Thanksgiving Report

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We had a nice one even though Nick is in Oklahoma. It was especially nice since I did pretty good! I did not eat so much that I was sick all day! I did just like I said I was going to do...I had a little bit of everything. A little bit of mashed potatoes, a little stuffing, most of one roll (I don't think I finished it), turkey of course, green beans, more than a little fruit salad (it's my favorite), sausage mushrooms, little bacon wienies, and olives. It was SO SO SO good! I absolutely enjoyed EVERY bite!


I also made a pumpkin pie without a crust and used splenda. I wanted to use a sugar substitute my cousin Denette told me about, Whey Low, but I did not get it ordered online. I had a taste of the pumpkin after it cooked and I was afraid it would not taste very good. There was an aftertaste. But, I took my serving with me anyway with some Lite cool whip, and it was really good with the cool whip on it! It did not taste funny at all!


That night I had some pistachio nuts for a snack, and that was my day! We will see how good I did on Monday when I weigh!


I have almost completed my goal of exercising 3 times this week. I did it Wednesday and today, Friday. I will exercise tomorrow and have my three days! It has not been as hard as I expected either! My sister-in-law Gina does aerobics an hour every day...that is hard! It is always hard to get back into the habit, but the creaks and cracks of my body have not been too bad!


SOMETHING else weird is happening! This way I am eating is becoming more...NATURAL! It is not so much about what I can and cannot eat, it is just the way I am eating and it's not so foreign anymore! For the first time that I can ever recollect, I am not looking for ways and days to have a 'break'! Before, I would see Thanksgiving as my day to just 'eat what I want' and then I would spend the next week or two trying to 'get back on it'. Or if I was going out to dinner I would do good during the day, but then throw caution to the wind at the restaurant and have whatever I wanted.


NOW...I am looking for ways to make my way of eating fit any situation I am in. I am looking to enjoy things, and not totally deprive myself, but in a way that does not jeopardize all my work. I am not 'falling off the wagon'. It is all just part of the ride. Am I making any sense?


EXAMPLE: Last Monday I really wanted a treat. I had not had something I just really wanted for a month. And, Nick had just left, so if I am being totally honest with myself and all of you, I was 'eating emotionally' as well, just a little. I decided to get 2 cooking from Cutlers...the ones that taste like BYU mint brownies. YUM. I got them and enjoyed one in the car while waiting to get Lukas from preschool, and the other that night. I talked to myself and allowed myself to have it. It was a conscience choice. But, I was still worried about blogging about it because it looked and felt a little like 'straying' though I allowed myself to do it in my right mind, not as I stared at a cookie I could not resist like a poor deer in headlights!


But, I FORGOT to blog about it! Do understand how significant that is? I forgot because I enjoyed it, and kept going! I did not go off track the next day. I did not dwell on the fact that I had eaten the cookies. I ATE THEM, ENJOYED THEM, and KEPT GOING! I did not fall into the 'I can't get back on the wagon' trap! That is so AWESOME! My Mom, my sister Cinda, Nick, and the girls that work at Maverick, all know how significant this is for me!


The fact that I am starting to function like this gives me hope for the future...will it always be hard, yes, I know, but it will eventually become second nature to me.

Quote of the day:

In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins, not through strength but by perseverance.

H. Jackson Brown

I know that to be successful at my quest to lose 14 pounds over the next 7 weeks, I will need to continue to have persistence! That does not mean I have to be perfect, but I have to keep going and keep my goal top of mind at all times.

Another Week, Another Weigh-In

I have not meant to neglect this blog! But the last two weeks of our lives have been a little crazy...finding out we are for sure moving to Great Falls, getting the house on the market, and then having Nick leave for seven weeks with, 6 days notice.


