Days 60 to 65 - Some Things Getting Easier and Another Weigh In

Good Afternoon! Here it is another Monday and my posts haven't been as frequent as I want them to be. I'm back to work, so often I'm out and about early and by the time I land, all my creativity has gone out the window.

Here's the news everybody looks for - my weigh in numbers!

Day 1 - 235.8
Week 1 - 233.2
Week 2 - 226.8
Week 3 - 226.0
Week 4 - 225.4
Week 5 - 224.0
Week 6 - 224.2
Week 7 - 223.2
Week 8 - 222.2

Week 9 - 221.6 A loss of .6 pounds. 

Total loss - 14.2 pounds - Still over a pound a week. And about 7 pounds per month. If I keep that up, I WILL exceed my goal by 2017. I MUST focus on staying the course, then I'll reach the goal even faster!

From what I see, though, I have to get back with it and be more attentive to my intake. While I'm working, oftentimes it's hard to eat the things I should as I have to enjoy lunch at restaurants with clients, etc. The good thing is that my bad habits, i.e. cheese for snack at nights, frequent stops at Starbucks, candies and sweets in the house, etc. are all things of the past, which helps to account for my continued weight loss.

Some things that I'm finding that are getting easier: tying my shoes, walking greater distances (just a little, but it's becoming noticeable), clothing beginning to fit a little looser.

Here's a photo of one of the lunches I prepared this week:

Chicken breast, roasted cabbage and cranberry. Was quite tasty!

Some filet mignon sounds real good right now. If I can put Costco on my destination list for this week, I may just have to pick up a package of filets and have a filet and shrimp dinner! That won't hurt the diet at all!

Here's a video about Eric & Peety - Eric adopted Peety from a Humane Shelter. Eric was 340 pounds and asked for an overweight dog to be his buddy during his weight loss journey. It's inspirational! Enjoy!

Eric & Peety - A Mutual Rescue Story

I've got a long way to go, so keep me on your radar! I'll keep you posted.

In the meantime - Have a great week!

Day 59 - Back on Track and My Taste Buds are Changing

Quick stop in today to say "HI!"

I'm back to work full time again, after a few weeks between publications. It was a nice respite as I had expenses covered so had no worries.

My taste buds are changing. I'm noticing that some food that I used to enjoy just doesn't appeal anymore. And foods that previously didn't even catch my attention are now calling to me from the rack in the grocery. Today I had to go by Walmart for a few things from the grocery department and as I was leaving, I said, "Oops! Not done yet!" Headed into the produce department for a fresh head of cabbage and a head of cauliflower. These two things have become a FAVORITE! And I love roasting them in the oven and eating them in healthy ways. I'm still not a big one for raw veggies, but that may come in time.

Today I made a lunch of grilled shrimp (oven-top with this little grill thing that I bought at a Home Show years ago), sauteed baby Portabello mushrooms and steamed asparagus. Fabulous! Here's a picture of the lunch and it was as yummy as it looks!

Fun - see our Peacock Mascot there getting right into the middle of things! Of course I had to post it on Facebook and as now I'm working up in the mountains (I live on the valley floor) I posted that I had lunch at CynthiaG's Flatland Cafe! Friends got a kick out of it and even funnier still, one of my friends (she's a little naive) asked me where the restaurant is! We frequently meet for lunch, so she probably thought it'd be a good place to go! All in all, it was a compliment.

Well, thanks for listening to me go on a bit about my yummy lunch. Until next time...

Days 52 - 58 - Another Weigh In Day and Checking In

Good Morning! It's been a whole week again since I posted. Most everything has been routine and I have NOT been as attentive to the weight loss program as I had been. Although, once again, my change in my overall diet is still showing signs of good progress. Just think where I'd be right now if I had been 100% diligent!

Today's weigh in showed 222.2 pounds. YES! Another one pound gone. You know, I've heard it said that a slow weight loss is better and gives one a better chance of keeping the weight off than a rapid weight loss. Meanwhile, I'd rather be shedding pounds a little faster! Here's the overall:

Day 1 - 235.8
Week 1 - 233.2
Week 2 - 226.8
Week 3 - 226.0
Week 4 - 225.4
Week 5 - 224.0
Week 6 - 224.2
Week 7 - 223.2
Week 8 - 222.2

TOTAL - 13.6 Average 1.7 per week. That's still ahead of my minimum goal. This week I MUST be more attentive.

