How are all the June peeps doing?

Can I let you know in about 4 hours...after WI lol

Overall doing good. How about you? :)

I'm doing good. Down 23.8 lbs since my 6/12 start. Staying OP is so much easier after I got on the routine of doing so. I don't have cravings for breads and sweets or feel bad because I see something I want and it's not OP so I don't indulge. Although it's about to be TOM and I was CRAVING something sweet and I keep most of my sweet restricted products at work in my desk - so I made a trip to GNC and got a Cinnamon Roll Quest Bar and substituted it for an IP Restricted product this weekend. It was good and kicked that craving out.

I'm hoping I hit my halfway point of at least 28.5 not this week's WI but next's.

sd - Good luck at your WI.
Bull - Glad to see you are doing well and sticking with it.

Kissi! I hear you on the general disappearance of cravings. Knock on wood, but it's been kind of easy lately staying OP. We've been experimenting in the kitchen, creating coconut milk out of cauliflower and sugar free coconut syrup, things like that, and I have been having such delicious dinners it's hardly felt like a diet at all. Last night I felt so full, so satisfied, that I was concerned I had somehow over-eaten so I sat down and added up every calorie I had consumed that day -- I had consumed 910 calories for the day. Unbelievable.

Good luck everyone! Sdhinds, go get 'em at the WI.

Also,do any of you June peeps have any awesome recipes to share? What have you been eating that's getting you through this? I'd love to know!

I agree with this completely. I look forward to my Breakfast every single day. It's the RTD Vanilla mixed with Coffee and a couple packs of splenda. I always look forward to dinner as well.

A few of my favorite recipes (kitchen experiments).

I made a Shepherd's Pie that was so good and so filling. I just browned some extra lean hamburger meat with like half of a bell pepper and mushrooms and roasted and pureed some cauliflower and put that on top. It was so good and tasted sinful like meat and potatoes!

I'm a huge fan of Zucchini. I bought a Veggetti from Amazon and make noodles out of it. Just put it in a skillet and add a little EVOO and some spices and cook it down.

Zucchini chips are really easy as well. I have a mandolin and slice the zucchini really thin, toss the slices in some olive oil and use just a pinch of sea salt over the top of them (it doesn't take much). Put it in the oven on 225 and bake them for about an hour (rotating the pan 3/4 of the way through).

I'm also a huge fan of cauliflower. I've grated it in the food processor and tossed it in the skillet with some EVOO and cooked it down and it tasted so good (and a much different flavor from having it roasted).

I've also made the cauliflower tortillas when I'm in a Mexican mood - they are very involved though so I don't do them often. I preheat my oven to 375. I use 3/4 of the head of cauliflower and puree the heck out of it. Place it in a microwave safe container and cook it for 3 minutes, stir, cook it for another 3 minutes. Then transfer it to another bowl lined with a dish towel or cheesecloth. Then I drain it (this step is really important. It should be drained really well....be careful it will be hot - I use one of my silicone oven mitts when I do this). Then I put it back in the bowl and mix in about 4 egg whites as the binder and some salt and pepper. I mix it with my hand mixer and then use a spoon and spread out 6 even circles on some parchment paper on a baking sheet (keeping them relatively thinned out). I bake for 10 minutes then open the oven, peel them back to flip them over (very carefully) and then bake on the other side for about 10 minutes. Take them out and let them cool on a wire rack and toss them in a skillet to warm them before serving. (I only eat 3 at a time so I'm not overdoing the egg whites).

Yummers
 

I have one of those noodle things -- I don't know the brand, around here we call it "the noodler". It's in storage though, and about 15 times yesterday I said to my husband, "we should go to the storage and get the noodler". We never made it though, but I gotta go get that thing! I'm def going to try that shepherds pie. I've done the Cauli tortillas and didn't love them (liked them, though) but I'm hopeful for the "potato puree" wrap I've been reading about.

I did have Cauliflower custard yesterday! It was kind of an accident as we were trying to create coconut milk from cauliflower. I put cauliflower and about 1/4 cup Sparkling Ice Pineapple/Coconut in the blender (incidentally, the result was pineapple flavored apple sauce). Anyway, it was so good I put it in a small oven safe dish, added an egg white and some cinnamon and put it in the oven to see what happened. Custard happened! Next time I'd flavor it with caramel though so I could have something closer to flan. I ate it piping hot and it was gooooood.

Your experiments in the kitchen sound about like mine! I may need to try that. Are those sparkling ice's okay to have?

My coach said I could have up to two a day. But of any kind of splenda beverage, like crystal light. So, only two, not two ICE then two Crystal Light. I also used 1 cup to make jello (1 cup Sparkling Ice Raspberry, plain gelatin). Made a dish of completely yummy jello. The gelatin has a few calories, but the ICE beverage is a 0/0/0. And the little bits I've been using in cooking have allowed me to just drink the rest. I like them, they don't take me out of ketosis (this may not be true for everyone though -- some vets might weigh in on that).

WI update: was 199..scale showed 198..then dropped back forth to 197.8. We went with 197.8 so I can say I lost 20 pounds by my 38th B-day (8/6). I just had this feeling today going in that it was 1-2 pounds when I had been averaging 3 pounds. It seems discouraging a bit when you only see a pound lost. I think possibly I took in some extra salt?! So I am really going to be watching that this week. Yes, I am happy with a loss...you just wish for more :) Good luck with everyone's wi this week!

Happy Birthday!
 

That's a dandy Birthday gift!!

Thank you..Technically I am .4 away...but shhhh 20 it is LOL

I am a super big believer in rounding numbers!!

2 month mark
 

Hey all my June peps. I am at the two month mark and 34lbs lighter. I am happy overall. Didn't see the scale move much this past week but I ate out a lot. I choose foods that were completely OP but I know that they may have not been cooked correctly.

I am not going to worry too much about it and just stay OP. What I am noticing, especially, going out is that I have learned to make better, healthier choices. This is one of the reasons I enjoy this diet so much is the learning. Makes me feel like after I loose the weight I will be able to maintain the loss.

Going to be heading our of town for a few days of amusement parks. Feeling a bit nervous about choices for food at these places. need to prepare and pack for myself.

Congrats to you Lala!

A few weeks ago I took our daughter and friend to a water park. At their food location they did grilling, plus also on the menu was caesar salad. I asked if it was pre-made and they said no. So I had them "make" me salad with the lettuce, tomato (they used those for the burgers/chicken sandwiches), grilled chix and onions. I then used the condiments and added pickles and some banana peppers. For a lite dressing and call me crazy..I mixed in a squirt of mustard. Something to keep in mind. I drank an IP shake before entering...then salad later. *did the protein a little to keep me going* had the rest for dinner time. I was home for dinner/snack. Pack a bar in your bag/purse if your going to be there later.

I know how you feel. I lost 2 pounds this week too (I also WI on Mondays) and it was a bit of a bummer. Even though I know the scale is going in the right direction and the body has to catch up and all of that, it is still a bit disappointing to see less of a loss than your used to.

WTG though on reaching 20! And on your loss! Happy early Birthday! :):carrot: