Woohoo, down another half lb from Sunday! I really thought I'd go up today, but I'm not complaining!

I ended up getting a late start this morning, late breakfast, so I'll have a late lunch. Let me tell you, there is nothing scarier than thinking your indoor cat has gotten outside and is lost! That's what I was doing this morning, looking for my cat! When I couldn't find him, I thought he may have slipped out this morning when my hubby went out. To make matters worse, he's a black cat and people so seem to mistreat black cats, which is just heart-breaking because black cats have the absolute sweetest personalities. They are so loving. Anyway, I was frantic. I called all over the house, searching every nook and cranny. (We live in a huge big historical house.) I called all around the outside of the house. I even went up to the attic thinking maybe my husband had gone up there (been moving things up there lately) and Ichabod had slipped past him. Being black, he's hard to see if you don't have the light on, and he's a quick little bugger! Finally just as I was throwing socks and shoes on to go start searching the neighborhood, my hubby came in and told me he hadn't been up to the attic but he had been down to the basement this morning. I don't know why it didn't occur to me to look there! Thank goodness, that's where I found Ichabod! Whew!

Week 1:
5/3--220
5/4--218
5/5--217.5
5/6--218 TOM
5/7--216
5/8--216
5/9--216 Cheat Day
Week 2:
5/10--215
5/11--215.5
5/12--214.5
5/13
5/14
5/15
5/16

Today's Meals:
Breakfast:
2 boiled eggs
Bacon
Mio water

Lunch:
Large salad with lots of veggies, egg, shredded cheese, topped with walnuts and ranch dressing
Mio water

Snack:
Mixed nuts (Danged nuts! When I run out of these salted nuts, I need to not buy them again!)
Mio water

Dinner:
BBQ chicken
Baked beans
Mio water

Today's Exercise:
None (Hm, got dark on me again. I really need to get on top of this!)

So, I've been thinking this over. The 6-month mark seems to be my danger zone when it comes to dieting. I am completely gungho for 6 months, and then I always seem to bottom out, and in my disappointment, I drift away from 3FC, which always leads to me going completely off my diet. That's outrageous! I am considering changing my goal to somewhere around 175-180 lbs, which will probably take me somewhere around 6-7 months to accomplish, and then try to maintain that. I was actually happy with my weight at 175-180 lbs. I felt comfortable there. I feel compelled to go down to 163-164 because then I'll no longer be overweight. And I'm shooting for 145 so I can maintain between 145-155 just to put a little space between 155 and 165 (overweight). But if I shoot for 175-180, maybe I can avoid the whole guilt thing. Then if I feel like losing more after maintaining that weight, I can start again with a gungho attitude. I might as well try it. I'm going that direction anyway, and maybe this will keep me from backtracking...again! I think I will change it. I'll have to change my signature mini-goals too, so I'll have to figure those out. I'm kind of excited about this! But no matter how I do in 6 months, I cannot leave 3FC!

Okay, got the new goal figured out! It's 50 lbs down from where I started, so 170 lbs. I feel really good about this! Once I make it there, I'll have to figure out if and when to set another goal. And I may not want to go lower. I wasn't happy with how saggy my skin was getting, so I'm not sure I'd want to have it sag even more. We'll see. I do plan to join the Y in June so maybe I can build a little muscle along the way this time which might help with the sagging skin. I think I could be very happy in the 170's though. I'll just have to reevaluate once I hit 170, and although I may not get there in just 6 months, I WILL hit 170!

Yay, bonus! In changing my mini-goals from 4 in number to 3, I was able to add my favorite quote in my signature!

Another lb down today! I really thought those salted mixed nuts would affect my water weight. I always eat more than I plan to. Doggone things are addicting! However, I'm continuing to drink water between bites of everything I eat so maybe that helped.