Meanwhile, I'd like to share with you a few photos of a lunch meal that I prepared this week. It was large shrimp, red onion, mushrooms and zucchini. I have this electric indoor barbeque that I use for steaks, skewers and the like. I lightly brushed the items with olive oil and seasoned with garlic salt, pepper and Italian Seasoning. I must say it was quite yummy and healthy even!

Of course I didn't eat ALL that. A visitor was present, so we shared. NOTE: See our little peacock friend joining in up there?

Well, today, it's off to the mountains on business. Meeting with the Chamber of Commerce Executive Director over lunch at the local seafood restaurant. Once again, I have looked on line to view the menu prior to being at the restaurant. I have chosen the seafood cobb salad for my lunch today. The reason I peruse the menu and make my choice before going is so I won't be tempted by any of the fattening plates that I see delivered while waiting for our turn to be waited on. I'll do my best to remember to snap a photo for you all.

Thanks for stopping by. I'll try to be more diligent in my posts. I'm back to work full swing this week, but I'll plan on a few mornings to spend a few minutes sharing my efforts with you all.

Have a great day! 

Days 45 Thru 51 - Was a BUSY Week - Today is Weigh-In Day!

Good afternoon! I bet you all thought I dropped off the face of the earth! It was a very busy week and I took a short three day trip out of town to visit my mom. Didn't take my computer with me for ease of travel.

Alas! I'm back and have a whole week to report to you.

I must say that I dreaded stepping on the scale this morning as I was rather unfaithful to my diet this week. Of course, it's always hard when one isn't at home to be able to direct what the meal plans are. One effort that I made was to bring the steaks, asparagus and cauliflower for one meal at my sister's. It seemed that the whole time we were there it was a lot of eat, eat, eat and a LOT of really good food!

This was lunch on Saturday.

The three photos above were dinner on Saturday.

All the above plus breakfast of eggs, toast and only one little piece of bacon for me. AND, sister is always good with the snacks, cheese, crackers, smoked salmon, etc. Pat myself on the back, I only had two little pieces of Swiss cheese. BUT, aargh, she had Costco oatmeal cookies. That was FAIL on my part. At least they weren't the chocolate chip!

Regardless, the whole week was rather off of what I've been doing, so I was fearful of the numbers this morning. 

Well, I was PLEASED that the scales tipped at 223.2 - a LOSS of 1.0 pound! Whew! I didn't backslide! Here's the numbers:

Day 1 - 235.8
Week 1 - 233.2
Week 2 - 226.8
Week 3 - 226.0
Week 4 - 225.4
Week 5 - 224.0
Week 6 - 224.2
Week 7 - 223.2

Total loss of 12.6 pounds. 

There's a long way to go, but making progress still!

I gave to some thought as to how I could have lost a pound this past week while breaking so many rules. The thing I came up with was - first, Monday and Tuesday I was working on the things I recently talked about to changing my pH from acid to alkaline (I'll be getting back on that) and those two days were strictly adhereing to healthy eating. Second, All the naughty things I have cut out from my "past" - i.e. snacking on cheese every night, frequent Starbucks stops, etc. did not recur. So I am teaching myself a better way of eating and as long as I don't slip into old habits, while still primarily focusing on the weight loss, I should be ok. Let's continue our quest from here forward and see how it plays out! Still focusing on that 150 pound day!

Until the next post, 

Days 43 & 44 - Alkalizing and Weigh In Day

Good Morning - Here I am at the end of Week 6 and another Monday, Weigh In Day. I slipped some this week, due to circumstances where I wasn't in an optimum place to follow the diet. I was stressing about today's weigh in, and learned that there wasn't a need for so much stress. Admittedly, this week is the first week where no progress was made and a bit of back sliding, but not enough to really stress about. Weigh in today was 224.2 - thus:

Day 1 - 235.8
Week 1 - 233.2
Week 2 - 226.8
Week 3 - 226.0
Week 4 - 225.4
Week 5 - 224.0
Week 6 - 224.2

Total Weight Loss 11.6

In my last post, I talked about acid and alkaline states of the body. Acidic bodies have a tendency toward weight gain while alkaline are prepped for weight loss, as well, diseases can't live in a body that is in an alkaline state. Therefore, I'm working now toward getting my body from an acidic state to an alkaline state.

