Creeping Up The Rungs

[C P]

Re: Creeping Up The Rungs

It's time for bed -- midnight is fast approaching and I may turn into a pumpkin if I stay up much longer.

Turning into a pumpkin! Now that really is dedication to the Veggie challenge!

CP

[imagood1]

Re: Creeping Up The Rungs

I swear - the veggie challenge really opened my eyes and changed the way I have continued to eat. I plan my meals around veggies now not meat or anything else. This was Memorial weekend - we didn't have anything planned and most outdoor celebrations were cancelled because we were under tornado warnings most of the day.

The past few days I made up my mind that we were going to have different meals - good meals! Meat wise we had Nathan's Hot Dogs and hamburger patties on the grill Saturday night -- Sunday we had BBQ country style pork ribs out of the crock pot so they were so tender - the bbq sauce was low carb ketchup, sugartwin brown sugar, pepper and a little liquid smoke -- I added a little of the drippings from the pan to make the sauce a little thinner...it was wonderful! Tonight we had NY Strip steaks on the grill. Mom made a 7 layer salad this morning (lettuce, green pepper, onion, bacon crumbles, cheddar cheese & mayo for me (peas on her side) - it tasted so fresh and good. We also had canned spinach -- that was a wonderful meal!!

Tomorrow I'm going to attempt pork tenderloin kebabs - I bought a pork tenderloin and we'll layer it with onion and green pepper - I should have gotten some grape tomatoes but I forgot...maybe I'll run out tomorrow and get some.

I'm biking 20 miles each night on the stationary bike (doing it right now as a matter of fact) and really like the way it makes me feel. I've been riding after dinner this weekend and it makes sleeping much easier - I go to sleep a couple hours after I finish and it gives me time to cool down and my muscles to relax. I want to add 5 additional miles either this week or next -- we'll see how I do.

I'm still creeping up the rungs -- I am "officially" on the legume rung because I skipped the alcohol rung but I don't know if I'll add any this week -- I have the option if I want to. I was thinking about chick peas on top of my salad at night .... that's always good. I love the sunflower seeds on the salad now - and there are some bacon crumbles left from the 7 layer salad so I may add a few to a salad also. I keep a package of the microwave bacon so I can throw a couple pieces in and have them for salads or whatever I want them with -- not often but occasionally.

I'm listening to The Moody Blues Live At Red Rocks tonight while I ride and type. Last night I watched The Commitments and ended the last few miles with The Eagles live concent. I like Joe Walsh's song "One Day At A Time" -- I can identify with it alot! It's like this WOE -- "One Day At A Time".

I got on the scale Saturday because I thought this 6WEV was over and it was time to weigh but that is next Saturday! Anyway - good news, I've lost an additional 2 pounds so I'm done 32 pounds total. Yea Me!!!

Ok enough - I'm off to ride!

[imagood1]

Re: Creeping Up The Rungs

Yea - it's Friday....WEEKEND ... everyone say it after me: W E E K E N D ! ! ! ! ! ! whoo hoooo. I know last weekend was a long one with Memorial Day but this week has been a long one.

I'm waiting another hour or so to let the lawn get a little drier before I go out and mow....we have had right at 5 inches of rain this week so the lawn has grown like a weed!!! I'll probably have to use the bag to catch the grass this time but we'll see.

I rode the bike 25 miles 2 days this week...I had every intention of making today another 25 miles but it's not gonna happen! My legs are bombing out on me. I wrote down I did 20 miles so I'm trying to finish them up but it's going to be all I can do. Usually I do the exercise first then post the amount but I need the encouragement today to keep going so 20 miles today -- 25 tomorrow.

I made kebabs on the grill for dinner last night - they were wonderful!! I bought a pork tenderloin and cut it into cubes and mariaded them in an Italian dressing (good numbers for carbs) - then I put grape tomatoes (2 per kebab) red and vadalia onions and colored peppers (yellow, red, orange and green) pieces inbetween the meat -- they were beautiful to look at and tasted yummie! We'll have to have those again.
I made 6 kebabs for the price of buying 2 at the store! Quite a price difference there!