Week 1:
5/3--220
5/4--218
5/5--217.5
5/6--218 TOM
5/7--216
5/8--216
5/9--216 Cheat Day
Week 2:
5/10--215
5/11--215.5
5/12--214.5
5/13--213.5
5/14
5/15
5/16

Today's Meals:
Breakfast:
2 boiled eggs
Bacon
Mio water

Lunch:
Large salad with lots of veggies, egg, shredded cheese, topped with walnuts, turkey, and ranch dressing
Mio water

Snack:

Dinner:
Mixed nuts started out as an early evening snack, but I ate so many of them, coupled with Mio water, that I about made myself sick, and I have no appetite for anything else tonight. And there's certainly no worry that I under-ate on calories! Nuts really are that kind of food that you don't realize you've eaten way too much until that disgusting feeling hits you. Yuk! Oh, and the salt. I'm not looking forward to the scale in the morning!

Today's Exercise:
1.2-mile walk. On a positive note, it was close to getting dark and I asked my hubby if he wanted to go walk, since he goes with me every time, but tonight he just didn't feel up to it. I was feeling icky because of the nuts and really didn't want to go, but then I thought of the quote in my signature and I knew without a doubt that what I would want a year from now is for me to have exercised today, so I got my big butt off the couch, got my socks and shoes on, and went walking.

Yay! Somehow I dodged the bullet and my weight did not go up! : So now, last time I did slow carb, I lost 9 lbs in 12 days. I'm definitely not going to repeat that this time, but maybe I didn't have as much water weight in storage this time. After 2 weeks, all the extra water should be depleted, and although natural water gains and losses will continue to occur, like after each cheat day and around TOM, etc., I should start taking off actual fat. So after this week, we should be able to tell how well the slow-carb diet is going to work for me the 2nd time around! It's funny, the last time I did this diet, it felt like an experiment since I had never done it before, and this time it feels like an experiment again because I don't know if it will continue to work for me!

Week 1:
5/3--220
5/4--218
5/5--217.5
5/6--218 TOM
5/7--216
5/8--216
5/9--216 Cheat Day
Week 2:
5/10--215
5/11--215.5
5/12--214.5
5/13--213.5
5/14--213.5
5/15
5/16

Today's Meals:
Breakfast:
2 fried eggs
3 link sausages
Mio water

Lunch:
Chicken salad
Celery sticks
Mio water

Snack:

Dinner:
Steak
Cottage cheese
Small salad with lots of veggies, egg, shredded cheese, with ranch dressing
Mio water

Today's Exercise:
1.2 mile walk

It just occurred to me that because I've been drinking water (usually with Mio flavoring added to it) between bites of everything I eat, I haven't been drinking Diet Dr. Pepper! That's fantastic! Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Diet Dr. Pepper, but I am well aware of how bad it is for me. (Recently, I've had to get 3 crowns on my teeth!) Wow, I didn't even go through 4 days of migraines! Oh wait, actually I was having headaches but I attributed them to TOM and then allergies, and I did have to take migraine medicine a couple of times. Maybe that wasn't about TOM and the changing weather after all but rather a drop in Diet. Dr. Pepper. I discovered very quickly that it's difficult to drink anything but water when you are stopping to drink between bites. Other things get to be disgusting really fast. So yay to stopping Dr. Pepper! I have a terrible record at keeping away from it, so I hope it lasts!

Yay! Another 1 lb drop today! That was a nice surprise!

Week 1:
5/3--220
5/4--218
5/5--217.5
5/6--218 TOM
5/7--216
5/8--216
5/9--216 Cheat Day
Week 2:
5/10--215
5/11--215.5
5/12--214.5
5/13--213.5
5/14--213.5
5/15--212.5
5/16

Today's Meals:
Breakfast:
2 fried eggs
2 link sausages
Mio water

Lunch:
10 Anytizer chicken fries
Mio water

Snack:

Dinner:
Lemon garlic salmon filet
small loaded salad with ranch dressing
green beans
Mio water

Today's Exercise:
1.2-mile walk (Just made it before the walk park closed for the night!)

