Holding steady, and today is Carb Day!

Week 9: High 199.5, Low 198.5
6/28--199.5
6/29--199
6/30--199
7/1--198.5
7/2--198.5
7/3--198.5
7/4--199.5 Carb Day
Week 10: High 200.5, Low 196.5
7/5--200.5
7/6--200
7/7--198.5
7/8--197
7/9--196.5
7/10--197
7/11--197 Carb Day
Week 11: High 198.5, Low 195
7/12--198.5
7/13--198
7/14--198
7/15--196.5
7/16--196
7/17--195
7/18--195 Carb Day

Today's Meals:
Breakfast:
Greek yogurt with Mio
2 fried eggs
2 slices of bacon
Mio water

Lunch:
Field greens and veggie salad, topped with colbyjack cheese, deli chipotle chicken and walnuts, with ranch dressing
Cupcake
Mio water

Snack:
Butterfinger ice cream drumstick with walnuts added to each bite

Dinner:
2 Shish kabobs made with beef, red, yellow, and orange bell peppers, summer squash, and vidalia onions
Mio water

Today's Exercise:
Half a mile warm-up walk around the track, one hour on elliptical (straight through! ), half a mile cool down walk around the track

Carol Sue, oh my, those cabbage rolls sound even yummier now that's you've described how you make them! I don't blame you for not wanting to give them up, and even though they may contain sodium, they have very healthy ingredients! Your "I win!" proclamation on the turkey spam made me laugh out loud! You are so close to ONEderland! I do think you need a really clean week of eating to push it over the edge and keep it there. I'm not sure if a salad fast is the answer, but you know better than I do! And thank you! I'm always happy when I can add a little cheerleader, lol!

Mars, thanks! I'm losing the lbs and gaining the cheerleaders little by little, lol! Have a great Carb Day!

I hope you're having a great day, Chickadeee, Obie, Rennie, and Bewildered (and Jean if you're still here)!

Catching up from the 16th ...

Thanks Mars on the loses It is a great place to do laps. I think I feel like I'm going someplace since I see different people with each lap most times. But we didn't go/haven't gone yet, so I haven't purchased the sauerkraut. We really, really need to purchase a new mattress. I just got the kids all new beds. I'm next Your dinner sounds great minus the skin, I love cabbage

Carol Sue, I have had back problems for years. I have a slight curvature of the spine. I found this backache pain reliever at Rite Aid that a co-worker recommended and it seems to be helping. Good job at the doctors, and it's great to know that you have no worries on what to do to get your numbers where you want them. Carol Sue, I don't like Treet. It just seems like fake Spam to me . I grew up on Spam sandwiches. I like the spices

Thanks Jacqui on the loses My husband and I use to walk together outdoors but he loss too much weight too quickly. He 6'6 and already thin, minus his soda and cookie gut. We don't want him any thinner I love the music you listen too while exercising, that would keep me moving also. I actually have a gospel workout playlist that I listen to when I'm walking or on the treadmill. When I walk with my son I put it on speaker and we sing as we walk. Jacqui, 195 GO YOU

Chicky, I'm glad you posted those cucumbers. I have two in the fridge and I will surely forget they are there ... my daughter is now slicing one for me Its raining here today. It was beautiful yesterday. Today is beautiful also, just without sun I just saw teriyaki spam in Walmart. Have you tried it? I love spam, and you can buy the lower sodium one now. So no flack from me

Bewildered and to the thread. Please continue to check in and let us know how you're doing. You'll love this group Don't disobey your PT. Give yourself time to heal Good job on your weight loss do far.