Tonight we'll probably have hamburgers and/or hot dogs on the grill -- can't think of much else to have. I was thinking of making "mocktato salad" for dinner -- in place of potatoes you put cauliflower - that sounds good. We finished the 7 layer salad (no peas on my side) last night -- it was very fresh tasting. I love the fact that one of my favorite summer salads is perfectly legal with this WOE!!!

I made almond bread last night. I used the coconut cake recipe but had no coconut flour so I used the almond flour in place of it -- I used 2 packets of splenda so it was more bread tasting than "cake" - the cake recipe used 1/2 cup Splenda so it would be very sweet. I toasted the almond bread this morning and used it to sop up my over easy eggs - it was so much better than revolution rolls - I just can't get those things down. This bread was very "eggy" tasting just like all other breads but when I toasted it and used it with eggs the taste didn't seem to matter. I also took a little bit of it and put butter on top and a little daVinci maple sugar free syrup - OMG - FRENCH TOAST!!!! I'm going to have that tomorrow with bacon!!!

I think my rearend is going to fall off....I've got a new bike seat but I need something MUCH softer -- when you spend the amount of time on the bike seat that I do you need softness!!!

Ok - enough from me....as soon as I finish this leg of my bikiing I'm off to have a leftover kebab and cottage cheese for my lunch. I can't believe I look forward to cotttage cheese....ROFL!!!

Have a great Atkins weekend!!

[imagood1]

Re: Creeping Up The Rungs

today was the end of the 6WEC -- 6 pounds lost 6-3/8" lost....I'm a LOSER!! Whoo Hooo!!! I've signed up for the next one - it helps me keep active on a daily basis because I want to loose more.

I just finished my ab work - different ab exercises tonight. I'm hoping to loose more in my waist area again this next 6 weeks because that's where I need it the most. The leg lifts I'm doing I'm hoping will tighten the skin in my inner thighs - I've lost quite a few inches there and the skin looks a little like 1 have elephant legs. They aren't as bad as they were so I know it's working, I just hope I can tone that area up.

I rode another 25 miles today - took a mile walk with Sadie, all my exercise challenges. I decided today I need to step things up because I'm in this alone so if I don't push myself who is going to push me?

Good food today -- the almond bread I made made was wonderful. I fried 2 slices this morning in a little butter and cinnamon - then topped it with daVinci maple syrup - it was delicious french toast and bacon for breakfast. I'm planning to have the same breakfast tomorrow morning because it was so good.

Lunch was spaghetti squash w/marinara and fajita chicken on top - water, water, water.

Dinner was pork steak, broccoli and a salad w/ranch dressing. water, water, water again!!!

to stave off hunger pains today I put 1/4 cup of sunflower seeds in a small bowl and ate them on and off during the day when the water didn't crush the thought of wanting something. I put the end of them on top of my salad at dinner.

it's pumpkin patch time...time for me to get in bed

[imagood1]

Re: Creeping Up The Rungs

wow -- it's really been a long time since I was here last....didn't realize it's been so long. New month, new water challenge......

the trees I planted last week are doing real well. I watered them this afternoon because it's been a few days since we had any rain (but it will be back tomorrow or Monday). The garden really looks good. I need to thin the turnips again they are really going crazy. I planted 9 cucumber seeds and 2 came up -- that is plenty for our needs. This year I bought "straight eight" cucumber seeds....hope they are better than the baseball bat looking things we had last year!

The tomatoes all look good - I cut the low lying pieces off tonight to keep blight and bugs off them. There are plenty of blooms on each of them already - I hope we get enough tomatoes to can again this year.

The green onions and radishes are within a few days of picking -- the lettuce didn't come up but that's ok we'll just plant more and try again! The green beans looks good also, I've never planted bush beans before so I have no idea what to expect with them but I hope we get enough to eat and freeze. The zucchini didn't come up either but I didn't plant the seeds in a mound like the cucumbers....don't know why I forgot but that's ok, I was afraid of getting too many to use and not knowing enough people that would take them!

The holly bush looks real well, I watered that also today. Between the holly and the Japanese Maples the yard really looks nice. I took 5 ornamental grasses out of the yard 2 summers ago when we first moved here and have been trying to find something to replace them ever since. I put an everlasting and 2 lavender plants in where 3 of them were on a small berm. One was planted up against the house where I just planted the holly -- the grass was too large to be in that area and they aren't one of my favorites anyway so they "left the building" like Elvis!

