———————————————————————————–
Eileen - Day #361 - Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Weight today:  229.8       Change since last post:  -3.8 lbs.
————————————————————————————–

Wooohooooo!  I am - for the first time in 10 years - down into the 220’s!!!  BARELY into the 220’s but HEY I saw it this morning on the scale, that big shiny TWO, so I’m there!!!  YEAHHHHHH!!!!!

****Happy Dancing****  ****Happy Dancing Some More****

Ahem.

How did I do it, you might ask.  Did I burn a zillion calories this past week?  Did I exercise my butt off?  Did I work extra hard?  Nope.  I was SICK!!!  Arghhhh!!!!  I spent four freakin’ days in BED, laying around doing NOTHING!!  And I lost almost FOUR POUNDS!!!!

*Sigh*  It’s a heckuva way to lose weight but, hey, I’ll take it.

So yeah, sorry I disappeared again but between my mom going into the hospital and me being sick, I haven’t been spending ANY time online.  I haven’t even updated my own stuff on my w8challenge site either!!!  Thank goodness the site basically runs itself now because I just haven’t been around to do anything.

Speaking of which - today is the last day of the JUNE CHALLENGE!!  I just now added the JULY Challenge, so if you are an existing member and you want to continue in July, just click on the GROUP MGR button and July is now listed as a choice (in the third box).  You can join July and still switch back and forth to June.

By the way, my mom is okay.  She had a “dizzy spell” and then fell and couldn’t get back up.  My daughter was there with her and she called 911 and rode with her Grandma in the ambulance to the hospital.  Luckily there were no broken bones (Mom landed on her butt TG LOL), but her cumadin levels were really high (which probably caused the dizziness and disorientation) so they admitted her, kept her for three days and then sent her home.  I’m very happy that her doctor decided to take her off cumadin altogether.  This is the 3rd time her level got too high and it makes her very sick (and at risk for a bad bleed) when that happens.  Mom will be taking Vitamin K and a daily aspirin instead (she has a pacemaker so she needs her blood a bit thinned).

Thank you to everyone for your kind support and well-wishes!!  Y’all rock!!

17759

———————————————————————————–
Eileen - Day #352 - Sunday

Weight today:  233.6       Change this week:  -1.4 lbs.
————————————————————————————–

Hey everybody!

Sorry I disappeared off the face of the earth like that!  I had a work-trip to New Orleans and I really expected to be able to post from my hotel room and say, “Hey everybody I’m in New Orleans” but as it turned out I was VERY busy while I was there (work-related busy and non-work-related busy) and so yeah I never did get a chance to post.

But I’m home now!  Exhausted, but happy to be home!

I took a day “off” from my diet while I was gone but nevertheless I’m still down from my peak last week and hopefully that will continue to be a trend.  I haven’t been counting anything (I get so sick of counting counting counting) but by now I know if I’m eating on plan or off plan and I’ve been staying on, well, except for that one day.  Can anyone guess why I went off-plan for a day?  I had to have something that I’ve heard about forever, something yummy that is native to New Orleans, something that comes in threes and has about a kazillion calories.  I’m betting someone here knows!

OMG I could write a freakin’ novel about the trip itself AND all the yummy food I ate while I was there!!  Yummy food that I ate WHILE on plan!!  I will say this - the low-carb diet was MADE for New Orleans!!!!  Rich yummy satisfying foods which don’t NEED the carb-stuff that comes with them!  I happily discarded carby sides and totally enjoyed the delicious array of amazing low-carb entrees that NO had to offer.  Okay my mouth is watering just thinking about them.  =D

Hey, I copied this from my w8c personal page:

<!– –>

<!– –>

<!– –>

<!– –>

<!– –>

<!– –>

date	food	exercise
6/15/2009	1	0	left for New Orleans
6/16/2009	1	1	. Arrived in NO, ate dinner at Pierre Maspero’s, omg the cheese-y spinach-artichoke dip was incredible, ate my portion with a fork instead of dipping chips. Did a bunch of walking all over the French Quarter but meandered a lot so I’m only counting one hour.
6/17/2009	1	1	. Got up early, rode the streetcar and had breakfast at the Camellia Grill in Uptown. THE most amazing omelet I have ever tasted in my LIFE! Woohooo stayed on plan! Had fajitas for dinner at The Checkered Parrot - who needs tortillas?!?
6/18/2009	0	2	. Got up REALLY early and walked to Cafe Du Monde for my OFF-plan treat!! Was worth every bite. Had a yummy cheesesteak sandwich for lunch at a hole-in-the-wall “Daisy Dukes” and then a so-so dinner at Rotollo’s (pizza place). We did the 2-hour walking Ghost Tour. Too much fun!
6/19/2009	1	0	. Left for home. Ate on-plan on the road.
6/20/2009	1	0	. Arrived home. Long drive. Exhausted!
6/21/2009	1	0	. Happy Father’s Day. Hubby’s knees hurt, he didn’t wanna play tennis.

Happy Father’s Day!

Edited to add:  YES!  The N’awlins favorite that I just had to indulge in was the classic order of Beignets from Cafe Du Monde!  I thought I’d post a couple pictures.  Careful!  Food porn ahead!  =D

Mm-mm-mm-mm-mmmm!!!

