding out the higher carb foods and the foods over which I have little control and am going back to rung 1 on Monday. I couldn't resist the hand-cracked black walnuts ($5 a pound!) at the Farmer's Market today, but I am putting them in the freezer and will save them for later. I ate just a couple of them in the car.

Sunny!

[mitzimarie]

Re: ~*~ Back To Basics ~*~

Good Evening, Everyone

Great to hear from all of you! Thank you for taking the time to post. I'm going to ramble a bit about some of them, now.

Heidi! A MAJOR VICTORY!! To actually have that McFlurry physically in front of you, and be able to stay out of it, is a wonderful testament to your determination to make this time the real deal. Because that is exactly what it takes. And yes, it's tough... but the truth is, the more times in a row that you are able to be strong, the stronger it makes you! You will build a streak of cheat-free days, and you will become reluctant to break it. While I have abused legal foods, I have still never eaten a single illegal food since my re-start in Feb 2007. It's such a long streak now, that I think it would really affect me mentally to cross that line. I can't... I won't!

Porcelain - No popcorn at the movies?! Way to go, woman.

Jicama - I didn't know how to say it, either, at first. And thanks everybody, for the ideas about what to do with it. Interesting.

Betsy - Funny you should mention Slim in 6. One of my friends and I traded some exercise DVD's the other day, and one of the ones I got from her was Slim in 6. I started the first one, and was about 5 minutes into it, when my DVD froze and started making an awful noise... the disk is stuck, and it won't come out. That b*tch broke my DVD player! LOL... Anyway, have you tried pilates for the mid-section? Also, I do a 40 minute workout called "Basic Ab Workout for Dummies". It's a good workout, if you really listen to her like she is a personal trainer and concentrate on each move. I like one of the tips they give in the DVD... they say that Ab exercises are part physical, and part mental. I believe that. That's why I like pilates.

Sunny, those walnuts sound amazing... really up my alley. I love nuts... too much.

OK, time for some data:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY FOR SATURDAY (DAY 14)

Breakfast (about 9:00): 2 Hebrew National beef franks; 8 cherry tomatoes; 140g avocado

Mini-meal (about 5:00) - 5 ounces eye of round roast with 2 tbsp. mayo

Dinner: Chicken Shwarma Salad from a local Greek restaurant (romaine lettuce, olive oil, feta cheese, roasted chicken)

Evening Snack: cup of jicama; 1 ounce cheddar cheese

Fitday Totals:
1697 calories
21 net carbs
69% Fat
5% Carbs
26% Protein

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, life calls and I must respond. I'll be back a little later with some reflections on today.

Bye!

[mitzimarie]

Re: ~*~ Back To Basics ~*~

I'm back.

Ack! I never did eat my evening snack of jicama and cheese, so my calories and carbs are low today. We were really busy at work, and that's why I didn't eat all day. Everything got pushed late, and I just couldn't fit in that evening snack.

- Barely got in my 64 ounces of water... did it, though!

- Took Supplements

- No Exercise

TODAY WAS DAY 14 FOR ME! I am thrilled for having made it the entire 2 weeks. It was pretty tough... but I can feel a difference in my body. Tomorrow morning is the weigh in for the week. One pound was my prediction... we'll see. I will make up my mind after weigh in, about what plan of action I will take this week.

[charks1]

Re: ~*~ Back To Basics ~*~

You guys are an inspiration!!!!! Porcelain..I bow to you..lol..I love popcorn..it's low butter walmart brand I don't have it often but I confess I have.I'm not a big junk carb fan..like candy and such but I tell you when I'm making my hubbies ritz and peanut butter crackers for his lunch snack..omg..that is tough!!I need a quick snack and I just haven't found anything to satisfy that yet.

I copied this from my new journal
worked yesterday(sat.) so haven't had time to myself yet..

Sunday breakfast-2 fried eggs 1/4 ounce of shredded cheese on top and 2 strips of green pepper fried up with about teaspoon of virgin olive oil.
of course my morning cups of coffee with altern -walmarts version of a splenda no calories no carbs.
I'm really have to try to get my food intake up..ughhh..does anyone have a problem with not wanting to eat all day

[blue996]

Re: ~*~ Back To Basics ~*~

Starting tomorrow I am back to basics! I have been in a stall for a month and need to kick start my losses again so I am doing a 14 day induction. As I have moved up the rungs I have lost my focus and need to re-group. I also binged on sugar free candy today which tells me my cravings are coming back so it's time to nip this in the bud. So I'm getting clean and giving up coffee, heavy cream, excessive amounts of bacon and cheese and all those other small things that have slipped into my diet.

