My Weight Loss Tracker

MY EXERCISE DIARY

27 December 2009

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18 December 2009

what's for lunch? Soup and Sandwich, please. :)

Ok, have I mentioned before how much I LOVE atkins in that you can pretty much make *almost* anything low-carb, if you really try?... :D

I've been hankerin' to find a really good bread recipe in order to have sandwiches for lunch...and I FINALLY found one - here: Dark Rye Bread.

Usually, in the past, I would use Bob's Red Mill Whole Ground Flaxseed meal which is the flaxseed I've pretty much been buying all year...however I decided to try the Bob's Red Mill Organic Golden Flaxseed Meal instead and used THAT in the bread recipe instead...

It is SO much better with the golden flaxseed than the regular! At least for baking anyways! :)

So I made the bread last week in a regular meatloaf pan and I was able to cut it in half and then those two halves I cut into 4 slices each for a total of 8 slices of bread!

*note* I also used liquid stevia and not agave nector.

The entire bread recipe came out to:
1 cup almond meal = 24 g carbs, 12 g fiber
3/4 cup flax = according to the package it's 4 g carbs/4 g fiber per 2 tbsp which in net carbs = all fiber = 0 g net carbs...but I think it's 1 g usuable carbs and 3 g fiber...so count this as you want to.
3 eggs = 1.8 g carbs
1/2 tsp baking powder = 1.2 g carbs (just to round out the eggs)

= without counting any carbs from the flax seeds and counting the flax as all fiber then 27 g carbs and 12 g fiber = 15 g carbs for the entire thing and divide that by 8 = 1.875 carbs per slice (round up to about 2 g per slice!)

so for a sandwich with 2 slices of bread (which holds up VERY well and doesn't fall apart!) it's 4 g carbs!


SO the sandwich consisted of: 1 tbsp mayo, 1 slice provolone cheese, lettuce & all natural ham (no preservatives, no sugar, no nitrates or nitrites)...

The soup I made was VERY yummy...I started off by somewhat following the recipe found here: Cauliflower Bisque. But instead of using the stovetop, I used a crockpot and came up with this:

1 small cauliflower, cut into small chunks
a few leaves of leek, chopped
2 long celery stalks, choped
3 cups chicken broth
salt & pepper

+1 cup heavy cream (do not put in crockpot with above ingredients)

place those ingredients into the crockpot and put on high for 4 hours.

Once done, remove and place into a blender or food processor and puree soup.
Add about 1 cup heavy cream and more salt/pepper. Mix well. Serve immediately or works well as lunch the next day!

I love atkins!!! :D

15 December 2009

Wow - it's almost been 1 full year...

Since I decided to go low carb!

And I am so happy about my decision. :D

Now - granted, I haven't been perfect this year - but I've learned so much along the way. I've lost 30 pounds and gained SO much knowledge on how one is truly supposed to eat and nourish the body.

I've been in maintenenance now for about 5 months and have decided I'm very happy where I'm at. 166 - 169 (give or take, depending on the day). This time last year I was 197 lbs. I just did NOT understand why I could NOT lose weight...then I realized it's all about the insulin!

So I went low-carb and lost 30 pounds (give or take, lol). I've learned that I CAN live without certain things - but that I also don't have to completely give them up for the rest of my life either. This is probably one of the hardest lessons learned.

This lesson is huge for me because in the past I've always been an "all or nothing" type of person - and my personality comes off like that to everyone who knows me (except my fiance, that is, lol). Honestly, for the most part, I truly do live a low-carb lifestyle now...ordering my burgers without the bun - getting a salad with full fat blue cheese dressing as my side instead of fries...always usually saying no to anything with sugar. And I have learned how to maintain my weight by doing these things and eating FAT - yup even saturated fats!!!

But something I've done lately - and I'd say this is honestly about once a week - is that I can "indulge" and allow myself a piece of bread or a bun now and then when I go out for lunch or dinner. Now I do post to a couple different low-carb message boards online and I know that a lot of people would tell me how awful and horrible I am that I am "cheating" and admitting that I eat white bread now and again...because obviously white bread is NOT allowed on a low-carb diet - plus anything white really ISN'T good for you. However I also live in the real world where sometimes you're in a rush and don't want to eat your burger with a fork. Now, granted - again this is maybe ONCE A WEEK (literally, once a week, IF that...). And I know it will NOT turn into anything more than that because I'm very concious of it at all times. I've also allowed myself to indulge in a few other things throughout the year (more the last few months as I'm learning HOW to indulge)...but that's just it - it's truly about learning that it's OK to have 1 SMALL slice of cake for a celebration - but if you do you can NOT have anything else that's not "low-carb legal" that day or the next or really for a few more weeks...even Dr. Atkins said not to completely say no to everything for the rest of your life - and that's what I'm doing is learning how to "indulge" in certain foods here and there but live my lifestyle about 95% of the time low-carb.

Here are some things I've learned this year:

1. New Foods.
This one is huge for me as I've come to love almond flour and flax seed and cherry tomatoes and coconut milk...Foods I'd either never heard of before or used to hate or thought was too fattening have become absolute staples in my diet.

The almond flour, for example - I use it to make pancakes/waffles, sandwich bread, shortcake, cookies, cakes, muffins, its uses are incredible!

Flax seed - makes great pizza crusts and are SO good for you!

Coconut milk - fabulous smoothies, hot chocolate...

What I love about low-carb living and finding all these new foods is that I can pretty much make a substitution for ANYTHING I can think of! The only tru substitution I can't find yet is good ol' white potato fries - HOWEVER that being said, I LOVE sweet potato fries fried up in coconut oil!


2. I don't have to be "perfect"
This is another one that's HUGE for me...while I'm "perfect" low-carb most of the time - if I do indulge here and there - it's NOT going to kill me and I'm also NOT going to go back down the slippery slope to my old habits because I LOVE my new habits WAY too much!


3. I don't have to micromanage my diet!
This has always been one thing I've HATED about dieting and weight watchers and whatnot...and yes even low-carbing. For the first few months this year, 2009, yes I DID journal my food intake...but after a while I just learned what I can eat - should eat and what I can not. Every once in a while I'll feel the need to start writing down my food intake but never lasts more than a day...lol...but the great thing is - I've lost my weight AND maintained it withOUT having to micro-manage everything that goes into my body! I've finally just learned how to eat correctly!


4. I'm healthier than ever!
I got my levels check at my doc's and everything is great. 'nuff said!


5. I've become a much better cook and fiance
One thing that my fiance wanted me to do was to become more "womanly" around the house as far as chores go. I won't go into the other details about chores - but specifically the cooking, he used to do for us. Once I started low-carbing I found out how great and fun cooking truly can be! SO many things to make and it's all whole unprocessed foods!

So yeah. I do absolutely LOVE this lifestyle and I know for a fact I will NEVER EVER EVER go back to low-fat eating EVER again!