Mom has her other eye surgery Monday morning -- then she'll be done with everything for awhile! The hearing aids have been a real godsend, she has been so much happier since she can hear things again. The right eye is so much better that it was and when the left eye is done there shouldn't be anything else she needs done. One of her hearing aids stopped working earlier in the week but we had an appointment on Friday -- the filter inside was plugged and needed to be replaced, it's something we'll have to have done every few months but no one said anything about it when she purchased them. All I knew was they were still under warranty so whatever was wrong with them would be fixed at no cost to her! Earlier in the week she had an appointment with the Internist -- we both told him about her being sick so much lately and he gave her a prescription for nausea - I'm hoping that helps.

I have blood work done Monday morning while she's having her eye surgery. Hopefully some of my numbers are better than the last time I had any blood work done. I haven't had any blood work since I started on Atkins so this will tell how well I'm doing.

Time to go in and watch TV until I fall asleep....I get to sleep in again in the morning! YEA!

[imagood1]

Re: Creeping Up The Rungs

I've gone back down the rungs to see what I've been eating that has made me not loose weight. I also need to cut down on protein because I was eating too much - need to fill up on veggies not meat! Need to get my LDL back down where it was last year when I had my last lipid panel done.

I've put Rung 3 so I can have nuts if I want them on my salad (or during the afternoon as a snack) but I'm trying to keep closer to Rung 1. We'll see how it goes.

[imagood1]

Re: Creeping Up The Rungs

I went back to induction to get back into keotsis because I was obviously out after my un-Atkins weekend last week.

I've done good today in the exercise department -- I mowed the lawn before lunch and took a walk (slow but long) after lunch. After dinner I took a walk alone so I could get my heart rate up and get some actual exercise! God love her mom is 4'11" and her steps are half what I take (I'm only 5'2" but I take a good size stride) and he hangs on to my arm when she starts getting tired so I'm pulling on the dog to get her to stop smelling and come on and mom is hanging on....hey wait, I think that's probably a good way of exercising - I'm getting a little extra cardio with the dragging and pulling....LOL!!!

I'm off to do the Zumba dvd I got yesterday then to the shower!! Have a great weekend.

[imagood1]

Re: Creeping Up The Rungs

I've been back in keotsis for a week and on Rung 2 thsi week. Last week I made sure to stay with just additional veggies to start with to make sure I was in keotsis. This week I opened a large can of Libby's pumpkin and have been making pumpkin desert each day -- it sure does help keep you regular with all that fiber!!!

We ate at a Chinese buffet tonight but I did good. I ate crab legs in drawn butter, green beans (they said they steamed them with a little bacon grease - and I didn't taste anything that shouldn't have been on them) and they had a tomato/cucumber salad with oil/vinegar on it -- I didn't overeat I ate until I was full -- and I ate slowly. The tea was a little odd tasting, it had a flowerly taste to it -- not your normal chinese tea...but it was nice for a change -- I didn't finish the cup because I figure it wasn't decaf. Yea for water!!! I did have a little chicken also - just plain baked chicken wings (no breading). It's the first time we've gone to a chinese place since I started Atkins. Normally I would have loaded one place with fried rice and lo mein noodles topped with sweet & sour sauce -- then all the chicken that had the breading would have come next. A few egg rolls and crab rangoon with sweet & sour sauce. They had a great looking desert bar but nothing looked appealing to me tonight. I looked at the sushi but nothing jumped out and yelled for me to take it so I didn't.

By now if I had gotten into something real salty my hands would be sore and stiff but I don't have that so I really think I did a good job. They had 1 of the buffet tables that was foods with no breading or sauces -- they had pooched salmon (not for me) I'm not a salmon eater, chicken wings & thighs, broccoli, green beans, (these were steamed) then they had 4 other buffet tables with "the other" stuff...LOL!!! It still amazes me to see garlic bread and french fries on a chinese buffet!!!!! The Chinese buffet in the town where mom use to live had tacos, hot dogs, french fries and chili on their buffet....along with all the other dishes....we use to laugh about that.

Have a great weekend.