Woot! Woot! I'm amazed that I am another lb down today! That's so great because today is cheat day and I'll be going up on the scale tomorrow, probably around 2 lbs, so I'm happy to be down today! By the way, there's no chance I won't be going up tomorrow. Staying the same weight or dropping as I did last Sunday after cheat day is the exception, not the rule. But going up is okay because it will just be water weight. (It would take 7000 calories to gain 2 lbs of fat, and I don't think I'll be cheating THAT much!) Cheat day is a nice kick for my metabolism so once I lose those water lbs, I should be able to keep losing. It won't be at the same rate, of course, since I'll be losing fat and not just water now, but as long as I am losing, that's what counts!

Week 1:
5/3--220
5/4--218
5/5--217.5
5/6--218 TOM
5/7--216
5/8--216
5/9--216 Cheat Day
Week 2:
5/10--215
5/11--215.5
5/12--214.5
5/13--213.5
5/14--213.5
5/15--212.5
5/16--211.5 Cheat Day

Today's Meals:
Breakfast:
1 1/2 fried eggs
2 slices of bacon
1 slice of whole wheat toast with butter
Mio water

Lunch: (or Snack...I'm not sure which yet!)
2 scoops of Breyer's Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookie ice cream (aka heaven in a dish!)
Mio water (Ew, Mio flavoring doesn't go so well with mint. Needless to say, no sips between bites here!)

Snack: (I have to call this a snack because 4:30 is an awfully late lunch. I do recognize that I got my lunch and snack type foods mixed up though, lol!)
A can of split pea & ham Chunky Soup (2 serving sizes)
10 Ritz crackers
Mio water (Not so great with pea soup either!)

Dinner:
Lasagna
A slice of whole wheat bread with butter
Small loaded salad with ranch dressing
Mio water

Today's Exercise:
1.2-mile walk (I went early today. It might rain later.)
Stretches, Side & back leg lifts, half-body push-ups, and front & side crunches, all of which I haven't done in years! 3 sets of 10 each. Going to be sore tomorrow! I don't know what possessed me, but I kept thinking about hubby and I joining the Y in June and how I may just kill myself if I don't start doing some kind of preparation beforehand. I haven't worked out at the Y since 2010! I have no muscles at all!

I had to edit what I had for breakfast. I fully intended to have 2 fried eggs and 3 slices of bacon, but then I thought, "It's cheat day," and I added whole wheat toast to my breakfast. Well, there was no way I was able to finish my eggs or bacon after doing that. I gave the extra half egg and slice of bacon to the dogs (and they were very appreciative). Drinking water between bites REALLY does make a difference! And I don't just take a single swallow between bites. I have kind of gotten used to washing down what I'm eating, so I'll take 2 or 3 swallows before setting my water bottle back down. I always take a water bottle to the table. Not exactly my best china, lol! My water bottle holds 4 cups, and I get through 1 of those per meal, so I'm drinking 12 cups total at meals. And I'm drinking a couple of bottles the rest of day. so I'm drinking 20 cups of water a day. That's 160 oz a day. According to this WebMD article, http://www.webmd.com/diet/water-for-...ss-diet?page=2, I'm in no danger. (Yes, drinking too much water can be dangerous!) It says the rules have changed from the standard 8 8-oz glasses of water a day to basing water needs on your weight. You should drink between a half oz and 1 oz for every pound you weigh. Since I weigh 211.5, I could drink 211.5 oz per day, although not really because 1 oz per pound should be for someone who exercises a lot or lives in a hot climate. I only walk a little and live in Ohio. I have to say, I never thought I'd have to make sure I don't drink too much water! But I probably shouldn't drink any more than I'm drinking, and as I get closer to goal, I should probably cut out a bottle, unless I'm going to exercise a lot, and I don't see that happening. And in case anyone's wondering, yes, I run to the bathroom several times a day, lol! Oh and one other thing I do every morning for breakfast: I take vitamin D. I have rheumatoid arthritis and studies show there's a link between RA and vitamin D deficiency. And that seems to be true for me. The first time I was given a vitamin D blood test, the vitamin D in my body didn't even register. My doctor was shocked. She said she didn't even know how I had enough energy to walk around. She put me on 50,000 IU per week. A month later when she tested it, I was up to a 7. Still not good. 30-50 is the number they shoot for. Anything under 30 is considered deficient. The highest I got in testing was 24. So I take 2000 IU of vitamin D2 (fat-soluable) each day. Eventually that will taper off, but I will probably always have to take vitamin D. The thing is there are studies that say there's also a link between vitamin D and obesity. Pretty much, unless one gets 20 minutes of sun without sunblock with most of their skin exposed each day, everyone is low on vitamin D. They may not be clinically deficient, but they are low and should try to supplement that. However, consult a doctor! Ask to get your levels checked. (So many doctors won't test it automatically. I was lucky mine did.) Too much vitamin D is toxic, although that would be very high levels. A multi-vitamin which includes vitamin D is a good idea though, whether or not you make it to the doctor!

