Shedding the Baby Weight

Trucking along

Trucking right along and SO close to that 50 pound/halfway mark I can taste it. Had a slow weightloss week thanks to some womanly issues but I stayed the course and back on course now. Whenever I get tempted to cheat or mindlessly nibble (usually late at night) I look at pictures f where I’ve been vs where I am to stay motivated. Came across this ‘before’ picture tonight and my jaw dropped when I put it next to a photo taken today. Low carb life is good 🙂

Keep it Simple

So my big advice to those starting a ketogenic diet is to keep it simple in the beginning. Meat, cheese, eggs, veggies in any combination. You still get a ton of variety but don’t have to do much thinking about whether it fits the lifestyle or not. Make sure you have a veggie with every meal (ideally at least one green one). Eat when you are hungry, stop when you are full. It’s really not rocket science and by having a few unwavering ground rules you’ll avoid the pitfalls of cheating, craving off limit foods, and overeating. Yes eating 3 pounds of bacon a day will not support weight loss even if bacon has no carbs. It’s still calories in have to be less than calories out but eating a high fat, low carb diet keeps you more satisfied and less hungry so it’s easier to not overeat.

Now here are some of my food experiments, which I’ve been doing more of now that I’m firmly rooted in the basics pd the diet. These are handy ways to enjoy some of my favorite ‘carby’ foods without breaking out of the keto lifestyle.

‘Chips’ and guacamole. The chips are made of parm cheese and well guacamole is naturally keto friendly:

Bread!!! Was so excited to discover this almond butter bread recipe, each slice has 4 net carbs so I am careful to limit to once slice a day but after 5 months with no bready goodness it totally rocks my keto world:

And last but not least, one of my fav restaurant meals, chipotle. Just leave out the rice and beans and add guacamole and you have the perfect keto meal. It doesn’t help that we have a million bogo free from the kids soccer league, we’ve been eating there at least once a week!!

Almost halfway to my goal, SO excited to keep clm and keto on!

So what do you eat??

Now that I’m at the point where people are starting to notice my weight loss I am constantly getting the ‘how are you doing it’ question. When I say I am watching my carbs people get a blank expression then when I say I gave up bread and sugar they look at me like I have 2 heads. It’s really not as hard as it sounds once you get into a good routine. Meat, cheese, veggies, eggs, berries, and nuts come with lots of dining options. Came across this link that explains it all much better than I can so here’s the official answer to ‘What are you eating?’

http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf

And just for fun another comparison pic, the first was taken in February the second on Friday, feels good to be almost halfway to my goal 🙂

Back again, new plan and having success

So yeah the medically supervised weightloss didn’t work out so well. I followed their program to a tee and was even hitting the gym 3 times a week and lost a whole 8 pounds in 3 months. Yes 8 pounds is 8 pounds but I was hungry and crabby all the time and when you have a 100 to lose its incredibly discouraging. When I mentioned these frustrations to the doc he said that diets just don’t work for some people and my only other option would be bariatric surgery. I lost hope and got depressed after than and spent the rest of 2012 eating like crap and creeping to a new all time high of 270 pounds. I was destined to be a fatty forever.

In December a good twin mom friend of mine started posting on Facebook about a plan that she had tried, Medifast. I did some google research and the short term results were pretty amazing. I had some major reservations but decided to give it a two week trial and was amazed when I lost 11 pounds in those 2 weeks. So I spent January to March doing Medifast and lost an amazing 35 pounds. I was hungry while doing it but very motivated by the results. The one thing that bothered me about Medifast was that its mainly pre packaged, full of chemicals food. I try to be a clean eater in general and the ‘frankenfood’ thing bugged me. Plus this frankenfood is pretty expensive. So I started doing some nutrition research on my own and a good friend of mine turned me on to the idea of keto (the new hip term for Atkins). The more I read the more I became convinced that keto was the way to go long term. There are countless peer reviewed studies that demonstrate its effectiveness and the best part you don’t have to restrict calories, you can eat as much meat, cheese, eggs, nuts, and veggies as you want. And it incorporates many healthy fats which are both delicious and filling. The tipping point was watching Fathead on Netflix, it’s a little hokey but great info.