The last week has been a busy 'eating week' too. Friday was the annual Sisters Sleepover with my sisters-in-laws and cousins-in-laws (it is sooo much fun). We met at Johnny Carino's (spelling?)...at first I thought, "Great! The worst place for me is a really yummy pasta restaurant with delicious bread sitting on the table...how will I make it through this?" But I looked at the menu online to decide what to order BEFORE I got there...otherwise the baked cheese tortellini would get me! They do have steaks and chicken breast meals, but those just did not sound good! I wanted to have a really good meal that was different, but not derail myself. I decided on the Chicken Parmigiana. I started with a salad, and the chicken is in bread crumbs, but then it's just a piece of cheese and marinara sauce. I had three bites of the pasta that was on the side, and about 1/2 inch off the very end of the bread to soak up the sauce. It was more than delicious! And I was really full and did not feel sad leaving an entire plate of pasta there! (I took it home for Nick)


On Saturday we went to Nick's sisters Gina's house for the BYU/UTAH game. Gina made some cheesy sauce for chips, but I knew if I ate that I would have lots of chips. Nick and I had also not eaten lunch yet and it was dinner time, so we went to Subway. I had a Black Forrest Ham Sub on Honey Oat bread (it has the highest fiber). I also brought some pistachio nuts to munch on. Then I enjoyed one taffy. I also did not sit by the food. I hardly noticed all the other treats sitting there and had a fun time!


On Sunday, we went to Cinda's for dinner, but she made it easy on me. She made some delicious Taco Soup (that I am going to have to make). I did have a serving of tortilla chips with some salsa and re fried beans, then a bite of brownie with my sugar-free ice cream. But I felt good about the meal.

After all of that I weighed yesterday:

Results:

Loss this week: 1.2 lbs

Total Loss: 19 lbs

I am feeling good about that loss. I got through several more "Life Tests" and came out on top! I am also happy to have lost consistently for the last month!

That brings me to my next goal to work toward. Nick will be gone for 7 weeks...that takes us through Thanksgiving, Christmas (he will be home for 4 days over Christmas), New Years and Lukas's birthday. I do plan to enjoy the Holidays and eat some good food, but I also plan to still lose each week!

I have been losing an average of 2.25 pounds per week (I am not counting the first week jump start loss of 10 lbs). I should be able to continue to lose an average of 2 lbs per week for the next 7 weeks.

Goal: Lose 14 more pounds by January 20th (the day Nick gets home).

That would make my total weight loss 33 pounds...and that's from Halloween through Lukas's birthday! That would be awesome!

To do that I have to start the next part of my weight-loss plan strategy. I am still reading the new South Beach Diet Supercharged which has some exercise ideas, but I have my elliptical machine that I was doing about 5 days a week before we went to Disneyland. I am going to start exercising again. Now, I want to be realistic. I am NOT going to do it for an hour 6 days a week. Not now.

Exercise Goal for this week: 3 times for 20 minutes each

I say 20 minutes because Dr. Agatson (SB Diet Author) who is also a cardiologist says that there is huge benefit from just 20 minutes of INTENSE exercise. That means I can carry on a broken conversation, but I cannot sing while doing it. I check to be sure my heart rate is in my target (which I need to check again, but it is usually about 140-150 beats per minute when I go for 20 minutes).

I do not have a reward picked out yet...maybe I'll see what I still want after Christmas. I'll just know I get to go shopping for something fun!

Weekend and Weigh-In

Another weekend has come and gone and another Monday to weigh in is here! The weekend was good. We did not do anything exciting or what I would call 'dangerous' to my weight loss. The hardest day was yesterday, Sunday. NOTHING sounded good to me! For dinner we all just ate what we wanted. Nick and the boys had potato flakes, grilled cheese, and Nick had a steak. I kept looking in the pantry, then opening up the fridge, again and again. Nick said, "Do you think something new will be there when you open the fridge this time?"

I didn't think so, but I was hoping and kept looking anyway. I decided to just have a bowl of Raisin Bran. The thought of a salad made me want to...well, you know! Today, I am fine with salad. Last night, it was not happening. So I did not make any bad choices yesterday, I just did not have vegetables like I normally do. But, if that's my 'break' and the worst I do for a day, I am fine with that.

Then, being Monday, I weighed this morning. I am always nervous. I am still delivering papers for a few more days, so I did have the 44 oz Diet Mountain Dew between 4am and 6am this morning.