A friend of mine came by yesterday for a visit. I talked with her about acid and alkaline. My friend eats fast and a lot! I've known her for 7 or more years and have always been amazed at her rate and size of consumption. Now, she is NOT thin or skinny, and is actually overweight, but not to the point where I am. And she has maintained her weight over the past 7 years, where I have loaded on the pounds since I have stopped smoking and become a bit more sedentary. We decided to do the pH test on her. It was amazing, she blew it out of the water with the highest rating of alkaline, while I'm halfway in the acidic chart. The alkaline state that she's in must attribute to ability to eat so much and not gain weight - i.e. her metabolism must be screaming fast! Why is she such an alkaline state? That's beyond me, although she really does enjoy a lot of fresh vegetables along with everything else she eats. She also said that she thinks it's hereditary. Meanwhile, I am now consuming things that promise to bring me to an alkaline state. Let's see how long that takes! Note: my last post states the fruits and vegetables that help toward that change. Also, adding spirulina, wheat grass and cacao powders will help. (They taste yuck to me in the fruit smoothies, but I am committed.)

Yesterday's lunch was fun, roasted cabbage steaks and roasted sweet potato fries.

Let me say that it was really very good! I realize that protein is necessary as well, so I'll be getting some filets of beef and some shrimp tomorrow when I stop by Costco.

Speaking of tomorrow, we're looking forward to a beautiful sunny day with a high temperature of 77 degrees! Therefore, tomorrow, off to the zoo I will head again to put a few miles on while enjoying some photography of the wildlife there.

Have a great day!

Days 41 & 42 - Saturday and A Little Studying Under My Belt!

Good Afternoon -

Well, I've doing some reading and learning some things about weight loss. And, I've obviously been doing some things right. And the only things wrong that I can see is when I have knowingly eaten things that aren't good to eat when attempting to lose weight.

In reading some things, now I've learned that counting calories isn't the only thing. There are other important things as well. Of course, we know that exercise is important. But one exercise that I hadn't thought of is jumping rope! One article suggested simply starting with easily jumping rope once a day for 7 minutes. That's it! Just 7 minutes! Therefore, you all know what I'll be doing in the mornings - yep, you've got it. Set the timer for 7 minutes and jump rope.

Nope, that's not me, but this is what I'm going to be doing every morning for 7 minutes!

I also learned that in order to lose weight and increase one's health, the body must go from acidic to Alkaline. In order to learn what your pH balance is, get pH test strips. I THOUGHT I could get them from a pharmacy, but the pharmacist looked at me like I was crazy. He told me to go to a hobby store. Well, maybe that's right, but I made a second choice and went to a health food store instead. Actually the one that was close to me is Sprouts. And, in fact, they did have the pH test strips. Here's the gauge that you read after testing your pH:

Note that the 7.0 is right in the middle, with an acid pH being below 7.0 and the Alkaline pH being above the 7.0. The gal at Sprouts said that the optimum number is a 7.5 while the article said that anything above 7.0 is acceptable. Naturally I tested right away, as I could not contain my curiousity. I showed an acid balance of 6.2. Looks like I have some work to do. They say you can actually check your pH balance often. I'll check it frequently until I get to optimum pH and keep you posted on the pH!

Here's a list of good alkaline fruits and vegetables:

Radishes, beets, carrots, turnips, horseradish, rutabaga, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, kale, swiss chard, turnip greens, spinach (organic ONLY), cucumber, garlic, lemon, apples, millet, kiwi, papaya, pineapple, strawberries, orange, parsley.

And here's another BIG one - avocado - even though it's high in calories, it's beneficial for many reasons. It was actually recommended to eat one avocado per day! Have a look at this website to see the huge benefits of avocado!