So the beginning of this month (April) I officially switched to keto. I have lost an additional 8 pounds and have never felt better. My GI issues have all but disappeared, I have more energy, am less crabby (aka no more mid afternoon sugar crash), and my monthly cycle has returned (huge PCOS victory). I don’t have any plans of going off keto until I finally reach my goal weight. I have hesitated posting here as it seems every time I do it kills the diet. However I have been collecting tons of links and articles about keto and want a central place to store them.

So the short story for my 3 readers I’ve lost 42 pounds since January first, finally found a sustainable eating plan, and for the first time in a long time I have hope that I won’t be obese forever. I’m glad I did Medifast as it gave me the jump start I needed to get motivated but for me keto is definitely the way to go long term.

And I leave you with a photo, the first was taken mid February the second mid April wearing the same shirt 🙂

Again Again

Well I’ve debated back and forth about posting here as its not proven to be very successful In the past but I’m back yet again still working on losing the same pounds. I’ve lost the same 30 pounds 3 times now, makes me sick to think about it as I’d be at my goal if I hadn’t gained back in between each time. This time I’ve got a new plan and some major help, and since I’ve finally gotten into the routine and feel like this could be a life changer I thought I’d dust off the old blog and give it another go. About 6 weeks ago I entered a medically supervised weight loss program. I looked at a few different programs and ultimately decided to go through Mercy Health System. They use all ‘real’ food (versus frozen dinners) which I like from both a taste and learning how to be healthy for life standpoint. It’s all about portion control, balanced meals, fruits and veggies, and basically learning how to cook/eat again. I have been able to eat pretty much the same thing as the rest of the family (aside from desserts) which saves time in my busy schedule and has health benefits for all of us. I meet monthly with a dietician and a physician to monitor my progress and make changes where needed. So far they haven’t recommended any medications other than a vitamin supplement. The other thing I really like about the Mercy program is that they include 6 free months of gym membership and several sessions with their fat friendly personal trainer. So in addition to following their regimented eating program I have been doing some weight lifting, cardio training, and core strength training with the trainer. I love that the gym has a nice pool because I’d rather swim than walk/bike any day and I no longer dread the 2-3 times per week cardio program. I also plan on experimenting with some of the group classes soon because that has to be more fun than the treadmill. I just need to get over the intimidation factor of my uncoordinated self exercising in front of other people.

So far I have noticed some results, losing a total of 10 pounds in 6 weeks. It’s not as much as I’m used to but my usual plan of total deprivation for a month or two followed by back to binging obviously hasn’t worked in the past. If I have to lose slower to maintain a lifelong change I’m ready to give that a try. I’m also working hard not to obsess over the numbers, weighing myself once a week max. That’s harder than I thought it would be but I’m trying my best. Just this week i feel like I’m getting into a groove and have more energy than before. My other big motivation is that I am paying for this program and frankly I’m cheap and hate to waste money. Hoping that keeps me on track for the duration of the 6 month program. So that’s where I’m at and hopefully headed to a healthier long term place. To be continued………..

Weekly Weigh In ~~ Month 1

Well its officially been 4 weeks since I’ve started this journey. I’m down 3.2 pounds for the week for a total of (drumroll please. . . .) 12.6 pounds!! I’m super excited for a big loss this week and admittedly a little surprised. I managed to stay strict with my eating during the week but had a few treats this weekend. Friday night I had 2 pieces of pepperoni pizza (and a big salad) for dinner at a Halloween party. Saturday I had a little popcorn at Disney on Ice (the buttery, movie theater, bad for you kind). And yesterday I had 2 pieces of Halloween candy. I think the one thing that has helped keep my metabolism up in spite of the occasional treats is working out on the exercise bike. I’ve only missed 2 nights in 4 weeks (the 2 nights we were in Toledo) and its really paying off. I generally do 30 minutes a night and usually get up to 7 miles and 200 calories burned (Sean says its really more than that because they base the numbers off a normal sized person and I’m definitely not ‘normal’). I’ve been known to do over 30 minutes to meet the miles/calories but generally if its cutting it close I speed up at the end ;). Still feeling like the momentum is strong and excited to enter month 2 which will contain challenges such as not eating the Halloween candy my kiddos collected last night and of course Turkey Day and the kick off of the holiday season.