Results:

Loss This Week: 1.8 lbs

Total Loss: 17.8 lbs

When I told Nick the results, I said, "It's not very good this week. I only lost 1.8 lbs." "Not very good?" he said. "That is almost another 2 lbs this week! You have lost almost 18 lbs in 3 and a half weeks! You are not supposed to lose more than that! And it was my birthday this week...you did awesome!"

Thanks Nick! You are right. And like we used to say at the Weight Watchers scale, "A loss is a loss!" How can I get down on myself! 1.8 lbs is great and I am doing just what I wanted to do, losing some every week. I have to remember: Patience Karly! Enjoy the journey!

Also, this week I was talking to a friend in my ward that I know has been losing weight, and looks great. We were talking on the phone, and I asked her how she is doing it. She said the SOUTH BEACH DIET and she has lost 82 lbs! That is so amazing and reminds me that it can be done! She said, "It's so worth it!" It was a great boost to talk to her! Thanks Kim!

Quote of the Day:

If we did the things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves.

Thomas Edison

That is why I am doing this...I am going to astound myself because I know I am capable of doing this! (Does that make sense? It does in my head, but I can't tell if it does written down?!)

Oh Well!

Have a good day everyone!

PS: I declare myself SUCCESSFUL on my first LIFE TEST! I enjoyed the birthday, had cake, but stayed on track! When the cake was gone (Saturday) I had the last bite of crumbs left on the plate, and that is it! It feels GREAT to know I can plan for an event, enjoy it, have a treat, but keep moving forward too!

A good week!

I have almost completed my 'very minnie' goal of making it through a few days of birthday festivities. The festivities are over, but not my challenge. There is still cake in the house! I have to not have any more...that means I enjoyed some and then kept on going down the right path!


*INSERT: Here is the recipe I used for the frosting on the cake I show you below. I had to post this here because this stupid thing won't let me write it out like this below...it double spaces everything at the bottom! AHHHH. Why? (If you know, please tell me!)
________________________________________________________

Cool Whip Frosting
1 small package of sugar free/fat free vanilla pudding
1 8oz container of lite cool whip
1 cup skim milk
Touch of vanilla


Mix the box of pudding with the milk and vanilla. Mix with electric mixer until smooth. Fold in cool whip until smooth. Frost!

_________________________________________________________

We did have fun taking Lukas to the movies on Tuesday. We saw Madagascar 2. I took some peanuts with me to much on and was not even tempted by Lukas's huge bag of popcorn (which he ate ALL of) or Nick's Whoppers. I enjoyed peanuts and a $4 Diet Coke! (It better be good!)

Made it through the movies: SUCCESS!

Then I was going to take Nick to Moochies! It's a small restaurant we saw on the Food Network that makes authentic Philly Cheesesteaks (the owner is from Philly). Nick has been drooling ever them since seeing the show. But when we looked up directions we saw that they close at 3:30pm! They must not want to make money! What kind of hours are those! So Moochies will be for lunch sometime. Instead, Nick got to pick whatever else he wanted, and he picked well! THE PIE! Have you had the Pie? If not, you must! It is the most piled high, yummy pizza ever! We drove to Ogden to get it! I had two pieces...worth of toppings, because I did not eat the crust! I also made myself a large salad. I enjoyed the toppings alone so much. There was about four different meats, all the pizza vegetables, cheese and yummy sauce.

Was it low fat meat. No.

Was it low fat cheese. No.

Did I make the best choice in the situation without totally depriving myself and still enjoying it. Yes.

Am I happy with how I did. Yes.

Dinner from a restaurant: SUCCESS!

That is not salad dressing on the salad. It's cottage cheese! I added some dressing later, but with cottage cheese did not need very much.

Yesterday was Nick's birthday. I cooked him a cake in the afternoon. I did have a few licks, just a few, before cooking it. I did not however, have any of the pieces of the cake that I cut off the top.

I made the frosting with a cool whip recipe and it was really yummy! (See recipe above). It worked to pipe a border and write on top. But you can't even see the writing with ALL 33 candles on there! I did have some frosting while I worked, but it was all Phase 2 approved.