Well yesterday, the scale was nice to me a little. Then today after eating McDonald's, and Little Debbie I was up. So today I am trying to be good

Week 01: High 175.5, Low 171.5, -4.0

7/10 ~ 175.5
7/11 ~ 174.2 (-1.3)
7/12 ~ 173.2 (-1.0)
7/13 ~ 172.2 (-1.0) only .3 lower than where I started 7/1 and 1.5 higher than on 7/3
7/14 ~ 171.7 (-0.5) LTTOM
7/15 ~ 172.1 (+0.4) TOM
7/16 ~ 171.5 (-0.6) TOM

Week 02: High ???.?, Low ???.?,

7/17 ~ 171.2 (-0.3) LTTOM
7/18 ~ 173.8 (+2.6)
7/19 ~ 173.9 (+0.1)
7/20 ~
7/21 ~
7/22 ~
7/23 ~

Today's Meals:
Breakfast:
2 slices bacon
banana
I had something else but I can't remember what

Lunch:
spicy hot dog, no bun w/chili
cantaloupe

Snack:
grapefruit
1/2 cucumber

Dinner:

Thank you all so much for the warm welcomes! I am so happy to see this new/old thread hopping with activity and will do better in the future of staying caught up. I know reporting here daily and rooting you all on will bring great rewards! I plan to go back and read everything in detail so I won’t feel like such a newbie, but wanted to get in a post since my last one before any more time passed. My memory is horrid and I am sleep deprived coming from the Eastern Time Zone to the Pacific...enough excuses...

Thanks also about the words of advice regarding my injury. I’m already being bad and walking without the boot lately because it aggravates my other health issues plus it was too hot in AZ and NV to be running around on that thing. I’m going to see how my foot feels on Monday and might just take it out for a spin because the river walk is calling me. I feel so lazy looking out my hotel at the gorgeous scenery and people walking/running/biking. I need to go out there and represent the big gals because I sure haven’t seen any.

Jacqui and Mars, I hope your Carb Day went well! I’m still not ready to go back to taking a day off yet, but I look forward to doing that again one day. Gotta get my strength up.

Carol Sue and Rennie, I’m sure it is all water and you will be back down in a day or two.

I finally busted out the scale and got myself ready for another gain since I haven’t weighed in almost 2 weeks. What!!! I lost 2.4 lbs? It must be a trick. I have never lost weight on a vacation or trip. Must be the high altitude or something. LOL

I haven’t decided if I am going to weigh daily or not. But, usually I enjoy it at the beginning when things are going smoothly down. So, I probably will.
I might even post foods, too, but right off the bat I should say that I’ve been bad today and haven’t eaten yet and it is 2pm here. I never skip breakfast, but had decided that I really wanted a latte and decided it was worth more to me than food and I had not been to the grocery yet so I had no breakfast stuff in the kitchen. In my way of low carb eating, I have been known to drink whole milk on occasion because I feel like in my old age that I need the calcium and it usually doesn’t affect my plan. However, I really want to skip it for a few days and purposely didn’t buy any today because for some reason I am all of a sudden craving sweets which is not normal for me unless I decide I will avoid all sugar. Normally, I crave things like nachos and salty stuff. Anyway, I’m rambling so without further ado.

7/18/15: 238.6
Breakfast/Lunch: Starbx Venti Latte made with whole milk and 2 packets of Stevia
Planning for Dinner:
A hamburger patty wrapped in romaine with mayo and an ounce of sharp cheddar with a smidge of onion
Maybe some cauliflower steamed in EVOO

Have a lovely evening!

Rennie, aw, I love that you sing with your son while y'all walk!

So I've noticed that I'm shaped a little differently than I always have been and I have no doubt it's because of my age. Entering menopause, I'm carrying more weight around the middle now than ever before, and you always hear that belly fat is the dangerous kind of fat. So I've been trying to research online to see if there's anything I can do, in addition simply to losing weight overall, to make sure I'm targeting that kind of fat. And I have to say, I'm not doing too badly! I could give up sugar on my Carb Days, but that's just not likely to happen (although I am trying to be better about it), so other than that, my diet and exercise are looking pretty good! I'm very pleased to know that! Here's an interesting article (with references) on the topic, "6 Proven Ways to Lose Belly Fat": http://authoritynutrition.com/6-prov...ose-belly-fat/.

Today,

B: Broccoli, Turkey Pepperoni, Cheddar Cheese Omelet with coffee
S: none
L: Ruben with no bread, onion rings, salad, ice tea
S: coffee, 1/2 slice truffle cake
D: Leftover chicken on bed of lettuce, tomato, avocado, water

Very hot and muggy here, stay inside most of the day other than errands. Did some sewing, just enjoying the weekend, headache is gone.