213, up only 1.5 lbs! That is the type of day-after-cheat-day result I am used to and now the real test begins! After I lose this 1.5 water weight, which should fall off in the next day or two, will I continue to lose even more, in fat this time, by this week's cheat day? That's the idea! That's how this is supposed to work! Everyone has weeks in which they stall, and that's going to happen on this diet too. But I sure hope this is not one of those weeks, because I am very curious to see if I am going to continue to lose, this time at a reasonable rate of 1-2 lbs per week. Will this week's "low" be lower than last week's low? That IS the question, lol! I'll tell you, I could sure feel a difference in my body this morning from the last day-after-cheat-day. The joints in my fingers are quite stiff and swollen this morning. I wonder if the whole wheat bread I ate is the culprit of those aches and pains. I mean I have RA. I'm going to wake up with stiff joints, but some mornings they are worse than others and it was quite noticeable this morning. Next cheat day, I think I'll avoid wheat bread and see if it makes any difference. It could just be that the excess water in general is causing it, and of course I did do some floor exercises on my hands and knees yesterday that I'm not used to, but it's still worth a little experiment! If I find that wheat is bothering my joints, I have no problem sticking to chocolate on cheat day!

Week 1: High 220, Low 216
5/3--220
5/4--218
5/5--217.5
5/6--218 TOM
5/7--216
5/8--216
5/9--216 Cheat Day
Week 2: High 215, Low 211.5
5/10--215
5/11--215.5
5/12--214.5
5/13--213.5
5/14--213.5
5/15--212.5
5/16--211.5 Cheat Day
Week 3:
5/17--213
5/18
5/19
5/20
5/21
5/22
5/23

Today's Meals:
Breakfast:
2 fried eggs
3 slices of bacon
Mio water

Lunch:
large salad with lots of veggies, egg, shredded cheese, turkey, walnuts, with ranch dressing
Mio water

Dinner:
BBQ chicken
Steamed summer squash
Mio water

Late Night Snack:
Handful of walnuts

Today's Exercise:
1.2-mile walk. (I went out before breakfast this morning because I was so stiff. I was hoping the walk would help with that and it seems to have.)

Not only did I drop the 1.5 lbs of water weight I gained from cheat day, I also dropped another half lb! : I am now back to where I started last time on this diet and I'm thrilled to continue this journey!