Had birthday party: SUCCESS!

I am feeling good about my LIFE TEST. I will grant full success to myself after the cake is gone and I have DECIDED to not have any more. I could. But I have had some and I won't have anymore this time.

Quote of the day:

Be like a postage stamp, stick to one thing until you get there.

-- Sign at a Church

Catch-up & Weigh-In

Weekends seem to slip by before my blogging getting done! So I will give a brief update on the eating efforts! This weekend has been pretty uneventful. We did not really go anywhere (well Nick went to the BYU game but I stayed home) and just did stuff around home. Before I was living on the 'Beach" we would have gone and gotten fast food or pizza at least once during the weekend, just for fun and because I would not have wanted to cook. But this weekend I cooked for every meal! I made actual good meals...well, at least decent meals for the weekend! :0)

I am still enjoying the added variety of foods. Right now I am eating 1-2 starches a day, 1 fruit and 2-3 milks. Of course I still eat lean meats, vegetables, and some nuts and other little 'treats' like that.

Favorite snack of the weekend: I did have some sugar free/fat free ice cream for a snack. It was heaven. It tastes great to me because I was already buying that kind of ice cream anyway; Nick and Lukas and Slade like it too.

My favorite meal of the weekend: Burritos! I used the carb friendly tortillas, fat free re-fried beans, salsa, fat free sour cream and low fat cheese! I love it! When I wanted a little more I had some filling without another tortilla! (I should have cut up some lettuce but forgot!)

Now, today is Monday, which means weigh in day. I was feeling nervous because I have been adding more foods. And starting this morning I am delivering my friends paper route until the 18th, while she is on vacation. That means, that I had a 44 oz Diet Mountain Dew in the middle of the night...how will that effect my weight?

Results:

Loss this week: 3.2 lbs

Total Loss: 16 lbs

I am VERY HAPPY with that! I can feel a difference too! Nobody will be able to tell I am losing for a while, but I can feel it, especially around the middle. I am feeling strong and motivated to continue!

As you can see at the top of my blog I have a new 'very short term goal'! Nick's birthday is Wednesday, and Tuesday we are going to the movies with Lukas and going to dinner (Slade gets to come to dinner too!) Wednesday we will eat at home but there will be cake and ice cream!

GOAL: Take a good snack for movie and have diet pop. Plan my dinner and make the best choice available. Make a cake and not eat lots of batter (one lick is okay!) and then be able to have one, reasonable size piece of cake...and be done! The hardest thing for me is to enjoy a little and then keep going without taking 2 weeks 'off'! I know I can get through this first LIFE TEST without sabotaging myself and falling off the wagon. It's okay to have treats sometimes, it's necessary to feel normal and not feel totally deprived all the time! This is what life is about and I have to be able to enjoy them and move on!

You know I will keep you posted...

NOTE #1: Does my new title confuse you? Maybe not, but here is clarification anyway! 'Life on the Beach' refers to being on the South BEACH diet. This is a term used on the South Beach website and I like it. Sounds fun, right!

NOTE #2: I am having huge layout problems! Some of my text was showing up as streaks across the page they were so small, though I had them in normal text. It would only double space when I was trying to make a list. I had to make my entire post in large print to get it to make everything legible. Anyone else having trouble? Anyone know any tricks when it acts up? Please share!

I got up this morning and felt a little 'freer,' (if that's a word) knowing there were new food options available to me. Breakfast consisted of normal Phase 1 stuff, which is normal and what I will probably usually stay with. Breakfast is easy and not where I want to use my food. I just need to eat when I get up to get my metabolism moving for the day!

Next on the 'to do list' was to get groceries. I took Lukas and Slade and we got everything bought and put away. By the time that was done we were STARVING! I fed them and then had a DELICIOUS sandwich with Black Forest Ham and cheese. I also had an apple with some peanut butter! Okay, I know, it is SO nerdy to start taking pictures of your food! My Dad used to do that after his surgery so we could see what he was eating. Not that you have never seen these foods before...but I needed some visual stimulation on the blog!