17555

———————————————————————————–
Eileen - Day #343 - Friday

Weight today:  I dunno, I didn’t weigh in.
————————————————————————————–

I was a bit absent this week.  It’s been a hectic one, full of family drama.  *Sigh*  Dontcha just love that phrase “family drama?”  It’s borderline redundant.  In my experience, anyway.

Today was my 48th birthday!  My husband bought me a beautiful opal ring (I, uh, picked it out myself over a month ago!) and we went out to the movies and dinner tonight, the four of us (hubby and both my boys… ahem, young men).  It was a really good day.  =D

We went to see Angels & Demons.  I was very impressed!  Ron Howard did a great job with this movie adaptation of the book!  Much better than he did with DaVinci Code!

We didn’t play tennis tonight, and that was my fault.  Earlier in the day I told everyone that I really wanted to play and so since it was my birthday my men agreed that yeah, we’d all go, but then it was so hot outside and I didn’t wanna get all sweaty before the movies, so I changed my mind.

But tomorrow is Saturday!!  Woohoooo!  I’ll definitely play tomorrow!

17409

———————————————————————————–
Eileen - Day #338 - Monday
Daily intake goals::  < 35g carbs / < 1700 calories
Exercise yesterday:: none
Net carb grams yesterday:  ?      Calories:  ?
Weight today:  234.0     Change:  +3.2    Total weight loss:  -51.2
————————————————————————————–

What a week! The work-trip was quite productive and very very busy.  I’m very happy to be home.

I went off-plan on Saturday, then on Sunday I ate on-plan all day long, then blew it at the movies.  Yeah, the dreaded popcorn again!  OMG that is the only temptation that gets to me.  I love me my popcorn!

Today I’m back on the wagon!

It’s always incredible to me how much I gain when I eat off-plan.  Three whole pounds this time.  Three!  I’m assuming that it’s partly water-weight from so much salty stuff (low-carb is naturally low-salt) because even though I did go off-plan and eat a buncha stuff I’m not supposed to eat, I know I didn’t eat ten-thousand calories (three pounds worth!)!!!  I’m not worried about it, though, because I’m gonna work it off.

My hubby works the days shift during the summer, so we can play tennis in the evenings!  He worked a ten-hour day today and I left it up to him as to whether or not he wanted to go play and he said yes!  He wanted to eat first, though, so we didn’t get to the courts until 8:15, which meant that there was only about a half-hour of daylight left.  It’s okay, though, we got a half-hour in, of really good sweaty workout.  It was a good re-introduction to exercise!

Yeahhhhh I’m back!!!

17269

———————————————————————————–
Eileen - Day #332 - Tuesday
Daily intake goals::  < 35g carbs / < 1700 calories / > 64+ oz. water
Exercise yesterday:: 30 min. tennis w/son
Net carb grams yesterday:  33.6      Calories:  1210
Weight today:  230.8     Change:  -0.4    Total weight loss:  -54.4
————————————————————————————–

Except for my knees, I feel wonderful!  My back is still giving me a twinge now and then but I can stand upright and move normally (not like a disjointed robot, lol) so I am very thankful for that!  I have a big (working) weekend coming up and I’m so happy that I feel so good!

Yeah, I’ll be at a hotel on Disney property from Thursday to Sunday.  I called the resort and asked them if they had tennis courts (omg am I addicted or what?!) and they said that they do have tennis courts but guests need to bring their own rackets and balls (which I expected) BUT it costs 12 BUCKS AN HOUR PER PERSON to use the court!  OMG!!  Poor Walt would be astounded to know that his dream for a happy place for families had turned into such a cash-sucking-leech!

Guess who ain’t-a-gonna be playing tennis.  **Frustrated and exasperated sigh**

Speaking of tennis (lol like I talk about anything else lately), I went to the court with my son last night and tried to play.  I say “tried” because it actually didn’t work out so well.  My knees were hurting me and I couldn’t run.  Granted, I don’t run all that much anyway but last night I couldn’t run at ALL, and that was frustrating me big time.  I know it’s because of the 2 HOURS of tennis that hubby and I put in on Sunday, that my knees are all swollen, but it was annoying nevertheless.  I gave up after only 30 minutes, and I left the tennis court in tears.  (Poor Kevin, I think he thought I was unhinged or something!)  (Okay maybe I was, a little.)  (LOL!!)

17100

———————————————————————————–
Eileen - Day #330 - Sunday
Daily intake goals::  < 35g carbs / < 1700 calories / > 64+ oz. water
Exercise yesterday:: none
Net carb grams yesterday:  17.2      Calories:  1238
Weight today:  231.2     Change:  -1.4    Total weight loss:  -54.0
————————————————————————————–

This past Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I was flat on my back.  This happens maybe once, twice a year, I get a spasm in my back and I can’t stand or walk without excruciating pain.  Finally on Friday it let up enough that I could attend my daughter’s graduation.  Then yesterday I felt much better, almost normal.  Almost.

Basically I’ve just been majorly pissed off because I haven’t been able to play tennis all week!

Today I woke up and for the first time since Monday I could stand up straight without pain.  My husband agreed that yes, we’d go play tennis together.  Maybe because I’ve moaned and groaned about 5,000 times this week about how I miss playing tennis.

We went this afternoon and played for two solid hours!!!  We were both soaked with sweat and I felt like my muscles had turned to jelly, but the exercise was amazing!!!

I am well and truly hooked on this tennis thing.  =D

17025