Rennie, never heard of that kind of spam, but we do eat the lower sodium, turkey one is pretty good, but I only cook it when in a pinch.

I picked up a head of cabbage at the store today, so will try fried cabbage for something different, tomorrow is meatloaf day.

Everyone is just as busy as ever and we are all doing so good. Yeah, us!!!!

Bewildered, I don't know how I missed your post, lol! Congrats on the 2.4 lb drop! Isn't that especially fun when you aren't expecting it? And I love that you posted your food! I think posting our menus helps us stay more accountable. Plus, we can steal good ideas from each other, lol! We can all relate to slipping now and then, so definitely don't let that stop you from posting your meals! I'm so glad you have joined us!

Chickadeee, I think you must have the same weather we have. Yesterday was so pleasant but today is hot and muggy. In fact, I hear thunder in the background right now, so we must have a storm headed this way. It's been storming quite a bit this summer! I don't mind it so much except it really scares my dogs, and that's no good. And I agree! Yay us!

Morning all!

Jacqui, I'm in peri, I think, because things are still going, but sporadically lately. I have always been overweight, but didn't carry much belly fat until after having kids and becoming obese and staying there since my early 30's. I have always read the same thing as what you said about the dangerous kind of fat and I think they say anything over 35 inches is not good. I'm way over that so that is one of my primary goals is to get below that. You are probably not that big since you are a couple inches taller than me and much lighter. But, I hear you and will check out the link later this morning. Thanks for sharing it. And thanks for the congrats! It was a shocker for sure. Oh and I wanted to add that I agree about the posting menus to give us ideas. Unfortunately, I usually batch cook so I don't have much variety throughout a week and I don't have an oven so I'm limited in doing fancy recipes.

Chickadeee, great that the headache is gone! Go us! The locals were complaining about the heat here, but I thought it was wonderful. I guess it is all in what you get used to and I'm used to the worse dog days of summer. And we never had winter, just a minute of spring and a minute of fall so I'm loving this northwest climate.

07/04/15: 241
07/18/15: 238.6
07/19/15: 238

So, yesterday's eating was exactly as I posted. I did get a bit hungry eating dinner so early and skipping breakfast/lunch. My scale is being wacky. I got numbers from 237.8 to 238.2 so I just picked the middle one. A loss is still a loss so I'm good. I'm in the middle of laundry before everyone else gets up and takes over the machines so I haven't had breakfast yet, but in the future, I will have it soon after I get up.

Today's plan:

B:
2 eggs scrambled in 1 T butter and 1 oz sharp cheddar
3 small sausage links

L:
Salad or wrap - Romaine, tomato, onion, mayo, and hamburger patty

D:
Steamed cauliflower in EVOO and cut up chicken breast

Have a good one!

I could write a book on belly fat. When I was thin I wore a size 9 pants, but had to buy a 12 because of my waist, then I would take them in down the sides. Of course, my butt and thighs are very thin compared to everything else, so it probably wasn't that my waist was big, but that I didn't have any thighs or butt to fill out the pants. Now that I've gained, it's mostly in my belly, and after having 2 abdominal surgeries in 1 year my muscles are ruined and my belly is even bigger. I have always heard that belly fat/upper body fat is the first to go when you lose.

Rennie, that's funny that Treet is imitation Spam. Most of the time when I mention Treet no one ever heard of it, even though it's on the shelf, right next to the Spam.

Rennie and Chickadeee, I have a funny story about cucumbers. I love cucumber sandwiches, with salt and mayo. One time I bought 2 cucumbers and then my son-in-law brought me 3 cucumbers from his garden, so I had a lot on hand. I was eating cucumber sandwiches, morning, noon and night. DH told me I was going to get sick. Finally I woke up one night feeling terrible and told DH to take me to the ER. They admitted me and after lots of tests concluded that I needed open heart surgery. I had 4 blockages. Right away, DH said it was from eating too many cucumbers, and he was serious. He thinks everything is from what you eat. He was telling everyone in the hospital that I needed open heart surgery because of the cucumbers. Even now, if I eat cucumbers he tells me I'm going to end up back in the hospital. Luckily, I can no longer eat much bread because of my diabetes, so I don't eat many cucumbers. Every once in a while I will buy one and make a sandwich, because I love them so much.

