Do you have Dana Carpenders books - there are a few pot roast recipes in those that are great .. I can vouch for one in the "500 more low carb recipes"... Rho's slow cooker chuck roast .... Course since I'm Rho I might be a bit biased :o

Figured I would check in although I'm still struggling, my anxiety has been at an all time high and that makes it harder to make good choices. At least I'm still conscious of what I'm doing so that's a start. One thing to note, my mom suggested I try metabolism pills and I figured why not, and it might be a fluke but I've been taking them for 3 days and my weight was 218 thursday, 219.something yesterday and 216.8 today and I haven't been on plan. But seeing the weight drop actually made me want to try harder because if these pills help then hopefully I'll lose more than I have been. I'll keep you guys posted on if they seem to help or not.
They are called Life Extension 7-Keto DHEA Metabolite. If nothing else it might help inspire some positive thinking :)

Air those struggle days are the best to check in here ... Heck post numerous times a day it you need too then. If you are feeling that you must have something and are near a computer come post sometimes that may be enough to help you not need it ... Or eat some protein and drink a big glass of water and tell yourself if you still want x in a half hour after your done you will have a serving of it measured out.

Here's how I look at it - we are human - life will interfere and it may take a little longer to get where we want to be. But we will get there. I will write the name of that down thanks .. Just keep track to be sure it isn't amping up the anxiety..

And WHOO Hooo on the lowest weight .... :D

Air, sorry about the anxiety, definitely do check in here when you feel bad. I find it much easier to keep on track when I post here.

Rho, I haven't tried her recipe book, thanks for the suggestion! And is that really your recipe in it????? Cool :)

Thanks Rho, I definitely feel that backslides will happen and I'd rather let it happen than force myself to stick to a diet because you will fail. I am working on getting back OP, sat down and made out some menus for this week and actually went grocery shopping. I also started logging my food for today so that should help. As I'm easing back into it I can feel my energy going back up, it might also be the metabolism pills. One other note on the pills is that they aren't crazy energy pills. I've taken pills like that, that are supposed to boost your metabolism and energy and help you lose weight quick and I felt like I was going to die because they raised my heart rate, but taking these I don't really feel any side effects, well other than I seem to be way hungrier which is probably good since I normally don't eat a lot.
Ana: I've been trying to find new ways to cook meat too, I looked up slow cooker recipes trying to find new ideas for chicken. I'm going to make some enchiladas tomorrow, threw the chicken breasts in tonight with some spices and green chiles so it will be easy to pull apart tomorrow.
I was 215 today, just finished TOM so that could also be a contributor to the weight loss. Tomorrow is my weigh in day so fingers crossed my weight doesn't go back up but we'll see.

Her books are good .. I get lots of ideas for meals there ... I think I have most of them and am always using them for recipes. And yes it really is my recipe :D. And it is pretty yummy :o

Air you have a great plan in place! I like to take a whole chicken and I crumple foil in the bottom of the crock to keep the chicken lifted a bit then I throw some garlic cloves in the bottom and a cut up onion and put the chicken on them.. And let it cook whole in there. Then I take it out and peel the skin off and crisp it in the oven under the broiler (really need to watch that) the chicken stays moist and you can use it for so many things .. I do it a lot in the summer especially - for chicken salad, chicken on salad, chicken taco or enchilada, then I cook the bones up more in the broth I froze from cooking chickens (freeze the bones till you have a few and a few broths and make a soup). I get as much as possible out of everything can you tell lol ...

And YAY on the new low number!

Yes congrats air0 and yes I LOVE these ideas rho!:hug: I'm stuck (perpetually:o) in knowing what to do,and knowing how to apply . . . but just not "pulling the trigger" when stress/exhaustion/lifelong habit come over me.

But I have made great progress in a) not beating myself up and b) keeping to my work-out regimen . . . been faithful to the gym and my bike when I get the chance. I'm also walking my butt off each night, just in the course of a normal night answering calls. I actually avoid getting a ride here and there like I used to.

The other good news is that I haven't GAINED weight lol (am I reaching here?:dizzy:) during this challenge.