12 Proven Benefits of Avocado

Also suggested was utilizing these there in smoothies, etc: spirulina, wheat grass and cacao.

Another suggestion for losing weight is to take organic apple cider vinegar once a day. Two teaspoons in an 8 ounce glass of water. OK, so I'm going to do that and I had my first glass and it's really not bad at all!

So, I'll leave you all to think about all that stuff and I'll keep advising you of things that I learn along the way.

And, we have another country that has looked in on our blog and that is Syria! WOW!

Have a great evening!

Days 38, 39, 40 - Bringing You Up To Date

Good Afternoon!

I've been off the radar for a couple of days as there has been nothing new to report. Today gave me something to talk about, though. As a part of my position in ad sales, it was necessary to attend a Women in Business meeting today at a local Mexican Restaurant. As I've taken to reviewing menus on line prior to visiting a restaurant (it helps to make the decision of what to eat from home - in order to stay in keeping with my diet, then I'm not tempted to depart from good choices when tempted at the restaurant), I chose the shrimp salad - greens, shrimp, tomatoes, egg. All those fit with the program I've been following.

Upon arrival, I learned that as it was a large group, we were required to choose off their one item menu. No deviations were permitted. And the salad was NOT on the list of choices. Therefore, I ended up with a chili relleno with beans and rice. No doubt, it tasted wonderful, but it was NOT in keeping with what I've been doing since beginning the weight loss effort in January.

As it was important for me not to upset the apple cart or make any kind of a scene, I just went with the program. Sure, it's not going to make or break me, but every meal counts. Restaurants should offer something diet conscious - especially as there were 32 women present. It was just a disappointment. Nevertheless, onward and upward!

As I haven't been posting the last couple of days, I got to thinking that I should tell you all how I ended up gaining all this weight. I attribute it mostly to two things. 1. I got a divorce about 8 years ago. 2. I smoked cigarettes for years and years. I made the choice to quit right after the divorce. Put those two things together, and the weight began to pile on. I should have realized what was happening early on, but  - nope, I didn't. So here we are today.

Now I need to start focusing back on calories and finding cool recipes to create here at home. AND, I need to start getting more exercise. As spring is approaching, it will be easier to be getting more exercise.

That's all I have for today. More tomorrow!

Day 37 - Weigh In then Destination Zoo for Walking Off Pounds

Good Evening! Great day today - First of all, Weigh in and I lost 1.4 pounds. Lookin' good AND I got into a pair of slacks I hadn't been wearing for a couple of months! Still not the jeans that I'm shooting for but definitely a tiny milestone. Here's progress to date.

Day 1 - 235.8
Week 1 - 233.2
Week 2 - 226.8
Week 3 - 226.0
Week 4 - 225.4
Week 5 - 224.0 - Loss of 1.4 Pounds

Total loss to date - 11.8 Pounds

Still ahead of my 1.5 pound per week minimum goal! Seems like a long hard road, but every pound lost is an encouragement to continue moving forward.

So today was a gorgeous day! First day since last fall that we've had temperatures over 70 degrees and what a nice day for walking at the zoo. Pretty sure that I walked over a mile today. And sure enjoyed the weather.

This morning was a quick bowl of Raisin Bran Crunch, then I took along a bean and chicken burrito to eat at the zoo. One-half of the burrito was enough to satisfy me, so I'm definitely sure that I didn't overdo on the calories.

For those of you who are new to my blog, my calorie count for each day should remain between 1400 and 1,600 each day to maintain a loss of 1.5 pounds per week. It seems that this is working!

As it was a holiday for the schools today, the zoo was pretty crowded, so I didn't take any photos. Just too many people around.

Short post today - Things need to get done here. Will see you all again tomorrow!

Have a great night!

Day 36 - Eggs, Carrots and Salmon - Not All At Once

Good Afternoon!

Another day at home. The bright side of that is that no money is spent while at home! Always a good move.

This morning I decided to change it a bit and made two fried eggs (using just a bit of olive oil).