Week 1: High 220, Low 216
5/3--220
5/4--218
5/5--217.5
5/6--218 TOM
5/7--216
5/8--216
5/9--216 Cheat Day
Week 2: High 215, Low 211.5
5/10--215
5/11--215.5
5/12--214.5
5/13--213.5
5/14--213.5
5/15--212.5
5/16--211.5 Cheat Day
Week 3:
5/17--213
5/18--211
5/19
5/20
5/21
5/22
5/23

Today's Meals:
Breakfast:
2 fried eggs
1 slice of bacon
Mio water

Lunch:
Ham
Cottage Cheese
Mio water

Snack:
Handful of walnuts

Dinner:
Manwich (w/o the bun)
Baked beans
Steamed summer squash
Mio water

Today's Exercise:
1.2 mile walk (Went early again today to beat the rain.)
Another 1.2-mile walk (It didn't rain and it was such a nice, cool night, hubby and I decided to go walking a 2nd time! )

Fantastic! Another half lb down today! That is so exciting! I know this is going to level out for a bit sometime soon (a period for the body to adjust to the new weight loss before continuing to lose) and I'm okay with that (it's all a part of the process), but I am just so excited that, overall, this diet is still working for me! I really was afraid since this was my 2nd time around that it wouldn't, but it is! Yay!

Week 1: High 220, Low 216
5/3--220
5/4--218
5/5--217.5
5/6--218 TOM
5/7--216
5/8--216
5/9--216 Cheat Day
Week 2: High 215, Low 211.5
5/10--215
5/11--215.5
5/12--214.5
5/13--213.5
5/14--213.5
5/15--212.5
5/16--211.5 Cheat Day
Week 3:
5/17--213
5/18--211
5/19--210.5
5/20
5/21
5/22
5/23

Today's Meals:
Breakfast:
2 fried eggs
1 slice of ham
Mio water

Lunch:
Leftover Manwich
Steamed broccoli
Mio water

Snack:

Dinner:
BBQ western style rib (1 rib is as big as a steak!)
Steamed summer squash
Mio water

Today's Exercise:
1.2-mile walk

Another half lb down! That's 10 lbs! I get to change my blue cheerleader to a pink cheerleader in my signature today! Yay!

Week 1: High 220, Low 216
5/3--220
5/4--218
5/5--217.5
5/6--218 TOM
5/7--216
5/8--216
5/9--216 Cheat Day
Week 2: High 215, Low 211.5
5/10--215
5/11--215.5
5/12--214.5
5/13--213.5
5/14--213.5
5/15--212.5
5/16--211.5 Cheat Day
Week 3:
5/17--213
5/18--211
5/19--210.5
5/20--210
5/21
5/22
5/23

Today's Meals:
Breakfast:
2 fried eggs
1 slice of ham
Mio water

Lunch:
Leftover bbq rib
Sliced red, yellow, and orange bell peppers
Mio water

Snack:

Dinner:
Chuck roast
Green beans
Mio water

Today's Exercise:
1.2-mile walk (Whew! That was rough. It was cold and my RA was not liking it! But hey, it's done!

As I was eating lunch today, I realized there's a 3rd benefit to putting my fork down and taking a drink of water between bites: I eat at the table now! (The 1st two benefits are eating less because I become full sooner and no longer drinking Diet Dr. Pepper.) I haven't eaten regularly at the table for years. I'm one of those who sit in front of the tv with my plate on my lap. But do you know how cumbersome it is to have to put your food down every single bite and then reach for your drink that often with your plate on your lap? It is so much easier to eat at the table, so since I've started this, I have eaten at the table every time. Of course, my kids are grown and out of the house now and my hubby still likes to eat in front of the tv (the between bites thing didn't fly with him), so I eat alone, but that's okay. Every once in a while hubby feels a little guilty and will eat with me, lol! I think eating away from the tv has cut out a lot of my snacking too. I'm finding I kind of like eating at the table. It works for me!

Okay, today I am VERY surprised! I woke up feeling quite bloated, and looking in the mirror, I thought my stomach also looked bigger. I was certain I'd weigh .5 to 1 lb more today. No big deal, just water weight, I was prepared for it. I wasn't prepared to be so delightfully surprised at seeing 209.5 pop up on the scale! Woohoo!