Don't tell me that does not look good!

As I start to phase into Phase 2 I am supposed to add things slowly making sure I don't start to gain weight. Today I added 1 starch (a grain product), 1 fruit, and sugar free, fat free pudding, which is now allowed once a day as a dairy. All starches have to be 100% whole wheat, because they don't make your body release as much insulin as white flour does. White flour is like eating sugar, your body reacts the same way.

I know you all wanted to see how yummy that pudding is:

Ya, it's that good! It is amazing how much my tastes change when I am not full of sugar and bad carbs. Pudding would not normally be that good, nor would an apple. But when I am eating right these things taste so wonderful to me! I am not saying the other "not good choice" foods don't sound good, but I am not craving them and wishing I had them. There will be days for that, and some that I do have some treats, but not now.

Now for the highlight of my day that did not include tasting food...

Here she is...my new, pretty, pink, flat iron!

I love having a house full of boys, but every girl enjoys a little pink once in a while! And while I was there I got a few other fun things...hair treatment for when I flat iron and more pomade. And then because I got a pink iron they gave me this really cute alligator tote! FREE! (You know I am going to show you, look below!)

That was just a fun reward shopping trip! It will actually be fun to do my hair in the morning!

I do not have my next goal set yet, but I am thinking about it. Do I want it to be a number, a percentage, a time??? I will let you know when I decide on one!

I DID IT!

I SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED 2 FULL WEEKS ON PHASE 1 OF THE SOUTH BEACH DIET!

I am feeling really proud of myself for sticking it out and sticking to it. Just before I started, on Oct. 23rd, I really did not know if I could ever get myself back on track. I know that without this blog I would not have 2 strong weeks behind me.

This blog is really helping me in soooo many ways:

1. This blog is helping me to be conscience of my goals at all times, and helping me to see the long term.

2. This blog is getting me through the moments of "I want it now...the big goal is too far away to worry about right now," and getting me to the "I want it now, BUT, that choice does affect my long term goal, and if I want the long term goal I need to stay on track RIGHT NOW!"


That is HUGE in the journey of weight loss, especially in my case, when the journey is a very LONG journey.

3. This blog lets me make my goals public, which motivates me more to meet them!


4. This blog gives me an outlet to talk about things that are working and things I need to work on...as well as the everyday mundane details of 'life on the beach' (that's lingo for a South Beach Dieter)


5. This blog lets me feel the support all of you have for me, and that helps to keep me going more than any of you know! Thank you!


So, today is Phase 2. I will blog later to let you know how the first day has gone.


I also have a really fun reward to go buy!

I HATE Raw Chicken!

WARNING: Kind-of gross text about raw chicken

I have ALWAYS hated raw chicken. I hate handling it, I hate cutting it, I hate the little bloody clots in it, I hate the toxic juice from it...I just hate to deal with RAW CHICKEN!

That is why you will never catch me buying the breasts on the styrofoam platter, all jiggly and not frozen. Oh No! I only buy the bags that are ice hard pieces. I even stopped buying the breasts for the most part...there was still too much trimming to do. I buy the tenderloins. They are nice and small and hardly ever have the gross little blood clotty things.

And with the tenderloins, I get along pretty well with raw chicken. But recently I did buy some breasts that were supposed to be cut thinner so I thought I'd try them. BAD IDEA! They have been giving me lots of 'gross encounters'. I usually deal with them enough to get by. I just look at the raw chicken with one eye squinting open and do the dirty work as fast as possible. I have the hot water on and the disposal running so I can drop the gross pieces down the disposal and quickly get rid of them...then rinse the plate in scalding water to kill any bacteria before putting it right into the dishwasher.

But tonight...it did not go so well. I was using the last of these chicken breasts and was cutting them into pieces to cook in a skillet, for a Chicken Taco Salad. I just kept seeing gross little clots and veins and I could not take it...I started dry-heaving and my eyes started watering and I had to step away and call Nick in to finish the job before I full-on threw up. Even after it was cooked and seasoned and on a yummy looking salad, I just could not eat much of it. It had just been too bad of an experience preparing it. So needless to say, I did not get full enough at dinner and was hungry tonight. I had jello, string cheese, a cream cheese cup and probably more pistachio nuts than I should have.