Then when contemplating what to do about lunch, I knew I had some fun looking carrots in my refrigerator, so I looked up a recipe for carrot soup! Here's what I found:

Carrot-Coriander Soup

Now, I don't have any coriander and really don't know what it tastes like, so I followed the recipe exact, but didn't use coriander of course. I also figured that honey would go great in the soup, so I added two tablespoons to the mix! Further I don't have any cilantro, and it does not agree with me, so there will be no garnish of cilantro.

Here's the fun part about the carrots:

They are organic and come in three different colors! Trader Joe's carries these.

This is what they look like straight out of the bag.

I was surprised to see that the purple ones had white centers. Chopped and ready to be cooked.

In the pot with the onion and cooking for 10 minuted with the butter.

Added salt, pepper and honey, then simmered for about 15 minutes. Once carrots were tender, I allowed them to cool to almost room temperature, then put them in the Ninja Food Processor and blended the heck out of them. Then back onto the stove to warm.

As it was warming I did a tiny taste test by adding just a pinch of cinnamon to the spoon. And, it was good! I tested it again when the soup was warm and decided to add the cinnamon.

And so, this is lunch! Did I like the taste? It was ok. Would I make this soup again? Probably not. Would it taste better with typical orange carrots? My guess is yes, but I'm not going to give it a try.

That makes for 3 different soups I've made thus far:

1. My chicken cabbage soup - was a definite yes!
2. The broccoli soup - a no.
3. The carrot soup - a no.

Tonight I'll snack on some smoked salmon as a light dinner.

Time to get back to the store for some more greens, pears, cottage cheese, etc.

Time for me to get some laundry done!

Have a great evening all!

Day 35 - Lazy Day at Home

Good Evening -

Nothing much to report today. As the title says, it's just a lazy day at home. Breakfast was my forever favorite, Raisin Bran Crunch. Lunch was left-over cauliflower casserole and the bit of pork that was left.

This evening I may do something clever like scrambled egg, or maybe boiled eggs. Hmm, that's a good idea, I'll make a spinach salad with boiled eggs. I need to restock on veggies and such, clean out the refrigerator.

So, just in order to give you a tidbit of something interesting, here's the stats on the page views since the beginning of the blog. Still loving those that are following, it makes me happy!

United States 219 Germany 32 Poland 8 Brazil 6 Mexico 6 Romania 4 Belgium 1 Nigeria 1 Ukraine 1 Vietnam 1

Hopefully I'll have more interesting tomorrow - if not, Monday is weigh in! I hope it's really good news!

Have a good night all!

Day 34 - Trying New Things Helps Keep Me On Track

Good Evening! Today is pretty much a photo day of my day having fun in the kitchen. All the new gadgets and additions and changes in my kitchen make it fun for me to try out new things. This is really helping me focus on the things that will help me to reach my goals.

Here's the pictures!

This photo is of the whipped egg whites I talked about yesterday. As my mixer left the house in my throwing out the old madness, I elected to beat up the egg whites by hand! It worked! YAY! And the exercise didn't hurt me either.

Here's the final batter of the No Carbs Cloud Bread ready to go into the oven. Note: The recipe is on yesterday's or the day before's blog.

And here they are fresh out of the oven. They were really delightful and as the author of the recipe said, they almost melted in your mouth.

And look who had to get in on the action. It's our mascot, the peacock once again!

The steamed cauliflower ready for the cauliflower Parmesan bake. That recipe is back in a post from last week. Sooo good!

The pork tenderloin cooking on my indoor electric grill. Almost as good as BBQ outside.

There were some mushrooms in the refrigerator that needed to be used right away. No better time than right now.

A little salad before the main course.

The tenderloin came off the grill just perfect! Still moist, tender and full of flavor!

And here's the plate that I served my guest. More food than I can eat, but she has a larger appetite than I have. Our peacock mascot is strutting his stuff here!

So that was was my big cooking event. The Cloud Bread was really awesome! The Cauliflower was once again terrific. These new recipes that I'm coming across are sure fun to make, and it's great that I'm searching in places that have healthy diet-friendly foods.

Hope you enjoyed it! Should any of you wish for me to revive the recipes, let me know in a message and I'll be happy to retrieve them in a future post.

Have a great evening!