I know this diet isn't for everybody. Some people don't have a carb-sensitivity. They can eat quick-burning carbs, like bread, cereal, noodles, rice, potatoes, sweets, and it does not cause them to have cravings for more of those kinds of foods. Carbs are not their reason for overeating, so cutting out quick carbs does not mean they will eat less. For someone like that, counting calories is probably best. For others who are carb-sensitive, they may find they can't have a cheat day without falling off the wagon, and I admit, last time around, I used to eat a WHOLE lot more quick carbs on cheat day. It was ridiculous! Cookies, candy, doughnuts, breads, pasta all in the same day. Don't get me wrong, on cheat day, you ARE allowed to do that. You can eat anything you want as much as you want. But I found it more and more difficult as time went by (the closer my daughter's wedding got and the more stress I felt), to go back to cutting out those carbs the next day, especially when my hubby was still eating them! This time around, I am still having a cheat day, but unlike last time, I am not stocking up my fridge, freezer, and cupboard full of quick-carb foods in anticipation of being able to go hog-wild on cheat days. This time, instead of eating half a tub of ice-cream, I eat a couple of scoops, just a reasonable amount. But some people feel that they cannot cheat at all, that quick carbs have that powerful of a grip on them. So for some people, doing what I'm doing will not work. But I can't tell you how happy I am to have found a diet that suits me so well! I wish that good luck for everyone struggling with their weight, that they could find the diet that feels so right and works so well for them. I know I could never stick to a strict diet that made no allowance for junk food or chocolate, etc. I know that I am not likely to stick to a diet in which I have to weigh and measure and count calories. And let me re-emphasize, I'm not doing the book version of the slow carb diet. I am positive that I would never stick to that either. But the way I've tweaked it--and I've tweaked it even more this time around with being more selective on cheat day and drinking water between bites of everything I eat--feels so right for me and seems to take so little effort of my part to follow. And I know I keep mentioning the "between bites" thing (probably because I'm surprised by it) but the diet has become even easier using this method. I mean, just try drinking four cups of water while eating a meal and see if you don't eat less, lol! It doesn't take any effort at all to walk away from larger portions and seconds. Anyway, I am just thrilled that this diet is working so well for me again!

And again, if anyone wants to join in, feel free to jump in on this thread! If you want to give it a shot, why not?! You can tweak the diet in any way that will work for you, as long as its premise is slow carb and it actually works for you. It doesn't have to be the book version or my version. Maybe you've found you can eat yogurt or cheeses or skinny popcorn or fruit without a problem, or maybe you would like to count carbs just to be sure you're not eating too many, or maybe you want to forego a whole cheat day and have only one cheat meal or one cheat snack on your designated cheat day instead. Whatever works for you, as long as it doesn't sabotage your progress, you make a concerted effort to stick to the diet you've formulated, and you understand it's not an "anything goes" diet. In other words, no cheating except on cheat day! (Everybody slips up now and then, of course, but you really need to try not to.) So if you want to give it a try or you have already been following the slow carb diet or your own version of it, know that there is a standing invitation to join me!

Week 1: High 220, Low 216
5/3--220
5/4--218
5/5--217.5
5/6--218 TOM
5/7--216
5/8--216
5/9--216 Cheat Day
Week 2: High 215, Low 211.5
5/10--215
5/11--215.5
5/12--214.5
5/13--213.5
5/14--213.5
5/15--212.5
5/16--211.5 Cheat Day
Week 3:
5/17--213
5/18--211
5/19--210.5
5/20--210
5/21--209.5
5/22
5/23

Today's Meals: (Eek! I need to get to the grocery store!)
Breakfast:
Canned salmon with mayo
Black olives
(yes, I know it's strange )
Mio water

Lunch:
Chili with beans
Cottage Cheese
Water with lemon

Snack:

Dinner:
Leftover chuck roast
Leftover green beans
Mio water

Today's Exercise:
1.2-mile walk (Just made it before dark again tonight!)