Bewildered, I can not stand heat. I would do terrible in AZ, even though everyone says it's dry heat. When we get the high 80s here in PA it's usually also humid and I stay in the air conditioning. I'm a homebody who loves to stay in the house, so I don't even care when we get 10 degrees and lots of snow. I stay in the house and look at it out the window. LOL I think once you live somewhere you get used to that temperature and couldn't live anywhere else.

Morning Everyone,
I like reading everyone's meal plans! Mine are pretty routine; maybe posting will inspire me, if no one else lol!

Rennie Yes to singing while you walk! What a nice memory to give DS, too. I'll bet its good for breathing too. I never thought of doing it but I might give it a try. I have been known to sing while grocery shopping, when plugged into headphones.

Bewildered You are doing great! I'm a weather wimp like the locals, complaining if it's not between 68-72 degrees. You vacay sounds so nice!

chickadeee Can't WAIT to hear about the cabbage. What are you frying it in? I adore cabbage! And it's filling, too. Does anyone know of any down side to raw cabbage? I've been throwing it in all my meals.

Carol Sue That is too funny re DH's cause & effect with cucumbers. I can sure see why he would think that, though! I go in & out with cucumbers. Last year I was into them. A low carb sandwich I liked was to slice one in half lengthwise, hollow it out a bit and fill with egg salad. My egg salad was just a bit of mustard with mashed hard boiled egg. It was soooo good, and very filling. On this plan, mayo, evoo could be added, but some mild, creamy Dijon did the trick for me, then.

Jacqui, Hope you enjoyed Carb Day!

My carb day was way too much & I was annoyed with myself. It was all about triggered eating at a family get together, not having had enough rest from the week. It will be several days before the scale gets back down, and I feel sluggish right now. But in a few hours, my brain should be pretty carb happy, and I will get myself in gear.

Re abdominal fat, I think it was in Robert Lustig's book that he discusses how the apple shape is not necessarily in and of itself a health risk. It's just that it's correlated with internal fat that surrounds organs, esp liver, and that is the actual bad part. Some overweight people are actually internally healthier--and live longer-- than some thin people. Carol Sue has read Lustig more recently than I, tho, and you may be more up-to-date. Pls correct me if this sounds all wrong!

I noticed from way back in my dieting career, on South Beach, that low carb seems to get rid of abdominal fat most effectively. Sometimes it's the last area to go--it was for me when I finally reached goal on IP. It's well-known that insulin, the fat storing hormone, likes to deposit fat around the abdomen. I think a plan like Slow Carb, that limits insulin spikes, might be good for the waistline in the long run. It might be fun to track waist measurement, just as an experiment.

Here's to onward and downward!

Bewildered, I sure hope it's water. Good job on the 2.4lbs down

Chicky, I bought some turkey and low sodium spam today and some deviled ham. I love that stuff and since I bought those gluten free rice thins (that I don't like) I'll eat them with the deviled ham. Fried cabbage sounds yummy. Reminds me of the cabbage that is in an egg roll. Add some shredded carrots, bean sprouts, a little egg, some pork or shrimp and you've got a meal.

Carol Sue I love cucumbers but I like them in thousand island dressing Your husband is adorable. I love the stories you tell about him. I don't like any kind of vegetable sandwich. If there are vegetables with bread, there has to be meat

Jacqui, I love to hear the children sing. It always turns into a battle of who has the best voice. I just shake my head.

Mars, family gatherings always have food triggers, but it's over and you can go back to doing you, which you do so well I sing out loud with my headphones on also, but more like humming because I don't want people laughing

Well I know the upper part of my belly is the issue along with the rolls around my back, that were gone earlier this year. I have not been good with my eating today. I've got to pull it back in. I'm only up .1, so not bad, but could and should be better. Today needs to be my highest weight for the week. 173.9.

Hi again,

I finally caught up on the posts I missed and y'all are a wealth of info. My head is spinning with ideas.