I'm going to post in this thread everyday to make sure I am accountable and I am going to clean out my fridge right now!

[OzLover]

Re: ~*~ Back To Basics ~*~

Sounds like you are on a mission blue996!!

I've had a good day with my food intake & H20 intake. Planned on going to the gym but plans got changed. I did go up & down my DD's stairs 3x. She lives on the 3rd floor. The greatest thing is that my knee doesn't hurt at all!! Tomorrow I'm going to try to get to the gym but I have an appt. for my yearly physical .

Have a great week everyone!

[mitzimarie]

Re: ~*~ Back To Basics ~*~

Good Evening, Everyone

Blue! Welcome to our little group. Ah, yes... it sure is easy to go overboard on legal things. I think that is exactly what I struggle with the most. Part of me kinda resents that I have to watch calories in addition to watching carbs. Poo! But really, I can't complain. I don't have any business eating more than 2000 calories when I only weigh 121. If I didn't make a conscious effort not to, I could easily eat that much everyday though. In fact, I did today.

Glenda! Your knee didn't hurt today?! That's cool... I can't imagine living in constant pain. I am such a wus. Good for you for climbing those stairs - that's hard work, and definitely not one of my favorite things to do.

Char, as you can see, I have the opposite problem that you do. I have to fight to keep my calories down. I'm not sure what advice to offer for you. Are you sure you are counting all of your calories? At least the breakfast had a good number... eggs, olive oil, and cheese all pack a pretty good punch of calories. It's olive oil, butter, and cream cheese that kicks my calories up so high. And when I add my muffin in a minute - yowsa! It has almost 500 calories in it, including the cream cheese I have with it. You'll work something out, I'm sure. Just keep at it.

OK - let me just say again that I am very excited to have made it through the 2 weeks of Induction foods. It was hard, but it did me a lot of good. I broke the spell that Splenda had over me, and I started eating more veggies again. Weigh day was this morning, and I was down the 1 pound that I predicted I would be. So, I am 1 pound away from my comfort weight of 120. I use my goal weight of 125 as my "panic" weight... I know that fluctuations are normal, but I never want to fluctuate over 125 so I try to stay at 120. After pondering the situation, I have decided to go to rung 3 and test myself with having Splenda in a normal amount, versus the orgies I was having with it before. Today I had my shake at 6:30am, and had some MUP with natural almonds... I had cut these 2 things out for the past 2 weeks. I enjoyed them both very much. And, I purposely used 1/2 the amount of splenda in my MUP than I was using before. I could tell that it wasn't nearly as sweet as I was used to, but that was OK. Now, I use just enough to take the "bite" of of the MUP. Before, I had gotten to where I was putting so much that it was super-sweet. That's just not necessary, and it makes me need more and more.

Menu for today:

Breakfast (6:30am) - Atkins Chocolate Royale Shake

Mini-meal: 3 slices bacon; 6.5 ounces red cabbage cooked in the drippings from that bacon

Mini-meal: 2.5 ounces eye of round roast with 1.5 tbsp. mayo

Mini-meal: cup of jicama with 1 ounce cheddar cheese

Mini-meal: MUP with almonds

Dinner: Hamburger patty topped with provolone cheese; mushrooms sauteed in butter; 1 whole, large, yellow bellpepper (raw, cut into strips)

Fitday Totals:
2079 calories
43 net carbs (32 of those were net veggie carbs)
69% Fat
9% Carbs
23% Protein

- Drank 80 ounces of water

- Took Supplements

- Completed Day 3, Week 2, of C25K. Brisk 6 minute warmup walk. Alternated jogging 90 seconds and walking 2 minutes for 30 minutes (excluding the walk). Total time was 36 minutes, and total distance covered was 2.5 miles. Completed the 20 minute Kathy Smith upper body dumbbell workout. Completed the 15 minute Slim in Limber to stretch and cool down.

Wow... I didn't think that I ate that much today but when I see it written down, I guess I did. It is normal for me to eat in mini-meals, but not usually that many times. And truth be told, I had to fight the urge to eat more.

Tomorrow is an open to close work day in the boutique, so I'll be out of pocket for most of the day. I hope all of you have a wonderful week!