Starting weight (7/15/08):  279.8  
Calories/Carbs Goals (limits):      1400  / 25.0
Yesterday’s calories & net carbs:  1161 /  21.1
Yesterday’s exercise:  1 hour swimming
Yesterday:  ???  Today:  ???    Out of town - no scale
Change today:  -0.0   Loss-so-far: 18.8 lbs.

It was very cool to get away for the weekend, but then again, it’s always nice when we get home.  I’m looking forward to sleeping in my very own bed tonight - I definitely rest more comfortably at home.

I did pretty good with eating out this weekend, stuck to salads and chicken and had a ham/bacon/cheese omelet for lunch today.  I did snack on almonds and on Friday went a little overboard with them but I was careful with them yesterday and today.  Oh, and I had chocolate, which was a slice of heaven; found these little Lindt 70% cocoa individually-wrapped bars that are only 30 calories each and less than 2g of carbs.  One-a-day is what I’m thinking.  How cool is that?!?

When we were in the store and I discovered these little chocolate bars, my husband was there with me and he found other dark-chocolate bars that were of comparable number of carbs per serving but they were big bars that I’d have to open and break off an acceptable chunk… nuh uh!!!  I don’t trust myself with chocolate!!!  They have to be tiny — and individually wrapped, I told him!!!  These were perfect.

On our way home, we stopped at a couple of thrift stores just to look around (Hubby’s hobby, which I’ve learned to enjoy).  At one of them, I found the Atkin’s book, the one from 1997, I think.  I’ve read so much stuff online about Atkins, I can’t imagine that I’ll see much more in the book but I want to read it anyway.  So far I’m up to Chapter 4 — and Chapters 1 through 3 were all about defending the diet.  Poor Dr. A. took so much criticism from everyone that I guess it’s not surprising that he’d start out on a defensive note.  I hope the whole book isn’t permeated with it, though.

My plan — as of this past July — was to stay on Atkins for as long as it took to lose this weight, and then switch back to calorie-counting so I could have carbs again… but now that I’m away from the refined sugar and flour I don’t think I’ll ever go back again.  I CAN LIVE WITHOUT HIGH-CARB BREAD AND SNACKS.  There are great alternatives out there, yummy food that satisfies without creating a sugar-rush (which happens to screw with my metabolism).  Why, when I’m actually doing it — breaking out and away from my addiction to carbohydrates — why would I go back?

Oh yeah, I was definitely addicted to carbs.  Even while I was on a diet - the calorie-counting diet - my daily food intake consisted of mostly carbs.  Here’s a little snapshot of what I was eating then:

GRAMS                    Fat       Net Carbs     Protein     Calories
March 1, 2008         75           134              81           1567
March 2, 2008         80           156              47           1551
March 3, 2008         59           174              61           1491 
March 4, 2008         90           135              94           1767
March 5, 2008         51           193              64           1447
March 6, 2008         63           203              72           1690

And here are the grams now:

Sept. 11, 2008         85           30               71            1158
Sept. 12, 2008         134         25               85            1706
Sept. 13, 2008         98           21               44            1161
Sept. 14, 2008         110         24               80            1418

What a difference!  I’m eating way more fat now (as I should be on this diet) but interestingly my protein intake has stayed about the same. 

Anyway, I’m glad to be home.

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