Jacqui, I kept forgetting to ask you about your exercise. I thought at first it was planned meals and planned exercise for the day, but now realize the exercise is accomplished, right? Wowza, you are really kicking it daily! You go girl! And you do so well on your "carb day". I wish I had your willpower. Maybe when I stall out, before I subject myself to counting calories and weighing everything I eat again, I might try it.

It reminded me yet again along with other comments about HDL and not wanting to do something is what you need to be doing, etc. that I need to be getting in something official every day even if it is stretching. That would probably help my back, too. So, tomorrow I plan to try the river walk and if that doesn't go well, I noticed an exercise bike in the workout room this morning so that will be Option 2. My PT had told me only swimming was allowed and there is no pool here. Anyways...getting off my assets before they spread wider starting tomorrow. I have posted it and that makes it official, right!?

I had lots of comments but since I seem to write novels on here already, I'll try to be brief on past posts: Definitely want to try the sauteed radishes and find out more about the cabbage rolls.

Carol Sue, DH is funny about the cucumbers. I guess too much of anything might be bad for us, but I can't imagine that affecting your heart? LOL Oh and I don't like heat either, but I hate humidity more and I have no desire to ever move back. It is true about AZ and NV being a dry heat and they are much more pleasant than what I am used to even at 115 degrees in August. I didn't like getting shocked in the summer though or nose bleeds. Very dry! But, you'll know real humidity if you ever drive South of Atlanta or East of Baton Rouge and it is like that 6-9 months of the year. Oppressive!

Mars, I bet that scale starts moving quickly. You'll be amazed the love that watching bad carbs shows us after eating them. I sometimes buy lemons for my water to speed it up and might do that this week because my shirts are all so tight and I'm between sizes in my jeans so I'm wearing the bigger ones to keep the others from exploding and I don't like wearing baggy stuff. Yep, my organs are like sardines from all that fat. Definitely something to think about when I want to misbehave!

Rennie, I would call that a maintain. I hope the scale is kind to you this week! Your post reminded me that I can't seem to find turkey up here. I wonder why? I like to get the deli sliced without all the processed junk and have only seen ham and roast beef. So weird and I've been to several different grocers.

Okay, I'm going to have lunch before I get too hungry. Thanks again y'all for your wonderfulness!!!

I only gained half a lb after Carb Day!

I'm DearGrandson-sitting. I'll be back on later for personals! I hope everyone's having a great day!

Week 9: High 199.5, Low 198.5
6/28--199.5
6/29--199
6/30--199
7/1--198.5
7/2--198.5
7/3--198.5
7/4--199.5 Carb Day
Week 10: High 200.5, Low 196.5
7/5--200.5
7/6--200
7/7--198.5
7/8--197
7/9--196.5
7/10--197
7/11--197 Carb Day
Week 11: High 198.5, Low 195
7/12--198.5
7/13--198
7/14--198
7/15--196.5
7/16--196
7/17--195
7/18--195 Carb Day
Week 12:
7/19--195.5
7/20--
7/21--
7/22--
7/23--
7/24--
7/25--

Today's Meals:
Breakfast:
Greek yogurt with Mio
2 fried eggs
2 slices of bacon
Mio water

Lunch: @ Subway
Loaded salad with chicken and ranch dressing
Mio water

Snack:

Dinner:
Pork Chop (unfortunately breaded, but my DearDaughter-in-law made it and I wasn't going to offend her by turning it down!)
Steamed broccoli
Salad with ranch dressing

Today's Exercise:
I missed the gym's shortened Sunday hours, so I walked 2 laps around the walk park track, which equaled 2.4 miles total.

Wow Jacqui, Fantastic! I'm sure your DGS day will count as a workout, lol. Enjoy!

Thanks for the encouragement Rennie & Bewildered! Even though there is disappointment, I KNOW this plan is the best thing for me. So at least I don't have to spend any energy figuring out a new plan, just keep doing what I'm doing. My only feeling of pressure is to fit into some more of my wardrobe as I only have a couple things to wear. Also need clothes to fit for trip in Nov.

Bewildered, not to be nosy, but did you move, or are you on vacation. Do you live in Oregon now, Az? Please disregard any of these questions you like!