Day 33 - Strolled Past the Cheese in Costco

Good Evening! Yes, I went to Costco today. While in the deli section picking up Smoked Salmon, the cheese was right there on the other side. Oh, and my favorite, too! Tillamook Sharp Cheddar. It called my name! I ignored it and turned to the lady that was also shopping for the Smoked Salmon, we discussed the different brands of salmon. As she departed and I put my salmon in my card, Once again, Tillamook called and reminded me of how much I loved it. Tillamook invited me to rekindle our relationship. Success! Tillamook was ignored and I went on my way. Hurrah! I am conquering this!

Yesterday, I mentioned that I might make a pork tenderloin today. That's not going to happen - not today. Tomorrow is definitely the day! The tenderloin is here in the fridge. Along with the cauliflower that I'll use for that marvelous cauliflower casserole. 

Meanwhile, today this fabulous No-Carb Cloud Bread popped up on my Facebook page. Since starting this weight-loss program, I have ignored all bread except for the two hamburgers that I had on separate occasions. This looks delightful and I MUST try it. Hopefully that will happen tomorrow. As I sent my old mixer packing in my clean-up of the kitchen, I'll try to make the meringue using my Ninja Food Processor - Hopefully that will work. If not, then I'll have to wait until I get a new mixer. 

Nevertheless, below is the recipe - click on the link below the photo:

No-Carb Cloud Bread

I'm really hoping that this will work as it would be nice to use this for diet friendly sandwiches now and then. Keep your fingers crossed for me! I'll update you tomorrow.

You can expect to see some fun photos tomorrow - of my cooking tenderloin, etc. 

Meanwhile, have a great night!

Day 32 - On Track! And Loving My Kitchen!

Good Afternoon! Over the past several days, I had a bit of a mental set-back due to a faulty reading on my scale. It played a number on my enthusiasm. Once I realized it was an error, I was right back on track with my dedication and passion to loose that 80 pounds. Do you know that I'm already past 1/8 of the way there! 

I was talking with my daughter yesterday and told her that my first celebration will be when I leave the 200+ range and hit 199 or less! That will be a GREAT day! Actually that will be almost the half-way point. 

There are so many great pairs of Chico's jeans in my dresser that I can't wait to get back into! That's exciting and another milestone to look forward to. I'm sure there will be many times to celebrate.

Regarding the kitchen mentioned in the title. Many of you already know this - each and every cupboard and drawer has been gone through. All of the dishes came from collections over the past 25 years and were a hodge-podge, mix-and-match. They were all packed up and sent away with the housekeeper. I chose a pattern of peacock dinner ware and replaced those that I had given away (hence our Peacock Project). The peacock has become my reminder/mentor. Now I have color coordinated all the glassware, dish towels/cloths and even the silicone cooking utensils are in peacock blue! My old cookware went bye-bye and was replaced with a brand new set of Circulon pots and pans, which I dearly love! I purchased the Ninja Food Processor and the Ninja Coffee bar. The Ninja products are a great source of amusement, even, with the things I can produce with them. This is a fun road, and I'm glad that everything I look at in my kitchen is the promise of the new, slim me!

Breakfast was my usual - and if you don't know what that is, choose just about any past post and you'll find out.

Here's a photo of the salad for lunch (on my new peacock blue placemat!). That and some of my left-over chicken cabbage soup (which I had frozen) made for a good lunch.

Also pictured is my new flatware, stainless with 24K gold accents! I mean EVERYTHING  has been changed. Oops, see our mischievous peacock sneaking a taste?

Later in the day was an opportunity to enjoy a little treat of smoked salmon and crackers. 

I'm thinking about maybe using my indoor electric grill tomorrow and cooking up some pork tenderloin and mushrooms on skewers along with my fabulous cauliflower  Parmesan casserole for dinner! We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Meanwhile, here's a link to the Bright Side's 10 Minute Workout toward a perfect stomach. Please enjoy! I hope to build up to be able to do this workout soon. Note: Exercise hasn't been a big part of my program thus far, it's time to start incorporating it into my daily routine!

Bright Side 10 Minute Workout to a Perfect Stomach

I hope you enjoy the link. My daughter said she likes this workout better than stomach crunches. Hopefully it will be good for me too!

See you all tomorrow. Have a great night.