Surviving Take Out at Work

Since I’ve started back on the wagon I’ve been really good about packing my lunch and avoiding take out. Before I was eating out 3-4 days a week mostly subway (it’s in the same parking lot), but also Chipotle, Panda Express, Wendys, and pizza. Today we actually had time to sit down for lunch and I really wanted Panda Express, my absolute favorite. I contemplated and hopped online to check out my choices and come up with a good compromise. Instead of my usual chow mein with orange chicken (a whopping 1200 calories and 52 grams of fat, no wonder I’m overweight) I ordered half white rice half steamed veggies with mushroom chicken and black pepper chicken. Even though everything was off the ‘wok smart’ menu, my meal still had 760 calories and 33 grams of fat. I opted to only eat half, leaving me with a semi healthy and super delicious meal. Plus I have leftovers for tomorrow!

Sure the golden delicious deep fried orange chicken tastes better but my ‘wok smart’ options cured the craving and will help me get into my skinny jeans. Weekly weigh in tomorrow and I’m cautiously optimistic!!

Weekly Weigh In

Week 2, Officially down 2.4 pounds for the week for a grand total of 7 pounds. Still going strong with the exercise bike. I have worked my way from resistance level 1-2 at the beginning to 35 minutes at level 4 tonight which is a definite improvement. Also not feeling like I’m going to die by the end which is progress. Doing well on the eating part (aside from a mid week dinner out at PF Changs tonight but my Dad was in town so it was a special treat). I did skip afternoon and evening snacks to compensate. Heading into week 3 with a positive attitude, from past experience week 3 and 4 is when it gets hard b/c the water weight is now gone and its time to work on the ‘real’ stuff.

I’ve also started a competition with my buddy Michele as we both need motivation, me to lose weight and her to kick start her 1/2 Marathon training for a race in January. Loving having some buddies to share the journey with, definite accountability!  Ok, off to bed, working on getting there earlier these days to accommodate my new crazy work schedule.

New feature: recipes

Thought I’d keep a log of some of the new recipes I come up with along the way. Tonight I was inspired to make some White Chicken Chili after hearing my friend Angie talk about it last week. It’s healthy, full of protein and fiber (thanks to the beans), and down right delicious. Even my red meat loving hubby ate 2 bowls (although he said ‘real’ chili is better). I read several recipes online, taking the best parts of them all. So without further adieu, heres my version:

I chopped one medium onion and sauteed it with a dash of red pepper flakes in a little canola oil.

While the onions are cooking I rinsed and drained 3 cans of white beans (I had 2 cans great northern and 1 black eyed peas but you can use whatever you like). I mashed about 1/3 of the beans and left the rest whole.

When onions soft I added 1 lg container low sodium chicken broth, the beans, 2 4 ounce cans mild green chiles (if you like heat I’d sub one can for diced jalapenos, I kept it mild as I was trying to please the 4 year old crowd), and spices (salt, pepper, chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, and a little Italian seasoning).

Once that started to simmer I added a few cups of precooked shredded chicken from the freezer (simmer bone in chicken breasts in water/salt/pepper on stove 1-2 hours, cool, de-bone/skin, shred, use/freeze).

I simmered the whole thing about an hour and voila. I served garnished with a little cheese and sour cream (a LITTLE people, it’s a diet not a fast) which took the dish from a 7 to a 9. I served with some corn bread and even my littlest food critics ate it up (and yes I use snowman bowls year round, don’t call the fashion police)!

Still going strong with the diet and exercise, official weigh in Tuesday!!