I am SO READY for more variety! I am really sick of chicken right now! No more chicken please!!! I DO NOT want to cook it...I DO NOT want to eat it! I know I have almost made it through my 2 week goal of sticking to the program, but tomorrow may do me in!

Can I do it 1 MORE DAY? I have too...but I don't want to!

I guess I need a quote to get me through one more day.

Quote of the day:

The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person's determination.

Tommy Lasorda

Determination...that is what I will have to take with me tomorrow as I make it through one more day on Phase 1. I have to because I know that what I want is possible, if I have the determination! BUT! I don't have to eat any chicken tomorrow...and I won't!

Wish me luck!

Monday Weigh-In Report

I am sorry I have not posted for a few days! It was not because I was doing bad or did not want to, but because I have been down with a nasty cold. I felt a little sick Sat morning, then by the afternoon as I was finishing my cleaning, I was done...I felt rotten. So Nick has let me lay around this weekend while he has done dishes and made sandwiches for dinner. I still don't feel great, but a mom can only take a break for so long. I got up planning to go about my normal duties at 100% and Nick showed up from work. It was a slow day so he is home to help me again. So I only have to go at 50% today!


But as far as my Phase 1 eating goes, I am still on track to get my flat iron as my reward for my 2 weeks on track! This weekend I did not eat as many vegetables as I ususally do because they don't taste good when you are sick. I did have some salad and beans and finished my leftover chili. I kept all the rules and made it through another Sunday without any breakdowns.


I also excercised 2 times last week! I know that is less than the ideal, but it is a start! I plan to excerise 3 times this week. It is crazy to me that I am pushing myself to do 3 short workouts when I used to be the workout queen! But everything has a time and place, and I used to have lots of time to devote to going to the gym. Now, my main focus is sticking to South Beach and losing weight, and starting to supplement with some excercise. There will be a time I will focus more on exercise, but not now.


I did weigh this morning. And based on my mid-week weighs last weeks I did not think I was going to lose any this week. But after I weighed this morning the results are:

Weight loss this week: 2.8 lbs

Total weight loss: 12.8

I am happy with 12.8 lbs in less than 2 weeks. I am on my way! You are supposed to lose between 1 and 2 lbs per week for healthy and permanent weight loss. As long as I do that I will not complain.

It is easy to get impatient while trying to lose weight because we want it NOW, a QUICK FIX. I know I do! But I have to tell myself that I did not gain all of this overnight, and I will not lose it overnight. That is why I have to enjoy every success, every victory and enjoy the journey...I have to be happy now and not just when I get to the final destination!

Quote of the day:

"It's not the gale, but the set of the sail!"

-Posted on my blog by my Dad

I love this quote Dad! You are right, it is not so much how much I have lost, but that I am working on it and have taken the steps to be successful! As I continue to work at it, I will continue to lose, and I will eventually make my goal!

Halloween

I hope everyone had a really fun Halloween! I know we did at our house. I will post pictures on our family blog soon. It is late so this will be short!


I just wanted to report that I did NOT HAVE ANY CANDY and it was not too bad. It is sort of like the Word of Wisdom...if you have already made the choice not to partake before the opportunity arises, it is easy to SAY NO. I did not have to think about it and talk myself into or out of anything. I had already set my goal and made my choice.


The best thing I have eaten all week was the Chili I made today. I am not sure if it was really that good, or if it just tasted so good to me because it tasted so different from anything else I have had lately. I really enjoyed it and I doubled the batch so there are leftovers. I have already warned Nick NOT to touch the chili...it's mine! I will put the recipe on tomorrow in case anyone wants a good chili recipe.

Quote of the day:

"This one step - choosing a goal and sticking to it - changes everything."

~Scott Reed

Today I met my mini goal of making it through Halloween without eating any candy, which keeps me on track for my 2 week goal, to stick to the program. That goal HAS changed everything...for me.