SOOOoo good to "seeya" steph . . . and it's good that YOU decided to go OffP for the week . . . I seldom feel like I'm deciding anything when I go OffP . . . its like I'm possessed by Carb-Demons!:devil: Need to work on that, I know.

I like the idea of a metabolism pill . . . menopause wreaked havoc with my entire system . . . will check out during the coming long Easter weekend and glad you posted about side effects--I'm really sensitive to anything that might give me a panic/anxiety attack.

I'm not near a computer at work, but plan on reading/posting from now on when I'm OffP! Another plan I'm going to do this week is eating before bed . . . I know, I know . . . it goes against everything we hear and learn . . . but if it saves me from "to he!l with it" binge eating b4 bed mentality, think it will pay off in the long run - worth a try at any rate sooo gonna "snack" every 3-4 hours - protein shake when I wake and then have my main meal b4 I crash out . . . stay tuned lol!:D

Ugh, so I've been majorly struggling with trying to stay on plan lately, I really need to do a proper clean induction again and just kid the cravings to the curb entirely, this trying and slipping up too often makes everything a permanent struggle. I had a plan for last night's dinner and went off it totally and pretty much binged on carb-y food last night - 2 gluten free pies (both saucer sized - I ate 2!) plus a potato with butter and yoghurt and oh there was lots of cream with the pie and man, I felt gross. I'd fallen into the "I'm sick (I have a cold/sore throat/cough) and I deserve a treat" trap, so stupid! Because I ended up feeling SO much more sick sick, I threw up a bunch of times just before bed. Yeah, that went well with already feeling crummy with a cold!

Thanks for the chicken cooking tip Rho! I really suck at cooking, I need this basic stuff :-)

Oh that sucks being sick ... It certainly makes you want comfort food - now is the time to make a shopping list for when you are feeling better ... Just what you want to think about when you feel so bad huh ... Wish I had some ideas for you for now - chicken broth with scallion cut up maybe or look on Linda's LC recipe site for easy chicken or ground meat recipes or even eggs .. Things you can do once and eat for a few days. Maybe a few different soup recipes..

Feel better quickly..

Thanks Rho, chicken broth sounds lovely. I'm going to my mum's for the easter long weekend so I might ask her to make some chicken soup - she raises chickens so there are usually heaps to eat (we eat the boy chickens, except for a few roosters she saves) and I know I annoy her with my general disdain for chicken and freaked-out-ness about the home grown aspect (I grew up in the inner city, food comes from shops ;-) Also, I like beef.)

Ana: being sick is the worst, having no energy to cook makes it super easy to fall into old patterns. Have you looked into trying to find low carb recipe solutions for favorite comfort foods? I was thinking the other day I should make lots of cauli tots and freeze some though creating a plan and carrying through are two totally different things (I also looked up how to create almond and coconut milk and though it's easy and would save me money it's just finding the time/energy/motivation you get the idea haha).
I was 216.8 yesterday and 216.4 today, I am going to try to refrain from weighing myself until Thursday because I have to work the next two nights plus school so my weight will be bouncing around from no sleep and probably not eating enough. One other note the enchiladas were amazing the only downside was the low carb tortillas I use are 6 carbs so it was probably about 10 carbs per enchilada and I ate 2 so I went over carbs yesterday but it was so worth it.
Here's to pushing through and sticking OP for the next few days until the end of the challenge, we're so close!

By the way Ana pie sounds good, it seems like most of my carb cravings come from sugar presently. And I'm work right now and there's cake in the fridge and I have a feeling there will be more cake tomorrow night (darn those kids and their birthdays) but I will go drink some crystal light and stay away from the fridge. I also brought an enchilada so I can savor that in a couple of hours when I'm really hungry not just having cravings.

You can do it - the enchilada sounds better to me than the cake now hehehe.

Ana hope your feeling a little better at least...

Good morning everyone :D

I don't know if I can do a lb by Sunday but I'm going to be as close as I can manage... Seem to finally be on the losing side of things again yay I swear my body put on the breaks because it hasn't been below this weight in decades.

The only changes I've made are every hour I have an alarm set on my iPhone to remind me to drink a glass of water and to walk 500 steps in place ... And I'm doing 4 flights of stairs even when I'm not doing laundry :dizzy: